Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Bad Days: Justice League

Its a bad day when the Justice League gets shown up by the Teen Titans.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Dark Knight Court

Not only did Dark Knight Court cleverly play on the title of one of Batman's best known nicknames, but the episode dished out homages to a number of superheroes who eventually formed the elderly team of Dependables. I will admit, the mash up of Marvel and DC characters onto a single team does make the purist in me a little unconformable, but the parody was still pretty memorable. 

Super History of Superman: Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

Perhaps its a tribute to the Man of Steel that a world without Superman is as bleak as that depicted in The Flashpoint Paradox. On the other hand, its a bit depressing seeing the anemic results of government program Project Superman.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Death of Superman

Superman died and it was all Firestorms fault! I guess I didn't realize that killing Superman was a recurring thing, but supposedly this episode took the lead from an out of continuity comic story - though I also picked up some serious Wrath of Khan / Search for Spock vibes, what with photon funeral, secret trance, and the recovery of the undead body,

War of the Justice Leagues: DC's Newest, Ranked

The League Double Header

 We are going to try something a little different this time seeing as how, oddly, two Justice League movies were released on the same day. Perhaps it made sense for a simultaneous release since one was released ubiquitously via iTunes only (for the next two weeks at least) and the other was released in sort of the opposite way, in a single brick and mortar chain without promotion as a "stealth release." Maybe the logic was that the two were not cannibalizing each other's sales since they were targeting different distribution streams or demographics. Well, jokes on them because I got both! On to the reviews.

Let’s just say, live action quagmire aside, it’s a good time to be a fan of DC movies. In fact, both movies were enjoyable, with their own shining points. Rather than declaring one the victor, I will lay out a few notes for each. In the end both deserve their place in the solid middle of the impressive pack of DC animated films.

  

-Tone-

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - Light, a la JLU season 3 with goofier humor but still legit action. Not what I want every time, but a nice change up in the animated movie formula. Focus on the younger heroes, but not at the expense of the grown-ups. 

Justice League: War - Going for an Avengersy tone and probably more broadly appealing than some previous Justice League movies. Adding a mix of quipy humor and action with touches of more graphic violence. This reminds me of the Superman/Batman animated movies, but is more satisfying than either. Wall to wall action with highlights for each League member.

-Originality-

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - Although inspired by Secret Origins of the Super Friends, less rehash than one might expect. 

Justice League: War - Fairly straight up adaptation of a fairly mediocre story. Better in motion than on the page. Some plot changes, the biggest of which being the addition of Shazam which I do think worked better for the movie.

-Characters-

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - League lineup: Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. Where's Green Lantern? I was worried about the inclusion of Legion members Karate Kid and Dawnstar, but they were one of the movie's strengths - though other Legionnaire cameos would have been a treat. Classic Legion of Doomer's Lex Luthor, Solomon Grundy, Toyman, Captain Cold, Cheetah, Bizarro, Black Manta, and Gorilla Grodd were fine. Fine without Scarecrow, Riddler, Sinestro. Giganta, or Brainiac. Only gripe is if you add Cyborg to the League, there should be a new counterpart in the Legion.

Justice League: War - League lineup: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg Shazam Green Lantern. Where's Aquaman? But like I said, it worked without him. Villain: Darkseid. And as in the comic, he was not developed very well as a character beyond being a big physical threat.

-Designs and Animation-

 JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - Given the nature of the release I was expecting a low quality production reminiscent of an animated Happy Meal commercial tie-in. This actually looked pretty nice. The quality may not have been up to the level of other DC movies or even Young Justice, but in my opinion it looked better than any of the Justice League or JLU episodes. 

Justice League: War - Very nicely animated. Perhaps the palate was a bit dark and gritty, similar to The Flashpoint Paradox, but it worked better in that movie.

-Story-

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - Although there are some serious plot holes, there are also a fair share of clever ideas that sort of make sense if you don't overthink. 

Justice League: War - Story?

-Cliffhanger-

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time- Reminded me of the "Ape-raham Lincoln" ending of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, but better. 

Justice League: War - Only good if you are familiar with the Justice League: Throne of Atlantis comic arc. If so, very tantalizing. If not, pretty lackluster. You might as well just have placed text on the screen saying, "The Justice League will return in Throne of Atlantis." In fact, they may have been better.

-Title Nonsense-

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - No one actually got trapped anywhere. My cheesy alternative would be Peril of the Time Trapper.

Justice League: War - No war was officially declared. My copyright infringing title would be Justice League: Assemble.

Read on to see the new rankings

Most Anticipated of 2014

Counting down my most anticipated superhero and comic book shows of 2014. I should note, there are also a number of TV shows in the works like DC's Hourman and a slew of Marvel characters (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage ) for Netflix leading up to a Defenders miniseries. I have not included them on the list because they are still in pre-production mode, though surely I hope they see the light of day. I am also really looking forward to the Batman Beyond and Batman: Black and White DC shorts but have no idea if they will really be out this year or not. Anyways, away we go.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Space Racers

 Not only did the Wonder Twins invent the fist bump, but they were the original street racers as well... well space racers. That's some serious cred. To be honest though, Jayna was racing against her will. There were a lot of problems with the episode, but the worst was when Flash said that even he runs under the speed limit. Does that apply to when he is running in space on the rings of Saturn? Maybe there just isn't a space speed limit. Another terrible episode in the can.

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Episode Count: 0451
Series Count: (53 of 66)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Scorpio

Its only been a couple episodes since the friends battled insects - though last time it was the Friends who were bug sized. This time the bugs were the big ones. But seriously this was a retread that even featured a similar subplot of a giant tomato - at least this one didn't have teeth. And in case you didn't guess, Scorpio was a giant scorpion mastermind who resembled an alien (you know, from Aliens). This was another lousy effort, but at least the Scarlet Streak made a showing. I may have given it a pass if Scorpio had actually eaten Robin, but alas, no pass.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Make-Up Monster

 So, the premise to this was actually sort of intriguing. A movie makeup guy discovered a way to turn people into creatures using hormone treated costumes. Yeah, the science may be a bit off, but the potential is there. Not sure why that made him evil though. He chose to be a swamp monster, pterodactyl and King Kong, 3 great choices! It was nice for Flash to appear, but he didn't really do much. I sort of expected him to run fast at some point. This still wasn't amazing, but it was kind of fun seeing a few classic monsters battle the Super Friends.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Just-Us League of Supertoons

Batduck proved a popular parody paving the way for a full on Justice League homage on Tiny Toons Adventures in 1992 during a segment of New Class Day titled Just-Us League of Supertoons.In the adventure, Batduck and Decoy were asked to join the League composed of Superbun,Wonder Babs, Little Dasher, Hawk Loon, Aquamutt, Pink Canary, Keen Arrow, and Scentana (extra points for the Zatanna homage). The invitation was revoked when the League realized Batduck had no powers.

Flashpoint Paradox Character Designs Unveiled

Oops they did it again. The sneak peek for Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox has leaked. Despite what was said about the upcoming DC animated movies taking a less literal adaptation of source material, this movie looks awfully close to the Flashpoint story which led into the New 52 - which is fine because it was a very well done story within a rich alternate world. In any case, feast your eyes on some of these character designs from the peek.

Flashpoint Cover Art is Flashy

Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to next month's release of the animated Superman: Unbound, but the recent flurry of news around Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox has me a lot more excited. Even though it was announced that DC would be going away from straight up adaptations and favoring more of an "inspired by" approach, everything about this movie so far indicates it will follow the comic pretty closely, which is a good thing. This amazing cover art is just icing on the cake. As for the announced special features, there will be a discussion on time travel, a look at Flash's rogues, a sneak peek at the next movie (which I wish they had named in the press release!) and some bonus episodes. Hopefully the trailer will arrive soon... in the meantime you can always watch that Man of Steel trailer again.

First Look at Flashpoint's Batman

Thanks to TVGuide, we have our first look at Batman from the upcoming Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. It sounds like the movie is going to be stuffed with casting announcements revealing the presence of two Batmen, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Fan Favorite Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Professor Zoom, General Lane, Lois Lane, and Slade. And those who feared Superman would be left out during his 75th anniversary needed not fear. The Man of Steel AKA Project Superman also made the cut, but alas, no S!H!A!Z!A!M!. This sounds epic. Wouldn't it be awesome if a Flashpoint Batman short was also included. Batman's twist was one of the story's highlights.

The Flashpoint Paradox Zooms to DVD in July!

In the past, the third DC animated movie of the year has been released around September. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox has targeted July. What does this mean? Does this mean we may get treated to another movie in October? One can only hope, but at the very least its great news that this will be arriving so soon! Here is what we know for now:

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Invasion of the Fearians

I always loved this one as a kid. I loved how the Legion of Doom was able to trick the Super Friends into using their own powers to destroy the Earth. And I still love it.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Tibetan Raiders

This is one of the worst of the series. After a plane split in half Lost-style over the Himalayas, some racist Sherpa stereotypes stole the planes tail section. Why? Because it was there I guess. Luckily Flash brought a shovel along to super-speed dig out the plane from an avalanche. And that was a wrap on this bomb.

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Episode Count: 0280
Series Count: (48 of 60)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - DC Meets The Simpsons

Heaven knows that The Bartman was not the only reference that the Simpsons has made to the heroes and villains of the DC Universe. The first on my record was the cameo appearance of the Joker in season two's Old Money in 1991 hot off the heels of the Michael Keaton Batman movie. While I cannot promise that this review will be comprehensive, I will do my best. If I missed anyone, please post a comment and I will do my best to revise.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Too Hot to Handle

Another week and the villainous climate change struck again melting likenesses of the heroes in a wax museum as well as drying up Dairy Land. In fact, the Earth's orbit was decaying toward the sun, but thanks to Professor Von Knowalot, the crisis was averted and an alien world got all greened up too, then I went out and planted a tree.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Flash Recap

After watching the three Flash shorts, the question I asked myself was, "Would I really like to see more of them?" I guess the answer would actually be yes. While I feel like three episodes were more than enough to showcase the Atom, I think the Flash had a lot more potential to be tapped. That's not to say the Flash shorts were great, but it seems like the character could have provided Filmation with his own series. In any case, the Blue Bolt character made To Catch a Blue Bolt the episode of the three I would recommend, just skip the last 30 seconds with the cat.

Essential Episode:
To Catch a Blue Bolt

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - To Catch a Blue Bolt

From filling dikes to turning the Eiffel Tower into an electromagnet to saving the Sphinx, the Flash and Kid Flash had their hands full thwarting the alien Blue Bolt. It was fun seeing the speedsters challenge 1, a decent foe and 2, another speedster. Their defeat of Blue Bolt however was ridiculous. They set up a ramp and launched him into space because he was running too fast and couldn't stop, or even turn one degree, even though he clearly saw the trap. Rather than going out on a decent note, the episode ended with a couple of very forced cat puns and that was how the Flash ended. Not with a bang, but a whim"purr."

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Episode Count: 0152
Series Count: (3 of 3)