Batman, his allies, the world of Gotham and the popularity they've endured have led to somewhat of a cultural phenomenon in recent years. Across his expansive 75 year history the character has seen multiple iterations spanning across the entire cultural spectrum - everything from comics, to TV to film have all gone onto form every aspect of the character down to his very last detail, but none have been more formative than his long-running stint on animation - particularly in the much loved Batman: The Animated Series. The tales told by the likes of Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and the late Boyd Kirkland combined the greatest elements of the character to create a series that pushed boundaries and defied usual story telling conventions that once bound Saturday morning programming. Doing all this and more would've easily cemented the show as being among the greatest of cartoons, but it went beyond that - it defined Batman for a generation to come. Everything from the animation, to the writing style and voice acting was spot-on, and though it's possible to sing too highly of the show's praises it more than deserves every ounce of commendation it can get. Apart from Burton and Nolan's external influence of the character, nothing has come quite as close to nailing the Caped Crusader as BTAS has. It kickstarted a golden age of comic book animation that lasted long after it had left our screens, and left a visual imprint that can still be felt today both inside of the comics and out. Needless to say, you don't know Batman if you haven't seen BTAS.
