X-Men: The Animated Series

X-men: The Animated Series debuted on October 31, 1992, in the U.S. on the then new Fox Kids Network. This show holds a special place for me as it was my first exposure to any Marvel property ever. I was already familiar with Batman and DC through the 1989 Batman film and Superfriends reruns but had yet to encounter the wonderful world of Marvel superheroes. Not long after seeing this show I visited a toy store and stood in awe of the action figures for this cartoon displayed with the older Marvel action figure toy lines. Being about six years old, I had no clue what this cartoon would ultimately be responsible for. Very soon, I would start reading Marvel comics and, like millions of other kids, fall in love with their line of heroes.

It was this show, and later Spider-man, that cemented my worldview of Marvel Comics characters and what they should be. These cartoons are the biggest reason that the X-men are some of my favorite comic characters.

 It was much later that I discovered that this version of X-men was Marvel’s 2^nd attempt to get their mutants off the ground. Pryde of the X-men debuted as a pilot episode in 1989 for what was supposed to be a new wave of Marvel animation. It was a massive failure but what I love about that single episode is that Kitty Pryde was the main character. She’s one of my favorite X-men. I also enjoy the appearance of Allison Blair, The Dazzler. Colossus and Nightcrawler were also part of the team, which was nice for any 80’s X-fan. This cartoon presents the classic 80’s X-men team (my favorite X-men era) and it gets their look completely right. The story was also good, hitting several notes from the Chris Claremont/John Byrne run. Unfortunately, the animation was poor and Wolverine was apparently Australian, something that the comic books flirted with for a time before Logan officially became everybody’s favorite Canadian.

The 90’s show took inspiration from Jim Lee’s redesigned X-men from the early 90’s with its character designs. Those designs were current and popular at the time. The team is comprised of the X-men’s Blue Team as featured in the early issues of X-Men Vol. 2. Cyclops was the leader, just as he had usually been in the comics. The cast was rounded out by Wolverine, Beast, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, and Professor X, as well as a new character created for the show, Morph (an outgrowth of the Silver Age X-Men character, The Changeling).

The show’s main musical theme, a distinctive and heavy guitar instrumental written by Ron Wasserman, was featured in the original opening sequence where each of the X-Men demonstrate their mutant abilities for the audience. I remember early on being unable to decide who my favorite X-man was, because they all had such cool powers. It was usually a 4-way-tie between Wolverine, Gambit, Cyclops and Beast.

The influence that this show had on the X-men franchise can’t be understated. This show defined Wolverine for the 1990’s and remains the largest reason why Wolverine became so popular outside of the comics. I have no doubt that certain members of my generation will forever hear actor Cal J. Dodd’s voice as Wolverine. Even the movie people at 20^th Century Fox used this show as their main creative influence on the direction of the movies. There’s even some conjecture that still persists about Hugh Jackman basing his portrayal in the movies largely on the Wolverine of this series.

Certain Marvel and X-men fans remember this show as fondly as most remember Batman: The Animated Series. Other fans don’t think it holds up as well, pointing out cheesy dialogue from characters, pretentious plots and poor animation. I fall somewhere in the middle of those two camps. I love this series and am still quite entertained when I watch it. That said, the subpar animation and outright animation mistakes, particularly in the 5^th season (an almost entirely different show), can make certain episodes hard to watch. What should we expect with Marvel opting (as they did in all their 90’s animated shows) to use the hyper-detailed G.I. Joe model for animating their characters? Other things make this feel like it’s aimed at little kids too. The number of times Storm has to “summon the weather” is both annoying and hilarious. Wolverine’s constant rage against Sabertooth, and his constant jealousy over Jean Grey are also far too much to handle at times. Gambit also has a tendency to “charge” random objects with his mutant power, even when he’s not in battle.

Many of the classic comic book stories received adaptations that were either decent or taken completely out of context. The most notable adaptations were The Dark Phoenix Saga (the greatest X-men story ever written and a decent adaptation), Days of Future Past (Wait? Where’s Kitty Pryde?), Proteus (probably most accurate to the comic), and the Weapon X storyline (pretty intense for a kid's cartoon).

X-Men even crossed over with Spider-Man: TAS, when Spider-Man seeks out the X-Men's help to stave off his progressing mutation. Storm was even featured in later parts of that show when they half-heartedly adapted the Secret Wars storyline. These guest cameos made Spider-man: TAS feel like a sister show to X-men. This was amazing to a kid who loved both shows.

This series wasn’t afraid to deal with social issues. Topics include divorce, religion, feminism, and even the AIDS crisis. This was a double-edged sword however. While employing such socially conscious themes was admirable, this approach made the show feel a little uneven because, in other places, it also tried to display the typical Saturday morning humor. Being too self-serious and melodramatic while also trying to appeal to little kids often didn’t work very well.

X-men was followed by X-men: Evolution, a show that had more in common with the live-action movies than the comics. Later, Wolverine and the X-men, a show that seemed closer to the X-men comics of the 21^st century than anything else, debuted to much fanfare. Both of these were very good shows, but not as all-encompassing, not as iconic and certainly not as fondly remembered by X-men fans as X-men: The Animated Series.

I still love this series, though how much of that love comes from my love of X-men comics and characters and how much of that love is based on nostalgia for this show, I’m not quite sure. Either way, I'm obligated to honor my childhood and view the series with some kind of love, but I have to admit, after a recent rewatch of the entire series, it’s simply not as great as when I was a kid.

The Rise and Fall of The Simpsons: America’s Best Cartoon Sitcom

One of the things I often lament is that, living in the U.S., there's no real appreciation for animation or cartoons, at least not in the way other parts of the world value them. In some European countries (France is a good example) as well as much of Latin America and nearly all of continental Asia, animation is highly respected as a medium, and in some cases, worshipped. In some Asian countries comic strips and manga are even available in vending machines. By contrast, in the U.S., if almost anything is animated, be it a TV show or film, it automatically has a negative connotation by most adults and is branded as “kid’s stuff.” 

The Simpsons was one of the first American creations to shift that perception, even if we animation fans are still largely fighting that belief today. Things have improved with other, more adult, fare being released since The Simpsons debut, but I don’t personally believe much of it has compared in quality to this show, beyond things like South Park, Futurama or some of the Adult Swim programs.  Because of the right combination of humor, heart and satirical relevance, The Simpsons has gone on to become the most influential, and, perhaps the most important piece of American television animation ever created. 

The original Simpsons debuted in 48 short comedy sketches in 1987.

It all started when legendary producer James L. Brooks got his hands on Matt Groening’s popular underground comic strip, Life in Hell. He had originally intended to use its characters for sketch comedy, but Groening, not wanting to lose ownership of his comic strip, developed a sitcom family based largely on his own. The Simpsons first appeared in 48 short cartoons, usually 30 to 90 second comedy skits, which were used as bumpers on the ever-popular Tracy Ullman Show. These, in my opinion, are some of the best Simpons moments ever, and, have even been dubbed by some fans as Season 0 of the show. Fox, being in its infancy, was looking for something new. Impressed enough with the concept, the network ordered thirteen half-hour episodes. The characters were redesigned from their less crude models, fleshed out to better serve the half hour sitcom format, and on December 19^th, 1989  the popular yellow-skinned family debuted with its own show, a Christmas special titled Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.

The Simpsons was an overnight sensation. The reason for the show’s rapid success is because it went against the grain and wasn’t afraid to push the envelope. Most television, especially sitcoms in the mid to late 1980’s, was quite bland, quite conformist and pedestrian. Other than The Cosby Show, most sitcoms were not overly popular. The 80’s brand of safe entertainment where nobody was offended or offensive seems, especially by today’s standards, incredibly boring and trite for any sitcom. People who were sick of the mid 1980’s sitcom formula, who couldn’t relate to those kinds of TV characters, suddenly found something to latch onto. The Simpsons were not a family with an overly successful doctor as the patriarch. They were rooted in the working class and the humor came from their everyday problems.

Some supporting characters are as memorable as The Simpsons themselves.

It was an amazing show for the first several seasons and parodied practically everything about late 80’s and 90’s American culture. The comedy was fresh, the jokes relevant and the characters were quickly becoming pop culture icons. The show seemed to work not only because Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie were so funny, but the supporting cast and background characters were also memorable. Characters like Moe, the bartender, Chief Wiggum, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, The Flanders family, Mr. Burns and Smithers, Bart’s best friend, Milhouse, Bart’s teacher, Edna Krabappel, Comic Book Guy, Sideshow Bob, and so many more, helped to round out the show and make the town of Springfield, with its mysterious location, seem that much more relatable.

By the mid 1990’s the show was firing on all cylinders. The unique cartoon gags like the rotating couch scene in the opening, as well as the contrasting personalities of the main characters made the show feel like it could do things that no other sitcom was capable of. It seemed The Simpsons unique brand of satire would endure for a long time and remain popular well into the new millennium. But then something happened. The show began to lose steam and the audience began to shrink. The show started to become something different than what it had been.

The unfortunate decline of the show, after the first decade or so, has come to be known as “Zombie Simpsons”. The exact moment when the show morphed from a smart, funny, fresh satire of American life to a show that lost its relevance is unclear. One thing is certain however, it has become an increasingly dim shadow of its former self. Some Simpsons fans put it at just after season 8, while others declare that the show got stale after the season 11 finale, “Behind the Laughter.” Some even cite “Behind the Laughter” as the show’s unofficial end. While many Simpsons fans have simply given up, the “Treehouse of Horror” anthology shows are considered the most popular episodes that have aired since the show’s apparent downfall.

And even though “Zombie Simpsons” has existed since about the year 2000, it’s not without its gems. Practically every episode of “Treehouse of Horror” remains brilliant. Every post-2000 season does bear some good episodes (a season 19^th episode called “Husbands and Knives” is quite hilarious) but, most of the time, cultural references aren’t as funny, the satire is often less topical and the jokes sometimes don’t land as well as they should. A lot of the same plots are recycled and the character development has been nearly nonexistent in the last ten seasons. The show went from an exceptional sitcom founded on satire and character driven humor to an often bland comedy show, reliant on too many gags to get by. That said, it’s still far better than the kind of TV that was mediocre when the show debuted.

I think the reason the show has become "the sitcom that wouldn't die" is that it has a primary fan base that refuses to put it out of its misery. Deep down, fans, and probably the cast at this point, know it isn’t what it used to be but, out of some sense of loyalty, we just keep watching. Have most of the original fans given up? Probably not, but it has lost a large chunk of its audience.

The Simpsons is a show that helped define the 90’s. It’s THE show that made it okay for American adults to watch cartoons and it's THE show that finally broke TV fans out of the glut that was late 80’s sitcom mediocrity. But, that show hasn’t been around for a long time. In its place is something… different. Should “Behind the Laugher” (the final episode of season 11) have been the last word on Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie? In my view, no! I’ll agree that “Zombie Simpsons” is the “undead version” of a once supreme prime-time experience, but there are decent episodes still to be found. It fought against the grain and became a standout. Now, it seems to just limp along (in search of brains?), hoping that the ratings don’t force cancellation. And that’s sad because The Simpsons was a formative experience of my youth. I do like a lot of what came out after the year 2000 and, while I no longer follow this show like I once did, I will at least keep watching the “Treehouse” episodes as long as they are made.

TMNT: A Comparison of the Mirage and IDW Comics

*Credit goes to Anton Abrahamsson for helping with this article.

Having recently re-read the Eastman and Laird issues (the main canon) of Mirage Publishing’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic as well as the first 100 issues (and various mini-series) of IDW’s re-imagined TMNT book, I thought this would be a good time to compare and contrast the two, largely because these seem to be the clear favorite iterations among older turtle fans and comics fans.

Some Background on My Fandom

It was the IDW series that reignited my love of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I always loved the 1990 movie and was aware of Mirage but had never read it. I read the first IDW arc, Change Is Constant, in 2012 and was hooked. IDW’s new iteration forced me to seek out everything TMNT I could get my hands on. I went back to my childhood and played the original TMNT arcade game online. I watched the 1987 cartoon pilot on Youtube. I checked out the 2003 cartoon show which I missed as a young adult but really enjoyed upon seeing it in my late twenties. And then I found Mirage, which I'd always heard about but never experienced. Whoa! Talk about running backwards here.

The Comparison

Mirage

The main canon of Mirage Vol. 1, the work of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, is what I will focus on for simplicity’s sake and because the remainder of Volume I is abstract, sometimes to the point of parody.  The Eastman/Laird issues are broken down like this:

Issues #1-12

Issues #19-21 (a story known as Return to New York)

Issues #50-62 (the epic finale of Vol.1 called City At War)

Various issues of Tales of the TMNT Vol. 1

Mirage TMNT has a harder edge. This is largely because it was an indie comic and Eastman and Laird were not beholden to any standard like the Comics Code or any corporate brand. They did whatever they wanted and were able to get away with more than your average comic.

The basic plot of issues 1-12 sees the Turtles fight the Purple Dragon gang, learn of their origin, and find and defeat their mortal enemy, The Shredder. They then battle Mouser robots, confront Baxter Stockman, meet Stockman’s assistant, computer programmer/techie April O’neil, and Splinter is abducted. The turtles go to space where they meet The Fugitoid and the Triceraton aliens and rescue their master. They discover the Utroms and, by issue #8 meet Renet and Cerebus the Aardvark, embarking on a time traveling adventure. Issue #9 is a prequel tale where Splinter and the pre-teen turtles help a man called Hatsumi reclaim his family lineage. In the following issue the TMNT battle and defeat a seemingly resurrected Shredder and the Foot Clan again, with the help of Casey Jones. As April’s antique store burns down after the battle, the turtles, April and Casey, and Splinter retreat to the Jones family farm. They live there for a while and fix the place up. In between all of this, in various issues of Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 1) and the individual turtle micro issues, they meet Casey Jones, are introduced to The Rat King, are ambushed by the Foot Clan where Leonardo is injured, Donnie meets an artist named Kirby, the TMNT confront a hate group at the farm, meet a vigilante called Nobody on the streets of New York, encounter Leatherhead, and Michelangelo goes on a solo adventure, adopting a cat named Klunk.

Issues 19-21 sees Raphael meets the Triceraton named Zog and the turtles Return to New York where they discover Shredder is still alive, or has reformed from a mystical spell involving worms feeding on his body to regenerate him. The Shredder is beheaded once and for all, by Leonardo. The turtles then burn his body at the Hudson River.

The canon continues, after many of the guest era stories, in #50.

Issues #50-62 encompass the City At War arc. After their victory over the Shredder, the TMNT discover that New York has been thrown into a turf war.  The factions of the New York Foot Clan are now in a heated battle with the Shredder's still loyal Foot Elite for control of the underworld. 

I’m not going to give any focus here on what comes after Volume 1 because of the lack of Eastman and Laird collaborations. For those interested, many stories from Tales of the TMNT Vol. 2 build on the main canon from Volume 1.

The art styles throughout the books are quite polished under Laird’s pencil. His characters are dynamic and beautiful. He remains my favorite TMNT artist ever. When Eastman pulls art duty the series has a rougher, grittier edge. Eastman's edgy quality makes him probably the best TMNT pinup artist of all time. His harder style works well for covers too.

In fact, largely because it was an indie book and originally published in black and white, Mirage TMNT has a harder edge all around. The subject matter is less refined and the storytelling is more deliberately paced. Publishing as an indie book and having full creative control, Eastman and Laird were not beholden to any standard like the Comics Code or any corporate brand. They did whatever they wanted and were able to get away with more than your average comic. The series is a highly imaginative concept that feels as mature and grown up as the best works of the 1980’s. It may be primarily informed by Frank Miller’s Ronin and Daredevil, The New Mutants, the work of Jack Kirby, and Cerebus, but TMNT feels completely original.

IDW

IDW has had the benefit, not only of following Mirage, but drawing on 30+ years of TMNT history to tell their stories. The main series hits most of the plot points as laid out by Mirage and it may borrow from the various cartoons and the 90’s Archie comic, but it definitely has its own flavor. The main creative team for the first 100 issues is Tom Waltz as the head writer and Kevin Eastman as co-writer, plotter and co-plotter. A revolving door of talent joins them for the art chores. Over 100 issues the TMNT are revamped, utilizing familiar plot elements and characters while creating amazing new characters and stories as well.

The most notable difference between IDW and what has come before is the origin of the turtles. In Mirage the ooze that mutates the turtles is related to the the alien Utroms and TCRI. The turtles are random red-eared slider turtles and Splinter is a sewer rat. They get covered in the mutagen in a sewer and Splinter relays the origin to them via a story about his master, Hamato Yoshi.  In IDW, the turtles and Splinter are labs animals, mutated this time by orders from General Krang with an ooze that, again, originates with the Utroms. This time however, the spirits of Hamato Yoshi, an ancient warrior from Feudal Japan, and his sons are reincarnated into the animals. Oroku Saki is also resurrected into the modern age through mysticism and is tied to the spirit of a dragon.

IDW does borrow a few plot threads from Mirage Vol. 1. Like Mirage, the IDW Turtles fight the Purple Dragons, encounter mousers, and meet April. They also go to Dimension X, a decent stand-in for Mirage’s outer space plots. After the amazing City Fall arc, which shares similarities to Mirage’s City At War, they visit the Northampton farm in one of IDW's best arcs. The turtles later return to New York and, after some non-Mirage related plot threads, Shredder dies on a roof. After a hundred issues, it all culminates in a story arc called “City at War.” The basic elements of Mirage can be felt throughout but enough is different that the narrative feels familiar without feeling like it’s all been done before.

IDW differs from Mirage however, because it adds in many plot threads and concepts from other sources. The Dimension X and Neutrino concepts as well as the Technodrome appear from the original cartoon, while the Earth Protection Force and Street Phantoms come out of the 4Kids cartoon. Each of these elements play important roles in the overall story and help to distinguish IDW as its own thing.

Along with these familiar ideas many different characters appear as well. Mirage characters like The Shredder, Baxter Stockman, Karai and Leatherhead are mixed with Angel, Hun, Bishop and Ch’rell from the 4Kids cartoon as well as original cartoon characters like Krang (a Utrom in this series), Bebop and Rocksteady, and Slash, the snapping turtle. Where this series really shines, however, is with the creation of new characters like Old Hob, Alopex, Koya and Bludgeon. The Mighty Mutanimals, characters from the Archie comic, also show up here. The villain turned anti-hero, Old Hob, leads them.

IDW’s various mini-series, annuals and maxi-series, including the spin-off comic, TMNT Universe,  mimic Mirage’s Tales of the TMNT series because these stories act as fill-in issues and companions that play into the larger continuity.

Another major difference is IDW’s narrative’s cohesiveness. This has been, arguably, one of IDW’s weaknesses. 100 issues of tight, cohesive storytelling has left little room for self-contained arcs or slice of life stories. Story arcs break up a single narrative but constant callbacks to previous issues leave no room to read these arcs in a singular fashion. Everything hinges on what comes before it. In contrasts, Mirage tells multiple stories with a loose continuity. If read in order Mirage stories can be cohesive but they don’t call back to each other or influence each other, at least not the way IDW’s turtle stories do.

The art styles throughout the series vary considerably, in much the same way that Mirage art has varied over the years with its guest artists. The artwork enriches IDW’s turtle books by providing different flavors and tones that are specific to each story arc. The brilliant Ronda Pattinson does most of the coloring. The art talent includes: Kevin Eastman, Dan Duncan, Andy Kuhn, Mateus Santolouco, Sophie Campbell, Cory Smith, Ken Garing, Michael Dialynas, Dave Wachter, Damian Couceiro, Chris Johnson, and Brahm Revel.

Conclusion

Some believe that comparing these two comics is a futile exercise because IDW is seen as just another brick layered upon the foundation that is Mirage. However, I think comparison is valid and valuable because each comic shares similarities.

Eastman and Laird’s Mirage issues feels much more like a comic book that came out of the 1980’s. These stories  share some similarities with Cerebus, the underground comic that features an anthropomorphized animal character. The run feels like an action-packed superhero book in the vein of Frank Miller’s Daredevil, and it has slice of life stories like Love and Rockets by the Hernandez Brothers.

By contrast IDW’s TMNT feels almost like a fan written comic that happens to be done by the pros. IDW is an amalgamation of all TMNT work. It’s a revamped version similar to the “Ultimate” line of books at Marvel Comics. It takes the best of all TMNT incarnations, adds some new characters, and throws it in a blender. The result is a new story with several familiar elements. It’s a more cohesive, continuity-driven work that tells a single story over several self-contained arcs.

So, which is better? That’s subjective, obviously. Fans who have a long history with the TMNT in all their incarnations may enjoy IDW more. Fans who have a deep love for Mirage and have never seen it topped may like the original better. I tend to think the main canon of Mirage tells better stories and has a more mature flavor, but IDW is better written across the board. I love them both, but I see myself going back to IDW slightly more often than I’ll revisit my Mirage turtles when I need a TMNT fix.

The Existential Brilliance of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing

So, I haven’t updated in just over a year, as I’ve been busy with other writing projects and general life concerns, but today I have a special treat. I’m going to highlight one of the greatest runs in comics, probably of all time…

Swamp Thing is a character that, on his best day, is going to remain in the background of the DC Comics stable as a semi-popular character. He’s amazing though, precisely because so much can be done with him. And while he is no longer as popular as he was in the late 1980’s or early 90’s, he remains one of DC’s best. Swamp Thing is not my absolute favorite character, but he is one of my favorites. This is largely because of what Alan Moore, and the team of Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson before him, did with the character.

Just as I consider the Len Wein sci-fi based Swamp Thing run to be one of the best things to come out of comics in the 1970’s, I consider Alan Moore’s more horror-inspired Swamp Thing run to be one of the best things to come out of the entire decade of the 1980’s. Period. Full stop. What Moore did with the hulking humanoid plant-creature, with his run of layered, complex, humorous, scary, dramatic and deep stories, is create one of comicdom’s rare masterpieces.

Some of you might think “well, of course. It’s Alan Moore. He’s a great writer.” I’d like to go deeper than that and not let Alan rest on his laurels here. Yes, he’s great, but I would go so far as to say it’s this run, I think more than any of his other work like Watchmen or The Killing Joke, that cements that statement. See, Moore took over the Swamp Thing title in the mid 80’s, a time when Swamp Thing was floundering and on the verge of cancellation. He revitalized the character, picking up immediately after writer Martin Pasko left.

The run begins with issue #20 in a story called “Loose Ends”. Key previous events are retold, peppered throughout the story, for the sake of context, so it fits in with Pasko’s previous work yet completely begins anew.

Moore is complimented for most of the run by artists John Totleben and Stephen Bissette. Their moody, compelling comics art is some of the darkest stuff to come out of the 80’s and helps this run become one of the defining works in comic book history that made comics grow up. The duo’s brilliant use of shade and shadows helps to make the narrative all that more frightening and atmospheric.

Moore’s run is perhaps best remembered for a story called “The Anatomy Lesson”, in issue #21 where Saga of the Swamp Thing starts. Swamp Thing comes to terms with what he is. Moore reverses what the reader had come to know as fact. Before, we thought that the scientist named Alec Holland, due to an accident, had become a swamp creature, a “muck encrusted mockery of a man.” But now we learn that, after the accident, the chemicals in the swamp caused a plant to take on Holland’s consciousness. Swamp Thing isn’t a man who became a plant. He’s a plant that believes itself to be a man. The genius of this difference allows Moore to go deeper and explore the character like never before. Further, his love of nature and the Earth itself are also heavily explored. This allows Moore to play with environmentalist themes as well by reintroducing Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man, in an epic swamp battle. Yes, “The Anatomy Lesson” is a great little tale but the true genius of the run is in other stories.

When Moore explored the greater DC Universe by showcasing Swamp Thing’s journey through Hell, where he meets various Justice Leaguers like Superman and the more darkly themed and mysterious characters like Deadman, the Phantom Stranger and Etrigan, the Demon, Swamp Thing’s role in the DC canon was cemented. This is probably the standout tale of the entire run because Swamp Thing’s place is more clearly defined. He later meets Adam Strange in a sci-fi story too.

Other standout stories include issue #34, “Rites of Spring,” which solidifies Abby and Swamp Thing’s love for each other. They make love through a psychic link, a psychedelic experience that occurs when Abby eats a tuber off of Swamp Thing’s body, causing her to see him as a handsome man. She is now linked to him forever.

The “American Gothic” storyline is notable as well for introducing the character John Constantine, who later shines in his own series, Hellblazer. Taking place between issues #37–50, Swamp Thing travels to several parts of the U.S., encountering several archetypal horror monsters, including vampires, a werewolf, and zombies. Around this time, Moore had the Swamp Thing encounter Superman a second time, in DC Comics Presents #85, which remains one of the best Superman stories also.

In issue #53, “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, Gotham City has become an overgrown jungle. Abby traveled there in a previous issue to temporarily get away from her life in the swamp after a “sex crime rap”, in which pictures were taken of her love affair with Swamp Thing, but is now in police custody. Swamp Thing travels there to rescue her and turns the city into a jungle until Abby is released. The confrontation between Batman and Swamp Thing is spectacular and this remains one of my favorite Batman stories.

In parts, Swamp Thing reads simply as some of the best comic books ever produced. As a whole, the run reinvigorates the industry, along with other defining works, to help comics mature and grow into an adult medium. The sophistication seen here and in works like The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Maus, Mister X, and Love and Rockets, is what the industry has been chasing since the 80’s. Not only does this run define Swamp Thing, it also helped to redefine many of DC’s very minor characters and created major new ones. I would urge anyone into comics, or fiction in general, to get their hands on these stories in any way they can. I myself will be going back to these stories for years to come. Great stuff!

80 Years of Batman!

Happy Birthday, Batman! 

80 Stories For 80 Years of The Dark Knight

In honor of Batman’s 80th anniversary, I have compiled a list of what I believe to be the definitive Batman works from Vol. 1 (pre-New 52). These comic book stories, arcs or runs introduce important characters and events that are central to the mythos or explore character motivation the best. Some are very popular and obvious, some more off the beaten path. Every era is represented from Volume 1 (pre-New 52). This was a challenge for me as a Batman fan. I poured over every issue (via reprints and digital) of the two main Bat titles and all of the major series.

1. The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge (Batman #251)

2. Strange Apparitions (Detective Comics #469-479)

3. Daughter of the Demon (Batman #232)

4. The Dark Knight Returns (miniseries)

5. Batman: Year One (Batman #404-407)

6. There is No Hope in Crime Alley (Detective Comics #457)

7. The Long Halloween/Dark Victory

8. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (graphic novel)

9. Mad Love (The Batman Adventures: Mad Love #1)

10. The Killing Joke (one-shot)

11. Night of the Reaper (Batman #237)

12. A Vow From the Grave (Detective Comics #410)

13. Night of the Stalker (Detective Comics #439)

14. The Batman Nobody Knows (Batman #250) 

15. Dreadful Birthday, Dear Joker (Batman #321)

16. Shaman (Legends of the Dark Knight #1-5)

17. The Joker/The Joker Returns (Batman #1)

18. A Lonely Place of Dying (Batman #440-442, The New Titans #60-61)

19. Robin the Boy Wonder (Detective Comics #38)

20. Slayride (Detective Comics #826)

21. The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl! (Detective Comics #359)

22. Hush (Batman #608-619)

23. Death Strikes At Midnight and Three (DC Special Series #15)

24. Batman vs. the Vampire (Detective Comics #31-32)

25. The Six Days of The Scarecrow (Detective Comics #503)

26. Death Flies the Haunted Sky (Detective Comics #442)

27. The Man Who Falls (Secret Origins: Batman)

28. Venom (Legends of the Dark Knight #16-20)

29. My Beginning… And My Probable End (Detective Comics #574)

30. Robin Dies At Dawn (Batman #156)

31. The Case of the Chemical Syndicate (Detective Comics #27)

32. This One’ll Kill You, Batman (Batman #260)

33. Shadow Play (Batman #348)

34. The Invader From Hell (Batman Family #1)

35. Blades (Legends of the Dark Knight #32-34)

36. The Player on the Other Side (Batman Special #1)

37. Gothic (Legends of the Dark Knight #6-10)

38. The Case of the Honest Crook (Batman #5)

39. Wanted: Santa Clause — Dead or Alive (DC Special Series #21)

40. The Origin of Jason Todd (post-crisis) (Did Robin Die Tonight? Batman #408, Just Another Kid on Crime Alley Batman #409)

41. No Man’s Land (Batman: No Man’s Land #1, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #83-94, Batman #563-574, Detective Comics #730-741, Azrael: Agent of the Bat #51-61, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #116-126, Robin #67-73, Catwoman #72-77 and Batman Chronicles #16-18)

42. A Hero Reborn (Batman 455-457, Robin 1-5)

43. Riddle of the Human Scarecrow (World’s Finest Comics #3) 

44. Eye of The Beholder (Batman Annual #14)

45. The House That Haunted Batman (Detective Comics #408)

46. Knightfall Part 1: Broken Bat (Batman #491-500, Detective Comics #659-666)

47. Dark Knight, Dark City (Batman #452-454)

48. A Death in the Family (Batman #426-429)

49. The Return of Dr. Phosphorous (Detective Comics #825)

50. Blind Justice (Detective Comics #598-600) * 50th anniversary story

51. Monster, My Sweet (Batman #344)

52. Ticket To Tragedy (Detective Comics #481)

53. The Vampire Saga (Batman #349-351, Detective Comics #517)

54. The Untold Legend of the Batman (the first Batman miniseries)

55. The Scarecrow’s Trail of Fear (Batman #262)

56. Batman: Ego by Darwyn Cooke (miniseries)

57. Batman: The Man Who Laughs (miniseries)

58. Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed? (Batman #290-294) 

59. Fear for Sale (Detective Comics #571) 

60. The Secret of the Waiting Graves (Detective Comics #395)

61. Batman: War On Crime (oversized graphic novel)

62. Have Yourself A Deadly Little Christmas (Batman #309)

63. The Joker: Devil’s Advocate (one-shot)

64. Victims (Batman #414)

65. White Gold and Truth (Batman #416)

66. Death Has the Last Laugh (Brave and the Bold #111)

67. Batman: The Cult (miniseries)

68. The Last Arkham (Shadow of the Bat #1-4)

69. Broken City (Batman #620-625)

70. Fears (Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #1) (one-shot)

71. The Black Mask Saga (Batman #386-387)

72. One Batman Too Many (Batman #403)

73. Prey (Legends of the Dark Knight #11-15)

74. Terror (Legends of the Dark Knight #137-141)

75. Images (Legends Of The Dark Knight #50)

76. To Kill A Legend (Detective Comics #500)

77. Madness – A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (one-shot)

78. Batman: Ghosts – A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special (one-shot)

79. Masks (Legends Of The Dark Knight #39-40)

80. A Bullet For Bullock (Detective Comics #651)

Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000)

* As I did with the FleischerSuperman cartoons and Batman: The Animated Series, I want to take a serious and analytical look at the Superman cartoon of the 1990’s.

       Superman: The Animated Series began life as a tie-in idea for the planned but never produced Tim Burton/Nicholas Cage Superman movie reboot. Once that film project started languishing, Warner Bros. handed the reigns of the cartoon series over to the producers and creative team from Batman. And why not? Batman: TAS remains the most successful superhero show of all time.

       Initially, Bruce Timm and company, while being excited at the prospect of working on the biggest superhero of all time, didn’t really know how to handle Superman. They weren’t sure if they wanted to go retro with Superman, ala Fleischer, or just follow the BTAS example. Ultimately, after many discussions and character sketches, the team decided on a retro-futuristic style for Superman. 

       The designs for the characters and their world were streamlined and more cartoony than even BTAS had been. The look was bright and optimistic, while certain episodes still harkened back to the pulp action/sci-fi tone of the best Superman comics.

       This series leaned heavily on the New Gods/Fourth World comics of Jack Kirby, introducing Darkseid and his planet Apokolips as major players. This was done because Bruce Timm believed that most of Superman’s enemies weren’t powerful enough to be any credible threat. Also as a result of this, as John Byrne had done in his comics, the producers felt it would be best to depower Superman from his all powerful Silver Age levels. This was a wise decision indeed. It’s much easier to appreciate and relate to a Superman who is less powerful than one who can blow out a star like a birthday candle.

       The other thing that this show also pulled from the Byrne comics was keeping the Kents alive. John Byrne had recognized the source of drama and the emotional anchorage that Jonathon and Martha Kent would add to Superman stories. This was an ingenious insight that the producers also accepted. It helped to make Clark more human and provide more of a background for him in Smallville.

       The score, once again the brainchild of Shirley Walker, is wonderful. The main theme is very heroic and optimistic. It feels like a Superman theme. Overall, this is a more modern soundtrack than the BTAS score. It’s less operatic, less sprawling and perhaps simpler. It helps the show feel much more like a science-fiction/fantasy cartoon than a dramatic superhero series. It would be impossible to hold this score up to the John Williams Superman theme. The two are incomparable, but both are brilliant.

       Many fans hold up this animated version of Superman as the best animated adaptation. While I agree that it's a fun show, I would have to give that honor to the Fleischer cartoons. While the animation for this series is technically near perfect for the clean, cartoony style that they went with, the stories themselves are hit and miss for me. Of the fifty-four episodes produced over three seasons, I would argue only about thirty-five of them, give or take a few, hit their mark. That said, this show still offers some of the best Superman media, outside of the comics.

       I realize there’s no such thing as a perfect show, and while some of the earliest episodes are truly brilliant, there are quite a few duds. This series simply lacks the pathos and more mature nature of the early BTAS episodes. The creators of this show also didn’t seem to take Superman as sincerely as they did Batman either. 

       There’s something about this show that just screams: missed opportunity. I can’t really put my finger on why, as much as I love this series, it feels like something’s lacking. Maybe it’s the fact that BTAS set such a high bar. Maybe, and this is just speculation, the producers ultimately didn’t know what to do with a Superman cartoon? Maybe it would have been better if the character designs and animation style were less cartoony? I don’t know. Even though I don't think this Superman show offers everything it could have, relying too much on either humor or Jack Kirby's 4th World, it still is a must for Superman fans.

       I still like a lot of what they did. Highlights for me include:

SEASON ONE

Episodes 1–3: The Last Son of Krypton (the pilot)

Episode 7: The Way of All Flesh

Episode 13: Two’s A Crowd

SEASON TWO

Episode 3: The Prometheon

Episode 4: Speed Demons

Episode 6: Target

Episode 9: Action Figures

Episode 12: Brave New Metropolis

Episode 16-18: World’s Finest (3 part Batman crossover)

Episode 22: The Late Mr. Kent

SEASON THREE

Episode 2: Knight Time

Episode 8: Superman’s Pal

Episode 9: A Fish Story

Episode 10: Unity

The Finale: LEGACY

Gulliver's Travels (1939) - Review and Analysis

For this blog entry I’d like to bring some much deserved attention to a film that, today at least, is forgotten by most people. Die-hard animation buffs know this one and some even prefer it to Disney’s later efforts from the 1970’s.

Gulliver’s Travels, while being a cartoon, for many years was the most popular, albeit a very loose, adaptation of Jonathon Swift’s story. Released in December of 1939, this was the Fleischer Studios’ first full-length feature. It was a response and reaction to the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and, as such, is the second feature length animation by an American studio. Paramount commissioned the feature after Disney’s success.

Like Disney’s debut feature, Gulliver’s Travels was a resounding success at the box office.The movie earned roughly $3 million in the United States during its original run, impressive because it was limited to just fifty theaters during the 1939 Christmas season. Unlike Snow White however, eleven people, all on staff at Fleischer Studios, ultimately directed this feature. As much as animation in films and television is a group effort, this one truly was.

The animation itself is trademark Fleischer. The characters have that early cartoon style and the movement is very reminiscent of their other work like the Popeye cartoons and Betty Boop. The story takes advantage of techniques and sight gags that were common in early cartoons. I remember as a young kid being fascinated by how lifelike Lemuel Gulliver seemed, and wondered why all of the Lilliputians and the Blefuscu army looked so cartoony. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of the realism of Gulliver’s world and the fantasy of the Lilliputian realm.

Most of the music and songs are typical of the era’s cartoons and nothing really special. There is a standout however. The song, "All’s Well", that gets sung at the beginning by Gabby, the Town Crier, is very catchy and memorable. The love theme, "Faithul/Forever", might also get stuck in your head if you’re not careful.

By today’s standards, the story can be a little slow in places but audiences in 1939 were enthralled and had little problem with the pacing. The battle scenes between Lilliput and Blefuscu are still very enjoyable, but it’s a film very much of its time. Again, while animation buffs appreciate it, it doesn’t hold up nearly as well as the early Disney features. It doesn’t have the realistic quality or pacing of Pinocchio for example. It’s also not as well known because new generations aren’t being introduced to it like they often are with every Disney picture. That being said, it’s an interesting piece of animation history. It’s worth a watch and, for animation buffs, should probably be owned on DVD.

The good news for those who have never seen this movie is that it has fallen into the public domain. It can be viewed online at just about every major video site. It can be downloaded legally as a digital copy here: https://archive.org/details/gullivers_travels1939

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 – Review and Analysis

       One of the greatest comic book adaptations to screen is the 1990 TMNT film. Why this movie holds up so well, why it was so expertly cast, and why the tone was perfect are all a result of the hard work, care and dedication from director, Steve Baron, the actors, producers and designers.

       Production on a live-action feature film of the Ninja Turtles franchise started in 1988. Filming began in July of 1989 and went to September. A budget of $13.5 million was granted by Golden Harvest (up to then known for making low budget Hong Kong action movies). The film was shot almost entirely in North Carolina at Carolco Studios (one of the largest non-Hollywood studios in the U.S. at the time) with inserts and location shots happening in New York City. 

       As an adaptation, this movie hits several marks and blends various elements from the cartoon and comic book. The turtles’ masks are multicolored just as in the cartoon (in the original comics they all wear red bandannas). April is a TV news reporter, though here she works for Channel 3 News while in the cartoon it’s Channel 6 News. The story is constructed around several plots from the first dozen or so issues of the Mirage comic. In the comic it is Leonardo, not Raphael, who is ambushed by the Foot Clan. In the original comic, the farmhouse belongs to Casey Jones, not April. The rooftop battle and Shredder’s defeat come from the end of the first issue.

       The tone is perfect for a TMNT film. It’s humorous enough in places to be great for the kids and mirroring the then ongoing cartoon series, but also it’s surprisingly hard edged enough to be taken seriously by older fans and adults as well, mirroring the Mirage comic book. The jokes and lighthearted humor mesh incredibly well with the gritty real life drama and dark themes of street crime and gang violence. The movie juggles its disparate elements expertly and it's surprising just how "adult" the film can feel, for something that was essentially marketed to six-year-olds.

       In the film, the turtles are actually actors and martial artists in foam latex suits with animatronic puppet heads. Jim Henson and his famed Creature Shop were responsible for designing the suits and heads. The look of the turtles onscreen remains incredible to this day. In fact, it’s surprising how much better these turtles look onscreen than their CGI counterparts from the newer films.

Elias Koteas stands out in his role as the vigilante sports nut, Casey Jones. He is the definitive Casey Jones. Judith Hoag was charming and beautiful as April O’Neil and has defined the role for many fans, myself included. Shredder looks genuinely menacing in his metal armor and the fight scenes and martial arts choreography are also top notch, on par with other low budget action films of the day.

       This movie would go on to become the most successful independent feature in history (until it was unseated by The Blair Witch Project in 1999), earning roughly $202 million worldwide when all was said and done. The movie’s success prompted several sequels, none of which were very good, however, the second outing, The Secret of the Ooze, will always hold a special place in my heart.

       The reputation this flick has garnered as the “best turtle film” and as one of the greatest comic book movie adaptations is well deserved. It’s all about the tone and the pathos of the characters as they struggle to rescue Splinter from the clutches of the Foot Clan. Is the film dated? Yes. The pop culture references of the time as well as a gritty late 80’s looking setting of New York definitely make it stay in a single place and time. But, for TMNT fans there will likely never be another movie like it. Every time I watch this I am swept away by the gritty, urban fantasy. It remains one of my favorite films of all time and should be held up as probably the greatest adaptation in the history of the franchise.