Batman: The Animated Series, Volume 4 (DC Comics Classic Collection)
The fourth and final volume ofBatman: The Animated Seriesis a little uneven but still encompasses some great episodes.  Start with "Over the Edge," a nightmarish scenario in which Commissioner Gordon dedicates himself to hunting down Batman following the death of his daughter, Batgirl.  "Critters" is a tribute to Japanese monster movies, "Mad Love" recounts the origin of Harley Quinn, and "Legends of the Dark Knight" animates both a '50s-styled Batman adventure as well as a scene from Frank Miller'sReturn of the Dark Knight.  This run of 24 episodes has a lot of Batgirl, too little Nightwing, and a lot of the new Robin, Tim Drake, whose origin is explained in "Sins of the Father."  Drake gets a mostly solo adventure, Batgirl teams with Supergirl, and there's still a sense of fun, with goofy humor that includes an appearance by the Three Stooges as the Joker's henchmen.  Guest voices include Sela Ward as Calendar Girl and Tippi Hedren, and Mark Hamill continues the excellent work as the Joker that created some early rumors about his taking the live-action role in the sequel toBatman Begins.  By this time, Batman had become part of theBatman/Superman Hour, so viewers can choose the opening sequence for either that or the original animated series.  That, as well as the unbalanced number of episodes in the seasons (e.g., the first season of the animated series was 60 episodes), is whyBatman: The Animated Serieswas released in volumes rather than as single-season sets.--David Horiuchi