Wait ... No mention of Flash or MM? That better be an oversight or there will be heck to pay.

I don't see anything in that release about any of the core members. My impression is that those are all guest appearances.

Puffy Ami Yummi, the people responsible for the Teen Titans theme song, are getting their own cartoon show? The hell?

Hey, if it's good enough for the Beatles and the Jackson Five...

I got stopped seeing how my boy Judd Winick got his own series.

But seriously..."Justice League Unlimited"? Is this the mid-90s all of a sudden? What comes in '05? JLExtreme? Yeesh.

Promo shot. Looks like one urban hero had a wee too much of his famous chilli.

For those of us who love the DC world but really don't know much more than WW is Diana Price and Kyle Rayner is a hottie, can you fill me on on who's who in the photo that's link here?

I know which one is Supergirl from the Super Man series and Green Arrow is hard to misunderstand, but which one is which: the Atom, Booster Gold, Hawk & Dove, Elongated Man, The Question, Mister Miracle, Big Barda and Zatanna.
And for more fun, once again, a link or a paragraph on their bios?

Thanks for the link, lurk3000. Rotating guest stars are an excellent idea, but "[...]more compact half-hour episodes"? At the moment, this sounds like a mistake. The two-part structure has served very well in terms of both allowing airtime for all the characters and contributing to the scope of the stories.

Schroeder, the heroes seen in that picture are, from left to right: Etrigan the Demon; Zatanna, a powerful magician; Green Arrow, a top-notch archer and left-wing gadfly; Aquaman; Supergirl, Dr. Fate, one of the mystical Lords of Order (technically, the Lord of Order resides in the helmet); Captain Atom, who can manipulate the quantum field; and Orion, adopted son of Darkseid. Hard to say who those other people are.

Thanks, Heaton.
But isn't Dr. Fate traditionally Blue and Yellow, not Red and Yellow? Or is a redisign and I'm being picky?
And Mr. Mircale. Is he the one it the red, yellow and green outfit? I seem to remember that.

Schroeder,

Yes, Dr. Fate is traditionally blue and yellow. In fact, when he showed up on the show before, he was blue and yellow. Of course, that photo probably has him red & yellow because of the red "light" coming from the background (just like Supergirl's skirt looks purplish, Manhunter's cape looks purplish too, and Superman's outfit looks purplish too).

Supergirl ... I've still never been able to figure out why a super hero that can fly would wear a tight miniskirt as part of her costume.



I was looking at this.

If she's anything like Helen Slater, she's wearing a really cute pair of bloomers under the skirt.

Which is still more clothing than Starfire (the comic book one) wears on a regular basis.

This is great news as long as the show keeps the more adult tone from the 2nd season and the Guest Super Hero of the Day doesn't dilute the story and the character interactions that have already developed.

Zatanna's a real sorcereress? When she was on Batman the animated series she was only a stage magician. Did she get powers or is this a retcon, or whatever you call it?

I hope they aren't going to forget about Zatanna's previous appearance in the DC animated universe, she had some good chemistry with Batman in that episode.

Yes. In the comics she can do real magic.

Also her animated debut hinted (via her exit) she had some skill. But she's smoke and mirrors and hocus pocus

By talking backwards

Many have tried to "make her serious" I think that undermines the idea though she's one of the few characters to crossover from Vertigo (of Hellblazer, Books of Magic, Sandman, and Lucifer renown) to the superhero verse.

She part of a race of being who use magic so naturally that she can talk backwards and anything happen (when the writers want to) from her mother's side. This race, in comics, is kept in check by the fact they fall madly inlove with the first mortal they meet (presumably of appropriate gender to thier preference but possibly not

Plus, Supergirl might be getting a look close to the comics with the new one debuting in the comics. Plus, Zatanna is a favorite of mine. So they can have her do "smoke and mirrors" or saying things backwards and I still would love her.

Just to nitpick: Orion is the actual son of Darkseid. Traded to Highfather for his son* to keep the peace between Apokalips and New Genesis. That's why Orion constantly has to struggle to keep his anger and dark side (pun intended) in check. And why he's really ugly and has to cover it up with Mother Box's help.

* Question: We know that growing up in Granny Goodness' "home" on Apokalips, Highfather's son was called "Scott Free" by Granny as a joke of sorts. And on Earth he went by the name "Mister Miracle". But has his original birth name ever been revealed?

Re: Supergirl's outfit. Personally, I hate the animated version. I always preferred this version (but with the boots and no fringe on her hotpants) or this version. The modern variant of the latter (i.e. without the headband and shoulder design) is nice too.



You mean: from the superhero universe to Vertigo. Zatanna had been around for at least 25 years before Vertigo was ever a glimmer in Karen Berger's eye.

mrow: In the past, Zatanna has said that while she's capable of real magic, she uses slight-of-hand and illusion in her act. But in her recent Paul Dini-penned special, she was shown using real magic in her stage act. Either way, like both her mother and her father, she's a true magician with natural, inborn magical powers. The talking backwards thing is unrelated to her ability to perform magic; she once explained it as a method for focusing her magical powers.

roosterboy: Damn. You're correct about Orion, of course. I blame red kryptonite. And to my knowledge, Scott Free has never learned his true name.

Damn, there is just so much to learn. I have no idea what y'all are talking about.

When Superman The Animated Series came out, I did like that one week that the WB aired (maybe as a re-run special, I dunno) when Superman had Super hero guest stars -- Flash, Aquaman, Steele. It was pretty neat to see the other characters come into play.

Question --- are Gotham City and Metropolis supposed to be allusions to New York City? If not, where in the country are they?
And Coastal City, is that supposed to be San Fran? And isn't that Flash's home? Or is it Green Lanter's?
Actually, can someone be sweet and list the comics' major "cities", what city in real life they represented and what super hero called it homebase?

I really love watching you guys talk about the DC verse. I might not have ever read the comics, but watching the show is so much more interesting because I can read about back story and histories here brought up by people who know it.

Mayfair Games once published an atlas to the DCU that included a map of the US with all the major fake cities indicated. I have it at home somewhere, but luckily I found this FAQ on the web that basically repeats the info:

Where are the "real" locations of Metropolis, Gotham City, Hub City, etc., in the DC Universe?

And also, a site which has US maps by region with the fake cities pointed out. Here's the Northeast.

Oh, and Coast City was the home of GL. Keystone City is where Flash lives.

In the recent JLA/Avengers series, the writer Kurt Busiek explained that the land masses on DC Earth are larger than on Marvel Earth. (or our "real" Earth) That would help explain why there are so many fictional cities on DC Earth because there is more room for them.

WAIT!
Gotham City is in New Jersey? I'm sure there's a smell joke in there ... but...
And Metroplis is in Delaware?
I thought they were both in NYC?
How long has this been common knowledge and what rock have I been under?

Why does Marvel (Spider-Man) use NYC but DC doesn'?

DC has heroes in New York. The Teen Titans were based there for a long time. But I think they prefer using fictional cities over real ones because they have a little more freedom to make up stuff.

Marvel wanted to be more rooted in the real world, I think. You know, Gotham and Metropolis are cool, but I think I prefer Marvels use of real cities.

Marvel does have a plethora of fictional countries, however. They may have DC beat in that department.

Wow. Thanks so much for the links.
I can only imagine how crazy I'd be if I had been a readering during the Crisis and afterward.
And wow, what a fuckup to not have planned out exactly what was going to happy to all their series by not rebooting immidiately after Crisis.
Talk about weird.
I like the Green Lantern/Pallax storyline. Sounds neat. But I've always had a soft spot for Kyle Rayner. He's so cute.

roosterboy, with that link to pictures of Helen Slater in the early-80's Supergirl outfit, you have officially blown my mind. That was always one of my favorite costumes for her, even with the headband.

I liked the origin for the cartoon Supergirl, having her come from a "sister planet," implying long-ago colonization from one to the other. I thought it was a clever way to let her have Kryptonian style powers, and yet not be from Krypton. Maybe they'll try doing that in the comics with this latest version of Supergirl that's coming up. (And that'll make how many post-Crisis Supergirls, now? Criminy!) I know the Peter David version was a good comic, but the whole angel angle never sat well with me. Big flaming wings? I thank you, no.

I'm looking forward to seeing all these guest superheroes next season. Should be fun.

Oh, and let's all hope that Superman's mysteriously vanished James Marsters cheekbones never come back.

By the way, another bit of trivia. Many people think that Metropolis was/is an analogue for New York City, but actually Superman artist Joe Shuster modeled Metropolis' skyline from Toronto, Ontario (where he was born) and from Cleveland, Ohio where he later lived and first met Jerry Siegel, with whom he would co-create Superman.

Y'know, as much as I loved Supergirl (one of my favorite Legionnaires and Crisis #7 still brings tears to my eyes to this day, as does LSHv3 #16) I just couldn't bring myself to read Peter David's series. That just wasn't the real Kara Zor-El.

I think maybe I have a thing for blond comic heroines: Supergirl, Sensor Girl, Laurel Gand/Andromeda, Black Canary, Fury (from Infinity Inc), Power Girl are all favorites.

This may be getting too OT, but could someone briefly explain to me what happened at the end of PAD's series? Did they bring back the preCrisis SG or what?

Still no sign of Plastic Man? Sigh...if there's ever a guy that deserved his own show, it's him. He's a riot in both the JL comics and in his (brilliant) new solo series.

Do you suppose that a plot for the new season somehow pits the "new" eight JLers against the classic seven?

Heh, I find it very funny that Metropolis, the greatest city in the world, is apparently located in Delaware. Of course, the Frank Miller quote in that piece pretty much explains the confusion. "Metropolis is New York in the daytime, while Gotham is New York at night." Go metaphor, choose metaphor.

I'm pretty sure for villains next season we're finally going to see The Key, he was suppose to show up this season, but his story got pushed back. I know that Bruce Timm wanted to do Ra's Al Ghul bring in Black Adam. I'm looking foward to seeing Captan Atom, Green Arrow and Black Canary.

How can a freakin' blue-collar steel town that's named Keystone be in [badly dubbed censoring]*melonfarming*[/badly dubbed censoring] Kansas?

I always thought Keystone was Pittsburgh and Central was Cleveland. Pennsylvania's been horribly robbed. Somebody needs to be beaten with a cheese-steak and dropped in the Schulkyll.

Sorry to change the subject but I have been wondering about this for a while and can't seem to find any info online about it. Can Star Sapphire make constructs with her powers or is she John Stewart-like straight up energy beams and such? I mean in the comics.

Daisy Duke, in the comics, at least, Keystone and Central City are roughly analagous to Kansas City, KS, and Kansas City, MO. They're separated by a river. This was DC's one-world revision to the pre-Crisis version, in which the cities occupied the same location on parallel worlds. This was "revealed" in Secret Origins #50 (I think). A few years before that, IIRC, Wisconsonite William Messner-Loebs placed Keystone in Wisconson.

Having visited Kansas City, I can say that there are some industrial sections, but you're right, there's no automobile plants. Or "melonfarming" for that matter (one hopes).

Why does Kansas get so much superheroic attention? Though it is nice and flat for Flash to run across without tripping, I guess. Still - it is named "Keystone."

Damn it. Pittsburgh gets no love.

Next up: Kansas steals Ben Franklin.

.....

Yeah. If he ran around dahntahn Pittsburgh for even 5 seconds, he'd break his legs on no less than 20 potholes (although some could be classified as sinkholes....or meteor craters....).



Damn straight. Although would you want to love a city currently ranked as the most taxed in parking and pretty much bankrupt in every way? Kansas ain't looking so bad after all, come to think of it..... [idle thought]Maybe I'll look for work in that idyllic city, Pittsburg, KS.....[/idle thought]

I always found that funny in Superboy comics. Clark would spend all his time preventing the Smallville Bank from being robbed. You think being the home of the first flying boy ever would attract a lot of tourists or something, at least.

It's jsut funny. If supervillains decided to take over Washington DC or something, we'd be toast.

I would if I could run everywhere at the speed of light. Bankrupt? I'm from Philly, that doesn't bother me. Is your mayor a giant asshead?

I think handing off state nicknames to towns in other states could start a whole new trend. Lone Star Pennsylvania. Big Sky Rhode Island. Sunshine State Minnesota. Catchy.

[Bitter ex-Smallville watcher]Look on the bright side, Skyblade. At least in Superboy, teenaged Clark didn't spend all his time ripping off Peter Parker's gig, bitching about how he just wants to be normal. And being a crappy person.[/Bitter ex-Smallville watcher]

Firestorm is currently based in Pittsburgh, though that may change when the new Firestorm series debuts in May.

Wish we had a new episode of JL to talk about...

From that link:



HoYaytastic!

Right now my other board has exploded into bickering over who should play live-action WW and Wondergirl. I'm backing Liv Tyler as WW, but apparently her boobies are too small. What, will the lasso tell the world if she uses a pushup bra?

Isn't Flash located in Central City in the animated JL? In the Grodd episode, I thought I saw him run by the "Welcome to Central City" sign. When they showed the map of the US in the same ep, it looked liked Central City was placed in Ohio.

In the comics Central City and Keystone City are twin cities connected by a bridge. Central is tradtionally white collar while Keystone is more working class. However they are both in Kanses and Missouri respectively. Who knows?

From Comics Continuum:



Great...so now we have to go to Blockbuster to see it. Tee-rific. The cartoon kicks ass, so now Cartoon Network has to jerk us around.

Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series are due out in dvd box sets this year. No plans for Justice League though.

They finally showed Eclipse over here. There's soemthing I don't get. When the villian said his Crystal could destroy the world, he obviously lied so Diana would touch it. But, then, how come he was able to lie? he was tied with her magic Lasso.

Good ep though. Especially Flash selling out to make money. That energy bar, commercial was so funny. and the Flash mobile makes about as much sense as the Spider Bugy.

I don't think we've heard that the lasso/lariet compells people to tell the truth. We take it as canon, but the writers haven't spelled out whether this is the case or not.

Eclipso wasn't lying. If he were allowed to spread his evil throughout the world, and turn everyone into evil psychopaths, he could destroy the world as we know it.

So, I'm assuming the Killer Frost from Secret Society is Dr. Louise Lincoln, the second one. I'm assuming this from what little info I could find about the character on the web. Anyone out there able to verify this and give some better background on the character? If so, please share...

Oooo! I just had the best idea! If they ever make a new Justice League movie, how about Katherine Heigl (from Roswell) as Giganta! Oh wow. I'd start camping out for tickets today.

Comics Canon and American geography have always had a troubled relationship. At one point, there was a map showing Metropolis as a major city located roughly where Wilmington Delaware is, basically replacing Philadelphia as the major city region on the Delaware River. Others have it on the Atlantic coast-line where Ocean City MD is, or even as a stand-in for Chicago, Ill. On Smallville, it's a rival to Kansas City, Mo on the Kansas-side of the Missouri River...though Smallville's Mighty Mo' has a deepwater inland port like Montreal or New Orleans.

In the old 50's TV-show, originally it was implied that Clark moved to NYC and described the Daily Planet as "a great metropolitan newspaper", as in being "big city" rather than being in that same-named city. Later they bowed to Canon specifically calling the city, Metropolis...though in terrain it was more like Los Angeles with mountains, forests and deserts nearby. There's also comics that place Edge City in the place of LA and San Diego.

And the confusion about New York versus Gotham has spawned all sorts of convoluted solutions since some superheros in the same Comic Universe live in both. In Elrond's Smallville fan-slash, Gotham City is an old, dark industrial rust-belt metroplis sprawling from Newark, NJ to Patterson, NJ along the Passiac River's old industrial heartland...with the bright lights of NYC as contrast on the eastern horizon. Others have placed Gotham on the Delaware where Trenton NJ is.

It's never helped that NYC is sometimes referred-to as "Gotham" in the real-world, and I think that predates the entire Batman-mythos.