I will admit that I was less that complementary about some aspects of Cry For Justice (see my review of the final issue for an example), but the series really seems to have grabbed people’s attention.  No matter what people think about the quality of the series, they all seem to agree that the denouement had a certain emotional satisfaction to it. It was a big shock ending to a big storyline. The repercussions of that ending are only now being played out. It all begins with a month-long four-part crossover/banner that runs across this  JLA: Rise and Fall Special, the launch of the “The Fall of Green Arrow” and “The Rise of Arsenal” storylines and then the next full issue of JLA.

Issue Credits

• Writer: J.T. Krul
• Pencils: Diogenes Neves, Mike Mayhew, Fabrizio Fiorentino
• Inks: Mike Mayhew, Vicente Cifuentes and Ruy Jose
• Colours: Nei Ruffino and Andy Troy
• Letters: John J. Hill
• Cover: Art Germ, variant cover: Mike Mayhew with Andy Troy
• Editors: Adam Schlagman and Eddie Berganza

Synopsis

Commentary/Opinion

Green Arrow started out as little more than a clone of Batman (Arrowcave, Arrowcar, etc), but he has been reinvented twice. His fans tend to prefer one or other of the those two reinventions. The first 1970s reinvention came to a head in Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams “Hard-Travelling Heroes” story-arc in Green Lantern/Green Arrow. This is the Ollie with a social voice and a quasi-liberal attitude. The second reinvention was in the late-1980s by Mike Grell who turned Ollie into a Seattle based night-time hunter. He has killed in both incarnations, but it was an exceptional event in the first and more of a natural consequence of the second. The current Green Arrow revival started with Kevin Smith’s Green Arrow series which firmly embraced the full range of the characters history.

I’ve quite liked J.T. Krul’s writing on The Titans when he was dealing with run-up to and spin-off from Cry For Justice. This issue carries the Harper/Prometheus story forward from there and continues this trend of swinging Ollie back towards the Mike Grell Seattle hunter days. The Green Arrow: Year One series by Andy Diggle and Jock had been the most recognisable landmark in this progression, but its now been superseded by Cry For Justice. We’ll probably end up with a new solo Green Arrow title at the end of all this, but there is quite a way before the character is ready for that.

Krul does a good job trying to reconcile the various facets of Arrow’s personality. Without a focus or when left alone he’s a fairly liberal, if grouchy, superhero who collects the normal paraphernalia of the business without much regard as to why he wants or needs it (sidekick, secret identity, extended team, etc). However, give him a cause, a crusade, and the blinkers go on. He hunkers down, even his philosophy seems to harden, and becomes a nearly feral stalker. What does seems strange for me is how distant Green Arrow and Black Canary have become. It’s almost as if its been forgotten (by them more than anybody else) that they’re now meant to be a husband and wife and not just another crime fighting duo. I guess Canary fell in love with the superhero Arrow and not the stalker.

If anything this issue created more questions that it answered. Green Arrow has no guilt over Prometheus’ murder – and on this I’m with Barry, it was murder. He’s made the full switch into stalker mode and that means this arc can only get darker. Just a very minor point, and it may be nothing, but Prometheus’ Cosmic Key is a soul stealer. It’s meant to kill any user other than Prometheus. Logical deduction would be that if Green Arrow is using it then he must be Prometheus, just as Prometheus was disguised as Freddy Freeman during most of Cry For Justice. The detail about the missing Helmet, and we must remember the equally missing Ira Quimby, also hints at more story to come.

The art in this issue isn’t as jarring as it was in the final few issues of Cry, but I still wish that DC would use a single art team on a single book. Most of the time it isn’t so bad, the oddest part if the way the decor of Prometheus’ house changes between the first and later part of the book. I’m also not sure I like the first section so much, but I love the full page splash of Batman K.O.ing Razer.  I thought this was going to happen, but the differences between Barry and Wally’s costumes just haven’t sunk in for me yet. I keep seeing Barry and think he’s Wally.

While I generally liked this portrayal of Green Arrow I was more than a little bit more perplexed by the Shade’s antics. He helped Green Arrow kill Prometheus and then helped Green Lantern discover the body. He’s either just being deliberately causing trouble or he’s got his own agenda going on here. He’s one of the those characters that can easily sound odd, or slightly wrong, when not written by their definitive writer. Krul does an okay job, but the “you mortals” line sounded a bit stiff.

I think the biggest success of Justice League: Rise and Fall Special is that it has made me, as a reader, reconnect with Green Arrow. By getting to hear his internal monologue again, more of his reasoning, it instantly added a depth that had been missing in Cry For Justice.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Related posts:

1. Rise And Fall covers and writer podcast Amid the fuss over the return of Justice League International...
2. JLA Soliciations for March 2010 March 2010 appears to be Green Arrow and the JLA...
3. Justice League: Cry of Justice #7 review Oh dear. That wasn’t very pretty now was it. Spoilers...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

[Click the image to enlarge it]

The inspiration for this was a random note on Twitter saying somebody was confused as to the reading order of the JLA books and how events aligned against each other. The key seems to be that the events for Cry For Justice parallel 12-issues of the main book, but that most of the events actually occur in a short window immediately before the Blackest Night events.

This isn’t complete – there are a lot of Blackest Night and Superman related things I could add.

I would welcome any comments, suggestions, or corrections that people may have.

Updated 11/03/2010 - I’ve slightly rearranged the original version that I’d posted by moving the Cry For Justice line to the top. I’ve also added the Vixen and Red Tornado mini-series. The Vixen mini-series is relatively easy to position as it was published as soon as “The Second Coming” (the story where Vixen got her powers back) ended. It also features Batman so it had to finished pre-Final Crisis.

The Red Tornado mini-series is more fluid, but there are distinct mentions in the main JLA title of Red Tornado taking a leave of absense (JLA #31) and then returning again (JLA #36) so it seems logical that the story takes place during that leave.

Related posts:

1. Updated Cry For Justice #5 cover art DC have updated the cover art for Justice League: Cry...
2. New Young Justice League cartoon? (updated) A very excited Stephanie Lemelin has just spilled the beans...
3. Blackest Night JLA Bodycount It’s no great secret that the Blackest Night event focuses...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The director is Joaquim Dos Santos, a name from the original DCAU days, but the old Timm-style models are gone entirely. That look is replaced by a very Anime inspired styling that is freer in its staging and framing that the normal DC series/features. Additionally, the entire short is graded as if it was a 1970s cop movie with a slightly washed out look and the deliberate recreation of dirt on the film. From the very start you know you’re watching something that is different from what you may have expected.

The film opens with a Hollywood director getting blown up in his own home. Police Detective Jim Corrigan (Gary Cole) had once been romantically involved with the director’s beautiful blond daughter (Alyssa Milano). To the annoyance of his superior and colleagues Corrigan makes it his business to become involved with the investigation.

Unknown to anybody else Jim Corrigan is a dead man, a ghost who masquerades as a living-man whilst he investigates violent and heinous crimes. Then once he as ascertained who the guilty party is Corrigan’s ghost transforms into the nightmarish Spectre – a force of vengeance who murders the guilty in perverse and outlandish supernatural executions.

If you’ve read any Spectre comics you’ll know that he can be very inventive in the way he kills the guilty. Ethics aide – I’ve ranted on quite enough about heroes killing in my review of Cry For Justice - this is what the Spectre does and has always done. His executions in this short suitably live up to his reputation. One takes place in a Hollywood props house and makes full use of the horrors stored there. Another takes place out on the open road and owes a lot to Steve Spielberg’s 1975 film Duel. In both cases the Spectre is more of an animator and than a direct agent. It works well and care has been taken not to break the ambiance. In all, the 1970s pastiche works surprisingly well.

The look of the Spectre is very traditional, almost too traditional. Even handled as he is you can’t help but think the Spectre’s bright green cape looks a bit out of place in what is otherwise a horror film. Gary Cole’s Jim Corrigan is suitably hard-boiled, but I thought his Spectre was a little flat. Milano is okay as the girlfriend, but her screen time is so short that its impossible to judge.

This “short” is only two-thirds the length of a normal 22-minute TV cartoon and it was never going to have a great depth to it. However, it does manage to tell a full story and you don’t feel cheated by the length.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The multi award-winning Batman: Arkham Asylum adds a new dimension to crime fighting with support for TriOviz 3D on both PS3 and Xbox 360. TriOviz 3D is a patented 3D process which adds depth to the game, visible to players wearing the included 3D glasses. Compatible with all standard and high definition TV sets, TriOviz 3D creates a far more immersive gaming experience, allowing console players to dive deeper into the gothic world of Arkham Asylum..

I’m not too familiar with the TiOviz technology, but it seems that they use green and cyan glasses and not the traditional red and blue 3D glasses. It means that colours should look more natural. The developers seem to have accomplished the effect by using the depth information that is already computed in the game.

I’ve played and finished Arkham so I really don’t need another version, but… the 3D is tempting.

Related posts:

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum downloadable content Like many gamers I’ve noticed the ticker in Batman: Arkham...
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum This could well be the Batman video game that...
3. The History of Arkham Asylum (trailer) There is a new trailer for the Batman: Arkham Asylum...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Spoilers a plenty. You have been warned!!!

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

Prometheus, he of the Dr Evil monologue, has stolen a host of super technology and built, rather badly as it turns out, a set of teleportation devices he intends to use to scatter our heroes’ cities through space, time, and last Tuesday. Unfortunately for him he was captured by the Justice League before he could use then. The bad thing for them is that Prometheus has a failsafe, an automatic countdown that started the moment he was captured. The first city hit is Star City, Green Arrow’s home. The heroes race there to try to stop the damage, but there is only so much they can do. Speedy, Arrow’s sidekick is saved, but the League are unable to save Lian, Green Arrow’s infant granddaughter, and 90,000 other inhabitants. The growing devastation continues and Prometheus refuses to anything to stop it until the League release him.

Between the twin cities of Central City and Keystone City the Flashes attempt to disable another devise, but it’s hidden at the bottom of the river and only accessible to the Sea Devils. The other heroes have found the devices in their own cities, but each is keyed so that it can’t be stopped by the obvious means – the one in Opal accelerated when the Shade tried enveloping it in Shadow and the one in Fawcett reacted to Freddy Freeman’s lightning (after he’d been freed by the Bulletteer and Mr Scarlett). Again Prometheus makes his demand that only by freeing him can they save their cities.

Vixen broadcasts Prometheus’s demand over the JLA radio system with some heroes automatically refusing to negotiate with murderers while others are more pragmatic. However, its Green Arrow, the person’s who has lost the most to Prometheus’s attacks, who speaks up. He convinces them to think of the living and to release Prometheus. The League reluctantly agrees to follow Arrow’s request and Prometheus honours his part of the Faustian-bargain by giving them the deactivation codes. The heroes “win”, the villain escapes, and everybody does back to rebuilding their homes. However, Green Arrow’s can’t. He tracks Prometheus back to his extra-dimensional hideout and shoots an arrow between his eyes, killing him instantly.

Is killing Prometheus justifiable? I certainly don’t think so. This wasn’t in the heat of battle to save another person’s life. This wasn’t Barry with Zoom and Iris. This was premeditated murder; just petty revenge. Something that a Justice League member should be above. Re-read that page again. Green Arrow surprised Prometheus with a clear shot. He had time to use a stun arrow, boxing glove arrow, or whatever he wanted to do. He could easily have captured the villain, but instead chose to murder him. One thing I would concede is that criticising Green Arrow for killing Prometheus because he caused Lian Harper’s death is a lot harder to argue against than if he’d just maimed Roy. And I guess from a plot point of view that is why Lian was killed off.

My friends who read Marvel comics use to use the phrase “Sledgehammer of Angst” (borrowed from the old rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks group) to described the hilarious levels of stress and angst that one writer could inflict on the X-Men. Well it looks like somebody’s smuggled the Sledgehammer into DC’s offices because it’s pounding on poor old Green Arrow throughout this entire series. I’m beginning to wonder if I should skip the Rise of Arsenal/Fall of Green Lantern as it’s going to be bloody depressing whatever they do. (No I won’t actually skip it – it’s not JT Krul’s fault he’s got to clean up this mess).

I think I’ve almost given up worrying about the quality of this train wreck of a series. The art has at times been great, but has unravelled towards the end with the usual influx of pitch hitting DC artists. The writing has at times been great, but at other times its been stiff and has used so many clichés that it bordered on parody. What I find hard to understand is that every person involved in the creation of this mini-series is incredibly talented, how could they all have had such a spectacularly coordinated collective failure? It just doesn’t make sense. I am seriously beginning to wonder if James Robinson has a split personality – one side writes Starman and the main JLA title the other one wrote Cry For Justice and the LEOG screenplay.

In one way this series should never have been commissioned. It is a big series, something that should really have been a headlining crossover, but its been scheduled opposite Blackest Night and has just faded into the background. The basic idea is sound, but the entire thing just needed a lot more polish, thought, and time.

Luckily the last two issues of the main Justice League of America series have been a lot, lot better than this.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Related posts:

1. Justice League: The Rise and Fall Special #1 review I will admit that I was less that complementary...
2. Justice League: Cry For Justice #6 (of 7) Writer: James Robinson Artist: Scott Clark Colors: Siya Dum...
3. Justice League Cry For Justice #4 (of 7) Previously: Prometheus, the humiliated JLA foe, is planning a massive...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

123►

Episode Credits

• Story: Rusti Bjornhoel
• Writer: Stan Berkowitz
• Director: Atsuko Tanaka
• Composer: Shirley Walker
• Storyboard: Hiroyuki Aoyama, Atsuko Tanaka
• Animation Services: TMS Kyokuichi Corporation
• Main Cast: Kevin Conroy (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Mathew Valencia (Robin/Tim Drake), Billy Zane (The Demon/Jason Blood)
• Supporting Cast: Stephen Wolfe Smith (Klarion), Peter Renaday (Auctioneer)

Season Credits

• Producers: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Bruce Timm
• Associate Producer: Haven Alexander
• Series Story Editors: Stan Berkowitz, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Rich Fogel
• Series Writers: Hilary J.Bader, Stan Berkowitz, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Rich Fodel, Robert Goodman
• Series Directors: Hiroyuki Aoyama, Curt Geda, Kenji Hachizaki, Butch Lukic, Toshihioko Masuda, Dan Riba, Yuichiro Yano
• Theme: Shirley Walker
• Voice Direction: Andrea Romano
• Executive Producer: Jean MacCurdy

Synopsis

A very rich select crowd gather at Gotham Auctioneers, Ltd for an auction of rare and unique artefacts. A natural habitat for billionaire businessman Bruce Wayne, but a rather boring outing for his youthful ward Tim Drake. Tim spots another boy and tries striking up a conversation with him on the assumption that he too has been dragged there against his wishes. However, the odd youth (Klarion) and his vicious pet cat (Teekl) seem to be there of their own volition.

The auction starts with an item reputed to be the personal branding iron of Morgaine Le Fay (a sorceress enemy of Merlin and King Arthur). Klarion and a man called Jason Blood get into an bidding war over the item and it appears that Klarion has won until Bruce Wayne suddenly bids 1 million dollars. Wayne bought the item because Blood was trying so hard to keep it out of Klarion’s hands. Blood warns Wayne not to underestimate Klarion, a “witch boy” who turned his own parents into mice (the implication being that they were then eaten by Teekl).

Jason Blood’s apartment is filled with a host of arcana, but its a striking bust with two faces that catches Tim’s attention. One looks like Jason, the other as Jason relates is…

Merlin’s demon Etrigan. [...] He summoned it to defend the realm of Camelot, Merlin’s home. When Camelot finally fell Merlin decided to keep the demon in the service of humanity and merged the creature with one of King Arthur’s noble men.

While they have been distracted by the story Teekl has crept through an open window and almost escapes with the branding iron before Bruce snatches it from her. To his astonishment the cat transforms into a snarling feline woman who lashes out at him. She is faster than Bruce and Tim and has the upper-hand until Jason invokes his own transformation with “Gone, Gone the form of Man, Rise the demon Etrigan” revealing himself to be the very demon and noble man that he had just been telling Tim about. The Demon is a match for the humanoid Teekl, but he is forced to let her flee when he has to save Bruce and Tim from a fire she started.

After Teekl returns with the branding iron to Klarion his interest in it become clear. With it he casts a powerful spell that divides Etrigan and Jason Blood into two people, undoing Merlin’s original enchantment and placing Etrigan under Klarion’s command. Etrigan throws Bruce Wayne aside and bounds out of Blood’s apartment. Klarion forces Etrigan to obey everything his says even through the demon admits to hating him. However, Klarion’s view of what can be accomplished with a demon as powerful as Etrigan is tempered by his warped childish sense of humour. They blow up a cinema and wreck an ice cream truck before Klarion decides on smashing into a cake shop. Their streak of chaos continues with Etrigan derailing a train and demolishing a condemned building.

Eventually the Batman arrives to give Klarion a spanking and orders the witch boy to stop, but Klarion retorts that “No one’s talked to me like that in so long” and demonstrates why. He causes the Batman to be racked with pain as spikes grow out of his body. Tim and Jason watch the Batman’s predicament from a crystal ball in Jason’s apartment. The same spell that had bound Etrigan to Jason Blood had also granted him immortality, with it removed Jason is ageing rapidly. However, he is still strong enough to cast a spell to protect Batman. Tiring of his game Klarion orders Etrigan to destroy the Batman. Jason aids Batman again by using a pendant to create the illusion that there are dozens of duplicate Batmen. Etrigan blasts each of them with his infernal vision leaving a clouds of smoke and just a few stray bats.

The duplicates allow Batman to evades Etrigan, but Klarion spots him retreating and sets the Demon on him. Batman becomes trapped in a dead-end allay as Etrigan approaches and Jason helps him one last time by making him invisible. Klarion slaps Etrigan across the face for losing the Batman and decides it is time to end Blood’s interference once and for all. Jason Blood and Tim Drake prepare for Etrigan’s arrival by surrounding themselves with a magical circle. Jason Blood is becoming increasingly frail, but he concentrates hard to maintain the circle shield against Etrigan’s onslaught. Tim tries his best to fright the demon, but is just thrown aside.

Klarion is so swept up in his control of Etrigan that he doesn’t notice the Batman’s shoulder charge until he’s crushed against a wall. Batman grabs the branding iron and holds it out of Klarion’s reach as he recites a reversal spell. At that moment Etrigan has Blood helpless when the M-brand suddenly fades from his head. Jason Blood is restored to full health and then merges with the demon. Klarion sets Teekl on Batman in revenge for ruining his plan, but he still possesses the branding iron and uses it to make Teekl revert to her house-cat form. Klarion falls back on his own magic and sends a volley of exploding green balls at Batman. The final one is destroyed by the arriving Etrigan and Tim Drake (now in his Robin costume) and the blow back knocks Klarion unconscious. Etrigan then imprisons Klarion by “sending him to his room” (a crystal ball in Blood’s apartment) and vanishes.

Commentary

The New Adventures

For this final season of Batman the series was rebranded as Batman: The New Adventures and the character models and basic design were updated. It was explained that several years had passed since the first series. Batman was more or less the same, but he was drawn without the blue highlights and no longer had the yellow oval around his bat symbol. The biggest change was in the replacement of Dick Grayson (who like the comics had gone on to become Nightwing) with Tim Drake (with Jason Todd’s back-story), a younger teenager Robin.

Etrigan the Demon

In the end credits Jack Kirby is credited as the creator of the Demon. By the 1970s Jack Kirby – the celebrated co-creator of the Hulk, X-Men, and Fantastic Four – was looking for pastures beyond Marvel Comics. He moved to DC Comics where he took over Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen and created the New Gods, Mister Miracle, and the Forever People. Those comics have been tremendously influential and have been critically applauded, but it was claimed at the time that they weren’t selling and Jack was forced to move on to a second round of new titles.

One of this second wave of Kirby titles was The Demon. It told the story of an immortal called Jason Blood who had been alive since the time of King Arthur’s court. In the sixth century Merlin the Magician summoned a demon from hell to do his bidding and to defend King Arthur’s court at Camelot. However, Morgaine Le Fay’s forces destroyed Camelot so Merlin bound Etrigan to a human soul, Jason Blood, in order to stop him threatening mankind. That of course made Morgaine Blood’s immortal enemy. The first Demon series lasted 16 issues, but like most of Kirby’s work it has been reinterpreted and reworked many times over since then.

In this cartoon Batman obviously knows Jason Blood and his demon alter ago from a previous encounter, but we are not told what that adventure involved. Our introduction to Etrigan is via the reactions of Tim Drake’s Robin. Drake spends most of the episode with Blood and only appears in his Robin costume for the final scene.

When Blood transforms into Etrigan he recites a rhyme from the original comic (shown above). Alan Moore (of Watchmen fame) used Etrigan in his Swamp Thing comics and rewrote his dialogue so that he always spoke in rhyme. This worked under a writer as skilled as Moore, but can be painful when Etrigan is handled by a writer with less of a gift for iambic pentameter. The shadow effect that is used during Blood/Etrigan’s transformation is also taken from the comic book.

Etrigan and Jason Blood are voiced in this appearance by Billy Zane. Zane’s one other superhero like role when when he played Kit Walker in the 1996 big screen adaptation of the Phantom (“the ghost that looks really uncomfortable”). The Etrigan role was taken over by Michael T. Weiss for his appearances in Justice League.

Klarion the Witch Boy

Klarion’s familiar is his pet cat Teekl. She had the ability to transform into a fierce humanoid form. She doesn’t talk in this episode and all her growls appear to be real animal sounds.

Klarion was voiced by Stephen Wolf Smith. He had a couple of roles in the 1990s, but this was probably his biggest. He died of cancer a couple of years after this episode first aired. There is another connection between Billy Zane and Smith as they both had roles in Titans, albeit Smith’s wasn’t credited.

Notes

• The Auctioneer at the start of this episode was played by Peter Renaday who also played Mandrake the Magician in The Defenders of the Earth. The other heroes in the Defenders were Flash Gordon, Lothar, and the Phantom. Billy Zane played the Phantom during the big screen adaptation.
• Morgaine Le Fay gets name checked during the auction of the magical branding iron, but she doesn’t appear in this episode. The comic book Le Fay was an enemy Etrigan, but she doesn’t make an on screen appearance until Justice League’s “Knight of Shadows”. The name of this episode in French is “Morgane l’Enchanteresse” again despite her not actually appearing on screen.
• Blood’s quote to Tim Drake, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”, is spoken by Shakepeare’s Hamlet. It’s a retort to the shocked Horatio who had happened upon Hamlet talking to his father’s ghost.
• Most of the magical phrases used in this episode are based on the names of magicians from fiction and history. The French site La Tour Des Heroes (translation) does a better job than I at spotting them.
• There have probably only been two ice cream trucks in all the DC Animated Universe series and they just happen to be in the two cartoons I review sequentially. The Ice Cream truck is playing Pop Goes the Weasel – the same tune from Justice League “Legends”.
• The cake shop that Klarion and Etrigan visit is called the “Kirby Cake Company” which is an allusion to Jack Kirby, the creator of Etrigan.
• I can’t find any information about Rusti Bjornhoel other than he wrote this episode and that his name appears on a list that is reputed to be a Writers Guild of America list of those writers they cannot contact.
• Klarion: “There is nothing as good as strawberry!” (sounds like an advertising slogan, but for what I don’t know).
• The film at the cinema is Devastator 3 with Donald Shaltenpepper – a parallel for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• While this is the first appearance of the Demon in the cartoon he has appeared before in the comic book based on the cartoon. He first appeared in The Batman Adventures Annual #2 (1995) in a story written by Bruce Timm and Glen Murakami in the break between seasons. It features a battle between Jason Blood and Ra’s Al Ghul (both immortals). JLU Revisited covers this particular comic in more details.

Opinion

Highlight

The magic effects

Oddities

If may be my imagination, but Klarion does come across as very Dragon Ball Z at times.

My Thoughts

I liked this episode, it told a good tight story and didn’t have any major flaws. The adherence to Kirby material, as always with the DCAU, was impressive. Billy Zane’s Jason Blood was also quite good, but he didn’t feel quite right as the Demon. I never got the sense from this that Etrigan was really that Evil (being a demon and all).

It’s interesting to see Tim Drake getting pulled along to the auction as if he was Bruce Wayne’s son. This is a set-up we never really saw with the Dick Grayson Robin who was more of an equal to Bruce. What surprised me here was Batman’s knowledge of magic. Maybe Blood told him the incantation before he left, but its one of those skills – like singing – that the DCAU Batman occasionally surprises us with.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Related posts:

1. LEGO Batman: The Videogame A fun blend of Batman: The Movie and LEGO. Doesn't...
2. The Graduates – Part III: Dick Grayson This is a series of posts about the Titans’ Graduates...
3. The Adventures of Little Batman and Robin – shear genius Imagine the 1960s Batman TV show recast with young children…...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The two screen shots above seem to show a Planet Krypton style restaurant themed around the JLA heroes. Other screen shots appear to show Paradise Island and Atlantis. There have been several earlier Justice League games, most recently well received Justice League Heroes and an earlier beat-em-up Justice League Task Force – not to mention a number of games based off the Justice League Unlimited franchise.

These screen shots leaked online via the portfolio of an artist, according to Michael McWhertor’s posts on Kotaku and Follow Xbox,

The screens were taken from an ex-Shiny Entertainment artist’s online portfolio, the development studio behind movie-to-game adaptations like The Golden Compass and The Matrix: Path of Neo. The developer, part of Double Helix, has also been pegged to a game based on Warner’s Green Lantern film.

I can’t see a mention of a Justice League games on Double Helix’s website, but do have a cryptic news post that says

Double Helix Games is working on an exciting unannounced Warner Bros. Interactive title

That could be the mentioned GL game or could just possibly be the game these screenshots are from.

Warner Brother’s recent purchases of computer game companies signals a strengthened interest in the games sector. Marvel have bad a bit of success in that area, but DC has so far only had scattered success. Batman: Arkham Asylum was a critical success, but the DC Universe/Mortal Combat crossover was rather disappointing. On the horizon are the Arkham Asylum sequal and a massive-multiplayer online game called DC Universe Online.

Related posts:

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum in 3D Batman: Arkham Asylum has got a lot of rewards lately...
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum downloadable content Like many gamers I’ve noticed the ticker in Batman: Arkham...
3. Arkham DLC hands on As we’d been forewarned, the new free downloadable content (DLC)...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

DVD Talk has a great opening paragraph to their review:

Okay, so Batman’s on a space station bought and paid for out of his own pocket, decked out in a Power Loader, and squaring off against demented versions of three Marvels and a Wonder Woman from a parallel universe. The smart money says I could go ahead and stop the review right there since this is clearly the best movie ever.

I found their review interesting as they pulled apart the audio and video just as you’d expect a site interested in HD quality. They take issue with the video compression, but I don’t think its something I’d know to notice.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths just doesn’t sound like a movie. Justice League got its start on basic cable, and that’s pretty much where Crisis…’s soundtrack wound up too. There are no dubs, alternate soundtracks, commentaries, or downmixes this time around

I agree that the lack of a commentary is a downside, but I’ve listened to the Superman “Brave New Metropolis” commentary I know how little these guys can have to say about an otherwise brilliant episode. Now a solo commentary by McDuffie would have been cool.

There is a CD album of soundtrack so Warners must think its good enough. I actually rather liked the main theme, but I think DVDTalk expect too much. After all this is a direct-to-disc feature and not a disc of a theatrical release. Batman: Gotham Knights even said that “one of the best DCU animated scores to date.”

Crave online makes an observation about the co-directors:

Co-Directors Sam Liu (Superman/Batman, Planet Hulk) and Lauren Montgomery (Green Lantern: First Flight) really play well off of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Liu has a tendency to rush things (Planet Hulk) while Montgomery’s direction can be clunky and boring. Together they find a perfect pace that allows the plot to shine through but not at the expense of action.

I’m not familiar with Planet Hulk or Green Lantern: First Flight, but I can see where Crave is coming from about Superman/Batman as I bought that at the same time as Justice League and watched them back-to-back. Justice League is definitely the better film, even if Superman/Batman has better lead voice artists.

MTV Splash Page is just one of the comics sites that criticises the voice acting:

It’s disappointing to note that the weakest elements of “Crisis On Two Earths” lie in the voice casting of two of the film’s most popular characters. Mark Harmon and William Baldwin voice Superman and Batman, respectively, and neither actor seems to put much heart into their performance. For much of the film, both characters’ dialogue feels forced — as if they’re just reading their characters’ lines rather than actually becoming the voices of their characters.

However, it seems that while that sort of sentiment is common amongst comic-book fan sites the DVD/film sites actually quite like, or at least are more tolerant, of  Harmon/Baldwin. For example, Cinema Spy says:

While some of the cast’s big names seemingly get lost in the shuffle — in hindsight, the producers probably didn’t need Mark Harmon for Superman, since he doesn’t get all that much to do — there are plenty of standouts. William Baldwin makes for a brooding and effective Batman, although he seems to be channeling Christian Bale more than mimicking legendary Bat-vocalist Kevin Conroy, and Gina Torres does good work as the Crime Syndicate’s Superwoman, whom she appropriately plays as Wonder Woman with a seductive side.

and Harry at AintItCool,

As with each of these ANIMATED features, the style is different yet again. Mark Harmon is a strong voice for Superman, who is more in command here, than in any of the previous incarnations. He sounds powerful & a bit cocky. William Baldwin’s Batman feels tamer than James Woods’ Owlman, but that’s how it should be here.

I was amused by Blu-Ray.com’s review. They give the film something of a once over in their review -

“Still, at 75-minutes, is it any wonder that subtleties, cohesive storytelling, and character development have fallen by the wayside? Hopefully the day will come when DC’s animated films grow up.”

- but still award it 3/5 over all. I’d hate to see a review for a film they give 1/5 marks to. The Open Salon/Huffington Post also wasn’t that impressed, but the reviewer at least admits upfront that he doesn’t like multiverse/parallel world stories.

Related posts:

1. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths round-up Around the net there has been a slow build-up...
2. New ‘Voices of Krypton’ magazine with exclusing Crisis on Two Earths interviews Voices of Krypton is a new magazine “devoted to superheroes...
3. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Premier Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is an original DC...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The latest direct-to-DVD feature from Warner Brother Animation is Justice League: Crisis on Two-Earths. The other features they’ve done have been good, maybe even brilliant, but I think this is the one I anticipated the most. And it’s good, really good – not quite as good as Justice League: A New Frontier, but it’s close. The main film does seem a little short (75 minutes), but that’s made up for by the presence of the Spectre animated-short on the Blu-Ray disc.

Some spoilers follow…