Here's the deal: I have ALOT of crappy superhero cartoons on tape or DVD. Everything from the Flesicher Superman episodes up to the last episode of Justice League Unlmited. Whenever I get bored, I pop one in.

I was thinking about putting this thread in "TV/Movies", but these are all strictly DC and Marvel cartoons and wouldn't exist if not for their comic connection. Plus, I have an annoying habit of comparing cartoon adaptations to their comic book counterparts.

There's no rhyme or reason to my schedule or selection, but I average at least one cartoon a week. So here's what I've watched so far this week:

The Atom- "Invasion of the Beetle-Men"
I've been transferring all of my "rare hero" episodes from the 1968 Superman/Aquaman/Batman shows to DVD, lately. An evil group of alien Beetle-Men (who all look like Abe Vigoda) are intent on taking over the Earth and causing havoc! They're all tiny fuckers, which means the Atom is the only guy whocan fight 'em. Everyone else COULD just step on the Beetle-Men, but it's Logic in Comics! Atom enters their ship and presses lots of buttons! That seemed to be Atom's gimmick: he'd shrink into a control panel and stomp on buttons.

Batman: The Animated Series- "Night of the Ninja"
From 1992 and part of the BATMAN:TAS Vol.2 DVD set. A disgraced ninja who helped train Bruce Wayne has come to Gotham to seek revenge. The ninja has a fancy "hot rod auto show" tattoo on his back!

Interesting, because Batman doesn't get into cosutme during the show's Main Event-- it's all Bruce Wayne. Cute TV News Lady Summer Gleeson is present for the big duel, but gets a carpet dumped over her, so she can't see what's going on. This apparently makes her DEAF as well. Bruce becomes "Batman" out of costume, but the ninja escapes. He'll be back in another episode.

Spider-Man- "Revenge of Dr. Magneto"
IN COLOR! From the "67 Collection" DVD set. The liner notes list this as "Revenge of Magneto", so I was thinking it was the X-men's nemesis. Nope, some old whacko scientist who looks like Evil Albert Einstein. He has a magnetic gun which can do anything. He claims he's able to "magentize wood..the air..anything!". It's basically a telekinetic gun. Maggie's pissed because the "Science Hall of Fame" has snubbed him again.

Spidey's webbing works like Green Lantern's ring in this episode. Example: Magneto drops a statue from the top of the Empire State Building. Spidey is standing on the ground and shoots up a stream of webbing which stops and holds up the statue. Later, Spidey uses his webbing to create train tracks, outside of Yankee Stadium. The webbed train tracks are able to support an entire train. Spidey defeats Dr. Magneto with some "anti-magnetic webbing". Pure dumbness... but the episode gains some points for the appearances of the Empire State Building and Yankee Stadium.

Note: the villain's name is pronounced "Mag-NET-oh", whereas the Evil Mutant is usually "Mag-NEAT-oh".

Spider-Man- "The Sinister Prime Minister"
More from the '67 DVD set. An imposter takes the place of the Prime Minister of... Rutlia (think that was the country's name). JJJ has some goofy scenes in this, but it's another case where Spidey is easily taken out by simple obstacles. Example: he passes out when the "Prime Minister" zaps him with gas from his cane. Then we're supposed to be scared because the PM has Spidey cornered in a room, with his twirly cane spinner thing!! Oh no..how will Spidey get out of THAT predicament?!!

Batman: TAS- "Cat Scratch Fever"
From 1992. Continuity starts to surface, as there are alot of references to Catwoman and Batman's last encounter. Plus, Roland Daggett, the evil business owner who created Clayface, returns. I believe one of Daggett's underlings, a guy named Milo returns later on... then re-returns in about 12 years in "Justice League Unlimited".

Not a great story, though-- Batman runs from a Mad Dog! I was hoping this dog would turn out to be Ace, but no luck. Also, I really REALLY hate the cartoon's design for Selina Kyle. Having a blonde Catwoman doesn't work for me (I'm guessing this was a Michelle Pfeiffer tie-in). Also doesn't help that her character design is the ugliest of all the DC Animated chics. Weird, angled ski slopes on her head and hair.

Hawkman - "The 23rd Dimension"
Another "rare hero" episode from 1968. Two of the GAYEST looking aliens ever-- little orange guys with curly thingies, wacky eyes and pointy noses-- invade Earth and send Hawkman to the 23rd Dimension. Hawkman escapes a lightning cage by "basic physics"-- a lightning rod sucks away all the lightning. Okay.

Hawkman was pretty formidable back then. He had his spaceship, his hawk sidekick Skreel, and a cool GLOVE. The glove shot lasers, repulors beams and even had an "electro-claw".

Batman: TAS - "Heart of Steel"
Still in 1992 and the first season. This is a boring, drawn out two-episode plot involving a super computer and its plans to replace key people in Gotham City. The computer has a red pulsating "mouth", identical to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The computer creates a hotsy totsy android/human assistant named "Randa". Randa's a fox and her character design would have been a good fit for Selina Kyle (see above).

There's no real reason for this story to be a TWO-PARTER...except for the fact that it introduces Barbara Gordon. Babs doesn't become Batgirl, but she is actively involved in saving Jim Gordon and other hostages from the super computer. She'll come back next season as Batgirl. The super computer's creator, Dr. Karl Fossum (who I swear was voiced by Farnum from "Deadwood", aka Larry from "Newhart"), also makes a few cameo appearances in the future.

I loved the heart of steel episodes. Though they weren't edge of your seat by any means

Spider-Man - "Night of the Villains"
IN COLOR! More '67 stuff and more instances where Spider-Man's TV translation suffers. Really awful episode. This time out, Spidey stops a jewelry robbery on a freighter, only to meet Blackbeard the Pirate. When Spidey sees Blackbeard, he reacts as if it's a familiar face every school-kid should know-- like Abe Lincoln or Benjamin Franklin.

Blackbeard is part of a robotic wax gang, controlled by Parafino-- an evil wax museum guy Spidey fought awhile back. Also in the gang are replicants of Jesse James and "The Executioner of Paris". More Scooby Doo hi-jinks. At the end, Spidey dumps off a webbed-up Parafino on Jonah Jameson's desk. Like JJJ was the chief of police or something. That happened alot, as JJJ seemed to have close connections with the cops throughout the series.

Superman (1996)- "The Main Man- Parts 1 &2"
First big crossover of the Superman animated series, as Lobo guest stars. Lobo's good in little doses, and there's alot of absurd humor in these episodes. Lobo is hired by an alien called "The Preserver" to catch the last Kryptonian. The Preserver double-crosses Lobo, as he was also out to catch the last Czarnian (Lobo). There's also a subpplot involving Lobo collecting the bounty on a weird looking alien (he has a second face in his eye).

The first episode is basically a big slug-fest between Superman and Lobo. Lobo gets some funny one-liners, but there's some additional humor. One example: Lobo is first seen at an alien bar called "The Steaming Heap". At the conclusion, Superman takes all of the suvivors and gives them a home in his Fortress of Solitude (including the last Dodo and... what appeared to be STARRO the Conqueror!). How being held in the Fortress of Solitude is any different from being held in the Preserver's zoo is left up to discussion (plus, how will Superman feed these animals?)

Fun trivia: Lobo is voiced by Brad Garrett. Probably best known as the brother guy from "Everybody Loves Raymond", he has a long history of doing animation work. Including the voice of HULK HOGAN in "Hulk Hogan's Rock n' Wrestling".

Also, when Lobo is held in his preservation cell, he has a KIZZ poster. Funny and contemporary (The KISS Reunion was in full swing at that point).

I'm not sure if the Starro cameo was ever expanded upon. If not, there's a good plot for a future Justice League DVD release.

Lobo's initial antics can make these episodes seem a little bit too cartoony. But it's an entertaining show.

Batman: TAS- "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich"
Introduction episode for the Riddler. In what was becoming a recurring theme, Riddler's an average joe whose shoddy treatment at the office leads to his crime career (see also: the cartoon's versions of Mad Hatter and Clock King). Riddler gets scammed out of the royalties for a "Riddle of the Minotaur" video game. So he gets ticked off and becomes the Riddler.

The first half is pretty decent, but the second half sucks. Riddler takes over a "Riddle of the Minotaur" themepark exhibit and runs Batman and Robin through his death traps. Batman and Robin drop their utlity belts, so Batman relies heavily on his never before seen "back of the palm" mini-computer. The rest of the plot relies heavily on the Minotaur video game (a game which sorta' resembles 1981's Hunt the Wumpus!).

In probably the script's biggest flaw, the Riddler's riddles aren't too clever and require alot of explanation. They don't make you say: "aw...I shoulda' got that". Weak episode. Watch the first half, then turn it off.

Yeah, Riddler was never that great in TAS. My favorite episode of that whole run was the one where all the villains are playing poker and telling stories about how they almost killed Batman.

Batman: TAS- "Joker's Wild"
A scheming businessman opens a Joker-themed casino in Gotham. That's the fun thing about a fictional city, you can have any type of district in it. Casino district, Russian district, Cuban district, mountain that overlooks the city, you get the idea.

A fairly fun episode, as most of Joker's are. There's an appearance by the "Original Joker-Mobile", on display in the casino. We see that it has a Bigfoot gas pedal-- another of the little touches that made Joker's antics so fun. There's also a nifty scene where Bruce Wayne needles Joker at a blackjack table. One of the better episodes on the second Batman DVD set.

Batman: TAS- "Tyger Tyger"
Another Catwoman yarn and another stinker. A mad scientist abducts Selina to his remote island fortress and changes her into a cat-person. A plot more suited for an 80's episode of GI Joe or TMNT. To be more specific, it's like one of the globe-spanning Batman stories from the 70's "Brave & the Bold'. Batman fights a mutated cat-guy and it's tough to take him serious. His name is "Tygris", which sounds feminine..plus he looks more like a wolf-man than a cat-man. Predictable story, all around.

Spider-Man: "Secret Wars, Pts. 1-3"
From the less than stellar 90's FOX series. A liberal translation of the '84 mini-series, with some notable differences. The Beyonder challenges Madame Web to a "good vs. evil" contest. Red Skull, Alistair Smythe, Dr. Octopus, the Lizard and Dr. Doom are sent to an alien world where they're allowed one full year to take it over. Each cuts out a separate kingdom for himself, with the exception of the Lizard who does lizardy things. Spidey then gets to select his own team to go in and combat the villains.

The team consists of Spidey, Iron Man, Captain America, Storm and the Fantastic Four. The Lizard does a face turn and ends up siding with the good guys. In the second episode, the Black Cat is added to the team. There's also a buncha' nameless "rebel aliens" who are fighting the supervillains' respective kingdoms, mostly off-screen.

The pacing is all over the place and everything feels rushed. For instance, the second episode opens with a scene in Transylvania featuring Morbius and Blade. It made me think: "wha? is this the correct episode?". It's like the creators are trying too hard to squeeze in as much crap as possible. There's a direct borrow from the comic series, though, as the heroes have an entire mountain range dropped on them. One of THE coolest scenes ever done in Marvel comics...but it's nowhere near as intense in Marvel cartoons. Also some of the comics' elements of Ben Grimm's transformation and Doom's conflict with the Beyonder are sandwiched in.

At the end, Spidey is zapped through the galaxy for whatever reason. Bad pacing ruined this series, but a bigger flaw was Spidey's character. He's always been a funny, light-hearted, quick-witted guy. Even in his 3 previous cartoon adaptations. But the FOX series portrayed him as an angst-filled, ultra-serious guy. Probably why I never caught on to this version.

If you get Boomerang they've started showing the old Superfriends cartoons. They just started the Super Powers Team version.

Bummer. Boomerang is one of the few channels I don't get. They'd rather give me stuff like "Asian Life TV" or "BYU TV" (Yes, an entire channel devoted to BYU). Comcast has a few Boomerang cartoons through OnDemand, but it's just Huckleberry Hound and stuff.

I have all of the 1985 "Super Powers: Galactic Guardians" shows taped (the ones with Cyborg and improved animation). For years Cartoon Network only had three episodes of the 1984 version (the first Super Powers season that introduced Firestorm and had looser animation). Do they have more now? I remember one with Brainiac, one with a Puppetmaster rip-off and another alien plot where Robin meets a princess. That's all they ever showed.

I know the 70's episodes by heart (they were re-run constantly when I was a wee lad), but the 1980-1984 episodes are hard to find. Like the stuff with El Dorado or the Legion of Doom sequel. I taped some episodes from the 90's "Super/Batman Adventures" syndication package, but I'd be willing to drop some bones for a DVD season set of the early 80's stuff.

They only showed the first one that introduces Cyborg. Though before that they were playing the earlier stuff with Firestorm, El Dorado, etc. I hated the token minority characters in that show. But looking at the episode list there were only 10 episodes of the 1984 season.

But it was definately my favorite after Challenge of the Super-Friends. They did away with a lot of the corny garbage.

WildCATS - "Dark Blade Falling"
How's this for coincedence? This week we're talking about the new WildCATS being delayed, and here I found this episode on Comcast's OnDemand service. It's available under the "Kids" section in the "Vortex" channel. Also important to note that I do NOT have this recorded.

Intro episode for the WildCATS TV show that ran on Saturday mornings for CBS in 1994. The opening theme and intro sequence is enough to turn you off. It screams "WildCATS! WildCATS!" then goes into a lame rap saying "we're heroes, not zeroes". It also includes the "Jim Lee's.." as part of the logo. Yeah, I sure don't remember seeing "Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's.." above the Spider-Man logo. There's a reason they have credits on TV shows, Jimbo. Rumor is that the only reason Jim Lee pushed to get this series produced was so he could get a toyline.

Okay, I've never been a fan on any level of WildCATS, but this is just wretched. The CATs are part of an alien race that crash-landed on Earth a Long Time Ago. So already the characters are removed from being relateable. Its like if the Justice League was full of Supermen...and they all had no secret ID. There's a Bad-Ass Computer Programmer with a Black Belt and a Mullet who is recruited by the CATs. He "fulfills his destiny" by becoming Warblade. If becoming a WildCAT is part of an ancient "destiny"--complete with the costume-- then I don't get why they all look so different, or why one guy would wear a trenchcoat and use GUNS. I couldn't find anything appealing, creative, or interesting about either the heroes or the villains. But they looked nifty for the time--and I suppose that was the point of IMAGE.

Animation's a little jumbly at times, but the character designs are okay. Dialogue is terrible. Maul, the Blue/Green Giant Guy grows to about 100 feet and shouts: "I'm large and in charge!". Since it's the intro episode, every character makes sure to use the other's NAME when talking to them.

Actually it aired on USA Network. They were trying to do a superhero lineup but couldn't afford Marvel or DC so went to Image. I believe it was in a block with the Savage Dragon which managed to suck less.

Pretty sure it was on USA later (1995-1997)...but CBS was the first to show it on Saturday mornings in Fall 1994. I think it aired before or after a failed TMNT revival.

Savage Dragon was never on CBS, though. It aired with the WildCATS re-runs on USA, so in that regard it was "exclusive" to USA.

Superman : TAS- "My Girl"
Vehicle to bring Lana Lang into the Superman world. She's a fashion designer and dating Lex Luthor. She immediately figures out that Superman is Clark Kent and she tries to become his undercover sidekick. She tries to sniff out Lex's latest plans, but Lex soon turns the tables on her and it's another "damsel in distress" plot. At the end, Lana decides to leave Metropolis and work in Paris.

Lana's supposed to be hotsy totsy, but it doesn't work. Her character design makes her look about 18 and her voice isn't too flattering. It also doesn't help that the animated Lois was usually pretty smoking.

One of those weird things I think about: Lex's latest scheme revolves around this new gun he's selling to terrorists. It can speed up the atoms of any object and make it explode. Basically, it's a Big Gun That Blows Shit Up. But I was thinking: Lex sure can make alot of lethal crap... I'm sure SOME stuff snuck past Superman and made it into circulation. Lex is a successful businessman, so he's obviously made some deals in the past. So somewhere in the DC animated world, a coupla' terrorists have probably used a "Dimensional Vortex Prohibilator" to blow up a subway or something. I think this subplot would come into play in "Justice League", especially with the country of Kasnia.

Did a mini-marathon of all my old 1968 "Adventures of Batman" Filmation cartoons.

12 episodes, most with the same theme: villain has a new gimmick he/she uses to rob a bank or steal something. Batman and Robin fight 'em. Batgirl might show up, but she'll just get captured and tied up.

Another trend is how it's tough to tell when an episode's going to end. Most episodes are 6 minutes long, but some are two-parts and 12 minutes. It's not until the last 30 seconds that you realize: "aw crap..this thing continues!". A prime example is a Catwoman episode. Batman and Robin are fighting Catwoman's "9 Lives" traps in a funhouse. They escape and beat up the villains. You'd think that'd be the end of it. But suddenly Catwoman escapes and it jumps into a plot about finding Batman's secret identity. Weird flow to the stories.

Going by memory, but I think I watched:

-Opera Buffa-- Joker story involving a theft at an opera. Batman and Robin disguise themselves as "ghosts". To open the show, Gotham City has built a giant Mt. Rushmore-like monument to honor Batman and Robin.

-How Many Herring in a Wheelbarrow?-- Another Joker story, involving more robberies and Joker's magnetic funhouse. A two-parter that rambles about.

-The Underworld, Underground Caper-- Catwoman and Riddler use a drill and an old sewer system to burrow into banks. They're clearly shown drilling into each room, but the police mention that they've found "no evidence of how they entered". Umm, maybe that BIG HOLE IN THE FLOOR?! Also, it's a bit peculiar, but Riddler and Catwoman seem to be sweet on each other. They even have a double-recliner in their hideout.

-Wrath of the Riddler-- Riddler throws a birthday party for Bruce Wayne. Batgirl swings by to get captured.

A Perfidious Pieman is Simon-- Hey, it's time to learn a new word! An extremely gimmicky villain, Simon the Pieman dominates this two-parter. He traps the Dynamic Duo and Batgirl in a Mother Goose theme park. He has exploding pies and constantly plays "Simon Sez". As bad as it sounds.

Perilous Playthings-- Catwoman traps the Dynamic Duo in a warehouse with BIG TOYS.

Freeze's Frozen Vikings-- Mr. Freeze uses an army of fake Vikings to rob shit.

The Crime Computer-- Penguin teams up with a wacky professor and his computer to discover Batman's secret ID. Cameo by Superman, whose face flashes on the computer screen as a possible Batman ID.

The Nine Lives of Batman-- The aforementioned Catwoman episode.

Plus a few more episodes that I'm forgetting. They all blend together. Overall, these are very poor. Re-used animation and lame plots with similar twists. It's discouraging, because the Superman episodes which were produced at the same time were of a higher quality. Considering that the series came hot on the heels of the Adam West show, you can understand why they're so cheesy.

These feature Casey Kasem as Robin. There's a tubby modern comedian who does impersonations, including Kasem as Robin. It's 100% accurate. Especially when Robin sez: "look Batman, a letter from the Riddler...and he writes: Dear Batman and Robin..."

I also ordered, through Amazon, "Superfriends: Season 2". It's actually the leftover episodes that aired with "Challenge of the Superfriends" in 1978. 20 minute episodes with the core group and the Wonder Twins. So it's actually "Season 3.5", not "Season 2". It's supposed to have a Phantom Zone villains episode, while the rest is sci-fi/fantasy stuff.

Superman: TAS- "Tools of the Trade"
Intergang's boss, Bruno Mannheim is visited by Kanto. Kanto hooks up Intergang with Apokolips (Kirby) inspired weapons. Also the first time we see Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin of the SCU. Straightforward plot, but Superman takes a backseat to the new plot elements. Big reveal at the end, as Mannheim follows Kanto to Apokolips and meets Darkseid.

The DVD version has a commentary track from Paul Dini and friends. They talk about the Kirby elements and how Dan Turpin was designed to look like Jack Kirby. They touch on Maggie Sawyer's sexual orientation and how it was included in a subtle way. Also important to note that this episode was written by Mark Evanier-- longtime TV and comic writer who worked under Jack Kirby.

Superman: TAS- "Two's a Crowd"
Interesting episode with the Parasite. Parasite agrees to help Superman and the SCU...in exchange for cable and premium channels in his cell. Plan backfires a bit, as a disgruntled ex-STAR labs psycho takes over the Parasite. Probably one of the more intriguing Parasite stories ever done.

Superman: TAS- "The Prometheon"
Very basic plot. Superman and Prof. Hamilton fight a giant rock-creature from outer space. It sorta' looks like one of the God Soldiers from "Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind". Hamilton discovers the creature's origin, but no planet is named. I doubt that this subplot ever came up again. This is also the first time we see Gen. Harcastle, a xenophobic army general who would return over the years (even in "Justice League Unlimited")

Superfriends- "Rokan: Enemy from Space"
From that 1978 DVD. Earth is attacked by a Rodan-inspired monster. It starts laying eggs all over, and it's revealed as a female. A female giant monster...Earth is totally fucked.

The Wonder Twins are on hand and are their usual disphit selves. Prime example: Rokan grabs them in one of her claws and carries them away to her nest. The Wonder Twins are right next to each other and can't figure out how to get out of their predicament. "Think, sis, think!" Umm...I dunno', but maybe slapping your fists together and changing into a small bird and water vapor MIGHT get you out of there?

Batman :TAS- "Terror in the Sky"
Second Man-Bat episode and a good set-up. It turns out that Francine Langstrom had accidentally been infected with the Man-Bat formula. Lame conclusion, though. A particular scene seemed to be included for the sole purpose of selling Batwing toys.

Batman: TAS- "Off-Balance"
First introduction of Ra's al Ghul's network, renamed the "Society of Shadows". An updated Count Vertigo appears as the main villain, while Talia teams up with Batman. Ra's makes a cameo at the end. Some lame elements (such as how Batman deduces the location of Vertigo's hideout), but this is one of my favorite episodes of the entire Batman series.

Batman: TAS- "The Man Who Killed Batman"
A wormy wannabe gangster named "Sid the Squid" accidentally gets a reputation for killing Batman. This brings the Joker out of the woodwork, who steals the second half of the show. Joker laments how crime isn't as fun without Batman. Not surprisingly, this episode was written by Paul Dini, who really seemed to have a good grip on Joker. As evidenced by Mad Dog's latest review of "Detective", Dini still maintains this.

Awesome scene where Joker tries to drown Sid the Squid in a a vat of acid. As he's being dropped in, Harley Quinn plays "Amazing Grace" on a kazoo. That rules. For trivia, Harley also makes an appearance as lawyer Harleen Quinzel. I'm not sure if "Sid the Squid" was a nod to early 80's Batman gangster, The Squid. Oh, in case you didn't know, Batman doesn't die. Sorry if I spoiled that one for ya', hoss.

SuperFriends- "Demons of Exxor"
The Wonder Twins are called back to their homeworld of Exxor to stave off an alien invasion. The bad guy's an obvious rip-off of Darth Vader, complete with his own Stromtroopers. For once, the Twins do something useful-- Zan changes into a massive "Ice Giant". Great, if you can always change into a giant, WHY do you bother changing into a gallon of water most of the time?! (I suppose you could "No-Prize" this and say Zan is more powerful on his home planet).

The rest of the SuperFriends arrive to help out. Batman's gimmicked gadgets completely hop the border into Ridiculous Land, as he fires off his "Bat Electro-Scrambler".

Definitely trying to capture some of the sci-fi trend of the late 70's. But it's interesting to see the Twins' home planet (where everybody wears purple n' pink and has a bowl haircut). It's also implied that the Twins are unique among their race-- nobody else on Exxor has shape changing powers. I always thought the Twins were just aliens sent to Earth, and that all people from their world could change into stupid stuff. So this gives the Twins some credibility and a little bit of a backstory.

Batman: TAS- "Paging the Crime Doctor"
Nefarious gangster Rupert Thorne has been forcing his brother, Matthew, to work as a surgeon for criminals. Matthew's an old contemporary of Dr. Thomas Wayne and Leslie Tompkins. Thorne's gangsters kidnap Tompkins and force her into operating on Thorne's heart tumor. Batman gets taken out by a big thug fairly easily. But the real story is about Matt. Nice ending, where Bruce Wayne comes to Matt's aid. Overall, a good story. Episode was written by former 80's Bat-scribe Mike W. Barr.

Superman: TAS- "Blasts from the Pasts" pt. 1&2
Superman and Prof. Hamilton let some Phantom Zone villains loose. In this incarnation, they're named "Mala" and "Jax-ur", two militants Kryptonians who tried to stage a coup on the old planet. Mala arrives first and Superman tries to take her under his wing as a partner. There's even a teased romantic relationship. Doesn't work out, as her selfish, power-hungry ways soon surface. Jax-ur soon escapes and a Big Ol' Slugfest errupts. Ron Perlman provided the voice of Jax-ur. For more trivia, in this episode, Hamilton names Superman's hideout "the Fortress of Solitude". Supes thinks the monkier is more than a little wacky, though.

Justice League- "Secret Origins"
The first three episodes of the Greatest Superhero Cartoon of All-Time. Still holds up well. Things start out as a Superman/Batman team-up and the other members eventually arrive. The way Batman was able to "disappear" seemed a little flimsy, though. J'onn J'onnz gets a very good "upper midcard" push, almost into the Main Event.

Justice League- "Comfort & Joy"
The rare Christmas special from the even Greater Second Season of Justice League. Really, if you can only pick up one DVD set of the DC Animated stuff, grab "Justice League - Season Two". Phenomenal. Anyways, this episode's become a tradition around the ES Complex. Right up there with "Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas". It's funny, exciting and... yeah, heartwarming. The plot with J'onn and Superman gets me everytime. At the end, when J'onn is holding Streaky and singing... my eyes well up like a little girl at the My Little Pony Glue factory.

Some hilarious touches. Flash and Ultra-Humanite are great. In a fanboy moment, J'onn discovers OREOS! Also, J'onn receives an over-sized sweater from Ma & Pa Kent. Plus, we see that Superman STILL sleeps in his pajamas and tries to sneak a look at his Xmas presents ("...lead!")

Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther
I wasn't too thrilled with the first DVD, but thought it was kinda' fun to see the Avengers animated. It looked like the franchis had a promising start. This second outing is wretched, though. Buncha' plot holes and hollow character development. Just freakin' awful.

My biggest complaint: there's hardly any teamwork or innovation throughout the whole thing. The Avengers all smash or shoot stuff. It wouldn't have been too hard to work in some nifty double-team moves. Maybe have Iron Man toss a shrunken Giant-Man at a spaceship for a Pym-ball Special. Giant-Man then grows to giant size and smashes the thing. Hell, I would've even settled for a double-team clothesline from two heroes. Nope, just shoot n' smash!

It's currently the feature article on my Crappy Website, if you wanna' see more details about this turdburger.

Batman: TAS "Zatanna"
This was probably the episode that started the whole "Animated DCU". It's the first team-up with a DC hero, with a cameo by Zatara. Scratched the surface and showed that the creators were willing to bring in plots and characters from outside of Gotham City. The story itself isn't too good. Weird finale, where Zatanna and Batman fight the Evil Bad Guy on a giant plane. It's similar to an old 1930's "streamlined" concept plane. Doesn't make alot of sense WHY the Evil Bad Guy would have such a thing. Just feels tacked on.

Zatanna also gets alot of lines about her looks. It's a little weird, but I think the rumor is that she's a favorite spank-topic of the creators.

Evil Bad Guy was voiced by Michael York...who oldsters may remember as the title character in "Logan's Run". You whippersnappers probably know him as "Austin Powers' boss".

Batman: TAS- "The Mechanic"
Batman takes the damaged Batmobile to its creator-- a former engineer for a large motor company (a subtle shot at GM, possibly). The Penguin and his goons hear about it and sabotage the new Batmobile. Probably a nod to the "Batman Returns" movie.

Fun to see a cameo by the old/original Batmobile, plus Batman's old costume.

Also, Penguin sorta' kills a guy. He sends him into a whirlpool in a giant Ducky Boat. No lines are written in to explain the guy's survival... so you'd have to assume he was killed.

Your review echoes my opinions basically. It had promise, but I was pretty disappointed in the overall product. Oh well, at least I got a mini-comic that includes reprints of Iron Man and Dr. Strange's origins.

Superman: TAS- "Livewire"
Debut of the new villainess Livewire- a converted radio "shock jock". She was eventually written into the comics, which is the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for a cartoon-only creation. Howard Stern loved this episode, when he saw it on TV a few years later. He was flattered that, although she was a chick, the villain was essentially him. He even liked how Clark Kent and Lois Lane took the highground concerning the shock jock's antics. "Now Lois...she's just trying to startle you".

Superman: TAS- "Speed Demons"
I think this was the final episode of the first season. Fun team-up with the Flash as they do the traditional "Fastest Man Alive" charity race. Flash's voice is different from his Justice League days, but he has the same attitude and mannerisms, which are key. Flash landed more fans with his animated appearances than he did in 20 years of printed babble about the "Speed Force", time travel, his wife and other baloney.

Plot's VERY basic-- Weather Wizard will blow shit up, unless he gets money (Wiz gets a decent modern revamp, too). But that's really not the focus. The focus is on the team-up between Supes and Flash. If you were making a Justice League compilation disc, throw this episode in (along with the eventual Aquaman episode, the World's Finest episodes and the GL episode of "Static Shock").

DVD Featurette on Superman's Supporting Cast
Interviews with the show's creative team on all the various characters. Details how each character exists to bring out a different side of Superman's personality. Bruce Timm mentions that there's a reason these characters haven't changed in 60 years. Stuff like that shows me that he "gets it". They joke about making Jimmy Olsen "cool", but laugh that you really can't make him cool...he's Jimmy frickin' Olsen after all.

Batman TAS: "Blind as a Bat"
An awful, awful episode. Here's the set-up: Wayne Tech has developed a new heavily armored "stealth helicopter" for the military. Yeah, Batman's company built that. Bruce Wayne has one line about "I'm still hesitant about developing weapons" to stave off the bad writing. It doesn't work, as this would've been a perfect plot for Iron Man, but definitely not Batman.

Penguing steals the helicopter and Bruce Wayne gets blinded in an explosion. Fortunately, Batman develops a battery-powered device that plugs right into his brain's optic receptors. He apparently built this while blind, too. The rest of the story is Batman chasing Penguin. The battery pack konks out on Batman and he has to fight while completely blind. So he makes the room all steamy and follows the sound of Penguin's coughs.

Ugh. Out of place and out of touch with the characters. Would've been a good story for the 1960's or 70's Batman cartoons, but it's a giant Turd Hoagie in the 90's.

Flash: The Chemo Creature (1968)
From 1968 and the back-half of the "Superman/Aquaman Adventure hour". A simple ant is accidentally mutated into a Giant Ant. Flash runs around and, with the help of some construction material, is able to subdue the monster. Luckily, every piece of equipment Flash needs can be applied to RUNNING. Example: Flash needs to uncoil a giant spool of cable, so he hops up on it and begins RUNNING. In case you didn't know that Flash RUNS FAST. Basic Giant Monster/Disaster plot, but it's okay.

Superman TAS: Target
Lois Lane is being stalked by a guy named Eddie Lightner. He helped her expose one of LexCorps plans and feels slighted because he got diddly out of the deal. Lightner's a mechanical whiz and makes all sorts of ridiculous deathtraps-- including dropping a giant sword on Lois, shooting an elevator into space, or remote-controlling her car.

The animators really liked Lois in this episode. Her skirt seemed to shrink up to cheerleader levels and there's a gratuitous scene of her walking around in a black teddy. Animated Lois is #2 on the "Bangable Lois Scale"....but she's a frickin' cartoon and well behind #1.

Lightner returns soon, as the super-powered "Luminus". Good introduction for his character, even if his schemes seemed a little far-fetched.

SuperFriends- Battle at the Earth's Core
More from the second half of the 1978 season. With the frickin' Wonder Twins. The Twins and a French Guy are sucked into a whirlpool and a Pelucidar knock-off. The SuperFriends follow, in the "Bat-Multi-Craft". Buncha' monsters, buncha' perils... usual stuff. The Twins frustrate the audience again, as they're stuck in the middle of a tar pit, right next to each other. "How can we get out of this, brother?!" Um, tap your hands and transform, you dolts!! In the end, the whole subterranean world is flooded and the SuperFriends fly back home for a Gleek Gag. Yuk, yuk...

Batman: TAS: "The Demon's Quest" Parts 1 &2
Batman's first face-to-face encounter with Ra's al Ghul. Blatant set-up, as Ra's abducts Robin, then takes Batman on an international "test". Batman doing Indiana Jones stuff sounds ridiculous... but it works.

Batman has some fun interplay with Ra's flunky, Ubu. He consistently yells "Infidel" and flings Batman around whenever Bats walks in front of Ra's. Ra's himself is very well done. Good voice characterizations and mannerisms. Only nitpick would be Ra's master plan which involves a satellite. Seems a little too high-tech, considering the way Ra's was introduced. Like he's some ancient mystical guy... but he suddenly deals with satellite death-rays. I know that's the way the character's always been, but it might seem a little weird for "cartoon-only" viewers. But overall, this is a good two-part episode.

This episode was written by Denny O'Neil and Len Wein. Denny, by the way, knows a thing or two about Batman.

Batman TAS: Read My Lips
After a buncha' episodes that began to make Batman feel like an ordinary He-Man type of cartoon, this episode slows things down and goes back to the "mini-movie" format of the early shows.

It's the introduction of Scarface and the Ventriloquist, two, err..ONE of my favorite Bat-villains. These guys were fairly new additions to Batman's crew, debuting in the comics around 1987. So to see them added to the cartoon around 1994 was cool.

It's a very basic plot, but all the focus is on Ventriloquist and Scarface. Whenever they're around, I always like to play into the gimmick and view Scarface as a separate entity. Probably why I like these two so much.

Justice League: The Enemy Below parts 1 &2
The third (or fourth) JL story arc and first official "new hero team-up". It's Aquaman, and while he was introduced in the Superman cartoons a few years prior (with his old, clean cut, orange t-shirt look), this is essentially his DCAU debut. He's the long-haired, grim ruler of Atlantis...more like Namor or an underwater Conan, than the animated Aquaman people had known.

Aquaman's brother, Orm stages a coup and takes over Atlantis while Aquaman's trying to negotiate with the "surface dwellers". Aquaman's always been corny, but he's quite the bad-ass in these episodes. He doesn't "talk to fish" through the entire story. During the show's final battle, he arrives on the back of a killer whale, but otherwise his fish telepathy is never used or mentioned. There's also a Deadshot appearance. Overall, it's a much better story than you'd expect.

This was also the last set of episodes Cartoon Network ran in their initial run of "Justice League". They ran the pilot episode/movie, then did a four week run of new episodes on Monday nights. After this show ran its second episode (remember, the JL shows were two-part 30 minute episodes), Cartoon Network did re-runs of all SEVEN shows (three stories) they had aired, until March 2002. Really sucked, and killed the buzz about this show.

CN was supposed to air two more episodes in the initial batch-- with the Injustice League and Luthor-- but they were set aside since the word "terrorists" was mentioned in them. Justice League premiered in November 2001, so CN execs felt that it was too sensitive and too soon to mention that. The Injustice League episodes finally aired (out of order) in September 2002.

Hey! Haven't done this in awhile (well, I did that entire "Legendary Super Powers Show" DVD), but...

Batman TAS: "The Terrible Trio"
From about 1994 or 1995 and it's essentially a vehicle to update/upgrade the "Terrible Trio"-- 3 goofy Batman villains from the 50's. In this incarnation, they're old frat brothers who live the life of rich assholes, out for kicks. No illusions are created about their identity; we meet their civilian ID's fairly early and it's obvious that they're all scumbuckets. They wear masks of the Fox, Vulture and Shark-- "predators of the land, air and sea". But, umm...I don't really think of a VULTURE as a predator and you could've picked something more intimidating than a FOX.

It's a satisfying episode, but not terribly exciting or inventive. The appeal is simply the novelty of seeing the Trio updated.

Batman TAS: "House & Garden"
From the same batch of episodes. Poison Ivy claims to have reformed and settled down with a husband and two kids. In a huge step for any cartoon show, Ivy mentions that she's sterile due to all of her chemicals and can't have kids. VERY creepy ending, where the Dynamic Duo break into Ivy's basement and find out that she's growing pod-people. Creepy little plant babies start popping out in a scene that probably gave little kids nightmares.

DVD video commentary is supplied with this episode. Some fanboy interviewing Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. Timm comes off very smug in all of his DVD features, but will occasionally provide some interesting facts. Most of his commentary seems to focus on the production aspects of any particular episode.

SuperFriends (Aquaman & Black Vulcan)- "Whirlpool"
One of the "special guest star" episodes from 1976 or so. We used to freak out whenever they had a guest star, even when these things ran in syndication in the early 80's. Usually the highlight of the show.

Anyways, there's an oil tanker intent on making a speed record to Norway, despite a nasty storm. Aquaman and Black Vulcan (the LIGHTNING guy) are supposedly best suited to save the tanker...while Wonder Woman and Batman (who both have AIRPLANES) sit by. So Aquaman swims to Norway, while Black Vulcan flies.

Sure, Aquaman's a good fit....but the guy who shoots LIGHTNING? In the OCEAN? Funny scene where the two heroes are stuck in an giant gas tank reserve. Black Vulcan shots pinpoint lightning to hit a switch, inside the giant vat filled with gas. Of course nothing ignites.

The "special guest star" spots usually had ridiculous plots, as the appeal was just seeing a new hero work alongside the SuperFriends regulars. Even today, when you watch the entire season on DVD, you just want to skip ahead to the guest star episodes.