by ·1 Comment

Thanks to Michael for showing me this Japanese Batman cartoon intro. It’s the intro for the 1977 New Adventures of Batman animated series (with a few additional clips and edits) set to a crazy Batman theme. Can’t believe I’d never heard of this before.

After watching it, I saw the Japanese opening for the X-Men animated series from Fox in the 1990’s. It’s much more intense than the original opening. Very different from the Batman opening. Interesting how much styles and tastes have changed in 20 years.

by ·0 Comments

Superman Clone (Kel) from the 41st Century in the Legion of Super Heroes Season 2

A few preview images have popped up over at Comic Book Resources for the Season 2 premiere of Legion of Super Heroes. The Legion looks older, which is a move that surprises me. I would have thought the younger kids/teen Legion would market better. I do know, the older Legion presented here looks more interesting to me. The premise for Season2 has a few interesting tidbits, like a clone of Superman from the 41st Century–Legion is set in the 31st. He recruits the Legion to help him battle Imperiex, who actually follows the Superman clone to the 31st century and gathers all of the Legion’s villains into an army. Lots of heroes and lots of villains – cool.

Eddie Brock from the new Spectacular Spider-Man animated seriesNext up, be sure to check out the ENI interview with Spectacular Spider-Man animated series director Victor Cook. He offers up a few bits of interesting information, but the highlight of the article are the character drawings featuring the main cast. They’ve done a great job in updating the characters while retaining the uniqueness of that character.

For instance, look at Eddie Brock. Counting the original, the Ultimate Spider-Man version, and the Spider-Man 3 version, that’s 3 different version of the character the series could have adapted. Instead, the version on the left looks like a perfect melding of those versions. He’s big and bulky like the original, but young like the Ultimate version. I always liked the huge Venom as opposed to the mirror image of Spider-Man that the film portrayed. He’s more menacing and threatening. Can’t wait for this show to premiere later in the year. It’s previewed so well, the original season has been extended from 13 to 26 episodes. Be sure to check out the rest of the images at ENI.

Finally, I just now discovered this Season 5 interview with the Teen Titans animated series head writers. It’s full of information on the fifth and final season and answered a lot of questions. The fifth season was always planned as the last, but 20 episodes were originally ordered instead of the typical 13. If you’re a fan of the Cartoon Network Teen Titans show, it’s definitely worth a read.

by ·2 Comments

Fantastic Four World’s Great Heroes Season 3 AdIf you’re a fan of the new Cartoon Network Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes cartoon, there is good news for next year. According to an ad in the recently released Volume 2 DVD, a full season set is in the works. That’s good news for U.S. fans, because the show has bounced around and been delayed on Cartoon Network’s schedule numerous times. In the one year the show has been airing, only 14 episodes have aired.

Seven episodes aired through October on 2006. The show was put on hold to be picked up when the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie was released. Five more episodes aired starting in June of 2007 until the show was dumped (without notice) to an early Saturday morning slot, where only two more episodes have aired.

It wasn’t a perfect show, but it had a cool style and the dynamic between the characters was perfect. It was a weekend ritual for Carter and I to watch the latest episode on TiVo. Hopefully the Season 1 DVD set will be released and we can catch all of the episodes when we feel like it.