Posted By Dan Greenfield on Dec 7, 2020 | 9 comments

VOTE in BATMADNESS: The Animated Tournament…

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Welcome to BATMADNESS: The Animated Tournament — your chance to VOTE for the greatest Batman: The Animated Series episode of all time.

Writer Fred Van Lente, a 13th Dimension regular, and his artistic collaborator Ryan Dunlavey have produced The Comic Book History of Animation — a five-part series that debuts Dec. 9 from IDW. To celebrate, we’re holding a tourney to pick the best episode from the greatest comic-book animated series of them all — and YOU get to decide.

Fred and Ryan have seeded eight episodes each for a Sweet 16 and we’ll be pairing them off until we have a champion in January. (Click here to follow the whole tournament.)

— HOW TO VOTE: You can pick your choice two ways: 1) Note it in the comments below; or 2) Take part in our Twitter poll, also below. Votes will be tabulated and the winner will be announced in the following round.

We kick things off with WEEK 1, MATCH-UP #1:

ALMOST GOT ’IM (Fred’s No. 1 seed) vs. HARLEY’S HOLIDAY (Ryan’s No. 8 seed)

Written by Paul Dini. Directed by Eric Radomski.

“I love it when all the villains get together; it’s why the Batman ’66 movie is so great. All of these little vignettes are perfectly done by writer Paul Dini, and we even get the iconic Batman-strapped-to-the-giant-penny bit. It also has the best line of the entire series: ‘It was a big rock.'” — FVL

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Written by Paul Dini. Directed by Kevin Altieri.

“Harley’s never been cuter or funnier than in this total hoot of an episode with some of the most manically effective slapstick animation of the whole series. Harley is granted parole and tries to go straight but her plans quickly turn south as the absurd misunderstandings start piling up like Jenga bricks. Harley and Ivy may have been the character’s big splash, but this one made her a star.” — RD

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Now, which do YOU prefer? VOTE!

It's BATMADNESS: The Animated Tournament! Which of these is the better BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES episode?

— 13th Dimension (@13th_Dimension) December 7, 2020

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For the complete BATMADNESS: The Animated Tournament: Click here.

NEXT: Heart of Ice (Fred’s No. 2) vs. Birds of a Feather (Ryan’s No. 7). Click here.