Batman: The Ultimate Evil the project, allowing Vachss to take some creative liberties. At a party, Bruce Wayne meets Debra Kane, a caseworker with Child Protective Services. He asks to join her while she visits clients. She agrees and shows him the varying degrees of child abuse she encounters in the course of her job. Wanting to understand the factors behind child abuse, Bruce, as Batman, breaks into Hellgate Prison and talks with an informant who points him to a child pornography and prostitution ring. Bruce's butler Alfred Pennyworth reveals that Bruce's mother, Martha Wayne, had been secretly investigating a similar child prostitution ring,
Batman: The Animated Series premiered on The WB, featuring a teenager named Terry McGinnis taking on the duties of Batman under the guidance of an elderly Bruce Wayne. Then in 2001, the "Justice League" animated series premiered on Cartoon Network, featuring Batman as one of the founding members of the League. This was continued in 2004 by "Justice League Unlimited", featuring a greatly expanded League. Many DC cartoons unrelated to the larger DC animated universe, such as "Teen Titans" and "The Batman", also featured character designs strongly influenced by those of Bruce Timm. The dramatic writing and stylized art of "Batman: The Animated Series"