And so it begins, a 30+ part feature following the Batman from his earliest days as a wee baby bat until he matured into The Dark Knight, and beyond... Batman's sidekicks Robin and Batgirl will also get their fair share of attention during this series. Hope you enjoy.
In May 1939, Batman appeared in the the pages of Detective Comics #27.
Robin, The Boy Wonder, debuted a year later in issue #38.
In 1943, The Dynamic Duo made their big screen debut in a 15 chapter movie serial, beginning with The Electrical Brain. The story focused on a US government agent Batman taking on Japanese agent Dr. Daka and his zombie making device.
The serials, made during World War II, have not aged so well as they are filled with racial slurs and poor production values. Also, Batman was not a vigilante, because of course, that would be wrong. On the plus side, the serials were responsible for introducing the bat cave along with its grandfather clock entrance to Batman lore.
The serial was popular enough to justify a sequel serial a few years later. And continued popularity paved the way for the BIF, BANG, POW 1960's television series and for nearly 70 years more of Caped Crusader adventures and counting.
In the 90's Lobo was DC's counter to the wild success of Wolverine. Its pretty obvious now who won the fight, but for a while there, Lobo was quite the rage. He originally debuted in 1983 in The Omega Men #3. Just yesterday it was announced that Lobo is getting his own feature film, and a second chance to be comic's biggest anti-hero. For a quick brush up on who Lobo is, lets turn to the Wikipedia:
Lobo is a Czarnian with exceptional strength and fortitude. He enjoys nothing better than mindless violence and intoxication. He is also arrogant and self-centered, focusing almost solely on his own pleasures, although he proudly lives up to his word – but exactly his word: no more or no less than what he promised. Lobo is the last of his kind, having committed complete genocide by killing all the other Czarnians for fun. "I'm the last Czarnian. I fragged the rest of the planet for my high school science project. Gave myself an A."
The "Main Man" as he often calls himself first appeared, with space chopper in tow, in 1996 on the Superman: The Animated Series two-parter, "The Main Man."
But that wasn't the last to be seen of the Lobinater.
This same incarnation would appear years later on Justice League hopping to fill in for the apparently vaporized Superman.
Lobo also got a fair amount of exposure on a Flash-animation web series that debuted in 2000. The web format allowed the series to get away with a lot more than would have been possible with the dancing frog on Kids WB.
Speaking of web series, Lobo of all people(?) made a cameo appearance on the Gotham Girls web series created around the same time.
In 2006, Lobo made another cameo on the Legion of Superheroes series episode "Legacy."
Perhaps the truest to source on-screen appearance of Lobo was in the 2002 short film adaptation of "The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special" made in conjunction with the American Film Institute. The film was cost just $2,400, but also benefited from the donation of time and effort of many involved. The plot, based on a comic book published in the 1990s, centered on the Easter Bunny hiring Lobo to knock of Santa Claus so that the bunny could be the king of holidays.
Luckily, I remembered hearing about a Lobo script in development a couple months back from TheLatinoReview.com, and found this video describing the plot which looks to be the real plot of the upcoming film. This out there character sounds like it has potential to be horrible, but hopefully it turns out more like Hellboy and less like Howard the Duck. Like it or not, Lobo looks to be joining DC's select few (Superman, Batman, Steel, Supergirl) who have made it to the big screen. Now where is Flash!?
Diabolical Schemes: Back in the day, Pike was a crooked cop and partner to Barry Allen's (Flash) brother Jay. Jay took down Pike, now Pike wants revenge. He is bent on bringing "chaos" to the city with his biker gang.
Coolest Moment(s): I enjoyed the thought they put into side effects of super speed: torn clothes, melted shoes, enhanced hunger, and a weakness of vulnerability after "running out of gas."
Worst Moment: Barry's pre-Flash running suit with a super-wide V-neck was outrageous.
Review in 50 Words or Less: A decent pilot. Sure, the big-bad was not that scary, but he did leave his mark. And the origin was grounded in a fairly realistic world. The Batman 89 influence is felt, but not unappreciated. Makes a good case for the potential of a big budget Flash film.
As posted last week, Smallville is getting a lot of guest heroes this season (such as the previously mentioned Wonder Twins). Also on the list was the Justice Society. Well, now we know which Society members will be appearing: Hawkman, The Spectre, Doctor Fate, and The Atom (Green Lantern Alan Scott and Flash Jay Garrick will NOT be appearing), though others may also join the line-up. EDIT: (ALAN SCOTT MAY APPEAR AFTER ALL)
I am interested to see how Hawkman translates to live -action TV. Last time wasn't so hot.
Robin, The Boy Wonder, debuted a year later in issue #38.
The serials, made during World War II, have not aged so well as they are filled with racial slurs and poor production values. Also, Batman was not a vigilante, because of course, that would be wrong. On the plus side, the serials were responsible for introducing the bat cave along with its grandfather clock entrance to Batman lore.
