Batman: The animated series

Just look at that intro, from the very first second it sets the mood perfectly and prepares you for whats to come. The music is by Danny Elfman who also made the intro for The Simpsons.

From the intro to the titlecards, Batman TAS had a very strong and unique style that as far as im concerned probably never will be surpassed, because of the attention to detail and the use of classic influences (compare for example Gothams silhouette to the city in Metropolis posters or Harvey Bullock to Mike Hammer) 

                                                         (title card)

the Title cards give either a vibe of art deco thanks to the use of the retrotech-ish fonts, or the titlescreens of horror movies of old. But the series holds a very strong noir-feel throughout and its dark, holy shit it is dark, remember this was a kids show. I doubledare you to find something that holds the balance between grim and menacing and playfully corky at times as well as this show did. The show also benefitted from having the best protagonist ever - what separated Batman: TAS from every other superhero show of the time was at the end of the day, the source material.

Batman didn't become a superhero by chance like Spiderman or even Superman
(Superman would just be Regularman on his own planet). Batman became a hero because he had to, shit had to be done and he rose to the occasion. Because of Batmans hardcore nature he also had to have the baddest motherfuckers antagonizing him, and the list of bad guys is amazing; the dynamic between Batman and The Joker is just downright awesome. They're each others polar opposites and perfect enemies. Batman cant kill Joker, thats his only rule, he'll fuck everybody up but no deaths, Joker knows this and uses this to his advantage constantly.

The formula usually goes;
Joker does something evil in a hilarious manner
Confrontation
Joker gets caught and sent to Arkham (or skip to next)
Joker escapes and starts plotting new pranks

The real point is that he always comes back.

                           Have i ever told you the definition of insanity?


Its the struggle between clinically perfect and clinically insane, Batman may come and go but he always plays by the rules while Joker just flips the gameboard upside down and laughs.