Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! and Hero High Recap

I have always wondered why Captain Marvel AKA Shazam wasn't a bigger hero. The dude has a whole array of powers, a mythology, and a supporting cast... but this series perhaps begins to shed some light on the characters' limited appeal. While the Cap and Mary are fine enough, Uncle Dudley, Tawky Tawny and Captain Marvel Jr. each have some strange quirks that were probably exacerbated by this low budget / effort production. And there was just a silliness to the Fawcett world that makes The Big Red Cheese more of a parody or kids' hero than a bona fide DC powerhouse.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Cover Twirl

 In the second crossover, the students of Hero High were hot for teacher when Isis was recruited to substitute. Jealousy ensued and Captain California ended up lovestruck for some old bag. Oh hilarity - at least that's what they were going for. Its kinda sad that this would be Isis' last onscreen appearance for nearly 30 years until she got a brief mention on Smallville. Alas poor Isis, you had such untapped potential.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Freedom Force Recap

Well, that was interesting, except it wasn't. While not horrible, this was one of the most disposable, forgettable shows I have ever seen. Although I don't understand why only 5 episodes were ordered, I don't think more episodes would have changes that fact that this group of heroes didn't really belong together - and that's not good. Its one thing if you are talking about The Avengers. Its interesting to see Hulk and Cap and Thor and Iron Man all teaming up. Not so much with Merlin and Sinbad. Wait, was Sinbad even in this?

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Robot

In this, the already final outing, the team was out-heroed by a giant robot who capped an erupting volcano. Would that even work? The robot's pilot, however, demanded a reward. The interesting thing is that he not only revealed himself to be from the 27th century, "in the future," but claimed that the Freedom Force also didn't belong in that time. I am taking this to mean that the show was set in the past, but that the heroes were from different times and were inexplicably living in that time period... strange indeed. I guess that's why the intro refers to a "valley of time." Whatever that means.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Morgana's Revenge

According to the DVD release of this series this episode is titled Morgana's Revenge not Pegasus' Odyssey as some sources would lead you to believe. So, who is this Morgana that sought revenge? Morgan le Fay is in fact a sorceress from the Arthurian legend that has become a mainstay of DC comics often clashing with Etrigan the Demon and having appeared on later series including Justice League and Batman: The Brave and the Bold along with son Mordred.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Plant Soldiers

So far, even though Isis is technically a DC character, this series has very little connection to the greater DC universe, or to any recognizable universe  for that matter. I am not even sure where the Freedom Force are stationed (in space? in the post apocalyptic future? ancient Egypt? who knows). I doubt that in any of my future viewing, any show will have as tenuous of ties to the Crisis of Infinite Episodes quest as this. Nevertheless I must proceed.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Scarlet Samurai

The second episode focused on the Super Samurai who used his powers to free and entangles elephant. Jealous of his mad skills, the Samurai's rival made a pact with some sort of Vulcan wizard gaining the power to become the Scarlet (more like Salmon) Samurai. The Sammys fought, but were interrupted by prototypes for the Gamorrean Guards. Isis showed up to summon a tornado and all was well. I think I see why there were just 5 of these made. 

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Dragon Riders

Yes, dragons vs airplanes sounds cool. This was not cool. I did kind of like Super Samurai. he was basically a Captain Marvel type kid that transformed into a giant robot samurai, but in kid form he was super lame. The episode spent about 10% of the run time showing him flying a kite. I guess there was supposed to be a moral lesson, but in the end Isis and Merlin took away the airplanes and two waring leaders decided to stop fighting. Seems the dragon army should have taken that chance to dominate a now defenseless enemy, but that's just my take.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Freedom Force

Although The Freedom Force aired along with The New Adventures of Batman during the animation block Tarzan and the Super 7, the Filmation series barely qualified as a DC series due to the presence of one team member, Isis. But hey, it's at least a character crossover, right?