Batman: The Brave and the Bold

This past Tuesday saw the release of "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" Season 3, the final nail in the coffin of this amazing series.  Initially, fans balked at a lighter Batman cartoon, one not starring Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight.  But those that gave it a fair shake were delighted to find a high quality series that paid homage to nearly every interpretation of the Caped Crusader throughout his long history.

Named after the long-running comic book that featured Batman teaming up with various other DC stars, the show mimicked that format by pairing Batman with a seemingly random cast of characters... not just one per episode, but usually two, via the introductory bumpers at the beginning of each episode.  But due to licensing, the producers focused on a small group of recurring characters, Aquaman, The Atom, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Plastic Man and Red Tornado. 

 Aquaman, in particular, broke out as a fan favorite and headlined his own episode "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure" as well as other segments.  This interpretation was more, ahem, enthusiastic about his adventuring than his stoic comic book source.  His supporting cast included his wife Mera and their mopey teenage son Arthur Jr.

Perhaps the most fondly remembered episode is "Mayhem of the Music Meister" starring Neil Patrick Harris as the titular villain, featuring several musical numbers.  The episode was so popular, the soundtrack was released on iTunes.

Speaking of musical numbers, this last boxed set includes the episode "The Mask of Matches Malone" which has never aired or been released in the US due to a racy song and dance by Black Canary, Catwoman and Huntress, where they poke fun at the various male heroes' sexual potency.  In fact, the version included on the DVD is doctored.  When Huntress refers to Aquaman's "little fish" in the original, she makes a gesture with her finger.  On the DVD, the camera pans over to an aquarium!  Are we that prudish, WB?  Check out the original below:

Initially, the producers chose to focus on lesser known heroes... plus, they couldn't get permission to use Superman or Wonder Wonder Woman (although they appeared with their backs to the camera in a Justice League group shot).  Superman kinda made an appearance in "The Super Batman of Planet X" where Batman encountered an extraterrestrial version of himself that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Man of Steel.  Finally, the other big two popped up in Season 3.  Wonder Woman debuted in an opening bumper, rescuing Batman and Steve Trevor from the Baroness Paula Von Gunther... to the original Wonder Woman theme song from the 70s!  Superman appears next, in the full-length "Battle of the Super Heroes."  Both heroes appear in "Triumvirate of Terror" facing off against their arch enemies, The Joker, Lex Luthor and The Cheetah.

But as I said, the thing the writers and producers prided themselves on was pairing Batman with the most off-the-wall DC characters they could think of, from B'Wanna Beast to Wild West cowboy Jonah Hex to future-dwelling Kamandi to the Haunted Tank to Detective Chimp and beyond.  By the final season, however, it seems all bets were off, with Batman joining forces with Space Ghost, Scooby Doo, Wierd Al Yankovick, Jeffrey Ross and even Abraham Lincoln!

Not only were the character selections wild at times, but so were some of the concepts the creators chose to adapt.  They adapted the famous Mad Magazine parody "Bat Boy and Rubin" and Jiro Kuwata's Batman Manga from Japan (in which the Dark Knight battled Lord Death Man).

The final episode is a meta look back, with Bat-Mite (voiced by Paul Rubens) trying to get "The Brave and the Bold" cancelled in favor of a darker Batman series.  It's actually quite clever and the final gathering in the Bat Cave of all of the show's guest stars (including B'Wanna Beast, somehow alive again after dying in "The Seige of Starro") was a lovely send off.

This series broke the moldon what a Batman show had to be.  It didn't have to be dark or dramatic.  It could be lighter and funny and still be Batman.  There is a new Batman show coming up, but I doubt any upcoming super hero series reaches the goofy but glorious heights of this show.

Anne Hatheway as Selina Kyle

I know I said I didn't care about The Dark Knight Rises, but I do still care about glamor and HOW gorgeous does Anne Hatheway look in these set pics? She is completely channeling Audrey Hepburn and looking Fer-o-cious!


Just flawless!

It Begins!

My first review for Sciencefiction.com is up! Go check it out!
http://sciencefiction.com/2011/09/08/comic-book-review-animal-man-1/

Guess Who's A Professional Writer!

So, you may have noticed that I haven't been posting very much over the past few weeks. I must admit, part of it was just lack of topics. The other part is that I was in negotiations to join the team at Sciencefiction.com as a professional writer. (Bookmark it now, before you forget!) Unfortunately, Patrick, the site's owner had other commitments and was busy, so the process took several weeks... several excruciating weeks on my end. But finally, things worked out, thanks to my old friend Brian who already writes for the site and now, I'm officially on board!

Brian, myself and another writer, Scott, will be covering the New 52... all of it! That's a lotta books, so we've divided them up and here's what I will be covering. First this coming week, starting on 09/07, look for my takes on...
Animal Man... which Newsarama proclaimed to be the BEST book in the entire 52 lineup, so I am really intrigued there!
Batwing... I'm certain I got this one because of the pink and teal suit, since all my clothes in real life are pink and teal. (That's only barely not true.) I also think I got all the minority characters, except Firestorm. Hmmm.
Hawk & Dove and...
O.M.A.C., both of which I think I got because I'm the new guy and neither of the other two wanted to read them.

The following week, starting on 09/14, look for my takes on...
Batwoman... which I can already tell you is going to be faaaaaabulous!
Demon Knights, another book with strong buzz!
Mr. Terrific, because I ain't white!
Superboy... one from which I really don't know what to expect, so we'll see...

On the week of 09/21, I'll be reviewing...
Birds of Prey, wherein, I will spend many paragraphs going on about Black Canary's new sandals.
The mysterious, Dr. Manhattan Captain Atom!
The bra-less wonder, Catwoman! Just one of the trifecta of super divas...
The kneepads-free, Supergirl!
And of course, you know I gotsta review Wonder Woman, ya'll!

And finally, on 9/27, look for my reviews for...
Aquaman! See Batwoman!
Military action with the Blackhawks!
It's like Twilight, except a comic book! I, Vampire!
And finally, the Savage Hawkman! There better be a Ferocious Hawkgirl in the book, sooner than later!

And of course, I will be reading a whole lot more of these books than that, so should I feel compelled to write about those, be sure and look for my musings right back here! I am THRILLED by this opportunity and hope it works out in the long run! So tell all your friends and make sure to leave copious comments so they think I'm doing a good job!

Henry Cavill as Superman WAY Up Close

And for good reason. With DC's decision to remove the "underwear" from pretty much all of their super suits, it's kind of the end of an era. Heroes OWNED that look for decades. Now suddenly, it's passe'?
But now we see that regardless, the trunks has been abandoned and the new Superman, portrayed by painfully handsome Henry Cavill is indeed undies-free. And belt and cape-free in these pics.
You know what though? Is it just me, or does the lack of shorts make this suit even MORE sexual than Brandon Routh's? There was all that hubbub about Routh's package and whether it had been enhanced or diminished by CGI. Looking at Cavill, it's like "boi-oi-oi-oing!" I'm lost. I don't even know what to think anymore.

Justice League #1 - Review

Well. That was... okaaaaaaay. I guess.

Actually, it's kinda funny that this issue had a special midnight release (a first for a comic book!) and still, there are like no reviews of it online anywhere. Hardly any message board talk. It's awful quiet out there. Is that a sign of things to come?

Alright, so Spoiler Alerts on high after this point. First of all, ignore the (multiple) covers, because this issue doesn't star the Justice League. Set five years ago, this opening storyline will tell of the formation of this team, so in the beginning they operate entirely on their own, to the point that they're not even sure if the others are real or urban legends. It's evident that the general populace is aware of Super Humans, but these beings haven't become icons yet, with the possible exception of Superman. So, no, you don't get to see the full assembled might of the Justice League this early on.

This is modern decompressed story-telling at it's most decompressed. In other words, it'll probably read a lot better in the trade, another sign of the times. I'm not complaining, but as much as I want to continue reading monthly comics, it sucks getting just a tiny snippet of story. You don't watch a movie in ten minute increments (one a month, no less!), why are you reading a similar type of story that way? I think we may eventually see the death of the "floppy" to be honest. Folks don't mind waiting two years between installments of a movie or book series. I think comics needs to embrace and adopt that. It would have been brilliant to get the ENTIRE first story arc of the Justice League, even knowing it would be six months to a year before I'd get to read the second.

I don't know if this is simply the way the story organically flowed from Geoff Johns or if it was a wink-wink, but the ONLY heroes featured in this first issue are Green Lantern (whom Johns is responsible for making a super star, which led to him getting his own movie this summer) and Batman (the character, illustrator Jim Lee is most identified with at DC). You get two cameos, a teenage Vic Stone, not yet a Cyborg and... maybe I shouldn't say, but another hero pops up at the end and it's not really a surprise.

Prior to this, they kept saying that even though the line was relaunching, this wasn't a hard reboot and a lot of the stories that have been published over the years would still remain intact. One story that obviously won't is the original origin of the Justice League as this story isn't it at all. (But let's be honest, the first origin wasn't exactly the best story anyway.) What we get is Batman and Green Lantern crossing paths as they both pursue a fire-breathing, shape-shifting extraterrestrial. Long-term DC fans should recognize the alien's basic design as one of Darkseid's Parademons, but the fire-breathing and shape-shifting are new... and not entirely uncool additions. Let's face it Parademons were just monster-y, flying soldiers with ray guns. Making them actually kinda demonic is a neat idea.

The Parademon plants a Mother Box (another element familiar to longtime readers) then self destructs, hoping to take the two heroes out with him. (Obviously that doesn't happen.) It's probably just me, but the thought of Parademons planting bombs at various locations recalls both the Super Friends story featuring the Global Guardians that I wrote about recently and the episode of Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians called "Seeds of Doom." Yup. Just me.

The take on Batman is pretty definitive and straightforward; somber, determined, precise, excellent at what he does. Oh and likes skulking in shadows. Then you go and throw big, glowing Green Lantern in the mix and the sparks fly. I must say though, I was very disappointed in GL here. He is supposed to be kind of cocky and all, but he kept saying over and over "My ring can do anything!" And it seemingly can, as he uses it to do far more than fire rays and make giant boxing gloves. I dunno though. The Power Ring fire department was a big much for me to swallow. But Lee's art is as hyper-detailed and energetic as was to be expected, so these are the most intricate ring constructs I've ever seen! Even so, hate to say it, GL comes off as an arrogant asshole. Batman's always kind of an asshole, but there should be something more affable about GL.

Fans of the other heroes will be disappointed. None of them makes an appearance, beyond like I said, one who pops up at the very end, to set up next issue. So far the story flows organically. I guess it's kind of neat that they didn't go the traditional route with this and delivered something new.

GL and Batman were two who got off easy on the costume do-overs, so they pretty much look how they are supposed to. We'll have to wait and see how well Wonder Woman and the rest look once they show up. There isn't enough for me to really say how well this story will end up being, but it's off to a decent enough start.

I suppose after all the build-up, there was no way this was going to come out and just melt fans' brains. It works. That's all I can really say about it. It didn't suck. I shall continue reading.

Happy Reboot Eve!

So after all the hype, doom-decreeing, dread, scorn, speculation, confusion, misinterpretation and pants turning into shorts, tonight at the stroke of midnight, a giant DC logo --> will descend from the heavens and Clark Kent will go to kiss Lois Lane, who will then slap him (possibly breaking her hand in the process) because they aren't married (and may never have been) and she has a new fella. Yup, the dawn of the DCnU is nigh! Let's cut the bullshit. This is gonna be huge! We're going to see record numbers on these books. NO ONE, no matter how pissed off they are, is NOT going to buy the shit outta these books! I mean, we can't complain if we don't actually read the books, right? Yeah, a certain number of fans have already made up their minds... they're either all on board or leaving DC forever. Those that will be exiting Earth left, have already decided that these are abominations and that's exactly what they'll see when they look at Justice League and Lee's stylized, hyper-detailed art and they will decry that Geoff Johns is an overrated hack and just Dan DiDio's goon.

Where do I fall in the spectrum of DC has always been lame! It's about time they updated their characters! and Fuck this new shit!? I dunno... in the middle? I'm not thrilled with it, let's just get that out of the way. I'm not! But DiDio's been pretty frank that they were hemorrhaging readers as-is. People were leaving the hobby (and technically, it is just a hobby) in droves. A lot have transitioned from monthly "floppies" to "wait for the trades." I do that with certain titles, because it's nice to have the whole story there for the enjoyment. Then there's the recession. Let's face it, money doesn't stretch as far as it used to, and at $4 a pop for something it takes you fifteen minutes to read (at most), comics are kind of an indulgence.

So, I suppose SOMETHING had to be done. And let's face it, when was the last time DC has EVER generated this much buzz? Have they ever? The death of Superman, maybe? But EVERYONE is talking about this and reacting to it. Marvel attempted to drum up interest in its current crossover, Fear Itself, by offering comic retailers the option of tearing the covers off of their unsold DC Flashpoint (the lead-in to this relaunch) titles in exchange for an ultra-rare Fear Itself book, that they could sell at a considerable mark-up. Every comic message board and fansite... THIS has been the leading topic of conversation since its announcement, yea or nay.

I'm in a weirdly zen place with all of this. I love my classic DC Universe... including tons and tons of classic, silly Silver Age tales. I have a small collection of Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane comics, many of which consist of Lois turning into some monstrosity or traveling through time or gaining super powers... none of which "really happened" in the (until midnight) current DC Universe. See, I came of age during the Crisis on Infinite Earths era. I started ravenously reading comics, old and new around the age of eight, so I quickly discovered the long and rich history of DC Comics and how it was explained that any stories prior to the early 50s took place on Earth 2, so there were two Supermen, one old (Earth2) and one young (Earth 1). Only the young one had his own comics. The older one just popped up in guest appearances every so often. Ditto Wonder Woman. There had been two Batmen, but the older one died, and his daughter continued fighting crime on Earth 2 as The Huntress (-->). There were also older parallel Earth versions of The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom and Hawkman, but those were different people altogether, with different alter egos, costumes and powers. Black Canary was originally from Earth 2, but came to live on Earth 1 (yet she remained remarkably youthful compared to her former allies). Ah! It was then revealed that Black Canary was actually NOT the original heroine from Earth 2, but rather her daughter! Thaaaaat's better!

And there were MORE! There was Earth 3, where instead of a Justice League of America, there existed a Crime Syndicate of America, featuring evil doppelgangers of Superman and friends! And the stars of that Shazam! cartoon I watched on Saturday morning? They lived on Earth S (later renamed Earth 5, which looks like an S in comic book font) and occasionally met up with the heroes from the mainstream DCU. In one of my earliest comic books, Wonder Woman teamed up with other female heroes from different Earths, including Phantom Lady, who it turned out, lived on Earth X, a world where the Nazis had won World War II!

And so forth and so on. Then came Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC streamlined its continuity, removing all parallel Earths... not only did they no longer exist, but they never existed to begin with. Extraneous characters like the older versions of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman were removed from all continuity. There never had been a Superman or Wonder Woman or Batman in the 1930s-40s. Period. All those wacky adventures the heroes had had during the 50s and 60s? Never happened. In fact, Wonder Woman's ENTIRE history was wiped out and she debuted as a brand new characters that no one had previously encountered! The Huntress (and Earth 2's Robin) were killed... then quickly vanished from everyone's memory... they never existed either.

It was a jumbled mess, but fans rolled with it and DC saw sales skyrocket with the reinvention of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. Both Superman and Batman had their pasts revised to make them more contemporary and realistic. Gone were some of Superman's goofier powers like Super Ventriloquism. Batman's history was darker, grittier and more urban. (His supporting cast was likewise grounded. The former "bored socialite," Catwoman, was now a former prostitute.)

It all made sense with time... okay, some of it never made sense, but they did what they could to explain away the loss of Superman's time as Superboy and its impact on the Legion of Super Heroes. If Wonder Woman was just debuting as a hero, then what's up with her sister Wonder Girl who still has a history with the Teen Titans? Power Girl was the Supergirl of Earth 2. Now there's not even a Supergirl of Earth 1! They cooked up their "Pocket Universe Superboy" who served with the Legion and revised Wonder Girl's origin, removing Wonder Woman and instead making her a disciple of the "Titans of Myth" and renaming her Troia. And Power Girl was the descendant of "an ancient Atlantian sorcerer."

But ya know what? All those silly old stories from the 50s and 60s? They still existed. They didn't magically vanish into the either like The Huntress and Earth 2's Robin. I kept buying and reading those quirky, charming old tales and enjoyed the hell out of them, just as much as I did the modern comics of the time. Okay, so the "real" Superman and Batman never had to deal with that time Bat-Mite gave Batwoman super powers and she made a mess out of things. But A Superman and Batman did. They were a more jovial and friendly pair. They smiled a lot and had barrel chests and told kids to drink their milk. What can I say, I'm a sucker for nostalgia (even for a time from before my parents were born) and Americana. Heck, I was a kid! I was still reading Archie comics and these wacky tales were certainly no more silly than those!

What's more, the Super Friends comic, the one that got me into comics to begin with, that was its own universe! The Dark Knight Returns, the blockbuster book of the late 80s that everyone was fawning over? That was also not part of DC's official continuity. So even though they'd eliminated parallel worlds, they kept popping up, to the point that in the 90s, DC established its own imprint called Elseworlds, which featured alternate takes on its heroes, such as a Batman in Victorian times, matching wits with Jack the Ripper. And several characters like Swamp Thing and the Sandman, that had existed in the mainstream DC Universe, were then established as living in a separate comic line, Vertigo and were no longer part of the DC Universe. What's more, suddenly they never had been!

But I'd read the story where the Justice League interacted with Swamp Thing. Suddenly, that no longer happened? It was still a great story. So were all those Justice League stories that included Wonder Woman... they weren't cannon, but that didn't make them not exist. The Super Friends wasn't "real?" I still loved them.

And thus in a few short hours, everything that has happened since Crisis on Infinite Earths until the present will suddenly "no longer have happened." Or "maybe happened, maybe didn't." Or "happened, but in a different way." Been there. Done that. Further more, got over it. I survived the first Crisis and DC's slightly bungled aftermath. I think I can handle this. Worse case? Shitty comics. I can just not read those. Best... hell even just okay... case? Good comics. Fun comics. Fresh comics! Maybe even... great comics? Could that happen? These heroes have endured one continuity Crisis after another and they always manage to come out okay in the end. Supergirl? Died in the first Crisis. She's back. Different, but back. Batgirl? Paralyzed after the first Crisis. Oh hey, look who's back in her own book! Huntress? Back times two, actually. It might take years, but these guys are tough. They can handle it. Can we?

Super Powers Print and Are You Ready?

Check out this AMAZING Super Powers print by Tom Whalen aka StrongStuff on Deviant Art. This print is limited to 250 copies and is actually available for $99, which is incredibly reasonable. Hmmmm... I love that even Clark Kent, who was a mail-in figure and The Riddler, who was only released in foreign markets (and was a repainted Green Lantern) are included. I especially like how Brainiac and The Penguin, two of the original bad guys (along with Lex and the Joker) are given special representation. Just WOW!
I've sat down to blog nearly every day this week and nothing has come out. Guess this is the calm before the storm. There really hasn't been much going on, other than DC wrapping up its comics line to set the stage for next week's relaunch. The relaunch is huge, too. The pre-order numbers are the biggest this year, so retailers are expecting pretty much everyone that reads comics to pick these up just out of curiosity and I think they're right.

Other than that, Mattel did not meet the numbers needed for the DC subscription to go forward, however it would appear they are crunching numbers now to see what can be done. No official statement is expected until next week. It would be nice if the people who committed to subscription actually got something, but we shall see.

Images from the set of Superman popped up, showing villain Faora.
As you can see, Superman is indeed trunks-free in this version. Hate. The main problem with that, is, to me, this makes him look more like Ultra Man, the "evil Superman" from the Crime Syndicate.
Ultra Man is a copy of Superman. He looks like Superman; Superman shouldn't look like him. Tsk. Let the dread begin.

And uh... yeah, that's all.