A rare Batman misfire debuted six years ago this month… As much as we love to celebrate the best of Batman in these parts, occasionally a project comes along that just doesn’t land. Take Beware the Batman, the animated series that debuted in July 2013 and was effectively aborted before it really had a chance to find its footing. Well, reader Ken Holtzhouser — who went out on a limb during our 80th Anniversary BATMAN WEEK celebration with 13 QUICK THOUGHTS: IN DEFENSE OF BATMAN & ROBIN (click here) — is back to tell you why the CG animated series deserves your respect. Here’s Ken. — Dan — By KEN HOLTZHOUSER After the seemingly evergreen success of Batman on the big screen and the genre-smashing success of the classic Batman: The Animated Series, you could reasonably assume that animated adventures of the Caped Crusader would always have a hope on television. Indeed, in the years that followed BTAS, The Batman and Batman: The Brave and the Bold each chalked up solid runs and added to the character’s mythos. So, on July 13, 2013, Cartoon Network unveiled a brand-new animated exploration of Gotham City: Taking its darker cues from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies, Beware the Batman joined the channel’s DC Nation block of Saturday morning programming… … and was pulled from the network three months later, in October, before the first season of episodes fully premiered. Deemed a financial failure by the network, the remainder of its episodes were shown years later on Cartoon Network’s Toonami late-night slate. What happened? Everyone seems to have a “pet” reason why the series failed with audiences. Perhaps the lack of interest on toys and merchandise from major retail outlets made the series less financially secure. Maybe the CG animation was too different from previous Batman cartoons or the lack of well-known arch villains rendered the show too “off brand” for audiences. Whatever the reason, Beware the Batman is a rare television failure but a fascinating one. It deserves a little attention and critical reevaluation – because there’s a lot for Bat-fans to enjoy. So here are 13 REASONS BEWARE THE BATMAN DESERVES A SECOND LOOK: 1. The decision to eschew higher profile Bat-villains for deeper cuts from the Rogue’s Gallery might have been a mistake, but it’s a bold one. Letting the...