2x01 "Long Arm of the Law!"

Hilarious episode. Loved it.

Shaggy Men!! Totally cool since in the comics, Shaggy Man was made of plasti-alloy.

The photo in the garage er..PlastCave with Batman made me crack up. BFF.

The montage of people Plas wronged was even funnier. A Jonah Hex movie made from a previous teaser? Nice marketing there.

Kite Man's origin made so much sense. "I'll be the most famous kite-related person in history. Step out here so I can shoot you more easily."

Not going to dwell on it but, Kite Man and Batman have Plas' powers temporarily?

Loved the ending, too. Batman just leaves.

2x03 "Death Race to Oblivion!"

Loved all the one-liners and Joker's props, even a Laughing Fish.

It was a nice twist to make Blockbuster a parallel of Captain Marvel but instead evil and empowered through science. The handshake was priceless.

Gardner - "Ha! One Punch! What a mook."

NEAT FINDS

On tz, I read that thread that mentioned Ben Jones' blog and I was amazed to read that "Long Arm of the Law!" this past Friday was the first episode of season two and "Death Race to Oblivion!" was the third and that CN decided to air out of production order! Makes sense since Plastic Man indoctrinated Woozy in "Long Arm..."

And the Shaggy Men teaser in "Long Arm..." was originally meant to be the teaser for "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" but they went over time and had to cut it and make the teaser that has the Meister in it as the conductor. Wild.

Here's Jones' blog: http://hamfist.blogspot.com/

Then I noticed on Jones' links, other staffers' blogs. The most interesting one is Lauren Montgomery's. Besides some behind the scenes work from Green Lantern: First Flight and Wonder Woman, she also posts art she does on the side and they are gorgeous. My admiration for Ms. Montgomery grew a 1000 fold. Check it out: http://laurenmontgomery.blogspot.com/

NEWS

Batman: The Brave and the Bold returns on January 1 with "Revenge of the Reach!" so be sure to tune in. I'm guessing this is episode 2 in production order. But it features Blue Beetle and the Green Lantern Corps. Also heard some news that the Aquaman family will have an "off the wall" episode.

Although this is still an unconfirmed rumor, after Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, the next DTV will be called - Batman: Under the Red Hood. Yes, a Batman DTV set what appears to be in the early years and features probably the Red Hood becoming the Joker. It's about time Joker got in one of these DTV's. They used him so well in Return of the Joker Uncut, I can't wait to to see, if true, what he's up to here.

Another tidbit, Greg Weisman revealed he was approached to write a DCU DTV. If he said yes or what is still unknown. Wonder what ideas he has....

WEBSITE

Still chucking away at the Timmverse project. Almost done with Phase One. The last part is BTAS releated Beasts. Then onto Places and Objects. I now realize why I put this project aside, it's literally a beast of work to do since it comprises BTAS up to JLU in terms of content!

TZP

Finished up adding The Zeta Project content to the 'ole site. But of course, no images from season 2. Someone wake up and release that dvd. But it got me a little flustered that I'm so close to having added everything to the site. Three years ago, all I had to start with was Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

I even updated my highly prized Timeline with TZP. However, like the TIME cover from BTAS, I had to disregard the year that Zeta rebelled and substituted it with the year that made sense to me. I chalked it up to the "not everyone cared about continuity or took it into account when writing" rationale. Then I had to do the math and it seemed like within the universe, TZP took place from 2054-2057 so that the attack on the Knossos at the series finale is the last event before we see Terry confront Amanda Waller.

Now, onto the next project. Instead of jumping to Static Shock, I decided to hold off for last and tackle adding objects, places, and beasts to the Timmverse. I paused work on it and left it on the backburner for too long, time to get it done.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD

The season 2 opener was a hoot but thanks jugheads for showing just one episode before the hiatus. No new eps until January 1. TV Guide gave away who will appear so if interested...let me know.

Thoughts on "Death Race..."

-Loved all the one-liners and Joker's props, even a Laughing Fish.

-It was a nice twist to make Blockbuster a parallel of Captain Marvel but instead evil and empowered through science. The handshake was priceless.

-Gardner - "Ha! One Punch! What a mook."

-Debut of Woozy Winks. Whoa. Remember, just about anyone can appear on this show.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS

The press release came out today. The movie will release on February 23, 2010. The special features will be terrible but the one bright light is it will include the first DC Showcase short. Despite reports of Jonah Hex earlier, it will feature a different character. It's written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and features the voices of Gary Cole and Alyssa Milano. Yes, Milano. I recall she did voice work for the recent Ghostbusters: The Video Game so it's not totally new. I have a theory on who she'll voice but don't want to spoil who this short is about if you don't want to know.

PLASTIC MAN

Just got the Plastic Man series set in the mail today and added a section for the 2006 unaired pilot that never got greenlit. Pretty cool to see what never came to be but I guess in a way, Tom Kenny still got to play Plastic Man on The Brave and The Bold. I thought it was cool he was one of the writers on the pilot, too. As for the pilot, itself, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I laughed so many times at every gag but I wonder where it would have ended up, Friday Afternoon or Saturday Morning. It sort of has that Looney Tunes sensibility so I'm inclined to think Saturday Morning.

The Human Puddle reminded me a Woody Woodpecker a little. Even when he knocked the water tower down, he made a similar sound. Plas' way of beating him was priceless, especially when the hungry natives appeared. Plas' parole officer, Archie, cracked me up with his tough love. All those goofy villains in the beginning were a nice nod to the old school series though I think they were all brand new.

But anyway, chucked out a new section after I updated...

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD

Mayhem of the Music Meister was awesome. I got a semi-sneak peak today because I also received an advance copy of the soundtrack before it goes on sale tomorrow. But I was blown away by the episode, itself. Tucker and crew top themselves on a regular basis and Mayhem is the best episode yet. Neil Patrick Harris makes a great singing villain, I even went and rewatched Dr. Horrible. Oh, Bad Horse and the Evil League of Evil. Going back to Batman, I did go a little insane looking at all those cameoes, the most yet so far. But luckily in my moment of delusion, my brain put it together that these were all the heroes and villains who originated on Earth.

My favorite scene and song was the Arkham/"Drive Me Bats" section. I noticed a new addition, Psycho Pirate right next to King Tut in the first room. I thought it was cool that they managed to sneak in an electroshock room without using it onscreen. And ah yes, the final scene where the Joker appears along with several Bat Rogues, sweet.

Other things, Black Manta was hilarious to me in this episode. First, denying he sang then appearing at Blackgate in a giant fish bowl, lmao. Glad to see they began to address Black Canary and Green Arrow, and their final scene was so cute and funny at the same time as the TV Screens crashed in the background. The deathtrap scene was so geeky labeling all those hero and villain teams in the background: Tornado Twins, Trenchcoat Brigade, Inferior 5, Metal Men, Female Furies (hah! "Duel of the Double Crossers!"), Challengers of the Unknown, Fearsome Five, Injustice...etc. The montage scene when the world and space are under Music Meister's spell got me laughing so hard. Upside down Antarctica? Come to think of it, when Batman delivers that knockout blow to the Meister, I broke out laughing, even that art was over the top. The autotuning was funny and unexpected (yeah I listen to an artist who uses it).

That said, dunno what can possibly top it but can't wait to see what's in store for season 2. A little peeved there's no announcement for the final two episodes of the season, they better be airing the next two weeks unless CN wants to stall for season two airing mid-November.

Just began formal work on adding TZP content to the Timmverse section of the site. In total, 24 villain profiles have been added or updated and the Episode Guide was updated with both seasons.

Aside from that, after finishing watching the series, I'm left with a few questions and theories that I'd like to throw out there. First of all, both seasons were great, but season two was plain excellent.

1) The Zeta Project Team

It has been stated the main team was composed of six people: Dr. Selig, Dr. Boyle, Dr. Arroyo, Dr. Myrell, and Dr. Edmund. Wondered if there were any thoughts on who the sixth was and what specialty. So far the designs, hyper environment survival, and holographic emitter were explored. Perhaps the sixth was a weapons expert and if I remember the file correctly, another man. Also considering how some of them were morally gray, wonder what this one became.

2) Dr. Selig

So, Dr. Selig had a plan for Zeta? I'm guessing he was aware of Brother's Day as Brother's Day was aware of him. I'd wager he wanted Zeta to infiltrate the organization and defeat it, without obvious tactics, hence the conscience chip. Otherwise, I don't know, some continuance of the Pinocchio and Gepetto dynamic.

3) The Advanced Synthoids

That was messed up and creepy to an extent. But it is sort of ironic. I remember how it was stated the Brother's Day agents infiltrated all levels of security and with these new synthoids, the government would accomplish the same.

4) Agent Bennett

He overheard Selig and Zeta's conversation...so does he still view Zeta as a threat? I can't believe that an agent as good as Bennett was stuck on this single minded pursuit of an IU without questioning the involvement of the Powers That Be above him such as Colonel Lemak. Considering similarity in name to HRG, I figured he would eventually betray the NSA and go rogue like HRG did on "Five Years Gone" in Heroes.

5) Agent Lee

I thought it was disappointing that Lee only appeared twice in season two but it appears that she got to lead her own unit after resigning from Bennett's. For that matter, I would have liked to see Zeta encounter other NSA units and their reaction to his plight.

6) Brother's Day

Considering the Beyond timeline, I love Brother's Day. A much funner bunch of terrorists than Kobra. And their goals run opposite of the series' protagonist. It seems like Titus Sweete was only the beginning and Brother's Day was poised to be the Big Bad of the series. Kinda like with the introduction of the Others on Lost with Ethan Rom, I think Sweete was the tip of the iceberg and there are much worse agents in Brother's Day. I also would like to see the point about how many are secretly in many influential positions explored more.

7) Ro Rowan

Her search hit a high point with Casey being found and his dedication to help her find their parents. I never thought about it much, but I expected more storylines on her parents, if they're even alive. They have to be. To just announce they died would be a cheat. Maybe, they were forced to give their children up because they are operatives of Brother's Day? It'd be a nice compromise.

8) Bucky

Not my favorite but he grew on me in season two. Interesting that he was finally found out and forced to go underground. And he eliminated Zeta's vulnerability to the controller at last!

9) Crossovers

I know it's meant to be a thriller genre but I'd like to see Zeta team up again with Batman again. I mean, the scope of TZP fleshed out the Beyond era so well and introduced so many new cities and locales that Batman Beyond never had time for. And heck, I'd like to see a crossover episode where Zeta meets the JLU and is given temporary asylum at least. I mean, he's been everywhere in the USA but Metropolis, it seems. And for that matter, a Static appearance since Dakota City was first mentioned on Batman Beyond "Zeta" at the end. But going back to the JLU, I'd think they have the clout to act as a liaison and help Zeta clear his name with Batman vouching for him.

TEEN TITANS

Last night at 11 pm, I completed and made live, a section for the Teen Titans series. The villains section seemed to hold me the longest since it was the largest topic and had the most files to make, somewhere around 80. The last two days, I was working on them non-stop and trying to get in the zone. But finally it's finished. And it was a feeling of elation and pride that it was completed. Aside from The Zeta Project and Static Shock, I can finally say the site is 'caught up' to the present selection of series.

http://www.dcauresource.com/teentitansindex.php

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD

I'm really glad to have finished early this month, because...as a lead in to the next subject of discussion, Batman: The Brave and The Bold is returning to television in America, woot!

Starting next week on Friday, October 16, at 7:30 pm (4:30 pm in my nick of the woods), episode 23, "When OMAC Attacks!" airs on CN and on October 23, the highly touted "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" airs. Then the next day, the soundtrack for the Music Meister episode goes on sale on Amazon or as an iTunes download for $7.98 and $6.99, respectively. I'm so happy to sort of get Season One over with, it seems like it's been hanging around too long like that cousin that gets real annoying after awhile which is why you only see them at family functions.

Anyway, logic, precedent, and number counting predicts season one to end in November and season two to start as well. Based on was talked about at Comic Con, season two will be even more great than the previous one. And around that time, Animation Insider and I will have the James Tucker interview completed. All around good news!

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS

Bruce Timm dropped by on TZ and revealed some guest stars in the movie and mentioned how the main CS villains aren't mirror opposites of the JLA bunch, i e Superwoman ain't an Amazon, Owlman ain't Bruce Wayne, etc. I love it when that man posts.

A great idea for a special feature popped up on TZ last week. Wouldn't it be great if the original "World's Collide" script were included as a PDF file for fans to compare with the movie as you watch it? Heck yeah's. So I did some digging, asked Dwayne McDuffie how to get it done. He said try WHV or the producers. So I looked for WHV's website, now called WBshop.com and filled some blanks and got a response two days a later. A few members shared that there suggestions went through, too. I know the implications are if this happens, what's the chances of it every being made. Well, as far as how Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie worded themselves on the preview, it's this movie or nothing. At least with the PDF file, we sort of get both in a way.

So the more the merrier! If you got 5 minutes to spare, follow these instructions:

1) Go to http://www.wbshop.com

2) Scroll down and look for 'Customer Service" and click on 'Contact Us'

3) Fill in the form blanks: Email Address, Name (I put just my First Name), Select 'Other Inquiries' in the Drop Down Selection, and input a message.

I typed in:

"To Whom it May Concern,

I was interested in making a suggestion for the upcoming 2010 DVD release of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. Since it is based on the script "World's Collide" written by Dwayne McDuffie, as a fan, I would be interested if the original script were included as a special feature as a PDF file to compare to the feature film side by side to see the changes made up close.

Thank you for your time."

4) I got an email response from them:

"Thank you for your interest in WBshop.com. I have forwarded your suggestion to our development team hopefully this will be an option when the movie is released."

After about a month, I've finished and added a section on DCAUResource.com for The Batman.

http://www.dcauresource.com/thebatmanindex.com

I thought I might as well jot down my thoughts on the series, too. As someone who only started watching the series this year, I was for the most part impressed by it. The good outweighed the bad. Ultimately it was combination of schedule and lack of interest that led to not watch the series in the first place but the past is the past. The Batman was the cools.

SEASON ONE

Rating: Meh. I wasn't yet hooked on the show after watching the first season.

Point of Interest #1: It was an interesting choice to start the show three years into Bruce Wayne's career as Batman. It made sense that he was finishing off the crime syndicates just as the super villain fringe arrived in town.

Point of Interest #2: Created a new character, Ethan Bennett, instead of going with Harvey Dent. And to boot, Bennett does get cured and becomes Chief in the future.

Point of Interest #3: Adapting a character from Frank Miller's Dark Knight line, Yindel, with Detective Ellen Yin from Metropolis. All the Metropolis references throughout the series makes me suspect there was a big Superman fan in the staff.

Point of Interest #4: Casting the Penguin as the anti-Bruce Wayne. Makes perfect sense to me. Foreign, grotesque, poor, evil, yet still a student of martial arts. Tying his family to Alfred was another stroke of genius. But the Geisha Twins were kinda weird.

Point of Interest #5: Mr. Freeze. It was a nice reference to have him obsessed with diamonds like in the early comics and to use a simple origin than try to even attempt to compete with Bruce Timm's version. Like Batman Beyond, it made sense that he lives for awhile and loses parts of his body over the ages.

Point of Interest #6: Catwoman. She always got away and was never unmasked by Batman. Odd to me for some reason.

SEASON TWO

Rating: Hooked to show by end of the season. I'm not kidding but I was so bored by "Swamped" that I fell asleep halfway and this was during mid day.

Point of Interest #1: "Meltdown." I liked the intro of Professor Strange as an Arkham senior resident but he's secretly a manipulative bastard that's using villains and Gotham as a big microscope for his own edifice. It was also funny that Dr. Mark Desmond was a red herring and we never saw Blockbuster on the show.

Point of Interest #2: "Strange Minds." This was the episode that got me to love the series. The one scene where Batman interacts with Jack Napier was priceless. "Try Current Schemes."

Point of Interest #3:"The Laughing Bat." A ridiculous role reversal yet entertaining notion. The Joker smiles in this episode were extra hella creepy to me. When the Batman told the joke at the end to make the Joker revert to his old self was so heart warming in a messed up sort of way.

Point of Interest #4: "Night and the City." Commissioner Gordon pwned Chief Rojas. Finally. It also took me awhile to realize that Gordon appeared in the flashback on "Traction." Only after a couple viewings of Batman Begins did it sink in. Go figure.

THE BATMAN VS DRACULA

Pretty damn good. I was even impressed with the use of Dracula's bride, Countess Karnstein, who in literature, predated Dracula. If I remember correctly, there was some controversy with Bram Stoker that he ripped off the Karnstein stories when he wrote his book. Since Batman with Michael Keaton and Jack was the first Batman movie I saw as a child, it was neat to see Vicky Vale used, but man, she disappeared after the movie.

SEASON THREE

Rating: Good. Even though Batgirl isn't my most favorite DC character, it was a strong season. I think the reason why is because Batgirl doesn't have the same origins as Batman and Robin, her parents divorced. And because of the family-oriented nature of these series, the divorce angle is never used or mentioned. It's simply just the Commissioner and Barb living in a house.

Point of Interest #1: "RPM" Gearhead? Great oogly moogly, that was a pretty obscure villain. However, it wouldn't matter after The Brave and The Bold started airing. But it was a decent way to upgrade the Batmobile.

Point of Interest #2: "Brawn" The Joker and some Venom. Perfect story.

Point of Interest #3: "The Laughing Cats" Hilarious. It was cool when they revealed Bud n Lou, the Laughing Hyenas. I also liked how Catwoman tried to seduce Batgirl to her side.

Point of Interest #4: D.A.V.E. and Strange. A really great season finale. I had a feeling that Giant Penny would come in handy. It always does. On JL, they used to squash a couple Thanagarians.

SEASON FOUR

Rating: The best season in my opinion.

Point of Interest #1: "A Matter of Family" Loved it. In some ways, I like it better than "Robin's Reckoning" but both interpretations work on different levels. I liked that it briefly got darker in this episode when Batman is kicking everyone's asses in the Ice Pick Club. It lends to how Batman is trying to save Grayson from being consumed by revenge when he, himself, is still fueled by that rage.

Point of Interest #2: "Team Penguin" Killer Moth was a friggin' hoot. After this series, Jeff Bennett, the voice actor, really grew on me. I hope he continues to be used on Brave and the Bold.

Point of Interest #3: "Clayfaces" Awesome episode. Didn't expect to see the Karlo incarnation of Clayface and it was an interesting way of passing down the mantle since after this episode, only Karlo is seen as Clayface. Nice twist at the end after the Joker shoves him.

Point of Interest #4: "The Breakout" Black Mask was such a great villain. It was so Silver Age to give his doomsday weapon such a long name. It was cool when Batman owned those guards by just chilling in the cage and they got shocked by his utility belt. Also very comedic when Black Mask keeps replacing his Number 1.

Point of Interest #5: "Strange New World" Very cool and cerebral episode. Reveals a lot about Batman by using an old Strange story from the comics. I think he easily believed in zombies after fighting Dracula and a butt load of vampires.

Point of Interest #6: "Artifacts" What's not to say. Probably one my most favorites. From Oracle and Nightwing, to the Giant Dinosaur cameo, the happy ending for Yin and Bennett mention, the cops' various wrong theories who was who back in the day, the Frank Miller homages, and the legacy preserved at the end. Even though it was a couple seconds, I got chills just seeing that angled shot of an old, scarred Bruce Wayne in the Batmobile tank. But it looked like James Gordon didn't age a day in 2027. That's my only gripe.

Point of Interest #7: "Seconds" Another favorite of mine. Francis Gray was just trying to save his family and goes to jail for decades, snaps, manifests super powers, and kills everyone in Gotham, even the Bat Family then rewrites history. Fantastic execution of story.

Point of Interest #8: "Two of a Kind" Interesting reinterpretation of the Joker and Harley Quinn's relationship by Dini. Quinn has a greater role in the relationship and the Joker seems to really be fond of her, the bit where he steals the diamond for her was sort of cute in a sick, romantic way.

Point of Interest #9: The Joining two parter. Neat intro of Martian Manhunter and Lucius Fox. I liked how Wayne quickly figured out how to block out Manhunter from his head. It's possible with his training and keeps him the focal point of the series. The use of robots as aliens was too "Dark Heart" for me but I like the concept better than really sci-fi looking monsters. It detracts from the Batman mythos too much and more suited for Justice League or Green Lantern.

SEASON FIVE

Rating: Good. Great way to end the series on a happy note.

Point of Interest #1: I liked how they made Superman so distant and he was the last to join the League rather than Batman.

Point of Interest #2: Alfred walking in on superheroes throughout the season was priceless.

Point of Interest #3: I loved the Green Arrow origin story and how they made him a social activist rather than a cut out of Bruce Wayne.

Point of Interest #4: "White Heat" Another entertaining romance story. It was really cool that they made Firefly into the Dr. Phosphorus villain from the comics.

Point of Interest #5: Probably my only gripe but they made this version of the Flash too flippin ambiguous! He had all aspects of Barry Allen, Wally West, and Bart. It was so annoying but I had a feeling it was Allen because the other heroes seemed to be Silver Age like with Hal Jordan. Read some Alan Burnett interview that confirmed it was Allen.

Point of Interest #6: Penguin + Green Power Ring=Comic gold.

Point of Interest #7: "The Metal Face of Comedy" Liked the origins of Nightwing, Bud n Lou continue to be awesome, and the scene where both Joker's cross their fingers was so funny. You knew it would happen yet its still funny to see it unveil.

Point of Interest #8: "The End of The Batman" Interesting adaption of Prometheus and Owlman into the show. I liked how the Joker's ego saves the day.

Point of Interest #9: "What Goes Up..." Loved the use of the classic Shadow Thief and not some disembodied corporealized manifestation of a Hawkgirl stalker's dark side. I also laughed at the running joke about Black Mask's face. In the comics it got burned onto his skin so it became his face.

Point of Interest #10: "Lost Heroes" I was amazed they went with the Jack Nimball Toyman in the beginning and then a cameo of the Arrow Plane. It was a great move to keep a Batman villain in the mix as the crux of the greater villain's return as well as keeping Batgirl and Robin involved in the story, but my gripe was Gordon and Alfred were MIA.

I've been happily at work on adding new sections to the website. This week, two babies were officially added: Green Lantern: First Flight and Green Loontern.

http://www.dcauresource.com/greenloonternindex.php
http://www.dcauresource.com/greenlanternindex.php

As I suspected, ID'ing Green Lanterns on both animations was a challenge. First Flight was intriguing because a couple of modern Lanterns appeared like Jeryll and Princess Iolande.

Green Loontern was still priceless to me. To Dodgers playing with the microbe, the high school rivalry bit, and the exploding walnut still had me reeling.

First Flight was the best DCU movie to me. Here's my review. Just scroll down to the bottom.

http://www.dcauresource.com/greenlanternepisode/greenlanternmovie.php

Although it was disappointing that there was no commentary, all the bits with Geoff Johns was good enough and they whored Blackest Night, which I didn't mind one bit. That whole arc has made people interesting in Green Lantern again.

After the onslaught of Comic Con, we know more about Batman: The Brave and the Bold. From what I've gleaned. We'll have some impressive episodes to come. The back half of season one wasn't as good as the first 13, but I have a feeling that season two will ring the bell and push what we expect from the series.

An unfortunate byproduct of Comic Con, but rumors have spread.

-Dwayne McDuffie wrote two scripts for DCU movies but denies that once of them is a Crisis one. Rumors from alleged Comic Con pamphlets state he did.

-One sequel to a DCU movie is in development. FACT: Courtesy of Bruce Timm

-Voice Actress April Winchell started voice work recently on an animated Batman movie.

It's too bad that the crew has become super secretive about their future projects but that's the nature of the business.

My tentative projects are:

August: The Batman, Teen Titans, The Zeta Project Season One
September: Plastic Man pilot, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Today is the third year anniversary of when I took over the website and re-branded it as the DCAU Resource. Suffice to say, it feels like its been much longer but it's cooler this way because I still get surprised at the amount of content I've been able to add to site in a short while. Eat your heart out, Brainiac, if you had one!

And my love for the site hasn't diminished. Even during those long nights in front of a computer screen toiling away at code, the reason it still makes me happy is my goal was to make a site about the DCAU that I'd want first and foremost. If other people toss me a compliment about it every so often, great! But my own intrinsic satisfaction is the end goal. But it is cool that I've gotten the honor and pleasure of pre-reviewing related items, the pilot episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, being probably the pinnacle of that.

And with six active projects going on. The site's got more growing to go. Expect Green Lantern: First Flight, Green Loontern, Plastic Man Pilot, The Batman, Public Enemies, and maybe even more for the Timmverse to come this year. And with the DCU Shorts announced, Teen Titans, and Krypto to go, there's always work to do.

So far, I'm midway into season two of The Batman. So far, it seems like the first two seasons were filled with growing pains but I did like the Firefly and Riddler first episodes. More on my thoughts when the time is right.

As for the DCU Shorts, in case you were under a rock, WHV announced that starting with the DTV released in the first half of 2010, an animated short will accompany it. The first will be of Jonah Hex, written by Joe R Lansdale (a gosh darn good Hex writer). The shorts will all be in the PG-13 vein. It seems like a good venue for the obscure characters that Mr. Timm would love to animate but may never get the green light for. The Question and the New Gods come to mind.

Well, Long Live Legion!

After two weeks of preparations, screen grabbing, writing, and editing: a new section on DCAU Resource is completed, the Legion of Superheroes!! The only part that sucks was that I got a bad video when Unnatural Alliances, Message in a Bottle, and In the Beginning was taped so I couldn't take images from those episodes so I'm missing about 17 images. Nonetheless, the section is super awesome in so many ways.

http://www.dcauresource.com/loshindex.php

Research-wise, I had to be pretty careful and do more work than usual, because lets face it, LoSH comic book history is technical and not much of it is out there on the Internet. Luckily, a good deal of it was Silver Age mixed with a little Bronze Age and with the notes I take, the bios came out as detailed as usual I'd say. Another hard part were the episodes, "Lightning Storm," and "Substitutes." Why? The same as when the Green Lantern Corps appear, it's naming all those cameos. Between Legion Rejects and Corps, there is a lot of potential for obscurity and time spent Google Image searching.

Going back and re-watching this series, got thinking about how it was another one that was taken before its time. Especially after what James Tucker revealed what season three entailed:

1. Sensor, Wildfire, and Shadow Lass would have debuted. If you had a good eye like me, Drake Burroughs [Wildfire] appeared on "Champions" in season one as one of the competitors. If you need proof, freeze frame the scoreboard and decipher the Interlac. Burroughs name is on there.

2. More redshirts like Blok and Dawnstar be focused on like with Dream Girl.

3. Ferro Lad's twin brother, Douglas Nolan, was going to appear.

4. Kell-El was going to be a recurring character.

5. The main arc of the third season would have been Brainiac 5's return and redemption.

6. Tucker also went on to talk about doing Khunds and other superhero groups.

I'm days away from completing a new section for the DCAU Resource website, yay! It's about 1 year overdue since the series ended but it's turning out great. I finished all the laborious and time-consuming set up in coding and am happily churning out biographies and testing the 200 images I uploaded the other day. More on it as the finished product is cooled.

Also in the news, I read that Dwayne McDuffie confirmed on his forums that he wrote not one but two DTV animated DCU movies!!

Here's what he said: "I'm currently writing a Direct-To-Video animated feature for Warner Animation, the second of two I've taken on this year. Again, I can't say what they are until they're officially announced, but they're likely of interest to superhero fans, and one of them I can't help looking at as what-could-have-been. You'll see what I mean."
SOURCE: http://dwaynemcduffie.com.lamphost.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=471&start=0&sid=fa2b758e418ef79ed28d8b9930ae13c3

Can this be the JL: World's Collide?!!!!! I would guess the other one is Batman or Flash.

Just got through doing a major update for the website! I added Gotham Girls relevant material to the Timmverse section and added some long needed bios for Sroya Bashir, VR Reporters from Batman Beyond, Derek Powers' assistant Miss Winston, and pretty informative bio on Adolf Hitler, taken from a notes I kept from a college prep course I took 6 years ago.

Check it out here: http://www.dcauresource.com/may22update.php

Also did a lot of background work laying down code for Green Lantern: First Flight, Superman Batman: Public Enemies, the Plastic Man failed pilot, and Green Loontern!

Did the usual site update for The Brave and the Bold tonight, too, and I'm bushed. I plan on doing screengrabs of the past five episodes this weekend, too.

I didn't enjoy "The Color of Revenge!" as I thought it would. I pray next week will be way better.

After some mad amount of work I've done on the Brave and the Bold section on the website, I've also been doing my episodic reviews. Luckily, it's all in one place, about a page for each episode. Click on page five for a sneak at my review on "Invasion of the Secret Santas!" Enjoy, tell me what you think.

http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=1891

Two things got the best me last week. 1) I underestimated the amount of work required for my Timmverse update. So far I only got the episode guide portion finished. 2) My health. I caught a virus and was sidelined for four days.

So I got to roll with it. I think I'm just going to have to juggle school and two jobs and work a little pieces at a time. My new goal will be to launch this stuff before November when the Brave and the Bold premieres and that will be my new obsession.

Growing Pains

It was an annoying weekend. My host provider gave me short notice that they were doing a host migration to "better serve the needs of my website." Basically, the transferred to a new IP address. Of course, I had no idea what and was constantly checking to see if all 1 GB+ of my files were okay. I've got backups in three different places, but the task of re-uploading them would have been a b. Luckily, everything went fine and it was back up late Saturday. What made me mad was when I have a payment, they'll remind me months ahead, but for something like this, I get two days notice.

Gotham Knight Review

Anyways, I finally had time to send a review of Gotham Knight to Aaron over at Animation Insider. After giving it a read, I hate it. I felt like I had to keep it professional, I couldn't go willy nilly like with Spectacular Spider-Man and I was awfully tired at the time. But on the bright side, WHV (or was it WBA) sent us a butt load of high res still capture images, 2 pages worth so oogle them.

http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=1798

You learn something new...

After looking at some background stuff, I realized I have a secret site dedicated to spitting out statistical data in the form of tables and cool charts. It tells me stuff like how many page requests and what words are searched for the most then told in a quarterly or monthly or yearly bar chart. It was kinda cool in the IT Geek sort of way. It brought a smile on my face as it stated that readership of my site grows in leaps and bounds every year. I think from when I debuted DCAU Resource in 2006 it went from 40,000 views to 400,000+ views. Then in 2007, it spiked to 1,000,000+ hits. Of course, I went about writing the site how I'd like to see it but it's always cool to see the numbers support you.

I think I need something positive like this. Along with the occasional nice 'thank you' emails, it really gives me that intrinsic satisfaction that takes the place of being paid (Open secret, costs me $100+ a year for the site). Sorta like "I Am the Night." ;)

Timmverse Project

Still going. heh heh. I'm on JLU so will be done information gathering by the end of the month. Then the task of organizing data, then digitizing them and uploading them to the server. My endgame is late August, I hope, right before I go back to college (two more semesters, left!!) when I have a week off from work. And it'll have Gotham Girls in there, too.

Speaking of under rated Timmverse series...I was listening to some official DC podcasts from Comic Con and I learned that they will introduce Milestone characters into the mainstream DCU. I still have to see if McDuffie mentions it on his blog/forum but this could be a ray of hope for Static Shock sets. Keep the dream alive.

Timmverse Project

Still information gathering (rewatching every episode and taking notes), probably the most pain staking part of this biz, especially with the Timmverse since it's so big. I'm on JL Season Two so I should be done definitely by the end of July and move onto digitizing it all into files. I decided it'd be smarter to lump the Gotham Girls addition in with this project than stopping for two days like I did with Gotham Knight.

Holy Brainstorm, Batman!

I just got this great idea, after I updated my Firefox 3 browser. One of my add-ons is Nitro PDF Download, which when you press a file link that's PDF, you now get a box to select downloading it or opening it (which is a hassle). I mainly got the add on so I could download Heroes GN's. But a recent update added a new feature, convert web pages to PDF.

How do this have to do with the site? I figure, for that extra benefit, I could convert all the pages on the site to PDF and offer it as a downloadable primer of sorts. It sounds cool, but I still have to experiment with this over the months. I love the concept though. And it's FREE. I need free after pre-ordering the Real Ghostbusters series set on Time Life for $180.

Wonder Woman

Glad to see it'll be a straight up origin story of WW based on Perez's work. "Secret Origins" sort of rushed Diana's and we never got the cool stuff like the tournament to see who'd go to Man's World. Got some A-listers there like Alfred Molina and Rosario Dawson, awesome. It was funny hearing Molina joke about him being another British actor cast as villain. Dawson is just plain awesome. I loved her roles in Tarantino's movies. I think Lauren Montgomery will be great for this. She's another one of those up and comers who was a lowly story boarder for the Timm clique back in the day, like Joaquim Dos Santos and even James Tucker. She directed some of my favorite Legion of Superheroes episodes so I got faith. And can't forget Nathan Fillion will voice Steve Trevor, should be a lot lighter than Patrick Duffy's portrayal on "The Savage Time." ("Angel," gosh that ending was a tear jerker [so I'm a sap!])

But February 2009?! Me thinks a TV series release is in store between these 7 months [I'm paranoid, too!]. I just want Zeta (for the obvious reasons) and LoSH (would you believe the first episode is still one I haven't seen?).

Brave and the Bold

Thanks to TV guide, we know a boat load of characters appearing and I think diehard fans will jump for joy. But if you're spoiler-adverse, skip the rest of this LJ.

Black Manta, Ocean Master, the Flash, Green Lantern Corps, Huntress, Black Canary and Grodd will be appearing!

First of all, now that the silly Aquaembargo is off, we actually get Aquaman villains, with their real names!! So cool. Judging by a picture, Black Manta may be sticking to precedent and is trying to get Atlantis.

Green Lantern Corps sounds neat (though I cringe when I have to ID them, it's hard cause some are so obscure!!). Not to sound ungrateful, I hope they don't stick with Sinestro, the go-to GL enemy. There are others, Star Sapphire, Shark, Goldface, Tattooed Man, etc.

And it's revealed Tom Kenny (Spongebob) is voicing Plastic Man. Sweet. It's odd, I remember when we didn't know what the next series was, there was rumor that a Plastic Man series involving Kenny was coming. Then B&TB news as well as an online Plastic Man series. Go figure. And John DiMaggio will voice Aquaman. I hold judgment until I hear it. Scott Rummel was awesome on JL as Arthur.

Apologies for lack of posting, it was a long 4th of July.

http://www.dcauresource.com/gothamknightindex.php

Last night, I made the Batman Gotham Knight section live on DCAUR. I thought it'd be a cakewalk after the beast that was New Frontier but I was wrong. They packed a lot of goodness into six interlocked shorts. Luckily, I snagged the Steelbox version of the 2 disc set, it's nicer and sturdier that the usual dvd box. Still have to watch disc two then write a review but that can wait.

Not sure where to begin with what parts I loved on GK but the end of "Working Through Pain" comes to mind when Alfred reaches to Batman. Great metaphor about how he went into that abyss of violence willingly and can't leave, that's his place. It was just a WOW moment for me. The architecture of GK was gorgeous. It was definitely in the tradition of Nolan. "Deadshot" was just totally awesome. Deflecting Gordon's bullet? Yeah, he can do that. Love how Bruce Wayne was shown training somewhere not East Asia and that his teacher was a fellow outcast who wouldn't leave.

The Wonder Woman preview got me hyped. It's Perez and has everything you want, even the tournament. Definitely better than how she was introduced on JL.

But I digress, going back to GK, for the sake of having more material I pulled in whatever I could surmise from Batman Begins so I hope people appreciate that...I so can't wait for Dark Knight.

Timmverse project

Speaking of beasts, this one is getting pretty big. So far I'm still gathering information but I'm done with BTAS and STAS and am in the middle of Batman Beyond. After that, just JL and JLU. I'll probably just merge it with the Gotham Girls project when I get my hands on that Birds of Prey set.

Project Timmverse: Part "I've Lost Count"

I'm a couple days into the information gathering phase of my latest project. Early on, I wasn't satisfied with what I had and decided I'd have to rewatch the Timmverse from BTAS to JLU and get better notes. I'm thorough and I always want that quality/obsession to show up on the website. I'd never put out anything less. Of course, I may have to diverge if it is still going on when Gotham Knight releases. I've pretty much got the backbone of that section completed so it won't that big a deal.

TV series News

Looks like some convention photos of Batman: Brave and the Bold are popping up. The other day, someone posted a pic from the Licensing International Expo: http://www.dcauresource.com/images/bnb_redtornado.jpg

And it revealed a new hero appearing, Red Tornado. Thanks to a keen observation by fellow AI moderator, this version is the modern one showing the series is mix of old and new. Seems to be a great forumla for success. Recently look what Spectacular Spider-Man is doing with the Silver Age! A TV Guide article also revealed Plastic Man, too!

Also on imdb, there's some other voice credits that haven't been confirmed but it'd be kinda cool: Greg Ellis as Gentleman Ghost, Dr. Fate and Cavalier. Yes, Cavalier, that evil version of Zorro who Batman could take out rather easy.

Also, it was great move to have DCAU episodes available online for fans' viewing pleasure. I've read in a press release that this same website will soon feature an online, brand new Plastic Man animated series. Haven't heard anything new in months but with Comic Con fast approaching, word should get out.

Movies

Gotham Knight will be pretty sweet but as I watch more Dark Knight trailers, I feel more and more convinced to venture out to the theaters again and see this one. If you recall it was noted that the DTV will feature some aspects of Batman from the comics that have gone unexplored in animation. Let's just say gruesome violence will be one of them.

It's the end of May and we DCAU fans are knee deep in the annual three year hump of no new news until the San Diego Comic Con ramps up in late July. But I'm honestly looking forward to Gotham Knight, some new music, Stargate and so much more, as yes and the recent news about a complete series set for the Real Ghostbusters animated series has me hyped for the fall as well.

Anyway, in terms of the site, I've mostly been twirling my mustache and plotting. I recently finished doing some background work on my sections for Legion of Superheroes and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. I'll be digging around for info on the online Plastic Man series until I get the usual visits from WB suits with uzi's. ;P

WHV is following the same pattern with Legion as the did with Teen Titans, release terrible volumes aimed at children instead of season sets aimed at 18-something year olds who have a flipping disposable income! Turning to my brilliant power of deduction and precedence, March might be an ideal time for a release of a season/series set of Legion and Zeta Project. The DTV project seems to have a five month release pattern so I did the math. Whether it's Wonder Woman (which I think will more likely be December) or...whoops almost gave it away (Hmm, I actually did give a sneaky hint in the second paragraph).

Back on tangent, I think June may be a good time for me to finish off a Timmverse project I put off for awhile. It was to add Objects, Places and Beasts similar to how other sections have them. I recently looked at the screengrabs I made for them and realized I have to put those beauties out. I have watched the last four episodes of LoSH recently thanks to an AI comrade. Will post my thoughts soon.

Well, it's 5:30 here and I'm slowly getting excited about the Lost season finale tonight. Please let there be zombies, :D Laters.

ADDITION

After a rather beautiful check up on Amazon, I realized that three particular items had dropped down well enough for me to qualify for free shipping near the $25 mark. The first was the miniseries trade paperback, Batman: Harley & Ivy. It was a lovely romp starring the unlikely duo, written by Paul Dini and drawn by Bruce Timm. The second was the ill-fated Static Shock Volume One. Haven't gotten to it. But the third item, which is the point of the LJ is the prototype of WBA's DTV project, Superman: Brainiac Attacks. It was about 50% off so I bought it. It was a breeze and I worked on it for a good three days. Oddly enough, the movie appears to be more entertaining on mute. In any case, I made a section for Brainiac Attacks public on DCAUR.

REFLECTIONS

It's a nice milestone for me as I've finished everything I originally set out to do when I took over the website. Since then I've expanded my horizons and look to do The Batman and Teen Titans soon. For now, I'm focused on doing Gotham Girls and Batman: Gotham Knight in July. After I complete Gotham Girls, I suspect feeling slightly prouder as my Timmverse section will be 80% complete as it will still be missing The Zeta Project and Static Shock. It seems ironic that as I talked with Matt about the WHV surveys and asking for TZP, the voice for Batman on the new Brave and the Bold series was announced to be Diedrich Bader, who voiced Zeta (and Shadow Thief on The Batman).

Legion of Superheroes should be out soon enough. When that Teen Titans movie gets revived, I'm sure Judas Contract will be revisited... Overall, the show I'm most skeptical will never get season sets is Krypto. As far as I know there's two or three single disc volumes out there. It's totally skewed for children but I think I'd still enjoy it as a light hearted interlude in the DCAU.

The New Frontier section is up and running! Glad to be done with it. Now, off the go and write three reviews and gear up for school starting up.

http://www.dcauresource.com/newfrontierindex.php