Double Episode Review: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes : Episode 22 & 23 : "Ultron 5" & "Ultron Imperative"

Ultron 5 & The Ultron Imperative back to back is the culmination of almost a season's worth of foreshadowing in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Peppered throughout previous episodes of the series have been glimpses of Ant-Man's Ultron Synthezoid constructs, with the Avengers recently using them to defend against Kang the Conqueror's invasion in an earlier arc. To fans of the comics seeing that familiar robot around confirmed the show would soon be introducing one of the team's best villains into the cartoon's continuity. I've never had a chance to read the original Ultron saga in comic form, so the chance of seeing an animated retelling has been high on my want-to-see list since I first heard this series was starting. I'm not surprised they waited until the end towards the end of the first season to bring in Ultron either, as his cold, artificial intelligence brings just the right amount evil robot-cliche conflict to the show. Hey, I happen to love evil robot cliches!

Green Lantern (or how I want to learn to stop worrying and love the bomb)

His sight doesn't look too great in that
crappy mask. I'm sure I could escape it.

That headline is a little misleading, as you'll soon see. Recently I've found myself questioning whether I'm a DC person at all.

I mean, I love Batman : TAS, JLU, Young Justice et al, but I've never really gotten into the DC comic scene. Even as a kid, as much as I loved Batman and Superman, my exposure was limited to their various film and television incarnations. In fact, I think I may own precisely one Batman comic, yet thanks to the animated series, movies and video games (not to mention Wizard and general comic conversations) I have quite a good understanding of both his history and his mythology, rogues and relationships included. I have fond memories of watching Richard Donner's Superman as a young boy, particularly enamoured with the scenes of baby Kal-El lifting up the Kent's pickup truck, or young Clark outrunning a train. However I'm outright positive I've never owned a Superman comic, and I couldn't even tell you which few I have read. Once again though, I feel incredibly familiar with just about every aspect of his lore.

Green Lantern on the other hand, well... he's a bit of a mystery to me. You see, when it comes to comics,  you can make mine Marvel. I had a brief daliance with Image for a while there (thanks glossy pages and Michael Turner!) and had initially become a serious comic afficianado through the Dark Horse line of Star Wars books. I can specifically remember Marvel comics I had as a kid though, in particular a 'What If' Fantastic Four comic in which the Silver Surfer didn't betray Galactus. It was full of that wonderful Kirby and Lee madness and strange silver-age science-fiction, and I loved every panel of it.

Which is why I'm so routinely surprised that Green Lantern just doesn't do it for me. Surprised and disappointed. When Green Lantern : First Flight came out, that was my first real introduction to the lore. Once again, I was familiar with aspects of it from JLU, but those team shows never really give you the depth of a characters origins and the premise. I thought First Flight was okay, nothing more. I enjoyed Wonder Woman much more, which is a little shocking, maybe because I think there is just something so overwhelmingly silly about Green Lantern. I love Space Opera, so what the heck is going on here?

WonderCon News of Note-Worthiness!

So perhaps you've had a chance to watch some of the Green Lantern footage premiered at this years Wondercon over in the US, if not here it is again for your consideration:



Fan bait. That's my first reaction to that. It's awesome fan bait yes, but fan bait all the same.

Episode Review: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! : Episode 103 : "Hulk Vs the World"

The Incredible Hulk smashes into his first appearance on Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes in a great episode scripted by Chris Yost and producer Josh Fine. Titled 'Hulk Vs the World' it also happens to be a surprising introduction for the Green Goliath as he's not alone with 'The World' including the series' introduction to both Hawkeye and the Black Widow. So there's a lot going on in this episode that isn't Hulk just breaking stuff for 22 minutes as you might expect, because there's also a lot more Avengers world-building going here AND Hulk breaking stuff!

Captain America : The First Avenger - Trailer online!

There's a trailer out for Captain America : The First Avenger!

It's been a while since I've written anything, which has been pretty disappointing. Fortunately, it's largely been for great reasons, like starting a contract at Rising Sun Pictures. It's been a lot of work that has left me without the energy to keep up with half of the shows I'm supposed to be watching/reviewing (not to mention a big Chuck diversion that's taken over), and even less energy to sit down and write about it all.

Having said that, there's a trailer out for Captain America : The First Avenger!

Making a few comments on a trailer felt like a good way to ease back into the writing, so first let's check it out and then we'll comment.

Episode Review: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! : Episode 102 : "Thor the Mighty"

Hell yeah! Now this is more like it!

After last episode's low-key introduction to Iron Man, this time around we get a mini-epic full of Shakespearean theatrics and super-heroics, and it's all thanks to The Mighty Thor!

Now in the interest of transparency and full disclosure, I need to reveal I'm a huge fan of Thor and his extended family of Norse gods, the Asgardians. In 2007 Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski started a superlative comic run writing Thor for Marvel, breathing new life into the character and relaunching the canceled comic title. So good it actually encouraged me to go back and read the classic Walt Simonson run on Thor in the 80's, featuring some of his craziest cosmic tales. Perhaps it's also just me, but Thor has to be the perfect comic to read while also listening to some heavy, dynamic progressive rock, perfectly matching all of his psychedelic trips through the Marvel cosmos. It's also easy to say that my love for Thor is reaching fever peak with a live-action Thor feature film coming out this May, that will also have Marvel hoping to lure more than just this fan's money to the cinema. So how does the Norse god of Smacktalk and Smiting fare in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

Episode Review: Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes : Episode 101 : "Iron Man is Born"

Just before into to the actual episode, I can’t go any further without at first talking about the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes opening title sequence:




Thor throws his mighty hammer, Cap’s shield zips around, Hulk smashes things ... Cool. It's definitely the Avengers I recognise from the Comics. They’re heavily stylised with some of the heroes appearing very angular, but overall they're visually safe character designs and it’s obviously them. No D-list members clogging up the ranks, no unbearably cute sidekicks and thankfully, no ridiculous battle armour!

The Avenger's Earths Mightiest Heroes: An epic introduction to the series from our new reviewer!

Welcome to my first posting here on Jung Justice, of what will be an on-going look at Marvel's latest cartoon: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Published now for nearly 50 years, the Avengers comic has always been the perfect showcase for seeing Marvel's most enduring characters in action. Now that they’ll be appearing in animation, I'll be reviewing the series regularly here on the site mainly for fun, but also to fill a void in the surprising lack of in-depth reviews of the show on the net. So just before I get stuck into it, I'd like to do an overview of the series which I'll kick off now with a quote from Christopher Yost, the story editor and 'showrunner' for this new Avengers cartoon venture:

"It’s the Avengers. And it’s not crazy armored Avengers. Or it’s not Teen Avengers. It’s the Avengers you know and love and have always wanted to see. It’s Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Ant Man, Wasp, Captain America, Hawkeye. It’s the Avengers. The premise of the show is literally, Avengers, go. There isn’t any crazy twist like they’re in an alternate reality or in the Negative Zone or some bizarre thing. There is 40 years worth of Avengers’ stories, start telling them."
- Source: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20785 April 13th, 2009

Now this quote, taken from one of Chris Yost's first interviews while the show was still in production, clearly is a huge mission statement. Yost immediately heads off any fears that Marvel's characters will be mishandled, which to a Marvel fan like myself is incredibly reassuring, considering that the Avengers as a franchise has never succeeded outside the realm of Comics. Sure there's been a couple of moderately successful Direct-to-DVD animated features and live-action Hollywood blockbuster on the horizon, but there's only been one real attempt by Saban to bring the characters to TV. Thankfully, the hilarious '90s ‘Avengers: United They Stand’ lasted all of one season and are those 'crazy armored Avengers' mentioned above by Yost. As a fan it's really been a shame that all those classic Avengers tales have never been told in any other medium before, at least not successfully.

X-Men First Class : Stylish first trailer defies expectations

Matthew Vaughn is a very interesting filmmaker. With  the first look at X-Men: First Class now available online, I find myself caught between two reactions. The trailer both defies my expectations for the film and manage to deliver exactly what I should expect from a director like Vaughn.

It was only the other day in my post for the Superman Classic short film, that I commented on a desire to see more comic book movies with a period setting. I can't believe I'd forgotten all about First Class. If there is one thing this trailer does well, it's set up this alternate history Earth where Mutants got caught up in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

At the moment, this setup most echoes Watchmen, but like I've previously discussed, it's great that movies like this and Captain America are doing the period setting. X-Men was born in the 60s, and it deserves to start there. It provides a short hand richness to the world that makes it all the more believable than the 'few year from now' setting the first three movies used.

It's also exciting to see them sidestep a teaser and go straight to showing us all a good glimpse of the footage, while still keeping the movie close to their chest. We've got plenty of mutant action, the costumes look much better in motion (and every body bitching about the 'parachute straps' needs to shut up as they're on a jet during this scene. makes sense to incorporate parachute straps to me), we've got a few intriguing hints in regards to the Hellfire Club as well as a snippet of what appears to be Vaughn's largest action scene yet. (Magneto pulling a submarine from the water? wow).

Click though for the embed.

'Superman Classic' short film by Disney animator, Robb Pratt

It's not every day you get to see what a DC animated short might look like if it were owned by Disney instead of Warner Bros, but here it is! Veteran Disney animator, Robb Pratt, has directed and animated a fantastic Superman fan film called 'Superman Classic'. It only runs for about a minute, but it perfectly references that Fleischer era of Superman (with maybe a nod to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow). It's a helluva minute, with detailed hand-drawn animation bringing Clark and Lois to life in a way that Warner Bros animation doesn't do. The exchange between Lois and Clark outside the Daily Planet is exquisite, and that's before giant robots arrive on the scene.

Captain America and Thor : Superbowl Spots

Captain America. Marvel

I doubt I'll usually link to much in the way of upcoming films and projects, but these two Superbowl Spots from Marvel are going to have to be an initial exception. Marvel Studios has a pretty good track record so far (3 for 3, with a few minor quibbles), so I'm expecting these to be knocked out of the park.

I've had a good feeling about Captain America for a while now, with every bit of casting news sounding like gold to me. That even includes Chris Evans (as Steve Rogers, see Poster on left), who has been a solid actor in a few films as well as experienced dealing with the ridiculousness of comic book movies. I also don't think that his role as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four will mess with peoples heads. He's an actor, let him take the job!

Joe Johnston also gets a bit of a bum rap for the work he's done. The Rocketeer is still a favourite of mine for pulp adventures, Jurassic Park III was a more accurate version of the book than JPII and he managed to salvage something gorgeous and occasionally interesting from The Wolfman.

Just like Iron Man and Incredible Hulk, there's seems to be a genuine desire to find the best way to translate these comic book ideas and visuals to the silver screen, without sacrificing what made them great in the first place. The Spider-Man films had their moments, and the X-Men films were fairly true to the premise of the books, but they often deviated wildly from established designs and characterisations. Spidey may have looked right, be he never really acted like Spidey, going silent during melees instead of slinging as many witticisms as he does webs. X-Men got the underlying thematic stuff right (as you'd expect from Singer), but failed to find a believable way to translate the colourful visuals. 

With that in mind, take a look at the first footage for Captain America: The First Avenger after the jump.

DC Showcase: The Spectre, Jonah Hex, Green Arrow and Captain Marvel

In my last post about Young Justice, I went on a tangent about how impressed I am with the some of the current crop of animation directors working in television. Within that crowd there is one in particular that I've been keeping an eye out for, and that is Joaquim Dos Santos. I loved every minute of G.I. Joe: Resolute and he'd contributed to some of the best episodes to Justice League: Unlimited and Avatar: The Last Airbender. With this in mind it was no surprise to see his name on the credits for the DC Showcase shorts.

That is to say, each of these short films is excellent.

Over the past few years DC, via Warner Bros Animation, have been delving into the direct-to-dvd market. The films have varied in quality, from average to oustanding, but they're always too short. Or too long. Either way, it's an awkward running time with each film playing like a three-parter of a well produced tv series.

Typically, these films have to focus on the big three, or at least the original power players of the Justice League. So far we've had Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, a couple of Batman films and a couple of Justice League films. While we occasionally get to glimpse some of the lesser known heroes, its always in a supporting role and usually in combat, meaning we get very little character. In response to this we have the DC Showcase, a series of awesome short films released alongside the larger features.

Episode Review: Young Justice "Schooled" : Episode 1.05

'If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster?' - Robin

Well, to paraphrase Superboy in this weeks episode, 'I am totally feeling the 'aster'.

I think it's safe to say that Young Justice has already done things with the team superhero format that neither Teen Titans or Justice League ever did. There's a richness to the character dynamics between Super Heroes that usually plays out solely in the realm of the costumed escapades. Unless your name is Smallville, in which case the costumes are an afterthought. My memory of Justice League may be a little hazy, but I don't recall them ever exploring what these people are like out of costume. That sort of stuff was kept for shows about the individuals. You didn't want to see Bruce Wayne hanging out at Watchtower, you want to see Batman. Teen Titans always had our heroes 'in character' and in costume, whether they were in the field or watching movies in their ridiculous T shaped headquarters.

Young Justice says, 'we've written that before and you guys have seen it before'. So by episode five, a series centred around the teenage heroes indulges in a quiet moment between Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent in a diner (in civvies), discussing the complex paternal relationship that needs to form between Kent and his clone, Superboy. In another show, this conversation would have happened on a rooftop, and in costume. For the first time I realise how absurd it is for these Gods amongst men to make every little conversation more melodramatic than it needs to be; in outer space, or in a hollowed out mountain, or a Bat-cave. It makes so much more sense for this intimate moment to take place between the two real people, as opposed to their public personas. They're all friends after all right? The exchange itself is superb, succinctly defining the two characters and their differing approach to the dilemma of a perpetually pissed off Superboy (with a cute gag involving Clark and Bruce ordering Apple Pie and Devils Food Cake, respectively) The banner at the top of the review may say Young Justice but I'm certain this series will encompass as much (maybe more) of the DC Universe as any one series before it.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies - Review

The short version; 'Superman/Batman: Public Enemies' is an explosively enjoyable and stupendously stupid romp through the Superhero battlefield.

You really don't need to know much more than that. The title clues you in as to whether you're predisposed to liking it (I partially am), its typical of DC animation that its full of well animated destruction, however, it also finds itself lacking in the story and character department. I'm a Batman fan, at least in regards to animation, and one of the compelling aspects of that character is his intelligent approach to problems. This is not that movie. This story is essentially an excuse for a series of knockdown brawls, pushing anything resembling interesting character moments or intricate plotting. However, and its a big caveat, is that those brawls are awesome, and the roster of characters is some impressive fan-service, and it delivers some big and silly blockbuster entertainment.

Episode Review: Young Justice "Drop Zone" : Episode 1.04

It may be early in the show's run, but I'm going to go ahead and make it official anyway.

Young Justice is my favourite DC animated series.

I'll explain why shortly, but I'll start by saying that I absolutely loved "Drop Zone". It had the best version of Bane I've ever seen in any of the Batman media (voiced by Trejo no less!), it had one of the coolest 'Men on a Mission' scenarios I've seen in a while, it had compelling character moments wrapped up in a cocoon of exceedingly well animated action scenes and tied in bow of mythology. This is only episode four; I can only imagine what the show runners have in store for us.

'The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' reviews coming soon (with new reviewer) / My thoughts on Marvel animation

So far on this site I've written about a 'Man of Action' show and a 'DC' show. I know it's early days, and I'm planning on covering a lot more shows, but this amuses me because I've always been one of those 'Make Mine Marvel!' kind of guys.

There's something about Marvel's line up of heroes and the Universe that draws me to it over DC's. DC truly does have a Pantheon, the JLU a veritable roster of gods. Marvel always felt a little more accessible. I love the pulp sci-fi of the Fantastic Four, the action packed soap opera that is X-Men, loony-tunes like Deadpool, just about everything about Spider-Man.

So I've always found it bittersweet that their animated projects tend to be a little lacking. The sweet comes from me being able to balance my superhero intake with some DC via their animated universe. Marvel for comics and movies and DC for animation. This keeps things nice and simple.

But then we got Spectacular Spider-Man,

Episode Review : Young Justice “Welcome To Happy Harbour” : Episode 1.03)

Well it’s been a pretty long break; between episodes of my favourite toons airing as well as an entry into the blog. I knew this was going to take a while before I got into the swing of it… not to mention got good at it.

So, in order to get the ball really rolling, the next few entries may be somewhat lacking, but then again, I love reading those reviews of Outlaw Vern that end in, ‘why didn’t I finish this review?”. Also, the format will be different to last time, but I’ll figure it all out eventually.

“Welcome to Happy Harbor” starts off in Star City with our Young Justice team dropping in on Speedy to try and convince him to join the team. Speedy just so happens to be in the middle of dealing with Brick at the Dockyards (in quite the dynamic action scene to boot), which is indicative of the way Young Justice does business. It’s not content to do one thing at a time, and I mean that in the best way.