Justice League-The New Frontier

Just watched a loaner copy of the new DVD, JUSTICE LEAGUE-THE NEW FRONTIER. Based on Darwyn Cooke's acclaimed mini-series/graphic novel from a couple of years back, this animated straight-to-video movie is...well...just okay. For one thing, it is, right out of the gate, too explicitly violent. In an ultimately optimistic movie about the early days of super heroes in the DCU, I don't care how "adult" you want it to be, the violence can be implied. Same with the language. Maybe this one was for older kids and us grups but you know as well as I do that the kids who are currently enjoying the various JLA cartoons still running on cable will want to see it and most parents will automatically assume it to be kid-friendly. Eleven year old Bookdave chose to leave the room after watching Hal Jordan rather explicitly shoot some guy in the head in the opening minutes! I stuck it out myself and in spite of a few good scenes and characterizations, I have to say they tried to cram way too much (and too many characters) into just a little over an hour. Many of the scenes go on too long leaving little time for other important moments to just whiz by.

As far as the high-voltage voice cast, Miguel Ferrer as J'onn J'onzz, Jeremy Sisto as Batman and Neil Patrick Harris as Flash come across best in their roles. ( Oddly, Ferrer once fought against David Ogden Stiers as J'onn in the unsold live-action JLA pilot of a decade or so back.) While Lucy Lawless seems ideal for Wonder Woman, in practice I'm sorry to say she brings nothing special to the role. David Boreanez is Hal Jordan (who only belatedly becomes Green Lantern) and is essentially the main character. Sadly again, anyone could have voiced him just as well. Brooke Shields, Kyra Sedgewick and Kyle Machlaclan also appear.

The Martian Manhunter is essentially the second leading character and we see his arrival, his integration into our society and culture, his imprisonment by the government and his public redemption. All of this is played with humor and pathos both in the writing and the performance.

Cameo appearances from the Blackhawks, Adam Strange, the Challengers of the Unknown and other silver age characters are nice touches but once again there's no real time for them to do anything other than just appear.

As far as the animation itself, it seems more an off-kilter variant on the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm themes rather than Cooke's highly stylized work. It also seems pretty static in spots with little of the pizzazz one might expect from a presumably bigger-budget than television film. Maybe the money all went into the stunt casting.

Cooke's original story (itself inspired by a late seventies Steve Englehart JLA story??) was given the time to pace itself as needed, a luxury that this limited animation version just doesn't have. Parts of it are just fine and nicely handled but as a whole, I'd have to say JUSTICE LEAGUE-THE NEW FRONTIER doesn't quiiiiite work for me.

Superman Skycaps

Okay, let's get real, people. Skycaps? These are Pogs! POGS!! Was there ever a fad that was so universally hated by anyone with taste and intelligence...even a small amount of it? I found these remnants of that (thankfully) short-lived craze in the bottom of a comic box here at the Library. They are the only Pog-related items I ever had. My memory, as has been noted, is not as reliable on anything that's happened after 1990 but I believe these were given away with one of the post-DEATH OF SUPERMAN issues just prior to all of these ersatz Men of Steel showing up in the comics themselves.

Random Panels of Comic Book Weirdness # 23

For those of you who think "relevence" in late sixties/early seventies DC comics began and emded with GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW, here's a bizarre scene from the February, 1970 issue of WORLD'S FINEST. SUPERMAN has--for reasons that need not be explained to appreciate this panel--taken BATMAN back in time to Krypton before it exploded (how the heck many times did he make that trip anyway!? Kinda weird if you ask me!) and they run into a sixties-style student protest!

Vintage JLA Ad

They just don't make 'em like this anymore. After several appearances in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, here, from WORLD'S FINEST # 113, is a memorable DC house ad for THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA in their own magazine!

The 22nd Annual Cincinnati Old-Time Radio and Nostalgia Convention

Every year there are rumors that this great convention may have had its day but every year brings yet another one. Here's the flyer for this year's con. Unlike any other convention you've ever been to before, THE CINCINNATI OLD-TIME RADIO AND NOSTALGIA CONVENTION is more like an annual family reunion. So many of us have been attending for decades (including the celebrity guests!) that everyone just hangs out and talks. There's a dealers' room and, of course, the old-time radio re-creations but in essence it's all an excuse to get together and catch up with friends old and new. So come join us this year! You never know. It may actually be the last one at some point!

The Black Cat

Here's an interesting piece that originally appeared on the back cover of a 1983 issue of THE COMIC READER. Featuring the pioneering Harvey Comics superheroine, THE BLACK CAT, at first glance it would seem to have been drawn by that feature's longtime artist, Lee Elias. Something about it didn't quite seem right, though, so I check inside the issue and see that it's credited to our own longtime reader/commenter Sam Kujava in the style of Elias! Hmmm... Then I start speculating on what it was done for originally and I recall that Sam attended the Kubert school around this time. Then I recall that Lee Elias was teaching at said school around the same time! Could this have benn done as an exercise for a class at the school? Only Sam can tell us! No matter what its origins, it is quite the nice pin-up!

Badly Costumed Super Hero of the Week

After missing last week due to lack of 'Net access, we're back with another BAREly costumed super hero, 1942's SAMSON. Interestingly enough, this guy is currently being revived in the colorful PROJECT SUPERPOWERS series along with a gaggle of other now public domain heroes!