The 1988 “Superman” animated series was the first version of the character to come to television since comic-book writer/artist John Byrne’s noted revamp of the character in the 1986 “Man of Steel” miniseries. In the new “Superman” comic-book line, Byrne and writer Marv Wolfman introduced the idea of Lex Luthor as a corrupt industrialist instead of mad scientist. That characterization is followed up here, as Wolfman was the animated series’ head story editor.

Even though the Christopher Reeve film series was over by the time this series aired, after the dismal failure of 1987’s “Superman IV,” the 1988 animated series still paid homage to those films. Luthor’s assistant, Jessica Morganberry, is a version of the film’s Miss Tessmacher, and Luthor, though an industrialist, speaks in a manner consistent with Gene Hackman’s Luthor from the films. Furthermore, the theme song for the Ruby-Spears “Superman” uses a bit of the famous John Williams “Superman” score. The series calls back to Superman’s past in another way, too: The opening narration was the same as the 1950s “Adventures of Superman” television show.

Superman/Clark Kent was voiced by Tulsa-born Beau Weaver, who later voiced Mr. Fantastic in the 1990s “Fantastic Four” animated series.

Each episode of “Superman” featured an 18-minute Superman adventure followed by a 4-minute segment called “Superman’s Family Album,” which touched on his days as a youngster in Smallville.

While “Superman,” produced by Ruby-Spears, only lasted one season, it provided an intermediate step between the silliness of the “Super Friends” of the 1970s and the more modern take of the 1990s series.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

World’s Finest #1, kicking off a miniseries teaming Superman and Batman family characters, is in stores today, written by Tulsa native Sterling Gates.

At DC Comics’ official “Source” blog, Gates is called a “writer to watch.”

“Gates has made a name for himself for his tight plotting and knack for strong and precise characterization,” blogger Alex Segura writes.

Meanwhile, at Newsarama, Vaneta Rogers has an extended Q&A with Gates about the series.

“The Batman universe is so full of change right now. So is the Superman universe,” Gates tells Newsarama. “Bruce Wayne is dead and Superman has left the planet Earth to be with his own people on New Krypton. The world is suddenly without its two greatest heroes. To me, that makes it a very exciting time for the DC Universe. You’re seeing new and different characters come to the forefront and stepping up to fill the void left with Superman and Batman gone.”

Gates talked to Nerdage back in September about the project:

“Each issue focuses on a different Batman-Universe hero and villain teaming up with a different Superman-Universe hero and villain,” Gates said. “So, you’re getting four great characters coming into conflict, and you just have to sit back and watch the fireworks.”

Gates said ” World’s Finest” also has some of his “all-time favorite villains.”

“Catwoman’s in there, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Kryptonite Man, Toyman,” he said. “It’s gonna take all of these heroes working together to rein these supervillains in!”

- Matt Price

The Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader team up in this direct-to-DVD animated film based on the comic books by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Loeb has plenty of screenwriting experience, as the writer of “Teen Wolf” and “Commando,” and his story translates relatively easily to film. The screenplay was adapted by Stan Berkowitz, who also adapted Darwyn Cooke’s “Justice League: The New Frontier” into an animated movie.

McGuinness’s blocky, muscular style is recreated in the style of the movie, which is heavy on action but lighter on character development.

The movie reunites Tim Daly, who voiced Superman on “Superman: The Animated Series,” with Kevin Conroy, voice of Batman in “Batman: The Animated Series.” The two hadn’t worked together since 1998’s “World’s Finest” animated movie. (George Newbern took over the role of Superman for the “Justice League” animated series.)

The United States, in the throes of wars and recession, turns to an exonerated Lex Luthor, who is elected U.S. president. Luthor fixes the immediate problems but also insists all superheroes work solely for him. When a giant Kryptonite meteor threatens Earth, Superman and Batman — now “public enemies” in Luthor’s regime — are forced to come up with their own plan to save the planet.

The first half of the movie zips along, but the ending isn’t as strong.

It’s great to hear Daly and Conroy working together on their signature characters, but the film doesn’t exceed the past decade of animation with Superman and Batman.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

A few quick thoughts on the season premiere tonight.  Light spoilers ahead.

* I’m OK with the new Matrix-y suit.  It’s at least closer to a superhero suit than a red jacket. (Though just get the red and blue suit already!)

* Lois pining over the Blur is great.

* Callum Blue has great presence as Zod.

* Good scenes between Tess and Zod.

* OK, you knew they’d go there, but the kneeling before Zod, pretty sweet.

* Lois and Ollie had a nice scene together as she reminds him that she knows he can be a true hero.

* Clark has a good fight scene with solid FX.

* Touching, difficult scene near the end with Chloe and Clark.

* Brian Austin Green put in a nice, suitably unsettling performance as John Corben (whose destiny was more or less revealed in the trailer for next week).

I like how the premiere set up a premise for the season and put Clark on a timeline.  I thought season 8 also started with a bang, but had some slowdowns in the middle and end.  We’ll see if season 9 can stay on an upward climb.

Your thoughts?

- Matt Price

WORD BALLOONS

“Smallville” kicks off its ninth season tonight, as the young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) comes ever closer to his eventual destiny as Superman.

Clark gets closer to the traditional “Superman” costume this year as well, wearing a long, black coat and a shirt bearing the “S”-shield. Clark also finds himself drawn closer to Lois Lane (Erica Durance).

“Lois is dealing with being smitten with Superman, and also still kind of finding Clark irritating,” Durance said at the “Smallville” panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego. “It’s going to be really spicy.”

Welling isn’t just starring in “Smallville,” he’s also a producer.

“I enjoy the production side very much,” Welling said at Comic-Con. “For the last few years, my interest in what happens before we get to set has increased. And this year, I play a larger part in that.”

At the close of season eight, Tess Mercer, played by Cassidy Freeman, encountered the Kryptonian villain Zod (Callum Blue).

“The first episode starts with me and Zod,” Freeman said in a recent interview. “I figure out who he is.”

Zod appeared earlier in “Smallville” when he possessed Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), but now Zod appears in Smallville in the flesh. Mercer replaced Lex Luthor as the head of LuthorCorp after Luthor’s disappearance.

“The relationship between Zod and Tess is very loaded,” Freeman said. “She’s kind of all business.”

“Smallville” moves to Friday nights this year, but Freeman said it shouldn’t be a problem for the long-running show.

“We already have a pretty strong fanbase,” she said. “With Friday nights, you might need a big gun to draw people in, and we hope ‘Smallville’ can be that big gun.”

- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

LOS ANGELES — A U.S. Marshal investigating a murder at the bottom of the world is the premise of “Whiteout,” the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, which was adapted into a motion picture starring Kate Beckinsale.

The comic-book limited series “Whiteout” from Oni Press was a big success in late 1990s. The sequel, “Whiteout: Melt,” nabbed the Eisner Award for best limited series.

At the press conference for the film “Whiteout,” Rucka said it’s an honor to see his creation make the jump to the silver screen, as a lot of comic books and graphic novels never make that jump.

“I’m still in awed shock that it made it this far, honestly,” Rucka said. “Steve Lieber and I created a comic to tell the story we wanted to tell. … All you can really be is incredibly flattered that this idea that you created in one format, because that was the format that you were working in, is something that somebody wants to take the time and the effort to translate.”

This month, Rucka’s moving from the icy wasteland of “Whiteout” to the heated action of “The Hunt for Reactron.”

The four-part crossover between “Action Comics” and “Supergirl” follows the “Codename: Patriot” storyline and features Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird on the hunt for Reactron, the villain who killed Supergirl’s father, Zor-El.

Supergirl and Flamebird, best friends in childhood, have been at odds since Zor-El’s death. But both want the man who killed Zor-El brought to justice. This Nightwing isn’t Dick Grayson, but is Chris Kent, Superman’s adopted son.

Rucka is co-writing the crossover with “Supergirl” writer Sterling Gates, a University of Oklahoma graduate.

“Sterling is fantastic, he’s a great collaborator,” Rucka said at the “Whiteout” film junket. “I’m loving writing with Sterling. He and I are doing two issues of ‘Action’ (and) two issues of ‘Supergirl’ together.”

The crossover begins in Wednesday’s “Action Comics” 881 and continues in “Supergirl” 45, on sale Sept. 23. The story concludes in October’s issues of “Action Comics” and “Supergirl.”

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Young Clark Kent moved closer to his eventual fate as Superman in the eighth season of “Smallville.” Clark Kent (Tom Welling) becomes a regular reporter for “The Daily Planet” and begins to have feelings for Lois Lane (Erica Durance).

The eighth season of “Smallville” was the first without show creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, or Clark’s former girlfriend Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk). The show also had to replace Michael Rosenbaum, who had played Lex Luthor on the show since its inception. While the shadow of Lex still looms large over Smallville, two new players held their own as villains of the piece.

The new head of Luthorcorp is Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), a marine biologist turned hard-hitting executive with ties to Green Arrow’s secret ID, Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley).

Davis Bloome (Sam Witwer) is an EMT who develops a crush on Clark’s best friend, Chloe (Alison Mack). Chloe, however, is engaged to Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore). But the reasons that Bloome is drawn to Chloe may be something more sinister than a simple romantic spark, as Bloome’s character darkens as the season progresses.

The season starts strong and has a great run through episode 11, “Legion,” written by Geoff Johns, who has written some of the best “Superman” comic books of the past decade.

The midseason arc with the return of Lana Lang slows down the Lois-Clark romance and puts a hiccup into the season-long momentum. Some of it is regained in “Eternal,” as Tess figures out Bloome’s secret, but the season doesn’t finish quite as strongly as it began.

- Matthew Price

It’s Boom! and Doom this week on the NewsOK Comics Podcast. Irredeemable from Boom! Studios just is 99 cents, and Doom Patrol launches a new series – with a Metal Men backup! Also find out the latest about Captain America, Ultimate X-Men and Superman.

According to TV Shows on DVD, the 1988 Ruby-Spears Superman cartoon will come to DVD this November. In addition to the Superman adventure show, this series contained mini-segments called “Superman’s Family Album,” about growing up in Smallville.

The release will contain 13 episodes on two discs, and a special feature about the rise of LexCorp, the 1980s corporate housing of Lex Luthor, who, prior to the 1980s, had been more mad scientist than corporate raider.

- Matt Price

Tom Welling’s first appearance at Comic-Con was a hit, as a very full room cheered for the stars of Smallville at today’s Smallville panel at Comic-Con, moderated by Jeph Loeb.  Callum Blue, Cassidy Freeman, Allison Mack, Justin Hartley, Erica Durance joined Welling on the panel, as did Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.

Here are a few quick notes and impressions from the Smallville panel:

* Clark is finally in some version of a Superman suit, with a black shirt bearing the S-shield and a flowing black overcoat, in preview footage shown at the panel.

* Geoff Johns will write a Justice Society episode.

* Season premiere will touch on the flight issue.

* Green Arrow will be in more episodes this season, as will Lois Lane. Lois will be in 18 episodes.

* Lex is absolutely not dead.

* Tom Welling is directing two episodes this season; Allison Mack will also direct.

* A possible Green Arrow sidekick story is being explored.

* In the first eight episodes this season, we’ll see Green Arrow hit “rock bottom.”

* Smallville is moving to Fridays this fall, debuting Sept. 25.  The DVD and Blu-ray of Season 8 hits Aug. 25.

- Matt Price

Superman is coming to Comic-Con.  Smallville star Tom Welling will appear for the first time at  Comic-Con International: San Diego on Sunday, July 26.

Co-executive producer Welling will join the entire current cast: Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Cassidy Freeman, Justin Hartley and Callum Blue at the show’s panel session on Sunday at 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Room 6BCF of the San Diego Convention Center.

Showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will also be on hand.

The session will feature an exclusive sneak peek at clips from the upcoming ninth season of the show and a Q&A with fans.  The panel will be moderated by Jeph Loeb.

- Matt Price

Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka

SAN DIEGO — A group of all-stars held court on Superman at the Superman: Two Worlds panel at Comic-Con International: Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Ian Sattler, Matt Idleson, Francis Manapul, Tulsa-born Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle, James Robinson and Greg Rucka.

The upcoming Codename Patriot arc is part of the overall plan building into a major Superman storyline in 2010, said Robinson, who is writing “Superman,” currently starring Mon-El.

“General Lane has been a factor in these books, obviously, what we want to make him into is the supreme strategist,” Robinson said.  “He has literally plans, and layers on top of these plans, which are all leading up to this event in 2010. We’ll see how it grows until eventually all the pieces come together and we’ll have an event that you’ll all love.”

OU graduate Sterling Gates will get his name on perhaps the most successful comic book of all time, Action Comics.  He and Greg Rucka will co-write an Action-Supergirl crossover that will feature Kara at odds with her former best friend, Thara, who now wears the Flamebird costume.

Gates also talked about his new miniseries, World’s Finest, which will deal with the issue of Bruce Wayne being missing from Superman’s circle after Batman’s presumed death.  Each issue of World’s Finest will pair a member of the Superman cast with a member of the Batman cast.

- Matt Price

Brandon Routh may not be back in the tights if Superman again returns to the silver screen.  The star of “Superman Returns” told Spanish-language site  Omelete (found via MTV) that the term of his contract has expired.  Routh says he’d still love to return to the character if and when Warner Bros. calls, but currently, he doesn’t have any idea of the status of the Superman sequel.

- Matt Price

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.   Keep up the good work.   Jor-El here had a pretty good fatherly quote in “Superman: The Movie”:

“All that I have, all that I’ve learned, everything I feel… all this, and more, I I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine.”

Wired has a writeup on the life and career of George Reeves, who was Superman to a generation of kids.   Reeves was found dead of an apparent suicide on June 16, 1959. While much has been made of the mystery of Reeves’ demise — including the very good film Hollywoodland — what should be remembered is the man’s talent.  While “Adventures of Superman” wasn’t high art, Reeves, along with co-stars Noel Neill and Jack Larson, made a classic kids’ show that is still watchable today, despite the extremely limited effects and budgets.

Watching the shows, recently out on DVD, the first two black and white seasons are darker in tone, similar to Superman’s beginnings in the comics. Superman has no problem dropping criminals atop a high mountain, leaving them to consider their deeds. (They don’t, they fall off and presumably die.)  Clark Kent doesn’t take much guff from anyone throughout the series, but in the first season he’s a particularly hard-charging reporter, aiming at exposing social ills.

As the series goes on, the plots get sillier and the colorful Superman that comes onto the screen eclipses the journalistic push for justice.  But it’s still there; heck, Clark Kent in the 1950s show is often as much the hero as Superman.

- Matt Price

Interesting news from DC Comics – the Superman strip appearing in “Wednesday Comics,” the weekly comic-book series, will appear in national newspaper USA Today as well. The July 8 strip will appear in the print edition of USA Today, and subsequent strips will appear online. Each online preview will be promoted in the print edition.

The Superman story in “Wednesday Comics” is by writer John Arcudi and artist Lee Bermejo.

“There’s a certain romance to the history of the big old Sunday funnies that I wanted to try to recapture in Wednesday Comics,” DC art director Mark Chiarello told USA Today.  “Why not dust off the format and have a little fun?”

- Matt Price

Noel Neill with the Superman statue in Metropolis, Ill. in 2007. Photo from Metropolistourism.com.

Metropolis, Ill., holds its annual Superman celebration this week, and ground will be broken for a statue of Noel Neill, the first Lois Lane.  She appeared in the “Superman” serial with Kirk Alyn, and in “The Adventures of Superman” with George Reeves.

This year the celebration brings some of Superman’s “Smallville” friends, including Justin Hartley (Green Arrow) and Phil Morris (Martian Manhunter).  The opening ceremony is at 5 p.m. Thursday, and the celebration runs through Sunday afternoon.

The Superman Celebration is always a blast, and while I haven’t made it in a few years, I look forward to making it back someday.   The ComicBookCollectorsBlog has a rundown of some of the guests and events, including Neill and comic-book writer Gail Simone.

A complete schedule of events can be found at SupermanCelebration.net. More info also available at the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce.

- Matt Price

Those in Los Angeles can check out the Christopher Reeve-starring Superman: The Movie, showing at the Skirball Cultural Center as part of its presentation on the Golden Age of comic books.   The screening is at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.  Admission is free. Thanks to the Superman Homepage for the tip.

- Matt Price

WORD BALLOONS

Superman meets Batman in the new novel from writer Kevin J. Anderson, “Enemies and Allies.” Anderson sets the first meeting of the two in the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War.

“It seemed unlikely to set a story in the modern day, and say that Batman and Superman have never heard of each other before,” Anderson said in a phone interview with The Oklahoman. “It felt more in keeping with the spirit of the universe if we set it back in a more nostalgic time. And of course the ’50s is the time we all remember from George Reeves as Clark Kent and Superman, and Noel Neill as Lois Lane, and that was the flavor I wanted to pick up on.”

In “Enemies and Allies,” Bruce Wayne’s Wayne Industries is at the forefront of many technological breakthroughs. But he’s being spied on by another industrialist, Lex Luthor, who wants to stoke Cold War tensions to build his own military-industrial empire.

“Set in the Cold War universe with Bruce Wayne as the big industrialist as well, Lex Luthor just seemed like the natural foil for both Bruce Wayne and Wayne Industries, and Clark Kent and Superman,” Anderson said.

Meanwhile, Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen, reporters for the Daily Planet, are sent to look into a possible flying saucer crash.

“We did the story in stages,” Anderson said. “One was doing Batman and Superman and deciding to set it in the ’50s. And in the ’50s, the primary thing is the Cold War, and everybody was afraid that the Russians were going to launch nuclear missiles at us, and everybody was doing disaster drills. The movies at the theater, they’re … all these wonderful flying saucer paranoia pictures.”

Ultimately, the 1950s setting became interwoven completely with the story.

“It became not just window dressing, but the ’50s setting and everybody’s attitudes about the Cold War, the paranoia about flying saucers, and all of these details became integral to the plot rather than just little backdrops,” Anderson said.

Another new release from Anderson is “Terra Incognita: The Edge of the World,” a fantasy novel featuring high-seas adventure. Additionally, a CD from ProgRock Records tying into the book’s release has lyrics by Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, with music by Erik Norlander (keyboardist for Asia Featuring John Payne).

“This idea’s been in my head for a long time, because I think a lot of the people who listen to that kind of music also listen to the kind of books that I write,” Anderson said. “It’s a crossover rock CD and fantasy novel.”

More about Kevin Anderson’s “Enemies and Allies” and “Terra Incognita” can be found at his Web site, www.wordfire.com.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Superman Secret Files 2009 #1

The next Super-crossover rocks the “Superman” titles in August, as a shooting threatens to ratchet up the tension between Earth and New Krypton.  Greg Rucka, James Robinson and Sterling Gates bring “World of New Krypton,” “Action Comics,” “Superman” and “Supergirl” into the four-part story “Codename: Patriot.”   The “Superman Secret Files” will serve as a primer to “Codename: Patriot.”

“It kicks off the next phase in our overarching Super-story,” Gates said. “It’s the next phase of General Lane’s plan. It’s going to have some long-standing repercussions not only for Superman, but for Lois Lane, Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, and General Zod,” Gates said.

“Codename: Patriot” has personal repercussions for Superman as well, who follows the suspected shooter to Earth.

“It also marks the first time Superman has returned to Earth since he left six months ago, and there are some people out there who will not be happy to see the Man of Steel come back,” said Gates, who is a University of Oklahoma graduate.

The storyline also offers some reunions for Supergirl.

“While Superman’s being reunited with his friends and family, Supergirl is reunited with her childhood friend, Thara Ak-Var,” Gates said. Thara Ak-Var has been living on Earth and operating as the Kryptonian hero Flamebird.

But that reunion may not play out how readers expect, Gates said.

The crossover begins in “Superman: World of New Krypton” No. 6, on sale August 5, and continues in “Action Comics” #880, “Supergirl” #44, and concludes in “Superman” #691.

– Matt Price

She may play a bad girl on “Smallville,” but actress Cassidy Freeman won me over when, in mid-interview, she shouted out, “Boomer Sooner!” As a child, the Chicago-raised actress spent Thanksgivings in Tulsa, where she remembered running up and down her grandparents’ upstairs hallways with her five cousins, until they were quieted so the adults could watch University of Oklahoma football.

“You cannot interrupt Sooner games,” Freeman said.

As Tess Mercer on “Smallville,” the new head of Lex Luthor’s business, Freeman started this season as a thorn in the side of Clark Kent (Tom Welling).

“I had to come in this season with guns blaring. People were missing Lex Luthor; people needed someone to fill that role,” she said. “But I think also what’s very interesting is that he as a character is destined to be a villain. Whereas, no one really knows what I’m destined to be. And my future doesn’t necessarily rely on what’s been written, or mythos necessarily. I have that freedom to become something different, which is cool.”

Freeman joined a long-running series, but she said the cast was extremely welcoming. Star Welling is easy to work with, Freeman says, and she expects he’s an actor who will have no trouble with a Superman “curse.”

“He’s very, very smart,” she said. “He’s obviously beautiful, so he has every opportunity that lies in that fact, and he’s a really nice guy, which in Hollywood is going to get you a lot farther than one might think.” He’s also a talented director, Freeman said. Welling helmed last night’s “Smallville” episode titled “Injustice.”

After “Smallville” wraps, Freeman will go to work on a thriller starring her and her brother. (Her brother’s name, coincidentally enough, is Clark.) The film, “Yellow Brick Road,” is about a New Hampshire town that, in 1940, basically disappeared. The town’s population followed a trail into a forest and never returned. In 2009, a group of eight people investigates the disappearance.

“The tagline is ‘They went to find the evil in the forest, and instead, the forest found the evil in them,’” she said.

Freeman can’t reveal whether she’ll return for “Smallville’s” ninth season; two characters are said to perish in Thursday’s season finale. Regardless of whether she’s back for another year, or whether “Doomsday” is her last episode, Freeman said working on “Smallville” was a great experience.

“It’s really been such an incredible year of work. These are people that I hope to know for a long time.”

- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Cassidy Freeman plays “bad girl” Tess Mercer on “Smallville.”   Here’s some more info from our recent interview that either didn’t make it into — or was too hot for — the print interview in Friday’s The Oklahoman.

MATT PRICE: Do you keep up with what’s said on the Internet about you?

CASSIDY FREEMAN: You know who does? My dad and my brother have Google alerts out on me.  Guys, come on, you’ve gotta have something better to do with my day than check out my Google alerts.

MP: Some online fans are interested in the Oliver-Tess relationship.

CF: Tess Mercer and Oliver Queen have a past, and now they share business as well. We’re mixing business with pleasure, and we all know how that ends, but you’ve gotta take the journey first.

MP: Who else might you hook up with on “Smallville”?

CF: I have a feeling I’m going to be hooking up with everyone, at some point.  I was hoping for some Lois Lane action, but that’s not going to happen, I don’t think.

Lois and I have a scene where we get kind of physical and we fight it out a little bit, and let’s just say that everyone on set that day was pretty stoked.

MP: She’s a great Lois Lane.

CF: Erica was born to play Lois Lane. She has all those qualities, smart and strong and funny and totally unabashedly herself. That’s Lois Lane.

MP: Tell me about your movie, “Yellow Brick Road.”

CF: It’s a film, a horror-thriller film that I am shooting this June. It was written by two friends of mine from college, and it stars me and my brother and a lot of people that I went to school with as well that I’ve worked with on stage in DC and New York.

It’s an opportunity to do a movie with people that you really admire, and my brother and I are playing brother and sister in the movie which is also a pretty cool opportunity.

MP: And you’re also in a band with your brother Clark?

CF: We play in a band together, called the Real D’Coy.  In this band I play keyboard and I sing. I don’t play keyboard normally, I play the guitar and alto saxophone, when I was a kid. But I do know how to read music, and so I learned as best as I could. We just have a lot of fun. It’s rock music. The guy who writes it, his name’s Andy Mitten, he writes most of our music and he also wrote the movie, “Yellow Brick Road.” We’re kind of an incestuous cult of artists, we just really enjoy each other’s company and like to hang out with each other.

Matt Price and Kyle Roberts review X-Men Origins: Wolverine and talk about a few of the best comics that came out this week, including the one-shot with the same title, X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Batman Battle for the Cowl: The Underground, and Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4.

A high point of early animation comes to DVD with “Max Fleischer’s Superman: 1941-1942.” These 17 war-era cartoons originally released by Paramount get an official release from Warner Bros.

Since the cartoons themselves are in the public domain, cheap reproductions of them have been available for years. These remastered editions, however, are much higher quality. Hardcore Superman fans may already own these remastered editions, as they were split between the special editions of “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II” in 2006.

The DVD is marked “not for children – for adult collectors,” which likely has to do with the racial stereotypes that were commonplace in 1941 and 1942 but are glaring now.

Extras include “The Man, the Myth,” which talks about superhero archetypes in mythology, and “First Flight,” which examines animation and the rotoscoping technique used in the “Superman” cartoons. Bruce Timm talks about these cartoons’ influence on “Batman: The Animated Series” in “First Flight.” The Fleischer “Superman” cartoons are even more fluid, however. The facial expressions, detailed backgrounds and smooth movements are still among the best in 2-D animation.

- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

There is a theme of mystery in last week’s comics. Matt Price and Kyle Roberts discuss Wolverine Weapon X #1, Warlord #1, Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2, and Superman: World of New Krypton #2.

I’m watching “Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1942,” the official release of the war-era “Superman” cartoons that were a giant leap forward in animation. You can get a sense of what the official releases look like in the YouTube embeds above from Warner Bros.
I’ll have a full review in The Oklahoman at some point, but my early thoughts while watching these episodes are, these are really nice editions of the cartoons. I believe they are the same remastered editions from the Superman I and II special editions from 2006, so if you have those, this might be a repeat purchase, save for the extras. But these are really nice, and all together in one place.
It’s also worth noting that the DVD is marked “not for children – for adult collectors,” which I assume has to do with the racial stereotypes that were commonplace in 1941 and 1942 but are glaring now.
Bruce Timm talks about these cartoons’ influence on “Batman: The Animated Series” in a special feature, but even if he didn’t, it would likely be obvious to anyone who watched both cartoons. The Fleischer “Superman” cartoons are even more fluid, however.
While these cartoons have been available in public-domain collections in the past, this is the best edition of them — far superior to the random markdown bin versions, and even somewhat better than the two classier versions — the “Ultimate Collection” and the “Diamond Anniversary Edition.”

- Matt Price

He can’t fly or bend steel with his bare hands, but actor Yuri Lowenthal has an affinity for superheroes.

The actor, who voiced the Prince of Persia in video games and will guest-star on “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” tonight, says one of his most satisfying roles was portraying Superman in the animated series “Legion of Superheroes.”

“As an actor, I audition for jobs every day,” Lowenthal said. “When it gets to be one of ‘those’ jobs, because I’m a huge comic book nerd, and have been since I was a kid … that always really gets me going because that’s my stuff.”

“Legion of Superheroes” features a young Superman who goes to the 31st century to aid a group of young superheroes in their battles with the villains the Fatal Five.

After his first audition, Lowenthal was called back to read for two members of the Legion of Superheroes: Lightning Lad and Brainiac 5. He also was called back to read for the Man of Steel himself.

Upon arriving at the callback, he read the “sides,” or script, for Superman and Brainiac 5 before the producers asked him to stop.

“I was too nervous to say, ‘Hey, what about Lightning Lad?’”

Lowenthal thought he’d blown it but decided to try to forget about it and move on. A few weeks later, he got a call from his agent.

“You’re Superman,” she told Lowenthal.

“I started screaming … and jumping around the apartment,” Lowenthal said.

Much later, the director revealed to Lowenthal that he wasn’t asked to continue because he had the Superman role locked up.

“The reason we sent you home after reading just two of the three characters we called you back for,” Lowenthal recalled the director telling him, “is that we realized that, ‘Here’s our Superman,’ and we didn’t need to have you read anything else.”

Lowenthal also voices the superheroes Iceman in “Wolverine and the X-Men” and Ben 10 in “Ben 10: Alien Force.”

“Hero characters suit me, I think,” Lowenthal said. “I always wanted to be a superhero when I was a kid, and I really haven’t stopped.”

Three DVDs featuring the “Legion of Superheroes” are available, and episodes are available for download online at iTunes and Amazon.com.

– Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — DC executives attending the annual ComicsPRO meeting were asked about upcoming issues of “Action Comics” and “Detective Comics” that wouldn’t star traditional heroes Superman and Batman.  Will the lack of those heroes cause sales to drop?

Detective Comics will feature Batwoman as the lead character, written by Greg Rucka and drawn by J.H. Williams.  Rucka is the writer on Action Comics, starring characters Flamebird and Nightwing. Issue #875, drawn by Eddy Barrows, is on sale now.  Didio said the art for Detective Comics is phenomenal, and will draw new readers to the series.

“I can’t wait to see this stuff because it’s just so cool-looking,” Didio said. “(Williams’) Batwoman stuff is just dynamite.”

Didio also reiterated the strong ties between Action Comics and the rest of the Superman world.

“Those characters (Flamebird and Nightwing) originated in Action Comics,” Didio said.  “(And) Superman’s not gone — he’s just not the star of the book right now.   If somebody is a Superman fan, they should feel engaged by this storyline and excited by it.”

DC’s vice president of sales Bob Wayne indicated that numbers on “Action Comics” ordered so far under Greg Rucka’s run are nearly the same as previous numbers under Geoff Johns.

– Matt Price

Actor Yuri Lowenthal voiced the Man of Steel on the “Legion of Superheroes” animated series.  He told The Oklahoman about his inspirations in a recent phone interview.

YURI LOWENTHAL: I couldn’t help but be inspired by all the people who had gone before me. I’m a geek that way. I know the Tim Daly Superman, I know the George Newbern Superman, I know pretty much all of the incarnations of Superman, whether they have been animated or otherwise, just because I watch that stuff. And so I’m sure that I must have been influenced by all those guys.

And yet, when you’re dealing with iconic characters like that, … you can’t get obsessed over, ‘Am I copying this guy too much, am I not enough like this guy?’ You kind of have to trust the director of the show and the producer of the show, in that they chose you for a specific reason that what you were doing to a certain degree was in the ballpark, or right, and if they didn’t like it they would correct it.