It was my recent discovery of the awesomeness of Batman: The Brave and the Bold that got me thinking about Rube Goldberg machines. If not for an overly complicated series of events, I might not have experienced the simple, joyous end result of watching cartoon Batman punch a shark. This is how it all went down:
Saturday, April 25th, 10:00 a.m. – Go downtown to my favourite comic book store. Get exposed to every hobo germ downtown has to offer.
Sunday, April 26th, 12:00 p.m. – Develop sore throat. Decide to fight it. Take vitamins and drink mass quantities of O.J.
Tuesday, April 28th, 6:00 p.m. – Following two days at work surrounded by sick co-workers, succumb to the common cold.
Thursday, April 30th, 11:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. – Sleep awkwardly while trying not to breathe on my wife. At some point during the night, I cough or sneeze and hurt my back.
Friday, May 1st, 7:00 a.m. – Get out of bed like an old man. Back aching.
Friday, May 1st, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Sit all day at my desk in my crappy chair. Back seizes up. Barely able to walk at the end of the day. Resemble Frankenstein’s Monster (assuming he wore Dockers).
Friday, May 1st, 6:20 p.m. – While laying flat on my back in the living room, discover Teletoon’s Friday evening lineup. (Teletoon is Canada’s version of The Cartoon Network, for you non-hosers.)
Friday, May 1st, 7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Watch Batman: The Brave and the Bold, guest-starring Aquaman. Batman punches shark. Back is not sore. Everything is awesome. All is right with the world for 30 minutes.
Anyway, that is my long-winded, needlessly complex (Rube Goldbergian) way of sharing how I came to watch my first episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The show is based on the simple enough premise of Batman teaming up with a different hero every week… but what makes it so special is not its premise but its execution.
Let me try to explain its awesomeness with a little equation:
Iconic, Dick Sprang-inspired character designs +
Old school, Adam West Batman sense of adventure and use of the word “chum” +
A little dose of Justice League-style respect for the DC Universe =
The little dose of cartoon happiness called Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
So, in the end, I may have a herniated disc in my back, but at least I know that every Friday from 7:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., I’ll feel just fine.
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2 comments:
Matthew: Did you check out Free Comic Book Day this year?
My local shop of choice actually has had line-ups out the door and down the block on FCBD for a couple of years now, so I tend to skip it. Some of the books available looked interesting, but I figured they were better off being given to new customers or people new to the genre. No need to preach to the choir, as it were.
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