DC Animation

[Friday]

Michael Ironside returns as Darkseid

god fucking damn it I hadn't cared about this show at all

Can I

Can I just skip season 1 and the bad part of 2

[Thad]

Can and should, though I don't want to get your hopes up too high; Darkseid doesn't have as much screen time as you might be hoping he does.

He first appears in season 2 episode 8, "Inner (Para)Demons". Then he's gone for a couple episodes and show back up in episodes 11-13.

Continuity as of the beginning of episode 8 is: most of the Justice League is trapped inside a book of fairytales, the Joker has amnesia, Batman is injured and out of commission, Nora Fries has been cured but Mr. Freeze is dead due to a fuckup on Harley's part. And Ivy is engaged to Kiteman but she and Harley just kissed.

[beatbandito]

Really, really hate that any remotely big budgeted villain story is "the heroes are incapacitated so the badguys need to be heroes".

[Thad]

That's not exactly how this plays out, though. The first half of season 2 is "the heroes are incapacitated so Harley's fighting a turf war against the rest of the villains, trying to take over Gotham."

The second half is "Harley fucks up and makes a deal with the devil because she's in denial about her feelings for Ivy; by the time she's leading a Parademon invasion of Earth she realizes that's not really what she wants to do, but now there's a world-threatening crisis going on and she's the one who caused it so she has to fix it."

There is that element that Harley has to rescue the Justice League from the Book of Fables so they can fight the invasion, but that just leads to her making another deal with another devil that's sure to come back to haunt her later (the Joker was the only person who knew where the book was, so she has to restore his memory). And it's not just that Harley's stepping up to take care of the invasion because the Justice League is gone; it's that she's the one who caused this mess and it's on her to make it right. It's not the Suicide Squad movie; she hasn't been pressganged into saving the world. She's doing it because she knows she fucked up and she's taking responsibility for it.

I think the show's really at its best when it depicts Harley as a fuckup who's trying to do better. That's a relatable conflict. She's a mess, she's impulsive, she's inconsiderate, and she's made some very bad relationship choices. And she's trying to put all that behind her but it isn't easy. I think that that, and her relationship with Ivy, and (to a lesser extent) her relationship with the rest of her team, are what make the show work, when it does work. That and the outstanding cast.

[Friday]

Injustice Harley is best Harley.

[Thad]

Looks like Superman: TAS is getting a Blu-Ray release on October 19. Neat.

That's probably as close as we're going to get to the complete DCAU being available on Blu-Ray; I'll be surprised if Static Shock gets a Blu-Ray release, much less The Zeta Project.

[Büge]

*crosses fingers for the fully restored scene of Dan Turpin's funeral*

[Thad]

Somebody told me that the episode streaming on HBO Max includes the original version of the scene, so that's a good sign.

I liked that Scioli singled that sequence out in Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics. It gets two panels -- Superman's "Goodbye, old friend" and then the dedication to Jack -- in a place of pride alongside big-deal movies like X-Men and The Avengers.

[Thad]

The funeral scene has been restored but the dedication is missing.

Jesus Christ, they just can't seem to get that episode right.

[Thad]

Anybody have HBO Max? I'm guessing the dedication is probably missing there too, but it'd be good to know for sure.

[makesound]

I've been watching The Batman from 2004, and by god I like it. I remember when it came out I was opposed because it wasn't MY animated Batman. And Justice League Unlimited was so good. But now that I'm older and most likely dumber I'm finally enjoying a Batman cartoon for children. And that makes me feel good.

[Thad]

I only watched the last two seasons but they were solid. I didn't love the designs, but it had a good cast and good writing.

(I particularly liked the Greg Weisman-written episode that takes place 1000 years in the future. The zombie one was good too.)

[makesound]

The designs take some getting used to, but at this point I think I don't care anymore and want things to look wild. I like the Catwoman design because it resembles Year One. What I really like about the show is how goofy it is. Very silver age, but somehow still very serious. One thing I don't like is how the skyline is colored green or purple because it's just distracting.

My favorite Batman cartoon ever will still remain The Brave and the Bold.

[Thad]

TB&TB was a fucking delight and we need more of that Batman everywhere.

Lego Batman and the Batman/Scooby-Doo teamup comics are good examples of Fun Batman continuing to have a foothold. The DTV Return of the Caped Crusaders was fantastic too. Never got around to watching the one with Shatner as Two-Face but I keep meaning to.

[makesound]

I haven't watched it either, but I loved the Batman 66 comics. Mostly because I love Mike Allred art.

[Thad]

This was the background on my phone for a long time (though the version I had was virgin and didn't have any of the trade dress on it):



I met Mike and Laura Allred at a con once. Doc had the original for that one for sale; I didn't even ask what he wanted for it because I know whatever it was I couldn't afford it.

I didn't really get a chance to chat with him -- he was looking over somebody's portfolio and I didn't want to interrupt -- but they both signed my X-Force #116 and I got to chat with Laura a bit. (She said, "Oh, this is the one where we killed the Code!" and I said "I know; thanks for that.")

Years later, as I was leaving the theater after watching Deadpool 2, I joked, "I wonder if my signed copy of the first appearance of Zeitgeist is worth a lot of money now."

[KingRoyal]

TB&TB was a fucking delight and we need more of that Batman everywhere.

I appreciate that Harley Quinn recognizes the value of Diedrich Bader

[Thad]

Basically everyone on Harley Quinn is fantastic except Kaley Cuoco (who's adequate but I'm not sure is even in my top five Harley Quinns). I think Lake Bell is the MVP but it's just a staggeringly good cast all around.

[mharr]

Harley's an odd one, it's beloved in all quarters and seems crazy inventive and self aware from the little I've seen, but holy fuck the Jewish stereotyping in those early episodes. Everything about Penguin Jr's bar mitzvah, "a little Jewish lightning never hurt anyone", the writers' room apparently referencing that character as half man, half Jew... Did I already say holy fuck?

I walked away from that expecting nothing from the show but another edgelord cesspit with the absolute worst fanbase, but it's powered on to charm real-ass people like the Brontos. The Hell happened there?

[Mongrel]

Wait this is the continuation of THAT show?