Legends of the Super Heroes

Here's a re-post from October 2010.

Not a bootleg. Not an imaginary story. Not a hoax.

Yes. The notorious two-part NBC special from 1979 that has lived on in infamy as a bad childhood memory is now officially out on DVD thanks to The Warner Archive Collection. 

Part 1 is "The Challenge" in which several Justice Leaguers take on a cadre of super-villains. Part 2 is "The Roast" where the villains go all "Dean Martin" on the heroes' asses.

This videotaped canned-laughter oddity from Hanna-Barbera brought your Saturday-morning cartoon favorites to life in living color played by actual living, breathing actors!

Adam West, Burt Ward and Frank Gorshin of BATMAN fame recreated their roles from the 1960s ABC campfest. 

They are joined by TV stalwarts Jeff Altman (as the Weather Wizard), Charlie Callas (as Sinestro), Gabriel Dell (as Mordru), Ruth Buzzi (as Aunt Minerva) and Ed McMahon (as the host of the "roast" portion).

Lesser known actors brought the JLA heroes Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and The Atom to life. Also featured (in the place of Superman and Wonder Woman) were Captain Marvel and newcomer The Huntress. 

The Black Canary was played by someone named Danuta - who never acted again. Imagine that.

On the villain side, Dr. Sivana, Solomon Grundy and Giganta (played by transexual performer A'leshia Brevard) rounded out the cast.

Other characters appearing included the ridiculous and offensive Ghetto Man, the cringe-inducing Retired Man (aka The Scarlet Cyclone) and Pat Carroll as Hawkman's mother! 

NIGHT COURT's Marsha Warfield has an uncredited cameo as "the phonebooth woman".

As for the storylines, special effects and writing - the less said the better. LEGENDS OF THE SUPER HEROES is best viewed as a product of its time - a time when just about anything could get onto primetime TV. These were the days of the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, THE PAUL LYNDE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL and PINK LADY & JEFF (starring the Weather Wizard himself!).

So if you are like me and can't get enough vintage bad TV and men in tights - check out LEGENDS - the legendary program so unwatchable that it HAS TO BE SEEN!

Who Watches The Sentinels?

Here's an updated post from 2009 - from right before THE WATCHMEN film came out.

The controversial comic book prequel, BEFORE WATCHMEN arrives in stores tomorrow. As most people know, the original WATCHMEN was a 12-issue DC Comics miniseries by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. 

What a lot of people (including some comic book readers) don't know is that the characters are actually based on comic book heroes that originally appeared in the 1960s under the Charlton Comics banner.

While never a team at Charlton, the characters returned from a self-imposed limbo and formed the team called Sentinels of Justice when Americomics published their adventures in the early 1980s.
Only four of the characters appeared during this run, with Peacemaker and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt sitting this one out.

The characters resurfaced in the mid-1980s when DC Comics folded the Charlton "Action Heroes" into the DC Universe through the events of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.

These characters were favorites among comics fans and creators alike and DC hoped to eventually introduce them to a new generation of readers through a proposed weekly publication called Comics Cavalcade Weekly. This never happened.
Meanwhile, Alan Moore, who had already breathed new life into Swamp Thing and the British hero Marvelman, had other plans for the characters. Unfortunately DC decided that if Moore had used the Charlton characters, they would be unusable by anyone afterwards. The result was that Moore and Gibbons created new characters based on the originals.

Peacemaker (Christopher Smith) became The Comedian (Edward Blake). Captain Atom (Allen Adam) became Doctor Manhattan (Jonathan Osterman). The Silver Age Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) became Nite Owl (Dan Dreiberg). Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt became Ozymandias (Adrian Veidt). The Question (Vic Sage) became Rorschach (Walter Kovacs). And Nightshade (Even Eden) became Silk Spectre (Laurie Juspeczyk). Judomaster and Sarge Steel didn't make the cut.As WATCHMEN became a critical and sales sensation, DC continued using the original characters. Most had their own series, some were part of group books and eventually most of them teamed up in a memorable issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE QUARTERLY.Years later, after DC lost the rights to Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt (they reverted back to his creator) - the rest of the gang (including Judomaster) formed the superteam called L.A.W. - Living Assualt Weapons. This ill-conceived concept did not last past it's six issue miniseries.
In recent years, Peacemaker died and was replaced twice, Captain Atom went rogue and became a super villain, Blue Beetle was shot to death and replaced by a teen hero, and The Question died of cancer and was replaced by former Gotham City policewoman Renne Montoya.
Nightshade actually fared better than most, having successful runs with the teams Suicide Squad and the Shadowpact. The Watchmen, on the other hand became media darlings.I can't help but wonder what if DC had allowed Moore to use the original versions of the characters...
Would Captain Atom ever be caught with his pants down? Highly unlikely.

The Murder of Santa Claus, 1973

I always thought this was a weird, but fun cover. As members of the JLA and JSA stand around with their hands on their hips, poor Santa lies face down in the snow. It's almost as if they killed him and are standing over his lifeless body with pride. Here Comes TV's Super-Friends, but you better not get in their way - I'm talking to you, Santa!

A Brief History of Batwoman

A New BATWOMAN monthly comic book will debut in a few weeks as part of the DC Comics "New 52" reboot/relaunch. Let's take a quick look back at the history of this semi-obscure character.The DC Comics character Batwoman has always been one of my favorites, mostly because she was basically a D-List superheroine.

Kathy Kane was introduced in Detective Comics #233 (July 1956) and spent most of her short-lived crimefighting career trying to romantically woo the Dark Knight Detective.She was often doomed.
Paired with Bat-Mite.
Forced into being a surrogate mother to Robin.
Batman also saw her as the competition.
Kathy was later joined by her niece Betty in 1961 as the first Bat-Girl. Kathy and Betty were intended to be romantic interests of Batman and Robin, respectively - to fend off rumors that the caped crusaders were gay lovers.Like Lois Lane, she sometimes developed super-powers when the story called for it.And took part in some of the more bizarre Batman adventures.

She faced many unusual challenges.

Batwoman, as well as Bat-Girl, and other silly characters like Ace the Bat-Hound, and the fore-mentioned Bat-Mite pretty much disappeared from comics by the early 1960s.

Kathy was more or less replaced by Barbara Gordon's much more popular Batgirl during the height of the ABC TV series in last third of that decade.

Kathy resurfaced briefly in the late 1970s as a member of The Batman Family.

Ms. Kane became the owner of a circus after retiring from crimefighting.

Batwoman donned her costume for a few new adventures in the DC Universe–

including a team-up with Batgirl and The Freedom Fighters!

But Kathy's comeback was destined to be short-lived, and she was brutally killed by The Ras Al Ghul's League of Assassins in Detective Comics #485 (September 1979).

Her neice, Betty was renamed Bette after Crisis on Infinite Earths and later joined the Titans as Flamebird.

Years later, Batwoman made a ghostly cameo appearance in The Kingdom: Planet Krypton, in which she is one of many "lost" DC characters that haunt a superhero-themed restaurant.

Other Elseworlds and alternative versions of Batwoman have appeared in recent years, only appearing once or twice. Another Batwoman appeared in the animated film BATMAN: MYSTERY OF THE BATWOMAN. Here Batwoman is actually three different women, one of them is named Cathy Duquesne (pronounced "du-kane").

Batman writer/editor Denny O'Neil hinted for years that a new Batwoman was on her way in the late 1980s/early 90s - but that never happened. Most likely the character evolved into the third Batgirl (Cassandra Cain, no relation) who was introduced after Gordon became paralysed in The Killing Joke and transformed herself into Oracle in the pages of Suicide Squad, and later Birds of Prey. Now, many years later, Barbara Gordon will be returning to the role of Batgirl as part of the DC reboot/relaunch.

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A brand new Kate Kane was finally introduced to the DCU in the 7th issue of a wonderful weekly maxi-series called 52 (July 2006), becoming the new Batwoman in issue #11 (also July 2006). Kate was now cast as former Gotham police officer Renee Montoya's ex-lover and heiress to one of the wealthiest families in Gotham City.Batwoman and Renee (now the new Question) subsequently got involved with Intergang, the Crime Bible and all sorts of danger during 52, and two follow-up miniseries. This new, improved version of Batwoman debuted as the lead character in Detective Comics (with Renee's Question providing back-up support), coming full circle and bumping her up to the A-List at last. She also briefly joined a new version of the Justice League! It's a interesting footnote that Detective Comics, the title which DC Comics gets its name from costarred TWO lesbian superheroes. In a recent issue of BATMAN INC., Batwoman has an interesting encounter with the "ghost" of the first Batwoman.
A new BATWOMAN #0 appeared a few months back, with the monthly solo series delayed until the big September reboot/relaunch. With stunning art by J.H. Williams III, this is on my shortlist of the new titles I will be buying. You've come a long way, Batwoman.