DC Cartoons have finally caught up with the Comics

18Aug/094

DC Cartoons have finally caught up with the Comics

by Mike Agnew Jr.

Well as most of you know, I'm a bit of a comic buff/biff. I have always enjoyed comics and their characters especially the DC universe. Batman is by far my most idolized character.

Batman the animated series was the first show that actually got me reading the key graphic novels....KnightFall, Batman Year One, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, and of course Kingdom Come. Kingdom Come was amazing. The entire novel was drawn by Alex Ross who can make these characters look like real people in costumes made of real fabric that fit them like fabric would.

On top of its beautiful artwork, Kingdom Come introduced me to the Multiverse. Now before I loose you and send your mouse to the back button, you must know that this Multiverse concept opens up a whole new world of possibilities. I was always plagued by the notion that Batman and Superman were from the 30's and 40's. I mean Batman's parents were killed after he went to see "The Mark of Zorro" in the theater when he was 8. That movie came out in 1940...so Batman is now 77 years old. He doesn't look it. So how do you take a man who is a myth and somehow make mythology, a character that will not age with time but live in the present and can also....die. The Multiverse. A series of infinite earths where all these events did occur. Say goodbye to continuity and say hello to "well that happened on Earth 2" and "Oh that Superman came from Earth 99" The DC universe has been unlocked and both stories old and new can co-exist and even on special occasions even cross paths.

Kingdom Come opened my eyes to see just how large the DC universe actually was. I began to read more about the Flashes (Jay, Barry, and Wally) and how important they were to the Justice League, one of the main good-guy-groups. How can someone who can be defeated by a curb be so important? Well i suggest you start reading because the truth is Superman doesn't have anything on the Flash. I continued on and learned about the Green Lanterns, the Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Dr. Fate, Booster Gold, and many many more. Even the villains had amazing back stories. Stories like "The Killing Joke" make you sympathize with the Joker and what he went through before he became the character we all know today.

Now for a quick bit of history. A comic book code was applied in 1954. Without the approval of a comic code committee comics would get rejected and shunned. Hence a lot of smiley batmans and feel-good "Zonk" fighting.

Luckily comic authors pushed the limits so much with titles like Watchmen (now a major motion picture) and The Dark Knight Returns the comic code eventually lacked authority because the people wanted real and they wanted dark. This is when the Dark Knight Batman was born. Anyway....I'm getting off track....back to the cartoons. Now cartoons are for kids...anyone who says otherwise is crazy however movies like Titan A.E. and Cool World might have made you rethink that notion.

The Justice League Cartoon was a continuation from the Batman and Superman Animated Series(es). It brought in a mix of Justice Leaguers : Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern-John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash - Wally West, and Hawk Girl. The show ran for 2 seasons and definitely started off a bit campy. But it told a good story and also introduced a mix of other villains from time to time. After the 2nd season ,they expanded to the Justice League Unlimited.

Now that universe I spent so much time studying was available for story telling. And they used it too. Most episodes didn't even involve the original Leaguers. The mid-carders were finally getting their shot and getting their stories told. Also the writers focused on bringing some of the best stories from the comics("For the Man who has Everything") alive in the animated genre. JLU lasted for 3 amazing seasons. I wish it had continued.

Now it looks like DC and Warner Brothers are working on making full length animated movies with each movie dedicated to a single member of the Justice League. They started with Wonder Woman.

This movie was done very well but let me be clear....this was a movie made for adults. People are decapitated, blood is all over, guys get kicked in the nuts at least 14 times throughout the movie, and not to mention the island of naked woman bathing together. At one point the Queen of the Amazons asks a man what he is thinking. He responds, "God, your daughter has a nice rack, " referring to Wonder Woman. Now don't get me wrong this was a great movie. I enjoyed everything about it: the humor, the Greek gods and goddesses, and of course all the action and suspense. But would I let my kid watch this...No. I would say 11 years old is the cut off for this movie. It was Rated PG-13. So I guess if you check the rating...its not too bad.

So I moved on to the next installment. The Green Lantern:First Flight.

I have always been a big fan of the Hal Jordan/Green Lantern storyline. I even own a green lantern costume. So I was quite pumped to watch this movie. It too was rated PG-13 and rightly so. This movie also had plenty of blood and use of the word "crap" which definitely implied the use of worse words. There was also one drug use scene which made me feel a bit awkward but still it was all part of the story telling. And hell....it got my attention. All in all this release was a bit lighter than Wonder Woman, but I noticed while in Best Buy that it was packaged with a little Green Lantern Toy.

Now I love that comics have adult story lines, it helps me defend my obsession with them. For some reason if I reference a scene from a comic and it is more vulgar than an episode of Sopranos then no one has an argument against me. If you still thinks comics are for kids or that comic story lines can't effect you emotionally please spend the $10 bucks on Identity Crisis. I think the comic book code they used in the 50's was a little extreme but we might need a bigger indicator of the rating on the DVDs instead of a toy.

This is what is coming out next and I could not be more excited: