(DC NATION) MAY 26, 2012

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Season 1, Episode 13

"Homecoming"

SAINT WALKER!!!!!!

I know I've ragged on GL: TAS before. Multiple times, actually, and with some pretty solid malice behind my words. And honestly, this show struggled for the first six or seven episodes before it really shifted into it's groove and became comfortable with Hal and Kilowog actually using their power rings. Fortunately, the latter half of this group of episodes has been getting better and better each week. Bruce Timm, the show's Executive Producer, obviously has a lot of love for Green Lantern, as evidenced by his various fan service inclusions this season like the Zamarons, the episode about killing a GL for his ring, Saint Walker, Mogo, the Thanagarians, and oh so much more. "Homecoming" is by and far the best episode of GL: TAS, marking a turning point in quality and content.

This episode, the Red Lanterns are moving in full-force toward Oa as Atrocitus has stolen the GL Interceptor, and the rest of the fleet moves toward the path through the asteroid field and into Oan space. Oh, and Hal, Kilowog, and Razer are stuck at the edge of Guardian space, and 18-month flight away from the Guardians and Oa. It's not looking too good for the Green Lanterns right now.

Hal and Razer travel to Zamaron to get help teleporting across a great distance like the Sapphire's did to Carol Ferris in "In Love and War", while Kilowog stays at the asteroid field to stave off the Red Lantern invasion fleet all by himself. Though Hal is able to travel to Earth - based on his base emotions for Carol - and therefore much closer to Oa, he loses his memory in the process. This sequence seems somewhat unnecessary since amnesia usually lasts a long time, and it takes Carol all of ten minutes - after she realizes Hal doesn't even know what a Green Lantern is - to find Hal's power battery and "reboot" him. Again, it simply feels unnecessary. Why couldn't Hal just come to Earth and fly off? That's what ended up happening anyway, it just took longer.

Kilowog, on the other hand, has a very necessary role and is soon joined by Saint Walker, complete with his new Blue Lantern ring and the ability to super-charge Green Lantern power rings. Of course, "two soliders won't change anything," as Kilowog points out. That's when Mogo shows up. Like I mentioned earlier, this is my favorite episode of the series thus far and part of it comes from this scene. Seeing Kilowog, Mogo, and Saint Walker ripping up some Red Lantern armadas was breathtaking and something that should have been on the screen years ago. It's such a compelling scene that I had to pause my DVR and just sit for a moment and think about how awesome it was.

Atrocitus succeeds by landing on Oa and nearly bringing the Guardian's to their knees. I was a bit confused by this scene at first. I kept wondering, "where are all the GL's?" Of course, they've all been sent toward the asteroid field to prepare for Atrocitus' armada. But this is a plot point that was only glossed over a few times in the past couple of episodes, and it just kind of felt like a way to get rid of the Green Lantern Corps so the animators wouldn't have to render 3,600 GL's at the same time. Salaak - the Guardians' right-hand-man/secretary/assistant - makes a fantastic appearance and even throws his computer module aside in favor of four energy daggers that seriously make Salaak cooler than he's been in years in the pages of the comic books.

I really have loved watching Green Lantern: The Animated Series grow from a childish, non-ring-having show that could be about any old space travelers, to a solid series that takes the legacy of Green Lantern and molds it into a more digestible form for a wider audience. If Blue Lanterns, Mogo, and Villius Vox as the leader of the Red Lanterns doesn't excite you for second season (which, at the time of this writing, hasn't been announced), then this just might not be the show for you. If space odysseys, the Rainbow Brigade, and action is your thing, I'll see you right here when season two begins!

GRADE:
A+

Young Justice

Season 2, Episode 5

"Beneath"

So far, what's made Young Justice: Invasion compelling has been the deft way the writers balance the A and B stories each episode. In the first season, there was a group of six main characters to follow, so splitting them up was usually confined to one-on-one interactions. This season, however, the extended cast gives writers room to create diverse teams that can be interchanged whenever they want. At the same time, more characters means more character development, which is never a bad thing. This week, Blue Beetle stars in his own solo adventure, while the Team's female furies - Miss Martian, Bumblebee, Batgirl, and Wonder Girl - gather to investigate one of Queen Bee's many illegal military compounds for signs of alien technology.

The girls, the girls.

Jaime Reyes' background has been tweaked a bit (as seen in last week's "Salvage"), but he's still the same character at his core - constantly fighting with the voice of the Scarab in his head. This episode, though, Jaime spends little time as Blue Beetle, instead forced to keep the Scarab at bay as he attempts to investigate the disappearance of his friend, Ty. It's not the most interesting plot, but it's nice to see any character in street clothes and it gives Jaime more personality that simply being the crazy kid who seems like he talks to himself.


On the other side of the globe, the girls' mission in Bialya takes a turn for the worse when Wonder Girl is spotted and taken down by a group of metahumans led by Psimon - who was thought to be safely under watch in an induced coma. Again, this is not a very plot-heavy tale. I would even argue that it was simply a narrative designed to bring the female members of the Team together in some meaningful way. There didn't need to be a very deep story, so there wasn't.


Overall, this might be one of the weaker episodes of the season plot-wise, but as far as fan service and character inclusions, this one's a winner.

GRADE:

B-

(DC NATION) APRIL 8th, 2012

Young Justice
Season 1, Episode 24
"Performance"

I've been consistently impressed with Young Justice since I started watching it last fall. In what I dreaded was a precursor to cancellation, Cartoon Network put the series on indefinite hiatus lasting over four months. Now it's obvious that they simply wanted to save episodes to air during 'DC Nation', but that would have been much more useful information to disappointed fanboys like myself last November. During the hiatus, I re-watched every episode and started picking up on connecting clues. With Young Justice winding down it's first, stellar season, it's time to start looking at the series as a whole forest more so than at it's individual trees (or episodes, as it were).

"Performance" deals with a deeply personal issues for Robin; Haly's Circus. The show is touring Europe, yet each city on the circuit is experiencing criminal activity tied to power plants and the like. Mr. Haly himself is under scrutiny from Interpol, and Robin insists Batman sent them to figure out what exactly is going on. DC animated shows are not know for their subtly, and blatantly asking Robin if their mission is legitimate is a real big tip-off that something isn't right. Nonetheless, Dick's connection to Haly's isn't about revealing some plot twist; it's about showing that Robin has an emotional core that exists outside Batman's shadowy dogma. The team infiltrates the circus as a family of trapeze artists who magically showed up knowing all the same moves and techniques as the Grayson's did, all those years ago.

The b-story revolves around Superboy's continued use of Lex Luthor's 'Shields' that suppress Conner's human DNA, allowing him access to all his Kryptonian powers. After three episodes where Conner sneaks around behind the team's back to use his Shields, it's starting to feel a lot like an after-school special. He's basically freebasing drugs and getting away with 'roiding out and totally messing up Robin's plan to stop the Parasite. It's pretty obvious that Conner's heroine Shield addiction is going to get worse then there's going to be some intervention, possibly as the season finale.

GRADE:
B+

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Season 1, Episode 6

"Lost Planet"

At this point in Green Lantern, the actual 'Green Lantern' aspect of the premise has become somewhat of an off-screen persona. The Corps exists mostly to give Hal and Kilowog a reason for acting and not much else. It's like a sitcom about a family, oh, and the dad works at a bank. Their status and Green Lanterns is talked about a whole lot, but it is rarely ever seen, which is surprising for an ANIMATED TELEVISION PROGRAM. Green Lantern on a screen doesn't seem to work. 2011's live-action version was a pile of poop, and the DC Universe Animated Original Movies starring GL have only sold modestly compared to other titles. Green Lantern: The Animated Series makes a cardinal sin when adapting a work of print; it doesn't keep the essence of the source. Without regular, consistent ring use, Green Lantern ceases to be interesting. I understand the cost associated with CGI ring constructs, and the desire to characterize Hal and Kilowog (and Razer, at this point...I guess) as much as possible for a younger audience. Cartoon Network has sacrificed quality of program for simplicity of content and that's just unfortunate.

This episode is called "Lost Planet" and it's about how Hal and Kilowog use up all their ring energy (grrrrroooooaaannnnn) trying to slow down an asteroid heading for a planet with a potential new Green Lantern living on it. Instead of re-directing the asteroid's trajectory, the boys in green try to slow...it...down. Why would competent, trained SPACE police not understand this concept? It's mind-boggling how frustratingly condescending this show is, and how much it insults it's viewers' intelligence. So Hal, Kilowog, and Razer are forced to walk around the planet looking for the new GL. Let's remember that Razer is a Red Lantern and his ring (or battery) is in no way drained, so there's no reason for him to schlep in the trenches with the other two. So. Stupid.

The Christmas-colored lanterns go down to try and rescue a small group of crash-landees who have (maybe) been living on the planet (surface, underground?) since they became stuck. This loose affiliation of three random aliens is never more concretely explained, so it's infuriating when Hal and Kilowog just go off with some of them without a second question! They could be evil! They could want to hurt Hal and Kilowog! Turns out, they are evil and totally want to hurt them all!

Then it turns out the new Green Lantern is the planet itself and Bruce Timm just repurposed Mogo's origins. THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING. Mogo is one of the coolest Green Lantern's ever. He's been around for thousands of years, and he creates the actual rings. It's totally disrespectful to downgrade the distinguished planet-lantern to one of Hal Jordan's recruits.

GRADE:

D

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

- How much older is Roy Harper from the rest of the Young Justice team? It's a bit weird.

- The only reason Green Lantern didn't score an 'F' - Saint Walker makes an appearance! While not wielding the Blue Lantern ring, he easily parries Razer's persistent attacks without batting an eye. I'm sure he'll be back later on and that's actually something to look forward to in this dismal show.

- I found out Robin is voiced by teen heartthrob Jesse McCartney, so that is actually real. Also, Winnie Cooper voices Ms. Martian. Whoa.

- Is Razer going to become a Green Lantern eventually? Because if so, bleh. No redemption stories for shallow characters needed here, thank you very much.