153 replies to this topic

[Lantern7]

This past June, mainstream America was introduced to Green Lantern on the big screen. And America . . . said "meh." Let's be honest . . . Batman aside, DC Comics can't put out good comic book movies. In 2012, America will have another chance to embrace the Emerald Gladiator with Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

Green Lantern has been animated on and off since the Sixties, when Hal Jordan was on Superman and Aquaman's show. Back then, GL had an alien sidekick named Kairo that had a tendancy to speak in slang and ride on his buddy's back in a homoerotic manner. GL also popped on Challenge Of The Super-Friends and the two Super Powers series. By the time Suprman's animated series came out, Hal had went insane in the comics (whitewashed like hell by Geoff Johns, but that's another story), and he was replaced in "In Brightest Day" by Kyle Rayner. In that continuity, John Stewart was introduced in Justice League, which also brought in the Green Lantern Corps into the mix. The Corps also popped up in Batman: The Brave & The Bold, which included the ever-brash Guy Gardner.

GL:TAS (never too early for initals) features Hal Jordan in a CGI-animated series. He's still a test pilot and wooing Carol Ferris (who keeps dealing with his shit), but he soon gets into trouble when he and Kilowog (traditionally known as the Corps' resident drill sergeant) take off in an experimental spacecraft to the distant space frontier, where they seek to discover the cause of a GL's death. They soon run into two Red Lanterns, villains who wear rings that allow them to spew powerful red light. The battle soon shifts to a colony, where Atrocitus (the Corps' demonic-looking leader) makes an appearance.

I saw the one-hour pilot/"event" today at New York Comic Con. The CGI takes time to get used to, especially since I keep thinking "Buzz Lightyear" anytime I see Hal. However, the end of the pilot brings about an unexpected road for Hal to travel, and the rest of the season looks to be promising. The episode(s) will air on Cartoon Network on November 11.

I might as well bring up spoilers while they're fresh in my mind: First up . . . no, Dex-Starr the Red Lantern cat does not show up. I don't remember the name of the humanoid RL, but the other is Zilius Zox, who is basically a giant friggin' head with arms and legs. The Guardians are still douchebags, although Ganthet does give Hal a figurative wink and nudge in showing the spacecraft. That leads to Hal and Kilowog stealing it and using the experimental drive to blast into distant space . . . but not before one Guardian tried to get them down by knocking on the window and pointing downwards. Even more hysterical . . . Kilowog explaining that Hal wears a mask in case a human being that traveled untold distances saw him. That brought the house down.

Anyway, Hal and Kilowog meet a "frontier" GL, and they hook up with his colony, including his wife and kid. Atrocitus seeds the colony with planet-busting plot devices . . . which indeed bust the planet, killing the frontier GL. The humanoid GL gets beat up bad by Hal, but our hero doesn't kill him . . . taking him prisoner instead. Kilowog -- the survivor of a dead planet himself -- manages to save the population. Oh, and the spacecraft's drive is out, and it would take nine months for it to fully repair . . . sticking Hal, Kilowog and their RL prisoner in the space boonies, far the hell away from Oa.

[Scorpiosrule]

It's a Bruce Timm production, yes? For that alone, I'll tune in since I'm SO not a fan of CGI. But, it's Bruce Timm.

[Lantern7]

Yeah, it's Bruce Timm. And like I said, I'll be tuning in . . . and I'm hoping maybe Larfleeze will show up.

[ShadowDenizen]

I've been a GL fan since I was a little kid.
I've been reading it consistently since then, and seen ALOT happen in comic continuity..

Though GL has been popping up for some time in TV-land (thanks for the caspule summary, Lantern7!), it was when I first saw GL appear in the two recent animated movies (First Flight/Emerald Warriors), that it really pumped me up, and made me excited for the future of the franchise in mixed media.

But then I saw the live-action film, and felt that it was way too jumbled and convulted for a non-fan, and moved way too quickily, glossing over major items like the intro of the GL Corps, the "Parallax" link, and the love/hate relationship between Hal and Sinestro. And, while I liked Ryan Reynolds, I thought he'd be a much-better fit for the free spirited artist Kyle Rayner, as opposed to the stuffed-shirt, Type A that Hal Jordan is.

Which brings us to the animated series, and another potential "Uh-Oh" from me. (And, full disclosure, I haven't seen the full pilot yet, but have seen numerous "making of" and excerpts from it thus far.)

To start with, I'm not a fan of the blocky style of CGI animation that they seem to be using, so negative points right off the bat. (Fortunately, having Bruce Timm involved offsets those inital negative points.)

Second, it sounds like they're taking elements of the myhtos willy-nilly from different points in continuity? I'd prefer they at least have a build-up to some major revelations (the color-spectrum of Lantern Corps, etc.) rather than plopping a Red Lantern down in the pilot episode! (That was alos a failing of the movie, offerening too much unnecesary expositon, rather than showing us the mythos from the protagonists POV.)

From the spoilers posted, it sounds like this is almost more of a space western, as opposed to space opera? At least that's the impression I get from the description of the pilot.

Edited by ShadowDenizen, Oct 28, 2011 @ 12:05 PM.

[Lantern7]

Quick spoiler . . . when I was at the DC Comics booth during NYCC, I noticed maquettes of three characters. Actually, I don't know what the proper term is . . . they're like statues, but lighter. The characters: Hal, Atrocitus, and Saint Walker. That means the Blue Lanterns will be making an appearance during the series.

[The Mad Maple]

Just caught an ad for the hour-long pilot on Teletoon. It's airing up here in Canada on November 11th, the same night it premieres in the States. (Which is a good sign, considering that pretty much every other DC animated series in the last few years didn't make its way up here 'til almost nine months later.)

[xanxus]

Thanks for the heads up, Mad Maple. I haven't seen any ads for this show on Teletoon, but it's good to know they aren't going keep us waiting this time.

Hell, did they even wrap up the Brave and the bold over here?

[The Mad Maple]

Hell, did they even wrap up the Brave and the bold over here?

Nope. Haven't even shown Season 3 yet. (Though we did apparently get the "Birds of Prey" episode before the Americans did, so there's that.....)

[Lantern7]

Praise from Chris Sims of ComicsAlliance. Word of warning: there are lots of spoilers.

[Lantern7]

Heads up . . . first episode airs tonight at 7 p.m. tonight.

[Mysteris]

Not bad. Entertaining at least. I like that they weren't afraid to show a hero dying and some moral conflict with Razor. Plus seeing the little MODOK-wannabe getting bounced like a beachball was hilarious.

Might be a good series. :)

[Chrysaor]

I get that someone wanted to do 24 in space, but using Green Lantern properties to do it was probably not the best way to go about it.

It really grinds my gears that they picked the Red Lantern Corps to be the villains here, because the actual Red Lanterns are not that well organized. Except for Atrocitus, most of them aren't even sapient. They're supposed to be rabid and mindlessly violent, not scheming space terrorists on a holy war. Also, removing a Red Lantern's ring is supposed to kill them.

The Lanterns who would have really been fitting for the space terrorist role here would have been the Sinestro Corps, but they probably didn't go there because Sinestro is supposed to be on a redemption arc now IIRC. Though arguably they could have made Mongul the head yellow space terrorist and still pulled it off.

Also, not really feeling the sequences where Hal is out of costume and interacting with Carol Ferris. It looks way too much like The Incredibles or something; I think they made the normal humans' eyes too big and wide and innocent-looking. If it weren't for all the death and space terrorism, I'd argue that this should have been called Disney/Pixar's Green Lantern.

[reinoe]

I'm not 100% on the G.L. mythos but I was a little surprised that they went with the Red Lanterns being the big bads. I figured that they would exposit more on the fact that the G.L. core are functionally a police force. If Hal's out playing hero in the frontier then nobody is watching his sector. Also having newbies patrol the frontiers instead of experienced lanterns? Facepalm. The guardians are portrayed as inept seems typical from what little I do know about the G.L. mythology.

I'm personally not interested in seeing Hal Jordan as the G.L. I wanted to see Kyle Rayner instead. Hal Jordan is the typical hero these days. Defying orders to do "whats right" and winds up being proven correct. Boring and predictable.

Speaking of predictable I knew what's his face was going to betray Atrocitus because he looked humanoid.

I'm a little surprised about the "heavy" theme of death starting out though. One Green Lantern being killed outright and the other sacrificing himself to save his people.

[Perfect Xero]

It's been 50 years, I wish they'd stop trying to make Hal Jordan happen.

[magicdog]

If Hal's out playing hero in the frontier then nobody is watching his sector.

From what I know, there are backup GLs in each sector. Theoretically, Earth is being watched over by any or all of the other Earth GLs:

• Kyle Raynor
  
  
• Guy Gardner
  
  
• John Stewart

not really feeling the sequences where Hal is out of costume and interacting with Carol Ferris. It looks way too much like The Incredibles or something

I thought the EXACT same thing! The CGI is better than I thought it'd be but I still prefer high quality 2D animation.

Overall, I liked the storyline and despite using Red Lanterns as the big bads now, it can still work for me. I'm curious if it really will tyake 9 months (in TV time) to make repairs and get back to Oa. Carol's gonna be pissed for missing their date! Or do they plan on her becoming Star Sapphire and by extension a Violet Lantern?

I'm a little surprised about the "heavy" theme of death starting out though. One Green Lantern being killed outright and the other sacrificing himself to save his people.

I don't mind the themes of death, because it shows just how vicious the Red Lanterns are and how they're devoted to their cause. It's not as if death was non existent in recent TV depictions of superheroes. Bad guys do more than rob banks, they sometimes kill people to reach their goals.

[Chrysaor]

From what I know, there are backup GLs in each sector. Theoretically, Earth is being watched over by any or all of the other Earth GLs:


Kyle Raynor

Guy Gardner

John Stewart

In the modern setup - which we have no idea if the show is actually following - each of the 3600 space sectors is patrolled by 2 partner GLs. Earth's sector, 2814, is the joint responsibility of Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner are part of the Honor Guard task force that operates out of Oa and handles special missions in all sectors.

So if Hal is out playing maverick as he is here, ideally John Stewart is holding down the fort on Earth. The only exception is that being called to do something on Oa doesn't count as abandoning their duties in their home sector, because Oa is at the center of the universe and is considered to be in all 3600 sectors at once.

[A Conspiracy]

It reminded of Star Trek:Voyager,
A ship far away from home / help
That is untested
With a new power supply (and local power supplies that run low)
A crew made up of beings they run into, even maybe former enemies
Righting wrongs and fighting bad guys.

That's not a bad thing...yet (dum dum duuuuum)

[InvaderNorbert]

It really grinds my gears that they picked the Red Lantern Corps to be the villains here, because the actual Red Lanterns are not that well organized. Except for Atrocitus, most of them aren't even sapient. They're supposed to be rabid and mindlessly violent, not scheming space terrorists on a holy war. Also, removing a Red Lantern's ring is supposed to kill them.

Aside from the animation style (like someone upthread said, Disney/Pixar's Green Lantern), this was my main gripe about the show. Hey, I actually know something from the comics to complain about the changes in an adaptation for once. But the rest of the show was rather solid and I'm looking forward to the regular series.

And if there's Red Lanterns, I bet we'll eventually see the other corps. But if we're sticking with Red Lanterns for now, I hoping we'll see Dex-Starr. Love that cat.

[tjreess]

They might have gone with the Red Lanterns, because if there is another movie, it most probably have to do with the Sinestro and the Yellow element of Fear. So the producers of the show were probably told Yellow is a no-no and went with the other bad Lantern Corp.

As to them being too smart, apart from Atrocitus, what works in a comic book doesn't always transfer well to the screen. And villains that can talk and be evil might be more compelling that mindless creatures of rage.

[Lantern7]

Don't know if the Red Lanterns would be the Big Bad of the show. There are a lot of canon GL villains that are beyond Earth, so we could also see the Sinestro Corps, Evil Star, or (fingers crossed), Larfleeze, aka Agent Orange, the only Orange Lantern out there. Sadly, we're probably going to have to wait a while for the next episodes.

I liked Ganthet's hair. Makes him look like the hippie of the Guardians.

[Scorpiosrule]

FUCK! I totally forgot to schedule this on my dvr and now it looks like CN doesn't plan re-airing it any time soon, nor did I see anything for a new episode.

Was this like a sneak preview, like Young Justice was, and the 'regular' season won't start until next year?

Anyone know where I can see it online?

[Chrysaor]

They might have gone with the Red Lanterns, because if there is another movie, it most probably have to do with the Sinestro and the Yellow element of Fear. So the producers of the show were probably told Yellow is a no-no and went with the other bad Lantern Corp.

As to them being too smart, apart from Atrocitus, what works in a comic book doesn't always transfer well to the screen. And villains that can talk and be evil might be more compelling that mindless creatures of rage.

The problem with making the Red Lanterns villains is that most, if not all, Red Lanterns are not actually evil. They're pissed off, often justifiably so because they're victims of people who really were evil in the first place, and consumed with rage to the point where rational thought takes a back seat. But they don't actually go out and commit acts of deliberate evil and terrorism the way they're doing in this show.

As mentioned, if the showrunners wanted villains from the GL universe that were actually evil, they had plenty of choices available without retconning the Red Lanterns. As it is, it just seems like they were too lazy to do their homework before they made the show.

[The Mad Maple]

I actually haven't read any Green Lantern comics since the start of the Sinestro Corps War, so everything I know about the Red Lanterns come second-hand. That being said, I liked the show's version of the Red Lanterns. Appearance-wise, they look pretty damn vicious. And if in the comics, like you say, they're just mindless vessels of rage, I can understand the show's writers giving them some actual personality. Take it from someone going in cold, on the show, they made for great villains.

Sure, I can see the Disney/Pixar comparisons (to which I reply: "What's wrong with that?), but like one of my favourite bloggers pointed out, it's more or less a 3-D version of Bruce Timm's regular style. Compare it to say, Superman or Justice League, and you'll see what I mean.

The whole "trapped in the Frontier" storyline seems interesting, but I hope it doesn't survive the first season. Seems to me it could get old after a while. Still, I'd like to see where they take it.

I like how the stakes are much higher on this show, compared to pretty much any other animated show based on a comic book. (I haven't seen the X-Men cartoon in well over a decade, but I still shudder at the memory of the police force of a small Bavarian village, in full ceremonial garb, chasing after Nightcrawler with frikkin' laser rifles!) On this show, characters can and will die, and death actually means something. And the glowing rings flying back to Oa after a Lantern dies makes for a great visual.

All in all, I liked it, and when the new show debuts up here in the new year, I'll definitely be tuning in.

I actually haven't read any Green Lantern comics since the start of the Sinestro Corps War, so everything I know about the Red Lanterns come second-hand. That being said, I liked the show's version of the Red Lanterns. Appearance-wise, they look pretty damn vicious. And if in the comics, like you say, they're just mindless vessels of rage, I can understand the show's writers giving them some actual personality. Take it from someone going in cold, on the show, they made for great villains.

Sure, I can see the Disney/Pixar comparisons (to which I reply: "What's wrong with that?), but like one of my favourite bloggers pointed out, it's more or less a 3-D version of Bruce Timm's regular style. Compare it to say, Superman or Justice League, and you'll see what I mean.

The whole "trapped in the Frontier" storyline seems interesting, but I hope it doesn't survive the first season. Seems to me it could get old after a while. Still, I'd like to see where they take it.

I like how the stakes are much higher on this show, compared to pretty much any other animated show based on a comic book. (I haven't seen the X-Men cartoon in well over a decade, but I still shudder at the memory of the police force of a small Bavarian village, in full ceremonial garb, chasing after Nightcrawler with frikkin' laser rifles!) On this show, characters can and will die, and death actually means something. And the glowing rings flying back to Oa after a Lantern dies makes for a great visual.

All in all, I liked it, and when the new show debuts up here in the new year, I'll definitely be tuning in.

[Lantern7]

Good news and bad . . . while Cartoon Network's "DC Nation" block debuts tomorrow morning, they'll be breaking up the GL pilot into two episodes. The first new installment will air on March 17. That's St. Patrick's Day . . . a fitting time to break out new stuff that's green.

[Marq DeCarabas]

Did a new installment air? shocked there's not a single comment.

[Lantern7]

Yes, indeedy. I've just been too busy today to post.

For those keeping track: Hal Jordan and Kilowog are nine months away from Oa, a distance judged at maximum speed in their top-of-the-line ship, the Interceptor. They have a prisoner in Razer, a Red Lantern with a death wish. And that's about it for there.

Hal and 'Wog decide to dump Razer off at a prisoner run by the Spider Guild. For those unfamiliar with DCU canon (and never got into Omega Men) . . . that was a bad idea. Afterward, they encounter an escapee from the same prisoner, who begs not to go back. Yadda yadda yadda, Hal and Kilowog are captured, their rings neurtalized by yellow-tinged plot device stuff. Meanwhile, Razer is forced to relive losing his love over and over, unable to get the death he desires so much. Aya (the Interceptor's AI) manages to free Razer, who runs away . . . just so he can grab his Red Lantern ring and burn the spiders to shit.

"Razer's Edge" was pretty good, giving Razer a little more depth. He's no longer a prisoner, and he might be keeping his power ring. That's interesting, since Red Lantern rings are a lot more self-destructive than GL rings. Also, Aya takes a step towards getting her own robotic body, which should happen next week.

Cutting and pasting future episodes . . .

"Into the Abyss" While Hal and Kilowog deal with a new threat, Aya reveals that she can transfer herself into a robotic body and leave the ship.

"Heir Apparent" To win the hand of an alien princess, Hal must fight a brutal warlord.

There are episode titles on IMDB, but the next two are different from those I got from Wikipedia. If anybody has a better list for titles and summaries, I'd like to know.

[Lantern7]

I'm hoping that I'm not alone watching this show, especially with the posts for Young Justice every week.

This week, the gang tries to save a ship with precious cargo from getting sucked into a "pinhole," which is more or less a black hole. There isn't a villain in this piece, save for the animosity between Razer and Kilowog. Sadly, our favorite hippo-looking GL is every bit of a prick about it as Razer, if not worse. The gang wind up saving the ship and its cargo (rare eggs), the non-human Lanterns gain a small measure of respect toward each other, and Hal shows off his l33t flying skillz by flying the ship out of a black hole by plunging inward and slinging out.

In the other development, Aya manages to download her consciousness into bug-sized robots. The gang figured that they were the stuff hatched from the eggs, and she wound up defrosting and powering up the engine. When Kilowog gave her grief about her wanting to be a Green Lantern, she combined her robots to give her a form to "wear" outside the Interceptor. Kilowog immediately facepalms, figuring that the first question Hal will ask once the episode fades to black is, "So . . . are you fully functional?"

Quick question: did the canon Kilowog hatch from an egg? Must have been one hell of an egg.

[magicdog]

I'm hoping that I'm not alone watching this show, especially with the posts for Young Justice every week.

No, you're not. I do admit I'm having a bit of trouble getting into this show as much as I'm into YJ. It does have a great pedigree behind it, but I feel like it really needs to step up its game after the two part pilot.

It was good to see Razor get a bit of development in the past two eps (giving him a reason to be angry enough to be recruited as a RL) and be able to work better with Kilowog. He's one Debbie Downer though! If there's something negative going on, Razr's the one to tell you about it.

On another board, it was hinted at that perhaps what occured on Razor's planet may have actually been the work of Atrocitus. Perhaps he had sensed he'd have another RL to add to his Corps if he had the right circumstances to push Razor over the edge. It seemed awful convenient for the RL ring to be right there at Razor's weakest and angriest moment.

Quick question: did the canon Kilowog hatch from an egg? Must have been one hell of an egg.

I was hoping you knew!

[Chrysaor]

It seemed awful convenient for the RL ring to be right there at Razor's weakest and angriest moment.

All Power Rings are designed to literally seek out potential wielders whose emotional states will allow them to operate a ring. If the recruit manifests sufficient rage, hope, will, ability to scare people, etc. a free ring will zip through the universe, fly right up to them, and slip itself onto their finger. It's not the personal decision of a Corps leader like Atrocitus, but rather the ring's own programming.

[Lantern7]

Will Kilowog's next meal be a bowl full of McNuggets? GLTAS toys included in future Happy Meals. It's spoiler-safe . . . mostly Hal stuff, with one figure each for Kilowog and Razer.