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Anthonynotes
08-17-2001, 01:29 AM
Apparently some sort of article/interview was done last week with Bruce Timm and the rest of the JLA series staff, and here it is:
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/episode-guides/t-jla-animated.html

Said Superman website has been on the web for some time and has been a pretty reputable source...

My comments are as follows:

- Looks like they are using Hawkgirl's alien origins after all...

- The "Injustice Gange" is more-or-less what the Superfriends' "Legion of Doom" called themselves in the actual comics. First appeared....uh...no idea (the sixties?). Same premise as the "Legion of Doom" (stop heroes, wealth, dominate humanity, blah blah blah :-)

The villains:
- The Cheetah: old Wonder Woman foe; appeared on the Superfriends IIRC...

- The Ultra-Humanite has the distinction of being comics' first regular superpowered (more or less) supervillain, first appearing way back in a 1939/40 issue of Superman (or Action Comics). Basically, he was some scientist that had the power to transfer his personality into another body. Appeared often in early Superman comics before being replaced by Luthor; made cameos over the ensuing decades, transferring his brain into various bodies, including that of a giant albino ape. I know, Sharklady, but I have no idea what Mojo Jojo would make of all this :-)

- Vandal Savage appeared first in the 1940's comics as a foe of the Justice Society of America, the JLA's predecessor. He's a 50,000-year-old immortal caveman... (shrug)

- Copperhead: no clue about him.

- Star Sapphire: what the article said. Struck me as pretty lame from the one story I read with her in it...

- The Shade: an old villain of the 1940's/"Golden Age"-era Flash, he's reappeared over the years (including as one of the bad guys in the famous "Flash of Two Worlds" story). Basically, a creepy guy with a cane with the power to emit absolute darkness...

- Solomon Grundy: giant swamp monster that looks/acts like Frankenstein-meets-Bizarro; first appeared in the 1940's comics. Was on the Superfriends as well IIRC....

- Pleased to see the Joker's unchanged...

- In the traditional comics (before the mid-80's), Lex Luthor was a "mad scientist"/rogue genius who performed constant crimes/acts of evil in a personal vendetta against the Man of Tomorrow, and spent more time in the slammer than in a penthouse apartment (though stories in the 70's suggested that when he wasn't in jail, Luthor did live pretty luxuriously when in hiding from/preparing his next attack on Supes). See: my description of this version of Luthor's origin a month or so ago under one of the "Smallville" threads. Guess the writers must not've cared much for the billionaire version of him even on the Superman series (where Luthor never did seem to get used as well as the Joker was on B:TAS to be honest...even in the World's Finest movie, Joker stole the show villainy-wise...).

- Batman as a...(gasp) *detective*?! Gee, there's an original idea...wonder if the current Bat-comics writers are paying attention to this ;-)

-B.
Guess I should *really* try getting cable after reading all this...(grumbling about calling up Time-Warner today and being told it's $39/mo, with HBO/Showtime/Cinemax being $10 each extra and an $11 installation fee...)

Craig Marinaro
08-17-2001, 11:35 AM
Copperhead appeared in an issue of "The Brave and the Bold" in the early '70's (?)...a fun story, involving Wonder Woman and Batgirl pretending to both vie for Batsy's affections, and being distracted from their superheroing duties, allowing 'Head-boy to become increasingly confident and careless in his crime spree. He had snake-related powers, iirc (green eyes and all). He returned as part of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Pretty obscure choice for a villain...

The Wally West Flash? Hrrrm. And the John Stewart version of Green Lantern, which is a truly bizarre choice (albeit a welcome one), especially since they already used the current Kyle Rayner character in the S:TAS episode.

Love the interpretation of Ultra-Humanite as "Kelsey Grammer in a gorilla suit." =)

I did feel that Luthor was rather cliché on S:TAS (he struck me as a less physically fit, less charismatic, *MUCH* less ambitious version of Xanatos on Gargoyles). The new interpretation should be fun to watch.

All in all, I'm looking forward to the thing. November 17 is a...Saturday?

Wow. Saturday prime-time is pretty much a dead zone. Little competition is the upside...the downside is, who's gonna stay home on Saturday night to watch a superhero show?

Well, besides me. And Brainatra. And probably Hatter, and Dick Grayson, and..... ;)

-C

James Harvey
08-17-2001, 02:16 PM
Actually, that's just a compliation of news about JL from the recent past. SOme of the information in there is stuff that I reported, and the credit is given at the bottom of the article.

Craig Crumpton
08-19-2001, 11:38 AM
Originally posted by DickGrayson
Actually, that's just a compliation of news about JL from the recent past. SOme of the information in there is stuff that I reported, and the credit is given at the bottom of the article.

Yep, the stuff from Timm and quotes from Cohen and MacCurdy are from a Turner press release. It's also strange and irritating to see something I wrote myself appearing on another website - that bit on Auberjonois? "I write it!" --Space Ghost

Those were my exact words.

James Harvey
08-19-2001, 03:11 PM
I saw that blurb on Rene and noticed a credit for you was nowhere to be found. Trsu me - I know how that feels. There was that whole [website name removed] debacle I'd rathar not get into. The short story is that he stole at least three JL stories from WF without givng credit. Then again, considering who it is behind the site I wasn't suprised. Anyways, it's the worst when that happens.

clark kent
08-20-2001, 05:15 PM
Originally posted by DickGrayson
I saw that blurb on Rene and noticed a credit for you was nowhere to be found. Trsu me - I know how that feels. There was that whole Comics Continuum debacle I'd rathar not get into. The short story is that he stole at least three JL stories from WF without givng credit. Then again, considering who it is behind the site I wasn't suprised. Anyways, it's the worst when that happens.

I did notice that you guys would have the same stuff on your sites (WF and The contium) but i know you always gave credit. Comics2Film would give the world's finest newspage credit too.

James Harvey
08-20-2001, 06:41 PM
We always give credit when using news from another website. The guy behind CC (this is my own personnel opinion) is too full of himself and has a massive holier-than-thou attitude when it comes to news. Anyways, WF reported some news that he stole and had up the next day, a couple word for word. He denies it, of course. There's more to it then that, but that's all I'll say. I don't want anything to happen to this site so I can't really say much more in public forum. The news you'll get here is just real straight forward honest news. That's trhe rep we want here and I know we'll get it.

WBArchivist
08-22-2001, 02:45 PM
Yeah - last year at the Wizard Con, our pal behind CC took a question I asked Paul Dini at the panel and rewrote it, using "Paul Dini told the [website name removed] that..."

I make no bones about that fact that my (and Dick Grayson's, to an extent) Justice League page is mearly a compilation, but at the bottom of each page I give credit to each contributing site, with a logo and a link.

Ah well. That's life.

James Harvey
08-22-2001, 03:06 PM
The guy behind CC does that alot. I believe Gookie had a similair run-in with this kinda thing. WHile he may occaisonally have some good news, I doubt he worked for it.

Craig Crumpton
08-23-2001, 01:52 AM
Originally posted by DickGrayson
The guy behind CC does that alot. I believe Gookie had a similair run-in with this kinda thing. WHile he may occaisonally have some good news, I doubt he worked for it.

I sent him news twice - when he reported both as scoops which he himself dug up (nary a mention to the source), I lost any respect I might have had for him before that time.

And then at last year's SD con, he reported the entire Tick/Ben Edlund panel discussion, prefacing it with "Ben Edlund told the Continuum." Then I COMPLETELY lost respect for him. That doesn't just show a lack of journalistic integrity - that's lying outright to readers.

Still, CC does have amazing inside contacts throughout the comics and cartoon industry, but I imagine they probably tire of his constant requests for inside info. And CC remains a valid and dependable news source - I just don't have any respect for the guy.

AWN.com doesn't even acknowledge fan sources for news. I know of at least 2 counts where they lifted info from Jon Cooke's site, once from us, and another time from the VA list I host. They used a quote from Maurice LaMarche that he posted to the group, crediting it as an "internet newsgroup" (no linkback either, as they never do). I fired off a letter asking that they correct their error and credit the source properly and never received a reply. Not surprising.

James Harvey
08-23-2001, 10:35 AM
Comic Newsarama remains my favorite choice for comic news. CC has even blatantly ripped off a couple of their stpries here and there. I have no respect whatsoever to the CC guy. I will admit he gets some good new son occasion, but he just lacks about everything that makes a journalist a journalist.

Craig Marinaro
08-23-2001, 10:44 AM
I will admit he gets some good new son occasion, but he just lacks about everything that makes a journalist a journalist.

Like the fedora with the little piece of paper stuck in it?

James Harvey
08-23-2001, 01:34 PM
More like human decency.