Catching Up

Things have not exactly been looking up since this post. So, here I am sick at home. First, my wife Magi had minor surgery, then Sera caught H1N1, then Magi caught H1N1. Somewhere in there, I probably had it too, but with lessened symptoms. After, let's see, two trips to urgent care, one surgeon's visit, and three other trips to the doctor and pediatrician, we can look forward to all of us being healthy for the first time since the beginning of October--maybe by this weekend. I guess it's a good thing I had a lot of sick days saved up, because I've taken at least two per week for four straight weeks. And health insurance? Yeah, it's paid for itself in the past month. I can't imagine what we would have paid out for our all-too-frequent visits these past weeks, between urgent care, ordinary doctor's visits and the subsequent prescriptions. It would have been quite the kick while we were already down.

The bright side of it is that I get to drink Mountain Dew mixed with orange juice and not feel guilty about calories. I've been catching up on TV watching and DVDs that I've been saving, including the DVD set for the 1973 Star Trek cartoon, which I dearly loved as a kid but seldom got to watch. Twenty-two episodes were made, and I bet I haven't seen half of them! It was a big hit with Mrs. Burkholder's third graders in the fall of that year, and when we went out for recess I always got to play Captain Kirk. Why? For the same reason Bruce Hartman always got to be Batman when we were the Super Friends. For a reason that only third graders could invent. Because my name is Jim.

Top Ten Results of Disney Buying Marvel

Top Ten Results of Disney Buying Marvel

10. Wolverine now has feathers for claws.
9. Howard the Duck and Donald Duck revealed as longlost cousins.
8. Ant-Man and the Wasp now hosts of “It’s a Small World” ride.
7. Every blogger in the universe coins phrase, “Mouse of Ideas” simultaneously.
6. The Starjammers are the new Pirates of the Caribbean.
5. Super-Goof now known as Spider-Goof.
4. Mickey’s Clubhouse now has a Danger Room.
3. Lilandra of the Shi’ar Empire is the newest Disney princess.
2. “Beauty and the Beast” has to be recolored to make the Beast blue.
1. “Steamboat Willie Lumpkin.” ‘Nuff said.

Swiped!

On the left, the cover art for the upcoming DVD release of the 1988 Ruby-Spears Superman cartoons. On the right, original art from John Byrne's 1986 Man of Steel miniseries. I'm sure Byrne is being paid for that...right?

Green Lantern: First Blood--er, Flight

Yeah, this was the way I grew up on Green Lantern...or not. DC is shrinking their already dwindling market AGAIN with a level of violence that will not fly with good parents or teachers who like their jobs. I can't show this crap in my classroom as a way of introducing even 14-year olds to one of my favorite characters. And there's no way I'll show this to my daughter. They blew it again as far as I'm concerned.

Blue Popsicles

When I was almost four years old, one of my earliest memories was of watching Saturday morning cartoons with my dad. He was working third shift at the G.W. Bliss factory in Hastings, Michigan, and he slept most of the hours that I was awake. The one time I got to see him during daylight hours was when he came home on Saturday morning and we watched cartoons together. 1968 was a particularly good year for cartoons, and we watched them side-by-side while eating Kool-Pops. I always had a preference for the blue ones, and strangely enough my daughter prefers them too, without any urging from me.

Everything these days reminds me of my dad.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

My Daughter Watches the Watchmen

Yeah, but not the one in theaters:

The Definition of Irony

"The world of the graphic novel is a curious one. For every masterwork, such as “Persepolis” or “Maus,” there seem to be shelves of cod mythology and rainy dystopias, patrolled by rock-jawed heroes and their melon-breasted sidekicks. Fans of the stuff are masonically loyal, prickling with a defensiveness and an ardor that not even Wagnerians can match."--Anthony Lane, from his review of "Watchmen" in the New Yorker

Now, read that passage again with the voice of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons and I think we shall see the very definition of irony. I believe it was The Bard himself who said, "Worst review ever."

The Cleavage in Wonder Woman Isn't What You're Expecting

"Your daughter has a nice rack."--Steve Trevor

Last time I bought a DC Universe Original Animated Movie, I popped "Justice League the New Frontier" into Sera's DVD player only to watch Hal Jordan blow a North Korean soldier's head apart with his .45, which quickly got turned off to be viewed in private. This time I was a little more cautious, and rightly so. Wonder Woman was a very good animated movie...for me. The first things that happen in the opening scene include a soldier being cut through the torso with a sword, followed by an Amazon being cleaved through the clavicle with an axe, and then a bunch more soldiers take arrows to their chests, necks, shoulders, et al. This all happens bloodlessly, miraculously enough, but it's enough to make me...well, wonder.

Wake up, DC! This is the first screen version of Wonder Woman (outside of Justice League) in 30 years. Shouldn't you be trying to get a whole new generation of girls interested in superheroes and comic books and animation? Then why, oh why did you make a PG-13 animated movie that no child should watch? The first lines of the movie are truly great: Ares says, "You seem as eager to meet me on the battlefield as you once did in the bedroom, Hippolyta," to which the Amazon queen responds, "I only hope you prove more skilled in this arena, Ares." Like I'm going to have my child watch this, you know--ever??

You, as a company are going to make a few dollars from fans like me, but you already have me as an audience. If you think long-term, you want to grow your fanbase and increase your sales. You're not going to do that by releasing a PG-13 animated movie that only appeals to a few of us. If you're really going to go all out, put the blood in and rate it R. Or tone back the beheadings, impalements and slashing violence and make it PG, so that my daughter can watch it before she's a teenager, and just maybe become a fan of Wonder Woman.

The animation, acting, design, and staging were really great in this movie. The color palettes alone were just gorgeous. I loved it, but I think it was a mistake to make it.

Wonder Woman Animated DVD

This looks really good. Out on March 3:

Hulk vs. Thor

...Yawn. Honestly, it was kind of boring. Watching two Hulk animated films back to back may have been a mistake. Yes, it was "Hulk smash!" time after time, and there was Loki, being all tricky, and the Enchantress wanting Thor for herself, while Thor's attentions were cast toward Sif and well, it just wasn't that great.

Now, if Marvel ever really wants to do Thor up right, they'll take a page from DC's book and adapt the Walt Simonson Thor saga. I would pay big money to watch something like that!

"Hulk Smash Claw People!"

I bought the Hulk vs. DVD today, and watched the first disc, Hulk vs. Wolverine. All I can say is that that you've never seen Wolverine like this before...on video. There are amputations, blood by the gallon, and mass slaughter.

That said, there were good elements of the video as well. There are classic Wolverine lines like, "I'm the best there is at what I do. But what I do isn't very nice." There are classic screen shots, like the McFarlane image of the Hulk reflected in Wolverine's claws:

In a flashback we get to see a quick origin story ala Barry Windsor Smith's Weapon X. The fights are well worthwhile, evocative of classic Wolverine/Sabertooth matchups of the past, as in this movie Wolverine takes on some of his greatest enemies, including Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike, Omega Red, and...er, well, Deadpool too.

It never fails to amaze me how Wolverine went from a guy with unbreakable bones and a healing factor that would allow him to recover from a sword wound in a few months to an unstoppable, nigh-invulnerable fighting machine who can be punched literally miles through the air without his little squishy brain running out of his ears. The battle between the Hulk and Wolverine rages throughout the Canadian Rockies, which I think the Hulk actually breaks at one point. It's too bad because the background paintings were beautiful!

Kudos also go to Jeff Matsuda, who designed the characters for this movie. Watching the special features, I love the detail he provides in describing the designs. You get to see turnarounds for the main characters and some sketches as well, which as I've said before, is my favorite part of animation and comics work.

As usually happens in Marvel films, you'll want to watch all the way through the credits for a little bonus shot at the end.

Tomorrow: Hulk vs. Thor!

Jonny Quest

I've been going through some old animation and comics seeking inspiration for my book, and I can't find a better example of classic television animation than Jonny Quest. Jonny Quest was originally a prime time show that only lasted one season, beginning in September 1964, three months before I was even born. However, it found new life in syndication being shown on Saturday mornings in 1967, which is when I first saw it.

Jonny Quest is the 11-year old son of Dr. Benton Quest, a scientist who often works for the US government. Both Quests are accompanied by Roger T. "Race" Bannon, who serves as tutor, bodyguard, and pilot for the Jonny, as well as his Indian friend, Hadji, who joins the family in the second episode. As Dr. Quest travels the world working on various scientific projects, Jonny and Hadji learn at Race's side. He teaches them Judo, SCUBA diving, as well as academic subjects. They were often faced with international intrigue, as villains would try to steal Dr. Quest's technology or research.

From the opening electric guitar notes of the theme song, with its jazz beat and horn section, quick cuts, lasers and explosions, I was hooked. This show, obviously inspired by the James Bond movies, shows the hopeful optimism of the pre-Vietnam 1960s, when American know-how and might were thought to be unchallenged. The Quests had lasers, submersible vehicles, jet packs, hovercraft, portable telecommunication, you name it. It was like every Q gadget wrapped up in one cartoon. It's this early 1960s sensibility that you can easily see inspired Brad Bird's "The Incredibles." He even appears on the DVD set's special features, singing the show's praises.

I'm watching the first episode right now, "Mystery of the Lizard Men," and the McGuffin that the bad guys are after is a (finger quote) LASER (/finger quote). It's funny that something so futuristic in 1964 that they were afraid the technology would fall into enemy hands is sitting in my drawer upstairs where I use it as a toy for my dog to chase in the back yard.
Jonny Quest is also unique to cartoons in its violence and intensity. They shoot real guns that fire real bullets that kill real people in this show. Race throws a grenade into the lap of a thug in a Jeep and it blows up all four passengers.

An unfortunate side effect of the 1960s sensibilites are the racial stereotypes shown. Asians were very often the bad guys and they were colored a most unnatural yellow. Mexicans were shown to be swarthy and untrustworthy. Germans were more often than not former Nazis. Unless you were an American on this show, or a friend of the Americans, you were eeeevil.

Still, the show in its historical context is the best example I can think of, of an action show. It was the target of parents' groups in the late 60s and early 70s, and yet I somehow managed to grow up a non-violent person. I wish there were more shows like this now.

Genius

I know I've said it here before, but Sean "Cheeks" Galloway is a genius of design. Here are his versions of Mysterio and Kraven from the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, the second season of which will be seen here in America on Disney XD starting in March. Cheeks is being recognized with an Animation Award nomination for best character designer. I wish I had his talent...and his job!

The Goofy Holler

Has anyone ever heard of the "Goofy holler?" I hadn't until I was looking up information about Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." I had noticed the soldiers making this sound as they were launched into the air, and it was the same sound that Goofy made the other day on an episode of Mickey's Clubhouse that Sera and I watched the other day. Sure enough, it is mentioned in the Wikipedia article. Then I found a blog where the writer actually put a video together of all the Goofy hollers he knew about.

I love learning new things about old stuff that I have enjoyed for years, don't you?

Spectacular Spider-Man

As a fan of Sean "Cheeks" Galloway's artwork, I really looked forward to more Hellboy animated movies. However, it looks like there won't be any more for the forseeable future, so I'll have to settle for The Spectacular Spider-Man!

I watched the first few episodes of this series with the help of my able two-year old assistant, but she took a little more of my attention than this show required. Saturday mornings quickly became more about making breakfast than watching cartoons. But recently, I needed some folders for school to organize my papers and I saw these cool Spectacular Spider-Man ones so my interest was rekindled. Sera helped too, since she has been wanting to watch "Spidey-Man" every night before bed for the past few weeks, but I was getting tired of chapter-skipping to where he's in costume, so I checked online to see if the Spectacular Spider-Man had been released on DVD yet. It took some searching, but I finally found a copy of "Attack of the Lizard," comprised of the first three episodes, which have been edited into a "full-length" movie.

I really like the design of Spider-Man. In this cartoon, Peter Parker is still a 16-year old high school junior, and he's not all musclebound as superheroes tend to be. What I really like, though, is the way they shaped his mask's eyes, so that the black outline has actual substance and adds to the shape of his head left). I don't think I've ever seen it done quite like that before. Usually, artists make the eyelets look like lenses that bend outward when viewed from the side. The heavy black outline of the eyes of the mask allow the character to be very expressive as only a cartoon character can, when wearing a full face mask. The producers of the live-action movies could never duplicate that, which is why Spider-Man so often suffers from "superhero unmasking syndrome."

Storywise, the producers take a few elements from the movies, but have really stuck to the early comics so far as introducing villains. I've only watched those first three episodes, but in those three episodes they gave us the Vulture, the Enforcers, Electro, and the Lizard, pretty faithfully taken from the comics, which I have started to re-read from my Marvel Masterworks books. I really like that they made it so that not every villain is green, as was the case in the early comics. Here are the Vulture, Electro, and the Lizard. Electro's old suit really made him look dated, so this one's actually an improvement. And the Vulture certainly looks scarier in black and red!

Another big selling point for me is that the show runner is Greg Weisman, creator and former supervising producer of Disney's "Gargoyles," a show that I really loved. This is a guy who knows how to produce an engaging show for kids with complex plotlines that adults can enjoy following too. And as any fan of Spider-Man knows, Spider-Man's story is one long soap opera. Looks like my VCR and DVR are going to be busy for the next few Saturdays. I have ten episodes of the first season that I haven't seen!

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

The new Batman cartoon premiered tonight on Cartoon Network, and well...yeah...uh...

It's pretty bad.

Batman pulled a flexible batarang off of his chest insignia, wielded a lightsaber contained in his utility belt, and apparently his costume is also a space suit complete with jets (made from the tubes on his belt) powerful enough that they allow him to reach escape velocity. And that was all in the first ten minutes.

Batman teaming up with Green Arrow for the opening teaser was pretty cool as they defeated the Clock King, and then we are introduced to Jaime Hernandez, aka the Blue Beetle. This version of the Blue Beetle actually works really well in animation and could definitely hold his own in a spinoff. It's just too bad that it was announced yesterday that his comic book series is being cancelled.

I didn't have a problem with the animation and design styles at all. In fact, it's really cool seeing a Dick Sprang Batman animated on the screen. But Diedrich Bader (Oswald from the Drew Carey Show) is his voice, and it's just kind of weird because his voice is so familiar to me. I'm sure it's okay to kids who don't know him from Adam (West, that is!).

I only got a glimpse of the Batmobile in the credits, but it looks uber-cool.

I'll keep watching, but wow, I hope they pull the imagination back a little.

Update: You can see a few clips, including the credits with the Batmobile, here.

LOL

I only use LOL when something actually makes me laugh out loud.

Here was a blog comment on some still shots promoting the new Brave and the Bold cartoon, premiering November 14 on Cartoon Network (one seen at left):

"The Ugly American Says: Batman looks so ANGRY in those shots. It’s like somebody killed his parents or something."

Flashback

I was browsing deviantart.com today and ran across this piece (click to enlarge) from Dusty Abell. Dusty must be about my age because I know every character and vehicle on it. How many can you name?

Late addition: By the way, compare Ark II, at left, with the Space Academy's cruiser in the upper right.

Speed Racer

I need to watch two or three black-and-white movies just to cleanse my color palette. It wasn't as bad as the reviews said, but wow, my eyes nearly bled from a chromatic overdose.

Steven E. Gordon

I just picked up Steven E. Gordon's new sketchbook, "Expressions & Attitudes," Volume 2. If you don't know who Steven is, he's the character designer for X-Men Evolution. And when I say character designer, I mean he designed every single character, from mains to background. He was also a director for the series. He also did character designs and directed "Ultimate Avengers," the animated adaptation of "The Ultimates." His designs are simple along the lines of an Alex Toth, but his proportions are more superheroic, with much longer limbs. His sketchbooks don't just have character design sheets, they have sketch after sketch of the characters in various moods and at various angles. It's really a nice package.

His website has a number of cool features, too. He has "How to Draw" sections for the X-Men Evolution characters, including hand theory, one of my weak points. His theories on animated design are a lot like others I have seen (draw straight lines opposing curves, for example) but it's good to have it all in one place. If you ask me, I think he should be putting out a book on how to draw for animation. He has more useful stuff on his website for free than many of the books I've paid for.