Superhero Shows

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Green Lantern Recap

2012-02-24T11:02:00.000-05:00

Although these shorts were not the absolute brightest day for Green Lantern, they were a nice introduction that surely could have built up interest in the character. Compared to the other heroes, Green Lantern was presented as a space-based hero. Although a number of Superman's adventures also took him into space, it seemed that a Green Lantern series would have focused almost exclusively in that realm. I admire the inclusion of so many elements from Green Lanterns comic book history in the shorts, but overall the execution was not the greatest. Especially the last short was just not well written. Once again, I think that only one of these shorts could be considered essential in order to get a flavor for the character, the best episode being the first.

Essential Episode:
Evil is as Evil Does

Ranking Justice League: Doom and the DC Animated Films

2012-02-23T15:00:00.000-05:00

DC has delivered yet another worthy entry in its line of animated films, this time with Justice League: Doom. While paying homage to the classic Challenge of the Super Friends series and loosely adapting the JLA: Tower of Babel story line, Doom also managed to offer up a pseudo follow-up to the Justice League animated series by bringing back many of the voice actors from that fantastic effort. Sure, they swapped out Green Lanterns, switched Flashes, and exchanged Cyborg for Hawkgirl but this movie has that same feel of the best offerings of JLU.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Sirena, Empress of Evil

2012-02-23T11:32:00.003-05:00

This was a pretty horrible episode. Green Lantern went to rescue Kyro from the Empress Sirena. Although he manged to defeat all of her flying yellow bird men, he didn't happen to see her pet alien bird sneaking up on him. The bird crashed into his head knocking him out. While Green Lantern was locked up, Kyro befriended and apparently named the bird (Bibi?) which he used to rescue Green Lantern. By episode's end, Bibi was the Green Lantern's new mascot. Don't know why they didn't just throw in Parallax and Hector Hammond to the mix and call it a day.

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Episode Count: 0155
Series Count: (3 of 3)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Vanishing World

2012-02-22T11:32:00.004-05:00

In his second outing, the Green Lantern was tasked with saving his blue sidekick Kyro from an asteroid that was about to disappear into another dimension. In the meantime, he had to fight off some space monsters and cosmic crooks. Although there weren't really and terrible moments, nothing really stood out either... well, unless you count the awkward piggyback ride scenes which are becoming all to frequent. Couldn't GL make like a multi-passenger spaceship construct for transportation?

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Episode Count: 0154
Series Count: (2 of 3)

Onscreen History of Ghost Rider

2012-02-21T13:17:00.000-05:00

With Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance now in theaters, it seems a good time to look at the flamy one's onscreen history. Even before the flame head Ghost Rider, there was a western style character with the same name later renamed Night Rider then Phantom Rider. But beginning in 1972, Ghost Rider was the fire headed alter ego of Johnny Blaze debuting in Marvel Spotlight #5. Apparently, this was "the most supernatural superhero of all."

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Evil is as Evil Does

2012-02-21T11:32:00.004-05:00

Although the creators of this cartoon managed to stuff quite a bit of mythology including Oa, the Guardians, and the oath into this 7 minutes they also chose to add in a little blue alien sidekick names Kyro which was completely unnecessary. Aside from getting piggyback rides from both Green Lantern and villain, Kyro's also served the purpose of punching the glitchy lantern to get it to work properly.

First Look at SBFF's Batgirl and Wonder Girl

2012-02-21T06:32:00.001-05:00

TVGuide has given us a look at a couple of the gals from SBFF (Super Best Friends Forever), one of the shorts featured on the upcoming DC Nation block. Although Supergirl had been revealed already, this is our first look at Batgirl Barbara Gordon and Wonder Girl. SBFF looks to be a lot of fun. Another interesting bit of tid from the article is the promise of appearances in other shorts by Black Lightening, Doctor Fate, the Doom Patrol and Vibe! Can't wait.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Green Lantern

2012-02-20T11:02:00.000-05:00

By authority of the mystic Guardians of The Universe, on the far distant planet Oa, Hal Jordan, test pilot, becomes THE GREEN LANTERN - A cosmic crusader whose magical power ring at his bidding accomplishes the impossible in his continuing fight against interplanetary evil. GREEN LANTERN, Guardian of the Galaxy.

This batch of shorts offered up the first appearance of the Silver Age Green Lantern, Hal Jordan who took the torch from the Golden Age's Alan Scott. Interesting bit of tid, Alan Scott, though still a regular in modern comics has yet to appear in animation some 70+ years after his creation.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Flash Recap

2012-02-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

After watching the three Flash shorts, the question I asked myself was, "Would I really like to see more of them?" I guess the answer would actually be yes. While I feel like three episodes were more than enough to showcase the Atom, I think the Flash had a lot more potential to be tapped. That's not to say the Flash shorts were great, but it seems like the character could have provided Filmation with his own series. In any case, the Blue Bolt character made To Catch a Blue Bolt the episode of the three I would recommend, just skip the last 30 seconds with the cat.

Essential Episode:
To Catch a Blue Bolt

The Elite Manchester Black Revealed

2012-02-16T21:00:00.002-05:00

The SupermanHomePage was lucky enough to score an advance copy of Justice League: Doom containing a sneak peek at this summer's Superman vs. The Elite and they managed to snap a quick pic of the Elite's own leader, the nefarious Manchester Black.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - To Catch a Blue Bolt

2012-02-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

From filling dikes to turning the Eiffel Tower into an electromagnet to saving the Sphinx, the Flash and Kid Flash had their hands full thwarting the alien Blue Bolt. It was fun seeing the speedsters challenge 1, a decent foe and 2, another speedster. Their defeat of Blue Bolt however was ridiculous. They set up a ramp and launched him into space because he was running too fast and couldn't stop, or even turn one degree, even though he clearly saw the trap. Rather than going out on a decent note, the episode ended with a couple of very forced cat puns and that was how the Flash ended. Not with a bang, but a whim"purr."

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Episode Count: 0152
Series Count: (3 of 3)

All New 3D Teen Titans Short

2012-02-15T20:33:00.000-05:00

Over at IGN.com part of another Teen Titans short, dubbed New Teen Titans, has been posted. And while its not actually in 3D, the third dimension is the theme of the short. Oh, and Control Freak makes an appearance complete with reference to Alien. Hopefully the rest of this short will air on March 3 when DC Nation premiers.

Watch it now embedded below:

Arrow Lands its Black Canary

2012-02-15T18:58:00.003-05:00

The role of Dinah "Laurel" Lance has fallen to Katie Cassidy. Apparently she has a track record on CW shows, but not being in their prime demographic, I haven't seen her on Gossip Girl, Melrose Place, or even Supernatural. I have to say, this is a step up from the Smallville or Birds of Prey Dinah's. Mo word yet on whether or not she will bellow the canary cry this fall.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Take a Giant Step

2012-02-15T11:02:00.000-05:00

Kid Flash made his onscreen debut by speeding directly into a giant robots claw and stopping to allow himself to be thrown. Fortunately, "Flasher" was there to catch him. The two ended up captured by robots, then escaped from robots, then defeated the main robot before racing off. Once again, Flash was given the opportunity to show off his speed and vibro-escape methods, but the villain was utterly lame. And hopefully Kid Flash is more competent in his Teen Titans adventures.

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Episode Count: 0151
Series Count: (2 of 3)
First Appearance: Kid Flash

Onscreen History of Vandal Savge

2012-02-14T12:46:00.000-05:00

The immortal Vandal Savage first appeared in Green Lantern #10 in 1943 facing off against the original Lantern, Alan Scott. Senor Savage began his existence as a caveman who gained immortality when exposed to a meteorite. Since that time he has had a hand in history's greatest empires using aliases Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, Julius Ceasar, and Vlad the Impaler. Savage is now set to lead the evil Legion in the upcoming Justice League: Doom.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Chemo-Creature

2012-02-14T11:12:00.000-05:00

This episode got off to a bad start when a red ant being irradiated by scientist is actually not red at all. Anyway, not only did the ant get big as intended but it developed some powers including a gas spraying snout and laser antennae. And the chase was on for the Flash to catch the bug. In the end, the bug reverted to being just "a little ant with big dreams." Hardy har har.

First Look at Superman Vs. The Elite

2012-02-13T11:25:00.003-05:00

Here it is folks, the first look at The Man of Steel and his blushing bride from this summer's upcoming film, Superman vs. The Elite. No, Jay Leno is not voicing Superman, and no Superman does not have a goiter, but his chin is undeniably enormous. According to TVGuide.Com, Lois Lane will be voiced by Pauley Perrette and George Newbern will reprise the role of Superman after voicing the hero in the Justice League animated series. With the release of Justice League: Doom in two weeks, more news and images should be out there soon.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Flash

2012-02-13T11:12:00.000-05:00

A scarlet costume ejects from his ring. And in a blur of motion Police Scientist Barry Allen becomes THE FLASH - worlds fastest human. THE FLASH whose speed enables him to vibrate through solid walls and conquer the barriers of time and space in the pursuit of evil doers. THE FLASH, Scarlet Speedster for Justice.

Will There Be a Youngblood Movie?

2012-02-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

According to Youngblood creator Rob Liefeld's Twitter account, production on a Youngblood movie is in fact movie forward. You may remember Youngblood as the first big title published by Image Comics in the 90's during the exodus of creators from Marvel and DC.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Atom Recap

2012-02-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

The novelty of a new superhero wore off pretty fast with the Atom because after just three episodes, I feel like I have had enough. All three were essentially the exact same story. The Atom shrunk down, fiddled with some machine parts, defeated the enemies, and then pretty much admitted to his friends that he was the Atom, only they didn't believe someone as incompetent as he could have saved them. Its worth watching one of these just to see the Atom in action, even if its a little unbelievable that a miniature guy's punches or flying head-butts would actually hurt. If I had to pick one, I would say the best was the first because the Atom assumed many sizes throughout and the villains were also small for part of the time making his shrinking a useful tactic, well at least as useful as just stepping on them.

Essential Episode:
Invasion of the Beetle-Men

The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special (2002) - Discount Review

2012-02-09T12:31:00.000-05:00

Heroes: Santa Claus

Villains: Easter Bunny, Lobo

Diabolical Scheme: The Easter Bunny hired Lobo to assassinate Santa Claus so that Easter would no longer be runner up to Christmas.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The House of Doom

2012-02-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

This time the Atom went snooping and found an evil scientist Rokar's lab in the middle of nowhere. He ended up fighting some robots, one of which he reprogrammed by tying its wires into a bow (which I as a computer programmer find particularly insulting). Great balls of fire!

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Plant Master

2012-02-08T10:13:00.007-05:00

Poison Ivy is a pretty good name for a botanically themed villain. Unfortunately, not too many others have been able to come up with anything nearly as intimidating, least of all the one who attacks with pollen and calls himself Plant Master. Speaking of the Plant Master, this guy is an actual villain from the comics who is also known as the slightly snazzier Floronic Man or Floro for short. You may remember him from such films as Batman and Robin in which he was depicted as the scientist responsible for the creations of both Bane and Poison Ivy.

Better Looks at Spidey's Amazing Lizard Man

2012-02-07T17:23:00.001-05:00

The second trailer for July's reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man finally reveals the film's villain, the Lizard. Even though the scaly one is seen but briefly, high definition screen grabs will capture him for the eternities.

The Sun Will Rise on The Wolverine in 2013

2012-02-07T14:34:00.002-05:00

Wolverine has joined Superman, Iron Man, and Thor by staking a claim on a 2013 release date, July 26. As the X-Men movie continuity has been spiraling out of control, I really don't know if this will tie in and frankly I hope it doesn't. The idea of The Wolverine as a stand alone in an ambiguous time period is much more appealing than X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2 starring Wolverine, Cable, Bishop, X-23, and Dazzler.