The Spectre to Kick Off DC's Animated Shorts

An early image of the Blu-Ray box art for the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths revealed a tiny little picture of the Spectre's head leading fans to speculate that he would be the focus of the first in DC's line of animated shorts which will be packaged with upcoming direct to video movies.

The guy has been around since 1940, but really has never gotten his chance to shine (in other words there was never any demand for an action figure, UNTIL NOW - act fast kids)

Basically, the guy is a supernatural spirit of vengeance type. He was merged with Hal Jordan for a time in the comics until Hal redonned his Lantern garb. To be honest, I am counting on the short to fill me in as well. In any case, it looks like 2010 may be a good year for old Spectre as he is also slated to appear in the team-up Batman: The Brave and the Bold series. After years of obscurity, it looks like the Spectre's stock is about to go way up.

Spotlight on Black Cat

With all the rumblings about Black Cat joining the Spider-Man 4 lineup, I figured it was time for the "felicitous felonious feline" femme fatale to get the spotlight. Felicia Hardy first appeared in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #194 in 1979.

Just a couple of years later, she made her on screen debut on the cleverly titled 1981 Spider-Man series episode, "Curiosity Killed the Spider-Man." Judging by the image above, I think this series nailed the look of the character better than any of the subsequent attempts.

Black Cat returned in the 1990's Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Like many of the characters in the series, her look was close, but somehow off. I guess this can be somewhat explained by the fact that in this version the character had super powers granted by a variation of Captain America's super soldier serum.

In 2003, the MTV Spider-Man: The New Animated Series introduced a character named Talon. The script originally was written to include Black Cat, but with the casting of rapper Eve, the character was reimagined as a variation of the burglar.

2008's Spectacular Spider-Man series reintroduced the Black Cat to television with an interesting twist. In this continuity, the Black Cat's dad who was the petty thief that killed Uncle Ben (a much better idea that retconning Sandman into that role). Although at first friendly with one another, Spider-Man's refusal to let the cat spring her pop from prison introduced a rift between the two sometimes partners.

So, will the cat be out of the bag in 2011's Spider-Man 4? Sounds likely. Stay tuned.

Enter Sandman, Green Lantern, and Dr. Fate

Here it is, the preview for the Justice Society on Smallville:

Not only did this little bitty show us our first glimpse of Dr. Fate, but it looks like DC's Sandman is going to be a part of the team as is possibly Alan Scott- the JSA's own Green Lantern. This looks to be a huge event in the making. Absolute Justice airs on February 5th. In the mean time, enjoy some screen grabs below.

The Hand of Fate



Sandman



The Ring of Green



Hawkman as previously revealed.


One more for good measure- The Society (Speculative identies from left to right- Star Spangled Kid, Wildcat, Atom Smasher, Sandman, The Spectre, Flash (Jay Garrick), Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Hourman, Dr. Midnite, Liberty Belle, Mr. Terrific)

Hawk of the Walk

Smallville's Hawkman has been revealed. Ironically, the superhero who has come to Smallville with the most out there comic book costume looks to be getting the most faithful adaptation- wings, chest plate, and all. Hawkman's Justice Society including Dr. Fate, Stargirl and The Martian Manhunter will face off with Green Arrow and of course Superman in January in a formerly 2-part, now movie event titled, "Absolute Justice". Looks like Smallville is making a serious case for a 10th season.

Evolution of the Batman (and Robin) - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was originally planned as a direct to video movie based on the Animated Series, but was ultimately released theatrically on Christmas 1993. It mustered up a modest $5.6 million, but that's not to say this movie was no good. In fact, until Batman Begins came out, Phantasm was frequently considered the best Batman film.



Even the esteemed Siskel and Ebert realized they were part of the huge audience that overlooked this gem.

So, what makes it so good? It is true to the spirit of Batman. Now that Batman Begins has spoiled us, it may be difficult to appreciate just what an accomplishment it was to nail the characters of Batman and Bruce Wayne. Kevin Conroy is Batman. His voice is intimidating and commanding without sounding exaggerated. He conveys Bruce's struggle to please his fallen parents, and to and happiness of his own.


The film presents Bruce accepting his tragic fate of becoming the Batman. Also, there is mystery, who is the Phantasm? and what is his game plan?


And there is the Joker who seems to be in all of the best Batman movies. Luke Skywalker delivers a maniacally brilliant performance as Mr. J.

One of my favorite scenes is a flashback sequence showing Bruce wearing black, and a knit ski mask (I wonder were they got that idea from in Begins?). He takes on a group of thugs, and ends up on the hood of a speeding semi, where he pulls out a ball-peen hammer from his belt with which he takes out the big rig. Nice!

Up Next: Batman Forever

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
* Special Musical Edition *

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) - Film Capsule

Hero: Sam Witwicky and his merry troop of Autobots.

Villains: The Fallen, Megatron, and more.

Diabolical Schemes: The Fallen revived Megatron to destroy Optimus Prime (because as we all know only a Prime can kill The Fallen) then they were going to use the Matrix of Leadership to start-up a Sun devouring machine to make more energon.

Coolest Moment(s): The Decepticon jaguar Ravage was pretty cool. There was a nice forest fight between Prime and some baddies, and Prime merging with Jetfire was made me want to buy the toy. Pretty much, Prime is the best part of this movie.

Worst Moment(s): Oh so many. Wrecking "balls," thong shot, racist Mudflap and Skids, nonsensical plot (even compared to the first movie), stoned mom, the revival of dead Sam... Also, there are far too many questionable happenings for a movie clearly marketed toward my 2 year old son.

Comic Book Logic: If there were a robot heaven why would Sam go there? and how going there revitalize Sam magic Pixie dust? Also, if Decepticons can look like people, why dont they just go under cover? Why would Makaela ever like Sam? If Transformers can warp across the planet, why don't they do that more often? And why can't they fix Bumblebee's voice?

Review in 50 Words or Less: There are plenty of "splosions" but if you even attempt to understand the plot you will get very angry very fast. This movie also gives new and lame Transformers screen time in favor of the ones I actually liked in the last movie. Even Megatron is demoted to wuss.

Retrospective 1984

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

In 1984, Kenner got serious about action figures and Super Friends was renamed and rebranded with the Super Powers moniker. This incarnation saw the introductions of Darkseid and Firestorm as new main characters for the show. The other Friends were redesigned as well as the basis for their action figures with action grips.

Sheena

1984 gave us a pair of female oriented superhero bombs. Up first, was Sheena. Interesting fact: Sheena was the first female comic book character with her own title, though Rima (another jungle girl) as seen in Super Friends was created as in the literary world before Sheena. I think the trailer pretty much speaks for itself. Sheena made less than $6 million, probably making Supergirl not look so bad after all.

Supergirl

A couple of months after Sheena came Supergirl. What better way to follow-up 1983's disappointing Superman 3 than with a film focusing on the Man of Steel's cousin Supergirl? "Adventure runs in the family." Hmm, well, I guess the idea itself wasn't that bad, but this movie itself sure was. Basically, Supergirl lived in a place called Argo City which was in another dimension but also seemed to be somewhere underwater in Lake Michigan. Not sure where the costume came from.

Anyway, she lost a piece of technology called the Omegahedron which was found and used by a witch on Earth. The witch and Supergirl end up fighting over a school groundskeeper (not named Willie). Yeah, like I said, not a great way to redeem the "Super" franchise- though to its credit, there was another entry in the Superman series after Supergirl. The movie made $14 million.

When all was said and done,I think its fair to say 1984 won't be long remembered, or at least not remembered fondly.