Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jan 4, 2021 | 7 comments

Which is the greatest Batman: The Animated Series episode of them all?

—

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 whose Issue #2 is out now from IDW. To celebrate, we’ve been 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 seeded eight episodes each for a Sweet 16 and we’ve paired them off to reach this point. (Click here to check out the whole tournament.)

We’ve now reached the FINAL — where the vote is expected to be close. The winner will be announced later this week.

— 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.

Here’s the FINAL MATCH-UP: HEART OF ICE (Fred’s No. 2) vs. TWO-FACE (Fred’s No. 3)

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

—

Story by Alan Burnett (Part 1.) Teleplay by Randy Rogel. Directed by Kevin Altieri.

“BTAS did some of its best work in reinventing the villains ignored by Burton and co. — no better than Harvey Dent/Two-Face, played throughout by the bailiff from Night Court, Richard Moll. The climax in the casino is one of the series’ most dramatic — and moving.” — FVL

—

Now, which do YOU prefer? VOTE!

It's the BATMADNESS FINAL MATCH-UP: Which of these is the better BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES episode?

— 13th Dimension (@13th_Dimension) January 4, 2021

—

NEXT: And the WINNER is… click here.

—

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