That is my new favorite thing in the world…I’m an animated kid, so anytime I read the comics, I see the characters in that light anyway. 
That’s what I had the ecstatic pleasure of telling Jim Fletcher yesterday in our interview, live from the DC booth at New York Comic Con! Fletcher is the Executive Creative Director of DC Entertainment, overseeing DC Collectibles. The collectibles company is DC Comics’s in-house producer of toys. And, Fletcher is eccentric, and he is brilliant, and he is more than a blast to talk to! Especially, when talking about my new favorite thing: the Bruce Timm animated inspired Batman: The Adventure Continues line.
Timm is the Godfather/co-creator of the DCAU (DC Animated Universe), beginning with1992’s Batman: The Animated Series, then New Batman Adventures and numerous connected series and films.
All four days of NYCC, I’ll be covering DC for C506, as well as my DC Collecticast and Above and Batman Beyond vidcasts. Subscribe to our channels and shows, and follow us on social as well for more DC related NYCC updates.
As an adult collector, I really fanned out on Fletcher. I’ve seen this guy on so many collector videos and TV shows. Can’t believe I’m the one who gets to talk toys with Fletcher himself! The interview felt more like geeking out with a really fun, crazily dressed DC toy nerd at Con. He just happens to be a toy nerd at the top tier of DC Entertainment.
So, back to the hellish animated toy at hand. The ultra popular Batman Who Laughs comic character gets adapted into the fan favorite DCAU cartoon style, now as part of the Batman: The Adventure Continues action figure line. The Bruce Timm stylized line was first revealed at NY Toy Fair this year. At the fair, DC said they’ve been working with Bruce Timm directly on these action figures, as well as Ty Templeton, DCAU comic artist. Check out my Toy Fair interview with Brian Walters from DC, live from the DC booth as well. Other figures in this line previously revealed were Red Hood, Azrael, and Deathstroke.
Now, for NY Comic Con, we got even more 2019 reveals from this amazing Adventures Continue line. Turns out, it also continues to pay being a DCAUphile.
From my NY Comic Con Interview with Jim Fletcher, Creative Director of DC Collectibles:
BD: The Batman Who Laughs animated version. Whose idea was that? ‘Cause that is my new favorite thing in the world.
JF: Oh, cool. Well, I’m glad you like it. Basically, we’re like, he’s so popular, we’re looking for characters who, basically, anyone after the show is fair game. Then, well, Hush is a big deal. Who else is a big deal? Oh, that guy. He’s huge!
JF (continued): We’ve made already a statue of the Batman: Black and White and had to reproduce it because it was so popular. Then, we did the other [Dark Nights] Metal statue that you saw on the panel today. Plus, there’s a ton of licensees doing stuff. So, we’re like, how is it not that guy? So, that’s how.
BD: Might as well, he’s there. I love that character.
JF: Yea, he was never on the show, he looks great with that Ty Templeton design. So, yea, that was a pretty easy one, when we started going through sort of the important people that we count, he was way up there.
BD: That wasn’t a hard one.
JF: (Laughs) No. No, that wasn’t a hard one.
And, choosing between this Batman Who Laughs and the last X amount of dollars in my budget? Not gonna be a hard one either.
In addition to the NYCC photo reveal of the Batman Who Laughs figure, Batman: The Adventures Continue designs were also revealed for three more action figures to come: Talon, Hush, and Thomas Wayne Batman!
Again, I am obsessing over this action figure: the animated series line. It is just such a good idea for DC Collectibles to do–and, DC Comics, for that matter. Bruce Timmian/animated kids like me always wonder how DCAU outsiders would fit into our favorite U. How would they act? Better yet, how would they interact? Or, best yet, how would they look?
At least, we don’t need to worry about what they’d look like. DC Collectibles has DC on the case to tell us. What should a Bruce Timm inspired character look like? Just ask Bruce Timm! Where do I get that kinda Bat phone?
I’ll also add that the Adventures Continue is a very unique opportunity for both collectible and character design. Because, this isn’t just taking an exact design from a comic and having that design inspire a figure. In this case, the character itself first needs to be inspired and created artistically, then the action figure. This process, as opposed to the DC Designer Series of statues, for example. While those pieces will always be incredible due to the DC source material of Jim Lee’s Hush for example, Designer Series are not new designs. Whereas, each new Adventures Continue is a new character, in a way, because the character never before existed in the DCAU. So, while Bruce Timm is an iconic, tried and true DC artist, he’s interestingly still making a new thing with each new BTAC fig.
These are the guys who write, create, draw, in this case, animate the very things on which our toy hunt is based. It’s so cool for an in-house toy company like DC Collectibles, having all those DC Comic pros on call.
Again, stay tuned here at C506 and my DC Collecticast podcast for more live NY Comic Con collectible coverage like today’s! And don’t forget to subscribe to my network’s YouTube channels for video coverage as well: Comic Book Intl and Above and Batman Beyond.
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