Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Amethyst Princess of Gemworld: Level Four: The Turquoise Cave

Things are amping up for Amy and I like it. So far this series has been nothing but pleasant surprises of excellent animation and clever nostalgic nods. This time, the line "Its dangerous to go alone, take this" was a shout out to The Legend of Zelda, which may have been one of the many sources of inspiration for these shorts. That sure was one pathetic skeleton as well, which made him all the more endearing.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Voodoo Vampire

We now return to our regularly scheduled program and I am not going to lie, the Voodoo Vampire Vampiress had my attention right out of the gate. Things only got better from there when Batman turned into a real Bat-Man. Get it? Ha ha. This was one of the coolest things the Super Friends has given since... Superman and the Wonder Twins were vampired. Though I have to say Superman's previous case of Vampirism was a little cooler looking.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Batman at Zigglers

 

The year, 2011. The episode, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases! The place, the cutting room floor. Alas, what could have been. Director Ben Jones gave the scoop HERE about an homage to the Zellers Batman ads that almost was. This ad parody was planned to pad the episode which paid homage to all sorts of lesser known Batman tales but was ultimately cut for time. Neverthless, the deleted scene is still a lot of fun pitching the fictional store Ziggler's where, "Higher Prices Must Be Punished" accoriding to the "Manifesto of Toylandia."

Super History of Superman: Legion of Super Heroes (2006-8)

Of all the DC animated series in the modern era, Legion of Superheroes just may have drawn the shortest straw. The show ran just 26 episodes over two seasons, and was cancelled before a planned third season could be produced. To this day, the second season has not been released on home video. Although the series was affected by the end of the Kids WB programming block on the CW network, the series also suffered from less than super ratings. And while Superman's shield symbol was prominent on the series logo, perhaps a title like Superman and the Legion would have drawn larger audiences.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Batman at Zellers

Low prices were the law at the Canadian department store Zellers in the late 80's. A series of four animated advertisements were made for the store featuring an uber-exagerated Batman and the "nabbed four" most famous of his rouges (thanks to Batman '66): Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and Riddler. These are some of my favorite of the animated commercials that have been made over the years thanks to the high energy combined with classic designs. All four are a lot of fun though I would have to say the Catwoman is probably my favorite owing to her purple outfit and green cape. Stylish!

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Superman Uses AT&T

This 80's commercial for AT&T calling cards was unique in that it didn't actually include Superman at all - just Clark Kent. It was the calling card that "saved the day." Honestly, this wasn't a great ad, but I did appreciate the voice impressions inspired by the theatrical Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. Now go eat some peanut butter Clark!

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans Say "No" to Drugs

The year: 1983. The message: Say 'No' to Drugs. The heroes: The New Teen Titans. While I am not sure if this 60 second anti-drug message actually aired or not, if it had it would have contained the first onscreen appearances by several Titans including Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, and... The Protector?