My Crazy Youth: The Fantastic Four vs. Galactus from 1967

 I came around at the time when Shows that were 20 years old were 'retro' and in syndication via Channels like Boomerang.

As such, I saw this Cartoon before the 1994 Fantastic Four Cartoon.

Unsurprisingly, the Hanna Barbera Cartoon also featured the famous fight against Galactus.

Let's see how the original animated showdown went.

...um, phrasing.

A strange effect happens on the Earth.  Rocks form a barrier in the sky.

Is this Reed stretching his neck or an animation error?
You decide!

The Watcher shows up and warns them that they must stop the Herald of Galactus- the Surfer- from signaling him.

There'd be no conflict if they did it in time, so they fail.

Time to punch out the...wait- that's Silver Surfer?!?

Galactus shows up...and he's green.

Coloring in this Show is sure a choice!

This angle also nearly gives us an intergalactic upskirt shot!

As always, Watcher sends Johnny to retrieve the one weapon that can give Galactus pause.

Since this is still in the Kirby Era (he left in 1970- well, the first time), we get some trippy (but also cheap enough for animation) visuals.

Meanwhile, Susan finds the beat-up Surfer and asks him to turn against Galactus to help the Earth.

That or she's giving him therapy.

Tell me about your Space Mother.

The group fight Galactus, essentially just stalling to keep him from getting his machines (which will drain the Earth) running.

Can they stall long enough?

Yes, obviously.

They give the Ultimate Nullifier (in a lovely gift box) to The Watcher who negotiates a deal for Galactus' exit.

Is THIS your card?

In a change from the Comics, Galactus just threatens reprisal against the Silver Surfer.

In the Comics, he put a restriction on him that didn't allow him to leave the Milky Way.

In a bit of pure coincidence, this is the SECOND Fantastic Four content in a row I've covered that ends with Reed waving.

A fun, if very copy-paste version of the famous Comic Book Trilogy.

On one hand, why change what Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created here?
On the other hand, are you just getting paid to do the exact same thing twice?

This is the early days of Saturday Morning Cartoon Animation, so I give i a pass (with a joke) on the little errors, hiccups and the like.

Why make Galactus green?
Why make Surfer look like Iceman?

I guess I can't complain about this one regard, as this isn't like those early Marvel Cartoons which were literally just reused Comic Book Panels (and they didn't pay the Artists again)!

Speaking of payment, I should note that Jack Kirby would go on to work for Hanna-Barbera around 1979, even creating HERBIE for an FF Show (and also Thundarr the Barbarian).

If you were of a certain age to see this new or in syndication (like me), there's a fun charm here.
It's also free to watch and download, so there's that.

Talk to the hand- the Devourer of Worlds isn't listening!

An Episode that fights against the limitations of its day and weird choices made.  A must-see for fans of Retro Animation.

My Crazy Youth: The Fantastic Four vs. Galactus- Round 3!

 After the last Episode, I figured I'd keep going.

In Episode 20 (now fully in the new style), Galactus would return in 'When Calls Galactus...'

The FF go out to dinner, but are mobbed by fans.  Whoops.

One girl (Nova) is daring and kisses a morose Johnny (missing his beau Crystal) and... lights on fire.

It turns out that she was exposed to chemicals as a kid and now has Johnny's powers too!

Bad timing as Terrax- last seen in 'To Battle the Living Planet'- arrives and attacks!

He is Galactus' new Herald (replacing Silver Surfer), but wants their help to kill him!

They are forced to acquiesce when he floats New York City into the upper Atmosphere!

The group- with Nova and now Invisible Woman- goes to him and he explains that he was 'poisoned' by a Planet chosen by Terrax.

He attacks them and our Heroes realize that his attacks power up Galactus, allowing him to defeat his Herald!

As he goes to leave, Galactus is suddenly 'sick' from that Planet (delayed reaction?) and now decides to feed on Earth!

They battle him, but things aren't going well.

A literal Deus Ex Machina arrives in the form of Thor (voiced by John Rhys Davies!), who aids them.

However, he's still not enough.

As a Fox Crossover, Ghost Rider (who previously appeared on Hulk and was going to get a Show) rides onto the scene and uses his Penance Stare.

It makes Galactus feel the pain of every life he took by eating their Planets (which is countless 1,000,000,000s!).

Galactus goes down!

He soon begins to feed on its own energies, shrinking the giant alien!

However, Nova speaks up, offering to become Galactus' new Herald and exploring the Galaxy with him.

Johnny doesn't take it well, obviously.

She goes with him, apparently not appearing on the Show again.  Dang.

The End.

A fun Episode, even if it does speed through a ton of story in just one Episode.

Curiously, the 1st Season did a 2-Part Episode on Galactus (which I remember watching on my living room floor one Saturday morning) and then did these Episodes in just one-offs.

In the course of 20+ minutes, we have to meet Nova, get her origin, see her relationship form with Johnny, see her fight the villains and then see her change her fate to leave with Galactus.

If that's not a speed run, what is?

Having said that, I did like it.  I like that they introduced Terrax and Thor before and then paid them off in the same Episode.

Ghost Rider was a good replacement for Dr. Strange, who did the same thing in the Comics (just with a spell that caused the same effect).

It is a random, but fun cameo.

All in all, this one- sans Silver Surfer- does show what an improvement we got from Season 1.  I mean...this is a real Screenshot from that 2-Part Episode.

A less remembered, but still fun Episode of this dated Show.  Thankfully, it is less dated in the bad way, especially compared to the previous 2.

My Crazy Youth: The Fantastic Four (and The Silver Surfer) vs. Galactus - Round 2!

 The 1990s were an *interesting* time for the Comics Industry and the Fantastic Four were no exception.

They got a Cartoon in 1994 and it was...something.

In short, it was changed drastically for the better in Season 2.

Before that, let's cover the final Episode before the rebrand and it features the return of The Silver Surfer!

A quick recap first (which is given in the Show later as well) ...

The Silver Surfer stood up to Galactus and was forbidden to soar the Universe in return.  He could only stay in our Galaxy.

The Episode begins with Ben and Alicia at home watching the TV, finally with some alone time.

It is interrupted by Johnny (whose Pearl Jam Concert was rained out) and then the other two.

Weird energy in the air is causing what appears on TV to come out of the screen!

That's all of the setup I need for the team to fight Dinosaurs!

They trace the energy to the upper Atmosphere and find Galactus' ship, albeit worn down.

They go inside and THEN put on space suits.

They are called that because you only put them on AFTER you're in Space, right?

All is not what it seems as The Silver Surfer- fresh off of meeting Alicia and recapping his origin- arrives.

They have more company- Dr. Doom!

This was all a trap so that he could zap The Surfer and steal his powers!

He sets the ship to explode and flies to Earth.

Obviously, our Heroes survive and Reed tries to find a way to restore The Surfer's powers.

It is not going well!

Meanwhile, Dr. Doom hijacks all of the TV Signals to announce that he wants the World Rulers to all surrender to him and make him King (of the World)!

As luck would have it, the nosy Land Lady (she stopped appearing in Season 2) inspires a simple plan.

They bait Dr. Doom into chasing them into Outer Space.

They make him fly past Galactus' limit on the Surfer, which gets his attention.

He's a full on Deus Ex Machina here, stopping Doom, restoring the Surfer and then leaving them.

Bye!

The End.

This is a fun Episode, as long as you understand what you are going to get here.

The Show was not great, especially in this 1st Season.  It had moments and it adapted the early Comics, giving a younger Demographic (like me) a taste of them.

There's a genuine charm here.

That said, the Animation, Writing and Production are a little bit off and pretty silly.

We see Sumo Wrestlers come out of a TV!

Pacing is strange as we don't get to fully powered Doom until over halfway through.  As such, they have to rush through to the End.

I can't be mad at this- it is endearing and just kind of silly.

It also features some not so subtle advertising for the Marvel Action Hour (of which this is the 2nd half) ...

Have some goofy fun with this Show- wrinkles and all.  It is both silly and self-serious, which is a good combination for animation.

Animated Fun: Green Lantern- The Animated Series: Season 1

 As part of my continuous quest to not give HBO Max (or whatever it will be called when you read this) money, I bought a DVD of Season 1 of the short-lived Green Lantern cartoon.

I remember enjoying this one when it was originally on.

After over a decade, how does it hold up?

To find out, read on...

Hal Jordan (the Film act somewhat as a Sequel to the Film, so no origin story) and Kilowogg are told about some incidents in deep space.

Lanterns are being killed (they can't say that explicitly, of course) and they go to investigate.

This involves 'borrowing' a new ship (with the help of a Guardian) and going into this bit of Space with sparse protection and mostly-untrained Lanterns.

The pair run across a new threat- Red Lanterns!

These people/aliens are powered by Rage/Anger, as opposed to Willpower like our Heroes.

Their leader is an Alien named Atrocitus and he wants revenge on the Guardians for past crimes (or so he says).

Razer- one of the Red Lanterns left behind- goes from their prisoner to cautious helper.

Essentially, he also wants to stop Atrocitus, but only for leaving him to die.

The ship's AI takes on a robot form named Aya and sparks (not literally- yet) fly between them.

This Show is based on the then-pretty new expanded lore of the Lanterns.

As such, we meet the Star Sapphires, who wield the power of Love.

Is there more going on though?

Season 1 sets up an invasion of Red Lanterns.

Can they stop it?

Maybe with some help...but it is still a toss-up.

To find out, watch Season 1 now.

A really fun Show that rewards you for paying attention as it goes on.

The serialized nature of the Show works great, with Characters getting Arcs and things all coming to a head.

St. Walker shows up early on, just so he can be important later (see above).
Razer's backstory is deep and gains a few twists and turns along the way.

Kilowogg grows from gruff Commander to fully fleshed out person over 13 Episodes.

Even Atrocitus goes from snarling villain to guy with a somewhat justified vendetta!

The only complaint I've seen about the Show that I do get is the fact that he's off of Earth from 98% of the Show, denying us a chance to see his non-space-based Villains.
That's fair.
Minor, but fair.

The whole thing is quite enjoyable and I spaced out my viewing over a couple of weeks to slightly-simulate the natural pacing of my original watch.

Speaking of which, now I'm left without a way to watch Season 2 right now.  All I've got is...

A Show that has held up well, doing more justice (pun intended) to Hal and company than the 2011 Film.  Seek it out.

Streaming Standard: Justice League- Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part 3

 At last, the final moments are here!

The final moments of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths are upon us!

Of course, the 1985 Comic Series was the reset to almost 50 years of Comics, while this is the end to...4 years of Direct to Video Animation.

Even so, how well the end, well, end?

When we last left things, the Anti-Monitor finally showed its face (or face like area) to destroy everything.

Short Film, huh?

No, a Deus Ex Machina happens abruptly to stall for time.

The Worlds are all drawn into The Bleed, an unstable area of space outside of normal reality.

That explains why they have to fend off Dinosaurs and Nazis, as well as a cameo from the 'Mayhem' guy from the Allstate ads voicing a super obscure DC Character.

The plan is only a short term one, as they can't hide forever.  Never mind that resources won't last.

Have I mentioned yet how bleak and depressing they make this Story yet?

John Stewart introduces Constantine to Batman and they learn the secret of why things are like they are.

Basically, Constantine broke the Universe to avenge the results of Apokolips War (a Film I skipped because it looked way too grimdark and stupid).

Things build to a battle against the Anti-Monitor when he begins to find a way to attack them in their hidden home.

Supergirl supercharges herself with a whole bunch of Suns to help them launch an attack against the Anti-Monitor and succeeds...at a high price.

More Anti-Monitors appear, however, leading to the moments that the Internet made a big fuss over.

This includes the Super Friends being wiped out by the being...

...the Teen Titans being destroyed (by just showing their T-Tower wiped out).  Why pay the Voice Actors who still voice the Characters on Teen Titans Go, after all?

...and, of course, the final Animated appearance of Kevin Conroy as Batman, alongside Mark Hamill as The Joker...unless you got the copy with the temp voice in place.

Whoops.

Lex Luthor (from Earth-10, if you are keeping count) didn't do too well with his first plan.

Maybe a desperate gamble will lead to a new reality for them all to live in.

Of course, nothing has been announced yet, so...who knows?

The End.

A big series of events that eventually lead somewhere.  It sure does take a while though.

The Pacing is so weird here.
We jump right from the end of Part 2 and into a time jump.
They spend a long, long time on a battle with the Dinosaurs and Nazis.

That part is fun, but how important is it to the narrative?  If only they didn't spend so much time on Psycho Pirate last time, we wouldn't feel both rushing and dragging at the same time.

The Film's Plot relies so much on you following all of the DC Films for proper emotional resonance.  So when it goes 'That guy from Warworld is here' I was all 'Oh...okay.'

The big problem for me is that it seems to be anti-fun.  Multiverses- if used sparingly- are fun.
This Story makes it clear that they are actually terrible.
Cool- I hate having fun.

For better or worse, this is the send-off that they have been building up to, featuring grand scale, mopey heroes and so many Cameos that even mega nerds like me go 'Oh...yeah...him/her.'

Seriously, name all of the people that aren't Booster Gold or Starfire.

****

At least Aya's Cameo leads nicely into my next piece.

A Film that is both a celebration and mutilation of DC's Comics History.  If you can get through the slogs, there's some big action/fun to be had.

Streaming Standard: Justice League- Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One

 It's the end of their world(s) as we know it...and I feel fine.

After many years, some good cartoons and many others, the DCAU ended with a bang...or three.  I figured that it would make sense to see how this Series ended before DC's new Film Series (properly) begins.

Crisis on Infinite Earths was a huge event in the mid-80s, designed to streamline the continuity.  That was needed when it was made up of multiple timelines and Planets.

There was literally a Planet where WWII never ended.  Yikes.

This is The Flash.
He's the Fastest Man Alive.

He's just run so fast that he's broken out of time.

What does that mean exactly?

Well, simply put, he jumps around the entire Movie between a number of places and times.

One moment, he's on Earth-3 with evil Justice League Members.
The next, he's meeting up to form his own Justice League.

Is this confusing?  Yes.
Is this clever?  Eh...I'll let you decide that.

The team is formed when a robot is released that is far too powerful and dangerous for one (or two or three) of them to take down alone.

During all of this, Flash meets, falls in love with and marries Iris West.

She's pretty chill with all of this.

The whole thing builds up to a wave of matter that seems to be striking all of the different worlds in the DC Multiverse.

Heroes from all over are united by a being known as The Monitor.

This all leads up to a very old Flash (alongside Iris and Amazo's head) building a device that can stop the wave.

He dies peacefully...but there's still two more of these...so guess how well this all works out.

To be continued...

A very experimental attempt to adapt a classic tale...that only sort of works.

Look- Christopher Nolan has done a confusing Film about time travel.

It was Tenet.
It wasn't The Dark Knight.

This whole thing is just needlessly complicated and just kind of confusing.

Does a time-hopping Barry work to flesh out the Story better?  No.
Could you have told this in order?  Yes.

This one has some good action in it- the Amazo fight, for instance- but is just too annoying for me.

Despite how things might look, I'm not a Marvel Fanboy who hates or generally dislikes DC.
I want something like this to be fun, epic and amazing.

It...wasn't.
It had moments, but is otherwise just a build up for two more Animated Films that will hopefully make me feel better than this.

A needless complication for, let's be honest, an already complicated Story.  I wanted to love this so much more.