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Supermay! Finale: Legion of Super Heroes Episodes 1-4 (Man of Tomorow, Timber Wolf, Legacy, Phantoms) (Comissioned by WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy legionarres and welcome to the grand finale of supermay, my monthlong tribute to the man of steel. Before we begin this final entry i'd like to thank all of you for reading this one: some reviews have done well, some not so much but your all appricated and i'd like to thank Kev, Emma, and Brotoman for their support. This event was enough of a success you can expect it back next year and please feel free to comment with things you'd like to see. Even a major cold wasn't enough to end this event on a down note.

In fact we're ending with , thanks to the schedule shakeups, one of my favorite pieces of superman lore and one I hope to revisit if this review does well, the Legion of Super Heroes!

For those less familiar a quick refresher: the Legion of Super Heroes were initially created as supporting characters for Superboy, at the time the man of steel when he was the boy of steel having adventures as a teen, and proved so successful they'd soon take over Superboy's stomping grounds of adventure comics once the boy of steel got his own book.

The Legion are a group of teenagers from a thousand years from now, idealistic teens inspired by the heroes of our present, paticuarlly superboy and later superman, all coming together from across dozens of planets. They were possibly the first teen superhero team and certainly the most succesful of their time. They've been rebooted four times, technically five, been through the wringer a lot and currently are twisting in the wind a bit, but the legion endures and I have faith they'll come back to promience eventually. They may not be one of DC's most prominent teams due to their unique setup, but their easily one of my faviorites and i'm happy I got to celebrate them this super may.

As for how it was easy: I choose the 2006 cartoon, one of the best versions of them and one of DC's best cartoons from my memory binging it over a decade ago, and i'm proud to say it held up beautifully.

The cartoon came about because, much like Superman the Animated series a decade prior.. Warner Bros wanted a tie in for it's latest superman movie.. which this time for better or worse, actually got finished: Superman Returns. Something good had to come out of that I suppose. So they wanted a series with a younger superman and luckily for us producer James Tucker was able to succesfully pitch a legion of superheroes series, which fit the criteria they wanted: focus on a younger superman fresh out of smallville, and that fit perfectly with the legion recruting a younger clark, updating that concept for a modern age as it hadn't been part of superman lore in a while and was just on it's way to being restored to continuity.

Intrestingly the cartoon was originally meant for Cartoon Network, where most other DC shows had gone at this point, but they passed for whatever reason.

But thankfully kids WB picked it up for two great seasons before it's sad collapse, and the result was one of my faviorite superhero teams got a cult classic tv show. Also just to be clear, as it's a rumor so prevelant James Tucker clearing it up shows up on the wikipedia page, while it's oft rumored the show was retooled from a DCAU version seemingly set up by a legion centric episode in Justice League Unlimited.. that was never the plan. The Kara episode was it's own thing, the timing was concidental, let's move on.

LOSH blends pieces from the first two legion of superhero continuites. The legion has FIVE diffrent continuties: the original which went away then was brought back, a soft reboot that was later deemed non canon, a full on reboot in the 90's that's wonderful and sadly stopped being collected by dc, a second reboot in the 2000's that was a bit more radical and finally a reboot a few years ago by Brian Michael Bendis

This one uses the idea of superman being recruited as a teen and being the inspiration for the group that was foundational to the original continuity, as well as the delightfully cheesy silver age names I adore, while using characterizations more in line with the more fleshed out 90's cast , as well as the more fleshed out versions of their home worlds. The result is a cartoon with silver age wonder, a well built world, and some really awesome redesigns I wish the comics would pick up, giving us a stylish well done cartoon that sadly was gone way too soon. You can see what I mean under the cut as we look at the first four episodes and see how Clark Kent Became superman.. again.

Man of Tommorow:

Man of Tommorow opens mid action, with the Legion getting their asses kicked and one of them, Lightning Lad wondering "Wher'es superman when you need him"

We cut to hours before this, centuries before this in smallville, with a young Clark played by Ben 10 and Spider-Man himself Yuri Lowenthal, who does a fantastic job. Clark is at this point a shy nerd whose unsure of his place in the world and is getting ready to start his job at the daily planet as a copy boy. Sadly in this timeline he does not have a whimsical college roomate or feisty love intrest to help push him out of his comfort zone.

He does however have the local fair which he's going to... and which Ma reminds him to be careful at as "your not like other people"

I'll admit this characterization isn't nearly AS bad as say Man of Steel. Mostly because how could you possibly worse than "You should've let them die clark instead of possibly exposing yourself and i'll throw myself into a tornado to prove it", but I hate versions of the kents that make clark feel.. bad for being different. It's one thing to caution him to not overuse them, it's another to make him feel terrible for having them or constantly remind him "your not normal". He knows ma. He knows. The Kents work best to me when their totally loving and accepting, that they worry for their boy sure.. but they love him just the way he is.

After a bit of Clark almost hitting a thing only not to hit a thing at the county fair, we get introduced to our first Legionarres, a small party sent to go recruit clark: our initial trio are Braniac 5, played by former child star Adam Wylie who really shoudl do more voice work as he's terrific here, Saturn Girl, played by voice acting legend Kari Whalgreen and Bouncing Boy, played by voice actor and ocasinal actor Micheal Cornacchia who does great work here and I wish did more voice work.

This is a slight rework of how, traditionally, Clark's recurited to the legion in the comics, but it's one that works. In the original the three founders of the legion went: Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Cosmic boy, something Superman the Animated Series would do something similar to later as would Smallville. I ahven't seen smallville but you'd best belivie I know when the legion shows up in something.

Here it's reworked to better fit the cast: Cosmic Boy isn't a main character and is thus off on a mission and while Lightning Lad is, he's a bit of a bullying prick, so sending him on a recruitment mission, one he outright scoffs at later, would've been a terrible move. Instead they shift to a party that makes more sense: Brainy came up with the idea in this continuity, we'll get to the why later, and like in the original comics is the team's time travel expert and being one of the main cast and one of the most prominently used legionarres, it only makes sense to have him be one of the first to show up.

Bouncing Boy isn't as prominent, but still makes sense: He's friendly, personable, and like Brainy a tech expert, something we'll get more into in episode 2. It makes since to bring him on a recruitment mission, and on a mission where if something happens to Brainy they need someone to fix their little robot child.

Speaking of which Braniac 5 is changed a bit here, and I feel it works: instead of an alien like the original, he's robotic, ala the dcau braniac, with Colluians as a whole followint suit. This not only makes his issues with emotions a bit more literal, but also allows him to be a bit more dynamic in combat. In the original comics, he's not useless, having a powerful forcefield, but his brain is really his superpower. Here he has telescopic limbs to go with his genius, being essentially a robotic boy child reed richards.

The three head to the fair to find clark and soon find him trying to stop a faris wheel. While Clark is put off by three strangers who suddenly know his deepest secret, they prove invaulable in stopping it and we soon get a showcase of all their powers: Brainy we've covered, so let's move on to my boy, Bouncing Boy. Bouncing boy has a truly rediculous and truly wonderful power.. he turns into a giant bouncing ball. This power was seen as a tad goofy in the 90's and thus he was reduced to a non powered supporting character. The series splits the diffrence: he's still a pilot like he was in the reboot and an ace mechanic.. but he also still has his bouncing ball powers and is a reminder that said powers, as wonderfully goofy and unique as they are.. are also dangerous and useful. Here he uses them to prop up the hweel by inflating, but it's easy to forget that a gaint bouncing ball that's pretty invunerable is actually pretty damn threatning in the right circumstances. No one will call him the legion's power house, but put some respect on the name: bouncing boy can be dangerous and shows jojo levels of turning a seemingly inccous power into a threat.

Finally we have Saturn Girl, whose people are telepathic, and is thus a super taleneted telepath. The series finds clever uses for this but here she's mostly useful for tracking Clark and for crowd control. The heroes save the day but clark runs off in fear. Irma tells them not to follow as she gets Clark KNOWS he has a responsiblity and will listen to their offer more later. I love the show's version of Saturn Girl/Irma, as she's a telepath.. but rather than be closed off because of it uses it to be empathetic and kind, being the heart of the team while still being stoic on the surface.

The trio stalk clark to his house, and make their pitch: The future needs him, clark is better than he knows, and they can use him. Why they choose him at this point in his life is vauge, but I assume Brainy knew they both had a better chance of recruting him and they could HELP him become the superman he's destined to be. Stable time loop and all that.

Clark reluctantly agrees, aassured he'll be back in time for chicken and dumplings. With that our heroes go to the future where the rest of the legion are waiting.. or our main cast anyway. A nice touch I like from the series is much like the comics, they already have a pretty sizeable roster: Colossal Boy, Shrinking Violet and Cosmic Boy are all mentioned later and we see Element Lad, Blok and Tyroc in the next episode along with them. The legion in the comics usually has around 25 people max. The reason for this size orignally was simply silver age writers kept introducing more legionarres so the team kept growing and given the characters were interchangable personality wise, there was no real need to whittle it down.

They later found a clever workaround that later comics picked up on: since the team's in the future, the bulk hailing from various indvidual worlds which gave them their powers (though a few did get theirs by accident as per superhero standard), and were later confirmed to be duly deputized by the united planets, the future's highest governing body, it made sense the legion was spread out galactically. As such characters could be said to be "on mission" somewhere else in the galaxy, and thus whittle the team down to whoever was needed for a story. If the whole of the legion was involved, it was for bigger stories that were dire as hell. Stories often used squads of whoever the writer wanted to use at that moment for missions which makes sense.

The series uses this well: the team has other members, showing off it's scope and how many worlds bought into the concept, but focuses on a core cast on earth at Legion HQ: Superman, Braniac 5, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl, Bouncing Boy and one more we'll meet next episode. They still go across the galaxy, the adventures are still cosmic in scope, but it helps narrow focus so we can flesh out who we have.

So speaking of which our other three members. First up is Lightning Lad, a founding member as mentioned, and in this continity an egotistical hot headed asshole. He's good at what he does, being great with his powers and easily the second strongest member of the core cast, but has a MASSIVE chip on his shoulder. This is a slightly exagerated version of his reboot version, who was also a bit of a hot head but not quite the ass. It still works as he makes a good contrast to the more humble and kind clark, whose friendly to the guy despite waving his dick around constantly. Garth is voiced by Andy Milder, a voice actor and recurring actor who also voiced Jay Garrick Flash in Batman Brave and the Bold. Good for him. Like the rest of the cast he's fantastic.

Next is Phantom Girl. Phantom Girl here is the sassy one of the group, quick with a sarcastic remark, but also understanding, quickly bonding with clark in episodes after this. She may joke but it's clear she cares for the team even if she busts chops constantly and we love her for it. Easily one of the highlights of the show. She's from the planet Btzl, a phantom planet parallel with earth. As such she can phase in and out of our plane and into hers, allowing her to phase through objects, people and disappear and reappear. She's played by Heather Hogan. Hogan mostly does video game work, and I haven't seen her in much personally though she was great as Clorica in Rune Factory 4.

Finally we have Triplicate Girl, one of my faviorite legionarres as the comics have found intresting thigns to do with the idea of a person who can split in three in the reboots: the 90's one had her have a distinct personality for each, and be considered abnormal because of it, with RJ BRande, the legion's backer formally adopting her as a result, and the 2000's one had her able to clone indefintely but down to the trio as three of them left the planet.. and found the others didn't accept them when they went back. Here.. she's just .. there in a go go outfit. The design, like all of these is clever, with her having tri colored hair and when split each duplicate takes on a diffrent shade (or two shades when just doing two0, and having martial arts based on their cloning technique.. but otherwise they don't... do much with her this season. Next season gets a pass as the execs told them to focus more on stuff boys would like and less on the girl characters

But here she's just... in the background. They didn't really know what to do with her. Outside of Chain of Command she dosen't get to do much plot wise and it's a shame.

The three welcome their new teammate.. and Lightning Lad and Phantom Girl are less than impressed though to her credit Phantom Girl's just a tad confused. Lightning Lad's a full on asshole doubting brainy got it right and generally being a dick.

Naturally being a dick he puts clark to the test with a bit of testing machinery to test clark's strength. Clark eventually fails and runs off upset and Saturn Girl berates Garth for being at a 10 on the douchemeter when they need a 2 and poitns out clark was lifting 500 tons.

So Saturn Girl goes to fetch Clark who while running away as fast as he can found the Superman Museum. The Museum is taken straight form the comics but adds the nice touch of using some silver age style panels to represent supes. Clark's finally found out WHY they choose him at all and what h'es destined to be, with Irma encouraging him he can become this and has it in him. She also explains when prompted why they need him so bad, something Phantom Girl covered earlier when Lightning Lad insisted they didn't need help: The Fatal Five.

The Fatal Five are on of the legions greatest threats, a group of the five deadliest criminals in the galaxy. In the comics they were brought together for a desperate mission and decided they were deadlier as a unit. Here

They are Mano, a skelington in a bubble helemet whose touch equals death, Tharok, a genius cyborg, Validus, a hulking monstrosity, Emerald Empress, a sorceress weidling the powerful emerald eye of ekron, an artifact similar to what the green lanterns use but powerful, evil and able to brainwash people and Persauder.. .he's an axe man, oh my god he's an axe man. The five are just sort of a vaugely ominous force here, still VISUALLY intresting but mostly there to provide a threat big enough to warrant clark. I haven't rewatched their other apperances to see if they get fleshed out better and in the comics I haven't read a ton of their apperances period.

So Clark heads back though Lightining Lad is reluctant to use him. Not out of jackassery for a change, but because he's genuinely concerned: Clark HAS seen action but "not like this".. and he's not wrong. Earlier it was clear clark did anonomus rescues before becoming superman, a trait i've always liked when he's not outright superboy: it fits the character and is something he should be doing. But this.. is outright combat.

Seconds into the fight Clark bounces out, seemingly abandoing the team to get smacked around. While they beat the fatal five the last time... that was with the full roster and BARELY. This time they TRIED to get reinforcements but Shrinking Violet was undercover, they seemingly coudln't reach the others, and Cosmic Boy could be there, but was far away enough he woudln't make it.

The legion seems beat.. Luckily clark was instead warming up. Granted he might of thought of doing this BEFORE but it's a fair fear response: it's one thing to say you can fight supervillians, it's another to see them. So he heads off going up up and... very slowly and awkwardly before getting his barrings, a joke I love.

He can fly though and confronts the fatal five and his sheer power gives them a chance with Saturn Girl, one of the only two still not brain zapped by emerald empress (The other being lightning lad who, douche canoe he may be DID prove himself by being the final one to go down), and encourages them to fight.

And fight they do as the ensuing fight is a gorgeous shocwase of what everyone can do, from Phantom girl nabbing persuader's axe to allow Triplicate girl to kick him in the face, to Lightning Lad teaching clark about his freezing breath, to Saturn Girl hyjacking Validus. It's an awesome fight, and ends with the five defeated. In paticualr superboy held off empress. They escape, of course, but they still won the fight and made it so they won't try that shit again. Brainy offers to take clark back but he decides to stick around... he realizes the legion can help him grow as a person and as a hero, and well. they CAN return him right where he left, so he's not exactly in a hurry. Clark adds the legion crest to his belt and gets his flight ring.

The Flight Rings are one of my faviorite legion things and weirdly I don't have a replica yet, simple golden rings that allow the user to well.. fly, and serve as proof of legion status. It means anyone in the legion can fly though some like superman CAN fly on their own. Also he's man instead of boy here, rights issues.

The Man From Tommorow is a decent episode... but is hampered by it's run time. It really needed more than the standard 20 some minutes as it had a LOT of ground to cover, and as such feels rushed: Clark grows comfortable with himself fast, the team goes down and recovers fast, and the episode could've badly used a second part to help slow it down, flesh out the rest of the legion and the story. It's still a decent opener, getting across the legion as a concept, clark's characterization for the series as an unsure rookie, and most of th elegions personaliteis to a degree, but it needed more time in the oven to truly be a great story. Thankfully the series only picks up from here and with this one doing most of the table setting, the rest of the season just leaps into the concept full speed case in point...

Timber Wolf:

The first episode was decent but the second. .is the show I remembered, with well done characters, intresting stories and balls to the walls action way ahead of it's time for this kind of show. The last part was present in the first ep but this one really let's us get to know the cast.. and adds one last member to our main roster.

The legion is on a space mission, standard stuff, with some fun banter as Superman dosen't clear it up right away because Lightning Lad wanted to "teach him something" , showing this clark has a sense of humor and a small but fun michevious streak. The team for this mission is Supes, LL, Brainy, Bouncing Boy, and Saturn Girl.

We also get to know Bouncing Boy better and get a fun b-plot with him and brainy as the two bicker: Brainy wants Bouncing Boy to use the compensators he installed and BB would prefer to fly himself. It's a nice clash of styles: Brainy is stuck to logic and routine and BB prefers human intution. Classic sci fi stuff that works great here and dosen't feel too stale as it feels rooted in character.

The Legion gets a distress call from a disant planet: Dr. Londo needs their help as a creature has gotten loose and our heroes naturally toucfh down on a spooky planet to deal with it. The doctor explains he does biological research and the creature got loose and killed his son and he needs it recaptured.

This episode is nicely horror coded, with a nice atmosphere that helps boost the story.

As you could probably guess from a mile off... the Doctor isn't being completely honest. The fact he told B and B to stick to the hangar is a clue and Bouncy learns the hard way when he eventually storms off after getting tired of Brainy micromanaging him and not trusting his ability to improvise. I also can't help but love the possibly unintetional autisim coding brainy gets, ala spock: Brainy is obnoxious in his need to order.. but genuinely dosen't get WHY he pissed his friend off when he's, in his mind right. On the spectrum myself i've been in that position before, if not to this degree and it's honestly more accurate than some attempts to tackle autisim outright i've seen.

Bouncing Boy gets mobbed by robots just for going off course, an entirely responable and not stupid security thing. Brainy rescues him as, while Bouncing Boy isn't helpless he is outnumbered, the two make up and decide to go snooping as something is clearly very wrong. Villian Pro Tip: NEVER overdo your security when your trying to keep heroic guests away from your creepy shit. Villian Pro Tip 2: Maybe don't call down super heroes to grab your son and expect it to end well for you.

And yup, while it's not the biggest twisty twist, that's what the creature is. We find out after said creature skirts saturn girl away.. but turns out, in classic monster movie fashion, he's sapient and allows Irma to pick his brain. Naturally lightning lad fucks it up, attacking him and accidnetly knocking her out leading to LL and Superboy caputting him. Thankfully by this point the brainy subplot has reached the snooping stage, and I love the gag of Bouncing Boy just.. shouting for them to join the party.

Irma has them free the monster, explaning they were idiots and with his consent getting the full story.. and helping Brynn Londo, the doctor's not dead at all son, assume a more humanoid form and maintain it and his ablility to speak.

The bad doctor shows up wanting his property back, the legion say fuck no to that and they stop him, with Brynn chasing his dad. They win the day, helped by the fact the various monsters unleshed on our heroes.. are not very fond of the bad doctor.

The Doctor brags, pointing out this isn't United Planets Space, so our heroes can't touch him. Also hammer can't sue. But his son gets the last laugh, not only pointing out what a monster his dad is but then destroying his equipment so he can't do this shit to someone else. While his dad TRIES to bait him with "how long wil you keep this form up"... it backfires as Irma vows to help and the Legion welcomes a new member. He gets a spiffy outfit I absolutely love and in a very nice touch recites the legion oath, with cameos from the other legionarres. I like getting to see my boy blok.

We stand Blok in this mojo dojo casa house.

Timber Wolf is a sharp improvement to what wasn't a bad episode, but badly needed mor echaracter. The rest of the legion gets fleshed out, the atmosphere is great and the twist, while obvious is still unsettling and provides a nice setup for Timber Wolf to join the team.

Legacy

Legacy features an intresting spin on an old foe of Supermans: Lex Luthor. It asks the bold question: What if Lex and Clark were into one another. A riddle for the ages. This being the 2000's it uses lex's female descendant but the question still stands and the episode still slaps.

While out flying around Clark rescues Alexis, a red headed thrill seeker. When he gets back to the gang their all happy he met someone. Even Brainy, which good for him not being jealous.. yet. More on that in a moment. They all soon find out he rescued Alexis, the richest girl to ever rich girl and the biggest celebrity in new metropolis apparently. Phantom Girl says she outs mopey rich girls her, which is saying something. Lightning Lad says he could never, Brainy says Superman cat get it, and Clark is convicned he won't see her again.. only to be proven wrong when she asks him out that night.

Brainy is a bit nettled though as that was their patrol night and thus

Yeah we really can't talk the legion of superheroes cartoon, this episode or brainy without addressing the elephant in the room: Brainy has a MASSIVE crush on superman. He's possibly not aware of it, emotional awareness and social awareness are not things the boy is good at and I can relate, but it's there. The producer admitted as much during an anniversary panel, citing that "some things" had to be gotten past the censors while Brainy's voice actor Adam Wylie at least flat out thinks Brainy was in love with him. Even back then when I was bad at picking up on gay subtext in cartoons, I could tell.

It's also ahead of it's time to have this so blatant.. .it's not super emphasized because network jackassery, but the fact one of the main characters is attracted to men and i'ts not hidden at all is amazing to me.

Brainy is sore because he and clark were supposed to patrol, and while part of it is again, he wants to stare at his crush for several hours, being brainy he also set out a logical pattern of patrols as the Scavengers are out there. The legion asks what we're thinking

Brainy DID send them a briefing.. but being Brainy made it 134 pages so no one , even Clark, read it. And when you can't get future journalist clark kent to read your whole ass document, you done messed up. I also like this detail with brainy: that he IS a strategic genius.. but he also over does it so much. It's better than 80 "in english poindexter" jokes". We get a few of those, it's only fair, but I like having a variety to how much Brainy overthinks things with his 12th level intellgence.

He explains: the scavengers are techno pirates, sadly not with matching costumes, and he wants to be on the lookout. However he can't resist a sad boy so he agrees to let Clark go on his super date, provided he keeps the coms on, and Clark promises to do two patrols in a row to make it up to him.

Unfortuantley Brainy once again messes up as he keeps calling every two minutes. Might want to take about ten percent off there Squirrely-ac five. His report.. is there's nothing to report so Clark eventually mutes him. The Legion Communicators PROBABLY shoudln't have a mute button, but they probably only due because of this.

Clark feels out of place with all the judgy rich people but Alexis arrives and really just wanted to put in an apperance and hang out with her boy. The two sneak into her lab at Luthor International. I like to think Maxwell Lord made a deal with Luthor's daughter and the companies merged.

AT any rate Alexis does relate to clark, as she's not sure what she wants to do with her life and like clark has a lot of pressure to be great NOW. While Clark's romancin and relatin, the rest of the legion gets slammed by the scanvengers. They do fine AT FIRST.. but eventually are overwhelmed and clark dosen't answer and OH NO BRAINY'S ARM GOT SHOT OFF

and... OH NO.... it's.. fine the next scene as he easily repairs it. The Legion's a bit miffed, ESPECIALLY Brainy.. but Clark genuinely apologizes and explains... and they all instantly forgive him aside from Brainy. Turns out even when Brainy dosen't have a crush on you he dosen't know how not to overmessage. Again can relate. But I like this nuance. That it wasn't "oh they can go without you one night" from alexis or clark making a mistake: Clark had a reson to turn his badge on silent and shoudln't have, but Brainy did abuse the coms and overthink it in a way he apparently does a LOT. Clark is genuinely sorry and cancels plans for tommorow.

Alexis is able to talk him into an hour of fun, but Clark is upset he's late and has to go. He misses patrol, brainy's upset, but Clark's gneuinely contrite.

Alexis.. then takes things a step too far as she fakes an attack to get Clark's attention. To his credit. while Clark DOES try to just let the sp handle it to not annoy brainy.. brainy tell shim to go save her. It's what superman would do. But Clark is rightfully pissed: the legion NEEDS him and while he would like to hang for days he simply can't and Alexis is too lonely and isolated and to a degree selfish to get that saving the world comes first. So she decides fine if he has to pick one.. she'll take away the other option. It's like super great grandpap always said from his perserved brain in the basement always said: if they love something else, kill it , kill everything else they love so they only have you.

So Alexis teams up with the scavengers, gives them an upgrade, and lures clark away so she can siege the legion's clubhouse. Unfortuantely for her, Brainy is not only as smart as her, but the legion aren't pushovers and while she does get them on the ropes , Clark arrives having figured out the ruse and a fight breaks out, cumilating in Alexis deciding "if I can't have you i'll just kill you" just like super great grandpap would, and ending up bald like him.

In Jail Alexis reassembles Woodhouse.. because of course her robot is named woodhouse, and plots revenge... then we never see her again because the execs decided the show needed more BOYSSSS SAND TO APPEAL TO BOYS AND APPEAL TO ALL THE BOYSSSSS. God I wish Warner Bros execs werne't grown in a lab somewhere.. and that they let David Zaslav finish baking.

Legacies is an excellent episode, tapping into clark's need for normalcy, giving us a truly standout villian, and having some great jokes. The last part isn't important to an action show like this but I do like it. Tara Strong gives a stand out performance as Alexis and it's a damn shame we didn't get to see her again. Speaking of Cool Villians we never saw again..

Phantoms:

Our final episode for the day and this one's a bit intresting as it's actually 6th in production order, the 4th is the 6th aired episode fear factory. I would've kept it there but this is another superman centric one and it IS superman month, so it made sense. if this review does well, I might do the next batch including fear factory in october.

Clark has been visting the superman museum a lot, trying to find some clues about who he'll be. It's.. not super healthy. Also at the Museum is someone I forgot to mention during the first museum scene in the pilot, Booster Gold. Yes in a nice Cameo Booster is there... probably going to steal that legion ring eventually. That's how he flies. We also get a cameo from either lobo's descdeant or the main man himself in the previous episode as Alexis steals his bike.

Clark finds something and figures if it's his museum he can touch things: the Phantom Zone projector.. and accidently unleashes a prisoner.

It's here we meet Drax, vocied amazingly by character actor Greg Ellis, and his two pets, Eeny and Meany. Drax trashes the place with the awesome line "I see the altar but where's the god" and escapes. Lightning Lad is naturally the one to berate clark , but the rest of the legion is kind enough not to rub it in. The bigger issue is another kryptonian is now loose and he's bad.

Drax is an intresting character, in part because of what we know about him: he was created by Zod, something heavily implied by the z on his suit and the fact Zod is a terrible father every damn time, so it's no suprise he genetically eneeered a son just to murder superman, constantly has thoughts pumped into his head that he's evil and always has been always will be and said thoughts pump in with sharp pain if he gets off course trying to kill superman. You can see WHY the guy is such a monster when he hasn't really been given the choice not to be. He instead doubles down. He also has a swagger that's just.. unedeinable. I don't know what it is abotu Superman and british villians but it just works.

The episode is mostly the team tracking Drax down, but the cat and mouse works as their chasing someone as strong as superman, with no morals and two pet monsters. The ep is largely a showcase for the series great fight coreography

It does have some godo character stuff as we get the start of the sorta romance between Phantom Girl and Timber Wolf. They never offically hook up, but the tension is there as he spends the episode trying to protect her and she proves she can handle herself, but also has to learn in a team it's okay to have someone watch your back... just in moderation. The two weren't a thing in the comics.. but it works really well here, his blunt nature matching hers and his less than happy background nicely contrasting her being richer than god and her mom being president of the united planets.

The other notable runner in the episode is the science police: their the police but you know, science, present in every legion incarnation..a nd here their just the plain worse. Which tracks for police but begs the question why we still have them. THey don't like the legion which isn't a new take: the 90's version didn't exactly care for them either, and even preboot there was some friction, it just slowly lessened as some of the legion dated some of the science police. As you do. Here.. THEY FIRE ON THE LEGION WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT to try and kill the monsters

But wait this is somehow dumber! Not only are they firing on teenagers, if implied to be older teens mostly.. but as this episode mentions, Phantom Girl... is the president's daughter. If that wasn't enough, while it's not mentioned directly in this episode, the legion is formally sponsored by the united planets here, as they are in most versions, and unlike the UN the UP is more of a galactic senate and thus has a LOT of power. So their not just shooting at teens.. but teens who shooting at could cause a dipolmatic incident, and teens who outrank them!

Good lord. Anyways eventually Drax out manuvers them, using his monsters as a distraction.. while he goes for the Headquaters with only brainy left behind. It's here we find out something intresting: Brainy has a bit of kryptonite. He tries using it on Drax.. but Zod was smart enough to make sure that woudln't work, and Drax.. actually makes a point: That Clark DOSEN'T know about this, and ponders why brainy has this and dosen't tell him. It's understandble to have a fail safe.. much less to not tell him and hints to a darker side to our boy, a more pragmatic one we'll see more of in season 2.

For now the legion arrives.. and Drax finds the projector, using it to send them away. Clark explodes, utterly laying into Drax in a truly awesome fight, slamming the guy down bellow and even grabbing guns. Clark demands answers.. but Drax laughs, realizing Superman REALLY dosen't know and he won't tell him because well dick.

Thankfully while the fight is even the Legion narrowly escape, and in an awesome way as their stranded in the phantom zone at first, where the phantoms can hurt them.. but they can't touch them. Phantom Girl shows her awesomeness as she CAN and judo kicks a bunc hbefore brainy gets them to saftey and they find a hail mary: Brainy uses his shield generator , with a power boost from Lightning Lad, to punch their way home, and Phantom Girl phases them all. This comes with the massive risk of her possibly not being able to phase back.. but they have no other option and she bravely completes the circuit. Drax goes back, the kryptonite thing goes with him and Clark is left unaware... Brainy's happy to be rid of the ball and Clark's happy to find out the answers the fun way.. but there's still the unease that he didn't TELL clark what it was or why Drax was about to use it. That even as much as he loves clark.. Brainy can't ultimately be honest.

Phantoms is a solid episode. It's mostly a LOT of action, but it's fun well paced action and the climax's knock down drag out fight and darring escape is amazing. It's a well done episode with a great villian we sadly don't see again, though in this case it was likely the show getting cut short rather than executives being stupid pod persons.

And with that supermay is done. IT was a fun ride and the bigger likes than usual tells me ya'll would love to see this again next year, so you shall. Until then keep hope for a better world, look up too the sky, and thanks for reading.

#superman #legion of super heroes #kids wb #warner bros #dc comics #clark kent #braniac 5 #lightning lad #phantom girl #saturn girl #timber wolf #bouncing boy #triplicate girl #luthor #comics #animation

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am-i-obsessed---maybe · 9 months

Text

Revelation (Shadow Of A Bluejay Ch.8)

Wordcount: 2.8k

One of the longer chapters. though now I'd like to take a moment to humbly brag. I've been dealing with both usual depression and an unusual stomach ulcer (which is the most fanfiction author thing that's happened to me yet) so this chapter took way longer than expected. Either way we're slowly creeping towards the end of the season!

Series Masterlist

Mount Justice October 1, 18:12 EDT

You met up with Artemis outside the Happy Harbor zeta-tube. You hadn't seen each other in almost two weeks so you decided you'd hang out on your own for a bit before joining the rest of the team. That meant that when you got to the cave it wasn't through the zeta-tubes but through the main entrance.

"Hey, where are you two coming from?" Wally asked, greeting you both at the entrance.

"Blue here was finally ungrounded so we thought we'd have some BNACT" Artemis said. Wally looked confused.

"BNACT?" He asked.

"Blue and Artemis civilian time" You supplied.

"Right" He said, coming up to walk beside you. "You know you never told me what you were grounded for" Wally said and you smirked. "Sorry, classified" You said and he groaned.

"Come on! Mx. I do as I'm told rule follower did something bad for once and you won't tell me?!" He complained.

"What can I say, it's classified" You told him, floating up just a bit above the ground to be taller than him, smirking before flying off to find the rest of the team.

Artemis leaned in next to Wally's ear, "They went on a secret mission and Canary found out" She said and Wally's eyes widened.

"They told you?!" He practically yelled and Artemis smiled.

"What can I say, I'm their best friend" She said cheekily.

Wally grumbled, "I thought I was their best friend" He said.

Wally and Artemis joined you, Robin, Kaldur, M'gann and Connor along with Zatara and Captain Marvel (who had been taking over as Den Mother after Red Tornado attacked the team the day after you got back from your mission with Roy) in the training room just as Batman zeta'd in.

"Computer, national news" He said and the computer brought up a projection of GBS news.

A slender blonde woman whom you recognised as the reporter Cat Grant was telling the viewers about an attack of a giant plant monster on Metropolis. "Despite the intervention of Superman and the Justice league there seems to be no end in sight" She said.

"Should we get out there?" Robin asked but Batman shut him down.

"No. The League will soon have the situation under control. That's not why I'm here" Batman said.

"Then why are you here?" You asked. You weren't Batman's biggest fan. Between his harshness and his lack of positive reinforcement for both Robin and the team as a whole, you didn't like him very much.

"According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus Blockbuster formula to Kobra" He said and Wally jumped in to continue.

"Who combined it with Bane's Venom to create Kobra Venom" He said. "Which the Brain then used to create his animal army" Robin continued.

You'd been informed about their very interesting mission to India. It was the first day you were grounded and you barely managed to convince Dinah to let you keep your radio earpiece with you. She was very strict about no patrol and no Team as long as you were grounded. She really wasn't happy about your mission with Roy, even though she barely knew the half of it. In the end you reminded her that in an emergency that radio was your best way of communicating with both the Team and her. She let you keep it and you got a full recap of the mission after they finished.

"Batman, is it possible that plant thingy's on Kobra Venom too?" Artemis asked.

"I had green lantern run a spot analysis. The vine's cellulose does contain trace amounts of a Kobra Venom variant." Batman explained.

"These cannot be coincidences, unrelated criminals cooperating with one another worldwide" Kaldur added.

"Exactly" Batman agreed, "It's now clear our enemies have formed some kind of secret society of supervillains. The attack on Metropolis is only the beginning." He said.

"Got that right. Plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City, Taipei—" Robin was interrupted by the screen becoming staticy. You'd never seen it do that before.

"Dude" Wally said.

"It's not me, someone's cutting into the satellite signal— All satellite signals!" Robin exclaimed.

The static stopped and a single face covered the screen, supposedly all screens. The Joker's sheet white face and horrid smile was projected to the size of the computer. It was at least as tall as you and you couldn't help but make a face.

"Ladies, gentlemen and viewers of all ages, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement from the Injustice League" He said in that slow drawl that made his presence all the creepier. The camera slowly panned to show the rest of this so called Injustice League. Wotan. Atomic Skull. Ultra-humanite. Count Vertigo, Black Adam and Poison Ivy, along with of course the Joker himself.

He laughed as the camera slowly zoomed in to the Vlatavan count.

"We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them a ransom of ten billion american dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit, but the longer your governments wait..." He trailed off and the Joker took the liberty of filling in the blanks.

"The longer we get to have our jollies" He said and once again the screen was covered in static.

Robin reset the screen. He was recording the message and stopped on the image of the Injustice League as a whole. He listed them all of, all were heavy hitters most likely behind everything the Team has faced until now. Every mission and ever villain you fought came back to these seven. At least that was Robin's theory.

"There's your secret society" Wally said.

"Not so secret anymore" Artemis added.

"But what good is revealing themselves now? I understand taking responsibility for the attacks if they want a ransom but why reveal their hand?" You asked out loud.

"Perhaps after India they realised that we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer" Kaldur suggested and that was a possibility though it didn't sit completely right with you. They were missing a League Of Shadows representative. The team had far too many run ins with Sportmaster and the his like for the shadows to not be involved. Not that you expected to see Ra's Al Ghul among the villains but someone working for him, maybe Sportmaster himself.

"What about Sportmaster though? He works most often for the Shadows and he isn't here, or anyone else we can connect to the Shadows?" You said.

"The League Of Shadows don't usually ally themselves with others. They work with mercenaries like Sportmaster but they wouldn't ally themselves as an organization. Those were most likely one off meetings" Batman said and you nodded. He was right. You were probably just a bit paranoid after the mission with Roy.

"Back to the important stuff" Wally said, "I say we go kick some plant creature butt!" He exclaimed.

"The Justice League will handle the plants. I have a different job for this team" Batman said and Wally immediately deflated.

"Oh man" He said.

"With the plants attacking so many locations simultaneously there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it." Batman instructed.

Zatara turned to him, "You realize what you are really asking them to do" He said and Batman nodded.

"They're ready" He said and you hoped for once he was right because it wouldn't be easy taking on the Injustice League without the help of your mentors.

Bayou Bartholomew October 1, 18:52 CDT

The team flew through the air in the Bioship in silence. Robin reviewing his batarangs, Artemis going through her quiver and you adjusting your new batons. They were a parting gift from your mother. Extendable batons, small enough that that could fit in a pouch on your utility belt.

"Those are new" Robin said, looking at the shining new weapons.

"Yeah, GA was tinkering" You lied and Robin smiled.

"You know how to use 'em?" He asked and you nodded.

"Like you wouldn't believe" you replied. You were trained in many weapons and though your speciality with the Shadows were double short swords, batons were similar if slightly less lethal.

Behind you M'gann groaned, holding her head.

"You alright?" Conner asked.

"Dizzy" She replied.

"Martians get air sick?" Robin asked.

"Not me, her" M'gann replied.

"I feel fine" Artemis said.

"Not her the Bioship. She's trying to shield us but—" Suddenly your very calm and steady flight became erratic and out of the corner of your eyes you saw Count Vertigo.

You went flying, well the ship went flying, someone had hit it from the bottom flinging it out of control and causing it to crash in the bayou.

Of course that wasn't all as plant creatures began pulling the Bioship under the water.

Black Adam forced a hole the top of the ship and while Superboy punched him away, stopping him from getting in he couldn't stop the water that was slowly filling the ship.

"No. No way I am nearly drowning three missions in a row" Artemis said, putting a rebreather over her mouth and shoving one into Wally's hands. The two had become more friendly, even playful with each other in your absence.

You took out your own rebreather.

"I guess I missed quite a lot didn't I" You said and Artemis nodded, unable to talk with the device in her mouth.

M'gann opened a hatch at the bottom of the Bioship and you all swam out, managing to escape the ship just in time.

"She's in shock. She'll need time to recover" M'gann said. That wasn't good. It meant you couldn't rely on the Bioship to get out in a pinch. What was worse was that you didn't even get a moment to breath. As soon as M'gann finished an all too familiar psychic force forced you to the ground.

"Vertigo" You sneered, searching the area until you found the offending count.

"Count Vertigo to you peasant" He said and you slowly pushed yourself up.

"I see all the times Canary and I beat you weren't enough, you had to come back for more" You said, giving your teammates time to recover while you kept Vertigo's attention on you.

Kaldur used his water bearers to channel the water from the bayou and knock Vertigo away.

"Robin, Miss Martian disappear! We will keep them busy, you two fulfill the mission objective" Kaldur ordered through the mind link and Robin nodded, jumping off somewhere while Miss M went into camouflage mode.

You ran at Vertigo, slowed only by his psychic force and even still not completely. You managed a few hits before you were thrown aside.

"Without Canary to counter my attacks you are nothing little bird" He said, hitting you with another attack that knocked you out.

You woke up before the others only to quickly remember where you were and what happened. You decided the best course of action was to keep your eyes closed, pretend to still be out and see what you could overhear. Of course that didn't work because as soon as your teammates woke up they made it known.

"They awaken, you are certain this will hold them?" Vertigo asked and a different voice answered.

"The cage is impenetrable. Even the Superboy has no chance of escaping" Wotan replied. He was keeping you in a magical cage while Black Adam flew you all back to the Injustice League's base.

This wasn't bad. So long as you kept their attention on you and your group long enough for Robin and Miss Martian to destroy their base you were good.

"You are not the only one trained in the mystic arts Wotan!" Kaldur exclaimed, grabbing hold of the bars and charging mystic force through the tattoos along his arms.

Kaldur released the bars as if they burned him but nothing else happened.

"Please Atlantean, do not pretend you are in my league" Wotan said and you put a careful hand on Kaldur's shoulder.

"You okay?" You asked and he nodded, turning his attention back to the group. Without M'gann there was no telepathic link so you had no way to communicate without your capturs overhearing.

They'd taken your weapons and your utility belt. There really wasn't anything you could do until you found a way out of this cage.

You knew Robin and Miss M haven't completed the mission yet because the huge plant that you assumed was controlling the plant creatures around the world was still standing, breaking through the roof of what you assumed was the Injustice League's base of operations.

You were racking your brain, trying to think of ways to get out of your predicament when the Bioship appeared, knocking over Wotan and disrupting whatever spell he was using to create the cage.

It took you a moment but you kept yourself in the air, unfortunately with nothing holding you up your teammates fell down to the ground.

Superboy and Aqualad would be fine. They both had super strength and durability (at least to some extent) but you flew down and grabbed both Artemis and KF's hands, bringing them safely and more slowly to the ground.

"Thanks Blue" KF said and you smiled.

"Anytime KF" you said.

Both you and Wally turned your attention on Count Vertigo and Black Adam.

"You think you can still pack a punch without your new toys blue?" Wally asked and you smirked.

"Enough for this mission" You told him and with a jump, flew high into the air while Wally took a running start at Vertigo. "Atom, after them!" Vertigo said as he focused his attack on KF and Black Adam took off after you into the sky.

Black Adam was strong and fast but not the brightest and you managed to get in a few sneaky hits in the sky before a loud explosion rocked through the bayou.

"Yes!" You yelled only for Adam to take the moment you were distracted and fling you back into the ground, painfully.

To your advantage you fell into mud so while it wasn't pleasant it also wasn't lethal. You made it back just in time to hear Count Vertigo's orders.

"Kill them. Kill them all." He said.

You wanted to get up, you really tried but Wotan was using a spell to keep you, Kaldur and Robin (who had tried to run to you and make sure you were alright) in place.

Soon he turned his spell to the rest of the team and beside you as kaldur tried to shield M'gann you heard him quietly tell her the worst possible thing.

"Plan B."

Plan Bs were never good.

M'gann's eyes glowed green and she brought the Bioship above the two of them, opening a hatch and dropping Kaldur's duffel from the ship and into his lap.

You'd seen the duffel on the trip to the bayou but you hadn't seen what was inside it.

You watched carefully as Kaldur opened the bag and held up the single item inside.

Wotan stopped, "The helmet of fate" He said.

He wouldn't. Kaldur knew the dangers of using the helmet he wouldn't use it now.

You could barely call out no as you saw him put on the helmet and become Dr. Fate.

Wally tried to protest but Black Adam knocked him into a tree beside. you.

The both of you slowly stood, using each other to stay up.

"Oh dude" Wally said, looking at Kaldur.

You didn't know what to say.

Wally turned to you, "are you okay? You stayed down for a while" He said.

"Yeah well, Adam threw me almost a thousand feet. I'm just lucky I landed in mud. What about you? You're holding your arm like it's painfully" You said and he shrugged.

"It's fine, come on, we can't waste the opportunity Kaldur gave us" Wally said, running to help Miss M and Artemis.

You stayed back, you'd had enough concussions to know you had one, even with your softened landing. Your head was buzzing and you knew that if you tried to walk you'd fall. Not that your help was very needed.

Kaldur took on Wotan, Robin was busy fighting the Joker and Wally, Artemis, M'gann and Conner were holding their own against a combination of Vertigo, Poison Ivy and Ultra Humanite.

They didn't have to hold out for long, because the Justice League soon joined you all.

"It's over" Batman said and the villains raised their hands in surrender.

At this point you could barely stand, instead leaning on the tree trunk beside you.

You could hear people talking around you, you heard the Joker's deranged laugh and saw plants rising out of the bayou but you couldn't understand what was going on.

I'm about to pass out, you thought as your vision blurred.

Dinah noticed your increasingly worsening state and managed to make it to you just in time to catch you as you collapsed.

#reader insert #dc x reader #gn reader #gender neutral reader #yj x gender neutral reader #yj x reader #young justice x reader #metahuman reader #shadow of a bluejay #young justice season 1

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princess-of-the-corner · 6 months

Note

One thing to note about RWBY is that it REALLY "grew the beard" over the course of its runtime.

Volumes 1-3 were animated in Poser (software that wasn't intended for use in animation), with rougher backgrounds and more simplistic writing related to complex themes. They were also only ever intended to be an extended prologue to the ACTUAL show, with the Big Twist of the Volume 3 finale being that the climax was actually just the inciting incident to the show's ACTUAL conflict.

Starting from Volume 4, the crew switched to Maya (software that's intended for use in animation), got better at writing more complex topics (the White Fang is treated more sympathetically than in the "Beacon Arc"), and Jaune was actually an interesting character for the entirety of the "Anima Arc" that lasted from Volumes 4-6.

Volume 7 is probably the best season of the show (I don't have a Crunchyroll account and so I haven't had the chance to watch Volume 9 in its entirety yet, even if I know what happens there). It deconstructs the whole "America Saves the World" trope with Atlas, and has some pretty good political satire that wound up being eerily prophetic. Also, Robyn Hill is one of the best characters the show has ever introduced.

Volume 8 contains both the best and worst moments of the series. V8C1-V8C11 features some of the best storytelling and most tense action from the franchise ever, but V8C12 has the overall message of "Okay but, the people who dehumanized Penny over her mechanical body KINDA had a point, let's fix what isn't broken!", V8C13 is a pretty descent villain episode, and V8C14 is by far the most offensive piece of media I've ever been subjected to. But still, up until those last three episodes, it was basically flawless.

I've heard Volume 9 is pretty good, but I'm side-eying everything involving Jaune because I honestly DESPISE the direction they took his arc in. But if we ignore EVERYTHING related to Jaune's role in the Volume, I like basically everything I've heard about it.

RWBY: After the Fall is a very good spin-off novel focused on popular side characters Team CFVY and shows what they've been up to since the Fall of Beacon in Volume 3. it also has a really interesting gimmick, as every other chapter is a flashback to something that happened in Team CFVY's past, further fleshing out their minor roles in the show.

RWBY: Before the Dawn is actual garbage. Sun's character arc (wherein his hypocrisy from the show is actually acknowledged and challenged) and Coco's and Velvet's shiptease are probably the only redeeming qualities. Taking this book into account actually makes Ironwood's reluctance to call Vacuo for help look REASONABLE. 2/10.

RWBY: Roman Holiday is a prequel novel focused on Roman and Neo, but Neo is the true protagonist here. The first few chapters leading up to their first meeting alternate between their perspectives, with the book being largely Neo focused after they finally meet.

RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant is an anthology of in-universe fairy tales. You can read it at any point in the series, but the further into the series you are when you read it, the more hints to RWBY's overarching plot you'll notice. While all of the Fairy Tales are works of fiction, some of them are dramatizations of actual events in the shadow war that RWBY's plot revolves around.

RWBY x JL: Super Heroes and Huntsmen is a 2-part film series wherein Team RWBY teams up with the Justice League. Part 1 features the Justice League visiting Remnant (kinda) during the events of Volume 7, and Part 2 features Team RWBY visiting DC Earth after the events of Volume 9.

There's also some ambiguously canonical comics published by DC, as well as 2 explicitly non-canon RWBY/DC crossover comic series. One features alternate versions of the Justice League cast who were born on Remnant, another features Remnant and DC Earth fusing due to Salem tricking Lex Luthor into helping her by playing off of his hatred of Superman. Neither of these crossovers are in continuity with the crossover movies.

Fascinating actually

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romancomicsnews · 10 months

Text

Who should play Martian Manhunter in the DCU?

Martian Manhunter always felt like one of the most important members of the Justice League to me. He is an alien, making him a sort of mentor and friend to Superman, but he is not an Earthling like most. He is a foreigner, the last of his kind, and must shift his likeness in order to assimilate to a new world. As a person of color, his story always felt the most sad, and all too real.

While the Manhunter from Mars is an original member of the Justice League and a staple member of JLA in Justice League Unlimited, J'onn J'onzz has been largely absent from live action films.

While he was retconned as Calvin Swanwick in Zack Snyder's Justice League, we don't get much of him, and he doesn't really contribute to any fight.

With the DCU reboot already featuring alien/alien adjacent heroes such as Blue Beetle, Hawkgirl, Superman, and Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter's return can fit in nicely real soon.

If that is to be true, I have a couple of picks I think can add something new to the character, and become a very fun recurring character for The Justice League and other DCU movies to come.

First, as always, let's answer some questions:

What depictions are we drawing from?

When it comes to Manhunter, there are quite a few solid iterations in both Live Action and Animation. Let's start with the big one.

Carl Lumbly - Justice League/Justice League Unlimited

It's hard to not talk Martian Manhunter without bringing up Justice League Unlimited.

Carl Lumbly provided the voice for the character, which is often the voice people hear when they think of Manhunter. He brings wisdom, strength, and sorrow to the character that people often try to emulate, but can never truly duplicate.

He also brought an awkward energy to humanity I quite love. I think it has been missing in other versions. I'd love our Manhunter to be unfamiliar with earth customs, and more importantly question them.

David Harewood - Arrowverse

I don't think any show or movie has used Martian Manhunter as effectively as Supergirl.

The initial twist of not being Hank Henshaw and instead being the last son of Mars is still one of my favorite moments in the series. Ever since then, J'onn is used as a mentor to most heroes, sometimes team leader, but always the inspiration of the team.

David Harewood brings a righteous anger to Manhunter at times that I absolutely love. I'd love to carry that over.

This version of J'onn is slightly more optimistic than most, seeing the good in humanity, and believing the world deserves saving.

Overall, he is a fantastic Manhunter, and if you haven't seen Supergirl, you should definitely give it a shot.

Henry Lennix - DCEU

While he is mostly a shut in, there are aspects of this character I quite like.

Manhunter being a reveal in the DC Universe is fun for fans. Trying to figure out what a guy is up to and turning out to be one of the best DC heroes can be a delight if done right.

I also like that this Manhunter is working behind the scenes to help heroes like Superman. Having him starting as a mentor character already and then being a mentor superhero is a fun concept.

While I don't like how much he is on the sidelines for the DCEU, setting him up in multiple movies to finally face his fear and come from the shadows as a person we've already known could've been amazing had Snyder continued on.

And of course, Lennix also has a fantastic voice.

What ethnicity is Martian Manhunter?

Well, he's a martian.

In most depictions, Manhunter is portrayed by black actors. I think continuing this is important, as his story is an immigrant story, and it appears to be a staple aspect of the character.

Any other stipulations?

I'd like our Manhunter to feel older than our other main characters. If Superman is 30, I'd like Manhunter to feel a couple decades older.

I'm looking for someone in the 50-70 range, but I'd say more towards 50 as he has to feel formidable.

This actor should have a great voice, feel like he a mentor, project strength and sadness, and most importantly, be able to be part of an ensemble.

I'm not looking for a leading man technically. Manhunter feels crucial to the League, but I don't necessarily see him leading his own project. More like Vision in the MCU who comes up in key places and is always a delight.

Unlike other heroes, Manhunters build is inconsequential, as he can shape shift into Manhunter using CGI. So really, any build is good.

As always, I don't want an actor widely known for any other superhero role.

Unlike most of my fancasts, I think I found three I like a lot and would be extremely happy with any of them. It was very close and I went real back and forth. Let's get into it:

3. Rick Worthy

While he is known for other roles such as Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, The Man in the High Castle, or Vampire Diaries, Rick Worthy has caught my attention from his role as Dean Henry Fogg in The Magicians.

As the Dean, Worthy mentors young heroes on how best to use their abilities all while keeping secrets of his own on a looming threat. If that doesn't scream Manhunter, I don't know what does.

Worthy's Manhunter could be a little more fun than the others. I can see him poking fun at the man dressed as the Bat, or shape shifting into the other heroes to mock them.

I think having a character with a background in Sci-Fi could make the Manhunter reveal harder for people to see coming. I also think Worthy is an actor who won't be bigger than the role.

My main concern is I think he could struggle with the mentoring of heroes without being sarcastic. I'm not sure how genuine Worthy can be as Manhunter, which is why I have him third.

I can still see Worthy playing this role for decades to come, and really chew up scenery.

2. Blair Underwood

Known for roles in films like Rules of Engagement, Set it off and shows such as Agents of SHIELD, American Crime Story, and Dear White People, you've probably seen Blair Underwood in a really well acted piece of media.

Underwood has a smoothness the other actors do not. I can absolutely see Underwood's Manhunter gain a high level job based on his skill and charm.

Underwood also has the most experience being a part of great ensembles. It's an often overlooked skill to be great and amplify the skills of other great actors without being overshadowed. Underwood has that skill which is why he has such an incredible career.

He has experience playing FBI, experience playing a shape shifter in Agents of SHIELD, a mentor (although a bad one) in Dear White People, and perfected all of them.

If I had to put money down as to who would get this role, Underwood has my bet. I could see him cast tomorrow for Superman Legacy and fit in perfectly. But I do have one more I really love.

1. Andre Braugher

You see it now don't you?

Known for roles in The Good Fight, Bojack Horseman and Men of a Certain Age, Braugher really launched into the zeitgeist as Captain Raymond Holt in Brooklyn Nine Nine.

Captain Holt may be the perfect audition tape for Martian Manhunter.

Older experienced mentor who is othered for being different, doesn't always understand social human interactions, extremely smart, kind, but with a righteous anger.

That's Manhunter.

Braugher through his time in Brooklyn Nine Nine also demonstrated how funny and/or dramatically poignant he can be. Both are needed for Manhunter.

Much like Underwood, Braugher has experience being in large ensembles and bringing out some of the best in other actors. Imagine a scene as good and emotional as the final scene between Holt and Jake between Manhunter and Superman.

That's the kind of Manhunter the DCU needs.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to support me, you can:

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lyinginahammock · 10 months

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DC - The Reigning King of TV Superhero Animation

Let’s get this out of the way - on September 7, 1992, DC won the battle for TV superhero animation for all time with the premiere of the Batman: The Animated Series season 1, episode 14, “Heart of Ice”. The heartbreaking tale of Mr. Freeze’s origin, it won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program. Honestly, if nothing DC every put on broadcast TV ever again was any good, this episode would still be talked about as one of the greatest pieces of animated TV ever.

But instead of resting on their laurels, DC decided to keep kicking ass. “Beware The Grey Ghost,” “Almost Got ‘Im”, “Trial”, “Mad Love”, “Growing Pains”, “Over the Edge”, “Old Wounds” - all amazing episodes of animated television from Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.

Then, in 1999, DC decided to go for (and pull off) a Batman hat trick with the debut of Batman Beyond, a series originally designed to sell toys that the writers decided to make kick ass. But still, it eventually had to come to an end, and Marvel breathed a sigh of relief.

Until November 7, 2001, when DC dropkicked them with the premiere of The Justice League, which transitioned into Justice League Unlimited with grace and style and was similarly amazing, but appeared to end that run of successes.

At the same time, DC released the series that sealed their eternal victory and proved them the king of superhero animations - Teen Titans. An anime-infused take on the superhero team of the same name, it featured DC’s trademark complicated storytelling and ran for five years, followed by a pretty good movie. And the theme song fucking slapped, both in English and Japanese.

Also running concurrently was The Batman, another interesting take on the caped crusader which reimagined the origins and appearances of his rogues gallery and had some absolutely heartbreaking twists and turns.

After that came Batman: The Brave and the Bold. I’ll die on this fucking hill - the show is better than people online give it credit for. It focused on the campy elements of comic books of yore, but also gave us the amazing episode “Chill of the Night!”, an examination of what it means to be the Batman.

Then came Young Justice, a wholly original take on a number of DC heroes and villains and marked the TV premier of fucking Superboy. The first season is, in my mind, damn near perfect.

Of course, you have stuff like Teen Titans Go! but that isn't conducive to my point, so I'm ignoring it.

Finally, we get to the present day with programming like The Harley Quinn Show and My Adventures With Superman, the former of which has gained a strong fan base and the latter of which shows amazing potential.

So, why does DC's animation devision have so many absolute fucking bangers under its belt while Marvel doesn't have nearly the same track record? Well, I have a theory.

Marvel hit it big with the MCU and thus have a sort of cannon and, as such, the characterization of their characters has to be pretty consistent across mediums, even animation. DC, however, doesn't have anything like that and can reimagine their characters any way they want. That and their animation department has been kicking ass so long they've proven that, left to their own devices, they'll pump out quality material.

So, yeah.

#dc animated universe #dc animation #teen titans #young justice #batman the animated series #new batman adventures #batman beyond #justice league #justice leauge unlimited

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linkspooky · 10 months

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TITANS, ISSUE #2 THOUGHTS.

This is way late but welcome back to my continual coverage of the new Titans series currently being released by DC Comics. Goodbye anime it's time to return to my real passion cheesey super hero comics. This is the first series since the N52 and Rebirth reboots to feature the classic New Teen Titans lineup so as a fan of the old comics I'm interested to see where they're taking these characters. Especially since this is the first time in like three reboots the focus is on letting these characters grow up.

This is also running simultaneously with World's Finest! Teen Titans which is bringing back the silver age lineup + Bumble Bee and making them canon again. As a fan of the silver age comics I'll be covering that series eventually too. Anyway, issue number two under the cut.

MEET THE NEW BOSS

We open with a much younger version of the Teen Titans about to ambush Brother Blood only to find the Justice League has already taken care of them. As far as I know something like this never really happened in the old continuity. Robin always acted separate from Batman that was sort of the point, and the only time they really clashed was the crossover with Batman and the Outsiders. It culminated in a story arc where Dick Grayson realizing he'd been emulating batman a little too much realized he didn't actually want to lead people the same way that Bruce did.

Then much, much later in the JLA and Titans crossover Technis Imperative. So yeah, The Justice League never really sniped one of the Titans targets. It was more of a silver age Teen Titans thing that they were just considered the Jr. Justice League and the Justice League / Their mentors were more active in interfering with them. By the time of New Teen TItans, they were just the Titans their own independent group.

Wally's not dead (obviously), but an alternate timeline version of him does give us the interesting premise that Dick is tasked with solving a murder before it even happens. It gives Dick a chance to show off his detective training here presenting a unique challenge to his skill set.

Cyborg's question of whether or not Dick has contingencies in place is a reference to the Tower of Babel storyline where Batman prepared weapons to use against the Justice League with the knowledge of all their weaknesses, only for those same weapons to get stolen by Ra'as al Ghul who put them into place and crippled the league while at the same time sending Batman on a wild goose chase by robbing his parent's grave an forcing him to track down where Ra's moved the bodies in order to distract them. It was a pretty big deal in the pre-reboot continuity.

Dick having those same contingencies shows his control-freak Bruce foiling, but at least he's open about it I guess. I'd say that Nightwing having all of those weapons and contingency plans though does put a little too much power in his hands over the others. The whole point of Tower of Babel is it's not so much about Batman always needing to carry krytponite around in case Superman goes evil, as it is that Bruce needs to feel in control and in order to achieve that he disrespects all of his comrades agency by devising methods to control them.

THough later on Dick does have a point that it's Wally's tendency to rush off immediately without thinking because he is a speedster and therefore stretch himself too thin. IT's the right call to keep Wally close when Dick knows that he's going to get murdered soon, but it's kind of wrong to hold "I can keep you here if I want because I know your weaknesses" over his head to get him to stay.

Dick makes another controversial decision by putting Donna in charge instead of Starfire. This is probably to give Donna a character conflict.

It's funny that Dick chose Donna over Starfire considering their track record with leadership. One of the biggest fights Donna and Dick ever had is when Dick trusted Donna with leading the team in his absence and Donna let the whole team fall apart. Basically while Dick was gone Cyborg and Beast Boy ran off, Raven was kidnapped by Brother Blood and missing for months and Donna basically sat on her hands and did nothing about it. All because Donna's greatest character flaw is being unable to live up to the perfect image that everyone else has on her.

It sparked one of the biggest fights Dick and Donna ever had in the comics, they literally got into a fist fight over this. Anyway, in summary Donna does not have the best leadership skills. On the other hand Starfire led the Titans pretty succesfully when they were mentoring Young Justice in the 2003 comics and Dick walked away from the team.

Dick probably just made the call because it's his tendency to trust Donna with everything, due to their close friendship.

At least it doesn't get in the way of Donna and Starfire's friendship. There's a funny little nod here to the New Teen Titans which had pretty constant inner-group conflict, to the point Cyborg would make fun of it by calling their lives a soap opera. The Titans are pretty famously a dysfunctional found family. We'll see if they keep that element in or not.

Two more things set up for future issues, number one it's Garth's turn to be brainwashed by Brother Blood this week. Garth seems like the natural choice to get brainwashed, despite being a member of the original four he's kind of been more of an outsider to the group. In the original silver age titans he felt so insecure about his place in the group he literally developed an illness and had to quit.

The second is that it's mentioned that the explosion that started the fire is Tamaranean in origin. Considering Starfire's Tales of the Titan comic deals with her encountering a pair of sisters with a healthy relationship, and featured an off-hand mentioned of Blackfire.

This could be foreshadowing the return of Blackfire, which I'm excited but also nervous for. Blackfire is one of my favorite villains in all of comics, but her relationship with Starfire is often reduced to "Starfire is the good one, and Blackfire is the bad one" when in the New Teen Titans it became much more complicated than that and became a pretty nuanced analysis of the conflict between a golden child and a scapegoat.

However, my hot take about Blackfire and Starfire's relationship is a rat for another post, so I'll just end things here.

#teen titans #tt meta #teen titans meta #titans 2023 #titans #new teen titans #dick grayson #garth #donna troy #nightwing #wondergirl #starfire #dc comics #dc comics meta

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calliecat93 · 3 months

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So with RT shutting down, RWBY's fate is completely up in the air... but given Warner Bros. recent treatment of their properties, I do not have much hope. Plus I'd only continue watching if Miles and Kerry continued to be in charge, and I get the feeling that isn't going to happen. Call me cynical and I hope I'm wrong, but sadly I have to assume the worst.

It sucks. I've followed RWBY more or less from the start. Even after Monty passed, I kept watching. Even when I lost all respect for RT and stopped watching their content, I kept watching. Even when it moved to Crunchyroll and I nearly threw in the towel, I kept watching. I've followed this show for a decade from nearly the beginning to the supposed end and knowing that it's likely not going to get a proper ending because of a bunch of cooperate BS... I can't even be angry at this kind of thing anymore. I'm just disappointed.

But instead of lamenting over the what-ifs, I want to appreciate what had been. I've loved every minute of the show and watching it grow into what it had become by Volume 9. Not everyone liked it, and that's fair. I didn't love everything, but there was never a moment where I wanted to stop watching. I've spent the first ten years of my adult life following Team RWBY as they grew and discovered themselves, and in many ways, it helped me discover myself as well.

I never disliked any volume. No, not even Volume 5. It was a fun ride from beginning to end. It was amazing to see every single aspect of RWBY grow from good for a cheap web show to freakin' spectacular. The animation, the voice acting, the writing, and even the music which was utter perfection from the start only got better and better. And while I had no real interest in stuff like the comics or the Justice League crossover, the fact that they exist is just mind-blowing.

I'm still sad that this might be the end, but I guess it could have been in worse spots. Volume 9 gave me a lot of payoffs I'd been waiting on for years and ended on an open but still hopeful note for the future. It's better than if say... Volume 8 had been the end haha. Some parts will remain unresolved, but at least I can have some peace that our heroes will triumph in the end. Maybe I'm wrong and CRWBY can work something out even if not in the animated medium, but only time will tell. The biggest lesson that I've taken from the series is that despite what hardships and unexpected swerves come at you, you have to keep moving forward. That is a lesson I plan to follow through on now.

Thank you for an amazing decade RWBY. Thank you for all that you taught me. Thank you to CRWBY for making all that you did happen despite all the circumstances. Thank you Miles and Kerry for keeping the series alive and giving us an amazing series that we can always go back to. And of course thank you Monty for your creation, I hope wherever you are now you're watching on proud of what your team accomplished. Hopefully this isn't the final good-bye, but more of a see you later. I supposed we'll find out.

#rwby

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chris-aok · 3 months

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The Best Batman

I don't think there is a best Batman or one Batman better than the rest. However, I do think there is one Batman better than the rest at a given thing. A Batman per category or trait.

To be clear, I am only referring to live action movie Batmen. I won't be discussing Batmans across comic books, animation, television, or other media. Only live action movie Batmanses. No other Batmani.

Without further ado, here are the categories:

The Best Detective: Robert Pattinson

2022's The Batman was the best live action demonstration of the Dark Knight's detective chops. It was something so many other portrayals of the character glossed over. Here, you see him put the pieces together and figure out The Riddler's puzzles; which added to the detectiving: It wasn't enough that he had to detectivate crimes, he also had to detectivize puzzles: Double the detective work. He was figuring things out like it was out of Seven (1995) (Another great detective story) We often forget Batman isn't just great at fighting, he's also The World's Greatest Detective. This story shows us why.

The Best Bruce Wayne: Christian Bale

Christian Bale gave us the best portrayal of Bruce Wayne to date. Here I mean Bruce Wayne as the alter ego or cover story. Not Bruce Wayne the person. In the same way that Clark Kent is Superman's disguise according to Bill, Bruce Wayne is Batman's. Bale oozed suave and charisma as Bruce Wayne. No one has done the Billionaire Playboy quite as effectively. What better way to completely misdirect from the fact that you're Batman than being smooth as silk and oblivious? While Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne is a more realistic Bruce Wayne in response to the trauma of having both your parents murdered in front of you, Bale's Bruce Wayne does the actual job of keeping people off the scent that he might even remotely be the Caped Crusader.

The Best Fighter: Ben Affleck

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I really wish Ben had been given his own movie to show us more of his Batman. He committed to the role like crazy and showed us all what kind of a street-fighting beast Batman is. In the warehouse scene from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), he breaks bones, snaps necks, and throws guys through walls. There is no greater Batman fight sequence committed to film and this scene alone is enough to earn Ben the title of the best fighting Batman.

The Best Batman: Kevin Conroy

Ok I lied. There is a best Batman and it has always been Kevin Conroy, may he rest in peace. Batman as a character might be cool in live action, but Batman is a comic book character: Animation is the only medium that can truly do him justice. The work Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Kevin Conroy, and more put into building this Dark Knight for Batman: The Animated Series (1992) is amazing. I always dug the Art Deco. What's more is that he shined even more when contrasted with the rest of the Justice League in the animated series Justice League (2001). Putting him next to Superman every week somehow showed us even more of what made Batman, Batman. When I think of Batman, Kevin Conroy's is usually who I think of.

Forgive the deception; but I'm not about to write about Batman and somehow forget to mention the best Batman. To show I mean well, let me share something else:

My Favourite Batman: Robert Pattinson

Yes, Kevin Conroy is the best Batman, but Robert Pattinson is my favourite. He's the most realistic and most grounded Batman to date. He's also the darkest. The Gotham Matt Reeves and team built is reflected in all of the characters of The Batman (2022); including Robert Pattinson's. This Batman isn't apart from the rest of Gotham. He's just as dark and twisted as the monsters he fights. I can't wait to see what other stories Matt Reeves and Robert tell together.

#post #batman

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nightwings-robin · 2 years

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the last issue of Young Justice: Targets is out now on amazon and DC Universe Infinite. and a free version here.

this very well may be the last we ever see of Earth-16.

I think back to around this exact day six years ago when it was announced that YJ was finally renewed for a 3rd season after it had been canceled in 2012.

I have to say I was really disappointed in season 3 for a number of reasons. I didn't like that they had the team members lying and keeping secrets from each other when they already learned in season 2 not to do that. it just felt like rehashing previous themes. I found season 4 much more enjoyable but it did still have some flaws, mainly some characters being sidelined in their own arcs.

I'm going to pour my heart out a little bit here but only because this is likely the end of the yjtv universe and I have to say just how much this show really meant to me, especially about 10 years ago. it first aired when I was 14 and I was pretty depressed back then. I've talked about this in these posts from several years ago: here, here, and here. the point is that I was sad and lonely when the show first came out and watching it made me feel less alone. I had suicide ideation and I remember thinking to myself "I can't kill myself because then I'll miss the new episode of Young Justice" which I know is sad but that's just how I was back then. the show literally saved by life. I'm in a much better place now mentally (no longer in high school at least).

I fully admit that I have on rose-colored glasses when it comes to this show. I mean I just criticized season 3 but I do still have a lot of love for this show, especially season 1. but I'm not going to pretend like it's loyal to the comics in the slightest. like I totally understand that a lot of people don't like yjtv because of how different the characters, relationships, and back stories are. I totally understand not liking it because it's definitely not an adaptions of the 1998 Young Justice comic run (which is a crying shame because that run deserves a faithful animated adaptation).

but it's the show that got me into DC Comics! I was into Marvel when I was younger and yjtv is the first DC property that I ever really got attached to. (I had seen bits and pieces of Shumacher's Batman and Robin movie and also the Teen Titans Trouble in Tokyo movie but that's about it as far as DC stuff I was familiar with back then) so the Young Justice animated show does hold a special place in my heart for that reason. it inspired me to watch Batman the animated series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League/Unlimited. I don't know if I ever would have really gotten into DC as much as I did if I had never watched yjtv at that critical time in my life as a teenager. it's strange to think just how different my life might have been if I had never watched it. or maybe my life wouldn't have been any different at all. who knows. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I still just have a lot of love for the show despite all of its many flaws but some of the flaws are kind of hard to ignore. idk I feel like I'm rambling. I don't know where I'm going with this but I am having some feelings about this probably being the last Earth-16 thing we ever get to see. I was sad when HBO didn't pick it up for a 5th season but maybe it's for the best.

let's just say there's a reason why my blog description is what it is: "yj helped me not kill myself 10 years ago so now I feel the need to continue praising it even though it doesn't warm my heart the same way that it used to and it genuinely hurts to admit that."

(but also I do actually kind of really want that season 5 and beyond so like please renew it warner bros please)

#young justice animated #young justice cartoon #yjtv #young justice critical #earth 16 #dc comics #I do have some complicated feelings about this show but I do still really love it at the same time #it could still get renewed by another streaming service but who knows if a season 5 would even be good #it might be best to just let it die now #I feel really sad saying that idk if I really feel that it's best to end now #I just don't know #I shouldn't have this many feelings about a cartoon yet here we are #feel free to make fun of me I know I'm being cringe and pathetic but I don't care #suicide tw

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adamwatchesmovies · 6 months

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The Flash (2023)

Considering the demand for Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, I’m still surprised by the ticket sales of the later DC films. Unfortunately, 2023’s The Flash is more likely to be remembered as one of the biggest box-office disappointments Warner Bros. Ever suffered rather than the red speedster’s first solo big-screen adventure. This film offers a lot to those who’ve avidly watched prior iterations of the DC Universe on TV and the big screen. It panders to the fans a bit too much, in fact, and the special effects vary wildly in quality.

Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is about to give up hope. As a child, his mother Nora (Maribel Verdú) was murdered. His father was convicted of the crime. Barry knows for a fact his dad (Ron Livingston, replacing Billy Crudup) didn’t commit it. Unfortunately, the last piece of evidence that could have exonerated him - video footage from his trip to a grocery store on that day - doesn’t show his face. Overcome by emotions, Barry accidentally uses his powers to travel back in time. There, he alters his mother’s fate, traveling to an alternate universe in the process.

The trailers gave it away so it’s not a big secret that the alternate universe (not alternate timeline) Barry lands in has an entirely different version of the Justice League. Most notably, Michael Keaton returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman. It was fun to see that sort of thing in Spider-Man: No Way Home and it is again here. I never thought we’d see Keaton donning the cape and cowl once more, much less see him teaming up with the Flash as they search for Superman to save the world from Michael Shannon as General Zod. With cameos from Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) alongside Ben Affleck’s Batman, loads of easter eggs and some plot points from earlier movies (such as the empty pod in Superman’s ship in Man of Steel) finally getting addressed, the picture checks many boxes for its audience. Unfortunately, this story takes many cues from the terrific 2011 Flashpoint comic storyline, which was previously adapted as an excellent animated film in 2013 and at least one season of the Flash TV series. I can’t say anything about the show but when choosing between the two adaptations, the animated version is better because its dozens of superheroes and villains make it feel like an event. It’s also way shorter; this 2023 movie is a whopping 144 minutes long. If you're interested in The Flash, I'm sure you've already seen/read this story.

To be fair, the running time isn’t wasted. Before he realizes he’s traveled to an alternate universe, Barry thinks he’s gone back in time so he meets his past self: a younger more immature Barry who’s just received his powers. This film is both one of the Flash’s biggest adventures AND his origin story. If you were to cut some material, it would have to be from the third act, which is a big action scene that didn't really need to happen.

If someone aggressively edited this film, they could probably cut it down by 20 minutes with only minimal rewrites/reshoots. For example, Older Barry tells Younger Barry about the first person he ever saved and the first person he failed to rescue. We see the same people in Younger Barry’s universe as disaster looms towards them… but both Flashes are too busy trying to save the world from General Zod to even try a rescue… so what does that mean? I also feel that the mandatory scene in any time travel movie, the one where the rules are explained, is done rather clumsily.

You might not agree with the flaws directed towards the story, but an undeniable flaw is the special effects. Some are seamless, like those with two Barrys. That’s a credit to Ezra Miller as a performer as well. In many other scenes - such as the big opener that has the Flash saving people from a crumbling building - “uneven” feels like an overly generous description.

The Flash is a mixed bag that thankfully has more good than bad. The special effects may make you wonder where all the money went - I suspect post-production ate a lot of it. Some aspects of the plot are really thoughtful, such as the scenes where the younger and older versions of Barry talk about their mother. Seeing Michael Keaton reprise his role is a treat. I’d even call the performances pretty strong, particularly Miller in his dual roles. There are some issues with the screenplay - mostly during the third act. All this means I’d recommend it to those who are invested in the franchise that started with Man of Steel and to fans of the comic as well… but they’re almost certain to have seen this story done before and better.

Go see The Flash with lowered expectations and you’ll be pleased, particularly if you’re seeing it at home as part of your subscription or for the price of a rental. While you’re at it, there is a scene at the end of the credits, though it doesn’t add anything to the movie and can easily be skipped, particularly since it’s not like this is the last time we’re seeing this universe in action - that would be “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” in December. (September 2, 2023)

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comicaurora · 2 years

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Hey red! I know you've talked about some ideas of party balance before, and I noticed you do an excellent job of keeping that balance in place. How do you figure out that balancing, especially with characters whose skillsets are a little superficially similar? In less action-y places I get it works in terms of the characters having very distinct (and likeable!) personalities and all working with different knowledge. With action, though, how do you manage to find that uniqueness between your two Tough Guys Who Hit Good, your two Spellcasters With Primordials, and your two Badasses With Culturally Significant Magic? How do you ensure that you can't swap anyone for anyone else in these set pieces without big consequences?

Gosh, I'm glad I'm apparently pulling that off! It's tricky for sure. When juggling a broadly overpowered party comp with a lot of overlap, I find it's best to look at it from a tactical angle rather than a stat comp strengths-and-weaknesses one. Not so much who CAN do what, but who WOULD do what.

On a very real level, Aurora is functionally a superhero story, and superhero teams struggle from this issue a lot. Everyone's OP in different ways and some of them seem to make other characters redundant. Thus, character actions in combat tend to have more to do with personality than powerset. The Justice League animated series handled this quite well, in my opinion - as a few examples, Superman tends to charge in headfirst (and get smacked through walls in the process) because he's self-professed to being the only character who can definitely tank whatever damage the bad guy's putting out, and his priority is ultimately making sure everyone else doesn't die - plus he hasn't quite shaken off the idea that saving the world is his job, and everyone else is doing it more as a hobby but not as good as him. Martian Manhunter is almost as much of a tank as Superman and has about eight more powers, including some really busted ones, but in combat he has a tendency to jump in front of attacks and shield squishier members like Hawkgirl or Flash, often KOing himself in the process. A problem that could be solved with shapeshifting, intangibility or phenomenal psychic powers is a Martian-Manhunter-solvable-problem on paper, but in practice his ultimate priority isn't maximum efficiency, it's protecting everyone else, because the core of his character is overwhelming compassion. And Flash is canonically one of the most overpowered characters power-wise, having basically no upper limit on his speed, but he's way too nice and fun to use his powers in the really busted and potentially nasty ways like shaking things apart or phasing through people, so he mostly runs around and quips and regularly gets one-shotted by rocks and small puddles.

When I'm writing this comic I try to focus on what everyone would do before I ask what they could do under ideal circumstances. Falst and Kendal are both Tough Guys Who Hit Good, but Kendal is a very simple fighter who tends to implacably move in straight lines, while Falst is ultimately motivated by self-preservation and uses more stealth tactics and maneuverability, often escaping his problems rather than defeating them. If the problem du jour is Just Breaking Something they're both gonna be pretty good at it, but Falst would never challenge a god to a fight just to make sure it doesn't focus on anyone else. Falst is also, ironically, a little better at coordinating with a team than Kendal, as Kendal sacrifices potential tactical benefits to make sure nobody else is ever put at risk, while Falst keeps track of everyone's abilities so he knows what assets he has on his side. Alinua can heal me? Great, that means "operation Just Fucking Jump Off This Mountain To Get Away" is a go.

Erin and Alinua have a similar split. They're both fairly OP casters with complex links to living primordials, but Erin is very rigidly compartmentalized while Alinua is entirely working on instinct. Erin casts like he's making moves in a game, Alinua casts like she's extending her body through the ground. This means Alinua's much more flexible in the moment, but Erin is significantly more versatile given enough time to think. Erin also thinks more tactically than Alinua does, trying to map and control the battlefield from above - it's why it frustrates him when things happen too quickly, or when other characters run off on their own when it would be much more advantageous on paper to listen to him. Erin benefits greatly from time to think and plan, while Alinua suffers from the same because of a tendency to overthink. Also their respective primordial links are wildly different in tone and impact, which helps a lot.

Tess and Dainix are both wildcards in their own way. Tess is a full-fledged lightning mage, and on paper could do everything Erin has done with lightning magic so far, but in practice her approach towards magic is closer to Alinua's - treating it more as an extension of her body than a substrate to be controlled or commanded. She's a similar heavy hitter to Kendal and Falst, but is having a lot more fun with it and doesn't have any of Kendal's "nobody dies" angst or Falst's "priority one is survival and it is hard" grievances. She will launch herself headfirst at the problem and she will have a good time doing it - a privilege that comes from being very difficult to hurt. The other two tanks are tough to keep down, but they can still feel it when they get whacked, which tends to sour the mood of a fight. Essentially that split is the difference between a wolverine-style healing factor and a colossus-style set of armor - they're both devastating in a fight, but one of them tends to be a lot grumpier. Tess has an awareness of tactics, but mostly just focuses on her role in those tactics - aka "which thing do you need me to hit and when do you need it hit?"

Dainix is more complicated, and I don't want to go too far into it yet, because at this point we've only seen him fight in less-than-ideal circumstances where his personal choices were limited. I will say that Dainix is a very well-trained monster hunter who understands group tactics better than any other character and tends to cycle through different strategies and tools depending on what kind of problem he's trying to solve - as a basically normal human physicality-wise, he can't really afford to tank big hits or make big mistakes, so he has to be precise with his problem-solving to avoid being instantly taken out of the fight. Of course, the crucible situation shifts that somewhat, but while his powerset has expanded on paper, in practice he has a lot of reason to be wary about it, and strikes me as rather unlikely to immediately toss out his extensive skillset and years of training in favor of a deeply emotionally unpleasant and complex power he only barely understands. It's like if Bruce Banner was a ninja before he became the hulk. He probably wouldn't start solving all his ninja problems by hulking out at them.

I also think it's critically important to not cheat. If a problem could be immediately solved by one of the characters, I either need a really good reason that can't happen (environmental hazard limiting options, character injury, Emotion Stuff) or I need to just let that happen. Refusing to let a character do something they could absolutely do without explanation is the number one way to undercut their perceived abilities. It's the Worf Effect on steroids.

#asks #aurora #behind the curtain

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popculturebuffet · 2 months

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Through a Mirror Darkly/Batmarch: Brave and the Bold: Deep Cover for Batman!/Game Over for Owlman! (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people. Welcome back to Batmarch after a long unintended break from it and welcome one and all to Through a Mirror Darkly, a new mini retrospective that goes through the looking glass and sees what dark reflections of our heroes could be. Or in less pretty words: We're taking a look at a bunch of mirror universe episodes in animation using kev's patreon slots while we wait for Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse.

It's a familiar concept: a parallel universe where for one reason or another, either they were just born worse or something happened that pivoted them in the other direction, our heroes are evil, our villians are good and usually the universe is a hell hole. I also can't say we won't ever return to this idea as there's plenty of mirror universe stories out there. For now though we're focusing on the four best we found in the genre.

Starting off we have a unique spin on one of the more iconic mirror universes with Dc Comics Earth 3. DC started exploring the multiverse to simply clear up an issue: there were two flashes, Golden Age Hero Jay Garrick and Silver Age Hero Barry Allen. Since Allen was seen reading a flash comic, they used that springboard to make a parallel earth Barry acciidently went through while tying nots for a class of school children.

Fan Reception was great so DC went to the next logical step, bringing back the rest of the golden age heroes for earth 2 and having a proper crossover, one so big, bold and fun that DC made it an annual thing: every year the JLA would unite wtih the JSA and every year another earth would be involved. So for the second the next course was obvious: a bad guy earth where up was down, black was white, John Wilkes booth was shot by Abe Lincoln, and instead of a variety of heroes protecting it, a group of the worst of the worst had conquered it.

Earth 3 has been revisited a lot and it's something I'll likely be going back to again as there's a lot to dig into: Grant MOrrison brought it back, infnite crisis brought the origianl back, ther'es been a few rebooted versions since, there's a lot of takes on this, and that naturally spreads to animation with superfriends, justice league and the film justice league: Crisis on two worlds, all taking a swing at it.

And the swing we're looking at today is Batman Brave and the BOld's take. This was Brave and the Bold's mid season finale, taking the crime syndicate and swapping out it's members for the various heroes batman had teamed up with, ironicallys howing up BEFORE the justice league itself ever did. Also for some reason their earth 3 is earth 23.

This two parter was the first in Brave and the Bold, one of only two in the series history, the other finishing off the starro saga. It's also one of those two parters where part one and part two are basically their own episodes rather than one big episode split up into multiple parts. It's something I notice more after binging X-Men the animated series recently, as most of thier two parters are of the "one big episode" variety, with exceptions like the brilliant time fugitives.

SO under the cut we have two distinct connected stories at Batman staves off an attack from Owlman, takes his identity to go undercover and figure out his world.. then is forced on the lmab and to team up with his greatest foe when Owlman returns the favor. It's a fun, furious two parter and it's under the cut.

Deep Cover for Batman!

We begin on Earth... 23.

I get putting your own spin on things but when it's earth 3 in all but name.. just do what i'm doing and call it earth 3.

ON this blighted earth, it's last hero makes a last ditch Gamble: use a device called the Phase Oscelator and escape this earth to find help. This last hero is the Red Hood and most people familiar with this identity either know where this going or are confused why it's not jason tod but the joker in a dope suit and an expresionless mask.

The Red Hood was the Joker's first identity, revealed in a silver age story as what he did before falling in that vat and made canon again post crisis with the killing joke. How much of the story leading UP to joker becoming red hood in this version is vague if it's true or just one of Joker's many backstories, but the fact he was the hood and fell in acid isn't. Jason later took the identity for his own post ressurection, his own ironic sick joke on his murderer.

Given it's silver age stylings, it's a perfect fit here and a neat way to introduce JOker: not through the clown prince himself.. but through the hero he could've been as he makes his last stand. The series does obscure the cast in shadows.. though their shadier behavior tips that something's off. that and the whole "wreathed in shadow thing". It looks utterly neat and is staged beautifully, it just makes it painfully obvious their building up to so mething. That something is the reveal of the Injustice Syndicate. Why not crime syndicate, I dunno. The change in lineup is more fair as most leaguers hadn't been introduced yet so while Owlman, batman's evil counterpart stays, this version focuses on Owls and three brand new evil counterparts: Silver Cyclone, Blue Bowman and Crimson Scarab. The designs.. are really just recolors of their heroic counterparts, which I accept for the ones we see for like a scene later, but question hwy they put no real effort into these.

This sadly extends to the villians themselves as outside of Cyclone, most of them.. are just the character but EVIL. Even Owlman, despite getting two episodes is just "batman but evil" and mostly coasts on the fact that batman but evil is a chilling concept.

Part of the problem is, while I do LIKE these episodes... I feel they pulled the trigger way too early to do a parallel universe story. The other ones we'll be tackling are a decent ways into the shows run pulling from seasons 4 and 5 of two of them, and the middle of a truly MASSIVE season one for one of them. It's far enough in to know who these people are and thus get used to the opposiite. While we know Batman well enoguh at this point to get that, we really don't know most of the other heroes here well enougH: Green Arrow.. never really grows beyond "douchebag rival". Beetle however had a whole episode fleshing him out and is one of the only heroes with two so far so they have no excuse there. Red Tornado at least had a deep enough first episode to give them just enogu hto make a chilling evil versoin: Red badly wants to be part of humanity.. while Silver's cast his aside, being cold, emotionless and pure evil as he later tortures the Red Hood. IT's the lazy way to do a mirror universe: just that character but on the wrong side and it feels disapointing the show never went back and corrected this with a followup once we got to know the cast better. I really woudl've loved an evil aquaman once we got to know ours better.

Thankfully though while the evil dopplegangers are one note, the episode itself isn't as it's a fun tense ride starting with Owlman invading the bat cave. ANd as I said Owlman may bea bit thin as a villian.. but he works simply because "evil batman" itself is intriguing. It can be done poorly

And sometimes won't go th efuck away, but the idea of someone as capable as batman using that power against us is chilling and the episodes use it well, this one having a cool parallel fight between the two, with the two evenly match, the animation flowign gorgeously and Batman winning simply because his counterpart has something he dosen't: arrogance. He pulls up night vision goggles after Batman takes out the lights... and Bats uses a MAGNEISUM FLAIR. He knows himself well enough to know his counterpart would have night vision and used that against him , locking Owlman up.

Having been left Red Hood's version of the batterang, a test run before he got captured and a calling card, Batman decides to investigate hence the deep cover and what makes this episode really work despite the thin characterization of most of the bad guys: Batman has to pretend to be his evil self, and it's clear from their actions both Silver Cyclone and Blue Bowman are suspcious from the get go, so it's a tense well done game of "how long can he keep this up"

Batman tries to spare his world by lying and saying everyone had powers there.. but this just gets Cyclone to go with option B: use a bomb to empty the world out. So not only does bats have tos tay under cover and try to minimize damage, he also has to save Earth 1 from annhilation without blowing said cover.

THankfully he has help as he gives an escaping red hood a mike and while hood is captured, Batman now has an ally. The Injustice Synidcate takes flight in a really cool scene, not just for the visuals.. but for how it's unsettling. Unlike most mirror universes at worst Earth 23 just has a bit more orange in the sky. Orange and Red skies: your sign we're all fucked!

What makes it actually unsettling is the civilians reactions.. they all run in terror and Batman's internal monologue makes it clear this is a world without heroes.. without hope. Instead of looking up at the sky in a we and at what they could be... they run in terror and pray their cruel gods don't see them.

The theft goes well though Bowman is getting more and more suspcious and has batman tailed by someone we can't see. GEE I WONDER WHAT HERO WE'VE MET IN SEASON 1 IS OUT OF SIGHT. SURELY IT MUST BE SOME NEW TAKE ON A HERO AND NOT THE ATOM. Meanwhile Cyclone tortures the red hood, saying he'll break him and showing a cruelty and lack of care that's just.. chilling coming from someone whose counterpart is noble and badly wants to be emapthetic. We also get a chilling recitation of Hood's history.. and just how determined this poor guy is: they knocked him into the chemicals, he presses on. They take out his allies after he finally gets some he continues. he won't break even in the face of this torture and it's WHY Cyclone wants to break him so bad.

Oh look it's the atom, who catches Batman just as he's about to free the prisoners sending him on the run. This sequences is the best of the episode, as Red Hood claims to be willing to finally talk.. while giving batman directions. Cyclone eventually figures this out and sends Bowman and Scarab to go finish this imposter. Unfortunately for them.... he's batman. He even says the line after he finishes them and finally can drop the disguise.

Unforutnately while the syndicate APPEARED to be just those 4 guys, it's actually a larger group and Cyclone called backup. Maybe they were in the INjustice Pool having an Injustice Mojito while playing INjustice.

They aren't named so we'll go with The Molocule, Stretch Man, Aquamenace and Flare. I REALLY wish we got to hear evil Aquaman speak and my primary reason for being dispaointed we never got a followup is that Aquaman became so integral to the show it's weird to see his evil counterpart as one of the extras.

Thankfully Batman dosen't have to fight this alone and frees the other heroes, leading to a fun fight between the Injustice Synidcate and the Justice Society... wait no that dosen't work.. the Freedom Pals? Super Friends? Super Duper Justice Parade. Yeah that's the ticket.

So the Super Duper Justice Parade and the INjustice Synidcate have a scrap and since having a master stratgeist, or batigest if you will, on your side can tip the scales and the Synidcate lack theres, they loose.. all except Cyclone who triggers the bomb.

We then get an excellent twist: Cyclone.. is the DC version of Ultron in this reality, wanting to wipe out all humans and only having worked with them for his own gain, a truly sad contrast to his counterpart who simply wants to be accepted by humanity and tries his best to understand them. The bomb was ALWAYS intended to just kill the squishes and he dosen't care which earth he gets to rebuild in his image. Thankfully Red Hood shows up and... blows up his head. Jesus. I mean he deserved it, but it's a reminder this IS the joker, down to ending with a pun.. he's just a hero. He has his evil alternate reality counter part's style, skill and determination.. but not the madness that drives him. Simply a desire to do good

So with that earth 23 minus 20 is saved, Batman goes home.. and finds that he's now the most wanted man alive.

Deep Cover for Batman is a decent episode. Like I said it's hampered by the fact only ONE of the syndicate is fleshed out.. but that one is just enoguh to help this and the well done sequences it does have along with the gorgeous animatoin make up for the lak of worldbuilding and character building for the baddies as does Jeff Bennet, Johnny Bravo himself, as Red Hood, proding an operating yet utterly heroic and loveable performance. And it'd be his best in the series... if he didn't get to top himself right after

Game Over For Owlman!

So yeah while it's only been like.. a day for batman, it's been three weeks. Owlman broke out and using Batman's first outfit, such a cool little mythology gag complete with the purple gloves he really did have.

They even made an action figure of it multiple times. It's great. I need me one of those at some point.

For now though this means all of Batman's friends are against him and it's the one part of this episode that I REALLY don't like as it feels REALLY sloppy, not to mention most of them don't seem torn up about this. It makes sense for Green Arrow: his greatest rival turning out to be evil? It's his goddamn birthday. But only Plastic Man seems REALLY hurt, which works well as Batman rode him so hard about being a reformed criminal so seeing him bein ga hypocrite clearly breaks the poor guy a bit. But everyone else just accepts this. And I get it's been 4 weeks but like.. not only is he wearing an older costume now.. but NONE OF you in a world with, up to this point in the series: Aliens, Ghosts, Super Intelligent Gorillas, Sorcerers, Atlantis, Atlanteans, Time Travel, Power Rings, my boy Mogo the living planet, Deadman, martial arts magic and fucking Bwana Beast, who I love but is objectively weird as shit which is why I love him, same for Mogo. And the bulk of this these guys were THERE FOR.. and not one of you thinks the obvious: that Batman's being mind controlled or has been replaced by a double. It's fucking agrivating. Again Ollie gets a pass as his reactoin to getting to fight batman and have a valid excuse is clear and true

But the fact Beetle, who idolizes batman or Red Tornado, whose logical as fuck don't spot the obvious bothers me, it bothers me a lot

Thankfully after this less than great start, we get to the meat of the episode and what makes this ep so damn memorable: Batman is dropped into a warehouse where he meets his unlikely savior: The Joker. And for added pizaz to this reveal this was the clown prince's first apperance all season and the first time we've seen ANY of batman's foes all series. Every previous show is a b or c list villian attached to someone else, usually not the guest hero of the episode for added points. It's part of the series charm: instead of focusing on Batman's iconic but well used foes, it uses the wide scope of the dc plucking out every other villian great and small to get some spotlight.

Not only did this allow some villians even I didn't know existed like Babyface or Fun Haus to get spotlighted.. but it also meant when one of Batman's usual rogues DID show up it felt like a big event. Here especailly as after all this time we finally get to see one of Batman's own foes.. and it is glorious.

Jeff Bennet plays the Joker.. and he is utterly delightful. This Joker, while still vile and villanous fully leans into the silver age astetic of the show: he's still implied to kill people, still does over the top schemes, but it's in that classic golden and silver age way of more IMPLYING the death than showing the carnage he does. While other jokers can be funny this one, at least for this ep is almost entirley played for comedy, more an overgrown kid at play than the dangerous monster he usually is that's also an overgrown child just one who'd burn ants, whlie never really letting up on his competence, best shown subtly when Batman handcuffs him.. only fo rhim to have used the false wrists gag. Bennet plays it perfectly, using a posh accent to both seperate the joker from previous versoins and play into the old timey astetics the series loves.

Turns out Joker isn't happy with the new status quo as he loved the game as was and wants to partner with Batman instead.. the real batman. Unlike Batman's friends, Joker can actually TELL the other one's an imposter and can you know, tell that Batman suddenly doing crimes is weird and probably isn't him. It's not helped by the fact Owlman is horning in on his own crimes, ruining his fun.

So Joker offers batman his help: they team up and take out a mututal headache. Batman's first response is

Joker makes a valid point that sways him though: Batman is fighting someone as obessive, well thought out and type A as himself. Neither he nor Owlman really have the advantage, something backed up by their fight earlier and Owlman easily escaping the second Batman was gone: Their SO much alike that the odds of Batman actually beating him are low, as is the opposite. It's a clever way to use the mirorr gimmick.. and the joker: As Joker points out not only is he pure chaos, something harder to predict, he's also come the closest out of anyone to actually beating Batman.

Batman is forced to Acknolwdge he's right and they Take joker's car. It's a brilliant concept too: Batman and the Joker are usually so diffrent they CAN'T work together, but the stakes here are perfect to force the issue. it's also a delightful dynamic as Batman is a perfect straight man to his arch enemy's goofy antics, with joker soaking up every minute of this teamup, from saving a child then milking it for all ti's worth when the kid turns out to be afraid of batman, to , when they have to call in a batmobile after thier car gets wrecked (Batman naturally keeps a spare and in another nice nod it's the one he used in the 50s), tries to press all the buttons like a deranged 7 year old. It's fucknig great.

They had back to the bat cave after a chase form team dumbass, and Batman finds out something horrifying: Owlman found all his contenginces and is using them. This is something taken from the comics: Batman has a bunch of diffrent plans in case his justice pals are brainwashed or mind controlled. It lead to the brilliant story tower of Babel as Ras Ah Ghul got a hold of them and turned them up to lethal. It's something they SHOULD know he has and should have more consequences here like that comic, but it dosen't. It is however resonable: unlike his friends Batman again is well aware brainwashing happens and we now know there's evil dopplegangers in at least one other universe. It's smart to have a plan, some of them should just bea ware of that and for all we know they might be. They don't , and shoudln't, know what that backup IS, but they should be trusted to know he has a plan if something happens.

Ethics aside this gives Owlman everything he needs to take out all of batman's major allies thus far, and gather his own injustice league of all the various vilians, who apparently completely trust a guy pretending to be batman meaning the villians are the only ones in this episdoe who actually get that multiverse theroies a bitch and don't just go "oh this paragon of justice is evil now. Cool. That happened".

Batman and the Joker bust in to save the day.. but Owlman's already prepared for this , and after batman looses the numbers game.. offers Joker something he can't reisist.. his own trap. Batman dunked in wax. The spiral effects as he looks at the button and his eulogy after are hilarous.

Thankfully Batman , like Owlman, saw this coming and thus had the phase oscelatior repared. I also love that in hindsight, the time diffrences in dimensions.. was a chekovs gun: Batman spents some time in the multiverse finding himself.. and himself.. and himself.. and also himself, and himself once again, and oh look him as a cowboy.

It's a great reveal and one i'd forgotten: Batman found the joker was right, he can't beat himself alone.. but himselfves can.

It also speaks to the Brave and the Bold staff's love of the comics and heavy penchant for research as ALL of these batmen with exactly one exception are based on existing stories. That's the armored batman who even then still SOMEWHAT resembles Jean Paul's armor during his time of batman, but isn't close enough for me to fully think that's what they were going for

Thanks to the dc wiki though I know where the rest come from so settle in:

Going from left to right, we have the cowboy batman. Because everythings better when you make it a cowboy. It's just science.

Cowboy Batman is based on Nighthawk, a western hero I hadn't heard of before Kev showed me this wiki page. This is neat as the next year we COULD get a full cowboy look for batman during the return of bruce wayne after Darkseid seemingly killed him but thanks to a time gun he actually got sent through time and space, recarnating each time and each time becoming a new batman

Next we have Bat Creature, a giant hulking batman that came out of batman getting hit by an evolution ray meant fo rmonkeys that somehow turned him into the hulk

We then have vampire batman, the one variant I recognized as the dc 60 years of history book I read as a kid, and now have thanks to the kindnes of my mom's friend LIsa, had a section on it. It was a trilogy of elseworlds stories where Batman fought dracula and became a vampire as a result then lord of vampires. I.. really need to cover that one sometime.

Easing down past regular batman and ?????? Batman we have Captain Leatherwing, an alternate timeline bruce who became a pirate captin in a one off annual done by Chuck Dixon.

Finally we have hyper evolved batman, based off another wacky silver age transformatoin. During an issue of WOrld's Finest batman and superman found a satilite that crashed ot earth that evolves of devolves creatures. Unforutnately Hyper Evolved Batman, what was seen as 800,000 years of evolution hitting him at once, apparently ended up cold and evil and devolved superman as a result. And why yes Cave Superman versus Big Head Batman is something I should look at sometime. This version is heroic instead thankfully.

So a big ole bat-brawl insues and it's the highlight of the two parter... mostly because Joker spends the bulk of it running around with a round bomb with the biggest giggly smile on his face. The fighting though is great, with each batman getting to show off and freeing a hero. My faviorites are Aquaman's rescue, which has Black manta trying to turn up the giant sunlamp he's trapped under like he's turning up the volume on a tv before one of the batmen breaks a sprinkler allowing Aquaman to kick some ass, and Brain Batman Vs my boy THE Brain, which is won by Plastic man stretching his free arm to distract the brain. It's a well crafted wonderful fight scene that really leans into the craziness of the situation and has a lot of fun with tiself, which really sums up the show as a whole.

As for our big bad and his new best buddy, their defeated by their ego: both think they should finish off batman.. and thus bats is able to drop the wax thing on them.

One de waxing and a lot of handcuffs later

The villians are all arested, none of the heroes bother to apologize, and Batman geninely wonders if Red Hood means Joker has good in him. As for Owlman the other batmen take him back with him giving an omnious vow to return.. which let me check what episode that happens in.

..... you maybe see why I think this needed a followup.

At any rate while it has a bumpy start, Game Over for Owlman is pure fun once the joker gets involved and a good romp as Batman's forced to babysit his arch enemy to beat himself, and the finale encapuslates the shows "anything goes" style. You want a pirate, cowboy, hyper evolved, devolved, and armored batman beating up a bunch of foes while Joker runs around with a bomb? Yes let's do that. The show's love of just how fucking weird comics are will never not be endearing and this episode encapsulates that. These two eps aren't brave and the bold's best, but their still a LOT of fun and a decent enough story. NOt the best mirror universe story

Next in Bat Month: We have some more goofy classic goodness as we go to the golden age to find out where some of batman's most famous trophies come from as Bats must deal with gambling themed death traps, a man screwed over by pennies, and being hunted my mechanical dinosaurs on a billionares island. So a standard week fo rbatman, a good review for you

Next time Through a Mirror Darkly: We see just exactly where Darkwing Duck's arch enemy comes from as Darkwing tries to bring hope to a hopleless world. Get used to that it's goign to be a running theme.

Thanks for reading

#batman #the joker #batman the brave and the bold #earth 3 #green arrow #blue beetle #batman red rain #vampi #plastic man #red tornado #owlman #comics #animation

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thevindicativevordan · 3 years

Text

On Kong Kenan/Super-Man

It should've been him. He should've been the Superman of 5G/Future State/right now not Jon, and he should be the one getting an HBO Max series not Val. Hell he should be getting a movie!

God this dude is literally the best legacy character Superman has ever gotten, wholly his own person with his own lore and status quo while still building on the idea of "Superman". I am so pissed at DC for essentially just dropping him after his ongoing ended, what the hell Lee? You keep trying to make the Wildstorm characters happen, I need you to get my man Yang another Kenan book.

Have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about whether or not Kenan would be a worthwhile character. Yang's New 52 Superman run had been a disappointment to me overall, with only the the arc where Superman has underground wrestling matches against forgotten gods really sticking with me. Now he was introducing a brand new Superman? Didn't feel like he had "earned" that yet. But from the first issue I was hooked on this new character.

Kenan was unlike any other member of the Superfamily. He wasn't kind or sweet, he was an asshole! He was a bully! He was fantastic! Right from the start Kenan was set up to undergo a very different kind of character journey than the other members of the Superfamily. Empathy, humility, respect for people weaker than himself, these are all traits most heroes wearing the S-shield already posses by the time they first don the crest, but not Kenan.

Like all bullies he was even a bit of a coward himself at first, trying to bail on the experiment meant to give him Superman's powers right as it begins. After "saving" Lixin (the kid he bullies and steals lunch from every day) from Blue Condor he demands all the money Lixin has on him as payment. He's not courageous or selfless either at the start, Kenan is as much of an opposite of Superman as you can get short of being Bizarro. Learning the appeal of these traits formed the basis for his growth over the course of his series.

Seeing Yang bring in a lot of recognizable "Superman" elements in the series, but with a twist, was also great. Kenan is the one who bullies "Luo Lixin" rather than the traditional Clark/Lex friendship of Pre-Crisis and Birthright. Initially Kenan develops a crush on intrepid reporter for Primetime Shanghai, Laney Lan, but she dismisses him as too young and Kenan eventually ends up pursuing Avery Ho (Flash) instead. Baxi the Bat-Man of China has a similar relationship with Kenan as the traditional Superman/Batman in terms of being vitriolic best buds, however Baxi is the one who has the most respect for authority while Kenan is the rebel. Kenan is a part of the "Justice League of China" which does not meet with the approval of the already established Chinese superheroes, the Great Ten. That contrasts nicely with the good relationship the Justice Society and Justice League have, as well as seeing Yang lampshade the "Chinese copy" trope and incorporate that into his storytelling.

One of the funniest differences is how Kenan chooses to immediately reveal his identity as Super-Man to the world by taking off the compliance visor he was forced to wear, contrasting with Clark's choice to hide his identity. He was so eager to impress people that he never gave any thought to the danger he could put himself or his family in by revealing his identity until it was too late, something Clark is well aware of and has taken great pains to keep his identity secret. Was a missed opportunity for DC to have Kenan comment on Clark copying him for once when he outed himself under Bendis.

But one of the most poignant differences between Clark and Kenan is the gulf in separation between their relationship with their parents. Clark has a loving relationship with Ma and Pa Kent, trying to live up to their lessons as best he can. In contrast Kenan's mom was believed to have died in an airplane crash when he was just a child, and he never really knew her. His father was distant from him after that and the two weren't really close despite Kenan's attempts to impress him. So Kenan lacks that strong connection while still clearly loving both of them.

Pa Kent's death is one of the most tragic examples of Clark's love for his parents, and I've always been a fan of takes where Clark promises his father to fight for the powerless on Pa's deathbed. Kenan gets a similar scene at the start of his career, his dad "dies" (after being exposed as Flying General Dragon, a pro-democracy "supervillain" from the Chinese authorities perspective) and wants Kenan to promise he'll fight for Truth, Justice, and Democracy. But because Kenan's dad never really bonded with him, Kenan doesn't know what those mean, and can only promise that he never wants to see people die, something his father takes comfort in at least. In classic comic book fashion it's revealed that Dr. Omen, Kenan's "boss" and the one who gave him his powers, saved Kenan's father, because she is Kenan's mother! Kenan's relationship with his parents forms a lot of the crux of his character arc, and seeing how Yang utilizes the classic Superman concept of family kept the storytelling exciting.

Yang's brilliant exploration of the concept of "Superman" through the prism of Chinese culture was a great way to differentiate Kenan as well.

I absolutely freaking love how he tied to the concept of Qi to the S-shield in particular. Connecting the shape of the shield with the way Kenan has acquired his powers along the path of the Bagua (eight trigrams used in Taoism that represent the fundamental principles of reality), with his octagon S-shield outline representing all eight principles together, was mindblowing! So was the idea of restricting Kenan's access to his powers unless he was actually acting in a Superman manner, that tied his character growth to his power growth in an entertaining manner. There were so many characters and concepts that meshed Chinese and DC lore together, like how Emperor Super-Man was Kenan's "Doomsday", they even recreated that iconic dual kill shot! The Chinese Wonder Woman Peng Deilan, being based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake! There was even some Korean mythology referenced with the Aqua-Man member of the JLC "Dragonson".

Yang also managed to do a Superman Blue/Superman Red story with Super-Man Yin/Super-Man Yang!

Shameful that it took me a while to realize what Gene Yang was doing but once I caught on I was touched. You can tell how much Yang loved Superman and his mythology, and how he was excited to incorporate as much from Clark as he could, while still using it in a way that was solidly Kenan's. And not just Superman's mythology, but the history and lore of the entire DC Universe. I-Ching got to be brought in, fleshed out, and used as Kenan's mentor! The "Yellow Peril" villain from Detective Comics #1, the comic DC gets its name from was brought in and revamped as I-Ching's twin brother All-Yang! Hats off to Yang for taking a racist caricature and attempting to make him into something more.

This series was a beautiful attempt by Gene Yang to build a space for Asian heroes and villains where they could be more than stereotypes, Kenan himself being a defiant mold-breaker in every regard as the complete opposite of most Asian characters in Western media (a jock, a bully, loves his dad but not on great terms with him, a powerhouse as a hero, etc). So much thought and hard work was poured into this by Yang and his team of artist collaborators.

Especially the costumes, man Kenan had so many great looks. From his starting outfit (which is my favorite Superman variant not worn by Clark himself), to the one with the Yin/Yang shield he acquired later on, to his Super-Man Yin & Super-Man Yang outfits, Kenan looked damn cool. Part of me is bummed they didn't go with the Chinese character shield they toyed around with, but I loved how Yang used the "s-shield" as a plot point, so I'm not too broken up over it.

All that great work Yang did to build that space up has been more or less forgotten sadly. It was nice to see Kenan in the DC Asian Month Celebration issue. Avery is going to be in Justice Incarnate at least (unsurprising considering she was created by Williamson). So fucking bummed that Superman Family Adventures cartoon didn't happen, they were going to have Kenan and John Henry Irons in it! Would've been a dream come true for me to see Irons in animation again, and Kenan making the jump to outside media! Maybe that would've encouraged DC to let Yang keep writing New Super-Man, or at least encouraged them to use him elsewhere instead of allowing him fall into Limbo.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what the future holds for Kenan. Jon is being pushed as Clark's replacement in the comics, with DC keeping all the other contenders such as Kon benched. Calvin is leading the Justice Incarnate team likely due to the upcoming Coates reboot that will make Clark black. Val will probably get something once Taylor leaves Jon's book or once they officially announce the HBO Max show is happening. So where does that leave Kenan, my new favorite PoC legacy hero? Currently my only hope is that Yang is working on something for DC involving him. Yang left Batman/Superman, where I was hoping to see a Baxi/Kenan team up, to go work on "exciting other opportunities" per his Twitter. So fingers crossed that there's something in the works for Kenan!

One day I hope he gets his day in the sun again.

#kenan kong #new super man #gene yang #justice league of china #superman #dc comics

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