Saturday, April 9, 2011

No More Updates

This blog will no longer be updated. All new posts will now be found at http://www.super-critique.com/.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Thursday, April 7, 2011

New Site

Just a reminder that my new and improved blog can be found at http://www.super-critique.com/.

Tomorrow: Young Justice, Episode 4 review. After that, all new posts will be at http://www.super-critique.com/.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Children of Supervillains

Something that always bugs me about comics is the way children of supervillains are treated. It seems to be an unwritten rule that having an evil parent means a character will be evil. Now, if you're the child of a superhero, you may end up good or evil, but it seems that children with supervillain parents are destined for villainy. Exceptions are rare, and even initially good characters will often become evil.

Brainwave, Jr. is one of my favorite characters specifically because he has a supervillain for a father but choose to become a superhero instead. He was often conflicted but unquestionably heroic during his time with Infinity, Inc. Then Infinity, Inc. was cancelled and future writers decided to make him go insane and evil. I mean he must be evil if his father was evil!

Thankfully, this was later retconned by Geoff Johns, who revealed that Brainwave, Jr. had been a victim of mind control. But it still bothers me that writers completely ignored everything except the fact his father was a villain.

This is has extremely disturbing implications. It implies that if your parents are evil, you will be too. That genetics dooms a person to be evil. That free will is irrelevant if you come from a bad family. Plenty of wonderful people come from awful backgrounds. Plenty of horrible people come from good backgrounds.

DNA =/= destiny. I only wish more writers realized that.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Bring Back Anthologies

American comics used to have many anthology series. Many of the most well known superheroes - including Superman and Batman - started off in anthology books. Today it's rare to find a book with two features, and even then it's usually a feature with a back-up.

The comics industry should bring back anthologies. Look at Shonen Jump: it is an anthology of popular manga and has a circulation of 215,000 monthly. The highest selling American comic for last February were estimated at less than 72,000.

Anthologies allow readers to get many stories at once. They make introducing new features easy and guarantee the features will have a audience.

Libraries, bookstores and magazine racks will often have a copy of a monthly anthology like Shonen Jump, but good like finding American comics on the rack.

Now, I'm not saying that sales will skyrocket if American comics bring back anthologies. But given the current market, it can't hurt.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Fantastic Four (1978 Series)

In a previous post, I mentioned that there are several Marvel Comics animated series that have been released in the UK but not in the US. One of these series was the 1978 Fantastic Four series, which is the second Fantastic Four that was created. (The first has not been released anywhere.)
The 1978 series is notable for replacing the Human Torch with a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E. There were rumors that the Human Torch was excluded because the writers were worried about children imitating him by setting themselves on fire. These rumors are false (his rights were tied up thanks to a movie that never actually got made).

The series is not available in the United States. However, the complete series (all 13 episodes) is available in Region 2. So, if you like in the UK or have a region-free DVD player, you can watch it. Otherwise you're out of luck.

Here's a courtesy link to the Amazon UK page.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Wonder Woman Pilot

A pilot for a live action Wonder Woman series is set to debut this fall on NBC. For the pilot, Wonder Woman has traded in her star-spangled swimsuit for pants and a top that looks about two seconds away from a wardrobe malfunction. (Pictures here and here.)

According to Wikipedia, the series will be "a reinvention of the iconic D.C. comic in which Wonder Woman -- aka Diana Prince -- is a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. but also a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life."

I'm hoping this doesn't mean that they're getting rid of the mythological roots of the character. I have always loved the concept of Wonder Woman, even though I don't always like the execution. Like Marvel Comics' Hercules, she is a hero that connects the world of comics to the world of mythology. There have been many great stories the involve the Greek pantheon and their interaction with Wonder Woman. A couple of my favorites are Wonder Woman's modern origin story and Greg Rucka's run on Wonder Woman (particular the "Eyes of the Gorgon" storyline).

I am cautiously optimistic about the pilot. If we're lucky, we'll get a fun, action-packed romp with DC's most iconic heroine. If not . . . well, then we'll probably get a repeat of the disappointing animated movie.

Friday, April 1, 2011

New Site- No this isn't a joke

In about 2 weeks, I am going to quit posting on this site. I'm not going to quit blogging; I'll just be at a new site: http://www.super-critique.com/.

I won't be moving all my posts, but I will be moving my most recent ones (such as my Young Justice episode reviews). I'll continue posting on Blogger for at least 2 weeks while I set up the new site and finish importing posts.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Worst Superhero/Comic Movies (According to the Razzies)

There are a lot of lists of worst movies based on comics and superheroes. Here is a list I put together based on superhero and comic movies based on Razzie Award Nominations and Wins. I've included Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, even though it is debatable whether it qualifies as a superhero movie.

Entries with astericks indicate that the awards were for actors who appeared in more than one movie (for example, Jessica Alba was nominated for Worst Actor for appearing in Fantastic Four and Into the Blue.)

8 Nominations
Son of the Mask (1 Win)

7 Nominations
Catwoman (4 wins)
Batman and Robin

6 Nominations
Barb Wire (1 Win)

5 Nominations
Howard the Duck (2 Wins)

4 Nominations
Sheena: Queen of the Jungle
Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2

3 Nominations
Red Sonja (1 Win)

2 Nominations
Jonah Hex
Supergirl
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer *

1 Nomination
The Return of Swamp Thing (1 Win)
Batman Returns
Fantastic Four **
Batman Forever
Steel
Batman Begins
Superman Returns
Superman III
Masters of the Universe
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
The Mask ***

* Jessica Alba was nominated for Worst Actress for her roles in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Awake, and Good Luck Chuck. Jessica Alba was nominated for Worst Screen Couple with Ioan Grufudd in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, with Hayden Christensen in Awake, and with Dane Cook in Good Luck Chuck.

** Jessica Alba was nominated for Worst Actress for her roles in Fantastic Four and Into the Blue.

*** Jim Carrey was nominated for Worst New Star for his roles in The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Dumb and Dumber.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Young Justice: Episode 1 & 2 (Independence Day & Fireworks)

I've been watching Young Justice. I'm really enjoying myself, so I decided to start reviewing the episodes.  (I'll be reviewing episodes as I watch them, and avoiding spoilers as much as I can.) I'm going to review the first 2 episodes in this review, since it's a two-parter. Warning: this will be long.

Ten word summary: Great episodes, fun characters and excellent animation. A solid beginning.

Massive spoilers behind the cut.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Marvel + UK = OTP?

In my last post, I mentioned that The Marvel Super Heroes is available on DVD only in the UK (Region 2). Well, it turns out that's true of a lot of Marvel Comics cartoons. Don't believe me? Here's a list.

1) The Marvel Super Heroes
2) Fantastic Four (1978 series)
3) Spider-Woman
4) Spider-Man (1981 series)
5) Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
6) The Incredible Hulk (1982 series)
7) The Incredible Hulk (1996 series)
8) Silver Surfer
9) Spider-Man Unlimited
10) The Avengers: United They Stand

Honorable mention goes to the 90s Spider-Man cartoon, which has been had all 4 seasons released in the UK but only a few DVDs with 4-5 episodes each released in Region 1.

Now I'm all for releasing these series in the UK but would it kill them to release them in the United States too?

Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Marvel Super Heroes- You Don’t Get Much More Old School Than This

I really have no taste when it comes to superhero TV shows. I've enjoyed Super Friends episodes for their endless cheesiness, and I actually own Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation on DVD. Mind you, I don't think Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation was good, but I enjoy making fun of how laughably bad it is. The same is true of many other older shows.

While looking into older cartoons in my endless search for cheesy superhero cartoons, I came across the first ever animated series by Marvel Comics: The Marvel Super Heroes. The Marvel Super Heroes aired in 1966, and the style of animation makes them pretty much the first motion comics. And yes, motion comics were just as pathetic looking back then as they are now.

The show had 5 different features: Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, The Invincible Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, and Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner. 13 episodes of each of the features were produced, making a total of 65 episodes.

Amusingly, these shows were allowed to have content that was often not allowed in future cartoon series. About a dozen titles included "die" or "death", and the very first episode involves realistic looking fire arms.

If you're like me and enjoy older cartoons, it is available on DVD . . . but only for Region 2 (Europe). If you live anywhere outside of Region 2, this means that you'll need a region-free DVD player if you want to actually watch the DVDs. (Otherwise, you'll just be buying some expensive Frisbees.)

Be warned that this show is incredibly corny and its age really shows. If you can, watch some episodes before buying it, so you know what you’re getting into.

Here are links to the DVDs on Amazon UK, if you're interested in buying them.

1) Marvel Superhero Classics Collection [DVD]
Contains 52 episodes (all but the Incredible Hulk episodes).

2) The Incredible Hulk 1966 Complete Season
All 13 Incredible Hulk episodes.