The Alternate DC Comics Covers of Fringe

There was a subtle (I can't say very subtle, there's a shot where the Red Lantern cover is right in your face) inclusion in last night's Season Two finale of Fox's Fringe, which you can read my full review of here.

While the episode, and other alternate universe episodes of Fringe, included the usual subtle differences: an actual bronze Statue of Liberty, money with different Presidents on it, photographs of older versions of people that were killed in our world, etc; "Over There (Part 2)" included alternate DC comic book covers, framed on the wall of Peter's new apartment. And thanks to a helpful post at DC's The Source Blog, the covers from the episode have been posted online:


Their World


Our World

As cool as the concept of the alternate covers may be, I still prefer our world's originals. I mean, in concept, alternate comic book covers are an awesome idea, but the execution's a bit off. For instance, the Red Lantern one which was featured front and center on screen is perplexing, as the titles are all Silver Age, but the art is far too over-rendered to be conceivable from that era. You could maybe excuse it because in the Fringe alternate universe, the technology is better than our own and perhaps that also means they could have digital inking in 1970... but that's going a bit too far.

I still like looking back and forth between the real and alternate versions, but the over-rendering of the fake versions really bugs me, and that's just something about modern mainstream comics in general that really bugs me.

If you missed last night's Fringe or just want to get a second look at these covers on-screen (or even better, watch Leonard Nimoy's fantastic final acting appearance), watch the episode over at Hulu.

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths DVD Review

After a couple of lack-luster films (lack-luster in comparison to the VFH Seal of Approval winning Wonder Woman film at least), Warner Bros. Animation's DC Universe line is taking another crack at a completely original animated film, instead of adapting a pre-existing comic book story-arc, this time with the Justice League. Note, this is a review of the DVD edition, as have all the other DC Universe films on DVD and collector's OCD won't let me go Blu.

As stated, Crisis On Two Earths isn't based on a pre-existing DC book or story-arc, so it requires a bit more explaining. It should be noted that the general idea for this film was penned back when he Justice League animated series was on television, and a TV-movie, titled Justice League: Worlds Collide, was written as a bridge between that series and the then-upcoming series, Justice League Unlimited. But obviously that never came to fruition, and we now have this film, which follows a similar story as planned, but completely removes itself from the series by having new character designs, voice actors, and characters (i.e, no Jon Stewart Green Lantern, it's Hal Jordan).

The Movie
The film mainly centers around an alternate world's Lex Luthor, who has come to the familiar Earth after losing the final member of his Justice League to the Crime Syndicate, evil parallel versions of the good Justice League. The primary Justice League is a bit weary of this Luthor, but is soon in agreement to save his world, all except for Batman.

But, once in this alternate world, our Justice League learns that things are much different from their world, and this Crime Syndicate isn't afraid to use lethal force, even against the President of the United States and his family. But what seems like a regular Justice League TV plot soon gets a bit heavier, when the evil universe's anit-Batman, Owl Man, carries out his plot to not only destroy the good universe, but reality as we know it.

Overall, the film holds together pretty well, even if it does feel over-reminiscent of the television series, albeit a bit heavier and more mature in tone. I also found that due to the diversity of characters, there's never a big focus on just one, other than Owl Man (James Woods), and you end up forgetting that these characters have completely new voices from what you're used to. Like I'd like to say that Mark Harmon and William Baldwin did good jobs portraying Superman and Batman respectively, but you never even get to hear them that much. Even Nolan North, playing both the Green Lantern and his evil version, Power Ring, who you may be tired of by new after playing games like Uncharted, Prince of Persia, and Dark Void, isn't on screen long enough to even have an opinion. But, James Wood's Owl Man, who does get plenty of screen time is perfect, as the subtle, menacing mad man that he is. As for character design, gone are the super-bulked up characters from the animated series and Public Enemies, and these trimmed down designs move a bit more fluidly.

My only complaint about the movie is that there's some subplots that really don't have time to flesh out in this 75 minute film, and would have to rely on an unlikely sequel movie to make sense of their inclusion. I also found that the characters a persuaded a bit to easily, perhaps to make up for the short run time. And, please, some of the lines in this are just stupid, "well, I'm a murdering psychopath..." the whole thing that makes a murdering psychopath a murdering psychopath is that they aren't aware that they're a psychopath; you should know better Super Woman.

The Spectre
For the first in what I assume will be a regular feature on these DC Universe animated release, is a DC Showcase short, which focuses on lower-tier DC characters. The first one, included here is The Spectre, a ghostly crime fighter at night, and a detective by day. Running at just over 11 minutes, the film doesn't really have time to express itself storywise, but visually this short was awesome. It takes a page from Grindhouse, adding in film grain/scratches, lo-fi sound track, funk music, and surprisingly gory violence. It's a really nice treat, and hearing Gary Cole trying to be menacing in what is essentially a 70s noir is just awesome. Definitely worth watching.

Extras
As usual, the first disc extras are crap. Other than The Spectre short, you have re-hashed previews for previous DC Universe films, an interesting preview of the next film, Batman: Under the Red Hood, and trailers for other Warner Bros. projects, like the recently released Halo Legends. Otherwise, no commentary whatsoever.

The second disc is of course the actual special features disc, well at least you'd think it was. But when you boot up this disc, you'll be surprisingly shocked to only see two options on a bare menu. First is a 25 minute documentary called DCU: The New World which focuses on the various "Crisis" story-arcs in the DC Universe as well as the people and background behind the major events in the DCU. It's really informative if you're looking into the back-story of major comic book stories, but if you're someone that just likes the DC characters in film/animation, and don't care for the actual comics, then you might not have much interest here.

Then there's he two-part Justice League episode, "A Better World," which features a similar parallel universe storyline and is one of the better episodes of that series. But it also feels like a cop out for new content. If you want features, like more JL episodes and un-aired TV pilots, get the Blu-ray.

Final Thoughts
Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths is definitely a step above Green Lantern: First Flight and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, both in visual appeal and storytelling, and just overall is a better film. However, it still falls flat in the extras department. Sure, The Spectre short film is worth the asking price, but the somewhat alienating Crisis documentary and the Justice League episode being the only features on the second disc is really upsetting. If there's one thing DC should learn from what made Wonder Woman so good it's that not only was the film great, but the extras were both informative and plenty. And it's a shame that a good film like Crisis On Two Earths suffers from a lack of proper supplementary material.

Overall Score: 8.3/10

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies DVD review

Despite each hero already having their own DC Universe release (Superman Doomsday and Batman: Gotham Knight), not to mention both appearing in Justice League: The New Frontier, Superman and Batman return to the direct-to-DVD scene with a film of their own. After the disappointment that was Green Lantern: First Flight, have Warner Bros. and DC Comics stepped up there game? Or has this DC Universe animated movies series lost its fuel?

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is actually an adaptation of the first story arc of DC Comics' monthly Superman/Batman series, "The Worlds Finest," which released in 2003. Myself, I never actually read the series, but I do remember when it came out, as I wasn't particularly fond of all the characters' obnoxiously muscular, bulky designs. And coming into this film, I still retained the same distaste, as the animated adaptation designed itself after the comics, giving Public Enemies a much different appearance than any previously release DC animated projects.

Story is simple, Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) becomes President of the United States, declares Superman (Tim Daly) as a threat with a $1 Billion on his head... oh, and a kryptonite meteor is heading towards Earth. Along the way Superman enlists Batman's (Kevin Conroy) help, as they fend of DC villains and heroes alike and try to save Earth and stop Luthor. The film is just a predictable as any other Superman vs. Lex Luthor story, but it's still a fun watch. Design wise, I was surprised by some of the fluidity in the bulky characters, but then there's parts where it all just seems stiff. I still can't get over how ugly some of the character and CGI designs are though, that bothered me the most.

In terms of extras, the first disc, like the last few DC Universe releases before it, just rehashes the mini-previews for previous direct-to-disc releases, and nothing more, sadly. And once again, there's no movie commentary and the Digital Copy is Windows only (seriously, iTunes/Mac support is that hard?).

The second disc however, again like previous releases is where the real extras come in. There's two main features here, the 19-minute, "A Test of Minds: The Psychology of Superman and Batman," which is a pretty interesting comparison of DC's two big heroes. Next is the 26-minute "Dinner with DCU and Kevin Conroy," which has DC Universe's main people in charge, along with Batman himself, Kevin Conroy discussing the film at the DC animated history. Also on the disc is the first previous of the next DC Universe animated film, Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths, which looks pretty interesting and is wholly original story. Lastly, there's two episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, which happen to feature Batman. It doesn't sound like much, but considering what was lacking from their last release, this is a nice return to form.

Overall, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies isn't a bad film. It's certainly better than Green Lantern: First Flight, but not really near the caliber of Wonder Woman. Also, for my tastes, I felt the film was a little too much of a Superman story rather than a real combined Superman/Batman tale; so, Warner Bros., next time you try this, at least let us see Gotham City, OK?

Overall Score: 8/10

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

With the release of DC Comics' next DC Universe direct-to-disc (because it's now DVD and Blu-ray releases) animated movie, Green Lantern: First Flight, just a week or so away, it seems that Warner Bros. is silently gearing up for their next release: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, based on the "Public Enemies" story-arc from the first six issues of the 2003-present Superman/Batman comic series.

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies website and trailer

Based on the trailer alone, I can say that this is certainly the most visually different work that DC and Bruce Timm have released in recent years. Other than Batman: Gotham Knight, which was made by anime studios, Superman-Doomsday, Justice League: New Frontier, and Wonder Woman all resembled past DC work, albeit slightly tweaked. Public Enemies (not to be confused with that new Johnny Depp as John Dillinger film...) instead aims to look like its source material, giving the character designs that very comic-booky, unreal design. Personally, it bothers me, because I've always liked the look of Bruce Timm's animated series/films for DC Comics, and this just seems to stray too far from that for me to visually enjoy. I'll be the final judge of that when it releases on DVD and Blu-ray this September 29th...