How can a Batman cartoon fail? The Caped Crusader -- the Dark Knight Detective! -- is surely among the most beloved (if not the most beloved) of all superhero characters. And yet here we are, watching as his newest animated incarnation, Beware the Batman , faces an uncertain fate.

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As IGN’s own Eric Goldman reported yesterday , Cartoon Network abruptly pulled the animated series from its schedule this week with no explanation or announcement. A new episode had been scheduled to air (after a normal three-week break of reruns) on Saturday during the DC Nation block of programming, but now not only is that not happening, but Beware won’t even get a repeat in its regular slot. (Two episodes of Teen Titans Go! will run in the block instead of the usual Beware/TTG! pairing.)Now, the reason this is so unsettling to fans is that it was just about a year ago that a similar thing happened to the shows that used to represent DC Nation: Young Justice and the Green Lantern animated series. They were pulled, the network didn’t give a reason, and then months later they quietly had their remaining episodes burned off. Some fans call it the “Great Animated Superhero Purge of 2013.” I call it “How to Alienate Your Audience and Not Communicate With Them in the Golden Age of Fan/Creator Social Media and Interaction.”And I was just saying in my review of the last Beware the Batman episode to air that it seemed a bit cruel that DC Nation still uses Young Justice interstitials during the programming block. I mean, people are still complaining about that show’s fate… But it seems to speak to a certain tone-deafness regarding how Cartoon Network relates to the fans of these shows.Now that said, even though we don’t have an official reason for what has happened to Beware, we can take a pretty good guess. And out of fairness to CN, it probably comes down to numbers at least in part: Beware the Batman’s ratings lag behind not only Teen Titans Go! but also the previous animated Caped Crusader series that ran on the channel, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. So why can’t Beware attract a Teen Titans Go!-sized audience? I mean, this is a Batman show for crying out loud!I think part of the problem could be the TV-CGI approach the series took, which has been a bit of an issue even for many of the fans who have been watching since the first episode (although it’s something most folks seem to acclimate to, especially when they get a feel for the strong writing of the series). Not just that, but the show’s attempts to take a new approach with Batman haven’t helped it either: You don’t get any of Batman’s A-list villains on this series, and nor do you get Robin (lesser known baddies and the character Katana fill those roles, respectively). The problem is, in trying to go in a new direction as the umpteenth Batman cartoon in recent memory -- which is an admirable approach to be sure, and one that I feel has worked very well so far -- many of the familiar tropes of the Bat-world aren’t present to draw the average would-be viewer in. Instead, possible new audience members just see a sorta funny-looking CGI Batman and an Alfred who doesn’t seem like Alfred at all.And then there’s another element that can’t be ignored: humor. There seems to be a trend away from traditional action cartoons these days, a fact that DC’s competition seems to be aware of with its animated slate. Look at a show like Ultimate Spider-Man, for example, with its constant barrage of winking asides and one-liners. Kids like that stuff, even if it doesn’t always work as well for the rest of us. And I can tell you that my five-year old really digs Ultimate Spidey, and much of that appeal comes from the humor. (He’s also a big fan of Beware the Batman, but hey… he’s got me around to keep him on target!)But one also gets the sense that maybe Cartoon Network doesn’t care all that much about its DC properties, that they’re more of a corporate inconvenience than anything else (CN and DC being part of the Time Warner conglomerate). The DC Nation block -- which could be a mighty force, and is actually pretty cool with its highly original Superhero Shorts scattered in with the main shows -- feels like it’s mostly ignored and ghettoized by the network. Do they promote it much? I was just at New York Comic-Con last week and I don’t think I saw anything DC Nation related. Of course, this is a subjective thing; perhaps the block is heavily advertised somewhere and I’m just not aware of it. But I don’t get that feeling at all.And there’s another aspect to a move like this, which is the deflating effect it has on the fans of the show who have already been tuning in each and every week since the premiere. Beware the Batman has been something of a slow burn in its first 11 episodes, but a rewarding one at that. But given that we all now have to wait an undetermined amount of time to continue the story of Batman and Katana, coupled with the fact that this is in all likelihood the only season of the show, means that many pre-existing viewers will likely feel less inclined to return for the remaining episodes when they finally do air… which, in turn, means lower viewership numbers, which then confirms to the network that they are right to not support the show anymore. It’s like the opposite of The Lion King’s circle of life -- it’s the circle of animation death! (Sounds like something a Batman villain would say, actually.)Cartoon Network gave IGN this statement regarding Beware: "Currently, Beware the Batman is no longer on our air. DC Nation will continue on Saturday mornings at 10/9c with new exclusive shorts and a full hour of encore episodes of Teen Titans Go!" And Anthony Ruivivar, who voices Batman on the show, has tweeted that the series will be back in January. (It’s unclear where he got that information from or if he’s just repeating the rumors that we’re all hearing.)But in the meantime, I have to figure out how to break it to my kid that there’s no new Batman on TV… How can you explain something like that?

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