Green Lantern Series
- Thread starter cbspock
- Start date
I was wary about the 3D computer animation approach, and it was a bit off-putting at first, but I pretty quickly got used to it. For one thing, even though it looks a little too slick and plasticky, the character animation and storyboarding have a lot of vitality and artistry to them, feeling more fluid and in the vein of WB's 2D animation, rather than the stiffer animation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (Although Bruce Timm's excessively wasp-waisted female character designs look even more ridiculous in 3D -- however, that's only briefly a problem since, unfortunately, the show is rather lacking in recurring female characters, except for one of the Guardians and a ship's computer.)
For another thing, the writing was fantastic, with lots of rich character work. It's easy to look past the plasticky look of the characters if you can really connect with them as people. It was cool how even the guest characters -- the local Green Lantern and his family -- were given a lot of substance and contributed meaningfully to the story. And Hal Jordan was nicely drawn (figuratively drawn, I mean, in the writing sense). He's impulsive and a bit of a renegade, but he's deeply, sincerely dedicated to helping people and seeing the best in them. The most awesome part was when he got the ship's navcomputer Aya to override her safeguards, not by hacking her or playing some logic game, but by appealing to her on a moral level, convincing her to help them do the right thing and take the chance to save lives. The fact that he defaulted to that as his first response says a lot about what kind of person he is.
Good voice work too. Josh Keaton did a great job as Peter Parker on The Spectacular Spider-Man for two seasons, and he's just as good as Hal Jordan. The always-impressive Kevin Michael Richardson is in rare form as Kilowog. But then, they've got great material to work with.
For another thing, the writing was fantastic, with lots of rich character work. It's easy to look past the plasticky look of the characters if you can really connect with them as people. It was cool how even the guest characters -- the local Green Lantern and his family -- were given a lot of substance and contributed meaningfully to the story. And Hal Jordan was nicely drawn (figuratively drawn, I mean, in the writing sense). He's impulsive and a bit of a renegade, but he's deeply, sincerely dedicated to helping people and seeing the best in them. The most awesome part was when he got the ship's navcomputer Aya to override her safeguards, not by hacking her or playing some logic game, but by appealing to her on a moral level, convincing her to help them do the right thing and take the chance to save lives. The fact that he defaulted to that as his first response says a lot about what kind of person he is.
Good voice work too. Josh Keaton did a great job as Peter Parker on The Spectacular Spider-Man for two seasons, and he's just as good as Hal Jordan. The always-impressive Kevin Michael Richardson is in rare form as Kilowog. But then, they've got great material to work with.
You can't forget the always great Kurtwood Smith, either.
As for the animation...they gave Carol cleavage. For some reason, that's a little off-putting for me.
I loved Kilowog's line about Hal's mask. Perfect little meta-commentary right there.
The episode was enjoyable and hit the right buttons, but it's definitely not as great as Justice League, Batman: The Animated Series, or Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Time will tell how long it'll last and where it will go, but I think it needs a bigger scope than just the Red Lanterns.
As for the animation...they gave Carol cleavage. For some reason, that's a little off-putting for me.
I loved Kilowog's line about Hal's mask. Perfect little meta-commentary right there.
The episode was enjoyable and hit the right buttons, but it's definitely not as great as Justice League, Batman: The Animated Series, or Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Time will tell how long it'll last and where it will go, but I think it needs a bigger scope than just the Red Lanterns.
As mentioned in the original thread Timm has mentioned that the Red Lanterns are the series main villains but has teased Blackest Night and we will see more familiar foes and persons from the GL mythos as we go along.
I don't think it is meant to be a total kid series, more teengage demographic. I was curious as well that they decided to use the Red Lanterns. I'm guessing they didn't want to use the more obvious Sinestro and his Corps. Hopefully this means we will see to see Larfleeze!
I forgot to set my DVR for this, so I'm hoping it'll be available through CN's On Demand hub. Nice to see that the first reactions posted here are positive.
Oh, no question. If it were aimed at a preteen demographic, nobody would've died. Heck, even Batman: TAS was rarely allowed to depict death. But there were a number of deaths depicted or referenced in this episode even if they were all offscreen.
I don't think this has a Canadian air date yet 
I don't see it on Teletoon (which is the network which would air it). We normally have to wait a while to see stuff like this. Although we got Young Justice and Avengers around the same time as you guys.
EDIT: Okay I guess it was on at 8pm on Teletoon...I missed it.
I don't see it on Teletoon (which is the network which would air it). We normally have to wait a while to see stuff like this. Although we got Young Justice and Avengers around the same time as you guys. EDIT: Okay I guess it was on at 8pm on Teletoon...I missed it.
Last edited:
From all the previews I had seen, I wasn't too impressed with the animation style. But I have too admit, while watching tonight's episode, it grew on me pretty quickly. For what this show is, it actually works. The characters look like animated action figures (Which I'm sure will help to sell the future toys.). It doesn't hurt that the storytelling is really good, which will be a contributing factor in adding this to my regular dvr viewing.
I don't see any specific Incredibles influence aside from the fact that they're both using 3D computer animation and highly caricatured character designs. The style of the designs here is very different, though, and very recognizably Bruce Timm's style (Carol Ferris looked basically like a 3D version of the DCAU's Lois Lane with shorter hair and a different eye color).
I have my issues with the design style -- in particular, Hal's absurdly huge chest and shoulders make for some awkward poses, especially when he's flying and seen in profile. But the animation style, the way the characters move and express themselves, feels closer to the kind of 2D animation I love than I think I've ever seen in 3D. It suggests that the storyboard artists and key animators are people who learned their skills with 2D animation and have adapted their styles to 3D (which is sort of an Incredibles parallel, since much the same can be said of Brad Bird's team on that film). And I think that works better than what you often get from 3D animators whose training comes more from the computer/technical side of things and whose work feels more like something out of a video game.
I have my issues with the design style -- in particular, Hal's absurdly huge chest and shoulders make for some awkward poses, especially when he's flying and seen in profile. But the animation style, the way the characters move and express themselves, feels closer to the kind of 2D animation I love than I think I've ever seen in 3D. It suggests that the storyboard artists and key animators are people who learned their skills with 2D animation and have adapted their styles to 3D (which is sort of an Incredibles parallel, since much the same can be said of Brad Bird's team on that film). And I think that works better than what you often get from 3D animators whose training comes more from the computer/technical side of things and whose work feels more like something out of a video game.
Agreed. Great stuff.
I caught this by accident. I tuned into Young Justice and noticed that Green Lantern: First Flight was on instead. Then I looked at the schedule and saw that a sneak peek of the animated series was on right after.I don't think this has a Canadian air date yet
EDIT: Okay I guess it was on at 8pm on Teletoon...I missed it.
Yeah, I definately noticed the size of the chest and shoulders and thought it was a bit much.
Larfleeze in action could be fun. I hope we see the other lantern corps besides the red one.
The first hour looked like a setup for a long journey home and fighting the Red Lanterns along the way. All I could think of was Hal not getting home in time and what that would impact his relationship with Carol.
I can't remember where, but I did see a cast list somewhere the other day that included Parallax, so if that was true then there is a chance we might see some element of the Sinestro Corps. And in an interview they said that Carol Farris is going to be making some kind of a surprising appearance in later episodes, so alot of people are thinking she'll be Star Sapphire.
Similar threads
