It’s hard to believe that it was over six years ago that I and some ex-TV-Squaders started CliqueClack. We had some pretty high hopes at the time, that we could go out on our own and show AOL what it really meant to be writer-fans of television. It was an incredibly ambitious goal that we never came close to, but we quickly learned that that didn’t matter to us. What did matter was that we had an outlet to write what we wanted, when we wanted, for people who continued to engage in discussion with us.

It’s pained me all these years to never have earned enough with ads and Amazon referrals to pay our writers regularly. We’ve certainly lost some great folks because of it, and I don’t blame them at all. Some have gone on to continue writing for paying gigs, full-time, and that’s been awesome. With the declining frequency of posts comes declining traffic, which results in declining ad revenue … you get the picture. Maybe that’s a bit TMI, but I thought being up-front about where we were at was something I owed you.

This will likely be the final post here at CliqueClack, but there is a silver lining.

For quite some time now, Chuck Duncan and Ivey West had been heading up editing duties for the site. Chuck, I know, very much wants to continue writing. I didn’t want to simply hand over CliqueClack to someone else, though, partly because I’m just not ready to give it away and, primarily, I thought it made more sense to let Chuck have something that was truly his own. That’s just what he’s done.

Friday, April 3, Chuck launches his own site, Hotchka.com, to continue where CliqueClack left off. You’ll see some new and familiar faces there, writing about movies, TV, pop culture, and anything else Chuck might want to throw into the mix. He and his partner, Carl, have already done a fantastic job putting the site together, and I think you’re really going to dig it.

• Check out the site at www.hotchka.com.
• Follow them on Twitter @hotchka
• Facebook
• Google+
• Tumblr
• YouTube

As for CliqueClack, my plan is to keep all of our 11,000+ posts around for as long as I’m possibly able, even if they are thrown in straight HTML and image files in a searchable archive somewhere. I think it’s criminal when sites decide to completely wipe away all traces of past content when they shutter, and dammit I’m going to do my best to make sure that never happens here.

Thank you so much to the writers and, of course, to all of you readers who’ve stuck with us all these years.

The original 1966 Batman TV series took decades to see a release on DVD and Blu-ray, but the wait was definitely worth it! The first 30 episodes from the series’ second season are now available on DVD and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment graciously provided a copy for my review for this Throwback Thursday installment.

I grew up watching the original Batman series in reruns on cable television. It was always one of my favorites because it was so wondrously colorful and wacky. Everywhere you look in any given screenshot, your senses are bombarded by psychedelic, eye-popping costumes that only a 1960s series could pull off so well. It’s like a live-action cartoon with campy music, zany guest stars and playful puns and punches flying left and right. Don’t get me started on the delightful variety of villains the series also offered! From familiar comic book favorites like The Joker, Penguin, Catwoman and Mr. Freeze to crazy, new villainous concoctions such as Egghead, King Tut, The Clock King, The Archer and The Minstrel, the second season is full of fiendish foes and perilous plots. I’m having trouble deciding which villain is my all-time favorite because they’re all so interesting and diabolical in their own unique way!

The Second Season, Part One has many big-name guest stars, including Cesar Romero, Julie Newmar, Burgess Meredith, Vincent Price, Van Johnson, Art Carney, Shelley Winters, Liberace, Walter Slezak, Carolyn Jones, Victor Buono and Cliff Robertson. One interesting thing about the series was that they used various actors to play the same villain from season to season. Season two features Julie Newmar as a purrrrfect Catwoman and Otto Preminger as a space cadet-looking Mr. Freeze with a ray gun. In addition to the main guest stars, there are also numerous cameos from other notable stars, including Dick Clark, Sammy Davis, Jr., Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink from Hogan’s Heroes), Ted Cassidy (Lurch from The Addams Family) and musical group Paul Revere and the Raiders among these episodes. Just don’t blink, or you’ll miss ‘em!

Egghead (Vincent Price) is the only villain I remember being smart enough on the series to almost figure out that Bruce Wayne was Batman, so that makes him credible in my book (despite all of his “eggs-cruciating” puns every five seconds). The Archer (Art Carney) is awesome because he steals from the rich and gives to the poor a la Robin Hood and his Merry Men, while The Minstrel (Van Johnson) oozes charm and romantic lyrics that make you fall in love with Van Johnson and his velvety voice all over again. Not only is The Minstrel a musical genius, but he’s also equally versed in electronics and probably the only villain worthy of facing Batman in a technological showdown of wits.

I was delighted to discover that one of the most memorable episodes from my childhood was included in this set — “The Spell of Tut” — the one in which King Tut (Victor Buono) tries to resurrect ancient Egyptian scarabs to wreak havoc upon Gotham City’s water supply. Also look for horror icon Sid Haig as the Royal Apothecary in the King Tut episodes. Another old favorite of mine, “The Greatest Mother of Them All,” featuring Shelley Winters as criminal matriarch Ma Parker and her gang, is also included. The Parker clan has always reminded me of the Beagle Boys on Duck Tales, another beloved show from my childhood and perhaps the subject of a future Throwback.

An unexpected surprise was seeing footage from the Indianapolis 500 used as a racing event held in Gotham City in “Come Back, Shame,” an episode with Cliff Robertson as Shame, “The Conniving Cowboy of Crime,” a cowpoke/car thief who looks like he was lifted out of a spaghetti western complete with his sidekick Okie Annie (Joan Staley from The Ghost & Mr. Chicken fame). Of course, Shame and crew don’t look quite as tough as your traditional cowboys with their polka dot handkerchiefs and etc., but that’s beside the point when you can “get angrier than a hyena with laryngitis.” Another hidden gem was “Hizzonner The Penguin,” an episode in which Penguin runs for Mayor of Gotham City against Batman. It was the weirdest political debates I’ve ever seen, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t want all of Penguin’s cute, clever campaign paraphernalia. He had lovable, furry penguins all over his campaign buttons, posters, stickers, etc. I wonder if anyone ever made any of that stuff collectible because I would buy a lot of it for my personal collection of pop cultural oddities!

All of Batman’s gadgets in the Bat Cave, Batmobile and utility belts have never looked better — every detail has been completely remastered in this DVD box set. While reviewing the set, I realized that there are two types of people in this world — those who can appreciate the campiness of this series and those who simply cannot. Neither my mother or boyfriend could make it past more than a handful of episodes before they were begging me to turn it off, but I could have gone on for hours (the set has a total running time of 755 minutes), and my 21-year-old brother and his friends seemed amicably interested as well.

Every “Splatt!,” “Pow!,” “Biff!” and “Zok!” (yes, you read that right: Zok!) practically pops out of the screen at you in amazing comic book color as do the fabulous glittering outfits worn by Chandell (Liberace), and I had a lot of fun reviewing this set. The Season Two, Part One DVD box set features beautiful artwork from the eye-catching covers to the four discs depicting the iconic ’66 Batman logo on each. The only disappointment I had with the set was its lack of bonus features, but that’s what the expensive, all-inclusive Blu-ray collector set is for I suppose. I’ve read the Blu-rays come with an episode guide, Adam West scrapbook, vintage trading cards, digital copies of the episodes and an exclusive Hot Wheels replica of the Batmobile. The discerning collector would be better off saving their pennies for the Blu-ray set, but if you’re yearning to get your hands on some of the episodes in the meantime or if you’re introducing the series to a new generation of fans, this box set is a good starting point. If I’m ever lucky enough to review another Batman set, I’ll catch you at the same Bat time, same Bat channel.

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Once you build a successful comic-book based series on a network that loves you, the natural thing to do is to build a spinoff. The Flash, along with “parent” show Arrow, represent much about what’s right on The CW these days. Grant Gustin is a perfect Barry Allen, and producers Geoff Johns, David Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg have surrounded him with an outstanding cast, including Broadway star Jesse L. Martin (Joe West), TV heavyweight Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells), newcomers like Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow) and they have even brought in someone who knows what it’s like to be under the cowl in John Wesley Shipp (Henry Allen).

We sat down with these folks at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and as the show is set to premiere next week, we share what they told us is coming up in season one:

Grant Gustin

You can tell that Gustin really likes Barry, “He’s just full of hope and optimism. He’s easily relatable.” He’s played so many characters that he wouldn’t want to be in the same room with (we’re looking at you, Sebastian Smythe) that it is refreshing to play someone who people like. He grew up a big (very big, says the tattoo he showed us) Superman fan, so he’s had to learn a lot about the character he now portrays. He’d originally thought about reading the entirety of the run of Flash books, until he saw just how many there were. The New 52 series seems to be similar to what they’re trying to do, and Gustin points to just how knowledgeable and accessible the producers have been in helping build the character grounded in the canon.

Gustin is looking forward to delving into some of the Flash’s extended powers, specifically time travel. They tease it a little in the Pilot, but he wants more. “I think it just presents a lot of fun storylines.”

John Wesley Shipp

Shipp hasn’t yet felt that moment of weirdness seeing someone else in the suit, but the following week was to be his first scene with Grant in the Flash costume. If that moment of “weirdness” was to happen, he expected it then. But his Flash was much different tonally then this Flash. “I can’t imagine Emmet Walsh killing Priscilla Pointer [the actors who played his parents], you know?”

You can tell that Shipp is still disappointed that his show was cancelled after just one season. “Although for a one season show, it has had an incredible life … but how often do you get to come back?” He called it an extraordinary opportunity for healing.

When asked about watching the evolution of superhero properties in popular culture since 1990, Shipp talked about how audiences are more informed, “It’s a smarter sensibility … so we can address the fact that The Flash is about speed and needs to be aerodynamic.” But he kids that the landscape is saturated with comic shows and movies now. He joked with our table that we were too young to remember it used to be all about westerns, and lately it’s CSI and Law & Order.

Shipp is taken by Grant Gustin. “He’s really sincere … he’s very real.”

Shipp says he doesn’t want the character to be “Dawson’s dad thirteen years later.” Obviously prison has changed Henry, but he thinks that it is more important to demonstrate that impact in a nuanced way, “If you don’t [see how prison changed him] that’s my bad, that’s my failure.” One of the most difficult things he experienced in prison was that no one – save Barry – believed him, including specifically Joe West, his neighbor and friend … and the man who raised Barry in Henry’s absence. That’s a reunion I’m looking forward to seeing.

Shipp points to the audience’s thirst for darker shows like Constantine and The Walking Dead as to why there’s been difficulty getting another Flash property off the ground. And while this The Flash tends to be a little darker in some areas – specifically in the Allen family backstory – it is still very much rooted in the tone of the comics. Gustin’s sense of comedy: running into himself, tripping over his feet balanced with his power, demonstrates an everyman quality that is endearing.

Tom Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh was asked about what research he might have done with folks who are wheelchair-bound. He dodged the question specific to The Flash, but talked about the work he did for a little-seen independent film called Sublime. After that, he said, working in a motorized wheelchair was a big improvement. He said that the differences in the two wheelchairs were symbolic of the differences of working on a big-budget production like the show, and a much tighter-budgeted small film.

Cavanaugh was attracted to the different layers the characters portrayed, especially Harrison Wells. You could tell too, that he was a bit taken aback by fast-paced storytelling that occurs in the first nine episodes. If there is anything that The CW should get credit for, it is helping to usher in shows that tell stories at a breakneck speed, and it looks like The Flash is going to be one of them. “Things that you might want to keep in your quiver, they’re firing those things off in a hurry.”

Cavanaugh thought he had a pretty good understanding of The Flash’s stories from the comic books, but after taking the role, he realized he was a neophyte. But producers Kriesberg and Geoff Johns have been incredibly helpful, informative and – almost more importantly – welcoming to someone who wants to learn the canon.

Danielle Panabaker

Panabaker is excited to be a part of a superhero franchise with a preexisting fan base, “It’s so cool! It’s so great because people are excited about The Flash.” Playing Caitlin Snow, who brings a lot to the table, is a big part of that. “It’s great to have a really smart woman on board who also brings that emotional, sensitive perspective.” Snow is fresh from the trauma of losing her fiancé in the accident, so has that drive to keep Barry safe. That trauma has also made her much more serious than she was pre-accident (a side of her we will get to see in flashbacks early in the season).

It doesn’t look like Caitlin is being set up as an immediate love interest for Barry, but there’s a triangle dynamic that might develop with the two of them and Iris. “Barry has always pined for Iris but he can’t have her, so he’s got to figure out what’s next? The sad scientist over here?”

Andrew Kreisberg

Kreisberg was taken by one of the decisions that Smallville made early on, showing how Clark had trouble adjusting to his powers. There is something to be said too about having too much power and becoming god-like. “We’re going to try and keep [his powers] – at least early on – as limited as we can.” But there is definitely a desire (as is apparent in the Pilot) to eventually get to some of the Flash’s more dynamic powers like phasing through matter and (gasp!) time travel. Expect a Smallville-esque difficulty in learning to contain those powers.

There was a conscious decision early on on Arrow to ground the stories in reality as much as possible (thus the mirakuru storyline). The Flash, however, represents an ability to go a step farther and open the world up a bit. Berlanti came up with the idea of the particle accelerator as a way of “building” a group of super-humans all tied to the same event. “The thing that will keep it like Arrow is the way in which people view these impossible, miraculous things,” explains Kreisberg. “We’ll never have a show, especially early on, where people are just like, ‘oh yeah … guy’s flying.’”

Kreisberg doesn’t see a lot of competition between Arrow and The Flash and the other new DC Comics properties coming to television this season. “One of the things that DC did really well this year is for all of the shows they’re doing, they are so completely different. Even Arrow and Flash are two very different shows; one is a grounded, crime, revenge, Shakespearian drama and Flash is more blue skies, superpowers.” Their approach is that they are only in competition with themselves to make quality television. But a “rising tide lifts all ships,” and he’s looking forward to seeing Gotham and iZombie.

Comic-Con is what you make of it.

And, being the event comes but once a year for a brief portion of a week, it’s best you hit the floor with all thrusters at full when you descend on San Diego.

Plans in place, I did just that Friday …

• My day started with a tradition I maintain every year at Comic-Con, a visit to the San Diego Blood Bank for my annual donation. With my partner in crime Ivey in tow, we made the short trek to do our thing. Lo and behold, the same gentleman who poked and prodded me last year — Ramon — drew from me once again. I think the two of us are becoming “a thing” …
• I got the opportunity to do quite a few interviews Friday, all of which will be posted in some form or another in the coming week. Included in those Q&As were a comic property (Eric Powell of the popular comic The Goon), a couple television show press rooms (Falling Skies which had to be cut short due to scheduling conflicts and The Walking Dead) and something new I wanted I sought out to learn more about, God Is Disappointed In You by writer Mark Russell and Shannon Wheeler of Too Much Coffee Man fame.
• Ivey sat down with the cast from Dominion, or putting it another way: Ivey sat down with Giles and Charles Widmore … and David from Kings and Doreah from Game of Thrones.
• I caught an extended look at iZombie in one of the spacious meeting rooms, something I thought might be packed to the gills. To my surprise, I was able to walk right in, unlike Thursday with the Toy Story That Time Forgot. (That panel was stuffed to capacity. You win some, you lose some.)
• In a stark contrast to last year’s The 100 press room, Ivey said series star Isaiah Washington was comically tight-lipped about what is coming up for his character on the show this year … but in all honesty, his being in attendance is a spoiler in and of itself.
• Do I have to mention there was a gaggle of photos taken and the Con floor traversed in search of personalities and old friends? Naturally.

Busy as the day was, there were still evening parties to attend.

• En route to the Warner Bros. fest, I bumped into a crowd of luchadores (Mexican wrestlers) going the opposite direction. Every year we hook up at some bar or restaurant in San Diego’s Gaslamp to enjoy pitchers of cerveza and offer photo opportunities to any passersby. (The kicker is the fact these guys are real luchadores from Tijuana. I’m the token gringo of the bunch who they’ve welcomed with open arms as a brother.) I told them I would seek them out a bit later in the evening.
• The Warner Bros. party Ivey and I attended was located at a spacious, open air rooftop of The Hard Rock. This shindig boasted more talent than you could shake a stick at. Talent from The 100, Mike Tyson Mysteries (including Iron Mike himself), The Vampire Diaries, iZombie The Flash, Arrow, Person Of Interest, Gotham, The Originals and The Following mingled about. There could very well have been more but, with a list like that, it was dizzying enough keeping track.
• Post party, Ivey headed back to the hotel while I went on the hunt for my wrestling brothers. I was unsuccessful … but I did wind up at an after-Eisner Awards festival with full of talent and fellow writers.
• Missed opportunity of the evening was The Last Ship party on the USS Midway. Wouldn’t it have been cool to have been rubbing elbows on an aircraft carrier? A wish for another time.
• Of a few things Ivey was involved in, he realized a dream this year which was unfulfilled in 2013: A photo opportunity on Game Of Thrones very own Iron Throne. Geek nirvana for certain.
• Additionally, he commandeered some pretty cool GoT swag — exclusive T-shirts HBO distributed at their Survive the Realm Experience. Artist Robert Ball, of GoT/HBO’s “Beautiful Death” series earlier this year, was the creator with a different piece debuting each day of The Con. Pretty cool swag if I do say so myself.

Saturday? Look out: We’re comin’ to getcha …

I’m a fan of Green Lantern: The Animated Series. I said as much when I wrote about the Cartoon Network series several times here on CliqueClack during it’s painfully short run (two big space epic storylines in just 26 episodes). And it took over a year since it was canceled, but the complete series Blu-ray finally came out this past spring. I had been slowly rewatching the series through the Blu-ray and with the Independence Day weekend, I sat down watched through to the end. Turns out that I’m still very much a fan of this show.

The main cast’s whole dynamic is great, but the shining stars of the story are the two new characters of Aya and Razer. Both have character growth that develops slowly; you really see it when you watch the episodes one after the other. While the Star Sapphires frustrate me to no end (mostly for the same reasons their whole origin frustrates me), Carol Ferris herself is very well-written. Also it’s so rare for Carol’s Star Sapphire costume to not look male-gazey and I appreciate that her costume in GL:TAS doesn’t make me cringe.

Watching through it again reminded me of how much potential and set-up they had for another season, from Sinestro’s introduction to the mention of John Stewart to that very last heartbreaking shot of the finale. Green Lantern: The Animated Series is a prime example of a show that got some great storytelling done but had so much more to do. Even if you watched the series when it aired, I highly recommend giving the whole series a watch through — the Blu-ray is as good a way to do it as any.

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I miss Damian Wayne. The biological son of Bruce Wayne, Damian started off as a cocky, elitist and blood thirsty kid raised by ninjas until coming to Gotham to take over the title of Robin alongside his father. Despite being what I can only really describe as “a little shit,” there’s something endearing about the kid. The more he worked with other members under his father’s symbol, the more he saw the positives to his father’s idea of justice. Arguably the best moments of Damian in the comics come from his partnership with Dick Grayson once Dick became Batman, but I also love the family-friendly comic Li’l Gotham. Unfortunately, that comic ended in December and Damian was killed off over a year ago in the current comic canon. Personally I don’t think it was handled very well (Robin deaths rarely are) and it’s telling that there are already rumors of him being brought back to life one way or the other in the next year. Until then, we have his origin in Son of Batman, the newest Warner Bros. Animation feature.

Son of Batman starts off a bit fast. Actually, that’s an understatement. In the first scene, Ra’s al Ghul is giving his grandson Damian a Circle of Life-esque speech about how the League of Assassins is the legacy of their family and one day it will all be his. And immediately after, Damian’s uncle is shot out of nowhere. Less than three minutes into the movie and it’s just absolute bloodshed. It’s kind of abrupt. It probably doesn’t help that the bloodshed has some anime styling — lots of extreme blood spurts but no blood on the blade and little to no blood on the ground. And there’s a lot of violence. If you think because this movie focuses on a child character that it’s appropriate for kids, realize that we see a man burning alive and later got several shots of his charred body as he’s slowly dying. This is not a family-friendly Batman cartoon. Of course, the comic it was based on, Grant Morrison’s Batman and Son, isn’t family-friendly, either.

The animated feature plays loose with the comic’s story, particularly in changing the antagonist from Damian’s mother Talia to Deathstroke, who has killed Ra’s before we can even get to the title screen. With Deathstroke taking control of the League of Assassins’ assets, including a scientist working on a dangerous mutagen formula, Talia al Ghul must send her son stay with his father (three guesses who that is) while she figures out how to take back control. Talia is a character that I enjoyed immensely when I first saw her in Batman: The Animated Series as a woman who commands respect and feels deep loyalty for both Bruce and her father. The comic version of Talia (especially Morrison’s version of her) is not nearly so sympathetic, especially in Batman and Son. She’s still not the most ethical of characters — it’s still her League that commissioned the mutagen Deathstroke is pursuing after all, and the movie brings up the at best dubious consent issues that led to Damian being born. In fact, Talia’s relationship with Bruce is ten kinds of messed up and unfortunately the movie glosses over that to get to the plot. That being said, Morena Baccarin’s Talia manages to be a morally gray character that you can at least root for as she fights to take back what’s hers and her son’s. Some fans of Batman and Son won’t like the change, but I do.

The plot isn’t exactly captivating — it’s standard bad guy wants to use super science to create a super army — but the character interaction is a lot of fun. While Damian’s American accent is irritating and illogical considering where he grew up, he grew on me just in his commitment to superiority. This works best when he’s playing off other characters, like Bruce or Alfred. Alfred, voiced by David McCallum is so delightful in his sarcasm towards the elitism of Damian. His sarcasm might be the best part of this movie. I also enjoyed blue-suited Nightwing (Baccarin’s fellow Firefly alum Sean Mayer) dealing with Damian’s put downs and his skill with sharp objects. One of the best lines is when Alfred is stitching Dick up after his fight with the little devil and Dick complains about what a hypocrite Bruce was for giving him the riot act about safe sex during his teenage years. I actually paused the movie to laugh at that.

I’m still not sure how well Bruce works here, but I’m of the opinion that Batman always works better as a character when he has someone to work with. So here, Bruce’s best moments are when he’s trying to explain to Damian why revenge will hurt him ultimately more than it could hurt Deathstroke. It would have benefited from another scene of them working together.

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This weekend I made my yearly travel to the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, to see quite a few of my Canadian friends and those international friends who could make the trip. And because many of these friends are superhero nerds, I made sure to bring JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time, the straight-to-DVD WB release only made available in the US as of last month. Sitting down and rewatching the kid-friendly adventure with my buddies, I got to appreciate just how good the movie is

I was worried about the superteens from the future Karate Kid and Dawnstar simply because they were the only characters I didn’t know much about going into the movie, but truth be told, I like them. Even when they were doing the “I’m from the future and don’t understand how taxis work” schtick, it was pretty charming. More than that, the story did a decent job of setting up their personal flaws as young heroes and how they had to deal with it. They’re also the ones to come up with solutions the two times things get really bad for the heroes. And they happen to be two non-white characters whose costumes are appropriate for their age (I looked up Dawnstar’s comic costume and this is a vast improvement, especially considering she’s a teenager here).

One of the smartest things JLA Adventures did was not specifically say which Flash this was — Barry Allen or Wally West. For fans of Wally West desperate to see him in more stories, it was very easy to see this Flash as Wally. Truth be told I would have loved a few more quips from him, but the Flash has a cute moment with Martha and John Kent that felt very Wally along with some good food jokes that work for the character. And as I mentioned in my original post about the DVD coming out, Young Justice’s Jason Spisak voiced him, so yes I’m calling him Wally.

But something else I noticed was that Robin was also only named Robin in the credits, which means there are four different Robins he could be (not including Stephanie Brown because this Robin wasn’t wearing eggplant purple … obviously this rules her out). This Robin is too belligerent to be Dick Grayson, too reckless to be Tim Drake and is too much of a normal kid to be Damian Wayne. I am absolutely convinced that the Robin in JLA Adventures is Jason Todd. That makes this only the second DC animated feature with Jason Todd and he didn’t die this time! So if you’re a fan of both goofy teenage Jason Todd and goofy teenage Jason Todd not getting beaten to death with a crowbar, do I have a DVD for you!

Besides the characters, the animation on the fight scenes in particular is gorgeous. Easily my favorite bit of animation was the two-on-one fight between Robin and the new kids. And sure, the dialogue was silly at times, but the tone of the whole movie fit that silliness because it’s aimed for kids. It is, however, still clever enough for adults who like these characters. The worst thing I can say about it is that at 52-minutes long, it’s very short. Expanding the villainous plot to include messing with the various Justice League members’ pasts (or at least Diana and Bruce as the big trio) would have given the story the depth it needed to feel like a full movie. As it is, JLA Adventures works much better if you think of it as a one hour TV pilot … which just makes me wish we were getting a JLA Adventures TV show. Why aren’t we getting a JLA Adventures TV show?

When I picked it up, it was $12.99 at Target (it’s being sold exclusively at Target as of now). I really don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to get this if you at all a fan of these characters.

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This was not something I expected from this week!

Through his twitter account, Green Lantern: The Animated Series producer Giancarlo Volpe has been teasing for a while about a special super-secret project, including letting people know he was working again with Green Lantern composer Freddie Wiedman and posting pictures with some of the cast of GLTAS in the recording booth. Because he was quick to explain that the project was not Green Lantern related, and because I know he’s been working on some video game projects since GLTAS ended last March, I didn’t even think the project was going to be a cartoon.

Welp, turns out I was wrong. Announced on Wednesday, JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is the actual secret project that Volpe directed. It’s a DC cartoon. And it has a ton of my favorite voice actors in it. And Jason Spisak is voicing the Flash.

And this was around the point where I started flailing at my desk like the nerd that I am.

So here are some things we know about the 52 minute cartoon thanks from the mouth of Volpe — several of the Green Lantern cast members (Spisak, Grey DeLisle, Kevin Michael Richardson, Diedrich Baker) are indeed lending their voices to the cartoon. GLTAS writer Mike Ryan helmed the script and like I said earlier, they got the very talented Freddie Wiedman for the soundtrack. I’m also looking forward to DeLisle’s Avatar: The Last Airbender cast members Dante Basco and Jack DeSena joining the others. The choice for DeSena as Robin is particularly inspired. Almost all of these actors have worked with each other before and that can breed such great performances. I can’t wait to hear all of these particular voices in one production. Oh, and the character designs were headed by Lynell Forestall, who created the excellent Black Lightning shorts from last year. From the look of the DVD art, the designs are really classic and promising. I’m looking forward to see if the animation holds up.

What’s really outstanding about this announcement is that JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is a kid-friendly story of the Justice League fighting head-to-head with the Legion of Doom. So many of the made-for-DVD DC features are clearly written for adult audiences (last year’s Flashpoint Paradox, for example); it’s refreshing to know we’re getting a more lighthearted adventure story with these characters. Knowing they’re going for that tone, it makes sense that they chose Bader to once again voice Batman since he was outstanding as the Silver Age-esque Dark Knight in Batman: Brave and the Bold.

The big question that almost immediately went though my brain is if Spisak (who voiced Wally West as Kid Flash in Young Justice until that show broke my heart and ended in March along with GLTAS) would be voicing Barry Allen Flash or Wally West Flash. Even though DC announced recently that Wally will finally be back in the comics, we haven’t seen him in the animated features for years now. I posed the question to Volpe, who was gracious enough to answer. Basically, they’ve intentionally not mentioned in the story which Flash it is so the audience can decide which Flash it is. While this doesn’t guarantee that this Flash will seem like the Wally we love, this is certainly better than when Justice League: Doom had JL/JLU’s Michael Rosenbaum cast as the Flash but had him be Barry. But yes … in my mind, Spisak will be voicing Wally again and you can’t convince me otherwise. Let me have this.

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is coming out this upcoming Tuesday, January 21st, but it has a very limited release — only in the US and only at Target stores. It’s frustrating, but just another reason it’s important for American fans of these actors, animators and characters to go and support this DVD.

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Class? We’re now in session so please settle down.

You’re going to want to pay attention because what I’m about to discuss will account for 50% of your grade.

Are you ready? Good … let’s begin.

We’re going to take a look at two different words today. Both are adjectives:

MOST [mohst]
adjective, superlative of much or many with more as comparison
1. in the greatest quantity, amount, measure, degree, or number: to win the most votes.
2. in the majority of instances: Most operations are successful.
3. greatest, as in size or extent: the most talent.

 

POP·U·LAR [pop-yuh-ler]
adjective
1. regarded with favor, approval, or affection by people in general: a popular preacher.
2. regarded with favor, approval, or affection by an acquaintance or acquaintances: He’s not very popular with me just now.
3. of, pertaining to, or representing the people, especially the common people: popular discontent.
4. of the people as a whole, especially of all citizens of a nation or state qualified to participate in an election: popular suffrage; the popular vote; popular representation.
5. prevailing among the people generally: a popular superstition.

Now … let’s put the two words together and look at them:

MOST POPULAR

For comparison’s sake and for the sake of this example, we’ll use the second definition of “most” (in the majority of instances) and the first definition of “popular” (regarded with favor, approval, or affection by people in general) to illustrate and launch further discussion.

In this context of their conjoinment, something noted as “most popular” could be surmised as “regarded with favor in the majority of instances.” That makes perfect sense …

That is, except in the case of the piece Disney’s Marvel and Netflix Join Forces to Develop Historic Four Series Epic plus a Mini-Series Event in which the characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are mentioned.

You see … the author’s (whoever s/he is) choice of characters is hardly indicative of the “most popular” in the pantheon of Marvel superheroes. One could successfully argue the only real popular standout of the group is Daredevil who many of you may or may not be acquainted with. Still, if the article caught your eye — and you’re at least a passing fan of the comic arts — you’d probably recognize Daredevil at the very least. Both Luke Cage (also known as Power Man) and Iron Fist might jog your memory; they were products of the 1970s, specifically of the then-popular genres of Blacksploitation film and the Kung Fu craze. And unless you actually read comics, it’s highly doubtful you’d know who Jessica Jones is.

So, with the (still iffy) exception of Daredevil, I submit to you the quartet in question doesn’t come close to being “most popular” in a line-up of superheroes.

There has been a bevy of characters created — and who have had (or continue to have) their own books — tons more popular than most of that quartet. The Fantastic Four. Spider-Man. The Avengers. The Incredible Hulk. Thor. Iron Man. The X-Men. Ghost Rider. Green Lantern. Green Arrow. Conan The Barbarian. Werewolf By Night. Howard The Duck. Dr. Strange. Man-Thing. Captain America. Deathlok. The Sub-Mariner. The Silver Surfer. Ka-Zar, Lord Of The Jungle.

That being said, let’s get something straight: In no way am I trying to diminish the importance or popularity these characters possess. Each and every one of them are cemented in the Marvel Universe, complete with their own histories, their own attractions. With regard to nothing more than the statement made in the article above, I simply state (with the exception of Daredevil) Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are not, and never were, the “most popular” in Marvel’s history.

So class … I bet you’re wondering what the assignment is … right?

Today’s assignment is to discuss why (or why not) the noted characters are the “most popular.” Or, if you’re daring, why they’re popular at all. They’re obviously popular enough in the eyes of Disney’s Marvel and Netflix “to bring multiple original series of live-action adventures” to the characters. Correct?

You have 30 minutes. Get cracking …

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One of the main points of Universal Pictures’ Kick-Ass 2 is that you don’t have to be a badass to be considered a hero — you just have to be brave and willing to stand up for the right thing, no matter what the consequences may be. What I love most about this series’ premise is that it’s really about a superhero who is kind of like an anti-superhero if you really think about it. You don’t have to be the smartest, the fastest, the richest or even the brawniest as long as your heart is in it for the right reasons.

Kick-Ass doesn’t have special powers given to him because he’s an alien or because he was involved in a freak accident. Nor is he a playboy billionaire armed with a million gadgets and a butler at his beck and call. Perhaps I’m romanticizing it a bit, but I think there’s a lot to be said about average, everyday people deciding to don homemade capes and tights to stand up for truth, justice and the American way. That and he’s nerdy. I really dig a nerdy hero because that’s someone I can identify with and root for in the end.

Kick-Ass 2 picks up a few years after the original. Kick-Ass, a.k.a. Dave Lizewski, is now a high school senior with much on his mind – girls, graduation, fitting in with his peers, making his father proud and discovering what he wants to do with his life beyond high school. Hit Girl, a.k.a. Mindy Macready, now lives with her guardian (her late father’s ex-partner Marcus) and is also struggling with understanding her identity as she plummets her way through her freshman year of high school.

Red Mist, a.k.a. Chris D’Amico, hasn’t really done much of anything except blame Kick-Ass for his father’s death more and more each day. He becomes so obsessed with it that he believes he must avenge his father’s death by destroying Kick-Ass and everything he stands for and everything he loves. He transforms into a fetish gear-clad super-villain known as The Motherfucker and begins amassing a posse of some of the most ruthless people he can find to help him on his quest to take down Kick-Ass. Some of their names are very colorful and laugh-inducing: Mother Russia, The Tumor, Black Death and Genghis Carnage immediately come to mind.

It’s hard trying to figure out where you fit in this world, especially for women. Not all high school girls – and women in general – are as shallow, ignorant or fragile as the media often depicts them. It was refreshing to see a few portrayed as legitimate badasses in this film – Hit Girl and Mother Russia representing opposite sides of the good vs. evil coin, respectively. I really could have done without the annoying, stereotyped teenage girls who tried to take Mindy under their wing like she was an abandoned puppy.

However, one of the biggest things that has changed in the sequel is Kick-Ass is no longer on his own when it comes to trying to keep the city safe. He has inspired a large following of everyday people wanting to make a difference. When it becomes clear that he cannot be the Robin to Hit Girl’s Batman, he joins a meet-up group for heroes called Justice Forever. It was kind of weirdly beautiful to see such a motley crew coming together because they all possessed a common noble vision. So many great new characters come out of this group, particularly Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes, Donald Faison as Doctor Gravity and Robert Emms as Insectman, who refuses to wear a mask because he’s standing up for the defenseless without hiding who he really is.

I’m not sure I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of masked vigilantes roaming the streets because if there’s anything history or Hollywood has taught us, violence typically just begets more violence. For example, if Kick-Ass hadn’t killed The Motherfucker’s father in the first movie, he wouldn’t have assembled his league of super villains to seek revenge on Kick-Ass in the first place.

Actually, the violence in Kick-Ass 2 has become somewhat controversial since Jim Carrey announced that he would not be promoting his role in the film due to a change of heart about the violence portrayed in it in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, which occurred after Carrey had filmed his scenes. Some are calling Carrey a hypocrite because he knew what he had signed on for when he began the project, but as a long-time Carrey admirer, I respect what he has to say on the subjects of gun control and violence. How many of us have had a change of heart on an ultra-important issue after a good soul-searching incident? The fact is I adore Jim Carrey and I will always respect his words, abilities and moral convictions.

And to be fair, Carrey’s character is not the most violent one in the movie. While Colonel Stars and Stripes used to be a mob enforcer and clearly knows how to inflict some damage on his fellow man, he became a born-again Christian and formed Justice Forever to punish wrongdoers. We discover later on that the gun he points at the bad guys is unloaded and carried just for intimidation purposes. However, I can understand Carrey’s cause for remorse. There are some pretty violent sequences this time around, including a scene with Mother Russia taking out something like 10 cops with various props including an exploding police car and a lawnmower. That was almost mind-boggling.

I won’t give away anything else, but the violence seemed at times in relatively poor taste when they were trying to make it come across as comical. However, overall I enjoyed the film for what it was. While I don’t think it was quite as good as the first one, it had its moments that made me laugh and other moments in which I appreciated the sheer badassery of some of the characters involved. As long as you don’t take Kick-Ass 2 too seriously, I think it’s an enjoyable ride. And remember to stay after the credits for a bonus scene.

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