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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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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This Saturday morning marks the season finales of both Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Since neither show has been renewed as of now, there’s a good chance they will also be the series finales for both shows. Now, there is a strong renewal campaign being led by both fandoms together, so all hope is not lost; but, for this week, I’ve been thinking about how special the shows are. In particular, how special the shows are for featuring several fantastic female characters. These are just a few of the badass women that have made my Saturdays a little brighter.

Carol Ferris
Carol has not always been written well throughout her history in the comics, but this might be one of the better versions of the character overall. She’s the first person to have the power of the Star Sapphire ring and be able to give it up. Carol is also the one to revolutionize the concept of love for the Star Sapphires. When Hal is sent back to Earth with no memory of being a Green Lantern, it’s Carol who helps him regain his memory and urges him to go save the universe. More than that, she breaks up with him only when she knows it’s not the right time for them to be together.

Probably best of all is when she’s called back to the Star Sapphires to be their champion for love — one minute she’s in the middle of a business buffet and the next she’s in outer space, called upon to fight Atrocious. And considering the situation, she takes it in stride. What’s great about Carol is that whether she has the ring or doesn’t, she always seems to be a huge part of why the day is saved.

Artemis Crock
Artemis Crock is kind of an anomaly. In comic book canon, she’s an antagonist. In Young Justice, she was brought onto the team out of nowhere with a secret. Since there was a supposed mole on the team, viewers were supposed to wonder if that was Artemis. After all, Artemis came from a family of criminals and assassins, but she wanted to be something better.

She grew stronger as she learned to trust her teammates, but she was always brave. Even when her dad told her that she couldn’t run from her family — that being a villain was in her blood — Artemis just wanted to be a hero. It would have been easy to have Artemis go back and forth between good and evil, self doubt and self confidence; these tropes are used so often and it can get frustrating to see them overused. So it was refreshing to see her go “No, this is what I want. This is who I want to be. I make my own destiny.” It’s a real shame the writers took her out of the hero life in season two, but the sacrifices she made while undercover just shows how strong a person she is. I just wish we could see more of her beyond the season finale.

Iolande
Iolande is one of the recurring GLTAS characters taken from established Lantern Corp canon. A princess on her home planet, we get to know Iolande over the course of her introductory episode “Heir Apparent” and while some in her court challenge her role as the singular ruler of her people, Hal and the Green Lantern of her sector have confidence in her. And when the lantern ring comes to her, she decides to take on both the responsibilities of the Queen of her people as well as the new Green Lantern for her sector.

Barbara Gordon

Some other Batgirl highlights? Well, she was a huge part of stopping the war world from destroying Earth. When Blue Beetle attacked the team later that episode, Barbara’s first instinct was to push Robin out of harm’s way while she felt the full force of the blast. Her detective work back in “Beneath” was the start of them figuring out the ancient Scarab technology. And if you count the tie-in comic (which I do), she also went toe-to-toe with Match AKA the Superman clone. Even Superboy had a tough time with Match and Barbara still fought him for an hour!

She’s smart, brave and as seen last episode, can knock four ninjas unconscious in a matter of seconds — all without superpowers. As much as I wish they would have given her more character focus, she’s still very badass on the show and I’m so glad she was included.

Aya
What better way to round off this list than with Aya. I’ve written about this complex original character earlier this year — how she went from being a bodyless nav computer to a robot who wants to be a Green Lantern to one of the bravest members of the crew. Of course, right after I wrote that piece was when things started going back for Aya. But what’s beautiful about her character is how human she really is; when her heart is broken, all she wants to know from Hal is how she can make the pain go away — how much more human can you get?

And she made the ultimate sacrifice twice. First she put herself in harm’s way to save Razer from the Anti-Monitor. Then she sacrificed her emotions and (with her emotions, everything that’s the fans love about her) so she could save her team. Sure, removing her emotions meant she didn’t have to feel the crippling heartache, but it was still the only way to save her family. And now that she is this cold, cruel mistress of the Manhunters, it only hurts more because the viewers love Aya so much and will make the finale that much harder to watch.

Over the last year, I’ve just been so impressed by both of these shows and how great all their characters are. But the truth is, there are plenty of other great female characters in Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice — who are your favorites?

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I’m a sucker for romance. OK, scratch that — I’m a sucker for good romance. And while that definition can be very subjective, for me it’s about couples with a slowly developing relationship. It starts with building trust and growing into something special. Most of all, it’s about respect as well as romance. So imagine how happy I am that not only is a pretty cool romance happening on one of my favorite shows, but one that’s happening on a show aimed at adolescents – Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Yes, while Young Justice is my favorite cartoon out there right now, GLTAS has really captured my heart and much of that has to do with the relationship between the show’s two original characters — Razer and Aya. This newest episode “Blue Hope” focused on the two of them for the first time this season and really highlights why this only-really-just-begun relationship is so refreshing.

For one, the characters both have separate story arcs and character development outside of their budding romance. Razer spent most of season one as a sort-of prisoner turned ally for the Green Lanterns because he realized he couldn’t kill innocents anymore. He dealt with his past and his demons mostly by lashing out at others and himself, but he wanted to be a better person. Razer also came to better terms with the loss of his wife, arguably the driving factor to him becoming a Red Lantern and the main source of his rage (and therefore power). On the other side, we have Aya. To put her in the simplest terms, Aya is awesome. She’s a AI nav computer who keeps saving Hal and Kilowog and Razer over and over. She chose to make herself a Green Lantern. When Kilowog says she doesn’t even have a body, so how could she be a Lantern, she immediately makes herself a body and basically responds, “Any other reasons?”  She’s brave, clever and by the end of the first season all three of her shipmates acknowledge that’s she’s (to use Hal’s wording), “Not a rookie anymore.”

Outside of their own character development, season one had oodles of hints at their attraction to each other. It was very easy to go into full fangirl mode and squee with delight every time they had a moment together because they’re just so adorable. Yes, she’s technically their spaceship. Yes, she does accidentally look like his dead wife (oops). But the season finale proved that Razer’s affection for her is genuinely for her — I seriously doubt the Star Sapphires could have gotten him to Aya if he didn’t really love her.

Now that the hiatus is over and we’ve finally seen Razer and Aya face to face in season two, the best thing I can say about the episode is how it was just as much about their personal development as it was about the two of them together. Razer is dealing with his overall rage through Blue Lantern Saint Walker’s training, but he’s still struggling with his disbelief that Aya could ever love him … and whether he deserves to have love in his life again at all. Sure a lot of this comes from self-loathing, but he doesn’t just assume Aya loves him just because he loves her — that’s a big plus in my book.

After Aya calls Razer out for saying all machines are emotionless and apathetic (I was shouting, “Razer, she’s right there!” at the TV during that scene), she doesn’t wallow or try to figure out what she did wrong. No, she tries to befriend the damaged Manhunter instead. And it’s during these scenes that we get to see everything great about Aya come front and center. Aya sees the best in everyone. She chose her own fate. And as the Manhunter disturbs her with his blind apathy and desire to kill, she defiantly states, “I am nothing like you.” It such a powerful moment for the show and by the time the Manhunters detect emotion in her when she looks at Razer, we know it’s Aya choosing him for herself because she is her own person.

Best of all, the episode ends with Razer apologizing to Aya for his behavior, unlike some cartoon characters from last year (I’m looking at you, Young Justice and Legend of Korra). Thank heavens for that apology because it would have sent a really bad message to not have him apologize for indirectly calling her mindless and soulless.

While Razer and Aya’s relationship is such a great part of this show, the beautiful thing about them is that they both have emotional and complex story arcs of their own. Their personal growth makes their romance that much more interesting. So what am I looking forward to going into the rest of the season? I’m looking forward to more individual character development for both characters. I’m looking forward to a positive representation of a second love. And I’m looking forward to them continuing to act adorable. That being said, I’ve seen the DC Nation trailer and I know that some dark stuff is coming for these two. Considering how his rage exploded when she was hurt this episode, I can’t imagine what’s going to happen down the line.

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