Young Justice

Howdy. I wanted to write about a cartoon that has been constantly enjoyable and yes I am a forty something watching this. What of it? Not since Justice League has a cartoon been well thought out, written, voice cast and brilliant art. With primary characters hailing from Teen Titans, without the cutesy story-lines and pizza parties, a more serious approach is done still giving a blend of humor and drama. This is Young Justice.

I wonder why I get so many movies.  Oh right, I'm Batman.

With this young team of partners/sidekicks calling the shots on what to do and how to dispense justice, the Justice League feels their young partners are now ready to begin the next level and become closer to the League. Unfortunately, the Leaguers still hold secrets over them and this irks Speedy a.k.a. Red Arrow (Crispin Freeman of Naturo:Shippuden, For Honor, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Doomfist Origin Story, Justice League Action) and he splits on Green Arrow.

The rest of the team consisting of Robin/Dick Grayson(Jesse McCartney of Pizza, Jesse McCartney: Get Your Shine On, Kingdom Hearts II, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Horton Hears a Who!, Tinker Bell and The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft), Kid Flash/Wally West(Jason Spisak of Everything Must Go, Piranha 3D, Time Lapse,Young Justice and LEGO DC: Batman: Family Matters) and Caldur/Aqualad (Khary Payton of Dracula II: The Ascension, Batman: Arkham Underworld, Mafia III, Young Justice, The Lion Guard, DC Super Hero Girls: Legends of Atlantis and The Walking Dead) go and investigate a weird happening near their school. The project black ops funded cloning process called CADUMUS is less than legal, moral or ethical.

There's something squishy in my boot!

One of their projects is to create a Superman they can completely control for government black ops. Yeah a demigod with a kill switch. Comforting and clearly what tax dollars should be allocated for. Upon finding this Superboy (Nolan North of Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Deadpool, Hulk Vs, Spider-Man, Lego DC Super-Villains, The Lion Guard, Voltron: Legendary Defender and Marvel's Avengers), the team hold their own against villains and stand up for what is right with their mentors. Joining their motley crew is Meg'ann Marz or Miss Martian (Danica McKellar of The Wonder Years, Good Neighbor, The Year That Trembled, Justice League, Sex and the Teenage Mind, Static Shock, X-Men Legends, Inspector Mom and Young Justice) to round out the team.

As their adventures need a bit more stealth and motivation, Batman (Bruce Greenwood of Knots Landing, Passenger 57, Treacherous Beauties, Nowhere Man, Class of the Titans, Star Trek, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Star Trek Into the Darkness and Young Justice) trains the kids in martial arts, espionage, counter-terrorism and subterfuge. So this is a Titans team under Batman tutelage. Their levels just went up. Later new members join the ranks and get to learn how dangerous the really real world is and good and evil isn't so cut and dry. It's a high stakes game of patience, combat and execution of plans.

Not even warmed up, Robin.

Understand, there is more than a few Justice League based story-lines but the primary characters are this Young Justice team. Following them as they grow into their roles and still behave as teens and friends.

For the avid DC Fans, we get plenty of villain appearances, characters we thought the WB and DC forgot about, stakes, actions and consequences. Voice cast alone is worth this.

This is DC Comics at its best. Taking a hiatus due to ratings around Season 2, the gang has come back for Season 3 and is still going strong. Honestly I have not enjoyed DC like this since Justice League. Completely worthy of the hardened DC fans, casual viewers and all ages. You will get a lot from this 25 minute cartoon. Oh and kids, you may have to field questions like the following: "Which one is that one?" "Do all these kids have powers?" "How come they listen to that guy?" and so on.

So why are you down capes and tights?

Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes

Hey folks. Back again. So looking through the archives of pseudo successful Marvel films, I speak of the moderate high Marvel was enjoying from Fantastic Four in 2005 and its lackluster sequel in 2007. We will gloss over the 2015 film because, I never bother to watch it. For all I know, Doom is a habitual basement-dwelling nerdling that masturbates constantly and dreams of ruling the world. 

During the staple of Marvel Movie Madness prior to the last ten years, that Moonscoop Productions (Code Lyoko, Bunny Maloney, SamSam and Tara Duncan) with Marvel's blessing, to project the titanic tetrad into action. This is Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes.

HULK SMASH!!

What separates them from The Avengers, Defenders, X-Men and hell we even throw in the Champions is they were explorers and adventurers prior to their power set. An experimental rocket test flight bombarded our curious quartet with cosmic rays, forever altering their DNA with untold powers. Funny you'd think NASA would be sending up military for truckloads of powered beings. Buckets of Heroes!!! Mind you, there would always be a handful of men and women using their powers for their own end, instead of saving the day. Hmm, cancel cargo caravan of cosmic cronies.

Professor Reed Richards, a brilliant cross-discipline scientist, Test pilot and war hero Ben Grim, Hothead, hot rodder Johnny Storm and constant den mother (still bad ass) Susan Storm compiled a group of heroes that operated more like a family than just teammates.

Dare we say, you are DOOOMED??!!

Keep in mind the inception of Reed Richards was in the sixties and I think they just followed the Doc Savage pulp fiction formula. Y'know men capable of multiple PHDs. Either that or the intelligence quota was just higher and men yearned more for science. Yes ladies, Sue gets more of a role than girl hostage like she did in the sixties. Yeah girls can fight too. Who knew? Never saw that in G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Silverhawks and...oh wait, YES I DID! Johnny's a smart ass and constantly pranking the Thing and yeah we love him for it, dammit.

Unlike its 1994 previous work, this rendition of Fantastic Four is fun, clever and action-packed. Naturally we have the rivalry of Doctor Doom and Richards. The anime style artwork really enhances the story, we have a real sense of the team's dynamics and yes we get a good old smack down between Yancy Street's blue-eyed Thing vs gamma and rage fueled Hulk. Private and public property damage is assured when these two throw cowboy.

Fight sequence or Tai Chi?

There's a drinking or calculator game. Hell, make it both. For all damages, what improvised throwing weapon crunched out of a car, manhole cover or mailbox and how many buildings are trashed.

When not being threatened by cosmic war mongers, tin plated dictators with delusions of godhood and villainous plots, the foursome is engaging in one of Mr. Fantastic's science experiments, procedures or newest technical jiggery pokery. Mishaps into the Negative Zone, exploration into space (Because Richards perfected a vehicle capable of leaving our solar system!!) or reverse engineering Skrull and Kree technology. Seriously, the crosswords do nothing to entertain this guy's mind.

Best part of this series? The humor. It feels natural, fluid and works well with the action. This is cartoons done right. Avengers Assemble and Young Justice must have been taking notes because this was the first cartoon next to Justice League I felt got the characters and their psyche downpat.

Understand, the 1994 power packed Saturday morning series to be alongside, The X-Men, Iron Man, Spider-Man and The Hulk were not really good stories, the dialogue was clunky and it was kind of painful to sit through. Out of that whole alumni, I liked the X-Men series and even still wasn't blown away by the stories garbling more than 40 years of writing.

This 26 episodes is found in three volumes that was released in 2010 and I am not aware of any reprints. They're out there though, folks. Get them while you can.  Even though Moonscoop is gone now.

What age bracket would I recommend this for? Uh, all ages. Whether you are a newbie to the franchise or an old school follower of the comics (John Byrne and Chris Clarmont era for me), you can easily find something to love about it. Naturally it has been off the air since 2010.

Ho boy...

Random Reelz: Robotech:New Generation

And we're back! Welcome back to the blog, readers. Thanks for the birthday wishes on Sunday. Most appreciated.

Today is the start of a random week as I am waiting on a poll count on whether or not to do a Subspecies II or a Tremors review in front of the camera. Should be fascinating. So this time around we are back into anime as we head to the third Robotech War. With years of conflict, the REF (Robotech Expeditionary Force) have just fended off the Robotech Masters, saved their planet and kicked their asses out of the solar system. Alas a new enemy has risen to dominate the world. This is Robotech: New Generation.

Reminds me a bit of Babylon 5.

With the Flower of Life spores released ten years ago by the Robotech Masters, their conflict with Southern Cross Armies brought out a hunger for protoculture, something this new species the Invid covet, so with the REF fleet scattered still fending off the Robotech Masters and Admiral Rick Hunter's expedition being attacked by the Invid, a collective of protoplasmic beings that thrive on protoculture. Most of the Robotech forces fled the Earth to reestablish a fighting force to retake the Earth. The 10th Mars Division can be sent to deal with this new menace. With reversed engineered Zentraedi cruisers and battleships at the ready and squads of Veritech fighter jets, this inexperienced but readily trained crew is ready to take back their ancestral home. Ten years later under Invid reign, large pits have been made for hives and what they call genesis pits to evolve their species into the Ultimate Life Form!!! * Cue Wesker* The Earth now appearing as a wasteland, the colonies of humanity are enslaved to process and procure protoculture.

Space Crabs! Get the medicated shampoo STAT!!!

Humans live at the whim of the Invid and it is time for the 21^st Mars Division to come in, kick some ass and stomp some big bugs. With ten years of weapons, engines, armor and mecha improvement, the REF is hopeful to stand a bigger fight against the Invid. Lt. Scott Bernard, Veritech Alpha Squadron flies cover to stop the Invid shock troops. His men take heavy casualties while defending the cruisers, medical frigates and battleships.

Well defending the Earth, most of the populous (that conveniently all speak English) is either scared, tired or flat out doesn't even care about their Invid masters. In spite of not being allowed new tech, growth or a development to their own legacy. Yup humans have just rolled over to their alien masters. Well not all of them as there are guerilla tactics being used for covert attacks but the Invid patrols usually squash them at a moment's notice.

Boom, baby.

As luck would have it, Scott slowly adds a band of freedom fighters willing to follow his command. Some are undisciplined, a few former REF members and just people without a home thanks to the Invid but they are ready to fight no matter the odds.

Can the freedom fighters hold out until Admiral Hunter's Expeditionary Forces arrive? Is there a chance their mission to Reflex Point will succeed? How do you go pee in battleloid armor?

Just a sidenote here. Robotech has never been shy about characters, secondary characters and even main characters getting killed. It was almost if Harmony Gold Productions wanted kids to realize that the good guys don't always walk away unscathed. With G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Silverhawks and Transformers giving most of their characters virtually immortality, this series always pointed out that these men and women were mortal. That they must be clever and capable or dead.

This series was released on the airwaves stateside in 1985 and was a welcome addition to viewing at my young age. With the Zentraedi, Robotech Masters (they genetically engineered the Zentraedi as a peace keeping force) and the Invid, we saw humans rallying together, squabble with each other, cry, get hurt and even killed.

Witnessing a gambit of emotions through your favorite characters really made the show worth viewing. With this show, Voltron and Transformers I started getting into Anime at a very early age and have never regretted it. The influences these cartoons had on America is obvious in the mainstream for the last 30 years. While I highly recommend this series I would point out watch the previous two first starting with the Macross Saga and then the Robotech Masters. With the films, well you kind of have to be a fan outright with Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and Super Space Fortress Macross as these are the precursors to the series. Robotech: The Movie and Robotech II: The Sentinels brings you Admiral Hunter, crew and fleet stories.

Tight formation, crab brothers!!

Just Some TV: Clerks Uncensored

Hey gang. Back again for Just Some TV. This concept is to point out shows, concepts and ideas that did not last due to poor ratings, bad time slots and no faith in the source material. So today we are heading over to the View Askew Productions. Now for those of you that don't know this production company, LEAVE MY BLOG AND DIE!!! DIE LIKE A ROTTEN PIG CARCASS ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD OF LIFE!!!! Ahem, I could just tell you though. Yeah, that might be better. View Askew Productions is the brain trust of Kevin Smith and Scott Moser. Yes the f**king Clerks guy. Anywho, today I wanted to gab about the ABC cartoon creation that had to compete with CBS ever engrossing series Survivor and the NBA Finals via NBC. This is Clerks; The Animated Series.

Lemme guess, Randal said something offensive.

Similar artwork and paneling like the Critic, we join Randal (Jeff Anderson of Clerks, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, Clerks II, Zach and Miri Make a Porno, Randal's Monday, Stealing Time and Vulgar) a quippy, pop culture enthused video store clerk, his buddy and butt of many of his jokes, Dante (Brian O' Halloranof Clerks, Mallrats, How Do You Know, Mr. Hush, Hooking Up, Pokemon, The Happening and Clerks II) a directionless but intelligent guy that has no idea what he wants out of life but it's definitely not work the convenience store Quik Stop and our favorite drug peddling mischief makers Jay (Jason Mewes of Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, Vigilante Diaries, Devil's Tower, The Night Crew, The Last House, Clerks II and Yoga Hosers) and his hetro lifemate Silent Bob (Writer/director Kevin Smith of Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Zach and Miri Make a Porno, Red State, Tusk, Yoga Hosers and Holidays)

Kneel before Zod!!

No we're are not in black & white but glorious animated colors as our hapless heroes journey through this crazy thing called life on adventures, excitement and really cool things. Oh wait, no they don't. So being released on ABC, the vulgarities are toned waaaaay down as we can't go warping the minds of younguns with the "dirty words". So instead point out that kids play doctor, hang out with NBA all-stars like Charles Barkley and find entertainment on rainy days.

Jay and Silent Bob still smoke but there is no weed peddling. More on the lines of Mexican fireworks, slacking off and in general just looking for some fun. Dante and Randal have to contend with the show's main antagonist, the crafty and methodical Lex Luthor/Mr. Burns hybrid Leonardo Leonardo (Alec Baldwin of Beetlejuice, Heaven's Prisoners, Miami Blues, The Shadow, 30 Rock, The Departed, SNL, Boss Baby and Rules Don't Apply) and his manservant Plug (Producer Dan Etheridge of Veronica Mars, Izombie, The Nines, The Carrie Diaries and The Good Doctor) who may or may not be a robot/cyborg or cybernetic organism.

Kind of says it all, doesn't it?

With veteran voice actors like Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jeff Bennett, Tara Strong and April Winchell added to the shenanigans, we also have comedians, Dana Gould, Michael McKean, Al Franken and Gilbert Gottfried rounding out some general PG-13 silly. Still love the addition of NBA all-stars Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and Grant Hill. So why only six episodes?

Our stories link up to past events from Clerks but again a bit neutered due to the ratings board. ABC see didn't see the potential golden goose so they killed it, cooked and ate it. I hear the executives stuffed their pillows with its feathers. A better venue for this would have been Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, HBO or even the Comedy Network. Again not sure if they could ever regain a foot hold for mainstream but I was thinking Netflix, HULU are always a good source right there. In spite of having to keep it cleaner and more wholesome, the jokes worked, the timing was digital and pop culture minutiae were secured. 

Hell the gag after the episode is similar to the Superfriends and G.I. Joe Learn as You Go and Grow was celebrity voices added to it. Who knows? Maybe they will pursue this further down the road. 

Well will be accepting donations of Cthulu, our lord and master.