The sneak peak at next week's DC Nation revealed that the hero formerly known as Captain Marvel, AKA Shazam will be getting his own crayon and paper style animated short. I can't say for sure if he will be appearing next week, but it sure seems likely along with the continuing adventures of Baby Superman, the Superman of Tokyo.
Proving that more is not always better, the Justice League of America batch of episodes were pretty brutal to get through. Luckily there were only three episodes and each was just a few minutes. The three adventures all had essentially the same plot involving an alien attack requiring a divide and conquer approach. I thought that the last episode had promise, what with the compromised secret identities angle and all, but that ended up going nowhere. Maybe that's why Superman didn't mind killing the villain at the end, to keep his alias safe. I think that any of the sets of episodes focusing on a solo hero were superior to this batch. So, sadly the team up potential was really wasted. The only thing I can say for this trio of episodes is that they are historic but I have my fingers crossed that the sidekicks making up the Teen Titans carry out more compelling adventures. Oh, and WHERE IS AQUAMAN!?
Essential Episode:
None. If you have to watch one, just pick one, they are all about the same. Between Two Armies was the first, so might as well pick that one.
Disney's Lone Ranger movie is officially underway. And while there is no word whether or not the $200 million werewolf survived budget cuts, we have been treated to a first look at the heroic pair of the Lone Ranger and Tonto. What do you think of Depp's Tonto? A little Jack Sparrow + Mad Hatter?
Some "joker" named Mastermind discovered the secret identities of the Justice League (he probably just looked for chronic winkers). He then detailed his plan to destroy Earth hoping that the Leaguers would let him do it fearing their identities being compromised. Instead, the League divided up and stopped all the attacks he had described. Superman was captured, but Hawkman was able to lead his rescue using his newly revealed "radar vision." Then Superman threw an asteroid at Mastermind, apparently killing him... not that he didn't deserve it. All in a day's work.
Faster than a speeding bullet train, Superman Baby (along with a New Teen Titans short) is slated to debut this Saturday morning on DC Nation. CosmicBookNews has a first look at the short which reveals that in Japan, a blonde Superman gets his powers from his cape. If they are going for weird, I think I prefer this to the Aardman clay shorts shown so far.
If I were the Atom, I don't think I would like the Flash calling me "Squirt." Its not like he is a kid or something just because he can shrink. Then again, the Atom doesn't seem to mind. After all, he gets free rides on the Flash's shoulder like he is some sort of parrot and he gets to call Flash, "Flasheroo." Anyway, it wouldn't be Filmation if there wasn't an invasion involved. Luckily, Superman was around to push the Earth back into place... all in a days work right? One thing I will say is at least the writers managed to get the whole team involved in the 6 minute skirmish. Too bad the villains were so bland.
The silver age Red Tornado made his debut in 1968's Justice League of America #64. Although he has long been in the wings of the comic book Justice League, it is only in the last few years that the storm generating Red has been thrust into the forefront onscreen.
In their first outing, the Justice League was forced to intervene in what looked like a war between banana men and lima beans, but they are really Crystal Men and Rock People. Everyone got a task to do, except Flash who did nothing but give the Atom a piggy back (and Aquaman who was AWOL). In the end, Green Lantern blew up Mercury's nuclear core, but managed to contain the blast and that was good enough for a treaty between the two factions. Suddenly, a giant starfish doesn't seem so lame.
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Episode Count: 0159
Series Count: (1 of 3)
First Appearance: The Justice League (of America)
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the combined might and power of the Man of Steel and the Cosmic Crusader, the Winged Avenger and the King of the Sea, the Tiny Titan and the Scarlet Streak, all working together for good against evil as THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA.
In theory uniting these heroes was a good idea, as for the execution, we shall see. The Justice League team was founded in 1960 in the comics and consisted of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. This Justice League was a slight variation, incorporating all of the solo Filmation heroes (except Superboy). Also strange was the absence of Aquaman who appeared in the title sequence but was not a part of the actual episodes.
