Posted By Dan Greenfield on Dec 8, 2020 | 7 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.

WEEK 1, MATCH-UP #1 was ALMOST GOT ‘IM vs. HARLEY’s HOLIDAY. Click here.

Now, it’s WEEK 1, MATCH-UP #2:

HEART OF ICE (Fred’s No. 2 seed) vs. BIRDS OF A FEATHER (Ryan’s No. 7 seed)

Written by Paul Dini. Directed by Bruce Timm.

“Another great tragic, villain-based episode and debut script from BTAS co-MVP Paul Dini. It’s a particularly brilliant little detail that Batman catches a cold from Mr. Freeze, so Alfred gives him a Thermos of hot chicken soup that later becomes an important plot device. Listen for Mark Hamill in a pre-Joker performance as a scumbag executive.” — FVL

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Teleplay by Brynne Stephens. Story by Chuck Menville. Directed by Frank Paur.

“I’m a sucker for ‘bad guy tries to go good’ stories and here Penguin gets his turn. A couple of over-privileged douches try to have some laughs at the recently paroled Mr. Cobblepot’s expense (you almost feel sorry for him), never realizing what a dangerously unhinged narcissist he is until it’s too late. Keep an eye out for an unauthorized cameo of Jaime Hernandez’ Hopey Glass in an early scene (which made this Love and Rockets super-fan jump out of my chair when I first saw this episode on TV back in the ’90s).” — RD

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Now, which do YOU prefer? VOTE!

It's BATMADNESS: The Animated Tournament! MATCH-UP #2: Which of these is the better BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES episode?

— 13th Dimension (@13th_Dimension) December 8, 2020

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

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NEXT: Two-Face (Fred’s No. 3) vs. The Man Who Killed Batman (Ryan’s No. 6). Click here.