Tagged: Spider-Man

Review: ‘Justice League the Complete Series’

Review: ‘Justice League the Complete Series’

For those who only knew the Justice League of America as the Super Friends must have been in for a rude awakening when they sat to watch the Justice League
animated series with their kids. From 2001 through 2006, the Cartoon Network offered up what has since gone on to be recognized as the greatest comics adaptation of all time.

Super-heroes moving from the printed page to animated film have had a checkered path from Filmation’s 1966 [[[Superman]]] through Ruby-Spears’ 1988 effort with the Man of Steel. In between, there were some highlights such as 1968’s [[[Spider-Man]]] and some really low moments including the 1977 [[[Batman]]] show. The problem is that super-heroes need conflict in which to use their powers and abilities. With every passing year, parents fretted over the amount of violence their children were expose to, coupled with concerns over the kids imitating the exploits in real life and causing themselves harm.

Any super-hero in the 1970s and early 1980s found that they could no longer duke it out with villains and their powers were used instead to stop natural disasters or rescue the proverbial kitten stuck in a tree. Some shows rose above the restrictions and proved entertaining but largely they were weak and short-lived.

That all changed thanks to Tim Burton. His 1989 Batman feature film reminded audiences what was good about comic books and their heroes. It forced everyone to re-examine comic book adaptations and prompted Warner Bros. to try a new Batman animated series. In the hands of producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, they rewrote the rule book and produced an amazing series.

That in turn gave us Superman so it was logical to follow with the Justice League. Along with James Tucker, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie and others, the JLA never looked better. Now, all 91 episodes are collected for the first time in a two volume tin boxed set and it’s a joy to behold.

Warner Home Video essentially took the season sets and repackaged them for Justice League: The Complete Series
, so the discs are broken down by season and disc number while the accompanying booklets count the discs from 1-14, so you have to carefully count discs to find a favorite episode. One nice aspect is that all the original extras are therefore included so there’s a rich amount of material to sift through. Unique to this set, on sale Tuesday, is a 15th disc containing “Unlimited Reserve: Exploring the Depths of the DC Universe”, a 16 minute chat with the producers discussing the joys of adapting the comics for a new generation of fans.

The nicest thing about the show, as either [[[Justice League]]] or [[[Justice League Unlimited]]], is the fidelity it paid to the source material. Yes, they altered a great many things, but nothing felt gratuitously done. The heroes and villains looked and acted appropriately plus the comic book conventions of sub-plots and continuity carried over nicely. There was a strong emphasis on characterization, for all the players. As a result, many JLAers had nice arcs, notably [[[Wonder Woman]]] who went from rookie hero to a true Amazon Princess. Hawkgirl’s seeming betrayal and subsequent redemption played well, too.

There far more hits than misses and no doubt everyone has a favorite story or arc. The eight-episode arc of the League versus Cadmus holds up very well and shows many sides to the issue of, ahem, “[[[Who Watches the Watchmen?]]]”  During this, the Question quickly becomes a major player and wonderfully used. Similarly, the League’s rejection of the Huntress or Captain Marvel’s resignation show that not everyone is cut out to be a hero or a team player. All the characters have distinct personalities, which was most welcome.

The show is crammed full of super-heroes drawn from throughout the entire DC Universe from Spy Smasher to Aztek. Just about everyone is superbly voiced from the familiar Kevin Conroy as Batman to Jeffrey Coombs as The Question. Guest voices are also welcome, with some sly winks from the producers such as Jodi Benson’s Aquagirl or The Wonder Years’ Fred Savage and Jason Hervey as Hawk and Dove.

This is most definitely worth owning or finding under your Christmas tree this season.

Review: ‘Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Vol. 2’

Review: ‘Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Vol. 2’

With three networks programming cartoons from 8 a.m. until just about noon throughout the 1960s, there was a rich variety of characters, situations, and styles. While Hanna-Barbera pretty much owned the first half of the decade, Filmation and others arrived and brought some different looks.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell from the second volume of Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s, coming out Tuesday from Warner Home Video. Making return appearances are [[[The Jetsons]]],[[[Magilla Gorilla]]], [[[Atom Ant]]], and the [[[Looney Tunes]]] gang instead of shows yet to be sampled.

New for the second volume, which was sent for review, are [[[The Space Kidettes]]], [[[Samson & Goliath]]], and [[[The Adventures of Gulliver]]]. [[[The Kidettes]]], a show I had forgotten about, ran for a single season, 1966-1967, and featured four adorable tykes living in their space clubhouse (a converted Gemini capsule) and outwitting the nefarious Captain Skyhook. Two cute for words.

Samson may have inadvertently inspired Roy Thomas with  a teen, Samson, gained an enhanced form and super-powers by clanging together his bracelets, saying “I need Samson Power” and transformed into an adult hero. Clanging them a second time turned his trusty dog into a powerful lion, Goliath. No secret identities and lots of fighting evil organizations. The stories are predictable and Samson seems devoid of personality.

The one featurette, Completely Bananas: The Magilla Gorilla Story is short but points out this 1964 series was the end of an era for animal-centric series with H-B’s [[[Jonny Quest]]] about to debut and a move towards more human adventures. And as the super-heroes rapidly burned themselves out after just two seasons, networks sought other stories such as ABC’s The Adventures of Gulliver. The disc provides the pilot episode showing how the boy, Gary Gulliver, and his dog Bib survived a shipwreck and washed ashore on the very “lost” island they sought with Gary’s dad, now presumed missing. While Gary is drawn straight, the Lilliputians are cartoony and comical but a détente is achieved.

The disc also includes fresh installments of Wally Gator, Ricochet Rabbit, Mushmouth and Pumpkin’ Puss and their template, [[[Tom & Jerry]]. And assorted other features far more familiar than the above.

The two-disc set does not feel as fresh and inviting as the first and that could be because the mix isn’t as strong this time or, the nostalgia has worn after since the first volume came out earlier this year. Clearly, this is for the late Baby Boomers hoping to relive those years.

Once again there’s the absurd advisory about the material not suitable for this year’s kids.

For a true feel for the decade, we should have had [[[Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales]]], [[[Fireball XL-5]]], [[[Jonny Quest]]], [[[Superman]]], [[[Spider-Man]]], [[[Banana Splits]]], [[[Wacky Races]]], and of course [[[George of the Jungle]]]. Rights issues, no doubt, prevented this from being properly representative.

Review: ‘The Marvel Encyclopedia – Updated and Expanded’

Review: ‘The Marvel Encyclopedia – Updated and Expanded’

The Marvel Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded

400 pages, DK Books, $40

These days, you can’t follow Marvel’s or DC’s continuities without a scorecard and thankfully more than a few reference sources have arrived to help out. The latest is DK’s 70th Anniversary contribution, a revised version of 2006’s [[[The Marvel Encyclopedia]]]. What a difference three years can make to continuity.

The key difference in the editions is the addition of pages, bringing the total to a hefty 400 pages. DK did everyone a favor and kept the cover price consistent at $40. Frank Cho’s cover is replaced with a Brandon Peterson piece that attempts to reflect the full history of the Marvel heroes. Matt Forbeck deftly took the original text, written by a quintet of experts such as Tom DeFalco and Peter Sanderson, and brought dozens of entries up to date in addition to adding entirely new ones where warranted. The crack design team replaced only a handful of images to existing entries but where they expanded or added new entries, the art nicely reflects the subject matter.

Forbeck’s updates take readers into the Dark Reign era but merely its beginnings so many of the events in the second half of 2009 are not reflected in the text. It might have been better to cut things off after Secret Invasion. As it is, some key events — Aunt May’s wedding to J. Jonah Jameson’s father, Brother Voodoo not listed as next sorcerer supreme, Firestar’s cancer — are missing. I also think Emma Frost, Nick Fury, Rick Jones and Speedball’s current situations get short shrift. And while many new entries are welcome, some stand out characters are missing such as Jameson’s father, Peter Parker’s new supporting cast, Ezekiel, Valeria Richards and each member of The Twelve. Also, the war and western characters are barely represented which is a shame. Similarly, only a few of the 2099 and M2 characters are here.

New spreads covering the significant modern day events – Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Annihilation – make the book feel nicely up to date but then older events such as the Kree/Skrull War and Secret Wars now feel overlooked. It would have been nice if the Fifty- State Initiative spread actually listed which heroes covered which states or which humans were replaced by Skrulls in the SI spread but these are minor nits. A larger nit is that a few characters receive spreads showing Key Moments and while I agree that House of M is major, I refuse to accept Spider-Man vs. Anti-Venom a key moment. Fortunately, the book ends with a spread on the more prominent parallel universes which will help the less devout reader.

Production demands meant that many entries had artwork reduced to fit in new entries but overall the pages do not feel overly packed and are easy to read.  From what I can tell, just a few characters were dropped in favor of more current figures so say bye-bye to Marlo Chandler, Hornet, Libra, N’Garai, Candy Southern, and, Tana Nile.

Of the art chosen, I have very few quibbles over choices made but would have preferred a Gene Colan Dracula and would have updated the mis-proportioned Don Heck illo for Pepper Potts.

Clearly, this is a much neater and more effective updating than DK’s second edition of [[[The DC Encyclopedia]]] (which I was a coauthor on). You won’t want to miss picking up this fact-filled tome.

Big Apple Con 2009 wrap up

Big Apple Con 2009 wrap up

  • News
  • October 20, 2009

Yes, I was there. (You probably didn’t recognize me.) My general feeling is that this was the best Knights of Columbus show I ever attended.

If you’re of a certain age, you probably went to a convention like this a few times when you were young. Lots of fans, lots of comic book dealers, lots of pros and a few celebrities, and no big publishers. No movie companies. None of the corporate hard sell. Just enthusiastic people as far as the eye could see.

I found myself really having a good time there. Picked up a few trades at fire sale prices (which may be the new normal pricing– good if you’re buying, bad if you’re selling, dangerous if you’re producing), got to spend twenty minutes talking with Carol Cleveland about Monty Python and other work she’s done, shared some gossip with Rich Johnston (with each of us knowing we had juicy stories we weren’t going to tell each other), talked shop with the folks down Artist Alley making each other feel old (your daughter’s in college now? you’re forty now? I remember when you were a kid…) and did the comic book equivalent of walking into a Ferrari dealership, thumbing through Albert Moy’s original art for sale (holy cow, John Buscema pencils and Neal Adams inks? Original Watchmen pages? The cover to the first Superman/Spider-Man team-up?) The new location was a bit off the beaten path, but spacious and well filled.

I really had a much more enjoyable time than I expected. Which is why the concept of next year’s show being scheduled for the same time as New York Comic-Con is really ticking me off.

It feels like a dick move, a move done out of spite, a move that signals a war of attrition to see who goes bankrupt first. And we’re already seeing casualties: since the news of the show dates was anounced on Friday, I had a chance to ask a number of dealers which show they would attend. Many of them said they wouldn’t attend either show if they were both held the same weekend.

That’s a recipe for twin disasters. If neither Reed Expo nor Wizard World can fill their floor spaces, they’re both going to get clocked.

More wrap-up from Rich and Heidi.

ComicMix Quick Picks – September 23, 2009

ComicMix Quick Picks – September 23, 2009

Presented for your approval are these, the stories we didn’t get to yesterday.

What else did we miss? Consider this an open thread.

The Point Radio: Inside THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

The Point Radio: Inside THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

The CW series VAMPIRE DIARIES might be the first break out hit of the new TV season, but with the subject matter, that’s no big surprise.  Meet the cast of the show and find out how they are riding the crest of the Vampire Craze and how the TV series will or won’t be following the best felling novels. Plus news on the best selling comic in the last 30 days, a new TRANSFORMERS series, a FAMILY CIRCUS collection (come on, you know you love it) and Spidey is in Imax but what about 3-D?

 


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‘Spider-Man 4’ announces concurrent IMAX release

‘Spider-Man 4’ announces concurrent IMAX release

  • News
  • September 16, 2009

To the surprise of few, IMAX Corp. and Columbia Pictures announced that Spider-Man 4 will be released to IMAX theatres simultaneously with the film’s worldwide release on May 5, 2011. Spidey 4 reunites director Sam Raimi with stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, and will be the first Spidey film under the new regime.

Hence the image.

Quite seriously, if you thought the Spidey-Cam was tough to move around before, just imagine what it’s going to be like to move a Spidey-IMAX-Cam…

Does Disney buying Marvel mean ‘Spider-Man: Turn On The Dark’ is back to Broadway?

Does Disney buying Marvel mean ‘Spider-Man: Turn On The Dark’ is back to Broadway?

  • News
  • September 2, 2009

The Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark may not be as dead as previously thought.

According to a report in Variety, the rumor mill is spinning with word that the financially troubled production will resume production this week or maybe next, with at least some folks being called back to work. The production stalled earlier last month due to “cash-flow” issues. There is no official word as of yet.

They’re saying there is no connection to production on the musical picking up again and Disney acquiring Marvel, but I don’t believe that for a minute. Disney has tremendous experience working on Broadway, including Julie Taymor’s previous adaption of The Lion King for Broadway.

No word yet on if the musical will open on time… it had been set to begin previews on February 25, 2010, and officially open in March.

50 comics facts about the Class of 2013

50 comics facts about the Class of 2013

  • News
  • September 2, 2009

Every year, Beloit College puts together a list of facts regarding the mindset of the class entering college this Fall—the Class of 2013. Their list, as always, is well worth a read, but this is ComicMix, and we’re here to talk about comics, by gum.

So as we get ready to send them off to college, we wondered: what constitutes the comics status quo for them? What’s normal to these kids born in 1991 (he asks, knowing that being born in 1986 puts him in largely the same boat)? So glad you asked.

  1. The guy who did the above strip had already ended his daily strip and retired by the time these freshmen started reading newspapers.
  2. There has never been a Miracleman (or Marvelman) comic published in their lifetime.
  3. They have no idea who Don Thompson or Carol Kalish were.
  4. Gambit has always been on the X-Men.
  5. Spider-Man was always married to Mary Jane… until One More Day.
  6. There wasn’t a DC multiverse until the end of Infinite Crisis.
  7. Wally West was always the Flash, and his first sidekick was Impulse.
  8. Adam West has never been Batman—he’s best known as the mayor on Family Guy.
  9. Wolverine never wore a brown costume, and has always had a solo book.
  10. Barbara Gordon has always been in a wheelchair.
  11. Sandman has always been that pale-skinned goth guy with the hair.
  12. Batman has had three Robins: Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne.
  13. Lex Luthor has always been a businessman.
  14. Image Comics has always existed.
  15. So has Wizard Magazine.
  16. New Mutants was a short-lived series from 2003-2004, until the recent relaunch.
  17. Hank McCoy’s always been blue and furry.
  18. Elektra has always been dead.
  19. Frank Miller is the guy who did Sin City, and he never worked with Klaus Janson.
  20. There’s never been a character named “Streaky the Supercat.”
  21. The only composite Batman-Superman was a giant robot.
  22. The original Dove has always been dead.
  23. Thanos has always been searching for the Infinity Gems, so he can impress Death.
  24. Death has always been a goth chick.
  25. Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes has always been War Machine.
  26. S.H.I.E.L.D. has always stood for Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate.
  27. Kyle Rayner has always been a Green Lantern.
  28. Starman has always worn goggles and a leather jacket.
  29. John Romita. Jr. has always been known as a regular penciller for Amazing Spider-Man. John Romita, Sr. never was.
  30. Ghost Rider was Danny Ketch.
  31. Jean-Luc Picard was the first captain of the Enterprise.
  32. Cerebus the Aardvark was always a classic.
  33. Grendel has always been a Dark Horse title, except for that DC crossover.
  34. Cassie Sandsmark was the first Wonder Girl.
  35. Roy Harper was only known as Arsenal up until the current volume of Justice League of America.
  36. There’s never been a First or Eclipse Comics. Comico only did some of those soft-core Elementals books.
  37. There were originally four Justice League titles on the stands.
  38. The original Teen Titans were comprised of a de-aged Atom (Ray Palmer), Risk, Argent, Captain Marvel, Jr., Omen, Prysm, Fringe, Arsenal, and Joto.
  39. Julia Carpenter was the original Spider-Woman.
  40. The two Avengers teams were the East Coast and West Coast branches. None of this New, Mighty, Dark, Pet, and Caramel Covered.
  41. There’s always been a comic called Love and Rockets.
  42. The superhero cartoons of choice were Darkwing Duck and Fox’s X-Men. For live action, it was all about the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
  43. Kraven the Hunter has always been dead.
  44. Northstar has always been out of the closet.
  45. Kevin Conroy has always been the animated voice of Batman.
  46. Jim Shooter was the guy behind Valiant, then Defiant, and then he wrote the Legion for a while. Wait, he was at Marvel, too?
  47. Phoenix is Rachel Summers, not Jean Grey.
  48. Karate Kid was Ralph Macchio, and Ralph Macchio was the guy editing X-Men.
  49. There have always been Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novels.
  50. Disney never had a major successful comic book franchise.

What’s yours?

(Alan Kistler and Glenn Hauman contributed to this list.)

Disneyfication Wave, Plus One Day

  • News
  • September 1, 2009

Share photos on twitter with TwitpicSo Disney is buying Marvel. By now, that’s old news– in Internet terms, anyway.

How big a deal was it? I don’t think Marvel sent out a single press package today hyping their comics. Usually, we get two or three of them a day.

The Beat has an excellent roundup of what we do and don’t know by now. But they don’t say much about other reactions. So what does the Internet think? Twitter, as might be expected, has gone crazy with the #disneymarvel and #disneybuysmarvel hashtags. Reactions can be broken down pretty easily into three categories, in order of increasing rarity:

People Trying to Be Comedians

poohbear151: So is everyone ready for the spider-man/fantastic four/x-men/high school musical crossover event? 

smmEBob:  Buzz Lightyear and the Guardians of the Galaxy

Grimloche: Finding Namor

Professionals Trying to Be Comedians With More Success

Brian Reed (Writer, Ms. Marvel): “Face it, Tigger, you hit the jackpot!”

Stephen Wacker (Editor, Amazing Spider-Man): Y’know I never thought Cinderella and Prince Charming shoulda gotten married…hmmm.

Jason Aaron (Writer, Punisher Max): Can now officially have the Punisher target the entire cast of “Hannah Montana.”

Jeff Parker (Writer, Agents of Atlas): Please, will someone draw MODUCK (NOTE: Ryan Dunlavey did, as did Chris Samnee.)

Warren Ellis (Writer, Astonishing X-Men): so I got this phone call from Joe Quesada and it was just the sound of him rubbing himself with money and now I am confused

(Broken Frontier has a strong round-up of other professional’s reactions in somewhat longer form.)

People Who Might Actually Know What’s Going On

C.B. Cebulski (Marvel talent liaison/editor/writer) Allow me to reassure you right now, guys, that Marvel’s going to continue to produce great comic books the way we always have.

Joe Quesada (Marvel Editor in Chief) If you’re
familiar with the Disney/Pixar relationship, then you’ll understand why
this is a new dawn for Marvel and the comics industry.

Marv Wolfman: Because I was both the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel as well as one of the
two founding editors of Disney Adventures Magazine, I’ve already gotten
numerous phone calls, including one from Forbes Magazine, asking what I
think about Disney buying Marvel. The easy answer is – nobody knows.
Certainly I don’t.

We’ll keep more stuff coming– we don’t think this story is going away any time soon.

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