In the fifth season of the animated “The Batman,” we find Batman teaming up with all sorts of heroes (such as Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and other members of the Justice League) to fight villains like the Joker, aliens, robots, etc.

After reviewing the lousy “Teen Titans,” it was refreshing to jump into “The Batman” as this is an animated series that can appeal to both adults and children. There is no peppy and comedic humor to be found here nor is the series watered down. Instead, this is a fairly dark set of episodes with only small bits of humor (mostly from a WAY too young Robin and Batgirl) sprinkled around here and there.

Also unlike ‘Titans,’ “The Batman” is fairly faithful to the comic characters. The writers more or less nail Alfred, Batman, the DC heroes, Lex, etc. They do, however, botch a few characters like The Joker, Mr. Freeze, and Bane. For some strange reason, the Joker now has red eyes, dreadlock-like hair, and speaks with a deeper voice. Why the animators opted to change his appearance so drastically is beyond me. The same can be said for Bane and Mr. Freeze who look nothing like they should. I also have to question why Robin and Batgirl are so young in this series. It makes Batman seem like he is a babysitter at times.

One of my main issues with this fifth season is that almost all of the stories revolve around characters other than Batman. There are literally over 20 DC Comic characters that appear in these 13 episodes. We see Poison Ivy, Metallo, the Joker, Clayface, Black Mask and a bunch of Justice League members to boot. Granted, this was the final season and the writers wanted to go out with a bang, but if you’re going to bring in the Justice League, why not just do another Justice League show? Also, a lot of the time the appearances of these characters are rather pointless. It seemed like they were just included to please fans.

The voice acting is hit-and-miss. Rino Romano’s voice of Batman is not particularly strong, nor is Evan Sabara’s take on Robin. The best voice work comes from guest stars like Dorian Harewood (Martian Manhunter), Dermot Mulroney (Green Lantern), Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor), Robert Patrick (Hawkman), and Chris Hardwick (Green Arrow),

The 1.33:1 full frame picture isn’t going to blow anyone away. The PQ looks quite standard for an animated TV series on DVD, meaning there are spots of grains and fuzziness.

The Dolby Digital Stereo track has clear action and dialogue, but I don’t understand why Warner doesn’t upgrade the audio tracks to 5.1? There’s plenty of action here and it would unquestionably sound better with a higher quality audio track.

*Trailers for “Popeye,” “Tiny Toons,” “Freakazoid,” “Speed Racer: The Game,” “Ben 10,” “Gotham Knight,” and “Richie Rich.”

* “The Batman: Justice League Profiles” is an 11 ½ minute featurette in which members of the creative team discuss Hawkman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Superman, Flash and their designs.

* “Joining Forces: The Batman’s Legendary Team-Ups” is an 8 ½ minute bonus on various DC Comics Heroes.