Wonder Woman

I rented the new Wonder Woman today. I should have skipped that part and just bought it, as I knew I would want to own it, but instead I rented it first.

The female clerk at blockbuster commented that she had watched it and that it was really good. We then had a brief conversation about the comic related animated features that have come out, and the Green Lantern one that is in the works. She seems like she is probably a comic reader, but I guess she could be a comic watcher. Either way I feel like I should have given her the url to this. I think if you are a fan of comics it should always make you happy to find others who are also fans, and if they are in a different demographic than you you should be twice as happy. Wait... I was discussing a video I think.

Wonder Woman is rated PG-13 and I think it sort of benefits from this. I watched it with my 9 and 15 year old daughters and they both loved it as much as I did. My youngest only asked a question about a comment referring to Themyscira as 'chastity belt island', but other than that they laughed a lot at Steve Trevor's attitude and the interactions between him and Wonder Woman.

The plot, aside from the basic origin story, is a pretty standard 'Ares likes war a lot' setup. The thing that makes everything work well in this movie, really is the relationship between Diana and Steve Trevor. There is a good bit to enjoy, but that is what really shines. It is pretty standard stuff, and in a way is the same sort of dynamic that works in other things, like the TV show Bones, where you have a woman who sees everything through a scientific filter, and a cast of characters around her (including but not limited to her male 'partner' who is not exactly her opposite, but close).

I think Diana is portrayed well in this. I think her strong traits of duty and honor and strength and determination, etc. really come through, and she is capable, independent and a powerhouse.

The story has plenty of mythology-ness about it, and lots of action. The humor and relationship aspects are smoothly distributed and nothing really gets in the way of anything else. I think another pretty great thing in this is the fight 'choreography' Wonder Woman definitely has her own fighting style in this and it is portrayed very well and consistently. There are also some scenes with animated corpses who again fight in a different way than everyone else. There is a lot of fighting in it, but that isn't the only thing in it.

I think this movie is probably over the heads of the littlest comic fans, but it was well within the grasp of a 9 year old. The important thing is to watch things with your kids and be ready to explain if they ask questions, and talk if you judge from their reaction to what they are watching, that they need something explained.

I highly recommend this. Hopefully they use this as a starting point and we will get a series of really great WW features.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Episode 8

Where is the fun in having a blog if you don't try to have recurring features?...right?

Opens with Batman and the Ted Kord as Blue Beetle 'two years ago' breaking into some bad guy lair
In the main story we get Jaime Reyes and his friend sitting at a campfire while Jaime tells the classic Green Lantern origin story. His friend thinks it's stupid and doesn't believe that the ring chose the lantern for his heroic traits, but that he just lucked into the ring. This gives Jaime a fit. He needs to know that heroes are chosen and not just made by dumb luck. He wants to believe that he has the scarab because he is worth it, because there is more to him than even he fully comprehends. He seeks out Batman, who happens to be fighting Dr. Polaris, and after Jaime keeps getting in his way, Batman pulls a LLoyd Benson and tells Jaime he is nothing like the previous Blue Beetle. Jaime seeks out Info in Hub City, and the Scarab takes him to Ted's old Lair. He then ends up on Science Island!! meeting Ted Kord in person... or is he...

Turns out, the guy that Jaime meets and is tricked to power up an army of robots by, is not the Good TED Kord, but the evil(and or misguided) JARVIS Kord... fresh off his stint as the Avenger's butler... ok, not really. Jarvis wants to achieve world peace through total domination via robot army. Yep, Jaime shows his heroism, Batman confirms that he was chosen, and that even Ted, who was awesome... Never got the scarab to work like Jaime did.

This is a good episode. The opener is great because instead of seeing Batman as competitive testosterone junkie as we have when he teams up with Green Arrow, We see Batman and Ted... Science geeks having conversations about gadgets as they kick butt. I really do like what the series is doing. It is so much less about fighting and action (which is there) but it is all about the team up, and the personalities and relationships, etc. Only it's done in a way that is more subtle than that. I mean, it's still obvious, but it isn't after-school special heavy handed. For only seeing Bruce in flashbacks in this series, and despite a near whackiness to it... We actually see a good bit of the real Bruce.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Episodes 5,6,7

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Episode 5 - Opens with Batman and Guy Gardner at Green Lantern central(Kilowog also appears). Guy is being a jerk and unleashes a big bad guy that kicks some Green Lantern butt before being taken back down to size. The main story centers on Batman and old-school costume, clean-shaven Green Arrow being zapped back to the dark days of camelot and facing off against Morgan Le Fey. It also features the Demon Etrigan in his original time. The story has a running joke/theme in it that Batman and Green Arrow keep a running tally of the bad guys they defeat as though it is a sort of macho contest between them.

Episode 6 - Opens with B'wana Beast and Batman going after Black Manta in a giant tri-pod robot machine. It's pretty funny, and in the course of the intro he fuses a spider and a horse, as well as a pelican and a shark. Batman is a bit freaked out by his partner's power. In the main story Batman teams up with the ever-aging Wildcat in a story that I liked a lot despite the cliche'd generational battle. It was done really well. A teenage version of the Outsiders (Katana, Metamorpho & Black Lightning) are the badguys in this, although the real badguy is Slug, the mastermind that has been using the kids to carry out his own agenda. The neat part and the funniest in my opinion, is how Wildcat and the outsiders actually agree on a bunch of things (like hating shopping malls). I think wildcat is portrayed as just a guy in a suit here, but it is a little ambiguous to some degree. I have always really liked the character, as well as the outsiders that showed up in this.

Episode 7 - Opens with Batman and Kamandi running from ratmen and trying to get an antidote for some horrible something that is plaguing Batman's time period. They have to get to the time portal (on the torch of the mostly submerged and askew Statue of Liberty. Batman tells Kamandi to look in the statues nostril before jumping through the portal, and claerly goes back to the past and hooks Kamandi up with a sweet Kirby-style blaster device. In the main story Batman teams up with Boston 'Deadman' Brand, as well as old style Green Arrow and non-addicted Speedy to take on Gentleman Ghost. My only issue is that Batman uses meditation to astral project, and in doing so he is able to fight with the ghost, etc. I just don't think it would work that way... Ok... now that that is out of the way... I enjoyed this. It was fun, and I always liked deadman, even though I never had a great deal of use for him. (My issue isn't that Batman used meditation and projected himself out of body... It's just that i don't think he could hit a ghost that way).

I really like this show. It is fun, and shows a bright blue suited Batman who seems like he has some amount of fun fighting crime and has friends that he jokes with while he does it. There is a lot of little voice over narration by him that gives us further insight. It's great. I am glad there is a show like this. I am glad there is an outlet for this sort of storytelling about this character. I had thought that maybe I should have lead with something about Batman dying, but he was never really dead in that episode.

I don't have a problem with grittier batman stories. I really think that Batman is a character that benefits from different perspectives. I think his nature and his history beg the creation of these different incarnations. While I like this one a lot... I really wish we still had a show along the lines of the Animated Series or Justice League or Justice League Unlimited. I actually think we could all really use the JLU series to never end... Stories could be told as long as they wanted to tell them, new characters introduced and showcased... I guess it isn't my decision. I Liked the newer Batman cartoon with it's sort of 'Ultimate batman universe' feel to the villains. There were a number of things that show did right, but it just wasn't the same either.

I like the short intro bits and the main stories. It feels like a comic with a backup story in it, and maximizes the situations and matchups and pairings we get to see. I think the voice acting is pretty decent as well for the most part.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Episode 4

Episode Four: Invasion Of The Secret Santas - I liked this episode more than the last one. I'm not sure how it would rank against the others, but it was better than the Aquaman episode. The intro this time features Batman and Blue Beetle again, and they face off against the Sportsmaster, who has apparently been around for a good long time. There is a lot of humor in this one, and it is mostly visual. It also has some of the darkest moments of the series so far. The main story is Batman and Red Tornado vs Fun Haus, who most internet chatter seems to say is the Toyman without any pesky ownership issues.

I never cared much for Red Tornado. I don't have any great thing against him, but he never did much for me. In this episode he is played completely as the robot trying to get the human experience. He doesn't really have any personality, and speaks in 'robot speak' like 'Observation: my character is a robot stereotype"... Ok, not that phrase specifically, but you see what I mean.

So... Fun Haus has an extremely convoluted plot to steal presents from what appears to be a small town where Red Tornado lives. First he sends aliens to attack, then he sends Santas in to attack, then he relies on every kid in town getting a specific action figure that will come to life on Christmas day 'Small Soldiers' style and then steal presents for him. I imagine that he spent way more money making all the stuff for this caper than he could ever recoup from it.

Running through this are two themes that are interwoven. The first is that Red Tornado wants to feel 'the Christmas spirit' that people feel, and the second is that Batman for some reason is avoiding it. During the course of things we see a yet again conveniently altered version of the origin story where this time young Bruce is a brat who doesn't get what he wants for Christmas, so his parents take him to a movie to make up for it, and get killed on the way home... Yep, right in the middle of the goofy show that doesn't feature Bruce Wayne is the very serious double murder, and this time it is Christmas related AND it is even more his fault.

The particularly good parts of the episode to me are:

• When Blue Beetle KO's the Sportsmaster's goons, all the bowlers trapped in giant see through bowling pins clap for him.
• Each time there is a new attack by Fun Haus's creations you get the close up of the same lady screaming in the style of old monster/invasion movies.
• Red Tornado giving Batman a 'World's greatest detective' mug.
• Red Tornado overloads himself and blows up, and then attributes it to the 'Christmas spirit' that he has been so desperately seeking.
• All the little action figures transforming into a giant robot.
• Batman goes through roughly 1000 batarangs in this episode, I swear.
• Blue Beetle inviting Batman over for Christmas dinner.
• Batman riding a reindeer to catch up with a runaway sleigh.

It all came together to form a pretty enjoyable episode, despite containing a combination of what I saw as weak elements. I am still enjoying this series.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Episode 3

Episode Three: Evil Under the Sea
This episode opens with Batman and Atom thwarting Felix Faust in his plot to open Pandora's box using a magic book. I really like that the episodes open at the tail end of an encounter. It's fun and it lets you get a double dose of heroes and villains each time.

It was a cute sequence, and it is nice to see that they are running with the current/modern versions of folks like Blue Beetle and Atom, but it left me with several questions. I really don't know if this is a case of the character being presented wrong, or just an example of my ignorance. I am betting on my ignorance as it rarely fails me.

Atom seemed to fly and be able to manipulate things much larger than him while he is shrunk to smaller than the eye can see. He opens some locks, looses some chains, 'levitates' a book, and later floats batman himself, etc. I certainly imagine that when you are subatomic you can of course move in any direction you wish, I have no issue with him moving around like that, I just don't think I have seen the character do some of the things shown in this segment before. I am not real familiar with the new Atom, but I couldn't find anything suggesting the power(s) we were shown. That being said, other than making me curious about that point, It didn't impact my enjoyment of that bit.

The main story of the episode has Batman teaming up with a bearded, orange and green suited Aquaman with two good hands. I have never followed Aquaman all that closely, but when I watched this, I didn't feel like I was watching aquaman, I felt like I was watching Marvel's Hercules. Aquaman was all happy and gung ho about adventure, and certainly more self obsessed than I have ever seen. I wonder again if I missed a chapter somewhere that he was portrayed like that, or if we are just seeing some minor 'character-lifts' to fit some characters into the tone of the show. I didn't care for the way aquaman was portrayed in this. He was a bit too much of a goof for me, and it seemed out of character.

I liked the episode a lot, however, and there is just one reason for that... Black Manta! I realized something about myself this morning, and that is, despite never having intentionally followed him, I sort of love Black Manta. As much as I hated Super-Friends when I was little(not that I didn't watch it, mind you) I think I always really liked at least the character design of Black Manta. He does not disappoint in this episode, and is badass and sneaky as ever. The other villain is Aquaman's half brother Orm who is mostly sniveling and back-stabbing while briefly putting an octopus on his head to be Ocean Master. Everything around Aquaman seems to be true to form, but the Aquaman just doesn't feel that way to me. It's still plenty worth watching.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Episode 2

The second episode of the new Batman team-up series has come and gone, and I must say that I enjoyed it at least as much as the first episode which I liked a lot. I this episode we get Batman teaming up with Plastic Man. They face off against the Gentleman Ghost, and later on against Gorilla Grodd and his fellow Gorillas mounted on pterodactyls. His goal, pretty much classic, which is to steal ships right out of the sea by lifting them up with ropes and plenty of flying dinosaur power. Oh, and his plan to turn all humans in a 500 mile radius into apes.

The moral dilemma in this one has to do with friendship and trust, and not betraying trust, etc. The Plastic Man origin story is altered to include Batman as a central character in it, as well as adding Kite Man as the leader of the gang that Eel was in when he was a criminal.

It's funny and fun, it's not overly preachy, and we get to see Batman kicking butt in Gorilla form while Plastic Man fires bars of gold out of his mouth (he swallowed them hoping to keep them) by whacking himself in the stomach. It's sort of refreshing and welcome to me.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Regardless of Batman's ups and downs in comics and movies, Batman cartoons have been pretty great since Batman: The Animated Series arrived on the scene and set the bar for writing, art and voice acting in superhero cartoons. Batman: TAS delivered a true to comics experience while still having it's own style. That exact model continued to be used for several top notch super hero cartoons that followed. Superman (the animated series), Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited evolved straight from the Batman cartoon. Justice League Unlimited was the ultimate ensemble. It had a cast that could include almost anyone, and plot possibilities that allowed them to give nods to every aspect of the DC universe. The stories were solid and the voice acting and animation top notch right up to the end. It still makes me sad that I don't get to see any more new episodes of that series.

Another big deal in superhero animation was the Teen Titans cartoon. It went with an anime influence and a youthful vibe about it that while not being exactly what you ever got from the comics, was a perfect look and feel for a team with the word TEEN right there in it's name. The Legion of Super Heroes cartoon was a sort of blend of Justice League and Teen Titans in it's look and feel. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but it was still a decent super hero cartoon.

The Batman cartoon series that ran from 2004 to 2008 was a different thing as well. It's animation style was different again, but not bad by any means. It parted ways with the comics and with previous animated versions in it's portrayal of existing Batman villains in different ways than we were used to. Despite that, it was still a very good Batman cartoon. Batman was what you expected him to be, and the supporting characters were pretty great. It took me a while to warm up to it, but I like it a lot.

The original Batman caricature, the 1960's Live action TV show, was my favorite thing in the world when I was very little. I got older and came to resent it for how it was all people who weren't into comics could imagine that comics were. It wasn't MY Batman. It wasn't a dark avenging detective of a Batman. It was more 'cartoonish' than any of the batman cartoons we would later get. It wasn't all bad, and I enjoy it on some level now, but I think the uninitiated should have to sit through some sort of lecture on Batman and comics before they are allowed to watch one bif bam pow episode(I am mostly kidding there.)

So now I get to Batman: The Brave and the Bold. This series promises us a new Batman team up every week, with nary a Bruce Wayne in sight. The premier was last night, with a repeat this morning at 10:30 eastern. The episode started with Batman and an old-school clean shaved Green Arrow tied up and awaiting their fate at the hands of the Clock-King. Clock-King's goons are Tick and Tock, and you know it because it is printed on their thug shirts. Our heroes are going to die an acidy death, and you know it because there is a big clear vat labeled 'ACID' right there. We are treated to some awesome dialog between the two heroes before they orchestrate their escape, and then we are treated to some Batman voice-over action, which may be a theme with the series. This episode has nothing to do with the Green Arrow. The team up in this one is with the new(er) Blue Beetle. The intro has some relevance because it is about how even though GA gets into some spots due to his own carelessness sometimes, there is no-one Batman would rather team with. The Blue Beetle story starts with Batman stating in voice over that he chose Jaime for the specific mission in order to test him out some as a partner.

The show's theme is like a mixture of the Neal Hefti Batman theme, and the theme to the cartoon series of The Tick. It definitely sets a tone, as does the character design. The characters aren't exactly what you get in the comics, but are also evocative of the 70's (early 80's?) era superheroes shows. The voice acting was good in my opinion, and the overall look and feel was slightly campy but reverent and at the same time fun.

I loved this episode. I love the promise of the show. It's a kids cartoon that can be appreciated by grown-ups and fan-people of all ages. It seems to give a conscious wink to us, but it should be possible to appreciate it even if you don't have 30 years of being a superhero-loving comics consumer under your belt.