Gods and Monsters Chronicles #2 - Twisted (Batman Vs Harley)

Here is the second of three episodes of JUSTICE LEAGUE: GODS AND MONSTERS CHRONICLES.  This one features Harley Quinn and Batman, and is called “Twisted.”

Commentary:  While I have thought both of these shorts were terrific, I can’t help but think that it has to be confusing for a lot of casual viewers to do stories like this.  One of the comments on Youtube said “This ain't your grandma's Justice League!” and I’m just not sure how I feel about that.  YES, I love to see the status quo get rocked at every opportunity, but when you get this far away from the source material, part of me wonders why you don’t just create something new entirely.  Batman’s costume in particular is such a departure, he looks more like an homage to Batman than any version of Batman I’ve ever seen before.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just still bummed out that BEWARE THE BATMAN and BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD are off the air…

But enough negatives.  The atmosphere for this episode was terrific.  I really felt like I was watching a horror movie at first as we see Batman moving through an abandoned warehouse space.  The music, pacing, and shadow were just done perfectly.  I also loved the attention to detail.  Batman opens a fridge containing SPOILERS and you can see bottles of Grape Soder in there too.  I also was disturbed by how twisted this version of Harley (and presumingly the Joker) were.  And then the ending, where we find out that Batman is just as twisted here.   It worked great for this story, but it was definitely not what I was expecting from an animated short.  KEEP THE KIDS FAR AWAY FROM THIS ONE!