The really odd thing is that in Justice League, Batman looks the same but for some reason Superman has wrinkels. Its even stranger given than in the DCAU, Batman would have to be older than Superman (and operating for longer as well given that even Martha Kent knew enough to call him a "Nut" in the pilot for Superman TAS)
DCAU appreciation
- Thread starter Turtletrekker
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The really odd thing is that in Justice League, Batman looks the same but for some reason Superman has wrinkels. Its even stranger given than in the DCAU, Batman would have to be older than Superman (and operating for longer as well given that even Martha Kent knew enough to call him a "Nut" in the pilot for Superman TAS)
^Wrinkles? What are you talking about? The only lines on JL/U Superman's face aside from eyes, nose, mouth, and brows were a cleft in his chin and a couple of cheekbone lines to suggest angular features.
I seem to recall that in the first season of Justice League, Superman had some pronounced lines on his cheeks, but then they were removed in the subsequent seasons.
Yes, that's what I'm referring to. They weren't meant to be wrinkles, they were meant to represent the sharp edges of his cheekbones. I've never seen wrinkles in that particular position or shape.
^I think people get that impression because those lines didn't make his cheekbones look pronounced so much as they made his whole face look drawn, gaunt, almost sickly. That combined with the unintentionally desaturated pallet and the way they struggled to use him and his powers in early season one is why a lot of fans felt he was very much weak sauce. They got a handle on it by the end of the season though and with the stronger characterization and removal of said lines in 'Twilight', he was back to his old self.
I suppose one might suggest he was still recovering (physically and mentally) from the events of the STAS finale, but that's really a justification after the fact.
I suppose one might suggest he was still recovering (physically and mentally) from the events of the STAS finale, but that's really a justification after the fact.
I was always a fan of Batman: TAS. I've only watched other parts of the DCUA and not really much of the later Batman stuff, so I can't comment on those. But I do agree with what Turtletrekker said in the opening post, that Mark Hamill was really the fit for the Joker. Like Batman himself, Joker requires a bit of balance to keep him from being either too openly violent or too silly, and I think TAS did that wonderfully. It also gave us Harley, so it was 20% more awesome.
I recall reading an interview which I think was Paul Dini (not Bruce Timm, though I could be wrong). He mentioned the worry that some people would be offended by a scene in "The Man Who Killed Batman" where Harley plays Amazing Grace on a kazoo, but it seems that didn't happen. He did say he was glad her voice actress, Arlene Sorkin, managed to do it in one take because the cast broke up laughing immediately afterward.
Bruce did say that he and Paul came up with the story in a discussion about making an episode where Batman didn't actually appear or did very little.
The first two disks of Superman: The Animated Series contains 18 episodes which brings us five episodes into the second season. Overall, a very good show. Actually more consisten in a lotof ways than B:TAS, which had some slight growing pains. It's a good bet that Timm, Dini, ect applied lessons learned in making B:TAS in the making of this show.
"Last Son Of Krypton" 1/2/3-- An overall solid re-telling of Superman's origins that lagged just a little in part 2. I liked the portrayal of Krypton in part 1 and integrating Brainiac into the origin was an interesting take that worked well. Jor-El and Lara were likeable, real people and Krypton was green and beautiful, as opposed to the usual cold, steril look and feel. Part 2 lagged just a bit because it was introducing a lot of elements that most people are already familiar with (Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Lex, Daily Planet, ect), but part 3 was solid.
"Fun and Games"-- Toyman is one of Superman's lamer villains, but his introduction episode was entertaining. The basics of his origin (Sympathetic character screwed by The Man, becomes super-villain seeking revenge) seemed familiar to other DCAU characters (Victor Frieze, for one), but it's a gimmick that generally seems to work.
"A Little Piece of Home"-- Lex Luthor comes into posession of Kryptonite. Hilarity ensues. This is the ep with the big robot dinosaur battle seen in the opening sequence. Not really much to this one.
"Feeding Time"-- Ah, the Parasite. A villain that I've always liked and I enjoyed this take on him. I like the the continuity beat from the last ep with the kryptonite S:TAS has more of a flow from episode to episode than B:TAS. Best part-- Jimmy Olsen to the rescue!
"The Way Of All Flesh"-- The introduction of Metallo. John Corbin was introduced in LSOK and here we see his transformation into Metallo. Malcom McDowell's performance shined as you could feel Corbin's loss in his voice. Third ep in a row with a Kryptonite angle. That's not a card that should be played that often.
"Stolen Memories"-- The return of Brainiac. Brainiac makes a deal with Lex and promptly betrays him. Surprise? I liked Clark getting to see Krypton and that he managed to at least save teh orb with those memories, but it's a shame that the memories of all of those other civilizations were lost.
"The Main Man" 1/2 -- A favorite. Lobo is a character that I've always loved in spite of myself, and part 2 was just ridiculous fun. I loved the aliens, in particular the Jabba-esque Spooge and Squeek.
"My Girl"-- The return of Lana Lang-- as Lex Luthor's girlfriend. A fun episode where Lana, who isn't fooled for a second by Clark's "disguise" ( The only observant person in the world?), and endevours to become Clark's crime-fighting partner.
"Tools of the Trade"-- A big episode that introduces a lot of elements, including Dan Turpin, Maggie Sawyer and Darkseid. I liked the bit with Clark changing in the elevator shaft and the dark shadow of Superman with the glowing red eyes.
"Two's a Crowd"-- The return of the Parasite. I loved how Rudy's price for helping out Superman was premium cable in his cell.
"The Prometheon"-- A big giant space-monster attacks Metropolis. Entertaining, but not spectacular.
"Blasts From the Past" 1/2-- Ah, General Zod. What? "Jax-Who"? I can understand not wanting to go the familar Zod route for a Kryptonian villain, but why go with Jax-Ur and then give him Zod's background and motivations? Jax-Ur was originally a scientist in the comics. I loved the battle sequences in part 2. The ariel manuvers between Superman and Mala were spectacular. A bit of a continuity bump with Justice League, with Lois mentioning Wonder Woman well before her introduction in "Secret Origins".
"Livewire"-- Livewire is no Harley Quinn, but she is an original and entertaining villainess introduced in the DCAU and subsequently made it into the comics. Lori Petty is perfect in the role.
"Speed Demons"-- Bit of a lame villain, but who cares? Team-up between Superman and the Flash! Great fun.
Well, at this point, I'm going to jump back to Batman: The Animated Series for a bit. I plan on jumping between them in order to keep things freshe
"Last Son Of Krypton" 1/2/3-- An overall solid re-telling of Superman's origins that lagged just a little in part 2. I liked the portrayal of Krypton in part 1 and integrating Brainiac into the origin was an interesting take that worked well. Jor-El and Lara were likeable, real people and Krypton was green and beautiful, as opposed to the usual cold, steril look and feel. Part 2 lagged just a bit because it was introducing a lot of elements that most people are already familiar with (Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Lex, Daily Planet, ect), but part 3 was solid.
"Fun and Games"-- Toyman is one of Superman's lamer villains, but his introduction episode was entertaining. The basics of his origin (Sympathetic character screwed by The Man, becomes super-villain seeking revenge) seemed familiar to other DCAU characters (Victor Frieze, for one), but it's a gimmick that generally seems to work.
"A Little Piece of Home"-- Lex Luthor comes into posession of Kryptonite. Hilarity ensues. This is the ep with the big robot dinosaur battle seen in the opening sequence. Not really much to this one.
"Feeding Time"-- Ah, the Parasite. A villain that I've always liked and I enjoyed this take on him. I like the the continuity beat from the last ep with the kryptonite S:TAS has more of a flow from episode to episode than B:TAS. Best part-- Jimmy Olsen to the rescue!
"The Way Of All Flesh"-- The introduction of Metallo. John Corbin was introduced in LSOK and here we see his transformation into Metallo. Malcom McDowell's performance shined as you could feel Corbin's loss in his voice. Third ep in a row with a Kryptonite angle. That's not a card that should be played that often.
"Stolen Memories"-- The return of Brainiac. Brainiac makes a deal with Lex and promptly betrays him. Surprise? I liked Clark getting to see Krypton and that he managed to at least save teh orb with those memories, but it's a shame that the memories of all of those other civilizations were lost.
"The Main Man" 1/2 -- A favorite. Lobo is a character that I've always loved in spite of myself, and part 2 was just ridiculous fun. I loved the aliens, in particular the Jabba-esque Spooge and Squeek.
"My Girl"-- The return of Lana Lang-- as Lex Luthor's girlfriend. A fun episode where Lana, who isn't fooled for a second by Clark's "disguise" ( The only observant person in the world?), and endevours to become Clark's crime-fighting partner.
"Tools of the Trade"-- A big episode that introduces a lot of elements, including Dan Turpin, Maggie Sawyer and Darkseid. I liked the bit with Clark changing in the elevator shaft and the dark shadow of Superman with the glowing red eyes.
"Two's a Crowd"-- The return of the Parasite. I loved how Rudy's price for helping out Superman was premium cable in his cell.
"The Prometheon"-- A big giant space-monster attacks Metropolis. Entertaining, but not spectacular.
"Blasts From the Past" 1/2-- Ah, General Zod. What? "Jax-Who"? I can understand not wanting to go the familar Zod route for a Kryptonian villain, but why go with Jax-Ur and then give him Zod's background and motivations? Jax-Ur was originally a scientist in the comics. I loved the battle sequences in part 2. The ariel manuvers between Superman and Mala were spectacular. A bit of a continuity bump with Justice League, with Lois mentioning Wonder Woman well before her introduction in "Secret Origins".
"Livewire"-- Livewire is no Harley Quinn, but she is an original and entertaining villainess introduced in the DCAU and subsequently made it into the comics. Lori Petty is perfect in the role.
"Speed Demons"-- Bit of a lame villain, but who cares? Team-up between Superman and the Flash! Great fun.
Well, at this point, I'm going to jump back to Batman: The Animated Series for a bit. I plan on jumping between them in order to keep things freshe
I have really fond memories of the Superman toon. The animation was consistently good, unlike Batman. And after the "realism" of Batman, it was just amazing to see a flying super fast super strong character on the screen. The colors! The motion! The action! It was all so... BIG! Plus I loved that Darkseid was the primary villain of the series. This was my introduction to the entire Superman and Darkseid story and he was so cool.
I have to disagree. Not only does it have gorgeous animation by Tokyo Movie Shinsha (as do many S:TAS and TNBA episodes), but it has a terrific script by the late Hilary J. Bader, with some excellent character writing including one of my favorite Lois Lane moments of all time. When she's in the diner with Clark and the kryptonite fragment makes him feel sick, she just coolly, matter-of-factly orders the waitress to bring him some chicken soup and hot tea. She doesn't soften or change her hard-driving, no-nonsense manner in the least, but she's instinctively taking care of him. It reveals so much about her as a character and about how she perceives "Smallville" as someone who needs her to protect him, which is a lovely irony. (You also see it in the Toyman episode when she pulls him out of the toy plane's line of fire.) This is the episode that made S:TAS's version of Lois my all-time favorite.
Never cared for it much. B:TAS was always fairly grounded and down-to-earth, and this was the first DCAU episode that brought any of the really wild and goofy stuff into the universe, so I found it jarring. Lobo is a ridiculous character, an intentional comedy caricature of ultraviolent '90s antiheroes like Wolverine, Spawn, and the Punisher, and I've never felt he belonged in the same continuity as the heroes who were played straight.
Well, to be fair, we saw in "Last Son" part 2 that Clark confided in Lana about his superpowers, and she got to see them in action. So she had an edge that Lois and others didn't.
Noteworthy for introducing General Hardcastle, who would return in JLU.
As I understand it, the live-action movie's version of Zod was more a composite of Jax-Ur and Zod from the comics. In the Silver Age comics, Jax-Ur was the leader of the Phantom Zone criminals, the worst of the lot, and Zod and Faora (the basis for the movie's Ursa) were his main co-plotters. This Jax-Ur was a composite too, but they went in the other direction, and why not? They wanted to create their own identity, not just copy the movies like so many subsequent Superman productions have done.
What I don't get is why they invented the Mala character instead of just calling her Faora.
Not the only one of its kind in the DCAU. A first-season Static Shock episode has the main characters referring to Clark Kent as a secret identity, implying that Superman is a fictional character in their world; but in the second season, the show was retroactively tied into the DCAU with a Batman crossover, and other crossovers followed.
This is why I'm okay with counting the 1990 live-action The Flash as part of the DCAU even though it has a scene where Barry Allen walks his dog past a theater showing Superman and Batman movies -- and another where he jokingly refers to a reporter as "Lois Lane."
I never cared for Petty's vocal performance, but otherwise, yeah, it was a good effort to give Superman a worthy female antagonist. Although I don't care for the conceit of electric superpowered characters who can "turn into electricity" and travel through wiring. That's just too fanciful.
Also, its musical score reuses Shirley Walker's Flash leitmotif from the 1990 series!
I've just started getting into the DCAU in the last couple of years and so far I'm really enjoying it. So far I've seen the all of the first B:TAS set, and about 3/4 of the second one, all of the first set for S:TAS, and the pilot for Justice League (I found it in a $5 bin at Wal-Mart and decided for that cheap I'd gladly get it) and I've really enjoyed everything I've seen.
I like the Superman Animated Series, although its not as good as Batman: TAS or JL/JLU. I really liked Lobo in the series, he was great. I HATE Metallo in the series. He was ok the first time, but after his first appearance I can't stand to watch any more of the episodes with him (not counting his appearance in JLU or metallo in Superman/Batman - Public Enemies). The way the charactyer is portrayed just gets on my nerves, and I didn't really like the character in the first place. so, of course, he has to appear in a bunch of episodes. Personally, I think he's a lamer villain than Toyman, and Superman:TAS actually got Toyman right.
I just rewatched World's Finest today. Its a great 3 parter. I liked Harley fighting Mercy several times throughout the episode. My only problem with it is the stupid looking Joker design, if he had his original B:TAS design, this story would be pretty much perfect. I'm glad the people in charge figured out that the Superman:TAS style design of Joker was stupid/unpopular and switched back to classic Joker for his JL appearance.
I just rewatched World's Finest today. Its a great 3 parter. I liked Harley fighting Mercy several times throughout the episode. My only problem with it is the stupid looking Joker design, if he had his original B:TAS design, this story would be pretty much perfect. I'm glad the people in charge figured out that the Superman:TAS style design of Joker was stupid/unpopular and switched back to classic Joker for his JL appearance.
^Apparently The CW is launching a line-up of Saturday morning cartoons, mostly reruns of shows from other networks, and I guess they're calling it Vortex.
Just a quick note to recognize the 20th anniversary of the DCAU as Batman: The Animated Series debuted 20 years ago... yesterday. September 5th, 1992. Where does the time go?
I've gotten a little behind on my DCAU re-watch, although I have watched 14 eps of B:TAS that I haven't commented on yet. I took some time off to re-watch the Marvel movies before catching Avengers in the theater again this weekend, and then the sudden and unexpected death of a friend put my mind in a place not suitable for watching cartoons.
Hey! Check it out! Season one of The Zeta Project for $8.73!
I've gotten a little behind on my DCAU re-watch, although I have watched 14 eps of B:TAS that I haven't commented on yet. I took some time off to re-watch the Marvel movies before catching Avengers in the theater again this weekend, and then the sudden and unexpected death of a friend put my mind in a place not suitable for watching cartoons.
Hey! Check it out! Season one of The Zeta Project for $8.73!
HUB is starting to rerun Superman: TAS. Got to see "Last Son of Krypton, Part 1" today. I've hardly seen any of that show except the episodes they packaged as The Superman/Batman Movie. Is that the same as "World's Finest"?
Yes. The Superman/Batman Movie is just the DVD/video release of the "World's Finest" three-parter.
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