Trailer to Apocalypse

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Green Lantern's Brightest Days #4

#4 Superman: The Animated Series: In Brightest Day

Although I must acknowledge that this episode really butchered the origin of Green Lantern Hal Jordan - or rather Kyle Rayner - that Hal Jordan was essentially eradicated from this universes existence. Having said that, the story honored both Hal and Kyle, giving the latter his first onscreen and only (to date) spotlighted appearance. This episode also introduced the Green Lantern to the DC Animated Universe paving the way for John Stewart to become a main hero in Justice League.

All of the essential elements of the Lantern mythology were here, including Oa, the Guardians, the Oath, Abin Sur, and Sinestro. The episode also introduced the Green Lantern musical theme which would continue to accompany many of John Stewart pivotal scenes in Justice League. Even though this was a Superman episode, Supes did not overshadow or take away from Kyle's heroism. In the end this was not only one of the better Superman episodes, but one of the greatest onscreen moments for the Green Lanterns.

#25 - Justice League Unlimited: Initiation - John Stewart's new look
#24 - Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Death Race to Oblivion! - Guy Gardner's Lanternmobile
#23 - Justice League of America: Pilot - Doesn't air
#22 - Justice League Unlimited: The Once and Future Thing: Time Warped - Hal Jordan joins the league
#21 - Legends of the Superheroes - Lantern goes live-action
#20 - Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths - Darker shade of green
#19 - Batman Beyond: The Call - Lantern of the future
#18 - Static Shock: Fallen Hero - Hero worshiped
#17 - Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Revenge of the Reach! - Loads of Lanterns
#16 - The Batman: Ring Toss - Gotham by greenlight
#15 - Justice League: Hearts and Minds - More to the Corps
#14 - Justice League Unlimited: The Return - The Corps is greener yet
#13 - Justice League: The Savage Time - Ringless
#12 - Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Day of the Dark Knight - Guy is the man
#11 - Justice League: Legends - The Green Guardsman
#10 - DC Heroes: Justice League of America: Between Two Armies - Joining the League
#9 - Challenge of the Superfriends: Secret Origins of the Superfriends - Secret origin of Hal Jordan
#8 - Duck Dodgers: The Green Loontern - Looney Lanterns
#7 - Justice League: Secret Origins - John gets the limelight
#6 - Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Eyes of Despero! - Guy the hero
#5 - Justice League: In Blackest Night - Green Lantern goes mainstream
#4 - Superman: The Animated Series: In Brightest Day - Welcome to the DCAU

Watch the Blue Beetle Transform... Very Briefly

Thanks to AnimatedSuperheroes.com for alerting me to this test demo containing Blue Beetle footage for a potential Smallville replacement series. The actual Beetle part is very short, but the rest of the clip is worth watching.

Retrospective 1989

In my book, or at least on my blog, 1989 was one of the most important years for superhero shows. Looking over the year's entries, it also seemed that green monsters were quite popular that year. After all, who doesn't love green monsters?

The Toxic Avenger Part II

A few years after the cult hit Toxic Avenger, Toxie returned and traveled to Japan (karate kid style). The movie did horribly and even the trailer is so bad / offensive that I won't embed it here, but if you must see it: here ya go.

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

After Hulk and Thor's successful team up the year before in the Incredible Hulk Returns, Daredevil was ready to do some legal representin'.



The Return of Swamp Thing

"He's got a grudge cuz they turned him to sludge." But "He is turning over a new leaf."



Yeah, pretty much nobody wanted to see this, and so no one did.

Batman

Obviously, Batman was the year's standout. Not only was the movie one of the most successful superhero movies ever made reinvigorating the genre and spawning a slew of Batfilms. Batman also spawned Batman: The Animated Series, itself a highly influential series, as well as other dark takes on heroes such as the short lived Flash series.

Punisher

Marvel's big summer attempt at The Punisher starring Dolph Lundgren fell flat never even making it to theaters.

This fine tradition of Marvel disasters would continue with Captain America and The Fantastic Four before the company finally went on a winning streak some 10 years later with Blade.

The Toxic Avenger III: The Last Temptation of Toxie

As if Toxic Avenger II wasn't enough, 1989 actually delivered two Toxie sequels. Unsurprisingly, this one didn't do to well. Trailer.



X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men

X-Men fans would have to wait a few more years for the acclaimed animated series, but in 1989 they nearly got a series. Pryde of the X-Men was created as a pilot for an animated series which never got picked up. The team consisted of some interesting choices including Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Dazzler, Storm, and of course Wolverine.

Wonder Woman's Got a New Look

OK, I admit, this isn't strictly a superhero "show" related post but it is big news. DC has revamped Wonder Woman's costume. I think one of the the obstacles in adapting Wonder Woman to the big screen had to be her bikini brief bottoms.

Maybe they looked good in animation or on the comic page, but they would be difficult to take seriously in live action. So, how long until we see this new look on screen? Check out Diana Prince's onscreen history here.

Onscreen History of Supergirl and Power Girl

Supergirl first appeared in 1959. Since that time several characters have assumed the name despite various origins - sometimes not even being Kryptonian. Supergirl was one of the few heroes to make her media debut in her own self-titled feature film. The 1984 movie was a bomb then and has virtually been forgotten by now.

In the movie, Kara Zor-El becomes Earth's hero when her cousin Superman is off on an intergalactic mission.






Kara would next appear in Superman: The Animated Series in 1998, this time as Kara In-Ze from Krypton's sister world Argos (keeping Superman as the lone survivor of Krypton).

This Supergirl would befriend Batgirl in a crossover with The New Batman Adventures.

In "Girls Night Out" the two heroines took down team-up villainesses Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.





This same incarnation of Supergirl would also appear in Justice League Unlimited in 2004 where she would have to fight her clone Galatea who was based on the design of the comic book character Power Girl, herself an alternate world version of Supergirl.

In JLU's final season, Kara grew up a bit, getting a more traditional look and going 1,000 years in the future to join the Legion of Superheroes.

Two Karas have appeared on Smallville. The first in 2004 claimed to be a Kryptonian messenger and had super powers, though she did not claim to be his relative. She even wanted to repopulate their race with him. It turned out she was just a puppet of Jor-El trying to get Clark to start his hero training (which I am not sure he has done yet).

The real Supergirl appeared in 2007 as a series regular for a season. This Kara, Kara Zor-El was in fact Kal-El's actually cousin and had his same powers. She has since gone looking for other Kryptonian survivors.

Supergirl also cameoed in 2008's Justice League: The New Frontier, though 2 seconds of screen time may not even count as a cameo.

It really doesn't seem too likely that we will be seeing much of Supergirl in the future, which is a shame for such a recognizable character. She may appear again on Smallville but she probably wont be getting her own series any time soon. And it is doubtful after the 1984 debacle that she will get her own film, at this rate Superman himself's film career is uncertain. Her best shot is probably at appearing in an adaptation of the historic DC Crisis story, where the head banded Supergirl died. Good luck with that Kara...

Update: June 30 2010

In the year since the original post, the Superman Batman movie series has expanded the exposure of Supergirl. First Power Girl appeared in Public Enemies.

In September, Supergirl is slated to be the focus of Apocalypse.

Some Serious Water Bendage

How could you not want to pay to see more?