Category Archives: cartoon

What?!? No More Kids' WB!?!?

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

And then, in 2008, there was none. Damn. Money really does talk, and talk well, huh? DAMN! What happened to subsidizing your BRANDS? Oh, that’s right; the network is the CW now. Boy, am I naive! LOL! 🙂

Clearly, after 16 years of geek bliss, it’s finally time to leave the house on Saturday mornings. 🙂 I will always have great memories of the Great Animated Superhero Cartoon Commercial Television Era of 1992 (the year “Batman: TAS” premiered on Fox Kids on weekday afternoons) to 2008. “X-Men,” “Spider-Man: TAS,” “Phantom 2040” , “Gargolyes” and “Superman: TAS” followed on Fox Kids, Kids WB! or in weekdaily or weekend first-run syndication (not counting UPN Kids, ’cause it just showed repeats of the other network shows), all to great acclaim from fanboys (read: me 🙂 ).

And on and on, “Fantastic Four: TAS,” “Iron Man: TAS,” “Silver Surfer: TAS” (my all-time favorite) “The Avengers: TAS,” and more, as the ’90s turned into ’00s. Up through “The Batman” (a show I only tolerated until it began to take itself seriously, writing-wise, at the start of its fourth season) and “Legion of Super Heroes.”

With Fox Kids and Kids’ WB! gone, at 39 I really can’t make the audience investment anymore, following the remaining cartoons to cable or wherever. *SIGH* At least there are now a lot of (direct–to-) DVD animated films from which to choose.

Time to take those Saturday art classes—sculpture? painting?— I keep claiming I want. And perhaps I should start pulling out my “How-To-Write-A-Screenplay” books and my African myth anthologies……..

VERY Quick Reviews Of Black Panther Nos. 24-29 and Fantastic Four 544-548

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

blackpantherfourthehardwaytpb.jpg

The above—a Fantastic Four briefly led by T’Challa, with significant backup from Storm—was probably the only good thing to come out of Marvel Comics’ Civil War.

***

BLACK PANTHER 24-29
WRITER: Reginald Hudlin
PENCILLERS: Marcus To and Koi Turbull (24); To (25); Francis Portela (26-27; pencils and inks on 28-29);
INKERS: Don Ho, Jeff de los Santos (24-25), Sal Regla and Nick Nix (24); Victor Olazaba (26-27)
PLOT: The Civil War continues in 24 and 25. In the aftermath, King T’Challa and Queen Storm find a special crib in which to crash, and an important task. Then a refurbished Foursome meet the Marvel Zombies…….

FANTASTIC FOUR 544-548
WRITER: Dwayne McDuffie
PENCILLER: Paul Pelletier
INKER: Rick Magyar
PLOT: The “new” Fantastic Four go up against The Silver Surfer and The Frightful Four.

VERDICTS: As far as Hudlin’s BLACK PANTHER goes, I eagerly await his NEXT storyline—which, hopefully, will be in Wakanda. The Civil War crossover issues try their best to solidify the Panther-Storm relationship, but nothing else happens, except a couple of sub-plots. Continuity again takes a walk, even from less than five years ago: Panther and Falcon talk about upgrading Falcon’s wings, when Panther ALREADY DID THAT in the pages of CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON. The Marvel Zombie storyline is not even worth discussing.

McDuffie had me cheering through his episodes of “Justice League Unlimited,” so I’m happy to report that his Fantastic Four is quite solid, albeit surface-level. Add Pelletier’s lovely art, and you’ve got a more-than-decent read.

Fanboys pitched a fit when T’Challa—who, in McDuffie’s book, at least, was a little more like the character Priest envisioned—was able to arm-lock Ol’ Chrome Dome. I guess they forgot when Stan Lee had Spider-Man do pretty much the same thing back in the day. Meanwhile, I got a little tired of seeing Sue captured for the 400th time and watching The Frightful Four try to get it together yet AGAIN, but the stories were entertaining, and I guess that’s the (only) point in 2007, right?

AUGUST 29th UPDATE (BLACK PANTHER 30 and FANTASTIC FOUR 549): Hudlin’s dialogue is still uneven, 30 issues into his BP run. *SIGH*.

McDuffie putting in Sue’s mouth the words “I. AM NOT. A HOSTAGE,” and her subsequent taking DOWN of three of the Frightful Four/Five by her damn self, was worth the price of the mag alone.  🙂 Again, if the goal is fun, the brothers are trying their best.

My View Of "Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer"

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

The 8-year-old (or so) I was with Friday night loved it. And my 9:15 p.m. Silver Spring showing looked sold out. When my friend Raoul Dennis asked for my verdict right after it was over, I said, “Well, it’s better the first, but what is that really saying?” We both laughed.

This is the reality of  “Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.” Believe it or not, no mistakes were made the first time around, because all Tim Story did was make a better version of the first film. And I can’t be too mad at the brother; if my film made $300 million worldwide, would I really change that much?

That said, it IS better and worth seeing—even if you are a die-hard fan. At least the F.F. acted like the scientists/explorers they are in cartoons and comics. At least there were more scenes with Alicia Masters (and both her banter with Johnny Storm, and his conversations with and about her, were GREAT).

And Ol’ Chrome-Dome was on point. Visually, very much the character who blew my mind as a kid.

I’m excited about the Silver Surfer spin-off that’s in development. I hope in that film Galactus will be portrayed more traditionally. The storm thing DID work for “Rise,” though. As one poster said on “The Fantastic Four Message Board“: “While seeing Galactus looked cool back in my younger days I think we have all become a bit more sophisticated and I don’t think a big guy setting up some equipment on the the rooftop of a NYC skyscraper would have been better than the ominous looking Galactic Storm that threatens to consume the planet. Perhaps one day the original trilogy can be done by a top flight outfit like Pixar because I think he would look more plausible in that type of film.”

Blah, blah, blah. 🙂 None of this—including the weird (read: too fake) look that Jessica Alba’s very blond wig and too-blue contacts generated, the critics-reinforced opinion that many, MANY scenes could have been better acted—really matters. Silly Rabbit; Tricks Are For Kids. As I explained to a colleague on Friday before seeing the film: “I’m stuck. I’ve LOVED these characters since I was 10 years old.”

So with the Surfer risen, The Cosmic Quartet gains another group of 8-year-olds as a fan base, while the 10-year-old in me waits to join the next batch on line Opening Day for “FF3” in 2009. Not EXACTLY a lose-lose. 🙂