Superhero Shows: 4/11/10

16 April 2010

15 April 2010

Evolution of the Batman (and Robin) - Special Canine Edition

There was a Batman had a dog and Ace the Bathound was his name-o. Ace has had a few appearances over the years as Old Man Wayne's dog in Batman Beyond

And as the team-up character in a Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode opening showing Batman versus Catman.

But Ace's biggest impact was as a sometimes guest on the animated Krypto the Superdog featuring Superman's pooch.

The human heroes didn't appear in this series, so Bathound was pretty much all the representing the Dark Knight got.

Up Next: Batman Vs Dracula

Batman Serial * Batman and Robin Serial * Batman '66 TV * Batman '66 Movie * Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder * Batman on Scooby Doo * Batman the Super Friend * The New Adventures of Batman * Batman '89 * Batman Returns * Batman: The Animated Series * Batman: Mask of the Phantasm * Batman Forever * Batman and Robin * The New Batman Adventures * Boo Wonder * Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero * Batman Beyond * Gotham Girls * Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker * Batman on Justice League * DCAU Crossovers * Birds of Prey * Teen Titans * Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman * Chase Me * The Batman * Batman Begins *

* Special Musical Edition * Special Christmas Edition * Special OnStar Edition * Special Never Happened Edition * Special Canine Edition *

14 April 2010

Last July, this teaser poster was released for Jonah Hex- which is set to debut in just over two months on June 18th. Since then, no more posters, no trailers, nothing. That can't be a good sign for the movie featuring the DC comics bounty hunter. Yesterday this bit of tid was released over at iesb.net regarding an unsurprisingly kiboshed Lobo movie . It offered some insight into the promotional blackout for Hex:

The real issue at hand is several of the top WB executives (the ones who matter) have lost faith in Akiva Goldman's producorial skills. This is a direct result of their not-so-hot reaction to The Losers and especially Jonah Hex. The latter required massive reshoots (in excess of 50 pages worth of new material) and another director in studio go-to guy Francis Lawrence was brought to call the shots. So basically Lobo won't be happening anytime soon.

It doesn't seem that surprising that this movie is having trouble. Serves them right for making Jonah Hex instead of something like Flash or Green Arrow. At this point I wonder if Jonah Hex will still come out in June. I can't imagine it would do too well head to head with Toy Story 3 or even unchallenged. The question now is will Hex outperform Elektra's disastrous $24 mil?

On a side note, The Losers comment is a bit surprising. From my perspective the promotion has been decent. Maybe its a mess as well. We shall know in just a couple weeks.

13 April 2010

Spectacular Spider-Man is Dead, Long Live Ultimate Spider-Man

Disney announced today via Worldscreen.com a new animated Spider-Man series based on the Ultimate Spider-Man universe. Unfortunately this is probably the nail in the coffin for the long in hiatus though never canceled Spectacular Spider-Man (SSM). Its a real shame that SSM didn't last longer than 26 episodes. Aside from characters with gigantic eyes, it was a great series with potential to be to the Web-head what Batman: The Animated Series was for Batman. At least it will forever exist on DVD. Here is the announcement:

Marvel Animation is set to deliver a new animated Spider-Man series in the fall of 2011, with Disney XD as the primary worldwide television partner.

Ultimate Spider-Man will chronicle Peter Parker's evolution from a naïve teen hotshot to a true hero who comes to terms with his origins and abilities.

“Ultimate Spider-Man will be a unique journey exploring our favorite web-slinger as he teams up with other fan favorite Marvel Super Heroes in never before seen stories with a new life filled with great challenges, new friends, intense action and character growth," said Eric S. Rollman, the president of Marvel Animation.

Not too much to go on there, but hopefully this will be a respectful series that stands apart from the other 7 Spider-Man animated series that have come before.

Spotlight on Gorilla Grodd

Even though it may be scientifically inaccurate to say, Gorilla Grodd is one smart monkey, often even displaying telepathic powers. Grodd first appeared in the pages of Flash #106 in 1959. Since then, during his several onscreen appearances, he has mostly wasted used his simian intellect on two nefarious schemes: 1) getting revenge on Gorilla City, 2) turning humans into apes. This week he will be joining forces with other monkey themed villains Monsieur Mallah and Gorilla Boss (its a shame Titano couldn't make it to the party) to take on the likes of Detective Chimp, B'wana Beast and Vixen on the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode Gorillas in our Midst. Make sure to bring your bananas.

Grodd first appeared on TV in 1978 as a member of the Legion of Doom in the Challenge of the Super Friends series. During one episode, his attack on Gorilla City was foiled.

Grodd would return to challenge the Justice League in 2002's episode The Brave and the Bold. Once again his attack on Gorilla City was thwarted. This time, Grodds mind control device was rewired frying his brain. It appeared Grodd would no longer be a threat... but he actually became a bigger threat as the device granted him psychic powers. He formed the Secret Society, a team akin to the Legion of Doom and nearly took down the League.

In Justice League Unlimited, Grodd assembled an even bigger team for a master plan which turned out to be turning humans into apes. he succeeded temporarily, but was eventually defeated and overthrown from his leadership position by none other than Lex Luthor.

In 2008, Flash was seen battling a robotic Grodd in Justice League: The New Frontier. This robot duplicate was simply a trick to try and capture the Scarlet Speedster.

Later in 2008, the real Grodd appeared in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Once again, Grodd went for the humans to apes plan and once again he was eventually defeated. Though that was not the last that Grodd would be seen.

During the crossover episode, Deep Cover for Batman! Batman encountered a good white ape version of Grodd. The evil Grodd went on to lead an ape army in a Planet of the Apes style future.

Mr monkey man also appeared in 2009's Superman Batman: Public Enemies using his mind control to control other villains in the hopes of claiming a bounty on Superman's head. He was taken down in short order. But presumably, this is not the last we have seen of the old chest thumper.

12 April 2010

Green Lantern's Brightest Days #16

#16 The Batman: Ring Toss

Aside from a couple of cameo appearances, it had been over 20 years since we had seen Hal Jordan in action when he finally arrived on The Batman. The episode Ring Toss offered up a traditional showdown between arch nemesis Hal Jordan and Sinestro and gave some shout outs to Hal's history as Sinestro's student and to Hal's day job as a test pilot, to which a starstruck Robin remarked, "even his secret identity is cool."

Unfortunately, the Penguin ended up with the ring for a time but was dealt with in fairly short order after a bit of a Sinestro smack down.

While it was annoying seeing a buffoon like the penguin able to use the power ring, at least he never was really able to master it. Seeing the Dark Knight wielding the ring, albeit briefly, pretty much canceled out the whole Penguin affair. In the end, the episode paid tribute to Hal Jordan, the ring's true master and it was Hal who ultimately turned the tide of the fight.