When I first considered doing this article I though it would be an amusing one-shot deal, a brief overview of the changes between the show bible for Batman: The Animated Series and the final product, plus where the show evolved with The Adventures Of Batman & Robin and The New Batman/Superman Adventures. As I looked over the pdf file (which was probably linked to in an article by Comics Alliance‘s resident Batmanologist Chris Sims), however, I saw enough data for a short article series. And for the next few Mondays that’s what you’ll be getting (barring some big news I want to comment on), a review of the show bible for the show many claim is the best adaptation, if not interpretation, of the Dark Knight and denizens of Gotham City.
But what is a “show bible” some of you are asking? In television and other media, the bible (small “b” and insert dirty Hollywood heathen joke here) is a set of instructions for writers and other creators (depending on animation versus live-action) for how the series is intended to work. In the case of B:TAS, there were some changes and some things that held true. For example, Renee Montoya’s history has one major difference from the DC Comics/Gotham version, while the Mr. Freeze origin we all know came from this series would have actually followed the original. I’m getting ahead of myself, though.
For this first installment we’ll be looking at how Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Mitch Brian, who worked on the writer’s bible for the show, planned to approach the series, namely the tone and basic premise, which mostly held true during the two Fox Kids shows. It should be interesting.
