The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 5: Sealab 2021, "Bizarro"

Sealab 2021

Season 2, Episode 6: “Bizarro,” 2002

Dan Says: 

When Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block started back in 2000, much of its programming was dedicated to repurposing old Hanna-Barbera animation, via Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, The Brak Show and this early work about an incompetent underwater marine research unit from the animation team that would eventually bring us FX’s Archer.

In this episode, art for which mimics the cover to Uncanny X-Men #100, Sealab is under attack by doppelgangers from the Bizarro dimension. They don’t speak in inconsistent opposites like the Superman foe, but they do use the word “Bizarro” a lot, like Smurfs use the word “Smurf.” They claim to be after a Destructo-Beam (or maybe diamonds?), but as Capt. Murphy protests, “We don’t have any damn beans!”

The Bizarros don’t pose any real threat to Sealab. Bizarro Stormy shoots his own head off, Bizarro Debbie interrogates her victims via sex, and Bizarro Quinn is a turtle-headed bird creature that hatches from an egg and doesn’t do much but hop around and utter the most “Bizarros” of anyone. He also drops the floating head of Bizarro Sparks on the ground, shattering its protective jar, then proceeds to poor salt on it and declare, “Bizarro! I’m helping! I’m helping you!” Then the whole Bizarro squad accidentally hypnotize themselves using Bizarro-Vision and get tricked into leaving.

It’s 11 minutes of rapid-fire dumbness, but that’s exactly what Adult Swim excelled in back in the early 2000s, and it’s easily the most memorable episode of the series, next to that one where Hesh turns into a giant-headed monster.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 4: X-Men: Evolution "Blind Alley"

X-Men: Evolution

Season 3, Episode 5: “Blind Alley” 2002

Matt Says:

X-Men: Evolution was the excellent animated series that treated most of the classic X-Men as if they were actually kids going to school, splitting their time between mutant classes at the Xavier school and regular classes at a regular high school. It was a great show that played with its own alternate version of X-Men history and built some great versions of classic X-characters.

If you've read anything I've written about the X-Men, you know I'm a Cyclops fanboy and apologist. And while I grew up with the decidedly less impressive version from the classic X-Men animated series, the version of Evolution is phenomenal, a clean cut leader and good kid who isn't either whiny or white bread, and his spotlight episode, "Blind Alley," is a favorite of mine. In it, Mystique, seeking revenge for Scott leaving her trapped for human authorities to find, tricks him into coming to Mexico and then strands him in the desert without his ruby quartz visor or glasses, and Scott has to survive without them.

The episode shows Scott fighting coyotes in the wild, accidentally blowing the roof off the hospital when he's brought into Mexico City, fighting off a street gang, and eventually fighting off Mystique, all using his wits and a minimum of optic blasts. The final fight with Mystique, where they fall into a dark basement where they both can't see and Scott uses this to his advantage, is brilliant. With no background music, you listen with Scott as he waits for Mystique to brush against something or grunt so he can make his move. It spotlights his tactical mind in a way most other Cyclops stories don't.

Also, this episode forwards the relationship between Scott and Jean Grey. They had been sort of dancing around each other for a few episodes, but here, the psychic bond that was forged earlier in the series really blossoms. It's fun to watch the X-Men repairing the school after yet another cataclysm, and Cyclops and Wolverine working on the roof together, having shirtless bro time (it's really the only way to describe it), where Scott asks Logan, who is older and a teacher here, for advice about Jean (it's important to know that in this version, Wolverine does not have the hots for Jean). It's a nice character moment for both characters.

As with The Tick from yesterday, the DVD release of X-Men: Evolution was incomplete. The first two seasons were released in single four episode discs, the third as a complete season, and the fourth was never released at all. Between continued interest in the X-Men and recent attention brought by episode recaps and a special podcast by Jay Rachel Edidin of the wonderful Rachel and Miles X-Plain the X-Men podcast, it would be a good time to get this whole series out there.

Recommended Reading for 12/4: Star Wars: Dark Times

For this week's Force Friday, I'm bringing back guest columnist and fellow Star Wars enthusiast, Brandon Borzelli, for a recommended reading for one of his favorite Star Wars series...

"For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire."

Ben Kenobi uttered these words to Luke Skywalker in the very first Star Wars film. Some thirty years later Dark Horse comics produced a comic that ran for thirty-three issues that carried that phrase, Dark Times across the top.

Over the years, between Dark Horse and Marvel, hundreds of Star Wars comics have been published, mostly dealing with the original trilogy characters. There was a lengthy run called Legacy that took place in the far future, a lengthy run called Knights of the Old Republic that covered the distant past and a ton of Clone Wars centered comics, mostly notably, Republic. Two areas were always lacking: comics around the Phantom Menace (either Obi-Wan as a padawan or as a young master to Skywalker) and comics dealing with those dark times.

At the tail end of the Republic series there were seven comics published that centered around Order 66. Most of the characters are unknown to the movies, but a prominent comic character, Quinlan Vos, got a closing arc and three other Jedi got an introduction as they survived Order 66. One such character was Dass Jennir.

When Republic ended there was a one-shot, entitled "Purge" (which is my all-time favorite Star Wars comic), immediately followed by Dark Times. These comics were all seen as a continuation of the Republic series. The comic suffered long delays throughout its run and never really found any consistent schedule. However, when binge read, the comic is even better than read as it was published. It is an absolute classic from start to finish.

The first arc is quite a departure from anything that you might expect from Star Wars. Jennir fails at assisting some locals fight off the Empire. One of the locals, Bomo, survives with Jennir only to watch as the rest of the townspeople, including Bomo's wife and young daughter, are rounded up into slavery by the Empire.

The arc is revolutionary for Star Wars because it deals heavily with slavery, child abuse, and cannibalism. It's a powerful arc without a happy ending. This arc also introduces a cast of characters that find themselves helping Jennir and Bomo in their quest to locate Bomo's family.

Jennir and Bomo get involved with the misfits that call the ship, The Uhumele, home. In the beginning there are a wide range of characters and creatures (there is only one human) and as the series progresses the crew gets thinned out and those that are left by the end are changed in some way, physically or mentally from the beginning of the series. Jennir loses favor with the crew with his questionable actions at the conclusion of the first arc.

The second arc is appropriately named "Parallels." This arc re-introduces another surviving Jedi, K'Kruhk. It shows how he survived Order 66 and how he ended up with a bunch of padawans. While this story is unfolding we get more of Bomo with the crew of the Uhumele as they try to make a bargain with some shady characters for a mysterious case they found.

The arc is fantastic because lives are lost in dramatic ways and the two stories tie directly into each other. Bomo and company shake loose some pirates that crash on the planet that K'Kruhk is living on with his padawans. There are other little plot points in here that tie some of the Uhumele to the surviving Jedi that make this a really tightly constructed arc. The arc ends with both Bomo and K'Kruhk going on killing rampages. One gains the trust of his companions while the other completely loses the trust of his.

The tenth and eleventh issues deal with the Star Wars comic crossover, “Vector.” The two issues pit the Old Republic Jedi against Darth Vader with the crew of the Uhumele. The mini-arc has repercussions for the crew but it is otherwise an unrelated arc to the overall Dark Times story line. They are fun reads though if you like Darth Vader in action.

Dass Jennir returns for a solo arc in "Blue Harvest" which ran from issues thirteen through seventeen with a zero issue thrown in there. Dass puts himself in a bad spot when he tries to act as a hired muscleman to intercede between a gang of spicers and a gang of slavers. This story is a classic western with Dass playing the role of the man-with-no-name. He finds a shady situation and makes it worse by his actions. By the arc's end Dass has found himself again and decides on a path to take. The resolution happens after the curtain falls. However, the reader knows Dass wins without needing to see it unfold.

The final three arcs, each five issues, act as their own trilogy in a way. "Out of the Wilderness" has Dass stranded on a planet where he finds more pirates/slavers. This while a mysterious assassin tracks him. Vader, tracks both the assassin and Jennir. The crew of the Uhumele find another Jedi. This Jedi also seeks Jennir. This arc is great because Jennir grows as a character as he finds himself attached when he knows the old Jedi order forbids it.

"Fire Carrier" has some Vader as he is determined to find and kill Jennir. This arc is mostly a sendoff to K'Kruhk, though. This arc re-introduces another Jedi, the Blind Master Tao and is an arc that brings K'Kruhk's character back into finding himself, just as Jennir had done previously. The book cements that the Jedi teachings live on despite the dark times.

"A Spark Remains" brings a third Jedi into the fold as Jennir brings in more muscle to attempt to stop Vader. As much as K'Kruhk avoided disaster with the Imperials, Jennir is resigned to face them head-on and stop running. This arc is among the very best of any of the Star Wars comics. This has Vader in all his glory and has surprise endings to three of the five issues. This is a brilliant way to end the series.

The series isn't simply about the Jedi. Vader and the Emperor get plenty of panel time. Vader is filled with doubt in the beginning. He then tries to find an apprentice of his own. When that fails he embarks on his own mission to kill Jedi because he simply wants to defy the Emperor's direct orders. The Emperor, aware of everything, helps Vader's investigation behind Vader's back, just to mess with him. The Emperor seems to be the puppet master of everyone. The series makes fantastic use of these two characters.

The series is loaded and I mean loaded with outstanding supporting character. It has an arrogant droid, a lying lover, a drunk captain, a loyal mechanic, a twisted Jedi, a dark side-leaning padawan and on and on. This series could very well have more of a wide range of supporting characters than any of the comics or novels. There is simply a treasure trove of characters to follow in here and I haven't even touched upon the villains

While Randy Stradley wrote all of the issues (most under a pen name or two) the comics have a variety of artists. Doug Wheatley is the primary artist but delays and then alternating arcs add other artists to the mix. The comic series is very emotional and the artwork depicts that well. This is not your standard Star Wars stuff and the artwork's serious tone helps convey that well.

Dark Times is no ordinary comic series. It tackles difficult subjects and twists the reader by providing shocking deaths and awful acts. Many of the arc have horrific endings and while the series doesn’t end in a way that you probably expect, it does provide a satisfactory ending for all of the primary characters. This series represents the very best in Star Wars storytelling.

Brandon Borzelli first saw Star Wars in the 1979 re-release at a drive in theater with his family. A year later he saw Empire Strikes Back and after a sleepless night he was hooked and has been ever since. Brandon writes comic reviews over at comiclist.com and holds his Star Wars comics as the pride of his collection. He looks to pass on what he has learned.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 3: The Tick "The Tick Vs. The Tick"

The Tick

Season 1, Episode 7: “The Tick Vs. The Tick” 1994

Matt Says:

There are a lot of superhero satires. Let's be honest, it's a genre that's pretty easy to lampoon. But good superhero satires? Those are fewer and farther between. For me, the greatest of all time is Ben Edlund's The Tick, the story of a big, blue, not too bright superhero. And while the '90s animated series was a little softer than its comics counterpart, it was still a laugh a minute. And for sheer joke volume and commentary, my favorite episode is "The Tick Vs. The Tick."

The main story, where the Tick, our hero, goes to a superhero nightclub and encounter  Barry, a rich poseur who styles himself a superhero and calls himself the Tick as well, is standard Tick funny, and includes some memorable dialogue, including Barry's entrance line of, "Where's the jerk who calls himself the Tick?" and Tick's reply of, "I am that jerk!" as well as some great moments with Big Shot, the Tick universe's Punisher analogue who has been going to therapy and keeps telling Barry to put his anger in "the Happy Box." But it's two subplots that make this episode sing.

Arthur, being Tick's sidekick, is relegated to The Sidekick Lounge out behind the bar. The Sidekick Lounge is a small wooden shack, where Arthur sits with a silent Robin type sidekick, as well as a talking dog and a talking orangutan. The dog seems happy with his lot as a sidekick, but that is one angry ape. He gets off a monologue about hairless apes that invented money that just floors me every time.

But the true highlight, the piece de resistance of the episode is the supervillain: The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight. Yes, you read that right. This guys is basically recounting in full stream of consciousness mode a conversation he had with someone about being evil and becoming a supervillain. It's full of crazy rambling, and constant exclamations of, "Yeah, Baby!" He's completely insane and so hilarious that I won't even try to give you a sampling. The credits for the cartoon are in big blocks without identifying who voices what character, but fortunately IMDB for the episode reveals that he was voiced by voice legend Maurice LaMarche, best known for voicing Orson Welles in everything, The Brain in Pinky and the Brain, and a ton of voices including Kif Kroker, News Monster Morbo, and Lrrr of the Planet Omicron Persei 8 on Futurama, as well as about a million other things.

Also, if anyone who might known someone or is someone involved in DVD releases comes across this, c'mon! A The Tick: The Complete Series is long overdue. The first two of three season were released, but one episode from each was held back for fear of a lawsuit from Marvel, if the rumors are true. Well, now Marvel is owned by Disney, whose Buena Vista Entertainment distributed The Tick. I want to see all these episodes again!

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 12

Today’s reading: Deadpool #15, April 1998

Story: Joe Kelly

Art: Ian McDaniel & Anibal Rodriguez

Welcome to Landau, Luckman and Lake, Wade Wilson. Hope they survive the experience.

After 15 months of popping in and out of Deadpool’s life asking if he wants to play messiah, Wade finally agrees to hear out Zoe Culloden and follow her to LL&L’s base of operations. At this point, what else has he got to lose, right? He’s alienated his friends, T-Ray’s kicked his ass and taken his teleportation belt, and leaving Golden Gate Park any other way would likely have him arrested.

And so we get our first glimpse of the interdimensional offices of the three L’s, an effort to squeeze as much brightly-colored sci-fi stuff into one building as possible without blatantly ripping off The Fifth Element, which had come out the year before. There’s a blue, pointy-eared little person who offers fruit punch, a bug-eyed boy named Herbert whose head is prone to exploding with little provocation, a monster that becomes agitated when exposed to light and lots of people with upside-down pink triangles tattooed on their foreheads.

Oh, and of course, there’s Montgomery the precog, who looks like the lovechild of Deadpool and Skeletor borrowed Professor X’s hoverchair. Old Monty spends the issue believing his death is imminent, which is proved untrue either because Deadpool saves his life or because, as has been proved before, Monty is a terrible precog prone to plot-relevant wrongness.

In true Rodney Dangerfield fashion, Deadpool makes a mess of things and upsets the squares with his antics. Specifically he walks into the wrong room and accidentally unleashes Doris, the above-referenced photosensitive monster, who was a very expensive LL&L research project. Deadpool disembowels Doris before it can kill Monty, costing the company millions and enraging Culloden’s boss, a ponytailed stiff named Dixon who never believed in Zoe’s pet project. Before Dixon can have Deadpool arrested and likely worse, Culloden rightly points out that Dixon has just as much to lose as the rest of them when the three L’s get wind of what happened. And so Dixon makes Deadpool a job offer, which Wade decides to sleep on.

For the first time since “Drowning Man,” Deadpool goes back to his home in San Francisco, where he’s greeted by his prisoner/roommate Blind Al, who’s had a lot of time to think since Wade stuck her in The Box. Specifically she’s been pondering whether to stay or go, her arguments for either dovetailing pretty nicely with the Clash song. After many hours of boredom, singing to herself and pondering her debts to Wade, she chooses to stay, but not without a dash o’ psychological warfare. When Wade returns, the house is clean, there’s food on the table, and Al bids him “Good night … master.”

“Gee, and just when I started to forget what a yutz I am,” Wade says as she closes her bedroom door. “Yutz” is a bit of a light word to describe someone who imprisons a blind, old woman and occasionally shoves her into a room full of blades, chains and other assorted traps, but I digress.

Before we depart, there’s one last bit of plot to pick at. Remember the black-clad gentleman we met last issue who was hunting for Wade and killing alleged associates of his from the past? He’s back for another round, this time hunting down a red-haired lumberjack with cybernetic limbs. The man in black, who has yet to be named, refers to his prey as rejects, which implies some sort of experimentation. Now, when was Wade Wilson experimented on? Hmm …

Next time on Thursdays with Wade, Deadpool once again borrows from Daredevil’s supporting cast on a mission in Greece, and Wade’s hunter finally identifies himself.

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 2: Batman: The Brave and the Bold "Chill of the Night"

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Season 2, Episode 11: “Chill of the Night” 2010

Matt Says:

After the monumental success of Batman: The Animated Series, the next attempt at a Batman cartoon was the commercially successful, but critically less popular, The Batman. Moving from network to cable, Cartoon Network's Batman was Batman: The Brave and the Bold, a bright, fun animated Batman who is a superhero and less a brooding crusader. Wild adventures, cosmic threats, and a guest star every episode sets it apart from most other modern takes on Batman, giving the show a lighter feel. I, though, am writing about the series most serious episode today because I have to be contrary.

"Chill of the Night," written by none other than Paul Dini, starts off like any other Brave and the Bold. A teaser with a special guest star, in this case Dini favorite Zatanna, gets the viewer into the spirit of adventure. But quickly, the episode takes a turn. It opens with the death of the Waynes, and gives a quick visual recap of Bruce's training and origins, before pulling out to reveal the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre. The two need to settle an argument over vengeance versus justice, and so set a wager in Batman, who is about to learn the identity of the man who killed his parents. If he gives in and takes his life, he will forever be like the Spectre, an agent of vengeance, but if he chooses justice, he may go his own way.

From there, we see Batman at the deathbed of mobster Lew Moxon, who confesses to putting a hit out on the Waynes, and Batman cutting a swath through the underworld to find out who he hired. The Phantom Stranger sends him back in time to the night that his father, in a proto-Batman costume, stopped a robbery Moxon was perpetrating, and the Spectre shows him the man who pulled the trigger, Joe Chill. At an auction for a high tech weapon Chill is running, Batman confronts him, and even though he is tempted, chooses justice over vengeance. But it's at the hands of the super criminals who blame Chill for Batman's existence, plus a little karma (probably aided by the Spectre) that Chill meets his end. The episode ends with Batman putting his father's costume in a trophy case in the Batcave with a satisfied, "Case closed."

What I love about this episode is that it stands Batman firmly on the side of justice, not vengeance, a stand I always take in the discussion of exactly what Batman stands for. It also lifts liberally from two classic Batman stories: Batman #47, "The Origin of Batman," and Detective Comics #235, "The First Batman." Some of the shots are straight out of those classic comics, and it works so well. The guest cast is also a treasure trove of classic Batman voices. Adam West and Julie Newmar of the classic Batman TV series voice Thomas and Martha Wayne. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, the classic Batman and Joker duo of Batman: The Animated Series, voice Phantom Stranger and Spectre, respectively. Even Richard Moll, Two-Face from B:TAS, pops up as Lew Moxon and reprises Two-Face for a line or two. It's a little bit of Batman history, and a highlight of the excellent Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 1: Batman: The Animated Series "Joker's Favor"

After the rousing success of last year's Matt Signal Advent Calendar, Dan and I talked and decided to do it again! This year, we'll each be picking twelve of our favorite episodes of cartoons that are based on comics, or at least have comics in their DNA. We each had to pick twelve episodes from twelve different shows. Some shows might crossover from each of our lists, but I couldn't, say, pick nine episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, as much as I would have liked to. So, without further ado, here's the first entry from, you guessed it, Batman: The Animated Series...

Batman: The Animated Series

Season 1, Episode 7: “Joker's Favor” 1992

Matt Says:

To me, I don't think there will ever be a cartoon as masterfully crafted, as enjoyable, or as formative as Batman: The Animated Series. I think most of modern adventure cartoons have a little bit of this show in their DNA, as it was something completely different than any cartoon on TV at the time: it was serious, a  bit brooding, not a toy commercial, and beautiful to look at. While other shows, many from Bruce Timm and his cohorts at Warner Animation, have taken the ball and run with it, building complex, layered series set in this shared universe, none are as special to me as this one.

Picking one episode of this series was tough, and when I had it narrowed down to two, Dan sent me his list, and I saw he had  picked one of the two, so I went with "Joker's Favor." There are any number of reasons this is my pick. It's the first time The Joker appeared on Batman: the Animated Series, and rewatching it, it amazes me how Mark Hamill already has the Joker down (it is technically the third Joker episode, as two were recorded before this, but in those as well, Hamill is stunning). Hamill's Joker is at times hilarious and at times menacing, and you're never sure which Joker you're going to get.

I wrote about this episode once before, a long time ago, in an article about how many of the great B:TAS episodes feature very little Batman. Batman barely appears in the first two acts of the episode. Instead, it's the story of a put upon everyman named Charlie Collins, who while driving home, is pushed over the edge by a rude driver. Charlie drives up to him, shouting, only to realize that the driver who cut him off is The Joker. Charlie attempts to escape, but his car breaks down on a wooded road. The Joker's first full body appearance in the series is standing on a mound of earth with headlights backlighting him, hands in pockets, menacing Charlie who sits on the ground beneath. It's a beautiful shot and just perfect.

Charlie begs for his life and Joker grants it to him, but he has to do him a favor. Two years later, Charlie has changed his name and moved to Ohio, but one day he gets a phone call. Joker, who addresses Charlie as his hobby, is calling in the favor. Charlie flies back to Gotham to find Joker having escaped Arkham to help "celebrate" an award being given to Jim Gordon. Charlie's job? Simply open a door when a big cake is wheeled into the room. Joker, of course being Joker, has different plans, and Batman's third act arrival quashes many of them. But in the end, it's Charlie, poor nobody schnook Charlie, who gets the last laugh on the Joker.

Aside from the excellent plot and stellar animation, this episode has all the other hallmarks of this series. The humor, especially the scene at the end where Joker screams for Batman as Charlie menaces Joker with a bomb, is funny in a clever, non-whacky way. Ed Begley Jr. makes a great guest star as Charlie, at times put upon, at time manic when he's pushed too far. The moral of the story, about being grateful for what you have, isn't clubbing you over the head, but it comes around nicely at the end. And the music! Shirley Walker's Joker theme makes it's first appearance here, and I still whistle it to this day. And the bouncy piece that I think of as Charlie's Theme is some of the show's most memorable music.

And if that's not enough this episode features the first appearance of Rocco and Henshaw, Joker's two goons, who appear throughout the series. Oh, and another character debuts in Paul Dini's script too: Harley Quinn. But I'm sure none of you have heard of her...