Reign of the Supermen

And I am back. Still editing the podcast last week. Lot of audio clean up so clearly time for a blog. I was 16 and ultimately the big blue boy scout faced off with what many believed an unstoppable foe. In the end, both this Doomsday killing machine and Superman destroyed one another, thus killing each other. Understand, several annuals of Superman throughout the years; they always hinted that Superman could die and until 1992, those were always the building blocks to the Elseworlds (DC Comics version of Marvel's What If...) So 26 years later, this year it was placed on the small and big screen for viewers to watch what overall was a decent story line and beginning of new and old characters in his universe. This is The Reign of Supermen.

Using his X-ray peepers at a 24 Hour Fitness. Shame!

Glossing over the three part crossovers of the Superman titles and Justice League, the world mourned the loss of one of their greatest heroes, many villains looked to Metropolis as ripe for the pickings and the League carrying the weight of the rest of the planet without him. Four separate beings bearing the S shield have been seen around the world and Metropolis. A visored energy projector looking like Superman, a young teen, an armored Man of Steel and a cybernetic Superman.

Shaq??!!

The Superboy is a clone of the original and unlike his comic book counterpart, he is solely created by Lexcorp rather than CADAMUS. The visored Superman comes off cold, methodical and with no moral code against killing like the big blue. Our armored Man of Steel developed his own power suit that let's face it, can take a beating as well as give one. Lastly the cyborg Superman who seems to have his essence and battle scars.

CYBER VD happens, kids! Wear protection!

With the Justice League and Titans spread thin, the world is unaware just how much was on Superman's shoulders to defend and protect his adopted world.

Let's talk voice cast. Because damn there is a lot of familiar names here. Supes voiced by none other than Jerry O' Connell (Stand by Men, Sliders, Crossing Jordan, Las Vegas,Justice League Dark, Justice League vs. Teen Titans and The Death of Superman) Lois Lane via Rebecca Romijn (X-Men, Femme Fatale, The Punisher, Eastwick, King & Maxwell and The Librarians) Wonder Woman by the astonishing Rosario Dawson (He Got Game, Men in Black II, Rent, Clerks II, Sin City, Deathproof, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Cage and The Defenders) Cyborg by Chocolate Goodness himself, Shemar Moore (Birds of Prey, Criminal Minds, The Young and the Restless, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and S.W.A.T.) Green Lantern tackled not by Ryan Reynolds but by Nathan Fillon (Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Firefly, Slither, Castle, Serenity and The Rookie)and the list goes on.

With the new 52 approach staying with DC Comics revamping, the storyline has altered and key components differ from its source material. I mean a Supey Smackdown fight in under 15 minutes for a 90 minute movie? Seems a bit sudden. Many are establishing this is DC's attempt to combat the crowds going to the Spider Verse and well, I can't say I completely agree with that. It could also be a bit biased on my part as I enjoyed this particular storyline.

Not a massive fan of the artwork i.e. Cartoon itself. Lacked texture and felt a bit rushed. Story overall was pretty solid, voice cast was deeply impressive so all in all, not a bad flick. A decent follow up to the Death of Superman giving hope back to the DC world that one of their greatest heroes returns. Still, he's not Batman. Yeah I said it.

Oh yeah, one last tidbit. Candyman's own Tony Todd as Darkseid. Huh?? HUH??!! 

Disco shades make folk look cranky.

 

Random Goofy: Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox

Welcome back to Random Goofy. Man I so needed a better title for the week. Oh well. Today we explore an animated film. One that brings it all. Paradox, alternative timelines, a world where heroes have gone as bad as the villains they fight. Two metahuman armies poised at destroying one another and damn all of humanity in the way. One man must rally support to stop this madness before it's too late. This is Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox.

Aunt May will be pissed if I miss breakfast...wait...what?

Based on the five part mini-series written by Geoff Johns (Blade: The Series, Justice League Unlimited, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, Justice League: War, Superman: Unbound, Arrow and The Flash) and drawn by Adam Kubert (Action Comics, Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine and Ultimate Fantastic Four) we see Barry Allen a.k.a. The Flash dealing with the loss of his mother on her birthday when a JLA alert tells him of a hit on his own museum by a slathering of his rogues. Top, Mirror Master, Captain Cold and Captain Boomerang trashing the place. Apparently that is their gig and a slice of revenge on the guy that sent them up river. The fiendish foursome (Lord I have got to cut down on the comics) attack Flash with next to no success when Thawne a.k.a. Reverse Flash or Professor Zoom announces bombs planted to take out 10 square blocks and all the lives along with it. Flash however is nowhere near the idiot Zoom thinks him to be and he already dialed in his own team of the leaguers.

Battle ready amazons??

Bombs defused and Thawne thwarted, Zoom gets in a little snotty remark of Barry not being fast enough to save all those that matter to him. Barry goes for a run to clear his head only to wake up in his office of criminology and discovers things are different. For example, no superhuman speed and his mother is alive, The Amazons of Themyscira are at war with the Atlantians. Yeah Aquaman, Wonder Woman and their collective armies have destroyed chunks of Europe warring against each other. With no speed, no Superman, JLA communications or contact with any of the other metas or heroes is out, he knows that Batman is in Gotham so a logical conclusion to stop by there and sort this madness out. Only to find a completely different Batman in the cave who deals out a much more stern form of justice. Between the two of them they attempt to figure what happened and it all comes up Zoom. Zoom, notorious for time travel has to have altered the timeline creating this twisted and bizarre deviation of the world.

Gotta love the build and red lenses.

With a handful of metas, Flash and Batman have to stop this crazy train before there is no more world to speak of, stop Zoom and get things back to normal. Will the insanity be stopped? How come the Green Lantern Corps isn't looking at Sector 2814? Do I know way too much about DC Comics?

Let's talk voice cast for a minute. Kevin Conroy back for Bruce Wayne/Batman, Nathan Fillion for Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Vanessa Marshall reprising her role as Diana/Wonder Woman, Dana Delany for Lois Lane, Ron Perlman for Deathstroke, Kevin McKidd as Flashpoint Batman but the most important roles of the two gents right at the center of it all. Justin Chambers as the Flash and a pleasant surprise as C. Thomas Howell as Zoom.

A view of your childhood heroes behaving in a fashion you never thought possible, a world turn upside down and Armageddon at their doorstep, this is intense, good writing and a wonderful voice cast. Hell, I was blown away to here Michael B. Jordan as Cyborg. The kid's got chops, baby. So Flash fans, JLA fans, Super-Fans, Wonder-Fans and Bat-Fans (See that? I did a thing there.) this is an impressive flick at a hour and fifteen minutes that is true to its source material in the likes I haven't seen in a while.

Oh hey, Aquaman.  Um..love the orange shirt?

Andrea Romano Week

Good day and hello to my readers and sorry if I didn't make it clear on Facebook as I was stumped for a week.  Luckily I managed to drag myself out of that, kick my muse in the tuckus and get some neurons and electrons flowing to the coconut to bring you Andrea Romano Week.   Who the heck is that some of you are asking?   Well, this woman is one of the most influential voice casting directors in the biz.   Still no idea?  I feel her work speaks for itself but I am willing to give you some highlights.  From putting voices to faces as far back as the Smurfs and getting recognition in the business for her success with a WB logistics nightmare Tiny Toons, our heroine went on to being forced to endure such bile as The Flintstone Kids, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and The Land Before Time direct-to-video sequels when she got the call that would change her stance in the industry forever.

Yes, I do know Batman's secret identity...

Getting the hero and villains for Batman: The Animated Series.   Yes, scooping up Kevin Conroy for Batman, Mark Hamil for the Joker, Adrienne Barbeau for Catwoman, John Glover for The Riddler and Richard Moll for Two-Face, her ship had come in.  Mind you a gathering of these actors were stuck in a dinky studio during a infamous riot in L.A. and she had to leap down executives throats to point out how dangerous it is for them to be there and to post-pone the filming... hey you need to speak to Conroy or Hamil how that ended.  She is the go-to gal for the animation.  The lady that gets the talent to the pencil and ink and has more than 30 years experience in the biz, it is safe to know she will get the ace folk for the gig.  With that in mind we will touch base on her successful casting with a few episodes for each blockbuster collection.

Andrea Romano, you have been chosen as Green Lantern of Sector 2814!

Random Picks Week: Superman: The Animated Series

Day 3 of Random Picks Week and clearly we haven't had any cartoons in a bit.  Don't worry, nothing zany and loony if you will.   Since 1992's popularity of Batman: The Animated Series, we seen copious villains, explosions, mysteries and wild adventures.   Rather than a Dark Knight how about a Beacon of Hope standing for truth and justice?  This is Superman: The Animated Series.

So... you own this starship or rent?

Darkseid: You dare to spoil me?
Superman: That's for Dan Turpin!
Darksied: Who?
 Superman: The good man you murdered!
Darkseid: If I had known the death of one human would hurt you so, Kal-El, I would have killed more!


As with the Batman series, Superman (Tim Daly of Almost Grown, Year of the Comet, Wings, The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest, Invasion America and Eyes) has a bizarre collection of intellectuals, brutes and monsters for villains.  Constantly matching wits with genius philanthropist Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown of Thunder Alley, Highlander, Shoot to Kill, Earth 2, Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game, Justice League and Carnivale) who happens to get what or whom he wants by any means necessary.   In his secret identity as Clark Kent, Superman finds himself fascinated by Lois Lane (Kim Delany of Threesome, Almost You, Sweet Surrender, China Beach, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Justice League, Desperate Housewives and Body of Proof) a sassy, pushy and captivating lady reporter with the ability to be accident prone or drawn down the greatest amount of danger one person could experience in 8 lifetimes.  

I'm looking for Sarah Connor.

With a substantial supporting cast, voice casting director Andrea Romano (Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Superman/Doomsday, Justice League, Teen Titans, Ben10: Alien Force, Green Lantern: First Flight and Son of Batman)  does her level best to match the ideal voice with the character.  Such as: Brad Garrett for Lobo and Bibbo Lebowski, Malcolm McDowell as Metallo, Lisa Edelstein as Mercy Graves and Michael Ironside as Darkseid.


Just a few comments and critiques now.  Rather than the gritty and dark look of Gotham, Metropolis is always sunny and bristling with new technology.  Some of it for the better and a lot of it to beat on Superman and claim of power.  With the constant city-wide destruction that keeps occurring it is a wonder anyone lives in Metropolis at all.  The transition of more than a few Gotham villains hoping to get a break from Batman they head to a city with a being that is almost a Demi-God??   Does that make any sense at all?     To look at it in Marvel Comics terms, Hey I am tired of Spider-Man beating on me all the time, I will see if I can find the Hulk and have it a bit easier.

Regardless the reasons of said villains, Batman makes more than the occasional cameo and the two form a friendship despite their differences in methods and techniques.  And Batman's costumes is still cooler by far.  We also have the introduction of Green Lantern, The Flash and Aquaman for a younger audience that did not see the Super Friends or Super Powers.   Trust me kids, you are better off missing those episodes.

The alien with the heart of gold and Midwestern upbringing tries to solve issues without always resorting to punching and destruction but let's face it, with planes falling out of the sky, missiles zig-zagging around town and more than a few meta-humans trashing the joint, Supes is a busy guy.

Here's Lobo with the wind-up...

Superhero Film Week: Superman

Howdy readers and welcome to a glimpse into my childhood movie days.  While it is not in Technicolor you will see these films are of yesteryear.  I feel we should kick out the jams with my first superhero film I encountered on the big screen.  Yes he stands for truth, justice and the American way.  So by that he agrees with big oil and Christian fundamentalists?    Maybe not but I am keeping an eye on this fly boy.  So grab your tights, enjoy that flight harness and hope the swimmers’ cup block some of the view from your undies.   This is Superman the Movie.

 

I told you refractive gray suits would be all the rage this season.

  SPOILERSSBURGG??!!!

This vision of Superman was conceived by Illya Salkind (executive producer of Bluebeard, The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge, The Twist, Superman II, Superman III, Supergirl and The Adventures of Superboy) with screen writers Mario Puzo (The Godfather, Earthquake, Superman II, A Time to Die, The Cotton Club and The Last Don), David Newman (Bonnie and Clyde, Bad Company, Superman II and Jinxed!), Leslie Newman (Superman, Superman II, Superman III, Santa Claus and Takedown) and Robert Benton (Bonnie and Clyde, What’s Up, Doc?, Kramer vs. Kramer, Still of the Night and Places in the Heart).   This was to be the end all Hollywood production for a superhero film.  In 1973 the first write up was considered too campy so it got pushed back by director Richard Donner , a TV and TV movie director primarily but had finished the horror film The Omen when he was given the helm for Superman after Guy Hamilton bowed out.

Batman's guide on how to pick up chicks is paying off.

He found the script to be hokey and demanded a script doctor to nurse this film back to health.   The film depicts Kal-El (Superman) as an infant in Krypton being sent away from his doomed home world and jettisoned to Earth landing in a farmer’s field of Kansas.  Being his biological makeup differs from ours he developed amazing powers and his adopted parents strive to teach him to use them only for good.  

With a budget of $55 million on the table tensions were pretty high between Donner and his producers.   Initially it was decided to film both the first and its sequel alongside one another but Donner finished ¾ of the principal photography of the second film then devoted all his time into the first.   Box office earnings fell under $300 million worldwide and Warner Brothers knew they had a cash cow to rake it in for years to come…if they knew how to manage and recapture the same genie in the bottle.

At least I don't have an annoying nephew...yet.

Yeah a few comments to be had now.  With a series of accomplished actors to the caliber of Glenn Ford, Jackie Cooper, Gene Hackman, Phyllis Thaxter and Ned Beatty, numerous actors were considered for the part of Superman/Clark Kent: Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Ryan O’Neal and even Robert Wagner. Ultimately producer Ilya Salkind cast a unknown actor at the time who had only done a soap opera TV credit and one movie called Gray Lady Down.  This movie truly launched not only Superman but Christopher Reeves (Somewhere in Time, Deathtrap, Monsignor, The Aviator,Street Smart and The Rose and the Jackal)onto a TV and film career.

This ain't yo daddy's Super Friends...

Hello all, I am back again with a new review and this time we are tackling cartoons. Yeah I know those are for kids.  Don’t care.   Today I am touching base on DC Comics biggest triumph on the little screen. So grab your tights, do some stretches to limber up and get ready to save the day.   This is Justice League.

Spoilers make Batman paranoid…

Growing up in the era of the Superfriends and Super Powers, DC superheroes came off as hokey, overbearing and frankly kind of a joke.  In 1992 with the first appearance of Batman the Animated Series, we saw a broken man remake himself to better himself and his city against forces of the absurd and insane.   In 1996 we see the shining city of Metropolis under siege by similar villains of Gotham but a champion from another world, Superman approached this bizarre men and women with super powers and tempered by compassion of honesty and courage.   Throughout both these series, a myriad of more obscure DC characters appeared but you never really got the full scope of whom they are and why they stood for justice.    2001 changed all of that in introducing characters that have been on the comic book pages for more than 60 years.   DC Comics writer Gardner Fox (Justice Society of America, Mystery in Space, Amazing Stories, Planet Stories and Justice League of America) gathered a cadre of different men and women all hailing from unique backgrounds with a common goal.  To dispense justice towards villainy and protect the innocent no matter the cost.

Animators Bruce W. Timm (Blackstar, G.I. Joe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Batman the Animated Series, Batman Beyond and Superman the Animated Series) and Paul Dini (Creator of Harley Quinn, villainess sidekick to the Joker) set out on a venture to create a cohesive Justice League for kids and adults to enjoy.  Dipping into more than 60 years worth of comic history as well as stories of their own; the duo managed to bring about some of DC comics greatest heroes and villains all under a 25 minute cartoon and a cornucopia of voice actors under the wing of veteran voice casting director Andrea Romano (Batman the Animated Series, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, The New Batman Adventures, Pinky and the Brain and Static Shock) Reigning in actors from previous series, Romano had her pick of the litter if you will.   Batman (Kevin Conroy of Batman the Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Batman: Arkham City and Justice League: Doom) Joker (Mark Hamill of Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi,  Batman the Animated Series, Justice League, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! and The Super Hero Squad Show) as well as newcomers to the voice acting gig like Phil LaMarr (MADtv, Clerks Animated Series, Invader ZIM, Static Shock, Samurai Jack, The Proud Family and Wolverine and the X-Men) Susan Eisenberg (Justice League, Golden Axe: Beast Rider, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, The Super Hero Squad Show and Mass Effect 3).  

The main issues Dini and Timm had was to make these superheroes more human in the eyes of their viewers by giving them the very strengths and flaws we all have, deliver a thought provoking story and plenty of action all under one name.     No easy task when the fans are this demanding for their hero or heroine not getting enough lines or always deemed in reserve.   While you cannot please everyone, I think Justice League fans of whatever incarnation they grew up reading will be proud of this product and want to share it with other like minded folk.