Anthony’s DC Comics picks for August 2013

May 142013
 

Batman '66 #2Here’s what’s of interest from DC Comics for August 2013. Full solicitations are available here.

Comics

  • Adventures of Superman #4, on sale Aug. 28, $4 (digital-first)
  • Batman ’66 #2, on sale Aug. 21, $4 (digital-first)
  • Batman: Li’l Gotham #5, on sale Aug. 14, $3 (digital-first)

Trade paperbacks

None.

Comments

More cancellations coming this month, including “Threshold” (so much for the new and “improved” “Captain K’Rot“) and long-time DC title “Legion of Super-Heroes.” I guess being set 1000 years in the future makes it difficult to have forced crossovers with the present-day DCU, and/or it’s hard to forcibly tie it into one of the 876 Bat-titles…

In more interesting areas (read: not the “New 52″), the digital-first weekly titles continue to roll along unabated with their paper versions, compiling several digital issues at a time. “Batman ’66″ sees the appearance of classic TV show villain King Tut, as well as a “1966″-ized version of Killer Croc. I assume we’ll surely be seeing a “1966″ version of Harley Quinn before long.

No “Showcase” volume this month, but there is a trade paperback release of the “Secret Society of Super Villains,” the classic super-villain team from their 70s run in various titles. This volume includes a reprint from “Cancelled Comic Cavalcade,” an “ashcan” black-and-white title “published” (via several dozen photocopied copies) by DC for copyright purposes. Said “title” consisted of several otherwise-unpublished black-and-white stories from titles that feel victim to the infamous “DC Implosion,” a mass cancellation of titles during the late 70s. The Secret Society consisted of various foes ranging from Star Sapphire to Gorilla Grodd.

 

Birthdays in cartoons

Apr 302013
 

Super ChickenDespite the characters’ lack of aging, cartoons sometimes like to depict its characters observing birthdays. Depending on the cartoon, either “wacky hijinks” may ensue (such as “The Simpsons” or “The Flintstones”) or more serious goings-on may take place (Superman’s birthday in “For the Man Who Has Everything”). Either way, expect the characters to “turn” their usual, never-changing ages once again (Lisa Simpson turning eight, Superman turning 29, etc.). The old joke “you’re turning 29 again, right?” is literally true for most cartoon characters’ cases…and Superman in particular, who really was permanently 29 from the 70s through the early 90s. (DC raised his age to 35 after “The Death of Superman,” but the New 52 reboot’s managed to reduce his age to 27.)

Here’s a few random cartoons that depict birthdays:

Super Chicken

One “Super Chicken” episode on the late 60s Jay Ward cartoon “George of the Jungle” sees our heroic chicken and his lion sidekick Fred try to stop a “birthday bandit” from using mechanical toys to rob birthday parties. Pretty hilarious from start to finish: the narrator noting “the robbery” as part of the usual birthday party customs; said robbery’s victims (Kid (sobbing): “My teddy bear’s gone!” Dad (also sobbing): “So’s my TV set!”); our heroes staging a fake birthday party as a trap…a party that lasts for two weeks (cue the picture accompanying this post); Fred getting repeatedly blown up through the whole adventure; and a robotic toy double of Super Chicken (playing into the ending).

Teamo Supremo

This early 2000s Disney cartoon, made partly to cash in on the popularity of “The PowerPuff Girls” (only featuring Batman-like non-superpowered crimefighting kids) featured a villain named “The Birthday Bandit.” The Bandit’s shtick was, like Super Chicken’s foe, robbing birthday parties. Voiced by Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker of “Star Wars” fame), the Bandit resembled a goofier version of his other famous character, the Joker from “Batman: The Animated Series.” Like the Joker’s sidekick Harley Quinn, the Birthday Bandit counts a woman as part of his henchmen, who’re dubbed the “Party Favors.”

The Flintstones

A few episodes have revolved around Fred’s birthday. An early first season episode sees a wild party thrown in the gang’s new pool end up with Fred getting arrested, after he assaults a cop who Fred thought was someone pulling a gag. A season three episode sees the others try to throw a surprise birthday party for Fred, which doesn’t go well when the guest of honor (kept away from home by Barney) goes missing. The series states that Fred’s birthday is on February 2 (Groundhog Day).

Of course, the most famous Flintstones birthday episode is none other than the birth of Pebbles herself. Bamm-Bamm’s adoption was featured in his debut episode; I’d assume the Rubbles celebrate that day as his “birthday.” Decades later, we also see the birth of the adult Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm’s twin offspring, Chip and Roxy.

The Jetsons

The Jetsons’ 80s revival featured George fretting about his birthday in one episode. Another episode during that time has George state he’s 38 years old, bumped up slightly from his mid-30s age in the show’s original 60s run. This still implies he got married and had “daughter Judy” when he was barely out of college…

The Simpsons

The Simpsons family members’ birthdays have been shown in a few episodes. Lisa’s birthday is seen in the famous Michael Jackson episode (where she’s “turning eight”), while Homer in another episode notes his birthday’s “the same day as the dog’s.” Bart’s birthday is also shown significantly in one episode: he attempts to cash in on multiple free birthday offers, which is followed by a birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese-like restaurant; cue: Nelson cramming multiple balls down a skeeball game, lousy animatronic singing robots, etc.

And yes, the births of the various family members have also been shown through the series’ run.

“Blooper Bunny”

This 1991 Looney Tunes short focuses on Bugs Bunny’s “51st-and-a-half anniversary,” parodying the hype at the time for Bugs’ 50th birthday in 1990. (“Tiny Toon Adventures” sometimes had the characters note how old Bugs is…). The short features the “making of” a sappy cartoon celebrating Bugs’ anniversary, taking shots at the idea of the Looney Tunes all being “pals.” Pretty hilarious, especially the scenes of Daffy telling off Elmer Fudd and the short’s closing (Yosemite Sam hurtling at Bugs a stream of creative insults; I liked “you low-down, flop-eared, son of a kangaroo!”). The full short’s available on YouTube.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

The episode “Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary” features Meatwad’s birthday, which goes south quickly once Master Shake uses it to try to launch a scheme to create a new, “better” birthday song than “Happy Birthday to You.” Cue a trip to a condemned “Pizza Potamus” restaurant (Chuck E. Cheese with Hanna-Barbera’s Peter Potamus as the mascot), a heavy metal musician to play the song (guest star Zakk Wylde), and Meatwad trying to eat said restaurant’s exposed wiring.

DC Comics

The various DC Comics characters’ birthdays have been featured in comics over the years, to the point they published a 1976 wall calendar highlighting the various heroes’ birthdays. I’ve written about most of the JLAers’ birthdays:

 

Anthony’s DC Comics picks for July 2013

Apr 082013
 

Batman '66 #1Here’s what’s of interest from DC Comics for July 2013. Full solicitations are available here.

Comics

  • Adventures of Superman #3, on sale July 31, $4 (digital-first)
  • Batman ’66 #1, on sale July 31, $4 (digital-first)
  • Astro City #2, on sale July 10, $4

Trade paperbacks

None.

Comments

Both Superman titles (as a result of DC Comics’ musical-chairs with their writers) are now being written by Scott Lobdell. Yep, the same one that did this to Starfire. Yeesh…

I notice the “Green Team” comic (which outlasted its Bronze Age predecessor as of issue #2) mentions “teen trillionaires.” I suppose it’s to make them sound impressive/one-up even Bruce Wayne by a factor of a thousand. Of course, they all look like paupers compared to comics’ wealthiest person, Scrooge McDuck.

This month sees the final issue of the “Green Lantern: The Animated Series” spinoff comic. No doubt this clears the stage for a “Beware the Batman” spinoff title.

“Batman ’66″ #1 is a new digital-only title (but will be released in paper versions) featuring stories set in the world of the 60s live-action “Batman” TV series. The solicitations even promise to introduce more modern Bat-foes into the setting, such as Killer Croc (who first appeared in 1983). Sounds fun! One oddity: despite the tone of its source material, it carries the “T” rating like every other non-kid-specific comic DC releases. Of course, this calls into question the usefulness/point of such ratings at all, or the generally-grim tone of DC’s output.

 

RIP Roger Ebert, Carmine Infantino, and George Gladir

Apr 042013
 

Flash (vol. 1) #123Unfortunately, bad news has adhered to coming in threes, as they say. Today marks the deaths of three individuals involved in the world of entertainment: movie critic Roger Ebert, veteran DC Comics artist/editor Carmine Infantino, and Archie Comics veteran George Gladir.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, of course, was one-half of the famous film review duo “(Gene) Siskel and Ebert.” I grew up watching his movie review program on TV, and later read his reviews in the newspaper and online. Even later still, I followed his Twitter feed.

While I didn’t always agree with Ebert’s reviews, I did like reading them, and usually considered him a trustworthy critic. (Seeing him roast a film that was awful was also enjoyable, I admit.) I also liked seeing Ebert’s political remarks, as well as those criticizing the ludicrous nature of the MPAA movie rating system.

Ebert’s been satirized like anyone else in the media over the years. “Animaniacs” featured a parody of Siskel and Ebert in the Slappy Squirrel episode “Critical Condition,” though the parody was largely just a series of jokes about Ebert’s weight, plus Slappy repeatedly blowing him up over giving her old shorts a bad review. While there were a few amusing moments (including Slappy’s remark about the ramifications of freedom of speech), this wasn’t one of the better “Animaniacs” shorts, or as good as Slappy’s Halloween short (still my favorite Slappy episode).

A better animated appearance by Ebert was in the mid-90s TV series “The Critic.” While Jay Sherman’s already a partial physical pastiche of Ebert and Siskel (Ebert’s build plus Siskel’s baldness), the film critic duo made an appearance in one episode, “Siskel and Ebert and Jay and Alice.” Here, the film critics (voiced by their real selves) break up during an argument over a movie, after they bring up having praised such films as “Carnosaur” and “Benji the Hunted.” The ex-duo subsequently each try to recruit Jay as their new partner, while Jay tries to reunite the two. I liked the portion where they’re “reunited” at the top of a New York City skyscraper, while remarking on the derivative nature of the whole scene:

Carmine Infantino

Carmine Infantino was a long-time artist (and later editor) at DC Comics, dating back to the late Golden Age. His most famous creations or co-creations were Black Canary, Batgirl, the Elongated Man, the Barry Allen Flash, and Wally West (as Kid Flash). As an editor, he also helped hire at DC such classic Bronze Age artists/writers as Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, and Jack Kirby. For more on his life, see his Wikipedia entry, as well as this article.

For me, Infantino’s the definitive Flash artist, and one reason I enjoyed the Silver Age Flash stories.

George Gladir

George Gladir was a long-time writer for Archie Comics (as well as “Mad” magazine rival “Cracked”). His most famous co-creation (along with Dan DeCarlo) was Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Originally intended as a one-shot character in 1962′s “Archie’s Mad House” (its “Mad”-like humor comic), Sabrina proved to be popular enough to be brought back; by decade’s end, Sabrina had gained her own animated TV series. Gladir continued to write for Archie up until his death.

For more on Gladir, see this article.

Detective Comics’ 900th issue released today, plus previous anniversary issues

Apr 032013
 
Detective Comics #400

Detective Comics #400

Today saw the release of “Detective Comics” #19. Despite the renumbering (thanks to DC Comics’ “New 52″ reboot), this is actually the 900th issue of DC Comics’ longest-running still-published title, as well as its company’s namesake… yes, “DC Comics” is short for “Detective Comics, erm, Comics.” First appearing in 1935, “Detective”  at first saw mostly detective stories that lived up to its name, until the debut of Batman in “Detective” #27 in 1939. Since then, it’s near-exclusively been a Batman-starring anthology comic.

While it’s a year younger than its older sibling, “Action Comics,” “Action” reached issue 900 a lot sooner thanks to its brief stint as a weekly comic in the late 80s.

As I did for the 900th anniversary issue of “Action,” I thought I’d look back over the previous anniversary issues of “Detective” (or “Tec” for short), and see what’s changed over the decades for the Masked Manhunter.

Detective Comics #100 (June 1945)

Plot: Batman and Robin must stop a group of crooks running a gem smuggling operation out of the isolated home of a writer, unknown to said writer.

Typical sounding Golden Age story, of course. Nice cover, though I don’t know if it ties into the actual Batman story.

Detective Comics #200 (October 1953)

Plot: Unknown, as I can’t find a description online. I presume it’s the Dynamic Duo versus some crooks running a (literal) pirate radio station, from the cover.

For the multiverse fans, I’d say this one takes place on Earth-2, with the Earth-1 switchover not too long after this point.

Detective Comics #300 (February 1962)

Plot: The Dynamic Duo face off against the menace of the Polka-Dot Man (a.k.a. “Mr. Polka-Dot”), whose costume’s polka-dots can be used to perform various deeds.

This story comes late in the “wacky sci-fi” era for Batman, where he spent much of the late 50s/early 60s in science-fiction themed adventures similar to those of the Superman titles of the time: fighting space aliens, going into space, fending off the pesky Bat-Mite, etc.

The Polka-Dot Man appeared again (after a years-long absence) in the 2000s Bat-books, where he’s shown as having become a washed-up has-been since appearing in “Detective” #300. Polka-Dot Man also appeared at least once in the “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” TV series.

Detective Comics #400 (June 1970)

Plot: Kirk Langstrom, a bat researcher who injected himself with an experimental bat-derived serum (in an attempt to gain some of the abilities of a bat), is transformed into the monstrous Man-Bat.

This marks Man-Bat’s first appearance, and thus this one’s reprinted more often than the other anniversary issues. By 1970, the tone of the Bat-books have obviously shifted back to a more somber tone. Man-Bat’s appeared in various stories, TV cartoons, etc. since 1970. He even appeared in a read-along-storybook 45 RPM record I had as a kid.

Detective Comics #500 (March 1981)

Plot: There’s several Batman stories in this anniversary issue. The most famous, however (and most often reprinted) is “To Kill a Legend,” the story where Batman and Robin are sent to a parallel Earth by the Phantom Stranger to stop its Joe Chill from killing Thomas and Martha Wayne, which’d force young Bruce Wayne into becoming the Batman.

A classic story, and reprinted fairly often. Despite the Bat-books’ generally serious tone by 1981, Batman’s still capable of smiling on occasion, as shown on the cover.

Detective Comics #600 (May 1989)

Plot: Bruce Wayne, paralyzed by a villain, uses mind-infiltrating technology to allow him to continue functioning as Batman through another person. More details on this issue here.

This issue also tied into 1989′s 50th anniversary of Batman (and the then-new “Batman” movie) with various backup material by various comic and non-comic fans of the Dark Knight.

Detective Comics #700 (August 1996)

Plot: A part of the “Legacy” crossover storyline. Batman, Robin, and Nightwing battle Ra’s al Ghul and his minions. More details on this story here.

Unlike the previous two anniversary issues, this one’s treated like any other comic, i.e., just another part of the latest crossover-du-jour. “Legacy” led to “Contagion,” which eventually led to the (still hard to swallow premise-wise) “No Man’s Land” storyline.

Detective Comics #800 (January 2005)

Plot: Batman deals with the aftermath of then recent events leading to the public losing trust in the Dark Knight, plus a rise in crime in Gotham CIty.

This one’s billed on the cover as being an extra-sized issue, but otherwise isn’t anniversary themed. The story is shown dealing with the aftermath of “War Games,” a Bat-book crossover that saw the (then-)death of Stephanie Brown, a teenaged character created in 1992, and served as a crimefighter under several identities, including Spoiler, Robin, and Batgirl. “Identity Crisis” aftermath also appears here; the less said about that storyline, the better.

Detective Comics #19 (#900) (April 2013)

Plot: (SPOILERS) Batman deals with the appearance of new Man-Bats created by Dr. Kirk Langstrom (in his New 52 continuity debut). The number “900″ ties into the story in a small part.

And that about sums it up. I imagine by issue #1000 (probably due around 2021 or 2022), we’ll see “Detective” revert to its original numbering, if only to cash in on the 1000th-issue-of-”Detective” hype.

 

 

Minorities in cartoons: Amanda Waller

Mar 282013
 

Amanda WallerThis week’s minorities in cartoons entry is DC Comics’ Amanda Waller. Waller first appeared in “Legends” #1 in November 1986; she was created by writers Len Wein and John Ostrander, as well as artist John Byrne.

As her backstory reveals, Waller was originally from Chicago, where she lived in the (now demolished in real life) Cabrini-Green housing projects. While there, her family fell victim to violence. Waller eventually got a doctorate and became a political aide; while serving as such, Waller first discovered the existence of (and soon became in charge of) the “Suicide Squad,” a top-secret US government group consisting of various super-villains/anti-heroes. Said group performs highly dangerous covert operations for the US government, in exchange for commuted prison sentences. Waller proved to be both quite strong-minded (one of her nicknames is “The Wall”) and engaged in various morally dubious actions. As a result, Waller has often has clashed with both the Squad’s members and with actual super-heroes, such as Batman.

As “Legends” was DC’s first post-”Crisis on Infinite Earths” big crossover storyline, this makes Waller one of the first post-Crisis continuity characters by a matter of several months.

Waller has made it into the “New 52″ reboot, but (with the reboot’s general bias against older/non-attractive-looking characters) is now portrayed as a very slim and shapely young woman, to the annoyance of her fans.

Waller eventually appeared in the 2000s “Justice League” cartoon, where she played a similar role as in the comics. Playing into the above, she’s implied to know of Batman’s secret identity. Waller was voiced by C.C.H. Pounder, a Guyana-born actress. Waller’s also appeared in some other modern productions, including “Smallville” (where she was played by Pam Grier) and the “Green Lantern” movie (where she was played by Angela Bassett).

Easter in cartoons

Mar 262013
 

Peter CottontailWhile Easter isn’t as popular a subject in cartoons as that other big Christian holiday, it does get featured… so let’s look at some examples!

It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

The 1974 “Peanuts” special is one of the better entries in the serires… favorite aspects for me include: Peppermint Patty trying (and failing) to teach Marcie (who apparently can’t cook) how to dye Easter eggs (yep, the special passes the Bechdel Test); Snoopy buying Woodstock a birdhouse, which Woodstock decks out in groovy 70s decor; the department store selling Christmas stuff already; and finally, Sally still holding a grudge against Linus over the “Great Pumpkin” no-show at Halloween (from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”).

The special’s rerun every year on ABC around Easter. It’s also available on several “Peanuts” DVD releases: a single-disc release, paired with 1976′s “It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown” (presumably selected for being another springtime special, despite Arbor Day being the oddest choice yet for a holiday special); and the “Peanuts: 1970s collection, volume 1″ DVD box set.

Looney Tunes

The 1947 Bugs Bunny short “Easter Yeggs” sees Bugs help the Easter Bunny (called “Easter Rabbit” for some reason here) deliver his eggs. However, Bugs doesn’t know that the Easter Rabbit gets “some dumb bunny” to deliver his eggs for him each year. Cue Bugs deal with some obnoxious brat (“IwannaEasteregg! I wannaEasteregg! I wannaEasteregg!”) and his apparently-mobster family, and Elmer Fudd, who plans to shoot the Easter Rabbit and make “Easter Wabbit Stew!” Pretty amusing short; and yes, Elmer plans to do in the secular symbol of Easter just for his “wabbit”-hunting obsession. The short’s available on the “Looney Tunes Golden Collection” volume 3 DVD set.

There’s also been two Looney Tunes Easter specials produced. The first was a 1977 Easter special (“Bugs Bunny’s Easter Special,” or “Bugs Bunny’s Easter Funnies” on its single-disc DVD release) that features the Easter Bunny (here not a lazy deadbeat, unlike in “Easter Yeggs”) calling Granny to tell her he’s sick and needs a replacement. Granny tries to recruit Bugs, who’s at the Warner Bros. Studio “filming” several of his classic shorts (cuing a bunch of old clips).

The second TV special is 1980′s “Daffy Duck’s Easter Egg-Citement” (also known as “Daffy Duck’s Easter Special”). This one features three all-new shorts made for this special: “The Yolk’s On You” (Daffy and Sylvester fight over a golden egg); “Daffy Flies North” (Daffy tries to find a shortcut to migrating south for the winter); “The Chocolate Chase” (Daffy the chocolate factory guard tries to keep out Speedy Gonzales). The shorts here have been mostly mixed in with the Looney Tunes TV packages since 1980; the special itself is available on the “Looney Tunes Golden Collection” volume 6 DVD set as a bonus feature.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

The 1971 Rankin-Bass special marks one of their few holiday special forays away from Christmas, as we see the eponymous song turned into a hour-long special. Here, Peter (voiced by Casey Kasem) is an irresponsible but earnest young rabbit who lives in April Valley, home of various bunnies who help produce the things the Easter Bunny needs—colored eggs, chocolates, Easter bonnet production, etc. When the old Easter Bunny retires, Peter loses April Valley’s egg-delivering contest to become the new Chief Easter Bunny to the villainous Irontail (voiced by Vincent Price). Irontail plans to ruin Easter for all children (as revenge for losing his tail in an accident to a child, making him loathe children and wear an artificial, well, iron tail). Peter, leaving April Valley in disgrace, finds one Seymour Sassafrass (voiced by Danny Kaye), the man who provides colored dyes to April Valley. More importantly, Mr. Sassafrass provides Peter with a time machine (manned by a French accented caterpillar—also voiced by Kaye) so he can travel back in time and salvage his contest. Irontail, getting wind of this, sabotages the time machine, forcing Peter to go forward in time to each holiday, where Peter tries to give away his eggs on each day in question.

A fun special. Irontail certainly ranks up there with Rankin-Bass’ Christmas-themed villains. Being Rankin-Bass, Santa puts in an appearance here for the Christmas portion, of course. The model for Santa and his reindeer here seem to be the same ones from the end of the then-recent “Santa Claus is Comin‘ to Town” Christmas special. A direct-to-DVD sequel (confusingly named “Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie”) was produced in 2006; here, it’s Peter’s son who helps save the holiday from Irontail (back for another go, this time with Jack Frost’s evil sister “Jackie Frost” in tow). Both specials are available on stand-alone single-disc DVD releases.

The Easter Bunny Is Comin’ to Town

In 1977, Rankin-Bass made this stop-motion animated Easter special, just a year after producing a half-hour all-traditional-animated (“The First Easter Rabbit”). Here, Fred Astaire’s mailman character from “Santa Claus is Comin‘ to Town” returns, now performing mail delivery for the Easter Bunny. The special, narrated by Astaire, tells the origin of the Easter Bunny (unrelated to Peter Cottontail’s April Valley above, apparently…), as well as how various secular Easter traditions (from rolling Easter eggs to the first stuffed Easter toys) came to be. An entertaining special, though it recycles a lot of its setup/plot points from “Santa Claus is Comin‘ to Town,” plus oddly throws into the mix the children’s story “The Little Engine That Could.” This special’s available on DVD as well.

DC Comics

The Easter Bunny’s appeared in the mid-80s “Oz-Wonderland War” special, which featured the two classic literary fictional countries joining forces to stop a villain’s plot—with Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew in tow. During the story, the villain summons up various rabbits from other dimensions, which includes the Easter Bunny, as well as Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and Wonder Wabbit (Wonder Woman’s funny-animal counterpart from “Earth-C-Minus”).

Yogi the Easter Bear

This 1994 special was the last major TV production to date starring Yogi Bear (a Scooby Doo special produced later in 1994, “Arabian Nights,” does star Yogi in one segment). Here, Yogi and Boo-Boo seek the Easter Bunny to save the holiday for Jellystone Park. This special’s available on DVD, sometimes paired with one of the above Rankin-Bass specials.

 

Happy birthday, Flash (Barry Allen)

Mar 192013
 

flash179According to the 1976 DC Calendar, today is Barry “The Flash” Allen’s birthday. The second of the three major Flash alter-egos, this is the “Silver Age” version, first appearing in “Showcase” #4 back in 1956, and lasting until Barry was killed off in 1985-86′s “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” However, for some reason, Barry was brought back a few years ago, and is now the Flash once more, replacing the post-Crisis Flash, his former “Kid Flash” sidekick Wally West. Wally had since built up a fan base of his own, especially among those who grew up with post-Crisis continuity, and thus said fans weren’t thrilled to see Barry come back to displace Wally. I always liked Barry (he’s the Flash I mostly grew up with), but think DC’s handling of multiple characters with the same superhero identity was done much more elegantly in, well, Barry’s original Silver/Bronze Age heyday (via Earth-1 and -2).

Anyway, Barry works as a “police scientist” (these days, usually described as “forensics”) for the police department of Central City, a fictional midwestern city analogous to Chicago, Kansas City or Cleveland. Keystone City, home of the Golden Age Flash, was originally Central City’s Earth-2 counterpart (presumably located in Pennsylvania, the “Keystone State”), with Central City being in Ohio. Post-Crisis, however, both were rewritten as being twin cities, and moved (despite Keystone’s name) to the Kansas/Missouri border. With the “New 52,” I assume Central and Keystone are back on separate Earths (or not… who knows with the “New 52″…).

The rest of the Silver/Bronze Age Flash family’s birthdays are as follows:

  • Wally West (Kid Flash/Flash): January 16
  • Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Flash): April 3
  • Iris Allen (nee West): September 27
  • Barry’s origin as the Flash: October 23
  • Barry and Iris’ anniversary: November 24
  • Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash: February 18
  • Captain Cold: December 11
  • Mirror Master (Sam Scudder): April 19
  • Heat Wave: March 13 (oddly, not during the summer…)
  • The Trickster: March 23
  • The Weather Wizard: June 4
  • Gorilla Grodd: January 13
  • Abra Kadabra: November 22
  • The Pied Piper: June 22
  • Captain Boomerang: May 19
  • The Top: January 22

Yes, I know, the villains’ list was longer than the heroes’ list! Also worth noting that two of the villains above are (will be?) born in the future: Abra Kadabra hails from Earth’s 64th century, while the Reverse-Flash is from the 25th century.

Unintended by the 1976 calendar writers, of course, but I note the Pied Piper’s birthday falls during LGBT Pride Month. Hartley Rathaway (Piper’s real name) came out as one of DC’s first openly gay characters in the late 80s “Flash” books. After reforming, he soon became a friend of Wally, and made appearances through Wally’s “Flash” book as an ally. Wikipedia suggests he’s still reformed/openly gay in the “New 52,” but now a friend of Barry’s. Yes, I’ll work in the Pied Piper as a future “minorities in cartoons” entry…

Finally, as for why this particular Flash picture with this post? It’s the oldest paper comic in my collection, that’s why! A 1968 “Flash” story where he winds up on “Earth-Prime” (aka the “real world”) and needs help getting back to Earth-1…

Anthony’s DC Comics picks for June 2013

Mar 122013
 

Astro City (2013) #1Here’s what’s of interest from DC Comics for June 2013. Full solicitations are available here.

Comics

  • Adventures of Superman #2, on sale June 26 (digital first), $4
  • Astro City #1, on sale June 5, $4

Trade paperbacks

  • Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups, vol. 2, on sale July 17, $20
  • Superman: Phantom Zone, on sale July 17, $15
  • Camelot 3000, on sale July 24, $20

Other

  • MAD Presents: Superman #1, on sale June 12, $5

Comments

June 2013 represents a historical milestone for DC Comics, as it’s the 75th anniversary of Superman’s debut in “Action Comics” #1 in 1938. It’s also the month the new “Man of Steel” movie opens, and thus there’s a lot of Superman related stuff out this month. Said stuff includes the next “DC Comics Presents” Showcase volume, and (of all things) a compilation of the four-issue “Phantom Zone” miniseries from the early 80s. Said “Phantom Zone” compilation also includes a copy of “DC Comics Presents” #97, which was both the final issue of that title’s run and one of (if not the) last in-continuity Superman stories of the pre-Crisis era. Given General Zod is a Zoner, I can see why this one’s being offered.

Also on sale this month is “Adventures of Superman” #2, which I’m pleased to note is now Orson Scott Card-free.

MAD magazine also gets into the Superman-cash-in game, with a compilation of some of its Superman parodies.

In non-Superman news, a new version of “Astro City” starts its run this month, with Kurt Busiek back at the helm. I’ve missed a few previous installments, but I’m interested in this one.

1980s miniseries “Camelot 3000″ is also being re-released as a trade paperback this month. I wrote about this one some years back (OK, a decade ago…in the early days of the blog!).

“Batman: Li’l Gotham” sounds a bit late (a Valentine’s Day story?), but it seems to be one of the few kid-friendly titles being offered by DC. Though hope some curious kid doesn’t look over at the New 52 side to see what happened to Damien…

“Looney Tunes” comes out with issue #213 this month. It’s now the highest-cover-numbered comic being published by DC currently.

Finally, I like the cover for “Scooby-Doo” #34.

The return of “Warner Communications?”: Time Warner to spin off Time, Inc.

Mar 072013
 

Tiny Toon Adventures' Warners logosSome might recall the big merger between Warner Communications (owners of Warner Bros. studios) and Time, Inc. (publishers of “Time,” “Life,” and other magazines) back in the late 80s. After almost 25 years of “matrimony,” it looks like Time Warner is looking to spin off its Time, Inc. side, in the name of pushing its TV/video/motion picture side of things as future money-makers versus, well, print media like “Time.” Despite that Time wasn’t losing money, apparently the “print media is dead” meme, general corporate profit-mindedness, and a proposed previous sell-off deal falling through have prompted Time Warner’s decision.

There’s no indication what the now-Time-less Time Warner will rename the remaining company, if anything. I presume “Warner Communications” might be an option; it’s the name used between the early 70s and the late 80s for the Warner side of things. However, given media types aren’t particularly nostalgic/emphasize youth at extreme lengths (and that it’s been almost 25 years since they used “Warner Communications”), they’ll probably go for something more “2013.” “Warner?” “Warner Corporation?” Just plain “Warner Brothers, Inc.?”

On the comics and animation side of things, expect status quo. For animation fans, the animation studios, cable TV networks, and film libraries are all exclusively on the Turner and Warner Bros. side of the company. For DC Comics fans, it’s been under the Warner side of the company (and corporate cousins of Bugs Bunny) since Warner Communications’ predecessor “Kinney National Company” bought DC in 1967.

(Useless trivia: “Kinney” was a former cleaning services/parking garage company that for some reason expanded into media ownership. Warner Bros. until 1967 was run by the actual Warner siblings it was founded by/named after, though by 1967, only Jack L. Warner (the “J.L.” that Daffy Duck refers to in the Looney Tunes short “The Scarlet Pumpernickel”) was left. With the death of the old-school studio system, etc., Jack L. Warner sold the company to Seven Arts Productions in 1967, and retired a few years later. The merged company (briefly named “Warner Bros.-Seven Arts”) was bought by Kinney in 1969, and eventually renamed “Warner Communications” in 1972.)

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