Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Best known as Mary Ann Summers from the Gilligan’s Island franchise,
she would reprise the role and assume that of Ginger Grant for Filmation’s second
animated spin-off, Gilligan’s Planet. She was unable to do so for the
first, The New Adventures of Gilligan, due to being in a play at the
time of production.
RollBotswas a Canadian
computer-generated animated series created by Michael Milligan, credited as “MCM”, and produced
by Amberwood Entertainment. The series
was set in the floating city of Flip City. It was inhabited
by sentient robots that could retract their limbs and become balls for travel
along roller coaster-like tracks, as well as receive “mods” that could grant
them new abilities or enhance pre-existing ones. The citizenry was divided up
into 11 different tribes with their own individual functions: Fuzata, responsible for
finances and the economy; Hai’bu,
responsible for sanitation and waste management and aided by the sub-tribe Kenchi-ku, which were
small robots kicked into tiny spaces and became the basis for the major sport,
Bot-Ball (similar to soccer); Kazoku,
responsible for educating BotTots (bot children); Kei’zatsu, responsible
for law enforcement through the FCPD; Kuzuri, responsible for
healthcare; Nisen, responsible for running the government; Tensai, the most intelligent
Bots responsible for maintenance and technology construction; Zobo’shi, responsible
for emergency services and had a rivalry with the Kei’zatsu; Zogen’sha, responsible
for spiritual guidance (aka religion); Zurasho, responsible for construction;
and Zeishi, a mysterious and quiet tribe that mostly kept to themselves. There
was a 12th tribe, the Zushin, guardians of the
city who could access all of its systems and were capable of self-healing, but
they were eliminated by the Spiderbots some time ago in a plot to destroy all RollBots.
Spin.
The main character was Spin (Sam
Vincent), a rookie member of the FCPD who was the last surviving Zushin;
something initially unknown to him. His mods included Boomstick, an extendable
stick with two heat blades at the end; Skyv Boots, giving him super jumping
ability and adjust surface friction wherever he stood; Hyper Mode, a Zushin
trait that allowed him to reach extreme velocities; Radiation Boost, allowing
him to absorb radiation and channel it back as telekinesis or energy balls;
Sound Scaper, an infrared camera; and Invisibility, a prototype disk that
rendered him invisible.
On the move: Lance, Pounder, Spin, Penny and Tinny.
Captain
Pounder (Garry Chalk) was the head of the Kei’zatsu and the FCPD. He was tough
and strong but had a secret soft side. His mods were Trolvodian Throwing Armor,
which gave him projectile shields, and Thunder Punch, giving him a boost of
power in his fists. Pounder worked closely with the Special Weapons and Tactics
bots, aka Swat Bots,
which were specially armed and trained FCPD officers utilized for special
missions. Penny (Cathy Weseluck) served as the FCPD’s doctor, on loan from the
Kuzuri tribe, and was Spin’s best friend—potentially a bit more. She possessed
a Healing Glove that repaired bots, power-up small machines or drain power from
bots, as well as the Sound Scraper. Lance (Scott McNeil) was a cowardly
administrator at the FCPD who disliked Spin for constantly breaking the rules,
but absolutely loved to eat lug nuts (a bot snack). His only mod was a Force
Field that he could put around himself or others. Bunto (Colin Murdock) was a
high-ranking member of the FCPD with a no-nonsense approach to the law and
often commanding his own squad. His mods included Siren, comprised of spheroid
drones that followed him emitting a siren wail; Cuffs, restraining devices that
resembled green energy disks; Arm Beam Gun, a cannon stored in his left arm;
and Do-Right Module, which emitted a shock whenever the bot who had it broke
the law. Tinny (Tabitha St. Germain) was a BotTot who enjoyed hanging out with
Spin whenever he wasn’t in school.
Vertex in his Spiderbot form.
The
central villain was Vertex (Murdock), a suspected Spiderbot who planned to
disable the safety net protecting the city (and its citizens from falling to
their dooms) utilizing 11 hidden artifacts so that his fellow Spiderbots could
invade. Only Spin was openly fully aware of Vertex’s true nature (a history
with Pounder was implied) as Vertex could shift his form to resemble a normal
Rollbot (albeit the biggest one in the city). Vertex led an army of henchbots
with his top lieutenants being Manx (Nicole Oliver), a former member of the
FCPD who came up with most of Vertex’s plans and seemed to maintain some level
of conscience; Botch (Brain Drummond), a former member of the city’s most
dangerous gang, the Triads, he had ambitions of supplanting both Manx and
Vertex; and Macro (Murdock), a strong former Hai’bu who loyal to Vertex,
dimwitted and clumsy, and loved eating lug nuts almost as much as Lance. They
eventually were joined by Vett (McNeil), an old ally of Vertex who took a more
direct approach in his attacks on the city. Other bad bots included Phaze (Paul Dobson), another former
member of the Triads who got Manx kicked off the force and had a passion for
magnetic bot mods; Reboot (Cathy Weseluck), a renegade Tensai who voluntarily
joined in Vertex’s plans; Tamaki
(Shirley Millner), the
leader of a group of pirate bots that included her right-hand bot, Kibi (Richard Newman).
Vertex's main minions: Macro, Manx and Botch.
RollBots
debuted
on Canada’s YTV on February 7, 2009, and was
imported by 4Kids
Entertainment into the United States on September 19, 2009 as part of The CW4Kids programming block on The CW. It was developed by MCM,
his first television series, along with Jonathan Wiseman, Chantal Ling and Gerald Tripp. MCM would confess
on his website that a lot of what he had in mind was improvised, but there was
a massive mythology built up for the world along with a semi-functional language
and three alphabets. MCM has
also said that a lot of the names used were a combination of “Japanese words
and techy humor” (for instance, Kei’zatsu was taken from keisatsu, which
is Japanese for “police”). Along with MCM, the series was written by Craig Young (also a supervising
producer), Vito Viscomi, Steven Sullivan, Mark Leiren-Young, Terry Saltsman
and Edward Kay. The original
conceptual design was done by Andrew
King, Leif Norheim and Paul Rivoche, and 2D character
concept designs by King with Dave
Badour. Serge R. Cøté served as
the composer with Elliott Animation
handling the animation. It earned a Gemini Award for “Best
Direction in an Animated Program or Series”.
Pounder and Vertex falling to their dooms? We may never know...
MCM
had envisioned and planned for around 5 seasons’ worth of material, peppering
in clues for future developments throughout the entire first season; even
ending it on a cliffhanger due to assurances of a second. Unfortunately, the
series proved to be too expensive to produce, despite being broadcast around
the world in multiple languages, and was subsequently cancelled. The American
run didn’t fare much better due to 4Kids’ ongoing financial troubles. After the
first 13 episodes aired, 4Kids put it on a brief hiatus before resuming with
reruns that January. On January 23rd, they aired the 14th
and final new episode as RollBots was again put on hiatus. 4Kids
announced that the show would resume come the fall season, but it never made
the transition into the newly renamed Toonzai block.
“Training
Day” (2/7/09 CAN, 9/19/09 US) – It’s Spin’s first day with the FCPD and a bank
robbery goes out of control.
“Breakpoint”
(2/14/09 CAN, 9/26/09 US) – Spin must rescue Captain Pounder and the Kei’zatsu
from Manx and the henchbots.
“Wipeout”
(2/21/09 CAN, 10/3/09 US) – Spin and Tinny have to work together to get free of
a net and stop Manx from delivering a mysterious package to the mayor.
“Scorched”
(2/28/09 CAN, 10/10/09 US) – Vertex’s henchbots use a special bot mod to freeze
the Kei’zatsu in mid-transformation.
“The
Koto Protocol” (3/14/09 CAN, 10/17/09 US) – Lance needs a full repair, but
something in Penny’s past may keep him from getting it.
“Inside
Outside Upside Down” (3/21/09 CAN, 10/24/09 US) – Vertex frees Phaze from
prison and forces him to work with him to take over Pengi Park.
“House
Call” (3/28/09 CAN, 10/24/09 US) – Spin develops sudden bursts of
uncontrollable speed that Vertex wants to harness for his own plans.
“Crontab
Trouble” (4/4/09 CAN, 10/31/09 US) – Vertex unleashes a mod that keeps Spin
reliving the same pocket of history.
“Two
Left Feet” (4/18/09 CAN, 11/7/09 US) – Spin stumbles into a plot to steal limbs
from random bots around the city.
“Do
the Right Module” (5/2/09 CAN, 11/14/09 US) – The mayor’s new modchip keeps
Spin and Penny from doing their jobs.
“#044”
(5/9/09 CAN, 11/21/09 US) – Spin and Lance’s boring guard duty becomes exciting
when they’re lured into a booby-trapped house.
“Goooooal!”
(5/16/09 CAN, 11/28/09 US) – The biggest Bot-Ball player is abducted in the
middle of a match.
“Nonlinear”
(9/15/09 CAN, 12/5/09 US) – Octo’s unveiling of his newest masterpiece is
interrupted by Vertex’s henchbots stealing the medallion from the top of City
Hall.
“Teacher’s
Pet” (9/22/09 CAN, 1/23/10 US) – When Tinny accidentally lets a robo-dog eat a
special invisibility mod, Vertex becomes aware of it and wants it for himself.
“09:F9:11”
(9/22/09 CAN) – Penny must help Spin figure out why his comm messages seem to
be setting off bombs around the city.
“The
Whole Truth” (9/29/09 CAN) – Spin and Pounder must save the Flip City Grand
Prix from disaster.
“Inferno”
(10/6/09 CAN) – Spin causes tensions to rise between the Kei’zatsu and Zoboshi
just as Vertex decides to set the city on fire.
“The
Pirate Bay” (3/11/09 CAN) – Spin has to stop a pirate invasion while attempting
to rescue Tinny from them.
“The
Bazaar” (10/13/09 CAN) – Vertex attacks the Koppa Festival with a device that
sends bots to another dimension.
“The
Cathedral” (10/20/09 CAN) – Botch strikes the Zogensha for an artifact before
Vertex can get it.
“The
Broken” (10/27/09 CAN) – The Tensai unleash a new maintenance robot that makes
life hard for the other tribes, so of course Vertex wants it.
Many years ago, a
Dragon (Rod Goodall) was charged with protecting a Valley and its inhabitants.
One day, he overstepped his bounds and was punished by Heaven. He lost his
power over fire and was banished to remain inside an extinct volcano submerged
in an icy lake lest he succumb to his own flames. Turned evil by bitterness,
Dragon aligned himself Baboon (Paul McLoone, using an Australian accent) and
his endless army of inept Ninja Monkeys (Tony Acworth) in order to conquer the
Valley (a reversal as dragons were typically heroic in Chinese legends).
Skunk: the destined hero of the Valley.
Dragon’s once best friend, Panda
(Paul Tylak), asked Heaven for help against Dragon and into his lap fell Skunk
(Jules de Jongh); accidentally delivered by a stork since both of them were
black and white. Panda took Skunk under his wing and trained him in the ways of
Kung-fu. However, Skunk was overexcitable and lazy, unable to match Panda’s
teachings of patience and always looking for an easier way to accomplish the
lessons (which often backfired and required him to learn the lesson anyway).
Because there were no other skunks in China, Skunk never learned how to control
his natural spray and often exuded when he was embarrassed (which was also caused
by his spraying), scared or suddenly surprised.
Residents of the Valley: Mantis, Ox, Ms. Duck, Fox, Bird, Killer Bee, Panda, Skunk, Dr. Turtle, Pig and Rabbit.
Other residents of the Valley
included Rabbit (Tylak), who considered himself the strongest animal in the
Valley and often fought against Panda’s teachings, wanting to take the battle
right to Dragon. He tried to hide his crush on Fox (Patricia Rodriguez), an
effective and graceful fighter whose level-headedness was only matched by her
fiery temper. She had an attraction towards Rabbit as well (in spite of
himself), but wasn’t above smacking him whenever he picked on Skunk, whom she
considered a little brother. Like the other female warriors of the valley, she
was proficient in the art of fan combat. Dr. Turtle (Acworth) was an old Kung
Fu master and the physician of the Valley with a talent for kite flying. Tiger
(Goodall) was an old friend of Panda’s and claimed to have once been a great
warrior until a disastrous battle with Dragon turned him into a coward.
However, he could still fight ferociously when angered. Pig (Acworth, using a
voice reminiscent of Bobcat
Goldthwait) was a simple-minded loafer with a lousy memory who spent all
his time bathing in mud, as well was being easily influenced—particularly by
Rabbit. Ox and Bird (both Acworth) were always together. Bird was the smarter
of the two (marginally) and considered himself to be great, while Ox could
speak Ninja Monkey. Both enjoyed being nobodies and layabouts. Mantis (Acworth,
impersonating Christopher Walken),
was the Valley’s lookout with a masochistic and suicidal streak; always putting
himself in harm’s way with the hope of a tragic end (although that didn’tt stop
him from coming through for others in battle). Crane (de Jongh) was the town
gossip used for aerial missions. Ms. Duck (de Jongh) was proficient in cooking,
which made her a master of Dim sum Fu. Snake (Tylak, using an Australian
accent), was the Valley spy who enjoyed inflicting pain on others. Frog (Tylak)
was the master of jumping and enjoyed making people laugh. Mr. Fish (Acworth),
the head of the underwater world and master of the art of No Lung Fu with
feelings for Ms. Duck. Finally, there were the Killer Bees (Acworth, speaking
in a hip-hop style), a hive full of extremely short-tempered bees that would
attack anyone that disturbed them—friend or foe.
Baboon bowing to Dragon.
Skunk Fu! was the first
series to be made by Cartoon Saloon;
an Ireland-based studio founded by recent college grads Paul Young,
Tomm More and Nora Twomey. They were working on pitches while taking
commercial gigs to survive until one of their first staffers, Aidan Harte, had come up with the idea
for the show. While on a shoot, Harte was brainstorming ideas with the studio’s
sales rep, Hyun Ho Khang, and decided to center in on their mutual love of Kung
Fu movies. The agency Khang worked for being named “Skunk” gave them the
inspiration for their lead character. In keeping with the color scheme, they
thought about making Skunk’s mentor a zebra, but went with a panda since they
were found more readily in China. The fact that DreamWorks was in the middle of producing
their own martial arts animal film—announced in 2005—was entirely coincidental.
The Karate
Kidserved as inspiration for the relationship between Skunk and Panda.
The Ninja Monkeys.
Harte worked on all the initial
character designs and did preliminary testing of their movement in Flash, a program he had
some experience with. Cartoon Saloon had to hire additional animators
experienced in Flash to tweak his ideas and build up a library for the show;
notably character designers Joost
Van Den Bosch and Erik
Verkerk. In 2003, Skunk Fu! was presented at the European Cartoon Forum where it was
bought up by the BBC, Ireland’s TG4 and ABC
Australia. Additionally, their distributors, Cake Entertainment, were able to
land a deal for the show to air in America on the Kids’ WB programming block.
In 2006, Cartoon Saloon launched a blog
where they would share episode titles and title cards, production artwork,
random silly drawings and put out hiring notices. Animation duties were carried
out by Fatkat Animation Studios
with New Brunswick Film, Monkey Paw
Media, Top Draw Animation, Inc., Ka-Ching Cartoons and
Rocket Fish Studios.
At its peak, Skunk Fu! was
shown in over 120 different markets around the world and was nominated for a BAFTA Children’s Award and two Irish Film and Television Awards, winning one.
Its was a ratings success on The CW, prompting Cartoon Network to acquire the
broadcasting rights and began airing reruns in 2008. While the show was a hit
and a massive feather in the cap of a fledgling studio their first time out, no
further episodes were ordered by any of the networks it was broadcast on (in
The CW’s case, they sold off their children’s programming to 4Kids Entertainment
who filled it with their own productions). While Skunk Fu! only lasted a
single season, Cartoon Saloon was adamant about continuing the saga in movie
form (which has not yet materialized as of this writing).
“The
Art of Stickiness / The Art of Rivalry” (9/22/07) – Rabbit plans to trap the
Ninja Monkey sin sticky tree sap, but Skunk and his friends can’t help playing
with it and end up caught as well. / Frustrated with Panda’s teachings, Rabbit
decides to start his own school leaving Skunk with a choice of which to attend.
“The
Art of Leaving Them Laughing / The Art of Monkey Launching” (9/29/07) – Dr.
Turtle inspires Skunk to take up comedy. / Most of the Valley goes to
investigate a catapult that the Ninja Monkeys are building, leaving Skunk, Bird
and Ox to fend off an invasion. “The
Art of Attitude / The Art of Revenge” (10/6/07) – Rabbit teaches Skunk how to
sound tough, leading to a competition with Baboon. / Skunk looks for revenge
after a Ninja Monkey stomps his green tea cake, leading to his being captured
along with Rabbit. “The
Art of Tunneling / The Art of Conkering” (10/13/07) – Skunk looks forward to
digging a tunnel with Rabbit until Rabbit proves to be extremely bossy. / Skunk
and Tiger go into Dragon’s territory to find an extremely hard walnut that will
help them win against Pig in Chinese Conkers. “The
Art of No Mind / The Art of Kung Fruit” (10/20/07) – Ninja Monkeys attack the
Valley and only Ox can see them. / Skunk decides to get some of Panda’s
favorite plums from Dragon territory, leading to his being ambushed by the
Ninja Monkeys. “The
Art of Darkness / The Art of Dream Control” (10/27/07) – Rabbit scares Skunk
out of joining him on night patrol, so Skunk and Tiger decide to get revenge by
scaring him back. / Skunk and Panda enter the dream realm to stop Skunk’s
nightmares of being controlled by Dragon. “The
Art of Responsibility / The Art of Stealing” (11/3/07) – Skunk adopts a pet
firefly. / Skunk wants to steal Dragon’s stolen magic jewel to help the Valley. “The
Art of Brain Washing / The Art of Turtle Watching” (11/10/07) – An amnesiac Pig
believes he’s a Ninja Monkey. / Skunk is assigned to watch Turtle just when the
Ninja Monkeys decide to steal his shell. “The
Art of Truffling / The Art of Patience” (11/17/07) – Pig goes mad for the same
truffles Dragon wants to ensure his freedom. / Frustrated by Panda’s lesson,
Skunk storms off only to end up in a Ninja Monkey trap with Fox. “The
Art of Being a Pebble / The Art of Passing the Buck” (11/24/07) – Panda attempts
to trick Skunk into being quiet by teaching him to transfer his chi to a
pebble, which the Monkeys end up stealing. / Skunk blames the Monkeys for
breaking a lantern he did, causing everyone in the Valley to place blame on
them and ignoring when they actually attack. “The
Art of Giggling / The Art of Getting Stuck” (12/1/07) – Panda takes Skunk on a
secret spy mission just as he’s suffering from constant giggling. / Skunk gets
a Ninja Monkey mask stuck to his face and is swept up into their ranks. “The
Art of the Touch / The Art of Hospitality” (12/8/07) – Skunk accidentally teaches
the Monkeys a secret technique. / Skunk invites Rabbit to stay with him when
the Monkeys invade his burrow, but Rabbit turns out to be a pest. “The
Art of Luck / The Art of Endurance” (12/15/07) – Baboon strikes Skunk with a
bad-luck touch instead of Panda, and Skunk attempts to use it against the
Monkeys. / Panda makes Skunk hold onto an egg between his legs until he
returns—right before he’s kidnapped by the Monkeys. “The
Art of Lightning / The Art of the Double Cross” (1/5/08) – Skunk and Rabbit
discover a forgotten fighting move in a piece of Baboon’s fur. / Skunk takes in
an exiled Ninja Monkey who he comes to realize is a spy and feeds bad
information to. “The
Art of the Nose Blow / The Art of the Crush” (1/12/08) – Snake starts a rumor
that Skunk invented a powerful new move, which the recently-exiled Baboon
wants. / Rabbit tricks Skunk into helping him retrieve stolen poems he wrote
about Fox when the Ninja Monkeys attack. “The
Art of Small Victories / The Art of Influence” (1/19/08) – Skunk’s enjoyment of
playing with ants comes in handy when Baboon uses red army ants in his latest
attack. / Accidentally shrunken, Baboon uses his size to pretend to be Skunk’s
inner voice and turn him against his friends. “The
Art of Kiting / The Art of Being Lazy” (1/26/08) – Helping Turtle with the New
Year’s kite display gives Skunk an idea on how to infiltrate Baboon’s great
wall. / Skunk fakes sick to get out of doing chores. “The
Art of the Stink / The Art of Fan Fan” (2/2/08) – Rabbit decides to weaponize
Skunk’s stink. / Panda has Skunk learn fan fighting which he thinks is cool
until the other guys make fun of him for it. “The
Art of the Dizzy Master / The Art of Dim Sum Fu” (2/9/08) – Skunk invents a new
move that he believes is so powerful he decides to steal Dragon’s beard with
Pig to prove it. / Panda has Skunk learn cooking from Duck, which the Ninja
Monkeys take a big liking to. “The
Art of Strategy / The Art of Being Heavy” (2/16/08) – Rabbit ignores Panda’s
orders and decides to make a bigger weapon to battle Baboon’s new cannon. /
Skunk attempts to use a giant boulder when he’s unable to learn a skill that
will make him heavier. “The
Art of Wushu / The Art of the Tea Ceremony” (2/23/08) – Baboon challenges the
Valley animals to some games, but Skunk gets carried away and bets the entire
Valley. / Skunk, Pig, Ox and Bird believe mimicking the elders’ tea ceremony
will make them as powerfully skilled as they. “The
Art of Initiation / The Art of Art” (3/1/08) – Tiger, Snake and Fish talk about
an initiation chamber that turns one into a true warrior, falsely claiming they
themselves have already completed it. / Failing at learning art, when Skunk
sees being beaten up by Ninja Monkeys turns his abstracts into beautiful
realistic works he runs with it. “The
Art of Monkeying Around / The Art of Sneaking” (3/8/08) – When Baboon fires the
Monkeys for failing, the Valley animals have to make them seem like winners to get
them out of the Valley. / Skunk tries to prove he’s a good spy by tagging along
on Snake’s mission to retrieve Turtle’s notebook. “The
Art of Seeing Blind / The Art of Monkey Love” (3/15/08) – Skunk doesn’t
appreciate Panda’s lesson until he ends up lost in a dark tunnel. / Baboon
disguises a Ninja Monkey as a female skunk to lure Skunk into a trap. “The
Art of No Lung Fu / The Art of Destiny Swapping” (3/22/08) – Fish teaches Skunk
underwater combat just as Baboon causes a drought. / Skunk decides to trade
lives with Mantis. “The
Art of Remembering” (3/29/08) – Rabbit, Fox and Skunk try to tell Duck about
Panda being captured, but each one has a different version of the tale.
For the history of Superman, check out the post here.
The
Legion of Super-Heroes was created by Otto Binder
and Al
Plastino in Adventure
Comics #247. Although multiple DC Comics
continuity reboots have altered the details some over the years, the constant
is that the Legion was a team comprised of beings from multiple worlds in the
far future inspired by the heroics of Superboy/Superman to be heroes in their
own time. Initially starting small, the roster would come to boast dozens of
different characters and off-shoot teams, funded by eccentric millionaire R.J. Brande after
they saved his life. The initial line-up was comprised of Lightning Boy (later
Lad), from the planet Winath
with lightning powers, Saturn Girl, from Saturn’s moon Titan with
telepathy, and Cosmic
Boy,
their leader from Braalian with the ability to generate magnetic fields. They
traveled back in time to recruit Superboy into their ranks, and after a series
of tests was he inducted into the “club” before being returned to his own time.
The ever-expanding roster of the Legion of Super Heroes.
Initially intended as a one-off
story, the Legion proved popular with readers and was brought back in issue
#267
for another adventure. Their popularity continued to grow, and the Legion was
featured in stories in various titles edited by Mort Weisinger.
In these stories, the other Legionnaires only hinted at before began to be
introduced, including Chameleon Boy, a shapeshifter from the planet Durla;
Invisible
Kid,
who was an Earthling capable of stealth; Colossal Boy, another Earthling with
the ability to increase his size (and later decrease it as Micro Lad); Star Boy,
from planet Xanthu
with the ability to increase the mass, density and gravity of an object;
Brainiac 5, initially a descendant of Superman’s villain Brainiac
(before he was retconned as being robotic) from the planet Colu
with superior intellect and shape-shifting abilities; Triplicate Girl, from the
planet Cargg
with the ability to split herself into three physical beings; Shrinking Violet,
who possessed the ability to shrink to atomic levels like other residents of
planet Imsk;
Sun Boy,
another Earthling who could generate fire; Bouncing Boy, yet another Earthling
who could inflate his body allowing him to bounce really high and become
impervious to injury; Phantom Girl, hailing from the 4th dimensional
planet Bgztl
with the ability to phase through solid matter, fly and travel between
dimensions; and Ultra
Boy,
from Rimbor
who could use super strength, speed, flight, x-ray vision, heat vision or
invulnerability one at a time. Superman’s cousin Supergirl
would even become a member. In Adventure
Comics #329, the Legion Flight Ring
was introduced; granting each member the ability to fly and survive in vacuums.
The very first Legion of Super-Heroes issue.
The Legion spent most of their early
existence sharing a title with Superboy in the pages of Adventure Comics,Action
Comicsand Superboy.
It
wouldn’t be until 1973 that they would get their own book titled The
Legion of Super-Heroes, although
it was only a four-issue series reprinting earlier Adventure stories. In
1980, they took over the Superboy title completely with #259,
leading to their second
solo series. The Legion book would be cancelled and
restarted several more times, navigating through inter-office politics that saw
Superboy removed from their history entirely to be replaced by the similar Mon-El
and then later re-introduced, an ever-expanding roster, new origin stories for
the various members, and little tweaks to the Legionnaires overall. Spin-off
titles, such as Legionnairesand
The
Legionwould see publication,
and several members would get books of their own, including Cosmic Boy,
Timber
Wolfand Valor.
Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Cosmic Boy make their animated debut in 1998.
In 1998, the Legion made their first
jump to animation with the Superman:
The Animated Seriesepisode “New Kids
in Town”. Chameleon Boy (Jason
Priestly), Saturn Girl (Melissa Joan Hart)
and Cosmic Boy (Chad
Lowe)
travelled back in time to keep Brainiac (Corey Burton)
from killing a teenaged Clark Kent (Jason
Marsden). Other Legionnaires appeared in silent cameos. In 2004, their
arch-villain Mordru
appeared in the Justice
League Unlimitedepisode “The
Greatest Story Never Told” before the Legion themselves reappeared in 2006’s
“Far From Home”, where Bouncing Boy (Googy Gress) and Brainiac 5 (Matt Czuchry)
recruited Supergirl (Lauren
Tom)
to help rescue the others from the Fatal Five
(more on them later).
Reciting the Legion's oath outside of their HQ.
Many fans assumed that this episode
was actually a backdoor pilot to the newly announced Legion of Super Heroes animated
series developed by Amy
Wolfram. However, producer and character designer James Tucker
set the record straight in revealing that the show came about because Cartoon Network
wanted their own Superman-centric series that could air around the time Superman Returnshit
theaters. It had no connection to the DC
Animated Universe that began with Batman:
The Animated Series. The series saw the Legion—Lightning
Lad (Andy Milder), Saturn Girl (Kari Wahlgren), Brainiac 5 (Adam Wylie),
Phantom Girl (Heather Hogan), Bouncing Boy (Michael Cornacchia), Triplicate
Girl (Wahlgren), Timber Wolf (Shawn Harrison) and Chameleon Boy (Alexander
Polinsky)—journey back in time to recruit a young Superman to join their ranks.
Unfortunately, they ended up going too far back and encountered a Clark Kent
who was not yet in full control of his abilities; requiring them to train their
inspiration as well as fight alongside him. While the series centered around
the core 8 Legionnaires, other members of the Legion would appear in various
episodes either as guest stars or cameos.
The main Legionnaires (from top): Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lad, Superman, Timber Wolf and Bouncing Boy.
Original promotion for the show
called Superman “Superboy”, much like he had been known during his earliest
encounters with the Legion. However, there was ongoing
litigation between DC Comics and the families of Superman
creators Jerry
Siegel and Joe Shuster
over the rights to Superman and Superboy. In March of 2006, a judge ruled in
favor of the Siegel family over the copyright of the Superboy character, but
Time Warner, DC’s parent company at the time, owned the trademark. Although a
retrial would rule
in DC’s favor, at the time DC had to use creative ways
to get around outright calling any of their Superboys by name.
The Fatal Five: Persuader, Mano, Emerald Empress, Tharok and Validus.
Villains for the series included the
aforementioned Fatal Five comprised of Emerald Empress
(Jennifer Hale
& Tara Strong),
wielder of the Emerald
Eye of Ekron which gave her access to immense mystical
power; Mano,
a mutant with the ability to disintegrate anything he touched; the Persuader
(David Sobolov),
who used an axe that could cut through anything; Tharok
(David Lodge),
a cyborg with immense intelligence; and Validus,
who possessed immense physical strength; Alexis
Luthor (Strong), the richest girl in the galaxy and
descendant of Lex
Luthor who turned to villainy when she felt Superman’s
heroic duties left him little time to pay attention to their friendship; Mordru
(Richard McGonagle
& Jim
Ward),
a powerful sorcerer; Brainiac (Burton, reprising his role from the DCAU),
Brainiac 5’s android ancestor; and the Legion
of Super-Villains (aka the Light Speed Vanguard), an
antithesis to the Legion comprised of Lightning Lord
(James Arnold
Taylor), Lightning Lad’s brother with similar powers; Esper
(Strong), a telepath; Hunter
(Khary Payton,
using an Australian accent), a master hunter and trucker; Ron-Karr (Harrison),
who possessed the ability to become totally flat; Wave,
who could use her hair like an appendage; and Tyr (Payton), a
warrior whose right arm was a bionic gun.
On request from the network, the
second season of Legion was given a darker tone than the first with such
occurrences as Lightning Lad losing an arm and getting a robotic one, and one
of Triplicate Girl’s duplicates being lost in a temporal anomaly leading her to
take the new codename Duo Damsel. Set two years later, Superman returned to the
future to help the Legion deal with the looming threat of Imperiex (Phil Morris), a powerful being
from the 41st Century who came back to conquer the Legion’s present.
He was aided by the Dominators:
a technologically advanced alien race whose rigid hierarchy was determined by
the size of the red circle on their heads. Aiding the Legion was a second
Superman: Superman-X (Lowenthall), a clone of the original created by an
android named K3NT
(Amy Hill & Sab Shimono) to battle Imperiex.
Superman-X possessed all of the original’s abilities and none of his
weaknesses; in fact, he was given the ability to produce and channel Kryptonite energy. However,
since he regarded himself as a living weapon, he was far more aggressive and
cold-blooded than the actual Superman. A focus was also placed on Brainiac 5’s
relationship with his ancestor, culminating in Brainy’s eventual corruption to
the dark side.
An older Superman returns to help his friends.
A third
season was planned but ended up being cancelled when The CW
handed their children’s programming over to 4Kids Entertainment,
ending Kids’ WB in favor of The
CW4Kids. The series would have again time-jumped three years after the
conclusion of the second season with an older and more experienced Superman
returning. The primary focus would have been Brainiac 5’s return after he quit
the team due to events of the previous season. Legionnaires Blok and Dawnstar would have been
elevated from cameos to major characters. Superman-X would have returned with a
reduced role, replaced by fallen Legionnaire Ferro Lad’s (Dave Wittenberg) long-lost twin
brother. Brainiac would have returned as well.
“Man
of Tomorrow” (9/23/06) – Three Legionaires go back in time to recruit Superman
to help them defeat the Fatal Five, but end up arriving before Clark Kent
becomes the man of steel.
“Timber
Wolf” (9/30/06) – A scientist asks the Legion to help capture a dangerous
creature, but they soon discover it’s not the dangerous one.
“Legacy”
(10/7/06) – Superman becomes fast friends with Alexis after rescuing her, and
she decides to do something about it when his Legion duties keep him neglecting
her.
“Phantoms”
(11/4/06) – Superman accidentally opens the gateway to the Phantom Zone,
freeing someone with his powers and trapping the Legion.
“Champions”
(11/11/06) – Superman and Phantom Girl uncover a plot by the Fatal Five while
Lightning Lad competes in the Galactic Games.
“Fear
Factory” (11/18/06) – The Legion takes refuge in an abandoned space station to
escape a storm, only to be confronted by their worst fears.
“Brain
Drain” (2/3/07) – Superman and Timber Wolf head to an inhospitable planet to
find an element to restore Brainy’s IQ, but a transporter accident leaves them
following not-so-Brainy’s lead.
“Lightning
Storm” (2/10/07) – Lightning Lad is offered membership in an older, “cooler”
team but discovers they aren’t exactly the heroes they appear to be.
“The
Substitutes” (2/17/07) – Legion recruitment isn’t going well until the team
finds themselves overwhelmed by a mysterious foe and a group of rejected
Legionnaires band together to help.
“Child’s
Play” (2/24/07) – A sorcerer arrives and causes trouble on Earth, introducing
Superman to his weakness to magic.
“Chain
of Command” (3/3/07) – The Legion goes to help Lightning Lad’s home planet, but
more trouble arrives when their original leader Cosmic Boy returns.
“Sundown,
Part 1” (4/28/07) – The Legion finds themselves unable to stop the ancient
weapon known as the Sun Eater.
“Sundown,
Part 2” (5/5/07) – The Legion recruits their enemies to help save Earth from
the Sun Eater while Superman discovers who’s controlling it.
Season
2:
“The
Man from the Edge of Tomorrow, Part 1” (9/22/07) – A Superman clone from the
future comes to the Legion for help in defeating warlord Imperiex.
“The
Man from the Edge of Tomorrow, Part 2” (9/29/07) – Imperiex frees the Legion’s
foes from prison to help in his conquest, resulting in their calling Superman
back from the past to help.
“Cry
Wolf” (10/6/07) – The Legion try to catch Timber Wolf when it seems he attacked
his father, but Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl work to clear his name.
“Chained
Lightning” (10/13/07) – Imperiex attempts to harness a stormy nebula with the
aid of Lightning Lord and attempting to stop them costs Lightning Lad his arm.
“Karate
Kid” (10/27/07) – Spread thin, the Legion looks for more recruits in order to
stop Grimbor the Chainsman’s crime spree.
“Who
Am I?” (11/3/07) – Chameleon Boy infiltrates Imperiex’s ranks but ends up
losing himself in the process.
“Unnatural
Alliances” (11/17/07) – Everyone wants to protect a young boy named Abel from
robotic cowboy Terra-Man, despite Abel being the one to eventually give rise to
Imperiex.
“Message
in a Bottle” (12/1/07) – Superman learns that Brainiac 5’s ancestor played a
part in the destruction of Krypton.
“In
the Beginning” (3/8/08) – The Legion must rescue their founder once again when
he ends up being kidnapped.
“Trials”
(3/15/08) – Zyx comes to the Legion for help freeing his homeworld from Mordu.
“In
Your Dreams” (3/22/08) – Realizing the prophetic Dream Girl is helping the
Legion beat them, the Dark Circle kidnap her to use her themselves.
“Dark
Victory, Part 1” (3/29/08) – Imperiex tries to force Brainy to unlock Brainiac
1.0 so that he can use him in his plans for conquest.
“Dark
Victory, Part 2” (4/5/08) – Brainiac 5 defeats Imperiex and takes over his
army, as well as his plans to conquer the universe.