Are your senses ready for the best jai-alai-glove-wearing superhero?

Do your ears have seatbelts? Have you had your eyes windshield-wiped to clear out any vitreous floaters that may obscure your view? Is your couch equipped with harnesses to keep you from ejecting into the ceiling? Does your tv play 5D?!

These questions were designed to test your state of readiness when it comes to The Flaming C. Conan O’Brien is an idea-wizard, you see. He is a living cosmic cube — his ideas have the power to overcome the limitations present in other ideas in that they become real, measurable, tangible things.

The fishnet-sporting superhero, The Flaming C started out as a caricature courtesy of artist/DCAU-architect, Bruce Timm. Then they made clips, splicing him into pre-existing episodes of Young Justice. Fans started nerding out. (that’s how the idea-wizard gets his powers)

In less than half a year, The Flaming C managed to establish a well-received presence at Comic Con — where this was shown:

A movie trailer for a possible (schedule: maybe) Flaming C feature! Are we ready for this? If ever this gets made — I would refer back to this post and have an answer ready.

The last time I tried to post a sneak peek for Batman: Year One, the video was taken down. Well, here’s the trailer:

It’s a great year to be a Bat-fan! Batman Arkham City comes out later this year — and what’s this? Batman: Year One! Here’s a sneak peek:

Check out the storyboards on this one — lifted from the panels. Will this be the best Batman animated film yet?

The X-Men anime is cleavage. And shoulder pads.

This version of the X-Men is a mix of New and Astonishing — in anime format. When I say anime format, I mean slightly-tweaked Western designs animated in beautiful/mad MadHouse style.

The story kicks off a year after Jean’s supposed-death (she will rise again) — with the X-Men regrouping in the Xavier Institute to do what they do best: take matters into their own hands when it comes to mutant issues. Scott is still in his post-Jean/pre-Emma/mega-whine period, Logan is still angry all the time, while Storm and Beast serve as the heart and mind of the group, respectively.

Their first mission has them investigating the disappearance of fan-favorite middleschooler mutant Hisako Ichiki/Armor in Japan. X-Men-type shenanigans ensue.

All in all, (and I haven’t checked out the Wolverine/Iron Man series) I think this is the strongest Marvel Anime offering so far. It follows certain 616 storylines while also adding some anime sensibilities. (The good kind. The kind that doesn’t change the settings/characters too much, but changing them enough to make it a logical fit for the tone/direction they are going for.)

The animation, as expected of MadHouse, is top-notch. The end credits also show much promise when it comes to some villains that will be featured in future storylines: Magneto, Juggernaut, Stryfe(!) and Mystique, to name a few.

Oh, and as mentioned, the X-Men anime is cleavage. Case in point:

Personally: I’m looking forward to the episode where Charles Xavier steps down and Cyclops decides to be a bad-ass.

[Thanks to Mikko for the heads-up!]

The clip posted on Newsarama last week teased Batman vs Superman on the the season opener for The Brave and the Bold. Seeing the familiar armor, the episode was bound to have quite a few more references to previous instances when Batman had to fight Superman.

Here are two screenshots that reference their fight from The Dark Knight Returns:

…and a third screenshot that looks like a panel from the Hush storyline:

Batman and Superman slugging it out is something fans truly want to see. With that episode’s portrayal, and that one we already know how gorgeous it would probably look, animated. Question is: why do we still not have a DC Universe Animated feature for The Dark Knight Returns? (It, of course, being the primary source of this Batman-haet-Superman thing. Most comics that have them fighting probably reference it one way or another.)

They could get away with it being a little too “dark” now, as shown by The New Frontier, so that covers a couple of issues with the source material. (Batman: Year One will be made, but still no official announcement for TDKR.)

Until then, fans have last week’s Brave and the Bold episode to repeat over and over to see Batman fighting Superman, TDKR-style.

Watched Batman: Under the Red Hood again — only to realize that there aren’t that many animated Batman films (not counting the Superman/Batman ones) — and making a top 5 list is only a matter of selecting the ones that really stood out.

So here goes my list:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm – The one that started it all — coming out straight from the (then on-air) fantastic animated series, this one had all the elements of a good Batman story: action, mystery, romance and tragedy.

Batman: Under the Red Hood – The most recent Batman animated film is action. Just action. Based on the story arc “Under the Hood,” it is the culmination of that Jason Todd cameo from the “Hush” storyline, 7 years ago. While many didn’t like how Jason was even brought back in the first place, this animated feature had enough great action sequences, double (and triple) crosses and the occasional banter between Batman/Nightwing, to make this direct-to-video feature highly entertaining.

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker – Okay, so I cheated a little. While not featuring the Bruce Wayne version of the character, this Batman animated feature still has enough action, mystery and humor to make it stand on it’s own. If you watch it enough times, you’ll recognize that this is secretly Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movie wrapped in Batman Beyond awesomeness.

Batman: Gotham Knight – Tying in to The Dark Knight, Gotham Knight is an anthology of Batman stories set in the Nolan-verse. Sitting nicely in between Begins and The Dark Knight, these stories explore several themes of “Batman in the real world.” Animated by various Japanese animation studios with Batman voiced by Kevin Conroy, it surprisingly works.

Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero – If you think about it — SubZero wouldn’t have happened at all if Mr. Freeze just learned how to ask nicely. Life lessons all around.

***

For now this list will remain like this until maybe a Batman: The Brave and the Bold (oh for this episode alone!) movie comes out, or if the Batman: Year One direct-to-video turns out great later this year.

This is probably the strongest holiday special The Simpsons have had in recent memory.  Also, this screencap below makes me look forward to growing old like Mr. Burns:

Seriously — Blue Harvest was more than 3 years ago?!  Can’t wait for the new Family Guy Star Wars special!

Ever just wake up one day to find out that one of your dreams-you-thought-you-never-had came true?  I had one of those days — especially when I found out I was dreaming about bridging the gap between my childhood and the present.  In terms of Ninja Turtles, of course.

Like any good kid from the ’90s — Friday night was what kept me trudging through the week.  When it wasn’t Ghostbusters I was looking forward to, (they used to show cartoons for PRIMETIME!  Seriously, kids of the ’00s!) it was that other group of 4 — the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

After the “Turtles” were apparently caught on film trying to stop a robbery, Master Splinter orders the Turtles to investigate.

What they find, instead, are their light-hearted, fun-loving, multi-dimensional counterparts.  While at first, the Turtles find their multi-dimensional counterparts (the ’87 Turtles) to be free-spirited goof-offs, they find that they weren’t the only ones  who don’t belong in that dimension — their multi-dimensional villainous counterparts made the leap as well.

While in this dimension (the 2003 continuity) Krang doesn’t exist, the Shredder does — and this incarnation?  He’s vicious, he’s lethal, he’s … competent.  )

While Shredder repairs his body and merges the Dimension-X technology of the Techno-Drome with Utrom technology, the Turtles and their ’87 Turtles counterparts find a way to get along and set everything right.

First off, the theme for a coupla things of the last few years: The Multiverse.  It works here, and it’s a blast seeing the 1987 designs drawn in high(er)-quality.  What also makes this feature fantastic is the references to each dimension — the 1987 Turtles being just absolute stand-up guys that, seen through kid-eyes would make you see them as the absolute kinds of superheroes you could just hang out and eat a slice of pizza with.

It also makes for comedy gold, such as this clip:

(Fun fact: yes, April O’Neil has forever changed the way I see girls in yellow.  Yellow jumpsuits.  Oh April, you and your yellow jumpsuits and auburn hair.    )

The ’87 Turtles also provide a view of simpler times, when saving girls in yellow jumpsuits seemed like the sort of daily-thing-you-do, and that having a slice of pizza will miraculously provide answers in defeating villains who have high-tech weaponry.

The present Turtles, while a bit more serious, provide a nice contrast to these “new”/haven’t-been-seen-for-a-long-time characters.  Even if Fast Forward WAS aimed for younger audiences, it’s pretty easy to see that the origin of these present turtles are much firmer rooted to their Mirage comics origins.

The few faults to be seen here are the absolute impotence of the ’87 villains compared to their more serious/vicious present counterparts.  (Also, lulz at Mirage-Comics Shredder’s screentime!)  Then again, The Shredder is, was, and most probably needs to be, in any form, an egomaniac.

There’s also this nice bit about Present/Utrom-Shredder survives almost ANYTHING, while a pair of clumsy-henchmen (guess who!) would turn out to be his absolute downfall.

If you were ever a fan of ANY form of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at any point in your life, then this is a must-see.  Also, did I mention?  SEE IT!  Find a way!  Go see it right now!  It brought me this Saturday-morning-cartoon-don’t-care-about-the-world-eat-pizza-watch-Turtles F-U-N.  Cowabunga!

5/5,

only because now that I’m older, I’m finding the TMNT more significant.

***

Points to ponder:

1.  Will Hun stay that way?

2.  Does that mean that ’87 Shredder and Krang now have a flying Technodrome/Death Star?

3.  When will the DVD come out?  Apparently, it has 12 MORE minutes that was cut from the version I saw.

Goes to show how much I HAVEN’T been keeping up — there’s a new DCU Animated Feature out — this time, it’s Superman/Batman Public Enemies!  Although not knowing about this until today gave me a pleasant surprise, so there!

Obviously, this one’s based on Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuiness’ first story arc on the Superman/Batman comics.  A DCU Animated feature BASED on Ed McGuiness art?  Awesome.  Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy voice acting?  YES!  (Somewhere out there, Jeph Loeb is laughing hysterically.)  What’s exciting is FINALLY seeing some McGuiness art rendered in animated form!  (Damion Scott Batgirl next feature, please?)

Also, Composite Superman/Batman robot wut wot!

Here’s a link to the official Superman/Batman DVD site, and here’s the trailer from that site:

Superman Batman: Public Enemies – Official Trailer

Also, they have twitter!  Release is on 9.29.09!  Woot!