This awesome animated feature was released in February 2010, and borrowed
heavily from Grant Morrison's interpretation of the Crime Syndicate (from
his graphic novel, Earth Two).
In addition to the standard five Syndicate members Ultraman, Superwoman,
Owlman, Power Ring and Johnny Quick, it briefly features two analogs
for Hawkgirl and the Martian Manhunter (Jedd ). Unlike the DC Universe
proper, where the Crime Syndicate have eradicated all other super-powered
"competitors," the CSA of this feature run their operation
much the same as a crime family. Each of the five head members have a
pyramid of gang members below them. The highest ranking of these are
called "made men."
Justice League: The New Frontier
Animated Feature (2008)
On February 26, 2008, Warner Home Video will release a feature length
Justice League movie based on the 2004 comic book DC: The
New Frontier by Darwyn
Cooke.
Also watch for a comic book follow up, on sale March 5, 2008:
Justice
League: The New Frontier Special
Written by Darwyn Cooke; Art by Cooke, J. Bone and David Bullock; Cover
by Cooke
Celebrating the DVD release of the New Frontier movie comes this collection
of never before seen stories including "New Frontier: The Lost Chapter," with
script and art by Darwyn Cooke! This tale provides a first-hand
look at Faraday's quest to outlaw masked vigilantes, culminating
with the day Superman goes to Gotham to bring down Batman. Also
included are two back-up stories featuring Wonder Woman, Black
Canary, Sgt. Rock and others, as well as behind-the-scenes bonus
material from the movie!
To
follow the popular Batman and Superman animated series of the 1990s, Warner
Bros. gave into fan pressure and developed a Super Friends for the
new millennium. This series combined the optimistic feel of Superman series
with the somber tones of Batman. One of the biggest surprises was the producers'
decision to replace two members of the comic book JLA (presumably to add diversity).
Aquaman was replaced by Hawkgirl, and Kyle Rayner was resplaced by John Stewart
as Green Lantern. Still, Aquaman appeared quickly in the new series.
According to producer Bruce Timm, Superman was altered a bit to make him look
more rugged, masculine. Batman's ears were lengthened in homage to his creator's
(Bob Kane's) original drawings. A highlight was also added to his cape. Backgrounds
are also rendered in more detail.
Catch a glimpse of this doomed project! This pilot was fully
produced but never aired in the U.S. However it
did, in fact, air in Brazil! (There is actually quite a DC fan base in Brazil.)
The story centers around Ice's meeting and joining the Justice
League. Meanwhile, a criminal uses a machine to control weather.
Warner Bros. does own the copyright, but you can find bootlegs; the technical
quality is reportedly very good. Try contacting
Krypton Comics or
Midtown Comics.
Frankly, this TV pilot
was a bit corny. Or the costumes
are at least a bit suspect...
Comic book characters' translations to other media always comes with
a certain acceptance of the limits of reality, so all things considered,
the above image is well, pretty cool! The costumes are no worse than
some used in the recent Batman
movies. About the characters:
GREEN LANTERN, Guy Gardner (Matthew Settle): At
first glance, his is perhaps the
best costume of the bunch, althought the coloring is more turquoise
than green. Notice how they combined elements
of 3 Lanterns, with Kyle's mask, half of Guy Gardner's costume,
and half of Hal Jordan's costume, plus the actor kind of looks like
Hal Jordan. He is Guy Gardner by name but a cross between Jordan
and Rayner in personality his history appears to be Hal's except
that he "found" his ring.
A good look at the ring itself reveals the original Alan Scott GL
ring. He also appears much less powerful than in the comics. Guy
is A successful nice computer salesman who lives in this amazing
house with...
THE ATOM, Ray Palmer (John Kassir): A goofy, chubby geek.
This is supposedly Ray Palmer, though Ray has never really been a
short chubby guy in the comics. This Atom actually looks more like
the Blue Beetle, with some of his costume re-colored red. The costume
is VERY clunky and fake ... but maybe that's his shtick.
FLASH, Barry Allen (Kenny Johnston): Barry
Allen is a dimwitted 20-something guy who has no job,
can't pay his rent and is forced to move in and depend on Guy
Gardner. Looks all right, though. Seems based on the Flash TV series.
FIRE, B.B. DaCosta (Michelle Hurd): The costume is semi-faithful
to the Giffen era, and she sports a touch of green hair
coloring instead of a big green wig. Instead of wearing a mask,
she simply has green paint under her eyes.
ICE, Tori Olafsdotter (Kimberly Oja): Not bad. Very nordic.
MARTIAN MANHUNTER (David Ogden Stiers): The face
looks all right. That's David Ogden Stiers of M*A*S*H under there.
Not a bad casting. The only "name
actor."
A weak story, but no less entertaining than the old Challenge
of the Superheroes. It's obvious that they filmed more footage because there
are scenes of Ice in costume, which you never see in this pilot." Supposedly,
if the show had been picked up, it would eventually have had a rotating
cast, as new members join, and old ones leave.
The Super Friends (1973–1981)
In 1973, Seventies animation giants Hanna-Barbera transformed the Justice
League into a simpler group called The Super Friends. This series
ran on ABC Saturday mornings until 1986. DC Comics also began publishing
a comic of the same name, which ran from 1976-1981. There is a book with
some of this information. If you can find it, these are the crucials:
Swanigan, Michael. Hanna-Barbera's World of Super Adventure,
vol. 1, 1991. JA-RA Publ. (Reprinted at least one time; oversized soft cover
book.)
I won't go into great detail because, alas, there are already a couple super
fun sites: the Super
Friends Home Page (part of the granddaddy
Superman Homepage) and Seanbaby's
Super Friends Page. I will, of course,
list for you the "Challenge of
the Super Friends" members (1978):
The Super Friends
The Legion of Doom
Apache Chief • Aquaman • Batman • Black Vulcan • Flash • Green
Lantern • Hawkman • Robin • Samurai • Superman • Wonder
Woman
Air dates: January 18, 1979, January 25,
1979In addition to the Super Friends, Hanna Barbera produced two 1-hour live action
TV specials titled "Challenge of the Superheroes" on NBC.
The first show, "The Challenge," aired 18 January 1979. It was a
light adventure where the heroes had to solve the Riddler's schemes and stop
the villains' doomsday device. The second, "The Roast," aired 25
January 1979. It's hosted by Ed McMahon and guest stars Ruth Buzzi.
Roll Call, Heroes: Batman (Adam West), Robin (Burt Ward), Captain
Marvel (Garret Craig), Green Lantern (Howard Murphy), Black Canary
(Danuta), Huntress (Barbara Joyce), Hawkman (Bill Nuckols), Flash
(Rod Haase).
The
scripts are cornier than the Batman show (complete with laugh tracks). But two
things make these shows worthwhile: (1) It's just so plain cool to see Hawkman,
Green Lantern, Black Canary and Huntress in a live action show. Who would have
thought? (2) Despite the low-grade production, it was extremely well cast. The
villains are all perfect especially Grundy. They need almost no makeup
because their features describe the characters so well. On the hero side, Black
Canary is a leggy, giant-smiling bombshell, complete with motorcycle wheelies!
Huntress gets little screen time, but has got the body to pull it off. Likewise,
Hawkman and Green Lantern are buff! Exactly how I would picture them if they
existed. And Captain Marvel is equal parts alpha-hero and cute kid. The sets
include the Hall of Justice, a villain's hideout, and lots of public parks.
The technical quality of the videos is not great (my copy at least); it looks
like a tape that's been viewed 100 times.Warner Bros. does own the copyright, but you can find bootlegs; the technical
quality is reportedly very good. Try contacting Krypton
Comics or Midtown
Comics.
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967–1968)
Air dates: 9 September 1967–7 September 1968
The
Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure was produced by Filmation Studios Animation.
In addition to the headliners, the JLA made three appearances in their own adventures.
Others included the Flash, Atom, Hawkman and Green Lantern. (The link brings
you to an excellent Filmation page.) Some of these cartoons were released on
official VHS under the banner "Super Powers Collection." Sometimes
you can buy these at Amazon.com.
I have seen other episodes of these for sale bootlegged on e-bay.
Justice League Episode Titles: "Between
Two Armies," "Target Earth," and "Bad Day on Black Mountain." Four of these episodes were also released in interactive CD-ROM
format in 1996 by Inverse
Ink. They include one each for Aquaman, Batman, Superboy and Superman.