Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Gamma Rays and You

After a bit of a summer hiatus, this was not the best short to get the old ball rolling again. I enjoyed Starfire's gag about super "powders," but the laughs were a bit sparse this time around. I didn't even really get the premise... something about outtakes from a PSA to warn of gamma ray exposure... This was begging for a Hulk homage. Oh well, at least I can be sure that the next time around the Titans are likely to deliver.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Spider Takes a Bride

Believe it or not, I may be turning a corner on this show. The running time is still definitely too long, but I'm gaining an appreciation for a couple of aspects of the show. The series has consistently offered creative villains. Take this episode for instance, a tie wearing human spider hell bent on marriage. That's hilarious. The second thing I appreciate is that the show often throws in one extra ridiculous element to go the extra mile. No, a talking Man-Spider wasn't enough without a gun that turned people into flies... What!? That crosses the blurry line between genius and insanity. This episode gets extra points for a Batman reference when Plas took the form of a bat and said he hoped that "other guy" wasn't offended.

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Episode Count: 0351
Series Count: (14 of 35)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Dangerous Dr. Dinosaur

I would like to congratulate myself on a notable 350 episodes now under my belt! That's somewhere on the order of 25% of the goal.

If you have learned anything about this show, you could probably guess from the title that the villain was in fact a lizard in a lab coat. You could probably also guess that he loved dinosaurs. What you may not be able to guess is that he used tiny dinosaurs that could rapidly grow to full size and then shrink again to perpetrate crimes. Another mediocre offering for ol Plas.

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Episode Count: 0350
Series Count: (13 of 35)

Super History of Superman: Superman II (1981)

While Superman II may not be as "good" as Superman: The Movie, it is even more fun with the primary entertainment delivered by the three Kryptonian criminals teased in the first movie. As if outmatching Superman 3-to-1 wasn't enough, the villains arrived just after Superman had forfeited his powers. 

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Honey Bee

Honey Bee was quite an irritating villainess with her constant buzz speech. Also, according to Plas, the moral of the episode was that you can never trust a beautiful woman. Nice one Plas.

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Episode Count: 0349
Series Count: (12 of 35)

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.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Diabolical Dr. Dome

Dr. Dome looked like a Flamenco dancer wearing a homemade Juggernaut costume with his daughter going for a Catwoman knock-off look. Tres bizarre. The ploy, steal Plastic Man's powers and give them to buildings. For example, the leaning Tower of Pisa grew arms and robbed a bank... for real. And I know I have beat this drum before, but it was just too long. 5-10 minutes I could have handled with the uber-zany premise, but 20 minutes is just too much. I swear I won't make this criticism again, even though I will live it. Its also worth saying that Dr. Dome's costume is one of the worst supervillain costumes I have ever seen.

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Episode Count: 0348
Series Count: (11 of 35)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Dog Master

Dog Master was ironically a dog himself, at least a man-dog that could control dogs and sought to rule over a chimp too. As much as I love monkeys, this episode nearly drove me bananas. Lets just say Dog Master wasn't as cool as flying Frankenstein. In an interesting turn of events, Plastic Man did take the opportunity to drape himself all over the unrequited Penny, literally.

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Episode Count: 0347
Series Count: (10 of 35)