My observations on the Batman Beyond cartoon

Television, Movies Games and Books Comics
#1

I had once heard, don’t remember where, that Batman Beyond was created with the intention of mimicking the themes of Spider-Man, particularly the difficulty of a teenager laying a double-life to appeal more to kids. But as I rewatch the show with my son, I’m picking up many similarities. Shriek = Shocker, Blight = Green Goblin, Inque = Hydroman or Sandman, Stalker = Kraven (here the similarities go deeper, Stalker would help Terry track down False Face, an impostor who could take on any appearance like Spider-Man villain Chameleon, who is the cousin of Kraven). Unlike Bruce, Terry lost just one parent, his father who taught him about doing the right thing, much like Uncle Ben did for Peter Parker. I just found it interesting and worth sharing. I’ll probably take it to the forum too.

I bring this up because I’m about to start reading comics again and the new Batman Beyond ongoing will be one of them. Anyone else reading them? Any other Spider-Man similarities I’m missing?

EDIT: Two more similarities I remember, Terry makes wisecracks where Bruce was silent, like Spider-Man and in the above referenced episode regarding Stalker and False Face, FF was working for KOBRA, a Hydra-esque terrorist organization. Ok, I’m done.

#2

Could KOBRA be a nod to the GIJoe series?

#3

A lot of the Marvel appeal comes from the connection readers can make to real life. Most of the Marvel characters are humans who are granted extraodinary powers and then deal with the consequences. They fight crime in real cities, like Spiderman in New York. The DC lineup is largely non-humans living on Earth and dealing with being the outcasts. Batman is an example of a DC human character that readers connect to more readily, and thus has become a more popular, mainstream character. My guess would be that to connect more readily with a younger audience, DC used the Spiderman model because of it’s broad, younger appeal.

#4

That’s pretty much my thoughts too. I’m going to have to find the documentary on the DVD’s so I can post some of the quotes.