Tag Archives: superhero cartoons

March 22, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”

By Joe

The first episode of X-Men ’97 left me grinning from ear to ear and eager to see what would happen next. I’m happy to say, the show’s second episode left me feeling very much the same. “Mutant Liberation Begins” starts off right where the previous episode ended. Magneto, has revealed that it was the wishes of Charles Xavier that all of his assets be turned over to his longtime friend and often adversary. Magneto now leads the X-Men, and everyone is worried about where his loyalties truly lay.

The episode begins with a familiar refrain: Previously, on X-Men. Before, it was usually delivered by Norm Spencer, the voice of Cyclops. For the second episode it’s delivered by Matthew Waterson, the voice of Magneto. The opening credits are also updated to feature Magneto first reflecting his new status (and new, big M costume) as headmaster of the institute. This was a plot foretold by the official trailer for the show so it comes as no surprise. It’s also a plot from the comics as is another plot from this episode: the trial of Magneto. In addition to his new presence, there are also new shots included in the intro that mostly replace the classic shots we’re used to seeing. These new ones are recreations of scenes from the original series so it would appear that the opening title will be a little different for every episode which is kind of fun.

Magneto has been welcomed to the opening title.

This episode has to confront the issue of how the X-Men will exist with Magneto in charge and how humanity will respond. Magneto is essentially branded a terrorist by most of the world governments, which is why his reveal as being affiliated with the X-Men leads to a confrontation with Valerie Cooper and the federal government. Perhaps to the surprise of everyone present, Magneto surrenders as he views this as the clearest path to gaining the trust of the team. He does make it clear that he does not share Xavier’s world view that peace between mutants and humans can be achieved, but for the sake of his departed friend, it would appear that he’s at least going to try while also doing things his way.

Magneto will be forced to answer for his crimes before the United Nations.

Much of the episode takes place before a United Nations council set to judge Magneto. It also introduces a new villain: X-Cutioner. Pronounced by the character as “Executioner,” the character is voiced by Lawrence Bayne who is known to fans of the original X-Men cartoon as the voice of Cable. Cable will appear at some point in this show, but with a different voice actor. That choice was justified by series creator Beau DeMayo as being a necessity so that they could cast Cable as someone who sounds closer to Cyclops, something the original series likely didn’t take into consideration. Even with that, I was disappointed at the news as Bayne’s Cable was one of my favorite performances in the old show. He’s fine as X-Cutioner who is an enemy allied with the Friends of Humanity packing some serious fire power, but I’m sure I’ll miss him as Cable whenever that character debuts.

X-Cutioner may be just some guy, but he packs a lot of firepower.

The episode does include a B plot which would be unusual for the original show, but may be a sign of things to come. It’s also a humor-based B plot which would also be unusual and concerns Wolverine and Jean. Everyone except them has gone to the UN to watch Magneto’s trial unfold, so naturally this is the time when Jean goes into labor. It’s up to Wolverine to get her to a hospital and he seems far more unnerved doing that than facing down Apocalypse. It’s not something that chews up a ton of screen time and it was kind of nice to see the show willing to embrace a bit more humor. It also leads to some important character moments like what happens when an extremely powerful mutant shows up in labor at a hospital? And how does Wolverine feel about the woman he loves having a baby with another man? It gives us a great moment between Wolverine and Morph too that elaborates on their friendship, something we were told was a thing in the original series, but really didn’t get to see much of.

There is a history between these two and Magneto seems especially interested in rekindling that.

And speaking of everyone’s favorite love triangle from the original show, we’re apparently about to be served up another. When the writers were handed the keys to the mutant kingdom with that first show, it was a group unfamiliar with the X-Men that had existed in print for decades prior. As a result, they seemed to view the show as a new beginning. Some of that would be retconned in later series when it was acknowledged that the team had existed for awhile prior to the events of the show and more of that is being addressed here with Rogue and Magneto. It would appear their prior relationship before Rogue joined the team is now canon and it’s likely going to lead to some uncomfortable moments between they and Gambit. It just wouldn’t be X-Men without a little soap opera drama. I will say, one of my few criticisms of this episode takes place during these Rogue and Magneto scenes, but not because of the character development, but because of Rogue’s forced dialogue. It would seem writer Beau DeMayo could not get her line about looking as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs out his head because Rogue has a lot of cat puns in this one scene. And they’re not very good. Perhaps the show can add an actual southern, female, writer to the staff just for Rogue lines going forward.

I love the little character moments like this one between Morph and Wolverine. I hope for many more.

For a show that stylizes itself as a superhero action drama, an episode about dry court proceedings would have been dreadfully boring. That’s why “Mutant Liberation Begins” includes more wonderful action set pieces and also contains some pretty earth-shattering shakeups to the team. Like the first episode, this is still a show building towards bigger plots and laying the groundwork for how the series will go. It’s at times uncomfortable, but also exciting and I definitely want to see more. The episode also ends on another shocking reveal. Fans of the comics likely have ideas on where this development will lead, but I also wouldn’t expect a 1:1 recreation of any comic book plots. There will likely be some wrinkles thrown in and a change or two or three. As far as plots that could have been sourced from the books, I think it’s one of the top ones and it’s a plot that I’m glad the original series saved for this show because the more lax standards and practices should allow X-Men ’97 to do it justice.

One thing that’s definitely different from the previous show, X-Men ’97 is not afraid to shake-up the active roster.

Episode two of X-Men ’97 is more of the same, which is great. It’s going to be a long wait each week if all of the episodes are structured like the first two. Never mind the wait we’ll be in for when the season ends. I plan to review every episode of this inaugural season, though I don’t know how quickly I’ll be able to post reviews. It could be a Friday thing each week if I can find the time, or maybe it makes more sense to have a Mutant Monday on this blog? I guess we’ll see, but I’m definitely looking forward to taking this journey with all of my fellow X-Men fans around the globe.

Check out the other X-Men coverage we have here:

X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…

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by Joe

Wolverine and the X-Men

It might seem amusing to folks younger than me who grew up on Marvel’s Avengers, but back in the first decade of the new millennium there wasn’t a hotter team of superheroes than the X-Men. The X-Men had been around since the 60s, but really took off as a comic book property in the 80s.…

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by Joe

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March 21, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

By Joe

It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the entire series at their disposal. Some shows received VHS releases, but often they were sparse. Then home media became more affordable. DVDs were both cheaper to manufacture than VHS and could store more information. We started to see full season releases for shows, both active and cancelled. In some cases, the home media market was so great that previously dead programs were able to come back. Now we’ve entered the streaming age where massive entertainment companies are seeking to profit off of their libraries. Those profits have been a bit hard to come by though so these archives need to be supplemented with original programming. Some of that original programming is entirely original or at least only touched by an existing intellectual property (think The Mandalorian) and then some is either a reboot or continuation of an older show.

X-Men ’97 is a continuation of the now classic X-Men animated series that aired as part of the Fox Kids Network from 1992-1997. The original X-Men cartoon was a massive success and turned Wolverine and Gambit into household names. It attracted eyeballs in the millions, sold a bunch of toys, and made lifelong comic book fans out of a generation. For me personally it quickly became my favorite show on television and I was hooked for the show’s entire run. It put Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the rearview mirror as this was something mature, something that more respected my intelligence, and gave me more to chew on. I still adored playing with my X-Men toys and sporting X-Men t-shirts so it’s not like it turned me into an adult overnight or anything, but it was something I genuinely loved in the moment and I still have a ton of admiration for. Having that show continue from where it left off in 1997 was something that didn’t even seem worth dreaming about as that’s how unlikely I felt it would be. Perhaps Disney, who has yet to fully introduce Marvel’s mutants into its vast Marvel Cinematic Universe, wanted to give folks a little primer on what the X-Men were all about? Whatever the reasoning, I am positively giddy like a kid once again that my favorite superheroes are back in an all new television series.

The intro is basically a shot-for-shot remake of the original.

X-Men ’97 was announced in November of 2021. At the time, my assumption was the series was being ticketed to launch in the fall of 2022 to mark the original show’s 30th anniversary. That obviously didn’t happen and the show was slated for 2023, but then slipped to March 2024. For the revival, Marvel selected Beau DeMayo (Moon Knight, The Witcher) to be the head writer with Jake Castorena as the supervising director. From the old show, Eric and Julia Lewald were brought in as consultants along with Larry Houston. Much of the original cast was returned including Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Alison-Sealy Smith as Storm, George Buza as Beast, and Lenore Zann as Rogue. Father Time unfortunately necessitated recasts for both Cyclops (now Ray Chase) and Magneto (now Matthew Waterson). Other voice actors, like Chris Potter (original voice of Gambit) and Catherine Disher (original voice of Jean Grey) were brought back for other roles rather than their existing ones. Such a choice is puzzling, unless we’re talking about a unique case such as Alyson Court who no longer wished to voice Jubilee since she felt the role should go to an actual Asian-American.

The action sequences are where this show will really be able to separate itself from its predecessor.

The show did premiere under a bit of a dark cloud. It was announced that credited series creator Beau DeMayo was fired the week of the show’s sneak preview and a little more than a week out from the Disney+ premiere. As the days went by, the head of animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, revealed some snippets of what was going on. It doesn’t sound like anyone was upset with the quality of the work DeMayo was turning in, and we’ve only heard rumors that he was “difficult” to work with. The term difficult in such a situation can be a loaded one. How many women and people of color have heard that excuse because certain individuals don’t respond well to confrontation from minorities? DeMayo, a gay, black, adopted man was someone who really identified with what the X-Men stood for and removing that voice from the show is certainly a risky move if the show is deemed a success. Winderbaum doesn’t get into specifics on the situation, but does try to frame it as a parting of ways between the showrunner and Marvel.

The group is probably more reflective of the foes to come than the group from the original.

Based on my viewing of the show’s first episode, “To Me, My X-Men,” it would appear that DeMayo’s exit indeed has little to do with the quality of the show. This first episode is the show getting its feet wet. It’s a way to reintroduce these familiar faces in a fun way that does harken back to the original series. It opens with a new version of the classic intro. The song is remixed slightly and all of the character introductions have been recreated and new characters have been added. It still ends with Professor Xavier and Magneto clashing together, though the villains side has been updated with what are probably better, more reflective choices (so long, Gremlin) given who the X-Men typically clash with.

The mutant who will come to be known as Sunspot is basically the Jubilee of this series, only his official joining of the X-Men will have to wait for a later day.

Similar to the premiere episode of the original series, X-Men ’97 includes a plot in its episode about bringing a new mutant into the fold and makes the Sentinels the big threat. Even though the show is longer now (it’s listed at 34 minutes, the actual episode is closer to 28), the episode still moves at a snappy pace. We find the team dealing with the aftermath of the professor’s passing. Cyclops is now the leader and is perhaps a little too forceful with his approach which rubs some members of the team the wrong way (namely, Wolverine). The Friends of Humanity are up to no good and have even repurposed some Sentinel tech into weapons of their own that basically resemble Mega Man’s Mega Buster. Roberto Da Costa (Gui Augustini), a wealthy teen who has been abducted by the FOH, is the one in the Jubilee role this time around, though his trek through the mansion is quite brief. The show appears confident that its audience is going to be pretty familiar with these characters and a more robust introduction was not needed.

The Friends of Humanity are back and they’re packing heat.

Other elements of the premiere include the addition of Valerie Cooper (Catherine Disher, the original voice of Jean Grey) as a government liaison for Cyclops and his team. DeMayo, when he was doing press for the show, described Cooper as the thesis for the show so it will be interesting to see how she’s utilized going forward. There’s also the plotline of Jean being pregnant and what that means for her and Cyclops’ future. The first episode ends with a pretty seismic change to the status quo, though if you saw the trailer it won’t come as a surprise and it’s likely the end you expected. Even so, I’ll save talk of that for episode two.

Wolverine still isn’t allowed to smoke, but looks like he’s now allowed to drink.

The first episode is a great reintroduction for the X-Men and really seems to setup what we’re looking at. It also establishes the look of the series. I’ve been a little wary about that going in, but after one episode I will say my fears were unfounded. This show looks as good as it can in 2024. It’s digitally hand-drawn by Studio MIR which is the right approach given that celluloid animation just isn’t done anymore. Stylistically, there will be folks who prefer the look of the old show, but objectively speaking this one animates much better. That is on full display during the action sequences which are far more fun and inventive. This feels like a show directed by people who as kids wondered just how far the super powers on display here could be pushed. Storm, considered an Omega level mutant in the comics and now show, really gets to show off what she can do to such a scale that I worry if the writers can keep her consistent.

I should have expected this, but I didn’t.

The episode includes closing credits done in the same style as the original show’s first season with a character model spinning in place and a brief descriptor of their powers below. Before it can cycle through all of the characters though, it cuts to a static image of the mansion for the rest of the credits. Was this a nod to how the first season’s ending credits would never get to Jubilee? That always drove me nuts as a kid. If it is in reference to that it’s a bit of clever humor, though I’d rather just see all of the characters get spotlighted. And that’s the one failing, if you will, of this episode is that most of the characters don’t get to do a whole lot. That’s going to happen with such a large cast, one that has even been increased since we last saw this group in action. I would imagine we’ll get spotlight episodes to come while also maintaining a serialized approach. Yes, what network executives hated for their broadcast channels in 1992 is the preferred method of story-telling in 2024. The only other disappointment for me was no in memoriam for the people we’ve lost since the original show went dark. It would have been nice to at least see a tribute to original Cyclops voice actor Norm Spencer and the original voice of Magneto, David Hemblen.

Storm is allowed to cut loose in this one, but will she be allowed to do so in every episode?

X-Men ’97 in its debut episode manages to strike the right balance between new and nostalgic. The fan service hits right and its reserved for parts of the show where fan service is appropriate. It also establishes a tone for the show which is in-line with the serious, dramatic, original series though it’s also apparent that this one will be allowed to be a little more grown-up (Wolverine and Morph are shown enjoying a couple of cold ones). That makes sense since the target audience is the kids of 1992, but it also likely won’t want to alienate the kids of the kids of ’92. It also left me wanting more which was good since this was a two episode premiere. I’ll get to that episode in another post, but the main takeaway for me is our beloved X-Men have been placed in good hands and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Get on the X-Men ’97 hype train with these posts:

X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

A few years ago, I talked about my love of X-Men, the animated series, via a book review of Previously…on X-Men by Eric Lewald. That book chronicled the development of the 92 animated series that helped propel the Fox Kids Network to the top of the Saturday morning leaderboards through notes from the author and…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…

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by Joe

Previously on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series

A lot of cartoons made an impact on me as a child. My first love was The Real Ghostbusters. Its goofy cast of characters and excitement were plenty of fun and there were interesting toys to supplement the series with, which was pretty much the goal of all cartoons in the 80s. The Teenage Mutant…

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by Joe

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March 20, 2024

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

By Joe
After getting short-changed by toy manufacturers for decades, Jean finds herself with two animated versions in the span of a few years.

If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure! It was in 2020 that Hasbro announced a subline of Marvel Legends based on the 1992 animated series which were released throughout 2021. Arriving in attractive VHS styled boxes, the X-Men line was more dud than hit. I wanted to love it, but it was hard to shake the feeling that Hasbro was just phoning it in. Despite that, I still bought them all and I continue to buy some of the tie-in figures since Hasbro decided not to deliver the full team. That’s why when the first wave of X-Men ’97 action figures arrived last fall I used it to supplement my existing roster of characters by picking up Magneto, Rogue, and Gambit. The figures had an animated look, though they lacked the cel-shading of the VHS line, but were close enough. Just in time for the debut of the series is wave two. It’s comprised mostly of new characters like Goblin Queen and X-Cutioner as well as some redos in the style of X-Men ’97. As a result, it’s a less attractive wave for me since I don’t want letter of the day Magneto and the VHS Cyclops was one of the few figures I actually liked. However, there was one figure in the line that intrigued me even though I had the VHS version: Jean Grey.

The new figure has a bit of a dead eye going on, but it’s better than the old which looks like a duck-faced Sharon Stone.

I’m not sure which figure was my least favorite in the X-Men VHS line from Hasbro, but the fact that Jean is in the running should probably say enough. The figure is dated and Hasbro couldn’t even be bothered to get the color of her costume right, but more than anything, I just hated the portraits. The figure was a re-release of an existing figure with a new paint job as that’s basically all of the effort Hasbro could muster when it came to the line. She had a ponytailed portrait, but it looked nothing like the version of the character from the show. They also included her down hair portrait, even though she never sported that look in that costume during the entire show’s run, and it was a release that just left me all sorts of grumpy in the end. The only positive I could lay on it was that the cel-shading was actually done pretty well given the standards of the line.

I know there are a lot of people who dislike cel-shading on their figures, but this costume needs something because the design is rather plain.

Jean gets a redo with X-Men ’97, and like most of the characters in the show making a return, she still sports a look that’s very similar to her ’92 counterpart. It’s a costume based on the look Jim Lee gave her and based on some of the promotional artwork I’ve seen it looks like she’ll have the ponytail some days, and let her hair down on others. The figure itself comes in the usual blister and Jean has her hair down look on the card despite the default portrait being the ponytail one. The figure stands approximately 6.25″ to the top of the head. Her costume is basically now a pale orange and dark blue. The figure is mostly orange plastic with a V-shape of blue on the front of the torso and a more rectangular one on the back. The shoulder pads are little cuts of blue plastic pinned into the top of the joint. The belt is still separate from the body, but it fits quite snug to the crotch piece. Paint is largely reserved for the face, X logo, and the blue parts of the arms and hands. The blue on the torso appears to be plastic that’s been plugged into the orange portion. The legs have a lot of sculpted details to the costume, but zero paint which give the figure an unfinished look to it. It’s obviously a limitation to some degree of the character design, but some linework in the grooves cut into the legs would have added a lot.

New Jean seems to scale smaller, but I like that. The smaller head relative to the body is a better fit for the source material as well.

The main draw of this figure for me is simply the default portrait. Jean is sporting a very neutral expression to the point where she looks almost bored. The face and ears are at least painted okay, though it’s a little messy around the right ear. The blue trapezoid shape on her forehead is just painted on and lacks presence since it blends in with the dark blue cowl. The hair is a separate piece of bright, orange, plastic. The sculpt is fine, but Hasbro missed a paint hit as her forehead is visible between the top of the cowl and hair and it’s just left blue. Her part is going in the right direction though and her ponytail isn’t stupid long so I consider it a win. Her eyes are also blue this time, which is consistent with the animated series. The prior release went with the comic green eyes. Most of the colors match with the only one being off the crotch piece which is a darker orange. It’s more noticeable in pictures than in person.

Looks like they missed some paint on her forehead. As far as I know, this is true for all of the figures.

The portrait isn’t a homerun, but it’s a solid double and a vast improvement over the VHS figure. And if you’re like me then I have good news as the size of the ball joint on both figures is the same. If you want, you can put this head on the VHS Jean body and the only blemish is the dark blue cowl which should be shaded black. It’s not enough to bother me and since the cel shading was executed well I do think this will be my preferred Jean going forward. I do think the forearms on the new figure are a better match for the original series as well when it comes to the gauntlets she wears, but they’re the wrong color and I don’t know how easy it would be to swap the arms. The shade of orange wouldn’t be an exact match either, but someone more committed than me could definitely kitbash the hell out of these two figures.

She does seem even smaller when put next to Rogue and Bishop.

As for the actual, new, figure, it does some things better than the old while also creating its own issues. For additional accessories, we get the hair down portrait. Swapping is easy and the hair looks fine, but will lock the head down and cut out almost all articulation at the neck. This portrait has a slight smile to it, but it’s again another lifeless face. She looks like a mannequin. Aside from that, it’s at least painted well and the hair hides the ears. The only other accessories is another set of hands. She comes with a right fist and an open left hand. The second set is a style pose pair that are open and very similar (if not the same) as the open hands that have come with past Jeans.

“Look, mom! Double elbows!”

The articulation is an area where this new Jean differentiates itself from the past ones the most. As far as I know, we’re dealing with all new sculpts here. The head is on a double ball peg instead of the hinged ball peg the other Jean has. It’s an improvement, though once again Hasbro buried the lower ball too deep in the neck needlessly limiting the range. She barely has any range looking down and only a little looking up. Rotation and tilt are fine, but Hasbro needs to figure these joints out. The shoulders are standard hinged pegs and she can raise her arms out to the side a full 90 degrees from the body. There’s a biceps swivel past that, pin-less double-jointed elbows, and a swivel and hinge at the wrist. The elbows will bend well past 90, though it’s not the most attractive joint. This Jean can at least get her hands to her forehead though.

Aside from the cowl being a little off, I think this looks pretty good. Certainly an improvement.

In the torso we have…nothing. It’s almost bizarre to see no articulation cut into a torso even though it’s theoretically a cleaner presentation. Instead, we get a ball joint at the waist. It goes forward and back a bit and offers full rotation and tilt. This is in comparison to the prior Jean which had a ball joint in the diaphragm and nothing at the waist. It should be both! Why can’t we have nice things, Hasbro? The hips will go out to the side past 45 degrees, but shy of full splits. Jean can kick forward about 90 degrees, but not back at all due to the shape of her buttocks. There is a thigh twist and the double-jointed knees are pin-less and work fine. The ankle hinge bends back all the way, but not forward very far. The ankle rocker is pretty steep, but there. Lastly, the ponytail just pegs into the back of the standard head and can rotate.

Yup, this is how she’s going to live on my shelf.

Is this new Jean an improvement on the old? Yes and no. There’s a softness to the sculpt, and when combined with the lack of any articulation cut into the torso as well as no paint, it gives the figure a very plain appearance. The softness does appear to at least resemble the animation, though I’m sure the show will feature shading of some kind. I don’t know why Hasbro didn’t get her a ball joint in the diaphragm as that would have really added to the articulation, but instead it’s just mediocre. It’s nice to see the arms updated with double-jointed elbows and I prefer the sculpted-in forearm gauntlets, but not enough to display this figure in place of the VHS version. Instead, I’m just taking this new head, slapping it on the old body, and calling it “good enough.” I just wish I didn’t have to spend another 25 bucks to get my Jean figure to this current state.

Get your X-Men fix right here before you check out the brand new X-Men ’97:

Marvel Legends X-Men Animated Series Jean Grey

For some reason, Jean Grey has never been treated well by toy makers. Back in the Toy Biz days, Jean had to wait several years to finally show up in the X-Men line of action figures, and once she did, it was in some gimmicky line in a costume that looked made-up. Her first, good,…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Bishop

We’re going to keep this Marvel/Mutant Monday thing going for one more week! After taking a look at a trio of figures from Hasbro’s new X-Men ’97 line of figures in its Marvel Legends catalog I’ve decided to do one more: Bishop. The first three figures I looked at were basically all missing pieces to…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Rogue

Previously, on X-Men reviews we looked at Magneto from the upcoming series X-Men ’97. The animated series may have been delayed into 2024, but the action figures from Hasbro are already here. And if you were collecting Hasbro’s line of figures based on the animated series from the 90s, this new line offers a chance…

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by Joe

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March 18, 2024

Wolverine and the X-Men

By Joe

It might seem amusing to folks younger than me who grew up on Marvel’s Avengers, but back in the first decade of the new millennium there wasn’t a hotter team of superheroes than the X-Men. The X-Men had been around since the 60s, but really took off as a comic book property in the 80s. That popularity helped land the X-Men on TV in 1992 via the hit Fox Kids show simply called X-Men. That show wrapped in 1997, but not too long after that came the film franchise, the first trilogy of which concluded in 2006. Following that, it was known throughout the industry that Fox intended to break-up the X-Men for future films with rumors that Wolverine, Magneto, and I want to say even Gambit were expected to get solo films. Of them, only Wolverine managed to land his own film franchise, but during that same era came a new animated series: Wolverine and the X-Men.

If Wolverine was the franchise’s biggest star and set to lead his own film franchise, then it made sense to have a prominent television tie-in to keep the kids interested, especially if the films were going to aim a little older. The show premiered in January 2009 on the Nicktoons network which means Wolverine, Cyclops, and the rest are now all on equal footing with Tommy Pickles, Arnold, Stimpy, and the rest of the Nicktoons gang. The show was developed by Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson, and while I don’t think either has ever stated it, but the show feels like a spiritual successor to the first animated series. It has a very similar approach in that the world the X-Men inhabit has existed for awhile before we get to jump-in. These characters have a history with one another and we’re going to see some of that, or we’re just expected to already know. It’s a very dramatic series and not your typical Nicktoon as it’s not out to make the audience laugh. The characters are often pretty humorless, the stakes are high, and sometimes things seem rather grim. It’s also serialized and the type of show that rewarded viewers who tuned in each week for a new episode, but may have also alienated the ones who did not.

Back in 2009 I was not comfortable with the idea of Wolverine leading the X-Men. In 2024, I’m still not all that comfortable with it.

For me, I was well into adulthood when this show came about and I was immediately turned off just by hearing the name. Wolverine and the X-Men? First, we’re reducing the team to a bunch of Robins and it’s not just spotlighting Wolverine with the title, but actually making him the leader of this version of the X-Men. I’ve never liked the idea of Wolverine as a leader because a core part of his character is he’s a loner at heart. There always comes a point where he feels like he needs to close himself off to his allies and deal with things by himself. The show does take steps to address that, but it’s not something I ever become comfortable with. The second X-Men film does a solid job of making Wolverine a reluctant leader, but one of the failings of the third is he basically carries himself as a born leader. This show has some of that, it attempts to make him grow as a leader, but there’s a credibility problem throughout.

The portrayal of Wolverine turned me off and kept me away for years. The show also was not picked up for a second season following a debut 26 episodes. It’s said the financing partner had problems as a second season was in pre-production, but I think most attribute the show’s demise to the Marvel acquisition by Disney. That too took place in 2009 and Disney would refocus the brand onto film assets it had control over. That meant X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man would see a reduction in marketing and promotion in favor of The Avengers. If Disney had wanted to step in and finance a second season of Wolverine and the X-Men it absolutely could have done so, but chose not to. Because of that, I felt no compulsion to even check out the show since nothing further was coming. When Disney+ launched I started watching it, but it didn’t hold my attention. Only recently have I decided to really give this one a shot. We’ve been deprived X-Men cartoons for a long time now and there’s a good chance I missed out on something special. And if I didn’t, well at least this would be a decent way to pass time during my workout.

The show begins with an unexplained tragedy and much of the show’s sole season is devoted to uncovering just what happened.

Wolverine and the X-Men begins with the X-Men well established. Wolverine (Steve Blum) and Rogue (Kieren van dan Blink) are in the midst of an argument as it appears Wolverine is blasting off by himself once again. Suddenly, Professor Xavier (Jim Ward) and Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) experience what looks to be a terrible headache and an explosion results. There’s a massive crater on the grounds of the Xavier Institute and the other X-Men are all in some state of distress, except Professor X and Jean who have vanished without a trace.

Following the traumatic beginning, there’s a time skip of a year and humanity has created the MRD – Mutant Response Division which all mutants view as a threat to their livelihood. This prompts Wolverine and Beast (Fred Tatasciore) to reassemble the X-Men to fight back, but without the aid of a telepath the job is tough. Enter Emma Frost (Kari Wahlgren), a former headmistress herself of a mutant school, who wishes to offer her telepathic abilities in exchange for membership in the team. Wolverine agrees, and Emma is able to locate Xavier in Genosha, a small, island nation controlled by Magneto (Tom Kane). There they find Xavier alive, but in a coma. Magneto allows the X-Men to take Xavier home even though he very much clings to his own ambition to squash humanity with or without the help of the X-Men. Once home, the real plot begins as Xavier is able to telepathically reach Wolverine from 20 years in the future.

Xavier is able to communicate telepathically from the future with his X-Men, of which he’s chosen Wolverine to lead.

The season unfolds both in the present and the future. Xavier has awakened to find himself in a post apocalyptic wasteland. The war between humanity and mutants laid waste to everything and now the sentinels run the show. Yes, this is like a version of the classic “Days of Future Past” plot, but as a whole series. Xavier appoints Wolverine as the leader of the X-Men and charges him with reassembling the team so that they can prevent this future from happening. This will bring them into contact with past members, some join up, and some don’t. Most of them embody their typical archetypes, in particular Iceman (Yuri Lowenthal) and Shadowcat (Danielle Judovits) who are basically the happy-go-luck teens of the team. Then you have Cyclops (Nolan North) who is essentially a shell of his former self following the loss of Jean. Rogue has run-off to join Quicksilver’s (Mark Hildreth) Brotherhood of Mutants essentially defecting to the bad guys while former X-Men like Angel (Liam O’Brien) and Nightcrawler (also O’Brien) feel their talents could be better utilized elsewhere.

The season unfolds with Wolverine working to stop the MRD while Xavier has joined up with some mutants in the future to try and figure out just what happened. Time seems to operate on “Days of Future Past” rules where a day in the present equals a day in the future for Charles, so he can’t simply go back further in time to prevent the initial explosion. We’re basically fed breadcrumbs for the main plot throughout the season and it all pays off in a suitable way in the end. Also along the way are numerous one-shots sprinkled throughout like episodes where the X-Men have to help a fellow mutant avoid capture by the MRD or explore some relationships between team members. There’s naturally some Wolverine solo missions reaching back to his days in the Weapon X program. A lot of this type of stuff borrows liberally from the comics, but there is often some twist introduced. For example, Wolverine did not have a relationship with Silver Fox in his past, but a different woman the identity of which might have annoyed some, but I kind of liked. I wish it had been explored more, but I’m guessing that was being saved for a future season. The show is definitely at its best when it’s sticking to the main plotline, but some of the one-offs are entertaining.

Is anyone surprised to see Bishop among Xavier’s allies in the future?

Toonz Entertainment handled the production on the show which strikes me as a mix of how the characters looked during the Astonishing X-Men era with some stylization likely intended to give the show it’s own vibe while also making it easier to animate. A lot of the male characters are depicted with large upper bodies and tiny wastes with long legs. Even a short guy like Wolverine has pretty long legs, though he’s also not as short as he would have been depicted pre-Hugh Jackman era. The women are presented more straight up and down though their abdomens usually pinch-in dramatically. They’re also almost universally well-endowed. It’s all 2D, and if any 3D effects are in use they’re well hidden. The costumes are largely from the Astonishing era and I guess since this was a cartoon for digital cable they were able to get away with keeping them pretty true to book so Emma Frost looks like she’s about to burst out of her top in basically every scene she occupies. The animation itself is pretty good and there’s no denying that this show animates better than the Fox series. Whether or not you like the style present is certainly more of a subjective decision.

The music is appropriately dramatic. It very much feels like it was intended to evoke the film franchise and I wasn’t sure if I was even hearing compositions taken from the films itself. Film composer Michael Kamen doesn’t receive a credit, so I think this is just a case of the show’s composer Dean Grinsfelder doing a good job of inhabiting that style. The voice cast is basically all new for those of us who grew up on the old cartoon series. Steve Blum is a solid Wolverine. He knows when to add a little growl to his lines and when to play it more straight-up. I like Nolan North as Cyclops and was surprised at how much Tom Kane’s Magneto sounds like Patrick Stewart, which kind of makes me want to see Stewart play the character, but that’s obviously not happening. Nobody on this show makes me forget the cast I grew up on or replaces their voices in my head when I read dialogue in a comic, but I did enjoy what was here.

There’s a whole episode devoted to Marrow playing the role of Hogarth to this sentinel’s Iron Giant. It’s cute.

Wolverine and the X-Men consists of twenty-six episodes and there is a resolution to a lot of the questions the series has at the onset. That doesn’t mean it ends all neat and tidy as there very much was a new threat setup for the following season that never came. It’s a shame, because it could have been interesting to see how this show would handled some pretty familiar comic book plots. It also would have been fun to see how the team’s dynamic worked post finale as there were some changes.

I do think I was initially rather hard on the series and it was probably a mistake for me to dismiss it based on the premise. I did enjoy my time with the show, though it’s not perfect. Like a lot of X-Men media, the show struggles with the large cast. We wind up knowing plenty about some of the A-listers, but the B-team, if you will, gets very little time to shine. Shawdowcat and Iceman basically exist just for their powers and are given almost nothing to do aside from that. Ditto for Beast who serves the role of “smart guy” who can figure out most of their problems. Rogue and Wolverine have a lot of conflict at the beginning that just sort of fades away and gets a very quick, last second, resolution in the end. And part of this issue stems from the mutants in Genosha having their own plots as well as those in the future with Xavier. There’s a lot going on and the show was certainly ambitious with the scope of its plot. Even though it stumbles, I do appreciate how far the show tried to take things as it demonstrates a real faith in its audience to be able to follow along. They weren’t just trying to sell toys to five-year-olds.

With the show long dead, the only remaining question is “Should you bother?” I think if you’re a fan of the X-Men then this show is a fun diversion. Yes, if you end up liking it then you’ll feel some pain when it’s over since the show was cut down so unceremoniously. With X-Men ’97 continuing the adventures of the original show perhaps a revival of Wolverine and the X-Men is possible? I wouldn’t get your hopes up as the show definitely didn’t have the impact of the ’92 series, but I suppose anything can happen. I do think the show is enjoyable for what it is so while it sucks that there wasn’t a second season, watching this definitely doesn’t feel like a waste of time.

We have plenty more coverage of Wolverine and the animated X-Men:

X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

A few years ago, I talked about my love of X-Men, the animated series, via a book review of Previously…on X-Men by Eric Lewald. That book chronicled the development of the 92 animated series that helped propel the Fox Kids Network to the top of the Saturday morning leaderboards through notes from the author and…

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Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…

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X-Men: The Animated Series – The Adaptations

Halloween 1992 was when things really changed for the X-Men. A high-selling comic book was about to blow open and enter the mainstream with a hit new Saturday morning cartoon series. Spearheaded by Eric Lewald for Saban Entertainment, X-Men would become the highest rated children’s program on the Fox Network and the overall highest rated…

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October 21, 2019

Take My Money, Hasbro, Give Me X-Men Animated Series Legends!

By Joe

 

x-men animated group shot

Let’s talk some X-Men!

It’s been probably 13 or 14 years since I’ve purchased a Marvel-branded action figure. This is somewhat shocking to me because from the age of 7 to around 25 I spent who knows how much money on Marvel action figures. I was there for the inaugural Toy Biz line of Marvel Superheroes and X-Men action figures and I continued buying Toy Biz figures well past the age of when it was considered “appropriate” by my peers. And even after I stopped actually playing with my toys I still kept them on display in my room. Two pieces of old countertop on milk crates served as my makeshift shelves. Good guys on one side, bad guys on the other. As characters changed allegiance in the comics, so did their placement on my shelf. Aside from that, I didn’t like to mess with them and the dust would grow thicker and thicker and probably contributed to my constant sneezing. I didn’t care though, because I really loved my toys.

When action figures grew up with me I grew extremely excited. There were a few dedicated collector lines, most memorably one based on the Onslaught mini series, but things really changed with Marvel Legends. I was a bit tepid at first with them, mostly due to the absence of X-Men, but eventually I got into it. I started with just a figure here and there, and soon enough I found myself buying entire waves. I also added the occasional Diamond Select figure which at the time prioritized sculpt over articulation making some of the toys little more than glorified statues. I even got into Mini Mates for a period, since they initially focused on the Ultimate X-Men which was a comic I grew attached to pretty quickly.

Eventually, I stopped collecting. Part of that coincided with the dissolving of Toy Biz by Marvel which chose to instead license its properties to Hasbro. Those first few Hasbro waves weren’t very strong, and with the build-a-figure shrinking down to more normal proportions it failed to really motivate me. I think the last wave I bought to completion was whichever one featured The Blob. And even with that, I think I had to buy some figures based on X-Men: The Last Stand which did not sit well with me. That also happened to coincide with me moving out on my own trading the confines of my old bedroom for a small apartment. I didn’t want to have to lug a bunch of toys around with me every time I moved, and once I got settled into my own home that I purchased the itch had passed. I had moved onto other hobbies and comics just didn’t appeal to me like they once did. Sure, there have been a few figures over the years that tempted me, but the rising cost in standard toys makes it pretty easy to just focus on the things that really bring me joy.

That could change though, and if Hasbro wanted me back (and who wouldn’t?) there is one thing the company could do that would guarantee it many of my dollars and it has to do with my favorite show as a child:  X-Men.

xmen three pack

This recent action figure three-pack is what put my brain into this mode. These almost work as animated versions, but they’re different just enough to not be perfect. And I’m not just referring to Wolverine’s bone claws.

Nostalgia currently has me hooked via NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys based on the old cartoon series. That show may not be particularly good, but I loved it as a kid and it’s something I can’t let go of. Similarly, I have a huge amount of affection still for X-Men. That show was my life for a few years and unlike TMNT, the show is still watchable today even if it doesn’t hold up as well as Batman or possibly even Gargoyles. And I know I am not alone. There is a lot of love out there for that show and that has been preyed upon via action figures based on the costume designs of the Jim Lee era X-Men from the comics. There was a recently announced three-pack featuring Wolverine, Jean Grey, and Cyclops which is what really got my juices flowing. Those characters bare a strong resemblance to their animated counterparts, but the figures are also clearly aiming to capture the look of the comics and not a cartoon.

What gives me hope that such a line could work is because animated versions of these characters are not far off what is already out there. Take your standard Wolverine action figure, for instance. To make him better resemble the cartoon, Hasbro basically just needs to reduce detail. No stubble on his face, not much hair on the arms, and less muscle definition. DC has done a great job bringing Batman: The Animated Series to plastic form in terms of aesthetics, so why not do the same, Hasbro?

Because I’m such a generous guy, I’m even going to provide a road map for Hasbro. I envision six figures per wave with a build-a-figure bringing the total to seven. Adhering to modern times, the extra buildable figure is not some titanic character, but something closer to a standard sized figure. It would be a good fit for those figures that would need to be 7 or 8 inches as opposed to 5-6, which is what I imagine most figures would fall into. They could be done, and really should be, in scale with Marvel Legends and I would prioritize characters from the first two seasons. If the line’s a success, then sure go for more. If the series happened and worked out as outlined below, then I would definitely buy every figure and really annoy my wife as I hunted for more space to display them.

Series 1

  • Wolverine
  • Cyclops
  • Rogue
  • Morph
  • Mystique
  • Magneto
  • Build-a-Figure:  Sabretooth

This mix would get some fan-favorite good guys out early and also a few villains to pose them against. Wolverine is an obvious must for the first series as he was the most popular character. He should come in his standard uniform and additional hands, some with claws in and some with claws out. A second, unmasked, head would complete the look. Cyclops should also just have his normal look. If a removable flight jacket could be added without harming the sculpt, then all the better, but not necessary. Similar to modern Cyclops figures, he should have a second head with a blast effect and probably an extra set of hands including one with two fingers extended on his right hand to activate his “X” communicator. Morph, on the other hand, should have his flight jacket since he was most often depicted wearing it. He should also have black hair as he did in seasons one and two and an alternate “evil” head. Mystique would need few additional accessories, making her the likely landing spot for a larger piece of the build-a-figure. Magneto would need a helmeted and un-helmeted head to properly capture his long hair. A nice, heavy, fabric cape would also look great, but soft plastic wouldn’t be bad either. Sabretooth, being featured in episode one, makes for a good choice as the first build-a-figure given his size relative to the other characters.

X-Men (FOX) [1992-1997]Shown from left: Wolverine, Morph, Beast

That’s how I want my Wolverine to look, bub.

Series 2

  • Gambit
  • Bishop
  • Storm
  • Cable
  • Pyro
  • Avalanche
  • BAF:  The Blob

Wave Two would be anchored by the next most popular character after Wolverine, Gambit. He’d just need various hands and his bo staff to be authentic. Storm would be the other character from the team, and in the interest of “keeping them wanting,” would be the only other from the main team. Bishop and Cable both played large roles as guest characters and lend themselves well to action figure form. Cable should probably have his season two look which featured a metallic left arm, a more common look than the season one version. Bishop should also feature a removable time bracelet to go along with his really big gun. Pyro and Avalanche would serve as the villains with the BAF being their comrade Blob. A desire to assemble Mystique’s troop would hopefully help drive sales.

x-men_L48

Everyone can relax, Gambit is in series two.

Series 3

  • Beast
  • Jean Grey
  • Archangel
  • Civilian Wolverine
  • Graydon Creed
  • Mr. Sinister
  • BAF:  Apocalypse

Series 3 would be the one that nearly completes the main team. Beast, unlike most figures based on the character, should have a cheerful disposition as opposed to an angry one. Jean Grey would need her cartoon-accurate costume, something Toy Biz never delivered on when the show was popular, which was blue and orange as opposed to blue and yellow. She should also probably come with a Cerebro helmet. This would also be a good time for a second Wolverine figure. Since he was so often featured in plain clothes (yellow flannel with a brown jacket), a figure based on that look makes sense. He should have two pairs of clawless hands, ones that look like normal fists and ones that have the steel ports on his hands as he was incorrectly portrayed in season one. Diehard fans of the show, such as myself, really appreciate little details like that. Creed was a big player in season two, and he warrants a figure as a result. Of course, Sinister was the main big, bad, guy of that season and series three feels like a good spot for him. Lastly, Archangel should be included (with a masked head and unmasked head) to pair with the BAF Apocalypse who would be depicted in his animated purple and blue color scheme.

apocalypse cartoon

I don’t know why they made him purple, but the toy better follow in the same footsteps!

Series 4

  • Jubilee
  • Colossus
  • Omega Red
  • Forge
  • Civilian Cyclops
  • Professor X
  • BAF: Juggernaut

Series 4 would finish the main squad by including Jubilee and Professor X. Xavier would be the tough one to include as he would need his hover chair. Recently, Hasbro did a Professor X that I think retails for more than a standard Legend. The company could save money by retooling it and if it has to retail for more then so be it. Colossus guested a couple of times and is deserving of a figure himself. He should be clad in his blue pants and white tank top to match his appearance in the show. If a second, non-transformed, upper torso could be done then that would be really neat. Omega Red is a villain with a great, 90s, design, and even though he’s a bit bigger than other characters, I don’t think he’s so large that he would need to be a BAF. Cyclops had enough non-costumed appearances to be the second main cast member worthy of a civilian look. And Forge had multiple appearances as well. He should come with an alternate head so he could be depicted as main timeline Forge and future Forge. The Juggernaut is the last character that serves as an obvious choice for a BAF and would be a sought after one helping to make sure fans buy the entire wave. That only challenge with him is I think he would need two heads as well, one masked and one unmasked, because it’s hard to make a good-looking Juggernaut figure that features a removable helmet.

colossus 92

Colossus proved you didn’t need a real costume to be a hero.

Series 5 and 6

  • Phoenix
  • Gladiator
  • Nightcrawler
  • Dazzler
  • White Queen
  • Sebastian Shaw
  • Henry Gyrich
  • Bolivar Trask
  • Dark Phoenix
  • Banshee
  • Fabian Cortez
  • Empress Lilandra
  • BAF:  Sentinel

I’m grouping these two together because I have a radical idea for the BAF. It would be a sentinel and the pieces spread between both waves. The piece loadout would be like Giant Man from the Toy Biz days which did an oversized wave of Marvel Legends as a Wal-Mart exclusive. This would allow Hasbro to do a bigger figure to do the sentinel justice, because we need a sentinel for such a series since they were so important in that first season. The desire to have a cartoon sentinel would help move some of the less exciting, but still essential, characters contained in this wave. Trask and Gyrich, specifically, would be unsexy figures, but they had such a large presence over the first season that it feels wrong to exclude them. Much of these waves would also be devoted to the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix Sagas. Doing both regular Phoenix and Dark Phoenix would also save Hasbro money since they’d basically be the same figure, different head. For Lilandra, I’d also go with the Empress version of the character as that would just make for a more striking visual. Cortez is the only character from a later season, but I see more opportunity for villains and I just happen to like him more than someone like Erik the Red or D’Ken.

sentinel 92

I don’t see how you could have a toy-line dedicated to the X-Men cartoon and not feature a sentinel somehow.

If the line was a success, it wouldn’t have to end there. I completely ignored Sinister’s Nasty Boys and all of the mutates from the Savage Land. They would really help to bolster the ranks of the villains, but it might be hard to convince people they’re more deserving of plastic than some of the others. An entire Savage Land wave could even be done, though I don’t know if that would be a big seller. Another big bad guy I left out is Mojo who would probably work best as a BAF. If he was done, then he would need to be paired with a Longshot.

As for heroes, there are alternate versions of other characters that could pad things out. Civilian versions of Storm, Rogue, Jean and Jubilee (or her in a flight suit) could be added. Beast and Gambit had other looks as well, but nothing really drastic (though Beast with his Howard the Duck shirt is pretty tempting). Archangel also briefly appeared as Angel in season one and returned in season four sporting his white and blue Angel costume. Wolverine had other looks as well, though my personal favorite would probably be the alternate timeline Wolverine from “One Man’s Worth” which also featured a mohawked Storm. Other guest heroes included Iceman, Psylocke, Alpha Flight and X-Factor so there are certainly more characters to mine from, I’m just not sure any really need a dedicated figure based on their look in the cartoon.

Hasbro missed its chance to honor the cartoon with a line of figures to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary. There’s still time though to recognize the 30th in 2022 and a toy-line near then would be an appropriate way to do so. If 2022 seems too far away right now it could be timed to end that year. The show is also about to gain new exposure via Disney+ where it and other X-Men cartoons will be available day one. And with Disney acquiring 20th Century Fox it stands to reason that the X-Men will soon join Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe bringing even more of a spotlight to the brand. The time is right, Hasbro, make it happen!

 

 

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March 30, 2018

Batman: The Animated Series – “Mad As A Hatter”

By Joe

MadasahatterEpisode Number:  27

Original Air Date:  October 12, 1992

Directed by:  Frank Paur

Written by:  Paul Dini

First Appearance(s):  The Mad Hatter

 

Our fourth Paul Dini episode contains yet another lesser foe from Batman’s rogues gallery for him to enrich. After elevating Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze (his other episode was a Joker one) Dini is going to try to bring the same touch to The Mad Hatter. As you can probably guess from the villain’s name, he’s a take on the same character from the famous Lewis Carroll novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which seems like a pretty silly source of inspiration for a villain (and rather lazy, since he even goes by the same name). He sounds like a villain more appropriate for the 1960’s series, and lo and behold he was a part of that, though not a well remembered part. He appeared in a handful of episodes and was played by David Wayne. In that series, he was less a man with a fondness for Lewis Carroll and instead just a guy obsessed with hats, and in particular, Batman’s cowl. He wore his signature top hat which would sprout two eyes and hypnotize people. Really, he might have a bone to pick with Mario’s Cappy. It’s kind of amusing though that he was featured in that series, because his voice actor for this show is a veteran of that program as well:  Roddy McDowall. I don’t know if they ever entertained the notice of hiring Wayne (he may have been retired since his last credits date back to the late 80s, he’d die in 1995 at the age of 81), but McDowall previously played The Book Worm in the 1960’s Batman television show.

The_Mad_Hatter_2

Get a load of this goon.

For Batman:  The Animated Series a more serious take on The Mad Hatter was needed. Just how does one make him a villain with the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland affinity without making him too silly? Well, for one they make him a scientist researching mind control. Jervis Tetch works for Wayne Corporations as a researcher and has discovered a way to control the minds of laboratory rats, which is depicted at the start of the episode by showing Tetch command the rats to have an adorable little tea party. He has a secretary named Alice (Kimmy Robertson), because of course he does, and he’s pretty smitten with her. The problem is, she has a boyfriend. Also of problem is Tetch’s boss, Marcia Cates (Loretta Swift), who is constantly on his case. She brings Wayne by to get an update on the research Tetch is working on. Wayne refers to his research as being aimed at unlocking the potential of the human mind, leading the viewer to conclude that mind control isn’t exactly what Tetch is being paid to research. He also plays coy and doesn’t reveal the device to Cates or Wayne. While Cates seems like she’d prefer to terminate him, Wayne is far more sympathetic and assures Tetch that he’s a valued employee. When Alice steps out for lunch later and returns in tears after a fight with her boyfriend, Billy (David Haskell), Tetch sees an opening for himself. After monologuing the pros and cons of just simply controlling her, this sudden break-up gives him the confidence tot ry and win her over and use his device and circuit cards to aid him. Outfitting a top hat with his mind control device and dressing lavishly as The Mad Hatter, he treats Alice to a night out. Utilizing the hat and little playing cards outfitted with his tech, he’s able to control the minds of those they encounter and come across as a big shot. Unfortunately for Jervis, after dropping Alice off at her home Billy is there waiting and the two reconcile.

maah16

In spite of his outlandish attire, Tetch is able to make an impression on Alice.

When Jervis shows up for work the next day, still in costume and with a bundle of roses, he hears the “good news.” Not only did Alice and Billy make-up, but he also proposed and Alice is over the moon and totally oblivious to how this will make Jervis feel. Not that she’s responsible for his feelings, she even fails to notice the roses and that Jervis is squeezing them so tightly his hand bleeds on account of the thorns and a single drop lands on the photo of Alice and Billy on her desk. Jervis retreats to the lab where he is now determined to win her love. Emboldened by how well his mind control device had worked the night before, he now feels he can use it to win her over, and as a last resort, he could always just control her as well. He starts by taking control of Billy so he can break up with Alice once more. And when Alice returns home from work to find dozens of flowers in her apartment, Jervis is there to console her. By now she’s a little freaked out, forcing Jervis to utilize his last resort.

Unfortunately for Jervis, Bruce Wayne was in the office earlier that day and noticed Alice’s crying. During their date, Jervis had utilized his mind control cards when the two were mugged to command the would-be muggers to jump in the river. Batman was there to thwart the apparent suicide and also uncover the cards Tetch uses to control the minds of others. Since he’s familiar with his work as a scientist, and the likeness of the cards to the Carroll character depicted in Tetch’s office, he goes to pay Tetch a visit and is intrigued further by the unusual behavior of Alice’s boyfriend. He decided to pay Alice a visit at her home later as Batman, and is there to confront The Mad Hatter who makes off with Alice.

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Probably not the scariest group Batman has had to deal with, but maybe the creepiest.

As an actual foe, The Mad Hatter presents little opposition for Batman, but he’s able to utilize his “powers” to quickly gather a following. This is challenging for Batman since he’s confronted with adversaries, who are apparently made stronger by the mind control, who aren’t actually trying to harm him since they’re being controlled. It’s a moral dilemma, but Batman doesn’t seem to mind too much as he beats the Walrus and the Carpenter unconscious. Of course, The Mad Hatter ends up holed up in a Storybook Land amusement park in the Wonderland section. He orders his mind controlled henchman, which include Billy and Cates, to kill Batman, but all Batman has to do is free one. Since the other henchman are only focused on Batman, freeing Billy means Billy can just walk up and remove the cards from the other possessed individuals which seems like a pretty big hole in The Mad Hatter’s plan. Alice is still under The Mad Hatter’s control, and she’s now in full Alice in Wonderland attire, which is kind of gross because it implies Jervis made her change and who knows what kind of liberties he took. Once Tetch is isolated against only Batman it’s not much of a contest putting at least a temporary end to his plans. He does spout the classic villain line, “You made me do this,” at Batman, which feels kind of forced. I know most of the villains place blame on Batman for their crimes, but Batman really entered this arc kind of late.

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He’s certainly got the “mad” part down.

I will give Dini credit, I don’t hate The Mad Hatter. While he’s kind of a gross sort of character, interested in mind controlling a woman to love him, he’s at least believable and not too over the top with his gimmick. It’s always going to be inherently silly, but he definitely could have been a lot worse. Even still, he’s kind of hard to take seriously because his motivations are rather small making it seem kind of odd that he’d bother to return again as a villain (and he will). This is a tight, simple story and there is at least some degree of sympathy to be found in Jervis Tetch. Most people can understand what it means to lack confidence in dealing with a potential mate, though Tetch goes from sweet to creepy almost too fast basically quashing any sympathy the viewer could have built up. I suppose what I’m trying to get at is that I find this episode good without being sold on The Mad Hatter, which is different from how I felt about Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze. Though in looking ahead, The Mad Hatter will inexplicably be the main villain of one of my favorite episodes, so perhaps this episode has zero baring on the long-term relevance of The Mad Hatter.

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March 9, 2018

Batman: The Animated Series – “Fear of Victory”

By Joe

Fear_of_Victory-Title_CardEpisode Number:  24

Original Air Date:  September 29, 1992

Directed by:  Dick Sebast

Written by:  Samuel Warren Joseph

First Appearance(s):  None

It’s been awhile, but making just his second appearance of the series (and first since episode two) is Robin, coming back to play a fairly large role in this week’s episode “Fear of Victory.” This episode was actually the television debut of Robin, since his first appearance came in the Christmas episode which was held back to air closer to the holiday. As a kid, I remember seeing the preview for this episode which featured Robin and getting all excited about it. I really don’t know why since I’ve always much preferred Batman to Robin, maybe it was just because it was something different? Plus, Robin had yet to appear in anything Batman related in quite some time, outside of the comics, so it had been a long while since I had interacted with The Boy Wonder.

As you can probably guess from the title, our villain for this episode is The Scarecrow. Making also his second appearance, Scarecrow has a re-design that makes him look far more fearsome than how he did in “Nothing to Fear.” His face is more interesting to behold and features a crooked mouth full of oddly shaped teeth. In some respects he reminds me of Clayface, and the animators take some liberties with his mask to make him look more fearsome when they want to. He also now has a mass of straw hair under his hat, further adding to the whole scarecrow thing he has going on. Over all, definitely an improvement over that eggplant shaped head he had going on previously. This episode is also noteworthy since it tries to show us how Batman’s enemies might go about getting money for their nefarious schemes. Scarecrow isn’t trying to exact revenge or take over Gotham or anything crazy, he’s just trying to scam bookies by rigging sporting events using his fear toxin. Since he was fired from his university post, he likely needs some funds to get a good lab up and running to further his experiments, though the lack of which apparently didn’t prevent him from creating what he needed for this episode.

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Robin starts freaking out pretty early in the episode – way to make a good first impression, Boy Blunder.

The episode opens on a sports highlight package that displays various performers collapsing in fear during their respective games. Dick Grayson is watching the program from his dorm when his roommate receives a telegram from a skinny, red-headed courier. I’ve got a pretty good memory, so I know who that guy is immediately (and the title card is a total give-away anyways). The telegram is from “a fan” and cautions Brian, Dick’s roommate and quarterback for the school’s football team, not to take fear lightly. When Robin is out on patrol with Batman he fills him in on the odd telegram, and they wonder if it has any connection to the odd things they’ve been seeing in the sports world, including his own roommate getting freaked out on the field. They fire off the first appearance of the crappy version of the grapple guns, the ones that just end in metal Batman logos and stab into the ledges. When Robin has a panic attack while confronting some goons, it tips off Batman that someone is poisoning the athletes and causing them to experience fear.

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Scarecrow’s new look is appropriate.

Some testing back at the lab confirms Batman’s hypothesis and naturally leads him to suspect The Scarecrow. They pay Arkham Asylum a visit where we get some cameos from the likes of Joker and Poison Ivy. Oddly enough, they’re all depicted in their regular villain attire instead of inmate jumpsuits. Batman arrives just as Dr. Crane’s food is being served and he witnesses an orderly tossing it in the garbage rather than delivering it to the appropriate inmate. Batman decides to check out Scarecrow’s cell, which the orderly really doesn’t want him to do, and he finds there’s a scarecrow there in his place. My guess is the writers/story boarders came up with this first and thus were pigeon-holed into putting the other villains in their regular attire as a result. All so they could have a scarecrow in place of The Scarecrow.

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When Brian hallucinates the animators get to have fun with some face-morphing animation to depict his fear.

Figuring out who is behind everything is obviously elementary. Dr. Crane is shown throughout the episode delivering the telegram and also collecting his winnings and each time he’s in disguise. This isn’t to hide the fact that it’s The Scarecrow from the viewer, but to seemingly hide his redesign which pays off when he scares his bookie’s hired muscle. We get an extreme closeup of his face where liberties are taken to add sharp, piranha like teeth to his mask and really make him look kind of freaky, at least I remember it being that way to me as a kid. And the guy he is scaring in that scene is voiced by Tim Curry, who was supposed to be The Joker before it was decided to go with Mark Hamill. They must have had him record some ancillary characters (Hamill voices the orderly in this episode) that they elected to keep. The real tension, I suppose, of the episode is Robin trying to overcome the fear toxin he was exposed to via his roommate’s telegram. He has a panic attack early that almost costs Batman dearly, and Batman has to kind of keep him at arm’s length for the confrontation with Scarecrow. Batman basically gives him tough love as there’s no cure for the toxin, you just need to power through until its effects ware off.

The Dynamic Duo figures out that Scarecrow is targeting the big Gotham Knights game. In a bit of hack story-telling, Batman and Robin’s “fight” with The Scarecrow is cut in sync with the actions of the football game, including Scarecrow’s vial being dropped cut with a fumble in the game. It’s stupid and the type of thing director’s can’t seem to resist when football pops into an action series (I remember contemporary series Rugrats doing something similar). There’s also a really long pass at one point in the game that’s animated to look more like a punt, making me wonder if the animators had ever seen American football (probably not). Since Scarecrow isn’t much of a physical threat, he’s caught rather easily once his threat to poison the entire arena is rendered toothless by Robin overcoming his fear and collecting the vial. Scarecrow suggests his one vial could have infected the whole stadium, which seems ludicrous. I guess since he was cornered in some scaffolding with no way out he could have just been lying in a desperate bid to escape, Batman seems to buy it though.

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Okay, now I’m scared.

“Fear of Victory” is an okay episode of Batman: The Animated Series. I like The Scarecrow and I like his new look, which he’ll hang onto until The New Batman Adventures. The little side story with Robin is fine and it makes sense since we’ve already seen Batman have to deal with the toxin, so why not Robin? It gives him some credibility since he does overcome it in the end, and since Batman doesn’t just tell him to stay home, it does tell us that Batman must value him as a sidekick. What is never really explained is just what drives Robin to actually accompany Batman on his various outings. Because his roommate got scared playing football? Okay. He’ll just kind of show up for no reason from time to time until season two. I prefer Batman as a solo act, so I’m fine with this arrangement and I’m fine with this episode.

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February 16, 2018

Batman: The Animated Series – “Feat of Clay – Part II”

By Joe

3366172-feat+of+clay+2Episode Number:  21

Original Air Date:  September 9, 1992

Directed by:  Kevin Altieri

Written by:  Marv Wolfman and Michael Reaves

First Appearance(s):  None

Like “Two-Face” before it, “Feat of Clay” gets to benefit in its second act from a strong first act that set everything up. All of the establishing material has been taken care of. When we last saw Matt Hagen he had been mutated into a grotesque mass of clay thanks to Roland Daggett’s men and the Renuyu product. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne found himself in an unfamiliar position:  arrested for the attempted murder of Lucius Fox.

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Meet Clayface.

“Part II” opens with Wayne making bail and heading into his car without speaking a word to the throng of reporters shouting questions at him. As Alfred drives away, Wayne is able to recount a bit of where he’s at in his investigation into who tried to knock off Fox. He knows it has something to do with Daggett (Ed Asner), that much he was able to get out of one of Daggett’s cronies, but he needs more information or else his case will hit a wall. Daggett is also sweating a bit as Fox is still out there and he knows about Daggett’s attempt at a hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises and things could get back to him.

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Germs doesn’t want to get his suit dirty.

That’s stuff is all playing second fiddle though to what has happened with former actor turned criminal Matt Hagen (Ron Perlman). We only saw a glimpse of the monster he has become at the conclusion of “Part I,” but “Part II” wastes no time in showing Hagen in all his grotesque glory. Seated in front of a mirror in his trailer, Hagen is a massive clay-like golem with a hint of Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters in his face. He’s resigned to the fact that his career as an actor is over, as well as his life among normal people. His friend and stand-in Teddy (Dick Gautier) is trying to console him though, and the two soon realize that the Renuyu that made him this way still works as intended, meaning Hagen can mold his face to resemble others. And the ability is no longer limited to his face, Hagen can essentially re-shape his entire body to resemble anyone he can imagine, including clothing. For a brief moment, Teddy thinks Hagen can now continue on as an actor, only now better than ever. However, Hagen quickly loses concentration and reverts back to his new monstrous appearance. Frustrated, he explains that changing his form is like tensing a muscle, and maintaining that is just as hard. It’s a fun little nugget of info for the viewer and necessary information if we’re to believe that there’s no going back for Hagen.

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That’s a neat trick.

Daggett’s henchman Germs (Ed Begley Jr.) is sent to finish off Fox in his hospital room, but Batman having no real leads to pursue, is there waiting. Germs bolts, but Batman corners him in some research closet where different diseases are stored. Germs, having gained his nickname because he’s a germaphobe, is pretty freaked out and Batman places a jar of what he calls crimson fever on a shelf above the head of Germs. He interrogates him, and each time Germs doesn’t give him a suitable answer he punches the wall and the jar inches ever closer to the edge of the shelf. Germs reveals that Hagen was the one who impersonated Wayne, and Batman is dubious of Hagen’s ability to pull it off so convincingly. Before he can get anywhere further, a security guard interrupts them and we see the jar over Germ’s head was harmless sewer water.

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Hagen getting creative with his new-found abilities.

The guard though, is there for Germs as well. It’s Hagen, and he immediately attacks Batman by extending his arm into a mass of clay to slam Batman against the ceiling. He makes off with Germs and tries to escape via the rooftop, but Batman is there to meet him. They have a brief exchange, with Hagen getting creative with his shape-shifting abilities. In a scene that was often included in TV spots for the show, Hagen makes little steel tips pop-out of the ends of his fingers. They continue to extend until the clay recedes to reveal a steel hand that he then thrusts forward – the fingers extending like swords. Batman dodges, and eventually Hagen collapses under the stress of all of the shape-shifting. He escapes by diving off of the building and retreat’s to Teddy’s house.

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I guess he does kind of look like poop, but I don’t care, I think Clayface is pretty rad.

Even though Hagen failed to kill Germs, he feels empowered by his battle with the Batman. Teddy tries to talk him out of this path, but Hagen snaps at him, announces he’s to be called Clayface from now on, and leaves Teddy lying on the floor. Daggett is set to appear on a popular Gotham talk show hosted by Summer Gleeson, so we know where Clayface is heading. Batman has also made the same connection, and he’s there to set a trap. When Clayface, disguised as an audience member, confronts Daggett on television about the addictive properties of Renuyu, he reveals himself and forces Batman to spring into action. He’s able to lure Clayface into the control room, where monitors surround Clayface and display different parts Matt Hagen played in his career. Clayface loses control of his shape-shifting powers and a prolonged “death” scene occurs as Hagen smashes monitors and gets himself electrocuted. During the sequence, he even takes on the form of Wayne in full sight of the police which apparently was enough to prove Wayne’s innocence (and maybe Germs ended up cooperating with authorities, but Daggett escapes arrest so who knows?). After that, Batman is back in the bat cave with a piece of clay he recovered from Germs. He’s shocking it and it has no effect suggesting to Batman that the death of Clayface was just another performance. Cut to Teddy bidding farewell to his old friend, and a woman behind him laughs menacingly and her eyes go yellow.

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A bunch of monitors is apparently all you need to take down Clayface.

Clayface is a profoundly fun villain to watch. The animation utilized is possibly the best the show will ever have as Clayface is constantly morphing and changing, particularly in the fight scene with Batman. No shortcuts are utilized in showing how his hands turn into other objects, no puff of smoke or bright glowing lights or something to obscure the animation. He has this nice texture to his look that reminds me of earth clay as opposed to pottery. Ron Perlman’s deep and gravely voice also sounds appropriate coming out of Clayface and it’s hard to imagine another voice for the character. Animating him was probably costly, which might explain why he only appears in one more episode of Batman:  The Animated Series, and then one more in The New Batman Adventures. That’s the only thing that dampens my enthusiasm for the episode, just knowing we won’t see much more of this villain. While he doesn’t fit-in with other villains of the show, those that are mostly grounded in some basis of reality, Clayface is a purely fantastical creature. It does feel a touch out of place, but it’s handled well which makes the whole thing easier to accept at face value.

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When Clayface goes nuts the animators get to have a ton of fun with him, or maybe it was all miserable to animate. Either way, it looks awesome.

In the real world, it will be a year before we see Clayface again. For this blog, it will be less than that since it’s roughly 30 episodes away. It was pretty cool though for Clayface to disappear for some time as the ending of this episode makes you wonder what’s next for Clayface. Is he to become a recluse and hide from society? Can he learn to control his powers well enough to resume his life as Matt Hagen? We’ll find out eventually. Batman: The Animated Series only has a handful of two-parters, and it begs the question:  Which is the best? I know a lot of people love “Robin’s Reckoning” and it’s hard to argue against that one as best of the two-parters. “Two-Face” was great though the second act was a little underwhelming, at times. The others concern Batgirl, Ras Al Ghul, and a wacky computer. They’re actually all pretty good, from what I remember, but I think “Feat of Clay” is easily in the top two with “Robin’s Reckoning.” We’ll see how I feel about that two-parter when I get to it (spoiler alert:  in about 10 weeks).

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February 9, 2018

Batman: The Animated Series – “Feat of Clay – Part I”

By Joe

Feat_of_Clay-Title_CardEpisode Number:  20

Original Air Date:  September 8, 1992

Directed by:  Dick Sebast

Written by:  Marv Wolfman and Michael Reaves

First Appearance(s):  Roland Daggett, Clayface

I don’t know what happened that caused me to miss the first few broadcast episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, but “Feat of Clay” was the first episode I ever saw. It’s possible that my memory is just fuzzy and I did see the few episodes that aired before it, but my family had also just moved from New Hampshire to Virginia so it was a pretty hectic period for us. Regardless, assuming it was my introduction to the show it’s a pretty great way to have the ice broken. Though “Feat of Clay” is a bit more procedural an episode as opposed to action packed, it’s a well constructed and satisfying viewing experience and I remember being captivated by the show’s tone which just felt so much more “adult” than what I was used to.

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Roland Daggett is a made for TV villain that proves to be a worthy addition to Batman canon.

“Feat of Clay” marks the debut of two characters we’ll see more than once over the course of the series. The first is crooked businessman Roland Daggett (Ed Asner). Rumor has it he was supposed to be Max Shreck from Batman Returns but supposedly Tim Burton wasn’t on board with that for some reason, so Daggett was created instead. He’s a businessman and slumlord who prioritizes money above human life. In this episode, he’s concerned with his chemical plant, Daggett Industries, and a certain client. Matt Hagen (Ron Perlman) is that client, a down on his luck actor once renowned for his ability to alter his appearance and mold himself for any role. Ever since an accident left his face horribly disfigured, he’s found it pretty hard to find work.

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Imposter Bruce wants that brief case.

The episode opens in confusing fashion (for an eight year old) with Bruce Wayne meeting Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox in the middle of the night at an old warehouse (Gotham is just full of these). Fox is confused, but he brought what Wayne was seeking – a briefcase containing documents which incriminate Daggett in an illegal attempt at taking over Wayne Enterprises. Wayne quickly double-crosses him and a horde of goons appear. They’re ordered to kill Fox, but lucky for him they’re a terrible shot. He’s eventually injured when one assailant is able to shoot out a rope and drop some debris on him. Apparently it’s a lot harder to shoot an adult male than it is a thin rope. Batman is also alerted to the gun fire and he shows up to clean up some of the mess, but he’s not in time to prevent Fox’s injury.

As a viewer, it was hard to believe Wayne would do anything to endanger one of his friends and the presence of Batman confirms this. Eventually we find out Wayne was none other than Matt Hagen in disguise. Hagen has found a topical cream that can cover up his scars, and more importantly, turns his face into a clay-like state which allows him to mold his own features to resemble others (no explanation given for how he alters his voice, that’s just cartoons for ya). The cream, Renuyu (pronounced Renew You), just so happens to be manufactured by Daggett Industries. As we know, Daggett wants to take over Wayne Enterprises, and the encounter with Fox was supposed to result in Fox’s death which would have been the catalyst for the takeover. With Hagen’s failure, Daggett has decided to cut-off Hagen’s supply of cream. He also orders his two primary henchman, Raymond Bell and Germs, to take Hagen out as he’s now a liability.

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Hollywood doesn’t have many roles for mugs like that one.

Unfortunately for Hagen, he needs the cream in order to keep working. It also has proven to be an addictive substance, though weather the cream is chemically addictive or just psychologically given it can erase scars is anyone’s guess and beside the point. Hagen feels like he needs it, and he is not willing to go without it.

Batman is of course trying to figure out what happened to Fox, oblivious at first that Bruce Wayne was framed for the attempted murder. Fox was able to tell the cops what happened, and naturally they want to speak with Bruce. Alfred covers for him while Bruce tries to figure out what happened back at the warehouse. Batman is able to trace Daggett back to Raymond Bell, who was there the night of Wayne’s framing. He tracks him down in the Batwing and runs Bell’s car off the road. In perhaps Batman’s finest interrogation, he uses the prongs on the front of the Batwing to impale and carry Bell’s car high above Gotham. Utilizing a mechanical arm, he extracts Bell from the car and dangles him over Gotham Harbor. He’s only able to find out that Wayne was not present the night of Fox’s attack, but Bell faints before he can fess up to who was behind it. The police show up and Batman is forced to hand over his prisoner. Now knowing that a Wayne imposter was present, he decides, against better judgement I’d say, to visit Fox in the hospital after hours which only makes Fox think he’s returned to finish the job. He’s arrested as a result.

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In order to hide his scars, Hagen is forced to rely on a cream provided by Daggett.

Not to be outdone, Hagen also decides to do some infiltrating and heads to Daggett’s lab. Using the last bit of Renuyu he possesses, Hagen is able to slip in undetected, but not for long. Daggett and his men discover him, and in a rather disturbing scene, Daggett basically drowns Hagen in the stuff by pouring it down his throat. The “murder” is only seen via shadows on the wall, but it’s effective. Hagen survives though, and his stand-in finds him later in his car where Daggett’s men had left him, but Hagen is different. We get just a brief look at him as he glances in the rear-view mirror before the episode ends with that which is oh so frustrating:  To be continued.

“Feat of Clay” is a slow moving episode of Batman, but necessarily so. The pacing allows us to really get inside Matt Hagen and sympathize with him. He’s driven to continue his life as it was before the accident that left him scarred and disfigured at all costs. He’s probably dealing with some depression, and the addictive Renuyu is probably the worst thing for him. His friend and stand-in Teddy is also the stand-in for the audience as he tries to talk Matt out of this path, but to no avail. He loves him too much to just abandon him, but we’re left to wonder if he’ll be pushed too far in the stories to come. Daggett, on the other hand, is a pretty conventional villain. He has no redeeming qualities and is easy to understand. He’s yet another gangster type who gives birth to a super-villain, following in the footsteps of Rupert Thorne and the role he played in creating Two-Face. Still, conventional as he may be, I always liked Daggett as a villain because there’s no compromise in him or an attempt to disguise his intentions. He’s not slimy like Thorne, just a cold, hard villain. Ed Asner is also perfectly cast in the role and my affection for him probably plays a role in my liking of Daggett.

As a result of all of the attention paid on Hagen, this ends up being an episode that’s rather light on Batman. The framing plot is engaging, when used, even if it felt rather similar to Batman Returns. He’ll get back to doing what he does best in Part II, but it is still a some-what shocking sight to see Bruce Wayne in handcuffs.

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The “murder” of Matt Hagen and the birth of Clayface.

Since “Feat of Clay” features some rather prominent voice actors, it’s not surprising this episode feels extra special. It also helps that the episode looks great. Hagen’s face is convincingly disfigured and the morphing properties of the cream he applies are fun to look at. Of course, we’re in for a far greater treat when Clayface truly debuts. The scene of his becoming Clayface though is almost incredible considering it’s taking place in a kid’s show. It was shocking to me as a kid and I watched with some disbelief. Also worth pointing out is the subtle personality quirks we get to see within Daggett’s gang. One guy apparently has a fear of germs (hence the name Germs) and Bell is always wearing headphones tuned to police scanners. It’s a small touch, but so often the hired muscle in these episodes are nameless, faceless, men with guns.

As the introduction for a new villain, and one that wasn’t well known outside of the comics, “Feat of Clay” is probably second only to “Two-Face.” It works in tandem with its follow-up, and I might argue it’s a more satisfying set of episodes than its predecessor. I suppose I’ll wait until I do a write-up on Part II before I make up my mind, but it should go without saying that these two episodes are among the best the show produced.

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February 2, 2018

Batman: The Animated Series – Prophecy of Doom

By Joe

Prophecy_of_Doom-Title_CardEpisode Number:  19

Original Air Date:  October 6, 1992

Directed by:  Frank Paur

Written by:  Dennis Marks, Seath Catherine Derek

First Appearance(s):  Nostromos, Frank Clark, Lisa Clark

Happy Ground Hog Day, or as I like to call it, Bill Murray Day!

With a show like Batman:  The Animated Series, it can sometimes be tempting to look ahead. The show had so many great episodes and there are certain ones I am eager to revisit. The show also has a tendency to have three or four great episodes all in a row, then a low point, before resetting itself. Today’s episode is one of those low points. “Prophecy of Doom” is another episode that does not feature a prominent villain for Batman to do battle with. This isn’t a death sentence as plenty of episodes are able to tell compelling stories without a popular villain. Last week’s episode, “Beware the Gray Ghost,” is a perfect example of such an episode. Usually these episodes need to entertain in a different manner. One way is they simply create a new villain that proves to be compelling without the name recognition. Other times they just tell a good story or explore the Batman character in a new fashion.

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Ethan is telling Bruce all about his new psychic pal while daughter Lisa looks bored.

“Prophecy of Doom” unfortunately does not really do any of those things. It’s a story about a con artist suckering some of Gotham’s super elite. Nostromos (Michael Des Barres) is a fortune teller of sorts who seems to only see the bad things that are about to happen. He’s able to convince his followers that he does indeed possess special gifts by making sure those misfortunes actually take place. He’s going to sucker some people close to Bruce Wayne, forcing him to “go undercover” in a way as a believer himself in order to find the truth in all of it.

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Now there’s a guy I’d entrust my fortune to.

The episode opens on a casino ship listing in the ocean waters at night. It’s a rare example of Batman’s art looking rather cruddy as the black paper effect just makes the ship look flat. The camera pans throughout the ship’s interior giving us a look at the fun being had before resting on a wad of dynamite in the ship’s bowels that soon detonates. The rescue boats soon fill with screaming patrons and the ship eventually sinks, if anyone actually died we’re not told, but the show also doesn’t go out of its way to tell us no one was hurt which is rare for a children’s program. This whole scenario is a lead-in to a dinner date Bruce Wayne is having with Ethan Clark (William Windom) and his adult daughter Lisa (Heather Locklear). I’m assuming Ethan’s connection to Bruce, being that he’s an older gentleman, is that he was likely a friend to Bruce’s parents and he maintains a friendship with him. Ethan was apparently supposed to be on that casino ship, but he was warned not to board by Nostromos. Lisa is an apparent skeptic, but Ethan believes in Nostromos and encourages Bruce to seek him out. Bruce walks Lisa to her car after the dinner during which she reveals her dad has joined some secret brotherhood and expresses concern for him. She also even makes the observation that she thinks all of Nostromos’s predictions come true because he makes them.

Naturally, Bruce is intrigued and attends one of the demonstrations. He draws attention to himself, in a rather clever piece of story-telling, by acting sort of childishly skeptic of everything. Nostromos takes notice and singles out Bruce to make a prediction that something dire will happen! And sure enough, the very next day Bruce’s private elevator at Wayne Towers malfunctions. The accident is supposed to kill Wayne, but being Batman and all, he escapes and even finds his would-be assassin on the roof. The episode will brush this whole thing aside by simply saying Bruce stepped off the elevator, but I always found it preposterous no one makes the obvious Batman connection as a result.

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Nostromos can really work a crowd.

Anyways, Bruce did get Nostromos’s fingerprints at that meeting and looks him up in his crime lab. Amusingly, the mug shot for Nostromos, real name Carl Fowler, features him in his costume which feels kind of lazy. Or someone thought their audience wouldn’t be smart enough to know it’s the same guy if he looked different, even if Batman is there to tell us. Batman also discovers his partner, Lucas (Aron Kincaid). The two were busted for larceny years back, so all of the pieces are starting to fit. The audience even gets a glimpse of Nostromos and Lucas fretting over Wayne’s non-demise. Wayne bails him out though by having a change of heart. Now feigning that he’s a believer, Wayne is invited to join the brotherhood where he learns of Nostromos’s ultimate plan:  foretell a great economic collapse and get everyone to pool their money into a fund that he will eventually be able to control. He does a grand demonstration which includes the use of a wire to fly to sucker them all in. Lisa gets snoopy though and Lucas kidnaps her, which I suppose I should have seen coming.

prophecy_of_doom_by_finisterboy-d6dkca2

This is more dangerous than it looks.

Nostromos uses Lisa to get Ethan to sign over control of the fund the other “brothers” have invested in. He and Lucas then attempt to kill them off, but Batman has other ideas. The climax looks like it’s going to be a reward, of sorts, for the viewers as Batman schools these chumps, but instead Lucas gives him a fight. It looks awkward and clumsy, but the coloring is flashy as it’s all in black and white to make it look like they’re fighting in a dark room. Lisa is strapped to a ceiling model of what appears to be Mars while other planets revolve around her. Nostromos smashes the machine that controls it which is apparently enough to make the planets come out of alignment and collide with one another. Our only real suspense for the scene is will Batman stop the bad guys and save the girl in time? It’s been done.

doom

I did enjoy how this fight scene was colored, so the episode isn’t a total loss. Though Batman really didn’t need to sell for this chump.

You know how it ends so I’ll spare you the details. This episode is not only a bit on the boring side, but it also doesn’t look great. There’s an animation spot where Batman walks to the Batmobile and he looks real awkward and unnatural. The additional characters added also look cheap and drab with Lucas especially seeming incapable of making a facial expression. The few times a character tries to make a joke it falls flat. There is one neat bit of violence where Batman throws a bat-a-rang at Lucas and it lodges in the back of his knee. I don’t think we’ll see anything similar in another episode. That’s part of Batman’s first encounter with him following the failed elevator spot and it’s just not at all believable that he could escape Batman, especially after the knee injury (which is apparently fine by the time the two tangle again). Perhaps an inordinate amount of the budget of this episode was spent securing Heather Locklear for the role of Lisa, a character that you think Bruce might have some romantic interest in, but is ultimately shelved following this episode. “Prophecy of Doom” is just a dud, not unwatchable, but not an episode you’re likely to return to after seeing it once. Next week’s though? One of the best – see you then!

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