Bruce Timm is an artist, writer, director, and producer for many DC comics and projects, turned 65 on February 5th. Most notably, he developed “Batman: The Animated Series” along with other famous (in the nerd realm) writers and producers Paul Dini and Alan Burnett.
Dini and Timm have worked together in other series such as “Superman: The Animated Series”, the “Batman Beyond” series, the non-DC related “Freakazoid!” series, also directed by the award-winning Stephen Spielberg. The dynamic duo didn’t stop at TV shows though, they worked on movies such as “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” at the turn of the millennium, the animated retelling of “Batman: Under the Red Hood”, following the events and arc of the 2nd Robin, Jason Todd. Most influential, “Batman: Mask of The Phantasm”, widely regarded as one of the greatest Batman films and most comic-accurate depiction of Gotham’s knight.
A man of many talents, Timm also voiced minor roles in what he produced. One of the standout episodes he voiced a character in was “Beware The Gray Ghost” which was quite the full circle moment for Batman fans of all ages. In the episode, a series of crimes takes place in exact accordance and execution of an old show “The Gray Ghost” Batman watched with his father. Batman finds the actor who played The Gray Ghost, now washed-up, and asks for his help. Adam West voices the has-been, who was also in a series of Westerns, served as mayor in Family Guy for quite some time, and most notably, was the first Batman in color on TV and have his own movie. West died in 2017 to leukemia, with his last credit being an animated movie of the 1966 Batman facing off against Two-Face. Timm portrays the antagonist, “The Mad Bomber” who gets what he deserves in the end and Adam West’s character encounters a second wind of fame.
And finally, for comic credentials, He’s worked on Dark Horse’s “Adventure of the Mask” a comic anti-hero better known from his 1994 film, various He-Man comic adaptations, and a myriad of DC issues. In full, Timm has been a powerful force for DC, shaping the public’s view of the Batman character, and a mastermind behind plenty of 90’s Saturday morning cartoons.
