recent Teen Titans eps
Apr. 27th, 2004 03:30 amFractured was mostly bizarre, yet still amusing. But the first part of Aftershock? Whoa. The series really shines in the Slade eps.
( spoilers for Aftershock Pt. 1 )
( spoilers for Aftershock Pt. 1 )
animated Teen Titans
Mar. 4th, 2004 09:35 pmYesterday I transcribed the first part of Apprentice for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lcsbanana, and as I rewatched the episode I was reminded once again how freaky and disturbing (in an entertaining way) the parts with Slade and Robin were. And I decided that I should watch the earlier episodes with the two, so I just watched Masks.
And wow, also creepy, especially when you know what it'll lead up to. The series really shines in the eps centering around Robin and Slade. And Robin? Is really intense in his focus on catching and demasking Slade. That room with all the news clippings and evidence, it sort of reminded me of the room Lex in SV keeps for his Clark obsession.
And why am I not surprised that Robin knows exactly how to disarm each of his fellow Titans, I guess he comes after Batman in that way... *g* Of course it leads him into the same kind of trouble Batman has with the rest of the Justice League.
lcsbanana, and as I rewatched the episode I was reminded once again how freaky and disturbing (in an entertaining way) the parts with Slade and Robin were. And I decided that I should watch the earlier episodes with the two, so I just watched Masks. And wow, also creepy, especially when you know what it'll lead up to. The series really shines in the eps centering around Robin and Slade. And Robin? Is really intense in his focus on catching and demasking Slade. That room with all the news clippings and evidence, it sort of reminded me of the room Lex in SV keeps for his Clark obsession.
And why am I not surprised that Robin knows exactly how to disarm each of his fellow Titans, I guess he comes after Batman in that way... *g* Of course it leads him into the same kind of trouble Batman has with the rest of the Justice League.
a Teen Titans question
Feb. 16th, 2004 03:36 pmUhm, I feel kind of dorky asking this, but how does Gar's costume work? If it was green I'd just assume that it is not clothes at all but part of him changing forms, but as it is it looks like he wears clothes when he's in human form, nothing when he's an animal, and the clothes just conveniently reappear. Of course I'm aware that he has to have a costume for extra-textual reasons, just like Hulk has to keep his silly ripped shorts, because they don't let superheroes frolic around naked in mainstream titles, but is there any explanation within the fictional reality?
Nightwing squee
Jan. 29th, 2004 11:09 pmI'm in the process of writing this long entry on the origin stories of Batman and Nightwing, what changes there were in continuity from Crisis to present day etc. (at least as far as I'm aware of them). That projected entry turned out to be rather more work than I anticipated when I had the idea for it, so it's not finished yet. Still on the upside while doing the research for it, I'm (re-)reading lots of comics with a focus on, or references to their origins, which is fun.
So I also came across The Secret Origin of Nightwing in Secret Origins v2 #13 from 1987, which -- I think -- isn't fully in continuity anymore, after the changes in Dick and Bruce's breakup story later as well as IIRC some changes in the details of Dick's parents death, but it is still fun to read and slashy for its framework story with Nightwing and Jericho.
I haven't read the New Teen Titans issues during which this takes place, and I'm not terribly familiar with the NTT arcs, but details weren't that important, and Nightwing also recaps the key events. Anyway, they are on some alien planet, Kory just (or not that long ago anyway) had this political marriage to Karras, so Nightwing feels, understandably, down and pours out his heart to Jericho, while they sit bare-chested in a tree. Okay so Jericho is bare-chested, Nightwing wears his first costume, which only partly shows his chest, and at the end Jericho gives Nightwing a "holographic thought painting" (a technology from that planet) of an odd, fluffy, golden creature with wings and fur, that also looks really gay.
I need to start reading those 1980s New Teen Titans issues soon.
So I also came across The Secret Origin of Nightwing in Secret Origins v2 #13 from 1987, which -- I think -- isn't fully in continuity anymore, after the changes in Dick and Bruce's breakup story later as well as IIRC some changes in the details of Dick's parents death, but it is still fun to read and slashy for its framework story with Nightwing and Jericho.
I haven't read the New Teen Titans issues during which this takes place, and I'm not terribly familiar with the NTT arcs, but details weren't that important, and Nightwing also recaps the key events. Anyway, they are on some alien planet, Kory just (or not that long ago anyway) had this political marriage to Karras, so Nightwing feels, understandably, down and pours out his heart to Jericho, while they sit bare-chested in a tree. Okay so Jericho is bare-chested, Nightwing wears his first costume, which only partly shows his chest, and at the end Jericho gives Nightwing a "holographic thought painting" (a technology from that planet) of an odd, fluffy, golden creature with wings and fur, that also looks really gay.
I need to start reading those 1980s New Teen Titans issues soon.
watching cartoons...
Jan. 27th, 2004 01:22 amI finally managed to get my hand on a copy of Duck Dodgers: The Green Loontern and it was great. Lots of squeeing on my part, and I bet it's even funnier for people more familiar with GL. I think my favorite scene was Daffy Duck trying to piece together the oath: "In blackest day or brightest night... watermelon, cantaloupe... yadda, yadda... superstitious, and cowardly lot... with liberty and justice for all." The scene where he talks about being the first of his species to achieve flight with that flock of ducks in the background was great too. In general Green Lantern ring powers work well with the Daffy Duck kind of cartoon figure, and really among the others in the Green Lantern Corps Daffy really doesn't even look out of place.
I also watched the newest Teen Titans episode, 2x03 Terra, because I was curious how they'd adapt the rather adult storyline of the Judas Contract for a kids' cartoon when TPTB said that giving the heroes double identities was already too complicated.
( spoilers for 2x03 Terra, also mentioning of titles of future Titans episodes )
I also watched the newest Teen Titans episode, 2x03 Terra, because I was curious how they'd adapt the rather adult storyline of the Judas Contract for a kids' cartoon when TPTB said that giving the heroes double identities was already too complicated.
( spoilers for 2x03 Terra, also mentioning of titles of future Titans episodes )
comics comments
Nov. 9th, 2003 10:30 pmI seem to be perpetually behind with my comic reviews, brief and incomplete as they are in the first place. Anyway, here are comments on comics from the last three weeks.
( comments on Amazing Spider-Man #500, Avengers/JLA #2, Arrowsmith #4, Batgirl #45, Batman #620, Batman/Joker: Switch, Birds of Prey #60, Detective Comics #788, Hulk Gray #2, Outsiders #5, Superman Birthright #5, Supreme Power #4, Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins, Wolverine #7, Wonder Woman #197 )
( comments on Amazing Spider-Man #500, Avengers/JLA #2, Arrowsmith #4, Batgirl #45, Batman #620, Batman/Joker: Switch, Birds of Prey #60, Detective Comics #788, Hulk Gray #2, Outsiders #5, Superman Birthright #5, Supreme Power #4, Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins, Wolverine #7, Wonder Woman #197 )
The Judas Contract
Nov. 3rd, 2003 02:15 amI read the The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract TPB (written by Marv Wolfman, pencils by George Pérez, inks by various) today, and though I had fun reading it, it was still weird in a way. The cause for this feeling was mainly that of course Dick's transition from Robin to Nightwing has been retconned to much more confrontational versions, and I'm familiar with the retconned history. So while I was reading the pre-Crisis story, in my head I had this "parallel track" going on, kind of like a cognitive dissonance, where I was thinking how the "real" version, i.e. the changed sequence of events as we now have to imagine them having happened in the current DC continuum/universe, went down. Unfortunately DC doesn't have a minitrue at hand to update all their "documents" to fit the current history to help with the problem.
Of course I'm well aware that it's futile to want to make it really fit, despite valiant efforts of such sites as the Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe which made real progress in that direction, yet I can't help myself, I cling to consistency. And I don't really want to give up constructing a consistent version of the characters' histories for myself that incorporates as much of the continuity as possible either. Though I think my definition of "consistent" is shifting to a more accommodating fuzzy logic one. *g*
Anyway, now for some other stuff I noticed while reading the Judas Contract:
Of course I'm well aware that it's futile to want to make it really fit, despite valiant efforts of such sites as the Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe which made real progress in that direction, yet I can't help myself, I cling to consistency. And I don't really want to give up constructing a consistent version of the characters' histories for myself that incorporates as much of the continuity as possible either. Though I think my definition of "consistent" is shifting to a more accommodating fuzzy logic one. *g*
Anyway, now for some other stuff I noticed while reading the Judas Contract:
- I thought the way Brother Blood is written here was much better than what I encountered in the current Outsiders. I mean, he's cunning, and creepy, and he realizes this elaborate plan to allow his followers to spread into other countries more easily -- I liked him as a villain here.
- Slade/Wintergreen? Way slashy. Slade/Terra? Way creepy. But I liked reading more of Deathstroke's story.
- I was surprised how much I liked Kory. Okay, I'm still not quite over her looks and skimpy costume, but I'm getting there.
- I've been wondering what kind of job/occupation Dick has during this. Is he a journalist or was this just a cover like the disguise? And when Slade barges into Dick's place (Slade says Dick is at home) I was wondering why Dick needs a nameplate on his desk at home.
- I really like the scenes showing the friendship between Donna and Dick. Though now that I get to know her character I'm becoming even less fond of the recent Graduation Day storyline.
Technis Imperative
Oct. 16th, 2003 12:10 amI've read the JLA/Titans x-over Technis Imperative, and it was fun though I'm clearly not the intended audience for this one. I'm not nearly enough of a DC or Titans geek to fully appreciate its teeming cast (not yet anyway, I mean it's been only this year that I got sucked into this quagmire fascinating universe). Most of the time I was like "Who? What? Who's that? I think I've seen this one before -- maybe. What was this one's name again? Hey, I know that one at least!"
I mean, how many Titans are there anyway? Okay, I knew there were a lot, but I was sort of overwhelmed by the masses. I knew some (more or less at least), like Kory, Arsenal, Tempest, Cyborg, or Donna and had at least seen some others before, like Changeling, Argent or Raven. But Risk, Prysm, Fringe, Terra, Red Star, Panthera, Wildebeest (and what kind of silly spelling is that anyway?), Damage, Impulse, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, Omen, Mirage, Joto, Minion... it went on and on and on. And I was unfamiliar with a number of the JLA people too. I knew Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and of course Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, but Barda, Orion, Steel, Zauriel? It had something of a "Where's Waldo?" book... Should I ever read NTT and familiarize myself with all those people, I'll probably read this one again.
OTOH it sure was more entertaining than to read a list of (Ex-)Titans, and the story conveniently included a way to list all their names, aliases and powers because that moon-swallowing thingie Cyborg had turned into was really into cataloging stuff. And I never knew the Titans had so many different headquarters.
Unfortunately the page layout sometimes made it really hard to figure out the sequence in which to read the panels, which is just bad, because each time I have to stop to think about the reading sequence I'm thrown out of the story.
Still, there were a lot of good scenes, I enjoyed (those where I did know the characters), for example Nightwing butting head with Batman is always fun to read. And at least now I know why Cyborg is golden in the art of The Titans series I've seen that follows this x-over.
I mean, how many Titans are there anyway? Okay, I knew there were a lot, but I was sort of overwhelmed by the masses. I knew some (more or less at least), like Kory, Arsenal, Tempest, Cyborg, or Donna and had at least seen some others before, like Changeling, Argent or Raven. But Risk, Prysm, Fringe, Terra, Red Star, Panthera, Wildebeest (and what kind of silly spelling is that anyway?), Damage, Impulse, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, Omen, Mirage, Joto, Minion... it went on and on and on. And I was unfamiliar with a number of the JLA people too. I knew Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and of course Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, but Barda, Orion, Steel, Zauriel? It had something of a "Where's Waldo?" book... Should I ever read NTT and familiarize myself with all those people, I'll probably read this one again.
OTOH it sure was more entertaining than to read a list of (Ex-)Titans, and the story conveniently included a way to list all their names, aliases and powers because that moon-swallowing thingie Cyborg had turned into was really into cataloging stuff. And I never knew the Titans had so many different headquarters.
Unfortunately the page layout sometimes made it really hard to figure out the sequence in which to read the panels, which is just bad, because each time I have to stop to think about the reading sequence I'm thrown out of the story.
Still, there were a lot of good scenes, I enjoyed (those where I did know the characters), for example Nightwing butting head with Batman is always fun to read. And at least now I know why Cyborg is golden in the art of The Titans series I've seen that follows this x-over.
panel scan for ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cereta
Oct. 14th, 2003 06:32 pmA little while ago cereta said that one of her favorite fannish things was "The panel in Technis Imperative in which Nightwing appears through the image of Tempest's "ideal woman," holding out his hand.", and also that it was hard to scan from her paperback. I, however, just found that JLA/Titans x-over in single issues, so I had an easier time scanning that panel (buying single issues turned out cheaper than the TPB too).
( I hope this is the panel Lucy meant... )
And I agree, it is really slashy.
cereta said that one of her favorite fannish things was "The panel in Technis Imperative in which Nightwing appears through the image of Tempest's "ideal woman," holding out his hand.", and also that it was hard to scan from her paperback. I, however, just found that JLA/Titans x-over in single issues, so I had an easier time scanning that panel (buying single issues turned out cheaper than the TPB too). ( I hope this is the panel Lucy meant... )
And I agree, it is really slashy.
