Funnybooks Offline: Damian Wayne Animated!

I know the guys give me a pretty hard time about picking up Grant Morrison’s run on Batman, but I think the one thing that we’ve all come to agree upon is that at least one good thing has come out of it – Damian Wayne.  Sure, the character started as a little prick that we were just waiting to die off, but as the character matured, he became something we’ve never seen before – a badass Robin.  Tim Drake was awesome, Dick Grayson as well.  Jason Todd was a little schmuck.  But Damian has been kicking ass and taking names.

Which is why preview footage of a recent Batman: Brave and the Bold episode (episode S02E22), entitled “Knights of Tomorrow,” had me excited.  It showed a Dick Grayson Batman facing off against the “son of the Joker,” and the first animated appearance of Damian Wayne! Read the rest of this entry »

Written on December 14th, 2010 , Animated, Columns, Funnybooks Offline, Movies & TV, Superhero
Hey BooBoo…wait…what? Nooooo!!! Bang!

According to YouTube, this video is in no way associated with the upcoming Warner Brothers’ release of Yogi Bear, with Dan Aykroyd as the voice of the titular bear.  Except that, according to this site, it’s actually a gag done by the animators of the film (which actually seems pretty believable).  Either way, despite the fact that the film is surely not going to end this way…it should.

Written on December 13th, 2010 , Animated, Comedy, Movies & TV
Ani-Madness: Firebreather

I’ve always been curious about Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn’s Firebreather comic from Image Comics.  Published as a series of mini-series, the character has popped up in other image books, like The Pact, where he fought alongside Shadowhawk and Invincible.  He seems to have a pretty sturdy following, and the concept, about a boy who’s half-human, half dragon has intrigued me.  Still, for some unknown reason, I’ve just never gotten around to reading it.

Volume 3 just started on November 24th, the same day as the Cartoon Network premiere of an animated movie based on the original volume.  Though I didn’t pick up the comic, I went ahead and checked out the animated movie.  The animation in the commercials that I’d seen looked a little…television-level, but I figured it would be a good opportunity to see if the story would be worth checking out. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on November 30th, 2010 , Animated, Movies & TV, Superhero Tags:
Funnybooks Offline: Young Justice

This Friday on Cartoon Network is premiere of Young Justice, the new DC animated series that seems like a dream come true.  Why would it be a dream come true … well, take a look at that picture at right.  Not only is Young Justice in DC Continuity (kinda), but the biggest news is that there is no embargo on any DC character, a first for any DC animated series (including Justice League Unlimited, which could use Batman, but not all Batman villains)…which means that any character is fair game, including Batman, Superman, and all of the JLA and their respective villains.

Though the series doesn’t actually start until January 2011, the two-part premiere, “Independence Day,” comes on this Friday, November 26th, at 7pm.  What’s the episode about? Read the rest of this entry »

Written on November 24th, 2010 , Animated, Movies & TV, Television
Funnybooks Offline: Superman/Shazam – The Return of Black Adam

DC Animated has been putting out some great movies as of late, including Crisis on Two Earths, Under the Red Hood, and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.  Since Crisis, there has been the added bonus of short features with each film, under the banner of DC Showcase, including shorts featuring The Spectre, Green Arrow, and Jonah Hex.  The shorts have all been uniformly excellent, but the main issue is that anyone who hasn’t actually purchased the movies (watching them on Netflix streaming or On Demand).

If you haven’t purchased any of the movies, and are dying to see some of these great shorts, DC has the answer for you – a DVD/Blu-Ray collection of all of them.  If you already own all of them, the added bonus this time?  A 23-minute feature “Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam.”

Is the new short worth the price of admission?  Full review after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on November 9th, 2010 , Animated, Columns, Funnybooks Offline, Movies & TV, Superhero
BIG TIME: The Spectacular Spider-Man Animated Series!

Note: portions of this review originally appeared in March, 2009.

It’s an absolute travesty that The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series has been canceled in favor of an Ultimate spider-Man reboot.

Remember when we, as fans, compared the live action 90’s Batman movies to the Batman animated series, and the movie, Mask of the Phantasm, and found out they were far inferior?  How the movies seemed to scrap the essence of the character, but the animation perfectly captured everything we love about the character and still bring us something we’d never seen before?  It’s hard to do that with a character as old as Batman, and just as hard with a character a little younger, like Spider-Man.  I loved Marvel’s reboot of Spidey in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic when it first started, but I lost interest real quick.  I don’t know what it was missing…but it was just missing something.  To this day, I still haven’t been able to get back into it, even with it’s manga-styled relaunch.

The Spider-Man movies, and I know many will disagree with me, are sorely lacking.  Even though I loved Spider-Man 2, I can’t go on record saying that it’s the perfect Spider-Man movie (mostly due to the casting).  However, what I will say is that, even though Spider-Man has been blessed with some pretty decent animated interpretations over the years, the absolute best is Spectacular Spider-Man. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on September 1st, 2010 , Animated, Comics, Marvel, Superhero, Television Tags:
Madness at the Movies: BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD

It’s not easy to make a good superhero movie.  It’s really difficult to get the nuances that will please comic book fans, while still pleasing a general audience.

While the DC Animated movies do still try to appeal to a general audience, the focus is definitely on pleasing that core comic book fanbase.  With films like Crisis on Two Earths, The New Frontier, and Green Lantern, you can still come in with just a passing knowledge of the main cast, but it helps to know the comics upon which the stories are based.

We talked on a recent Funnybooks After Hours about our love for Batman animated movies.  Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker are not only among the best Batman animated movies, but the best Batman films of all time, and maybe even the best comic book movies.  Batman: Under the Red Hood is due out next Tuesday, July 27th, adapting the controversial Judd Winick storyline that brought Jason Todd back to life.   Does this film live up to the standards set up by previous Batman animated cinema?  Review after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written on July 21st, 2010 , Animated, Movies & TV, Superhero Tags:
First look at footage from THE GOON!

I’ve never read Eric Powell’s The Goon, but it sure does seem like it would be up my alley.  Especially now that I’ve seen this trailer.  Wow, this looks pretty damn awesome!

Movie Trailers – Movies Blog

Does anybody out there read The Goon?  Any good?

Written on July 19th, 2010 , Animated, Comics, Independent, Movies & TV Tags:
Good Old Days: Defenders of the Earth

You know, very few cartoons that we loved as kids hold up when we try to watch them as adults.  Sure, there’s still charm to shows like G.I. Joe and Transformers, but even then, the animation is so dated, you feel a little ashamed for liking them in the first place.  Especially when it comes to lame slapstick characters and public service announcements – ugh.

I remember next to nothing about Defenders of the Earth, save for its catchy theme song (for which Stan Lee wrote the lyrics!), and a Flash Gordon and Phantom action figures that seemed to pop up in different places in my house (I’m sure they’re in the attic now) for years. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on July 9th, 2010 , Animated, Good Old Days, Superhero Tags: ,
Patriotic Week: A Retrospective of Superman Animated Movies!

I know that, technically, Superman isn’t really American.  But, seriously, what’s more American than the concept of Superman?  After all, we’re talking about what’s been referred to by creators as “the ultimate immigrant story.”  An immigrant child brought to America, where he is raised as an American, and ultimately ends up fighting for…the American Way.

Trying to discuss the history of Superman in animation, really, deserves a book.  There is so much story to tell behind the classic Flescher Superman cartoons, and all the various incarnations since, that to try to fit it all in one article would not only be futile, it would be an injustice.  And we all know Supes is all about the justice.

Still, there is one thing we can discuss in our limited space here, and that’s Superman Animated Movies.  As you’ll find out in this week’s Funnybooks After Hours (and you already probably gathered from Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie), we’re huge fans of Batman animated movies.  And, honestly, how can you not be?  Mask of the Phantasm, Subzero, Return of the Joker…the list of quality Batman animated movies is vast, and many people prefer them to the live-action counterparts (except for that Mystery of the Batwoman movie that no one likes).

But Superman hasn’t had a ton of luck when it comes to animated movies – the Superman animated series by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm is loved by fans, but not quite as much as the Batman one.  Not only that, the Superman animated movies don’t quite have the same following and veneration as Batman’s.  Still, there are some quality movies, and, while Superman hasn’t quite had a ton of animated movies, I was able to come up with seven worth discussing….after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Written on July 5th, 2010 , Animated, Movies & TV, Superhero Tags:
<< Older Entries
Newer Entries >>

Ideology of Madness is proudly powered by WordPress and the Theme Adventure by Eric Schwarz
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).

Ideology of Madness

If we geek about it, we speak about it.