Category Archives: TV and Video

“Superman: Unbound” Trailer Screencaps

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I’ve screencapped the trailer and you can now view all 131 caps in the gallery. I was delighted to see some shots that you miss while viewing the video. (I used aTube Catcher to download the MP4 from YouTube and VLC for screencapping.)

The more I watch this, the more excited I’m becoming. Kara’s look is growing on me – I like it better than in the Superman: Brainiac comic, and I’ve even gotten used to Superman’s look. Maybe they were modelling him a bit after the V.A.? I found Matt Bomer’s voice to be a distraction at first, as I couldn’t help picturing Neal Caffrey every time Superman spoke, but it’s growing on me.

A release date of May 7, 2013 has now been announced. I think I’ll be getting the blu-ray just for all the behind the scenes goodness. Here’s hoping for a good audio commentary (I may have been spoiled by the fantastic commentaries on Justice League: The New Frontier). Can’t wait!






Molly Quinn to play Supergirl in “Superman: Unbound”

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Here are some nice photos of Molly Quinn, who will be voicing Supergirl/Kara in the upcoming Superman: Unbound. Separated at birth, or what?

No word yet on a release date; the IMDB page just lists 2013 and the DCU blog is silent on the release. Teases!

Molly Quinn (Castle Season 1)

Molly Quinn (Castle Season 1)

Molly Quinn (Castle Season 5)

2013 People’s Choice Awards

Photos courtesy of Molly Quinn Central

“Superman: Unbound”: a new DC animated movie based on “Superman: Brainiac”!

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Nerdist has the exclusive trailer and details.

Been a while, eh? Well, good news! DC is releasing an animated version of the Superman: Brainiac storyline which heavily featured Kara and her backstory on Kandor, and helped bring Kara closer to her cousin and cemented her place as a member of the super family. I enjoyed this storyline a lot, and I’m really glad to see DC putting out animated movies of more recent (and relevant) stuff. Just wish there was more from the years following Kara’s arrival, which received the animated treatment in Superman: Apocalypse. I can’t imagine how confusing this movie will be to anyone picking it up off the shelves in their local BestBuy or – more likely – viewing it on Netflix. It’s also a pity that this is a PG-13 movie, since I believe that animated stories starring the super family should be accessible to kids as often as possible. But the Brainiac invasion as told in this version was graphically violent and traumatic, and there’s no getting around that. The rating is well earned.

Nitpicks: Some of the anatomy could be better. Kara’s wasp-waist, Clark’s strangely elongated face and overly bulked physique render the characters less attractive than I think the animators realize. This is a case where following the original artist’s character designs would have been a better choice (especially for Superman). These characters looked fantastic as drawn by Gary Frank, and following his interpretation of Superman would have been a big improvement over his design here. I’m not fond of Lois’ look either. Again – why disregard the iconic, gorgeous look Gary Frank created for her? Other nitpicks: don’t like the different shades of blue on Kara and Clark’s costume. And I’m not sure why they messed with the placement of Supergirl’s shield. Her costume was plenty differentiated from Superman’s already, no need to break with canon.

I wonder how much of the original issues will make it into the movie? The trailer looks quite epic, with some lovely character moments between Kara and Kal, and Kara and Lois. Kara played a big role in this story, with a strong emotional arc and lots of great action scenes. I’m really looking forward to seeing her playing a important part in this movie.

A scene of Lois and Supergirl which does not appear in the trailer.

Batgirl and Wonder Girl in TV Guide article on Super Best Friends Forever

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scan of TV Guide interview with Lauren Faust, featuring cartoon images of Supergirl, Batgirl, Wonder Girl

Lauren Faust has posted an interview with TV Guide that shows us what Batgirl and Wonder Girl will look like on the new Super Best Friends Forever shorts on DC Nation starting in March. The article’s text follows.

“Short Stuff”

Pullquote: Each S.B.F.F. short runs just over a minute. “It’s like a visual joke,” says producer Lauren Faust.

Saturday mornings are super again. Harkening back to the glory day of the 1970s and 80s when kids got their weekends going with Super Friends and Schoolhouse Rock, Cartoon Network is launching DC Nation, a programming block that showcases the heroes of the DC Comics library. Anchoring the hour will be the new CGI show Green Lantern: The Animated Series (10am/9c) and the continuation of the first season of Young Justice (10:30am/9:30c). Scattered throughout the hour are animated shorts and interstitials with news and vignettes from around the DC universe.

Though some shorts feature big names like Superman and Batman, many will put the spotlight on “characters we’ve always wanted to see animated, but that might not be able to support a whole series,” says Peter Girardi, senior vice president at Warner Bros. Animation, which is coordinating the block. Among the second-tier characters featured are Black Lightening, Doctor Fate, the Doom Patrol and even Vibe, a short-lived Latino member of the Justice League in the ’80s.

A humorous tone runs through all the shorts, including S.B.F.F. (short for Super Best Friends Forever), which stars Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Girl and “has plenty of action and fighting, but is really much more focused on comedy and laughs and how much fun it is to be a superhero,” says producer Lauren Faust. “It’s like taking a teenage experience but putting a superhero spin on it. In one episode Supergirl and Batgirl try to convince Wonder Girl to sneak out in Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and go for a joyride.” Guess even supergirls just wanna have fun. - Rich Sands

Looking at the images in the article, I’m guessing Batgirl will be the genki one, Supergirl will be the take-charge, beat-em-up one, and Wonder Girl will be the mature, sensible one? :)

via Lauren Faust

Supergirl to star in animated shorts on Cartoon Network in 2012

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Supergirl, Wonder Girl, and Batgirl will star in a series of animated shorts called Super Best Friends Forever on the Cartoon Network, in a programming block called DC Nation that will debut on the American cable TV network on March 3, 2012.

The DC Nation block will intersperse a series of animated shorts with its ongoing half-hour animated series. Warner Bros. Executive VP of Creative Affairs Sam Register described the shorts as “Short, little animated bits, a minute, a minute-plus” in a video preview for DC Nation and “Beware the Batman”.

Super Best Friends Forever is created by Lauren Faust, creator of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, story artist on Powerpuff Girls and head writer on Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. The shorts will feature Wonder Girl, Batgirl and Supergirl joining together to fight crime. You can view more artwork by Lauren Faust on her DeviantART page.

Cartoon Network has a three-year deal with Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics to make material for the upcoming block. Highlights include Aardman Animation creating new claymation Batman shorts, Plastic Man animated shorts, and the creator behind My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic working on a series of animated shorts teaming Wonder Girl, Batgirl, Supergirl called Super Best Friends Forever. Additionally, there is also a series of Doom Patrol animated shorts in production. The block will also host a series of behind-the-scenes videos, special interviews, and much more. DC Nation, slated to run for at least three years on Cartoon Network, will debut in Spring 2012 with Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

- The World’s Finest: “Beware The Batman” CGI Animated Series Coming For 2013, “DC Nation” Updates

Other shorts of interest include

I’m super happy to see these characters appearing on TV, even if it’s just in the form of minute long shorts. DC recently announced a black & white Showcase Presents first volume of the original early 1980s comic Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld for release in September 2012 (available for preorder at Amazon.com, etc). I never read the original series, but as a child of the ’80s who loved all that stuff – hell yeah.

Wikipedia lists the remainder of the announced shorts as including Doom Patrol, Plastic Man, Batman, Lego Batman, and Gotham City Impostors.

While Cartoon Network is a cable TV station only available in the USA, I’m fairly certain we will see fan-uploads of these shorts appearing online very quickly, for those of us who don’t live in the USA and/or don’t subscribe to cable (which is an increasingly common choice).