Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Kidz Korner 4 Kidz

This was the Titans version of a Sesame Street style "kidz" show. Although it was not the most successful effort from the shorts series, it was fun seeing a ton of cameos including one by the ever coy Wonder Girl.

Spotlight on Green Arrow

Not only did Superman Batman Apocalypse hit stores today, but the DVD contained an all new short featuring the Emerald Archer. Oliver Queen AKA Green Arrow first appeared in 1941's More Fun Comics #73 (despite what the cover depicts).

(UPDATED MAY 2012)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Teen Titans Recap

I think its worth emphasizing Wonder Girl's role in these adventures. Wonder Girl was the very first female superhero to get an animated treatment, even before Wonder Woman (even if they were technically the same person). On the team, she was arguably portrayed as the most competent and powerful member of the team. Unfortunately, she was also subjected to lots of "doll" and "chick" jesting. Regardless, she is one of the key elements that made Teen Titans such a success. All three of the Teen Titans adventures were enjoyable, and for once we also got some slight variety with one invasion, one monster themed episode, and the final rescue episode. Any of the three episodes were watch worthy, but I choose Operation Rescue as the one to watch.

Essential Episode:
Operation Rescue

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Monster Machine

The episode opened with a giant robot, but don't worry. That bow tie he was wearing must mean he was a nice well behaved robot. Whats that? He threw a boulder at a house? Oh, it turns out the bow tie was all a ruse. The Teen Titans were soon on the scene, but not very effective. Then the robot submerged in the water giving Aqualad his chance to shine. He blew it, but was aided by an octopus named "Leggy" (no, really). Back on land, the team actually succeeded in taking down the machine, AT-AT style. Just then about 10 more of the robots attacked, but Gill Head and Eagle Eye figured out that an arrow to the bow tie could take them down. The flying Wonder Doll took out the last bot and the team claimed victory. 

Yes, this was absurd but I think I may have loved it.

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Episode Count: 0162
Series Count: (1 of 3)
First Appearance: Teen Titans
First Appearance: Speedy
First Appearance: Wonder Girl
First Appearance: Wonder Woman (technically)

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - DC Super Heroes

In 1968's Superman / Aquaman Hour of Adventure, episodes of Superman, Superboy, and Aquaman, were mashed together with those of a rotating slate of guest heroes including the Atom, the Flash (with Kid Flash), Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Justice League (comprised of all the adult heroes including Superman), and the Teen Titans (with regularly featured kid sidekicks Aqualad and Kid Flash joined by Wonder Girl and Speedy).

Onscreen History of Speedy

Back in the day, Green Arrow was just a Batman copy cat. And along with being a Millionaire industrialist, and good Batman wannabe needed a teen sidekick / ward. Green Arrow's junior archer Roy Harper was dubbed Speedy.

Though not as well known as Robin, Speedy has had his fair share of appearances in superhero shows over the years. In fact, Speedy appeared alongside Wonder Girl, Aqualad and Kid Flash sans Robin in the 1967 DC Super Heroes Teen Titans shorts.

Speedy wouldn't appear on screen again for nearly 40 years, until he joined the supporting cast of the animated Teen Titans series. Speedy was first introduced as a Robin "clone," but went on to get a bit of development as a member of the Titans East.

Though not in continuity with Teen Titans, a very similar in design Speedy appeared alongside mentor Green Arrow (and other non-powered heroes Stargirl, S.T.R.I.P.E., Shining Knight, Crimson Avenger, and Vigilante) in the 2006 Justice League Unlimited episode Patriot Act in an homage to the classic Seven Soldiers of Victory team.

Speedy got a blink and you will miss him cameo in the Justice League: The New Frontier movie alongside other members of the Teen Titans.

In 2009's Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode Dawn of the Dead Man, Speedy appeared alongside Batman rival Green Arrow.



Finally, Speedy will appear in live action on next weeks episode of Smallville titled Crossfire. The catch, this appearance will actually be of the second sidekick dubbed Speedy, Mia Dearden. Speedy is fast becoming the world's best known sidekick (well aside from Robin and Batgirl at least).

Who Will Be Passing Through Smallville

After 8 seasons, Smallville has served more as a hub of super-tourist activity than a rural getaway. During the first 8 season, 14 superheroes, 20 supervillains, and 17 other supporting characters from the DC universe have sauntered through Smallville or neighboring Metropolis. Highlights include Lex Luthor and Superman (of course), Brainiac, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Supergirl, and Doomsday (Most of whom have dated Lois Lane, have spent the night in the local coffee shop's upstairs apartment, or both). The graph lists the number of visits by heroes, villains, and supporting DC characters by season. Only the initial visit is counted, recurring visits are not tracked.

Many more have their travel plans in order to stop by for season 9 (Major Zod - an alternate time line younger version of General Zod, Metallo, Roulette, The Wonder Twins - no word yet on Gleek, The Justice Society, and Speedy are all booked for the first half of the season), making it a contender for the busiest season to date. We will save a discussion of Smallville stunt casting (Wonder Women, Supermen, etc) for another day. For more detailed information about who has come and gone, see the table below.

SEASON	CHARACTER	EPISODE TITLE	ROLE
1	Superman	Pilot	Superhero
1	Lex Luthor	Pilot	Supervillain
1	Jonathan Kent	Pilot	Supporting Character
1	Lana Lang	Pilot	Supporting Character
1	Martha Kent	Pilot	Supporting Character
1	Pete Ross	Pilot	Supporting Character
2	Jor-El	Calling	Supporting Character
2	Maggie Sawyer	Insurgence	Supporting Character
3	Morgan Edge	Exile	Supervillain
3	Claire Foster	Perry	Supporting Character
3	Perry White	Perry	Supporting Character
4	Impulse	Run	Superhero
4	Krypto	Krypto	Superhero
4	Mister Mxyzptlk	Jinx	Supervillain
4	Bridgette Crosby	Crusade	Supporting Character
4	Lois Lane	Crusade	Supporting Character
4	Lucy Lane	Lucy	Supporting Character
4	Sam Lane	Gone	Supporting Character
5	Acrata AKA Andrea Rojas	Vengeance	Superhero
5	Aquaman	Aqua	Superhero
5	Cyborg	Cyborg	Superhero
5	Aethyr	Arrival	Supervillain
5	Milton Fine / Brainiac	Arrival	Supervillain
5	General Zod	Vessel	Supervillain
5	Nam-Ek	Arrival	Supervillain
6	Martian Manhunter	Labyrinth	Superhero
6	Green Arrow	Sneeze	Superhero
6	Bizarro	Phantom	Supervillain
6	Jimmy Olsen	Zod	Supporting Character
7	Black Canary	Siren	Superhero
7	Supergirl	Bizarro	Superhero
7	Vandal Savage	Cure	Supervillain
7	Zorl-El	Lara	Supervillain
7	Lara-El	Lara	Supporting Character
8	Lightning Lad	Legion	Superhero
8	Saturn Girl	Legion	Superhero
8	Cosmic Boy	Legion	Superhero
8	Zatanna	Hex	Superhero
8	Plastique	Plastique	Supervillain
8	Bruno Mannheim	Stilletto	Supervillain
8	Doomsday	Plastique	Supervillain
8	Faora	Bloodline	Supervillain
8	Livewire	Injustice	Supervillain
8	Maxima	Instinct	Supervillain
8	Neutron	Injustice	Supervillain
8	Parasite	Injustice	Supervillain
8	Persuader	Legion	Supervillain
8	Toyman	Requiem	Supervillain
8	Dan Turpin	Bulletproof	Supporting Character
8	Emil Hamilton	Bulletproof	Supporting Character
8	Mercy Graves / Tessmacher	Odyssey	Supporting Character
9	Zan	Idol	Superhero
9	Jayna	Idol	Superhero
9	Speedy	Crossfire	Superhero
9	JSA	Society	Superhero
9	Major Zod	Savior	Supervillain
9	Metallo	Metallo	Supervillain
9	Roulette	Roulette	Supervillain

Retrospective 1977

Although 1977 was not the origin of superhero shows, it was the year I was born. So basically, no one should care about anything that happened before then, right? I could have gone all the way back to 1941 and the debut of The Adventures of Captain Marvel film serials, but there were some sparse years between then and now. So I just skipped over the early years of superhero shows including such highlights as the Adventures of Superman, Batman 1966, the Batman television series and the 1968 film Danger: Diabolik. I am also skipping The Marvel Superheroes, Spider-Man, The Superman/Aquaman Hour, and the original Super Friends animated series. Perhaps when I have caught up to the present, I will revisit some of the more prolific years. But for now, lets get on with 1977.

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man was old Web-Head's 15 episode live-action TV series made between 1977-1979. Although the series had reasonable ratings, fans critical of the series for the changes made to the comic book and because there were not any real "supervillains". The only characters adapted from the comic book were Peter Parker / Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt May and one appearance by Robbie Robertson. Stan Lee, creator of Spidey and more, was vocal about his disliked for the show.

I don't remember seeing this as a kid, but it sure doesn't look too slick. Having said that, how awesome would it be to have a Spider-Man weekly TV show? Instead, we have Heroes.

The Electric Company

Spidey was busy in the 70s. In addition to his own series, he was also a guest on The Electric Company from 1974 until 1977. Strangely, DC comics Blue Beetle (or more likely a knock off of him) also appeared.

Spidey would drop in from 3 minute segments featuring word fun, though he himself only spoke with speech balloons. Maybe not the best use of the iconic hero, but kids loved it.

The Incredible Hulk

A two-part pilot movie kicked off the popular Incredible Hulk series. To "ground" the series in reality, the main character's name was changed from Bruce to David to avoid a double "B." The comic book supporting characters were also replaced with more realistic regular folk. One of the biggest changes affected the origin. Rather than getting gamma ray exposure after making a rescue on an atom bomb test field, "David" got zapped in a lab mishap. Also, TV Hulk no speak, just growl.

This show made a huge impact on me, giving me years worth of Hulk Smash nightmares as a child. Thanks Hulk.

Secrets of Isis

I am don't think she was a comic book heroine at the time, Isis was basically an Egyptian version of Mary Marvel. Since then, Isis has joined the Captain Marvel comics as Black Adam's wife.

The live action Secrets of Isis, running from 1975-1977, centered on Andrea Thomas, a high school science teacher who found an ancient mystical amulet on an archaeological dig in Egypt. The amulet belonged to Hatshepsut, an ancient Egyptian Queen and it gave the wearer the powers of Isis. Andrea, by virtue of being able to open the casing in which the amulet rested, was recognized as an heir to Isis's secrets. Whenever Isis was needed, Andrea would reveal the amulet and incite an incantation ("Oh, mighty Isis!") and she would be transformed into the goddess Isis. Isis had super strength, the ability to move inanimate objects, the ability to fly, and super speed. To invoke her powers, she intoned rhythmic rhyming chants, such as



Three episodes of the series featured crossover appearances by Captain Marvel of the show's companion series, Shazam!

Shazam!

Shazam! made by the same folks as Isis ran from 1974 to 1977. It featured Captain Marvel, who is actually not named Shazam, and is not owned by Marvel, but Marvel owns the trademark for the name Captain Marvel who is one of their characters, but is unrelated to the "Shazam!" guy. I know, its confusing. From what I understand, the show was pretty campy. Who would have guessed?

The All New Superfriends Hour

Wonder Twin powers, activate! The original Super Friends, with non-powered sidekicks Wendy and Marvin, was canceled in 1974. The show, in constant reruns over the next few years, gained enough of a following to earn a greenlight for a new Superfriends show.

This time around, the hour-long show featured four mini-stories that spotlighted different characters. The first story featured a team up between two of the Super Friends. The second story featured the now infamous Wonder Twins and their space monkey Gleek. The third story featured the whole team. The fourth featured a guest star such as Green Lantern, Black Vulcan, or the Atom. The popularity of this show led to 1978's classic Challenge of the Superfriends series, a personal childhood favorite.

Wonder Woman

Running from 1975-1979, Wonder Woman's got her biggest exposure to mass audiences through this live-action television series. The first season was set during World War II, but season 2 took place 35 years later in the "modern" 1970s. Steve Trevor was replaced by his lookalike son Steve Trevor Jr. (ah, clever) as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman spun her way against evil.

Speaking of her patented spin move, enjoy:



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1977 was actually a really amazing year for superhero shows on television. Spider-Man, Hulk, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel all having their own live-action series, is some serious saturation. Not only where there a lot of shows, but these were big guns too and they did it with small budgets and 1970s effects. Wow. I don't expect to see anything like that on the small screen again. And without the DVR yet in place, my superhero show addiction would have been a real challenge to manage. It turns out 1977 was a pretty good year to be born.

Update:

The New Adventures of Batman

Along with the titular Batman, The New Adventures of Batman featured Robin the Boy Wonder, Batgirl and Bat-Mite, a a well meaning imp from another dimension called Ergo, who considers himself Batman's biggest fan. Hmm. Sure why not, though some will consider this one of the Dark Knight's darkest hours. It was the Joker's inclusion in this series which kept him from appearing in the Challenge of the Super Friends series that ran during the same time frame. Likewise, Riddler and Scarecrow's membership in the Legion of Doom precluded them from appearing here.


The series was paired up with a Tarzan animated series in 1977 which expanded into a series titled either Tarzan and the Super 7 or Batman and the Super 7 in subsequent years. Stay tuned for the rest of the Super 7 to debut in 1978.

Space Sentinels

Also arriving in 1977 was the series The Young Sentinels which although it only lasted one 13 episode season was renamed midway through its run to Space Sentinels. The racially diverse cast has earned the series a footnote in the annals of history.

In this series, the Roman mythological figures Hercules and Mercury are joined by Astrea, a character created specifically for the series, to form a superhero team to protect mankind. As the series intro described:

Many centuries ago, three carefully selected young Earthlings were transported from their native lands to my faraway world. Here they were granted astounding powers, and eternal youth, then returned to Earth. Their mission: to watch over the human race, helping the good in it to survive and flourish. In the course of history, their names have become legend: Hercules, empowered with the strength of a hundred men. Astrea, able to assume any living form. Mercury, the amazing athlete who can match the speed of light. Working together with me, Sentinel One, and my maintenance robot, Mo, these teenage guardians form the greatest team the world has ever known: The Space Sentinels.

The heroes would continue in 1978s The Freedom Force.