Spotlight on Dr. Fate

Dr. Fate is pretty much DC comics ultimate magic wielder. Created in the 1940's he has long been a member of the Justice Society of America, but it wasn't until 1997 that he made his onscreen debut as a guest star in Superman: The Animated Series' The Hand of Fate.

Doc F. would return for appearances in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. In the episode The Terror Beyond, Fate teamed with Aquaman and Solomon Grundy paying homage to the Marvel team the Defenders consisting of Dr. Strange, Namor, and Hulk.

In the episode, Wake the Dead, the homage continued with Amazo joining the group (filling in for the role of the Silver Surfer).

Dr. Fate was given a couple of frames in the Justice League: The New Frontier movie's opening credits depicting the rejection of the JSA.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold welcomed Fate back into the mix (though his helmet no longer covered the side of his face).

Most recently, Society member Dr. Fate came out of retirement on Smallville.


Only fate will tell, but this may not be the last we have seen of old bell head.

Teeny Teen Thor Makes His Debut

Attached to Planet Hulk was a sneak peak at Thor: Tales of Asgrad, the next in the line of Marvel DtVs. This was supposed to be release last August but is sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting to coincide with the theatrical release of the live action Thor. It looks OK and is a bit different than expected. It basically looks like a coming of age story beginning with a wussy and skinny Thor. Hopefully Marvel will start increasing the rate of their animated movies. One a year just isn't cutting the mustard.

Airbender Super Bowl Trailer

I really wish the music was a bit more in line with the series. The visuals look good, but that music is out of place.

Announcing a Pending Announcement from DC

Yes, I realize the irony of this post. Perpetuating a story that only exists to tease of a pending story with no real specifics. The point of my posting is to ask, Why does news like this always seem to spread like wildfire on the internets like on sites such as ComingSoon.net?

Here is the quote:

We are going to have a fairly interesting set of announcements and presentations pretty soon like in a matter of weeks, I think, about our plans for DC," Bewkes said. "And basically if you look across the title of the whole band of hits whether its Batman, The Dark Knight, Green Lantern coming up, Superman, there have been a huge number of franchised films that have been part of the Warner [tent pole] strategy that's been the reason for Warner's unparallel [sic] high and consistent earnings advantage over the other studios and DC has already been a part of that and we are now going to outline an even more expansive plan for that in the coming months.

So...? There may or may not be an announcement of some other DC owned superhero movie because The Dark Knight was a success. Does he realize The Dark Knight and Batman are the same franchise? Does he realize Superman has pretty much been considered a disappointment? Am I the only one that sees no substance in this announcement? Wake me when the real announcements get made.

Evolution of the Batman (and Robin) - Batman in the Justice League

In 2001, The Justice League debuted and to many people's pleasant surprise this was no Super Friends. The series first two seasons consisted primarily of two part episodes spotlighting the various Leaguers and their villains.

Despite Batman's League membership a "Bat-Embargo" would eventually be put in place reserving all Bat-related characters for other shows such as "The Batman." Thus, although Joker and Clayface were seen early in the series, Bat villains were few and far between in the later years; Nor did Robin or Batgirl ever appear.

Over the course of the series, the League encountered various alternate realities and Batmen including one in a world ruled by Vandal Savage in the three-part The Savage Time.

One of the most memorable doppelgangers was Justice Lord Batman from A Better World. This Batman was part of a League that took enforcement of the law to the extreme after Lord Superman killed an evil President Luthor.

From 2004 until 2007, the series was rebranded Justice League Unlimited and things lightened up a tad with appearances by Bat-Ape,

Bat-Kid, and even a singing Batman.

In spite of the embargo, eagle-eyed fans were able to catch a vague cameo of Nightwing patrolling the streets of Bludhaven in the episode Grudge Match.

In The Once and Future Thing, Batman (in his prime) got to team up with the future Batman from Batman Beyond. Things didn't end well...

Batman Beyond was revisited again in the episode Epilogue, the resolution of an epic two-season story arc. Although one final set of episodes followed, Epilogue respectfully closed Justice League and the DC Animated Universe spanning Batman, Superman, Batman Beyons and Justice League with a scene paying homage to one of the first and classic Batman:The Animated Series Episodes, On Leather Wings.

Although he was just one of the team members, Batman was more often than not the star of the 91 episodes of Justice League.

Up Next: Cartoon Crossovers

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

* Special Musical Edition * Special Christmas Edition * Special OnStar Edition

Next Next DC Animated Film Confirmed?

Its already been announced that a sequel to Superman / Batman Public Enemies is in the works, and some sharp eyes caught an announcement of WBs official German site announcing a Fall release of Superman/Batman: Journey to the Dark Side. I don't know about you but Dark Side sounds a lot like Darkseid, the villain of the second Superman / Batman comic arc which coincidentally featured Supergirl. If true Batman will be three for three this year with Feb's Justice League: Crisis on Two Earth's, Summer's Batman: Under the Red Hood, and Fall's Superman Team up. Sounds good, but when do we get more Lantern?

Young Justice for Aqualad

Here is a look at the young lad who will be joining Arrowette in the Young Justice animated series. Keep the images coming!