tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post4181986666183320028..comments2023-10-31T00:31:59.277-07:00Comments on The United Federation of Charles: Supergirl: Who is the Girl of Steel?CTPhippshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04226189019351004118noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-48019509054893140092015-03-15T04:00:05.426-07:002015-03-15T04:00:05.426-07:00I eagerly await your reviews, hope you enjoy what ...I eagerly await your reviews, hope you enjoy what I have recommended. <br /><br />oliver simpsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00153675796879872038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-47129991923617896652015-03-15T01:58:04.499-07:002015-03-15T01:58:04.499-07:00I'll definitely be checking out selections fro...I'll definitely be checking out selections from the DC Animated Universe on your recommendation for this website then. I hope you like my commentary!<br /><br />Otherwise, I agree. :-)CTPhippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226189019351004118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-55028138376191238422015-03-15T01:44:35.702-07:002015-03-15T01:44:35.702-07:00As huge a fan as I am of Linda Lee Danvers, I thin...As huge a fan as I am of Linda Lee Danvers, I think Peter David managed to capture the Silver Age Supergirl had an appeal to her which DC comics editors were uninterested in, specifically, that Supergirl was a happy innocent character. Having read most of the original Supergirl stories within Showcase, they weren't SERIOUS stories but they were FUN stories. One of my favorite stories with Supergirl is her attempt to find Superman a wife (because Lois and Lana were quite possibly insane and certainly guilty of stalking Superman). Superman discovers his ideal wife is, essentially, Power Girl (an older version of Supergirl).<br /><br />I think it's the lack of appreciation for bright, optimistic, weird, funny, and cheerful stories which shot DC comics in the foot to a certain extent. In the Post-Crisis universe, there was no use for a Bottled City, a Superdog, fellow survivors of Krypton, super-best friends from the future, the adventures of Superman as a boy, and a Mermaid Girlfriend. Unsurprisingly, all of these elements eventually found their way back into the mainstream continuity because they were part of what made Superman fun. No, Brainiac never plotted to break Supergirl's heart but plots might include Superman using time travel to get out of kissing Lois Lane and Lana Lang because girls were icky.<br /><br />While I am a die-hard fan of Peter David's run on Supergirl, I'd also like to say that 2003 Supergirl and the new 52 versions are distinct characters from Kal-El and have their own obvious story arcs. Superman is the Last Son of Krypton but he's a 1st generation American. Supergirl is an immigrant from Krypton with all that land's cultures and the weight of its destruction weighing on her shoulders. Living in the shadow of a more famous relative isn't necessarily a bad thing as a plot arc either. <br /><br />I hope the new Supergirl series gives her a wider audience but I don't think she's really LACKING as a character. It's just people don't really want to give her a chance. They'd rather talk about the ANGST of being a Superhero than knowing, you may have lost your planet but there's always a brand new day.CTPhippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226189019351004118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-48823264416443487312015-03-14T20:21:41.437-07:002015-03-14T20:21:41.437-07:00Supergirl has long had a problem, everyone recogni...Supergirl has long had a problem, everyone recognizes her, but nobody really knows who she is. Not the public, certainly not her creative teams for the most part. Peter David, right before taking over the title, wrote a Supergirl short story for the Showcase title that addressed this in typical (for him) meta-way. Supergirl (the Matrix incarnation in this case), spends all day saving people from natural disasters and, exhausted, ends the day looking into a mirror and wondering why she can't see anyone staring back at her. A face, eyes, certainly, but no personality looking back at her.<br /><br />I took this as Peter David's promise to actually develop her character in his series, a promise he more than lived up to, before the idiots on DC editorial staff decided to scrap all that and create newer, stupider versions of the character to be meaningless again. (Cir-El, what WERE they thinking. I notice Charlie skipped right over that incarnation of the character!)<br /><br />We know who Superman is. Call him a flat character if you like, but he's the archetype. Saves people because it's the right thing to do. Good. Powerful. Double-identity. That's who he is.<br /><br />So, who's Supergirl? If she's just doing the same stuff Superman does, you might as well be writing for Superman. So, she needs to be different. Hmm, girls are kinda different (not going to address whether that's natural or socialization here.) You could, one imagines, focus on the "girl" part. And writers tried, but comic book writers have traditionally always been male and the result is... uninspiring. Like this:<br /><br />http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/92/49949_20060709120006_large.jpg<br />http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/92/49965_20060709123053_large.jpg<br />http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/92/49970_20060709124127_large.jpg<br /><br />Can you imagine, even for a second, Brainiac plotting to break Superman's heart? Not shown: Numerous panels of Supergirl using her powers to make house cleaning a snap.<br /><br />So, Supergirl almost always comes off as either a imitation of Superman (and we have enough of those on the comics shelves) or a romance comic occasionally interrupted by supervillains. For decades, writers couldn't think their way out of this box. For a character that was created in 1959 and highly visible in the subsequent years, she really didn't break out into her own until the Peter David series in 1996, nearly 40 years later!<br /><br />I'm curious to see what the TV show does with her. Will Superman exist in the TV show continuity? The possibility of him not existing fascinates me. Perhaps Supergirl can finally step out of his shadow.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-18889730543592189372015-03-14T16:48:07.391-07:002015-03-14T16:48:07.391-07:00Completely agree on Bruce Timm's version of Ba...Completely agree on Bruce Timm's version of Batman and Superman being one of the most definitive versions of the characters, Timm and Dini really got Batman down in a way that showed his positives and negatives in a balancing way. As well as having to work for his victories like the Clock King episode where he had to really use his intelligence to get out of the trap CK had put him in, though the way he got out was because of CK's gloating tape. <br /><br />Yeah I would agree the Supergirl and Question episode was probably the only Supergirl episode I felt that was great, especially Jeffery Combs as the Question (he gave I feel one of the best va performances in the entire DCAU) he was a constant source of badass and along with hilarious lines and the right amount of creepiness. and we now all now the sinister purpose of aglets, along with the girl scouts as part of the NWO. <br /><br />True what has been said about the DCAU universe has been said, though I'm sure you can find a few things to talk about, like certain episodes maybe, or the films, Mask of the Phantasm would be a great one to review (some Batman fans still feel it's the best Batman film of all time even after the Nolan films came out), Return of the Joker is another, that's my favourite Batman film of them all. <br /><br />It's where I think Mark Hamill gave his best performance, Bruce and Paul did some of their best writing, and it deconstructed as Tvtropes would say the whole Batman and Joker feud in an interesting and yet tragic way, as well as giving Terry his best moment as well.<br /><br />Yes I liked how Bruce explored the Phantom zone criminals as well. Yes Darkseid was a brilliant choice for Superman as a villain. better than mogul, though he grew on me in the episode I mentioned before thanks to Eric Roberts performance of him being great there. Voice Acting was one of the best things about the DCAU, Kevin Conroy's voice of Batman might be the definitive voice, I hear it all the time when reading Batman and can audioize it when hearing Bales narmastic batman voice, it was that good. same with Clancy's Luthor voice, Daly's voice you name it.oliver simpsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00153675796879872038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-12515572716027911602015-03-14T13:44:16.927-07:002015-03-14T13:44:16.927-07:00I think the Bruce Timm cartoons are one of the def...I think the Bruce Timm cartoons are one of the definitive versions of Batman and Superman and certainly are informing both the current comic series out there as well as how fans perceive the characters. I believe making Darkseid one of Superman's Rogues gallery was one of the best decisions in years (essentially, replacing Mogul) and also his takes on Brainiac, Luthor, Supergirl, and the Phantom Zone criminals. <br /><br />The animated Supergirl episodes are, to my knowledge, pretty much all bad except for her introduction and the Galatea one with the Question and Green Arrow. The Skartaris one was just plain weird given Stargirl was insanely jealous of Supergirl despite the fact we'd never seen any sign of Supergirl being popular before in-universe. Still, the Question and Supergirl teaming up remains one of my favorite episodes for sheer weird FUN.<br /><br />I'd be happy to do reviews of the various seasons of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series (plus the Justice League) but it'd be hard to figure out what I could say about them which hasn't been said already. They're good, great even, with some better than others but all of them awesome.CTPhippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226189019351004118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-89636308900000722372015-03-14T09:39:35.700-07:002015-03-14T09:39:35.700-07:00An excellent post on Supergirl, one of the far les...An excellent post on Supergirl, one of the far less known women heroines in DC comics for the most part. <br /><br />My own main exposure to her was through Bruce Timms brilliant Superman Animated Series, which was the main adaptation that made me like Superman for a variety of reason, first how it took like BTAS it took a lot of Superman villains and did interesting stuff with them, along with humanizing some of them. <br /><br />I.E for example Toyman was made into a tragic but very creepy villain that used toys in an very interesting way, Metallo voiced by my favourite English man Malcolm McDowall was an ass but you could understand how losing his senses would drive him even more insane. Lex was given a nice balancing of his arrogance but also had traits that I could admire about the guy in a limited way. <br /><br />The best two villains I felt they did were their version of Brainaic who they tied into Krypton's society who tried to stop Joe El from saving it, plus Christopher McDonald did a fine job I felt, nice to see him get a role that departs from his shooter type characters that he plays well. <br /><br />The other villain was Darkseid, voice by the always badass baritone Michael Ironside, especially once they stopped deepening the voice so much. Few villains were as love to hate as Darkseid was in DCAU. <br /><br />Other bits were the VA from Tim Daly as Sup's, he was perfect in the role I felt, to Dala Delany as Lois nice balance of sarcasm and yet heart-warming tone as well. <br /><br />along with some fine storytelling in some of the episodes like Legacy, Darkseid killing off Tuplin etc. STAS really I felt got how Superman can be really good and contrast nicely with BTAS. <br /><br />And f course that is where I got to know Supergirl first, voiced by Nicholle Tom. while the episodes with her in STAS are some of the lesser quality episodes I feel, Toms performance always fitted the character. <br /><br />The JLU version of her was allowed to shine and get some great development. Though the last episode where she stays with a future Brainaic was done poorly I felt, no build up or convincing romance there I felt. But I liked how she went from the costume she had to the one form the movies as JLU went on. <br /><br />Also I loved how JLU adopted the Alan Moore story the man who has everything, George Newbern I felt gave his best performance there as Superman and showed he could match Tim in the role after starting a little wooden in JL. The fact AM himself approved of the episode shows how well Bruce and his team did with that episode. It's the only approval he has given for any adaptation of any of his work.<br /><br /><br />This was at a time when many Comic's were going through a very dark age where they turned many hero's into Anti hero's watchmen style without realising if it actually worked or not. many comic Book writers and artists just didn't get the characters and setting I feel back then. <br /><br />It's a shame Helen Slater never got the credit she deserved for her role in the bad movie. not the best way to introduce people to the character.<br /><br />But some of the storylines from the comic's you mentioned above are quite good as well I think. <br /><br />You know have you ever considered doing a review of the DCAU universe, I know worlds finest website have a great review of all the series, but your view would be interesting to see. Especially on BTAS which I place among the best animation series of all time.<br /><br />Ok will stop now as I have rambled on long enough.<br />oliver simpsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00153675796879872038noreply@blogger.com