Spotlight on Shadowcat

Kitty Pryde first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 in 1980 using the mutant name Sprite. Kitty's first onscreen appearance was as Sprite in the 1983 episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends titled, "The X-Men Adventure."

In her next appearance, Kitty took top billing in the 1989 pilot (to a series that never was) Pryde of the X-Men. By now, Kitty was known as Shadowcat and was featured with her trademark pet dragon Lockheed.

Now, this is when things get interesting. Most people are aware of Kitty Pryde's live-action appearance in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand in but Shadowcat was one of just a select few mutants featured in all three X-films, albeit she was played by different actresses. In 2000, she was addressed as "Kitty" and shown phasing through a door just after Wolverine met Professor X.

In 2003's X2: X-Men United, she was briefly shown escaping the X-Mansion raid by falling through her bed.

But it was in the 3rd X-Men film that she got any real presence, taking on and outsmarting Juggernaut.

Of course, peppy Kitty was also an integral character in the 2000 series X-Men Evolution.

Shadowcat is also one of the more prominent X-Men in the current Wolverine and the X-Men series where she continues to solidify her position as a fan favorite member of the team.

The Justice League: A Super Friendly Tour (Part 5)

Hoping to build on the popularity of the animated series, things went horribly wrong in 1979 with the live-action, variety style, laugh-tracked Justice League spin-off.


Legends of the Superheroes

There was some variation to the team roster due to rights issues and also trying to balance out the teams gender ratio. This team featured Batman and the Boy Wonder Robin, Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman, while Captain Marvel, Huntress and Black Canary were added to the mix. Notable absent were Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman as well as the characters invented for the cartoon show (Wonder Twins, Samurai, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan).


The first installment centered around the birthday party for retired hero Crimson Cyclone's birthday (Why not just use Red Tornado? I guess robots don't have birthdays...?). The party was interrupted by the Legion of Doom featuring Riddler, Weather Wizard, Sinestro, Mordru, Dr. Sivana, Giganta and Solomon Grundy. The heroes ended up powerless, but still pulled out a victory.

The second episode was a celebrity roast of the superheroes hosted by Ed McMahon. Thankfully, they stopped at two.

Availability: Check YouTube.

Up Next: The World's Greatest Super Friends

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure * Super Friends * The All New Super Friends Hour * Challenge of the Super Friends * Legends of the Superheroes

Summer Box Office Update

Here we are approaching the end of May. I thought it might be time to check in on our summer ponies. My prediction of $175 million for old Logan is starting to look pretty prophetic as the movie slowly inches toward that figure. Thus far, Wolverine is holding strong in the #2 summer movie position (though it will likely be overtaken eventually by Night at the Museum as well as other others that haven't opened yet) and it holds the biggest opening weekend so far (look for Transformers 2 to break it). On the bright side, Wolverine's $175ish total will be likely be good enough to keep above disappointing performances from other prequel-sequels Terminator and Angels & Demons. Not bad for a Canadian :)

1. Star Trek $75 Opening, $191 Total
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine $85 Opening, $165 Total
3. Angels & Demons $46 Opening, $88 Total
4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $54 Opening, $70 Total
5. Terminator Salvation $42 Opening, $65 Total