Posted By Dan Greenfield on Dec 7, 2020 | 2 comments

Welcome to BATMADNESS: The Animated Tournament…

What’s the best Batman: The Animated Series episode ever? Heart of Ice? Almost Got ‘Im? Robin’s Reckoning? Feat of Clay?

So many to choose from, so we’ve decided to let YOU pick the winner in BATMADNESS: The Animated Tournament!

Why now? Well, 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. (This a follow-up to their acclaimed The Comic Book History of Comics.)

But rather than do a TOP 13 list of some sort, Fred came up with the idea of a tourney to pick the best episode from the best comic-book animated series of them all — BTAS.

Here’s how it works:

— Fred and Ryan have seeded eight episodes each, so we start with a Sweet 16. In WEEKS 1 and 2, we will run four match-ups each week and you can pick a winner from each pairing. In subsequent weeks, we’ll go to an Elite Eight, a Final Four and so on, wrapping up in January.

— HOW TO VOTE: You can pick your choice two ways: 1) Note it in the comments at the bottom of each match-up; or 2) Take part in our Twitter polls. Votes will be tabulated and the winner will be announced in the following round.

— Bookmark this post because this is where you can track BATMADNESS for the next month or so. We’ll be updating with links and match-ups as we go.

— NOTE: Only episodes from the original Batman: The Animated Series are eligible. The New Batman Adventures is different enough that we’re sticking only with the first run.

Dig it.

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WEEK 1 (Seeds in parentheses)

— MATCH 1: Almost Got ’Im (Fred’s No. 1) vs. Harley’s Holiday (Ryan’s No. 8). Click here.

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

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

— MATCH 4: On Leather Wings (Fred’s No. 4) vs. Read My Lips (Ryan’s No. 5). Click here.

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WEEK 2 (Seeds in parentheses)

— MATCH 5: Feat of Clay (Ryan’s No. 4) vs. Showdown (Fred’s No. 5). Click here.

— MATCH 6: Robin’s Reckoning (Ryan’s No. 3) vs. Baby-Doll (Fred’s No. 6). Click here.

— MATCH 7: Harley and Ivy (Ryan’s No. 2) vs. The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy (Fred’s No. 7). Click here.

— MATCH 8: The Laughing Fish (Ryan’s No. 1) vs. Perchance to Dream (Fred’s No. 8). Click here.

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WEEK 3 – THE ELITE EIGHT (Seeds in parentheses)

— MATCH 1: Almost Got ’Im (Fred’s No. 1) vs. Feat of Clay (Ryan’s No. 4.) Click here.

— MATCH 2: Heart of Ice (Fred’s No. 2) vs. Robin’s Reckoning (Ryan’s No. 3) Click here.

— MATCH 3: Two-Face (Fred’s No. 3) vs. Harley and Ivy (Ryan’s No. 2). Click here.

— MATCH 4: On Leather Wings (Fred’s No. 4) vs. The Laughing Fish (Ryan’s No. 1). Click here.

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WEEK 4 — THE FINAL FOUR (Seeds in parentheses)

— MATCH 1: Almost Got ’Im (Fred’s No. 1) vs. Heart of Ice (Fred’s No. 2). Click here.

— MATCH 2: The Laughing Fish (Ryan’s No. 1) vs. Two-Face (Fred’s No. 3). Click here.

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WEEK 5 — THE FINAL (Seeds in parenthesese)

— Heart of Ice (Fred’s No. 2) vs. Two-Face (Fred’s No. 3). Click here.

— And the WINNER is… click here.