Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 85

The Best Superhero Animated Series of All Time #10: Fantastic 4 (1967)

In the 1960s, there were quite a few superhero programs that were emerging. DC had the Superman/Batman Adventure Hour and at another time the Superman/Aquaman Adventure hour.

In my opinion, Marvel intended to produce better programs from a plot-standpoint with Spider-man (1967) and their Marvel Superheroes program took plots from the comic book and brought them to life.

That's what Fantastic Four (1967) did dedicating the vast majority of their episodes to retelling the classic tales of Lee and Kirby in the era in which they were written. Having 1960s stories actually produced and faithfully retold in the decade the 1960s makes this series worth watching.

The program also stands out from its fellow Marvel programs with better animation than the Marvel Superheroes which were almost motion comics. It also had more consistent quality than the '67 Spider-man series.

The voice acting is solid with Gerald Mohr (radio's Philip Marlowe) starring as Mr. Fantastic with the ever versatile Paul Frees as The Thing.

This stand out show clearly earns the #10 spot on my list.

Netflix v. Amazon Prime: Classic Doctor Who

As someone who's just getting into watching the classic version of Doctor Who, I find a lot of the online streaming options to be-well somewhat inadequate.

Netflix and Amazon Prime both offer a collection of the series, but it's far from complete. I doubt that this is entirely their fault. I lean more towards the BBC being at fault just because of the mint they make on DVDs and selling the Classic Doctor sets story by story.

But the fact is that the collections of Netflix and Amazon Prime are actually quite different, though they have many similarities.

So, here's a doctor by doctor run-down of what each service offers.

First Doctor: Both services offer only one four episode serial, "The Aztecs."

Second Doctor:
Netflix: The five episode story, "Mind Robber."
Amazon Prime: "Mind Robber" plus the four Episode, "Tomb of the Cybermen."
Advantage: Amazon

Third Doctor:
Netflix: Four parters "Spearhead in Space," "The Three Doctors," and "Carnival of Monsters," plus the six part episode "Green Death."
Amazon Prime" "Spearhead in Space." "The Three and Doctors" and "Carnival of Monsters" are available for streaming but at $1.99 an episode and not as part of prime.

Fourth Doctor:

Netflix: "The Ark in Space," (4), "Pyramid of Mars" (4), "Horror of Fang Rock" (4), "The Ribbos Operation" (4), "The Pirate Planet" (4), "The Androids of Tara" (4), "The Power of the Kroll" (4), The City of Death (4), and "The Leisure Hive" (4).

Amazon Prime: The same as above except Prime doesn't offer "The Androids of Tara." but it does offer "The Robots of Death" (4), The Talons of Weng-Chiang (6), and The Armageddon Factor (6).

Interestingly enough "The Androids of Tara" and "The Armageddon Factor" are part of the "Key to Time" series arch from Season 16, so you can get most of the series on Amazon including the end but the Tara Factor you can only get on Netflix, and neither service has "The Stones of Blood."

Fifth Doctor:

Netflix: "The Visitation" (4) and "The Caves of Androzani" (4)
Amazon Prime: The same plus "Earthshock."(4)

Sixth Doctor:

Netflix: Nothing
Amazon Prime: "Vengeance on Varos."(4)

Seventh Doctor:
Netflix: "The Curse of Fenric"(4)
Amazon Prime: The Same plus "Ghost Light" (3)

Overall, both services are lacking, though Amazon does better with five out of six doctors, though only slightly slightly on the last three. Overall, Amazon comes out about nine episodes ahead. It should also be noted that Amazon Prime also comes out slightly head on the revived series as Netflix currently only has episodes going up through Series 6, but Amazon Prime includes the first half of Series 7.

I'm lucky to have both as I'm trying Amazon Prime out primarily for the free shipping.

Netflix's big advantage is that it still offers the DVD option and that they have nearly all Doctor Who DVD releases and given how much the BBC charges for a DVD release of a single story, this is a pretty big plus.

Of course, you have a public library that's stocked full of all or nearly all the DVD releases, Netflix wouldn't have much of an advantage.

The Best Superhero Animated Programs of All Time: Honorable Mentions

I won't be going through nearly as many superhero book reviews because I've actually caught up on books I'd read but hadn't posted a review, so we'll turn to other topics.

For me, growing up I didn't read comic books. My exposure to superheroes was through animated programs and there were some good ones. The best were able to develop our heroes and allow us to see them in a variety of situations and can be a lot of fun for kids and adults. Of course, some are poorly conceived or poorly executed from the start or just don't hold up well with time.

So, I'll be saluting my favorites over the next few weeks, but first lets start with some honorable mentions that didn't quite make the list:

DC Shows:

Batman Beyond: While the show had problems in the latter half, the first part of the series was solid in its imagining of Batman passing on the mantle to Terry McGinnis plus their clever imagining of a dark technocratic future. The first two seasons were superb.

Batman: Brave and the Bold:: This is a show that really contrasted with the Batman of the current comic books and movies. The series has a cool '60s style Batman and a Batman that while very tough is a bit more approachable than the modern version. Each episode has a different guest hero, so the series serves as a portal to the DC Universe and to to introducing kids to some very cool characters. It's a very well done series.

Ruby Spears Superman: Not a great Superman series but a good one. This one season wonder from 1988 featured a variety of Superman adventures that were of mixed quality. Not quite Superman: The Animated Series but also a step above the 1960s stories. It also featured Superman Family Album which told the post-crisis story of Superman growing up very soon after that event. Don't know how that would have worked in the second season as they wrapped that mini-series in the finale.

Marvel

Marvel has had more awesome programs since its inception. Some of these can be broken down into categories.

Most Spider-man cartoons have been good. The '67 Spider-man series (at least its first season) gave us a look at some classic stories retold as Spidey battled classic villains. Subsequent seasons were not so good as Spidey faced increasingly dull and generic villains with lazy editings and lots of cut scene reuses.

The 1980 Spider-man series was very fairly well-written for a kids show with a variety of villains but included half a dozen battles with Doctor Doom, Marvel's greatest villain. Spider-man and His Amazing Friends wasn't as good, but still decent.

Spider-man Unlimited ended too soon as it came right on the heels of Spider-man: The Animated Series. Spider-man: The New Animated Series (2003) had some great episodes but was flawed for a number of reasons including being broadcast on MTV, character design issues, and it's downer ending.

The best show bearing the Spider-man name not to appear on the list is Spectacular Spider-man. When I first heard of the series, I was kind of turned off by its over-jubilant theme, and how young it made Peter Parker having grown up with a college-aged Spider-man.

That said, the show was fantastic. It was well written and not just "well written for a kids show," but very intelligent and fun. This was a series that used Shakespeare rehearsals to reflect character moods and motives. This was a program that had Spider-man battling Doctor Octopus and gangsters while an opera was playing. Its handling of the alien symbiote story line in Season 1 absolutely blew aways the 1990s Animated Series handling of the same storyline with such a wonderful emotional payoff in the season one finale.

The show had its annoying points like Peter having a curfew. The biggest problem with this show was that it was axed after only two seasons and not given a chance to develop. Instead, it was replaced by the nonsensical Ultimate Spider-man. (More on that another time though.)

Fantastic Four: There have not been near as many Fantastic Four shows, but those I've seen have been good. The 1990s shows had their cheesy moments, but they managed to stay faithful to many plots by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, only updating them to the 1990s. The 2006 program Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes from 2006 actually worked just as well while varying the stories a bit while mostly staying true to the original. The only thing I fault them on is making Johnny Storm too stupid, but other than that, it was a solid program.

Marvel Superheroes: Not as much a true cartoon as sixty-five motion comics. Captain America, Iron Man, Sub-mariner, Thor, and Incredible Hulk each had thirteen episodes made. Each series had an incredibly catchy and unforgettable theme song that may not be as cool as some later themes, they certainly stick in your head, and they also tell some of best silver age stories in Marvel History.

The Silver Surfer: I have a warm place in my heart for this one. It was a thoughtful show about a hero who struggled with what he'd done, but also featuring some awe-inspiring animation and sci fi moments. This was another series cut off way too soon.

Well, that finishes all the heroes who didn't make my top 10. Next time, I'll start on the top 10 list.

Book Review: Wonder Woman Chronicles, Volume 3

The Wonder Woman Chronicles Vol. 3 by William Moulton Marston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects Wonder Woman Stories from Sensation Comics #15-#18, Wonder Woman Issues #4 and 5, and Comics Cavlacade #2.

Most but not all of Wonder Woman's Adventures tie into the war, but William Moulston Marston manages to do it with aplumb as Wonder Woman's efforts lead her to have to battle Japanese scientists who have developed a formula to turn women against their men in hopes of starting a male-female civil war. She also has to uncover the secret of a talking lion to foil some spies. In addition, in the highlight of the book from the Comic Cavalcade story, Adolf Hitler decides Wonder Woman is too dangerous and declares her Wanted: Dead or Alive. Whlle many heroes hunted Nazis, it was certainly a special case for the Nazis to hunt down the heroine.

The full issues were generally good with each story building on each other. Issue 4 once again featured four interlinked stories, this time focusing on the reform of Paula, the former Wonder Woman archfoe who becomes a full fledged free Amazonian. Issue 5 only the first and last stories were interlinked as war time paper shortages began to limit issue lengths.

On the non-War front, Wonder Woman battled the Mole Men in Wonder Woman #4, and in Issue #5 she took on Dr. Psycho, a powerful mind controlling super villain which was actually one of the better golden age villains.

The book is extremely well written, but again something kids should be cautious about as Marston's own kinks and beliefs come into play as well as a dose of Greek religion.



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Book Review: Fantastic Five: Final Doom

Fantastic Five: The Final Doom by Tom DeFalco

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In this second Fantastic Five volume (set in Marvel's MC2 Universe), Dr. Doom escapes from where he's been imprisoned by Namor the Submariner in an attempt to wreck vengeance on his old enemies who are now the Fantastic Five. At the same time, back from the negative zone, Reed Richards is reasserting leadership over the group leading to Johnny to start thinking about starting his own group. Then Doom comes acalling with the goal of defeating the FF and taking over the world.

This volume of the Fantastic Five is far better than the previous unfocused story, and it shows great promise with a central villain in Dr. Doom living up to his reputation and making audacious plays that are mostly successful in his efforts to shoehorn his hated enemies. I particularly loved the focus on Ben Grimm in Issue 2 after Doctor Doom left him for dead. It really showed what a great character Grimm is.

Unfortunately, the story ran into problems in the second half. There were simply too many characters running around. While the group is style the Fantastic Five, in addition to Reed, Ben, Sue, Johnny Storm, and Franklin Richards, the FF also contains Johnny's wife, his kid, and Ben's two kids by his ex-wife, as well as Dr. Doom's ex-apprentice Kristos: All with powers and all in the story. This was the state of play after the previous FF story. What became clear was that the goal of the book was to whittle the team down to a true Fantastic Five with people deciding to leave or otherwise be incapacitated.

And that really hurts the story in the end. Also, some conflicts are raised but never really addressed, particularly surrounding Reed Richards as his conflicts with both Sue and Johnny are raised but ultimately left un-addressed by the book. This makes it puzzling that the authors decide to give a page or two of the book away to cameos with other characters discussing the situation and trying to figure plans that really won't play into the story.

Issue 5 does contain a big, and almost certainly final confrontation between Doom and Reed that's interesting, although it ends on an unsatisfying and anti-climatic note.

In the end, this isn't a bad book or series, it actually has some strong elements in it, but it's a story that was more concerned about the destination of changing the Status Quo on the team rather than telling a great story and the even with Doom as the villain, the result is disappointing.



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Book Review: Action Heroes Archives, Volume 1

The Action Heroes Archives, Vol. 1 by Joe Gill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is one of two books that takes a look at the late Charlton Comics action heroes. This one focuses on the character of Captain Atom, who was originally written by Joe Gill and drawn (almost exclusively) by Spider-man creator Steve Ditko. This book collects Captain Atom stories from Issues 33-42 of Space Adventures and then after Ditko left Marvel he became artist for Captain Atom's comic and the first five issues of that run are included.

Captain Atom was an Air Force captain who obtained amazing atomic power after being in a space accident.

The first section of the book contains very short stories of five-to-seven pages while the Captain Atom stories were book length adventures.

The shorts ranged from too quick to just plain pointless. There was at least one attempt to have a continuing plot around a powerful Venusian woman that was never followed up, but mostly the stories lacked continuity. The full length adventures were actually pretty fun featuring some solid villains such as Dr. Spectro.

The big highlight of the book is the art. Indeed, the Ditko art is the only thing that really kept me going during the shorts. It's definitely very fun and he shows a ton of talent that carries the book. The full-length stories were good and different. They had neither the emotional depth of the Marvel comics of the era or the sillyness of the DC comics, giving the book a kind of old school science fiction feel which is actually appealing in its own right.

Ultimately, the Ditko art throughout plus the very nicely written full-length stories at the end, and the Cold War action at the beginning made this an enjoyable read for me.



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Book Review: Showcase Presents Legion of Superheroes, Volume 1

Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes, Vol. 1 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ah, the Silver Age Legion of Superheroes, those zany kids from the thirtieth (or occasionally twenty-first century). They are the team who had an unbelievably huge roster long before Marvel and DC added so many Avengers and Justice Leaguers that they need three or four teams for them. The Legion of Superheroes is a team that treats the Space-time continuum like it's an a toy as they freely yank Superboy and Supergirl in for adventures never worrying what might happen if one of their adventures goes awry in the 31st Century and one of them is unable to return altering time forever.

That's not their concern. The book is more pure escapist fun than will be allowed in modern comics.

This book collects their earliest adventures beginning with guest appearances in the stories of Superboy and Supergirl from 1958-62. These stories are fairly good. The Superboy stories are particularly welcomed given the dearth of silver age Superboy reprints out there. On the other hand, the Legion can come off as jerks with some really mean behavior, and cruel pranks, though some of its explained by the end of the story.

Also, the editors made the somewhat dubious decision to reprint some stories that were only tangentially tied to the Legion such as a Supergirl story, "Superman's Super Courtship" that has Supergirl trying to play Cupid for Superman and a couple pages are dedicated to her attempt to get Superman hitched with a grown Saturn Woman, little knowing she was already married to Lightning Man. A more important story is Superboy's meeting with Mon-El who would become a powerful legionnaire.

The beginning of the true legion adventures isn't until Page 181 which is Adventure Comics #300. The next 360+ pages collects Adventure Comics #300-#321 with a couple of guest spots in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. At this point, the Legion had no contact with anyone outside of the Superboy/Superman sphere of influence in the mainstream DC Universe.

And what follows are a series of truly enjoyable stories. Having read the early Justice League stories, these are far better. They're definitely plot based stories but they're very well-done imaginative plots. This is aided by the fact that the Legion includes heroes with so many unique powers such as Triplicate Girl who can split herself into thirds, Bouncing Boy who can bounce, Matter-eater Boy who can well eat matter of various types. There are more conventional powers like Lightning Lad's.

The story had interesting concepts and dealt with the death of a hero early on with the passing of Lightning Lad who died to save Saturn Girl. Of course, he'd be back, the book was pretty honest about that too. And it's creepy how the heroes resolved to do that and left him on display like he was Lenin, but still it was interesting.

Another great concept here was the Legion of Subsitute Heroes which come about through a recurring them of the Legion considering new member. The front cover portrays Superboy before an American Idol style panel deciding whether he should be allowed in or not. The Legion rejected many. Some of them formed the Legion of Subsitute Heroes led by Night Girl and a couple days they get into action and save the Legion's bacon, most notably in the Legion's Suicide Squad in which Night Girl saves the day despite her powers only working at night.

The book dealt with Sunboy snapping after too many missions leading to a mutiny and Sunboy having his colleagues put into a ship without food, water, or a significant out of fuel, and the stranded heroes having to figure out how to go from one hostile planet to another to finally get home.

"The Super-Villains of All Ages" is another classic that has the Legion having to fight Hitler, Nero, and John Dillinger who have taken over the bodies of Superboy, Mon-el, and Ultraboy, three of the group's strongest members.


There was only one story that didn't really make any sense within its context and it was the one in which Lightning Lad was believed to have returned as the Legion came upon him returning to life in his Lenin display case. But it turned out to be his sister Lightning Lass who disguised herself as him. This raised a multitude of questions. "Why did she need to disguise herself as her dead twin brother? Why didn't she join the legion normally? How long had she been lying there?"

Another favorite was, "The Legion of Super Monsters" which featured a rejected legionnaire candidate turning his powers to control animals to vengeance and evil as he takes control of deadly beasts throughout the galaxy.

The Legion does have a few bad moments, though most bad or jerky behavior is explained as an attempt to prevent some greater evil such as when Saturn Girl steals everyone's powers so that she'll be the one to fulfill a prophecy about a Legionnaire dying. The Legion's Constitution can be annoying. If a hero loses their power, they're kicked out of the legion immediately no matter how often superheroes lose their powers. This was relaxed in the last story as Bouncing Lad was able to stay a reserve even though he could no longer bounce.

Overall, this was just a great book, despite some of the stories at the front, I have to say that this book is right up there with World's Finest and the Flash, as the best of the Silver Age Showcase books I've read so far.



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Book Review: Spider-man: The Savage Land Saga

Spider-Man: Savage Land Saga Tpb by Todd Dezago

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In this Trade Paperback collecting the 1990s series Sensational Spider-man 13-15, Peter Parker is sent to the Savage Lands which is suffering catastrophically due to holes in the O-zone and Spidey has to team up with Ka-zar and Shana to save the inhabitants and find the truth behind what's going on. And Stegron and the Hulk also show up.

In general, the book is pretty fun. It has some good superhero action, some excitement, and some truly noble heroes. It remains kid friendly until the last page but even that page wasn't terribly graphic.

On the other hand, there's nothing particularly special about it. Spidey's reason for being there is contrived with J Jonah Jameson sending Peter to get photos, something that's a bit out of character given JJJ's reluctance to pay for travel to Florida, let alone the high cost of going to the Savage Land. While most Superhero story lines in the 21st Century are way too bloated, this one feels like it could have used an extra issue to flesh out its story.

But given the choice between too long and too short, I much prefer this book for some innocuous fun.



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The Tick Golden Age: The Complete Works

The Tick Golden Age: The Complete Works by Marc Silvia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This send up of the Golden Age comics features a 1940s and 50s version of the Tick.

The book imagines a Golden Age Tick and Arthur and do a good job of covering most major genres of comics including Superhero, War, Horror, Jungle, and detective comics. They didn't get to Westerns and did very little romance, but they manage to poke fun at most of it with lines such as, "We have 30 giant gorillas on our side. Who needs a plan?" The plot is delightfully nonsensical and well-aimed satire. I loved the letters features which includes an old style lovelorn column plus imagining scary comic books written for the elderly and adult children responding angrily.

The main downside is that Silva can almost come across as sneering at noble things like World War 2 patriotism rather than poking gentle fun, though that happens rarely. Of course, given how few people have read golden age comics, it has limited a audience. I also have to say the construction of this trade is the cheapest ever. It's basically three comics bound together. However, there are plenty of laughs if you can find a copy of this print book.



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Buck Rogers: The Complete Newspaper Dailies, Volume 1

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Newspaper Dailies, Vol. 1: 1929-1931 by Philip Francis Nowlan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It's 1929, the roaring twenties are heading out and the great Depression is coming. Into this world is introduced the fantastic character of Buck Rogers, a man who like Rip Van Winkle fell asleep for a very long time. Unlike Rip, he didn't age and he woke up 500 years in the future to find a much-changed world where the Mongol civilization has conquered the Earth and American resistance is finally growing able to challenge them. Buck joins them and gets right into the action. This book collects the first two years of Buck Rogers comic strips from 1929-31 in glorious black and white.

While Buck Roger is almost universally remembered as a space story, the biggest surprise is that the first year plus of Rogers adventures in the 25th century were strictly on Earth as he fought an amazing array of opponents encountering everything from high tech Mongol occupiers to highway men and outlaws.

Buck and Wilma (a 25th century member of the resistance) are the central characters of the story. Buck remains ever the rebel throughout the story. He becomes an outlaw when he violates orders and goes to search for Wilma. He shouts at the President of the United States, commanding officers, the Mongol Emperor, and even the king of a friendly Martian race whenever it suits. There's a cocky self-assuredness that at times borders on arrogance. The only thing that makes Rogers is that he has a tender spot for Wilma and that he really is as good as he thinks he is.

Wilma is a bit of a mixed package. At many times, she can be a very strong woman, very capable of taking care of herself. At others she's prone to absurd over-reactions and emotional mood swings. You can either grade her on a curb and say, "What a strong character for the early 30s," or hold her to some modern standard. I choose to do the former.

The book is not without other problems. Once they get to mars, there's some silliness with Wilma going totally nuts over a statement Buck made on the radio that she overheard and she absolutely refuses to let Buck explain himself. This leads to mutiny among the male crew members eventually and an interplanetary incident. This was just stupid. And yes, the whole Mongolian thing screams of, "Yellow Peril" issues.

However, that doesn't stop it from being a good read. What really makes the book for me is the building of the spaceship to Mars with a trip to the moon first. It was so awesome and so inspiring from 1930. I couldn't help but think how Buck Rogers helped fire the imaginations of many people who would work for NASA and certainly of people who would be challenged by a President to go to the moon.

Those parts were awe-inspiring and groundbreaking. As for the rest of it, it was just fun It was zany adventures in the far flung future involving suspended animation, antiseptic cities, and amazing air chases. In one classic sequence, Buck stops chasing the Mongols for two strips to have his picture taken so people can order their own Buck Rogers picture. Seriously. It was fun.





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