Well it is the hippie at the house of mouse universe we are dealing with here so don’t even
"To Introduce our Guest Star, that's What I'm Here to Do..." The Hensonverse Fan Contribution Thread
- Thread starter Geekhis Khan
- Start date
Just read the first post of the page. It's an Expanded Universe thread for the Hensonverse timeline, so it could be about almost anything as long it is approved by Geekhis.
A private PM should suffice in submitting drafts if you're not in the existing PM threads already.
How ironic that this thread was even created because people had a crap ton of ideas that weren't about Disney...
Can I get a invite too, out of curiosity. I’m visiting Europe at the moment, so Internet access is currently a bit limited, but I’d like to participate a bit when I get back.
Deleted member 165942
Sure why not? It'll makes things easier if you decided to work on something for this.
Not bad!
A Supreme Tale
The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost: The Three Runs of Supreme
From the “Neo-Silver Age Shenanigans” Netsite, by Molly Lincoln
Among comic book fans, it’s hotly debated as to where and when the current Modern Age of Comic Books began - some say it’s with Watchmen in 1986, or with The Dark Knight Returns, or perhaps even with The Twilight of the Superheroes. But if you’ve been reading this blog for a while (and you should be, otherwise you’ve been living under a rock or with a colony of naked mole rats), then you’ll know that I consider the Modern Age to have started with Alan Moore’s take on Supreme, published from 1996 to 2002[1]. And though it was Moore’s fantastic 33 issue run that took Rob Liefeld’s dark and edgy Superman ripoff of a turd and polished into gold, it would be Neil Gaiman’s longer run at 77 issues that would not only build on Moore’s foundations, but use the wide array of characters from both Epic and to a far lesser extent Disney to create a rumination on Jungian psychology, Jewish mysticism and culture, and an examination (and absolutely brutal rejection) of Nietzschean philosophy mixed in with and filtered through a celebration of the Superman comics of the 50s and 60s.
The Father: Supreme before Moore (1992-1996)
While there isn’t much to say about Rob Liefeld’s original version of Supreme that hasn’t been said before, I’ll start at the beginning - first appearing in Youngblood #3 (Epic, 1992), Supreme was designed by Liefeld ostensibly as a more “realistic” (read: what every adolescent teenage boy thinks is realistic and mature) version of Superman. Supreme made no attempt at a human identity, was incredibly powerful, brooding, and was generally a jerk. From the very start, though, Supreme seemed to lack direction; his origins and motivations changed (from being an avenging angel, to believing himself to be God, or being a resurrected human who died and came back to life seven times), plots came and went (such as Supreme facing off with Thor or Supreme coming back to life in the body of his daughter-except-not-really-it’s-his-son Probe, the latter of which would be seen as unintentionally transphobic in later years and later amended for with the reintroduction of the character as Ianthe in Gaiman’s run, where she is explicitly trans[2]), among other convoluted things, something that wasn’t helped by the borderline Spinal Tap levels of writer/artist overturn. So when Moore, having come onboard to Epic after his amicable split with DC and doing the sadly-unfinished 1963 miniseries for the imprint, asked to write for Supreme on the condition that he be allowed to retcon anything as he saw fit. Liefeld accepted, and in fact was excited by the prospects Moore had.
The Son: Supreme under Moore (1996-2002)
Under the careful eye of Alan Moore, Supreme was transformed from a cheap Superman expy into a straight tribute to the Superman of Moore’s boyhood, the Big Blue Boyscout as defined by Mort Weisinger and Curt Swan. Rather than simple tribute however, Alan Moore took a wholly metafictional direction with his idea of “revisions” - the thought that with every changeover in writers, comic book universes would periodically cycle through periods of destruction and rebirth, with everything from the previous iteration revised into limbo. Moore’s Supreme, as the first to notice these changes before the end of his cycle, was deemed special by the Supremacy; the sort of Valhalla where every previous version of Supreme (all of which were specially invented by Moore for his run) resided. From there, Moore’s run dove straight not only into the Silver Age trappings with gusto and abandon, but moreover was a tribute to the history of comics as a whole, with “flashback” stories drawn and written of the style of a particular era and company a central conceit. Through its epic 6 year run, Moore’s Supreme faced off against his nemesis Darius Dax - twice! - saved the Supremacy from destruction, and eventually met several other heroes, including Miracleman (whose comic Moore had previously worked on), the Maximortal from Rick Veitch, and Hyperion from Marvel’s own stable. This all culminated in the trio venturing to “the ends of reality”, where they met a figure heavily implied to be Superman himself. Moore’s run would end in an epic battle with (no duh) The End, a monosyllabic and terse archvillain hinted at and briefly seen at one point, who fans have interpreted as a commentary on the idea that a comic is always in danger of ending, whether that be a singular run or the entire series; naturally, in order to make room for the next writer to helm Supreme (and thus the next revision), that would mean Moore’s Ivory Icon had to die. And in yet another nod to his career, Moore would title this last two part story Whatever Happened to the Ivory Icon?[3].
The Holy Ghost: Neil Gaiman’s Supreme (2002-2008)
Once Moore’s run had ended in 2002, famed writer Neil Gaiman - having recently published his horror/fantasy novel The Under-Ground[4] - was asked to take on the reins for Supreme. Reportedly, Gaiman initially wanted to decline since, in his own words, “how do you top someone like Alan [expletive deleted] Moore? And besides, I already had done a ‘story about stories’ with the Sandman, so I had initially thought Supreme would be more of the same. And if it’s all the same to you, I like Batman more anyway.” Gaiman eventually did come around, however, on the condition that he be allowed to complete his planned 18-issue run on Miracleman, another title he had inherited from Moore. Setting his run a mere 18 months after Moore’s run ended, Gaiman made quite a few changes, the most notable of which were changing Ethan Crane’s workplace from Dazzle Comics to TV network Dazzle News[5] and giving him a wife, Emily; this was, in Gaiman’s own words, to contrast the Diana Dane/Judy Jordan dynamic of Moore’s run. Another aspect Gaiman added to his Supreme was making the titular character explicitly Jewish in ethnicity (Sephardic, for those curious) and religion, though he would play with this by having Ethan Crane follow Humanistic Judaism, the often-overlooked “fifth branch” of the faith. Initially beginning in a similar vein to Moore’s run and deliberately echoing Miracleman with Ethan having recurring dreams of the Supremacy (not knowing he’s the latest incarnation of Supreme, much less the fact he’s only existed for a year and a half), Gaiman’s Supreme would go in new directions that expanded Moore’s vision greatly, with Supreme’s backstory in this revision being a time traveler from the year 3871 who, purely on accident, traveled back to 1920s Ohio (with his body and mind transformed into that into an infant as well as his machine becoming the Supremium meteorite); this recalled Superman’s earliest backstory from before he first appeared in Action Comics #1[6].
Other innovations from Gaiman would include a storyline that wrapped up the one from the 1963 mini (appropriately named “All This and Earth-Two!”, from the teaser at the end of the sixth issue), bringing the Silver Age-era Marvel pastiches into the fold of Supreme’s universe, as well as the mild crossover elements such as Jack Skellington being the “true” identity of Spectre-analogue Jack O’Lantern, an appearance from both Terry Pratchett and Gaiman’s incarnations of Death and at one point a “Duck Avenger vs. The Ivory Icon” three-parter; arguably the most interesting of these has to be Gaiman’s incarnation of Youngblood, consisting of Galahad (the Robin expy from fellow Epic DC pastichers Big Bang Comics), Cyclone (the Kid Flash expy from the same), Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Gaiman’s own Coraline[7], the earlier-mentioned Ianthe, Kurt Busiek’s Shadowhawk, and the fae Puck - filling the slots for Starfire/Aqualad, Raven, Wonder Girl, Cyborg and Beast Boy respectively. This team would receive a spin-off comic in 2004[8] written by Greg Weisman of Gargoyles fame, running for a brief 12 issues.
Gaiman wouldn’t rely on these recognizable names for material exclusively, however, instead bringing in interpretations of characters like Hellspawn that echoed the Silver and Bronze Ages of comics just as Supreme did. Likewise, Gaiman’s stories would explore not just superhero stories; like with his iconic Sandman, Gaiman would explore and analyze stories of any and every genre, ranging from Archie-style romantic comedy to EC-style horror among others. Gaiman would also humanize and explore Supreme more deeply as a character, with issues showing him going to therapy and synagogue, with others dedicated entirely to his supporting cast and various background characters, a move inspired by The Spirit.
All this would culminate in a 6-part story arc where, after being erased from existence via Grey Supremium, Supreme would venture up the metaphysical Tree of Life and encounter God - who appears in the form of Jerry Siegel - the latter of whom tells him the true nature of the revisions and various Supremes: as the totality of all things (but most importantly imagination, as it is imagination that gives gods their forms), God needs an avatar; thus, the various Supremes and their revisions - Supreme is the personification of imagination. This and the accompanying 12-issue miniseries written by Robert Kirkman and Terry Pratchett, Supreme: Apocalypse, in which Liefeld’s Supreme is sent out from the Supremacy to investigate the impending collapse of Gaiman-Supreme’s reality after his disappearance, are regarded as some of the finest work the series has had. The series ended not long afterwards, with Gaiman-Supreme being revised in a conclusion that is held up to be both incredibly heartwarming and incredibly tearjerking.
Conclusion: Who Did It Best, and What’s Next For The Man of Majesty?
So, in the end, who did it best for Supreme? While Liefeld had interesting ideas, his refusal to stick to one and not thinking much beyond the premise of “angry Superman” was what did him in. Moore’s run, while incredible, definitely has a few duds, with the “modern day” art not reaching its’ zenith until Chris Sprouse’s arrival and the art slightly decreasing in quality after issue 52. Gaiman, for all he did to improve on Moore’s run, himself isn’t perfect either - while, as said before, the crossover elements are interesting, at times Gaiman relies on them a bit too much, not giving the elements original to the Epic imprint enough to breathe; when they work (which, given this is Neil Gaiman we’re talking about, is a majority of the time) they definitely work in his favor, with the aforementioned Duck Avenger crossover being a trilogy filled top to bottom with absurdly funny moments. In addition, the deeper exploration of mysticism that Moore had only hinted at previously is a welcome addition - the revelation of Supreme being the embodiment of human imagination and creativity is admittedly trodden territory for Gaiman, but recontextualized with Supreme, it’s a moment of wonder and awe when the hero embraces his true nature as a benevolent god. In fact, it’s been argued that both Moore and Gaiman runs are a dual antithesis to Miracleman - whereas the latter comic deconstructs the Silver Age by taking a character from that era and turning him into a prototypical Dark Age antihero and fascistic, capricious god who renounces his humanity, the former two instead take a hero who embodied the excesses of the Dark Age, transformed him into an embodiment of the Silver Age, and then finally having him embrace his status as a loving god towards humans, arguably making him more human in the process.
And as a final note, what’s next for Supreme? Well as of this year (2012), Erik Larsen has announced plans to take up the mantle of writer; despite rumors that he’d return to the “dark and edgy” tone of Liefeld’s work[9], Larsen has said he has no intention of doing so, instead wanting to continue in the vein of the later Savage Dragon issues: “Why would I not give the fans what they want? And more importantly, I grew up reading those goofy Silver Age DC and Marvel issues, just as Moore and Gaiman did - besides, Liefeld’s Supreme already had his story told in the Apocalypse miniseries, so I would just be beating a dead horse.” Well, if all that’s true, then this girl definitely has his back! Well, my Silver Age Soldiers, this has been yet another entry in the Blog of Baditude; I’m Molly Lincoln, and and I say once again, EXCELSIOR TRIED AND TRUE BELIEVERS!
[1] Without the delays and intercompany squabbles that plague Image Comics IOTL, Alan Moore’s run is not only complete, but runs on schedule, lasting from issues #41-75.
[2] ITTL, Gaiman will also use Ianthe to apologize for his own unintended queerphobia in The Sandman.
[3] This is the title of the story of the fan-made issue 64 from OTL, which is a fairly decent finale to Moore's run and IMHO, better than the one we got.
[4] A novel original to TTL - imagine a hybrid between Coraline and Pan’s Labyrinth set in WWI-era England and with the Alice allusions MUCH more prominent.
[5] An allohistorical nod to the Supreme: Blue Rose miniseries IOTL, where it takes the place of Dazzle Comics in the “fixed” revision at the end.
[6] Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
[7] Though the novel itself may not exist ITTL, I’d imagine the idea of Coraline the character would not go wasted by Gaiman; thus he reuses her in his run on Supreme as a Raven analogue.
[8] A Youngblood series was published IOTL’s 2004, but didn’t last long.
[9] Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened IOTL - Larsen’s series lasted only four issues as a result.
From the “Neo-Silver Age Shenanigans” Netsite, by Molly Lincoln
Among comic book fans, it’s hotly debated as to where and when the current Modern Age of Comic Books began - some say it’s with Watchmen in 1986, or with The Dark Knight Returns, or perhaps even with The Twilight of the Superheroes. But if you’ve been reading this blog for a while (and you should be, otherwise you’ve been living under a rock or with a colony of naked mole rats), then you’ll know that I consider the Modern Age to have started with Alan Moore’s take on Supreme, published from 1996 to 2002[1]. And though it was Moore’s fantastic 33 issue run that took Rob Liefeld’s dark and edgy Superman ripoff of a turd and polished into gold, it would be Neil Gaiman’s longer run at 77 issues that would not only build on Moore’s foundations, but use the wide array of characters from both Epic and to a far lesser extent Disney to create a rumination on Jungian psychology, Jewish mysticism and culture, and an examination (and absolutely brutal rejection) of Nietzschean philosophy mixed in with and filtered through a celebration of the Superman comics of the 50s and 60s.
The Father: Supreme before Moore (1992-1996)
While there isn’t much to say about Rob Liefeld’s original version of Supreme that hasn’t been said before, I’ll start at the beginning - first appearing in Youngblood #3 (Epic, 1992), Supreme was designed by Liefeld ostensibly as a more “realistic” (read: what every adolescent teenage boy thinks is realistic and mature) version of Superman. Supreme made no attempt at a human identity, was incredibly powerful, brooding, and was generally a jerk. From the very start, though, Supreme seemed to lack direction; his origins and motivations changed (from being an avenging angel, to believing himself to be God, or being a resurrected human who died and came back to life seven times), plots came and went (such as Supreme facing off with Thor or Supreme coming back to life in the body of his daughter-except-not-really-it’s-his-son Probe, the latter of which would be seen as unintentionally transphobic in later years and later amended for with the reintroduction of the character as Ianthe in Gaiman’s run, where she is explicitly trans[2]), among other convoluted things, something that wasn’t helped by the borderline Spinal Tap levels of writer/artist overturn. So when Moore, having come onboard to Epic after his amicable split with DC and doing the sadly-unfinished 1963 miniseries for the imprint, asked to write for Supreme on the condition that he be allowed to retcon anything as he saw fit. Liefeld accepted, and in fact was excited by the prospects Moore had.
The Son: Supreme under Moore (1996-2002)
Under the careful eye of Alan Moore, Supreme was transformed from a cheap Superman expy into a straight tribute to the Superman of Moore’s boyhood, the Big Blue Boyscout as defined by Mort Weisinger and Curt Swan. Rather than simple tribute however, Alan Moore took a wholly metafictional direction with his idea of “revisions” - the thought that with every changeover in writers, comic book universes would periodically cycle through periods of destruction and rebirth, with everything from the previous iteration revised into limbo. Moore’s Supreme, as the first to notice these changes before the end of his cycle, was deemed special by the Supremacy; the sort of Valhalla where every previous version of Supreme (all of which were specially invented by Moore for his run) resided. From there, Moore’s run dove straight not only into the Silver Age trappings with gusto and abandon, but moreover was a tribute to the history of comics as a whole, with “flashback” stories drawn and written of the style of a particular era and company a central conceit. Through its epic 6 year run, Moore’s Supreme faced off against his nemesis Darius Dax - twice! - saved the Supremacy from destruction, and eventually met several other heroes, including Miracleman (whose comic Moore had previously worked on), the Maximortal from Rick Veitch, and Hyperion from Marvel’s own stable. This all culminated in the trio venturing to “the ends of reality”, where they met a figure heavily implied to be Superman himself. Moore’s run would end in an epic battle with (no duh) The End, a monosyllabic and terse archvillain hinted at and briefly seen at one point, who fans have interpreted as a commentary on the idea that a comic is always in danger of ending, whether that be a singular run or the entire series; naturally, in order to make room for the next writer to helm Supreme (and thus the next revision), that would mean Moore’s Ivory Icon had to die. And in yet another nod to his career, Moore would title this last two part story Whatever Happened to the Ivory Icon?[3].
The Holy Ghost: Neil Gaiman’s Supreme (2002-2008)
Once Moore’s run had ended in 2002, famed writer Neil Gaiman - having recently published his horror/fantasy novel The Under-Ground[4] - was asked to take on the reins for Supreme. Reportedly, Gaiman initially wanted to decline since, in his own words, “how do you top someone like Alan [expletive deleted] Moore? And besides, I already had done a ‘story about stories’ with the Sandman, so I had initially thought Supreme would be more of the same. And if it’s all the same to you, I like Batman more anyway.” Gaiman eventually did come around, however, on the condition that he be allowed to complete his planned 18-issue run on Miracleman, another title he had inherited from Moore. Setting his run a mere 18 months after Moore’s run ended, Gaiman made quite a few changes, the most notable of which were changing Ethan Crane’s workplace from Dazzle Comics to TV network Dazzle News[5] and giving him a wife, Emily; this was, in Gaiman’s own words, to contrast the Diana Dane/Judy Jordan dynamic of Moore’s run. Another aspect Gaiman added to his Supreme was making the titular character explicitly Jewish in ethnicity (Sephardic, for those curious) and religion, though he would play with this by having Ethan Crane follow Humanistic Judaism, the often-overlooked “fifth branch” of the faith. Initially beginning in a similar vein to Moore’s run and deliberately echoing Miracleman with Ethan having recurring dreams of the Supremacy (not knowing he’s the latest incarnation of Supreme, much less the fact he’s only existed for a year and a half), Gaiman’s Supreme would go in new directions that expanded Moore’s vision greatly, with Supreme’s backstory in this revision being a time traveler from the year 3871 who, purely on accident, traveled back to 1920s Ohio (with his body and mind transformed into that into an infant as well as his machine becoming the Supremium meteorite); this recalled Superman’s earliest backstory from before he first appeared in Action Comics #1[6].
Other innovations from Gaiman would include a storyline that wrapped up the one from the 1963 mini (appropriately named “All This and Earth-Two!”, from the teaser at the end of the sixth issue), bringing the Silver Age-era Marvel pastiches into the fold of Supreme’s universe, as well as the mild crossover elements such as Jack Skellington being the “true” identity of Spectre-analogue Jack O’Lantern, an appearance from both Terry Pratchett and Gaiman’s incarnations of Death and at one point a “Duck Avenger vs. The Ivory Icon” three-parter; arguably the most interesting of these has to be Gaiman’s incarnation of Youngblood, consisting of Galahad (the Robin expy from fellow Epic DC pastichers Big Bang Comics), Cyclone (the Kid Flash expy from the same), Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Gaiman’s own Coraline[7], the earlier-mentioned Ianthe, Kurt Busiek’s Shadowhawk, and the fae Puck - filling the slots for Starfire/Aqualad, Raven, Wonder Girl, Cyborg and Beast Boy respectively. This team would receive a spin-off comic in 2004[8] written by Greg Weisman of Gargoyles fame, running for a brief 12 issues.
Gaiman wouldn’t rely on these recognizable names for material exclusively, however, instead bringing in interpretations of characters like Hellspawn that echoed the Silver and Bronze Ages of comics just as Supreme did. Likewise, Gaiman’s stories would explore not just superhero stories; like with his iconic Sandman, Gaiman would explore and analyze stories of any and every genre, ranging from Archie-style romantic comedy to EC-style horror among others. Gaiman would also humanize and explore Supreme more deeply as a character, with issues showing him going to therapy and synagogue, with others dedicated entirely to his supporting cast and various background characters, a move inspired by The Spirit.
All this would culminate in a 6-part story arc where, after being erased from existence via Grey Supremium, Supreme would venture up the metaphysical Tree of Life and encounter God - who appears in the form of Jerry Siegel - the latter of whom tells him the true nature of the revisions and various Supremes: as the totality of all things (but most importantly imagination, as it is imagination that gives gods their forms), God needs an avatar; thus, the various Supremes and their revisions - Supreme is the personification of imagination. This and the accompanying 12-issue miniseries written by Robert Kirkman and Terry Pratchett, Supreme: Apocalypse, in which Liefeld’s Supreme is sent out from the Supremacy to investigate the impending collapse of Gaiman-Supreme’s reality after his disappearance, are regarded as some of the finest work the series has had. The series ended not long afterwards, with Gaiman-Supreme being revised in a conclusion that is held up to be both incredibly heartwarming and incredibly tearjerking.
Conclusion: Who Did It Best, and What’s Next For The Man of Majesty?
So, in the end, who did it best for Supreme? While Liefeld had interesting ideas, his refusal to stick to one and not thinking much beyond the premise of “angry Superman” was what did him in. Moore’s run, while incredible, definitely has a few duds, with the “modern day” art not reaching its’ zenith until Chris Sprouse’s arrival and the art slightly decreasing in quality after issue 52. Gaiman, for all he did to improve on Moore’s run, himself isn’t perfect either - while, as said before, the crossover elements are interesting, at times Gaiman relies on them a bit too much, not giving the elements original to the Epic imprint enough to breathe; when they work (which, given this is Neil Gaiman we’re talking about, is a majority of the time) they definitely work in his favor, with the aforementioned Duck Avenger crossover being a trilogy filled top to bottom with absurdly funny moments. In addition, the deeper exploration of mysticism that Moore had only hinted at previously is a welcome addition - the revelation of Supreme being the embodiment of human imagination and creativity is admittedly trodden territory for Gaiman, but recontextualized with Supreme, it’s a moment of wonder and awe when the hero embraces his true nature as a benevolent god. In fact, it’s been argued that both Moore and Gaiman runs are a dual antithesis to Miracleman - whereas the latter comic deconstructs the Silver Age by taking a character from that era and turning him into a prototypical Dark Age antihero and fascistic, capricious god who renounces his humanity, the former two instead take a hero who embodied the excesses of the Dark Age, transformed him into an embodiment of the Silver Age, and then finally having him embrace his status as a loving god towards humans, arguably making him more human in the process.
And as a final note, what’s next for Supreme? Well as of this year (2012), Erik Larsen has announced plans to take up the mantle of writer; despite rumors that he’d return to the “dark and edgy” tone of Liefeld’s work[9], Larsen has said he has no intention of doing so, instead wanting to continue in the vein of the later Savage Dragon issues: “Why would I not give the fans what they want? And more importantly, I grew up reading those goofy Silver Age DC and Marvel issues, just as Moore and Gaiman did - besides, Liefeld’s Supreme already had his story told in the Apocalypse miniseries, so I would just be beating a dead horse.” Well, if all that’s true, then this girl definitely has his back! Well, my Silver Age Soldiers, this has been yet another entry in the Blog of Baditude; I’m Molly Lincoln, and and I say once again, EXCELSIOR TRIED AND TRUE BELIEVERS!
[1] Without the delays and intercompany squabbles that plague Image Comics IOTL, Alan Moore’s run is not only complete, but runs on schedule, lasting from issues #41-75.
[2] ITTL, Gaiman will also use Ianthe to apologize for his own unintended queerphobia in The Sandman.
[3] This is the title of the story of the fan-made issue 64 from OTL, which is a fairly decent finale to Moore's run and IMHO, better than the one we got.
[4] A novel original to TTL - imagine a hybrid between Coraline and Pan’s Labyrinth set in WWI-era England and with the Alice allusions MUCH more prominent.
[5] An allohistorical nod to the Supreme: Blue Rose miniseries IOTL, where it takes the place of Dazzle Comics in the “fixed” revision at the end.
[6] Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
[7] Though the novel itself may not exist ITTL, I’d imagine the idea of Coraline the character would not go wasted by Gaiman; thus he reuses her in his run on Supreme as a Raven analogue.
[8] A Youngblood series was published IOTL’s 2004, but didn’t last long.
[9] Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened IOTL - Larsen’s series lasted only four issues as a result.
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I hope you don't expect Alan Moore's Supreme to be anything like it was OTL because Moore already used most if not of those ideas in his Man of Steel run:
A Hippie in the House of Mouse (Jim Henson at Disney, 1980)
Will Disney characters appear in DnD works, maybe official stats for Figment, Dreamfinder and the Wizard Gellz. Or Yesnid and his apprentice. Mickeyquest has Fantasyland covered, will anything happen with Frontierland or Tomorrowland? Historical and scifi games.
www.alternatehistory.com
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I can't be sure but I don't think Youngblood was published under the Epic imprint and I think it was suppose to replace Liefeld's X-Force:
A Hippie in the House of Mouse (Jim Henson at Disney, 1980)
only if he can prove he can act, maybe in a direct-to-video or made for TV movie. This is what's bothering me! IOTL we already knew that Will Smith could act because of his performance in Fresh Prince, ITTL people don't know that yet.
www.alternatehistory.com
Is this Marvel's Thor or OTL's Image's Thor?
If Alan Moore is doing 1963 for Marvel why is it incomplete? Also do they still use parodies of Marvel characters or do they use Marvel's characters outright?
Answer to both - assuming Epic is a separate universe from Marvel, then the Thor is OTL Image. Same for the 1963 characters.
But it seems Epic isn't separate from Marvel because Hellspawn is a creation of Mephisto plus I don't think Youngblood is part of the Epic imprint.
Deleted member 165942
Epic TTL seems to be kinda like what Vertigo was for DC, it's the vehicle for darker and more serious series that is kinda set in the same universe as the main comics or close enough that it doesn't really matter but it's still more or less in their own little side of the universe.
Protectors of the Earth
OK. So, this little number was supposed to be on the main thread as part of a larger, non-Disney animation post, buuuuut, it kinda got too big for its own good so, @Geekhis Khan and I decided it should go here instead. Enjoy.
----
Miracleman and the Total Eclipse!
(with additional contributions from @Geekhis Khan ) Excerpts from an ABC Animation Overview by a prominent animation critic on Video-Sharing netsite OurWaves: 2017:
(Images from totaleclipse.blog and mycomicshop.com
"With Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids raking in the ratings like never before, ABC seemed to be holding their heads well above water. However, Haim Saban wasn't quite through yet. The next step to cementing His, DiC/Hollywood and ABC's legacy within the Animation Industry would be one of the most groundbreaking and controversial cartoons of the mid-90s. Ever Since the modest success of the Alex Proyas movie in 1994, independent comic publisher Eclipse Comics[1] had seen a slow-burning rise of Interest in the Miracleman brand, with toys, shirts and other merch becoming rather profitable as the movie began to develop its following. While its success in the states had been slow to get going, overseas, in Britain, the movie was one of the highest-grossing flicks of that year nationally, with ticket sales and merch moving like crazy along with a successful re-release of the Alan Moore Comic run.
Head of ABC, Michael Eisner was happy for the UK praise but sought to make good on his investment back home as best he could. Hence why, shortly before Grizzly Tales went to air, he, Haim Saban, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Jan and Dean Mullaney, began talks to bring Eclipse into the mainstream via the world of animation. Invited to the table with them were British animation legends, Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall. Their famous Manchester Production Company still working independently of the larger Nelvana Animation Group that they were now a part of, allowed them to work with both Hollywood Animation and Saban with little fuss from the higher-ups at both Nelvana as well as Penguin Productions. Shortly after initial talks were over, production began on what was to become one of the biggest hour-long weekly, afternoon sub-blocks in Syndication as well as some of the most iconic toons in the history of ABC.
Miracleman: Olympus! Based heavily on and set after the events of the Proyas flick and based loosely on Issue 16 of the original Eclipse Comics title by Alan Moore, produced, animated and written by Hollywood Animation in collaboration with Saban Entertainment and Cosgrove Hall Productions and broadcast on Children's ITV in the UK, YTV in Canada and Syndication in the US, as well as ABC Saturdays in mid-1995 at the same time as season 2 Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, Where on Earth, is Carmen Sandiego?.and The Crow animated series that lasted 4 seasons, based on the Sam Rami flick that DiC had worked on with South Korea's Rough Draft. Save that for later though. The Miracleman toon shows the continued adventures of Miracleman (played by Seán Barrett), the superhero who spent most of his career in a simulation, after the destruction of London in the movie, as he and his superpowered allies, Miraclewoman, (JoAnne Good) Firedrake, (Beau Billingslea) British Bulldog, (David Jason) Qys scientist Mors, (Jim Cummings) Warpsmiths Kana Blur (Derek Stephen Prince) and Phon Mooda (Linda Larkin) Winter Moran (Gemma Bissix) and their talking green lizard/dog sidekick Overdog (Neil Kaplan), save the world...from itself. Gradually taking over and improving human civilization/society as the ''New Gods of Earth'', by forcefully resolving all of humanity's many problems and ills over the course of three seasons.
The series, as evidenced by its 3-year/season lifespan, was a game-changer in the fact that, fittingly enough, it was a genre deconstruction aimed at an older child audience. Specifically, it was a genre deconstruction of Superhero team cartoons of that era and prior. X-Men, He-Man, Thundercats, Transformers and, naturally, Superfriends. Everything about the series demonstrates this, starting with the New Gods ''Hall of Justice/Cats Lair'' of Olympus. An enormous, golden, ornate Palace/Cathedral where regular mortals go to appeal or protest to their ''Living Deities'' through direct prayer. Our ''heroes'', while well-meaning, kind and trying to make the world better, are usually portrayed as self-righteous and autocratic in their approach. the fact that their ''adventures'' are actually a forceful, planetary takeover is never shied away from. The costumed "villains" (an element which Moore wholely despised, mainly because he's never actually watched the show, but OK.) are mostly depicted as civilians, businessmen, or politicians, simply trying to preserve the old way of life they've always known for better or worse. The desperate, the frightened, or just enraged at the gradual overruling of their freedoms of choice or autonomy under the mandates of their ''divine'' saviours. In many regards, they can be regarded as the true heroes of the series.
(Olympus as seen in both the comics and the show - nothingbutcomics.files.wordpress.com)
Even the individual members of Miracleman's team are deconstructions of Animated Superhero Archetypes. The titular hero's an uncertain, cold, despotic, disconnected, yet benign and gentle figure of few words, his female counterpart/wife, a dissection of the "Caregiver", suffers from a mild Peter Pan syndrome despite being his right-hand lady due to her own young life in the virtual reality hellscape, and her ''words of wisdom'' sound like the shit you'd see in a Hallmark Greeting Card, Mors, the ''Wise Wizard'' of the group only comes off as ''mystical'' in looks and is actually a logically minded scientist and technician, the Warpsmiths are portrayed as "siblings" in the sense of sharing the same race and profession, rather than anything playful or heartfelt, with Blur being as much a scholarly academic and researcher as he was a fighter and Mooda, the ''teenager'' of the team, being really wise beyond her years despite being so spiritually free-spirited, British Bulldog's patriotism and John Steed, ''british stiff-upper lip'' schtick's seen as ironic, irrelevant and ridiculous by many in the wake of superhuman globalisation, 10 year old ''kid sidekick'', Winter Moran's ''cute antics'' are depicted as somewhat unnerving to all but her parents while Overdog (whose comics name "Pluto" went unused, most likely to keep Disney off of ABC's ass), the ''animal sidekick'' is depicted as an ugly, semi-reptilian, bad-ass, brutal attack hound, yet treated like a heroic Scooby-Doo by his owners.
The only character that stays relatively constructed is Firedrake, the African-American Pyrokinetic, shown to be the most sensible, straightforward and well-meaning of the group. Not in spite of but because of his previous circumstances. Eventually, by the start of season 3, the male teen sidekick archetype would be deconstructed with the introduction of the revived Young Miracleman/Dickie Dauntless, (Christian Bale) who becomes the ultimate threat and eventual undoing of his mentor's Utopia, reviving traditional Superheroics using Mors' Qyrs tech to create a new team of protectors for a now uncertain world on the brink of total chaos. The show was also a deconstruction of kids' toons based on Adult properties, the kind that kept springing up in the 80s and 90s. Sex and nudity were, of course, toned down or removed, but the violence, gore, death and blood, which would usually rarely be depicted in superhero cartoons, were only toned down enough to keep the show on Saturday mornings and were depicted, as they should be, as situational. Couple that with a twisted, broken, Industrial rebuttal to all the epic, rocking theme tunes attached to hero team cartoons by Phil Bush and Shuki Levy, twisted Aesops and superb animation/writing during the winter years of Hollywood/DiC, and it's hard not to see why MM:OL has such a devoted fanbase to this day.
Amid all of this, However, HA/DiC was going through a tumultuous time, and many in production began to notice similarities in the behaviours and mannerisms of the Miracleman characters to the characteristics of ABC executives like Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, Jeff Katzenberg, and Daniel Burke. Some today still wonder if the Olympian takeover was a subtle reflection of the slow, political gamesmanship of the many senior executives. Sometime between the greenlighting of MM:OL and Eisner's infamous firing, heart attack and move down south to work for Ted Turner, Saban, Cosgrove and Hall had talked him, Kats, writer Don Chin and The Mullaneys into greenlighting a second Eclipse-based toon. This time, an affectionate Tribute to/Lampooning of the now world-famous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Saban, who'd been noticing the apparent decline of the original Turtles Cartoon throughout the decade and, mistakenly believed that the heroes in a half shell were on their way out, and Brian and Mark, who were most likely itching to take the piss out of American Toons again as they'd done with Avenger Penguins back in 93 to 95, had been in secret talks with The Mullaneys and Chin to adapt their old Turtles Parody, Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, into yet another cartoon series. After yet another meeting with the board, at which Daniel Burke enjoyed the pitch, the bargain was made and the series put into the pipeline. The Hamsters' backstory in the cartoon is an almost perfect adaptation of that from the comics...at least for the first half.
In 1980, NASA launches a space probe containing 4 baby hamsters in order to ascertain the potential danger of a mass of "Space Jello" heading in the direction of the Earth. Coming into contact with this radioactive purple goop, transforms the Hamster Babies into anthro versions of themselves, just as their probe crash-lands near a Tibetan monastery. Raised by the monks of this temple, the four are named after 4 of the best Martial-Arts Movie actors in the world, Leader Bruce (Eddie Griffin), and his brothers Chuck, (Rob Rackstraw) Clint, (Matt Hill) and Jackie (Simon Nash) trained by Head-Monk, Master Lock (Stephen Mendel), in the ways of Martial Arts from the age of 7. Sent out by Lock into the world at the age of 15, specifically to deliver a package to his brother in San Francisco, the quartet instead find themselves becoming reluctant heroes in NYC, embroiled in the machinations of the ''Pot Luck'' terrorist organisation against their will. While not addicted to Sex, Drugs and Debauchery like their comic counterparts, The Hamsters are still less than ideal role models. Selfish, egotistical, hedonistic, mentally unstable and detached from reality, leading to them quickly losing their heroic rep within the city within the first 2 episodes, as they try to find their way to San Francisco to deliver that damn package. A task that'd take 2 seasons to accomplish from 1995 to 1996. Of course, the awesomely cheesy Rap theme by Jeremy Sweet and Russell Velázquez is a banger and I still have memories of dancing to it to this day.
(Bruce, Chuck, Clint and Jackie, the titular ARBBHs - Comic Vine. The theme sounds something like that, but better and longer)
As you've probably guessed, despite its mere two-year lifespan, ARBBH grew to become a cult classic and, in re-runs, along with MM:OL, were the beginnings of what would become the hour-long, weekly, Friday ABC sub-block ''The Total Eclipse Hour.", but that wouldn't come to pass until later in the year when ABC and parent company, Capital Cities was merged with Universal and MCA. With his future standing with ABC appearing to be in danger, it came as a relief to Haim Saban when ABC's top brass took over the top positions at Universal, allowing him to continue working with the studio. However, while Cosgrove Hall would be permitted to finish the remaining seasons of MM:OL and ARBBH, CCO and COO Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sumner Redstone made it clear that Universal would not be working with them again, at least in the animation/writing department, insisting to Saban and Iger that the combined resources created by the merge would be enough to continue. This turned out to be a huge lie as they would work on future toons with the aid of Rough Draft Korea and Universal's old pals at UPA who had helped to produce Exosquad and Monster Force. But all of this was only the beginnings of what became both Saban and Bob Iger's personal brainchildren. The Daily, Two-Hour kids programming block/overseas channel to replace ABC Saturdays and something that had been in development hell for a few years, thanks, for the most part, to Eisner. KBC.
(By @ExowareMasses )
As KBC's "Funderground" Rebellion, Outer Reaches, Hacker theme brought the viewers in upon its launch in Early 96, Along with the usual stuff over the course of the decade. Saban dubbed anime, (Including Slayers and Virtua Fighter, not to mention Yu-Gi-Oh! and Monster Farm later down the line) cartoons produced/co-produced by Saban (Including Saban's Kriminal), select imports from Canada and Europe, (Including 3 Cosgrove Hall shows to start with, those being Avenger Penguins, Fantomcat and The Bromeliad Trilogy,), C-Bear and Jamal, Toons based on Modern video games (Crash Bandicoot, Earthworm Jim, Rayman and Disruptor), Toons based on ECW, the MLB and NASCAR. Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills [4], Masked Rider, Techno Beat: Future Police, (Based on the Metal Hero tokusatsu seasons Special Rescue Police Winspector, Super Rescue Solbrain, Blue Swat and the two B-Fighter series' & which was so popular, that it Stopped the source material from going down a more kiddy route) Universal and UPA studio originals (See Monster Force, Exosquad, Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad and the New Little Lulu, Gen-Munks and Woody Woodpecker Shows), Classic toons like Betty Boop, Little Lulu, Mr Magoo, the 80s Alvin and the Chipmunks, Underdog and Woody Woodpecker, Grizzly Tales and other DiC/Hollywood/ABC Saturdays fare from years past and present (Crow, Street Sharks and Bureau of Alien Investigators Included) as well as the late 90s re-boot of Gilligan's Island. Both the Miracleman and Hamster cartoons would join them along with other Eclipse Comics toon fare and so, The Total Eclipse Hour, with new episodes airing every Friday, was born To many the line-up would be unforgettable. Half each would be animated by Universal's expanded animation department and Saban and either UPA or Rough Draft.
UPA got Airboy, Golden Age Legacy Hero whose grandfather's death inspires him to pick up the mantle (1996 - 1998), Aztec Ace, 23rd Century Time Traveller protecting our timeline from all manner of threats. (1996 - 1998) and Coyote, a young, fun-loving, free-spirited, magically endowed, Native-American hero with a lust for living and unusual taking on the Underground conspiracies that threaten our world. (1998 - 2000) Rough Draft with its style it was perfecting with The Maxx cartoon on MTV got The Liberty Project, the story of a Multicultural team of young former C-List Supervillains, granted parole in exchange for defending The United States (1995 - 1999), Mr Monster, the two-fisted, pistol-toting (semi-satirical) costumed monster slayer from the Golden Age of Comics, (1995 - 1997) and Zot!, a Sci-Fi Peter Pan style show about a boy Science-Hero and adventurer from a retro-future world and his adventurers with his Wendy-esc friend and her simian brother from "our world." (and the reason behind a great, big multiversal crossover 3 parter that brought a handful of the characters from all the TEH heroes together) (1997 - 1999) Of course, at least 2 of each of these shows ran as various, alternating reruns on regular KBC on the other 6 days of the week.
(mycomicshop.com, Screen Rant, Vintage Comics and Toys, Comic Vine, comicbookreligion.com. Also my ideal Airboy/Zot! theme tune.)
With all of this greatness going on, it's no wonder that kids in the mid-90s have so many great memories of the stories they grew up with. For ABC, it definitely seemed as if a whole new lease on life had been opened up for them, thanks to Haim Saban. But the question is, would it las? How would ABC * Universal stand the test of what was to come? Tune in for part 3 as we discuss..."
____________________________________________________________
[1] ITTL, Eclipse never suffers the catastrophic office flood of 1986, which destroyed most of its back-issue stock. Most likely, someone saw the problem in time.
[2] Yup, it's canon ITTL too. Remember that IOTL, DiC was the one who came up with this knockoff? Well, thanks to Saban's working relationship with ABC and the introduction of Masked Rider, that project got shelved at the proposal stage for the rest of 1994. Early in 95, the project was revived with Saban's involvement and came out close to 96, the 10th Aniversary of Bio-Force. At this point, Haim Saban was getting a wee bit tired of Bio-Force and, as far back as Dino Warriors, was granting Disney more production control, in order to focus on less ''Formulaic Cornball'' Tokusatsu dubs like Masked Rider and Techno Beat. (Ironic, as MR was still quite formulaic while TB, while a lot less formulaic, still had that ol' Saban brand of humour that we know/love) As a result, TTAFFBH became less of an unfunny BM ripoff with a shit budget and more of a tongue in cheek, deconstructive, Austin Powers-Esc parody of his first big break. (with an adequate budget.) Basically, it was his chance to vent about the Bio-Force franchise's tropes and cliches and let off some steam and it worked well too, as he'd return as a creative consultant and executive producer for the 2nd half of the 10th Anniversary season.
----
Miracleman and the Total Eclipse!
(with additional contributions from @Geekhis Khan ) Excerpts from an ABC Animation Overview by a prominent animation critic on Video-Sharing netsite OurWaves: 2017:
(Images from totaleclipse.blog and mycomicshop.com
"With Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids raking in the ratings like never before, ABC seemed to be holding their heads well above water. However, Haim Saban wasn't quite through yet. The next step to cementing His, DiC/Hollywood and ABC's legacy within the Animation Industry would be one of the most groundbreaking and controversial cartoons of the mid-90s. Ever Since the modest success of the Alex Proyas movie in 1994, independent comic publisher Eclipse Comics[1] had seen a slow-burning rise of Interest in the Miracleman brand, with toys, shirts and other merch becoming rather profitable as the movie began to develop its following. While its success in the states had been slow to get going, overseas, in Britain, the movie was one of the highest-grossing flicks of that year nationally, with ticket sales and merch moving like crazy along with a successful re-release of the Alan Moore Comic run.
Head of ABC, Michael Eisner was happy for the UK praise but sought to make good on his investment back home as best he could. Hence why, shortly before Grizzly Tales went to air, he, Haim Saban, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Jan and Dean Mullaney, began talks to bring Eclipse into the mainstream via the world of animation. Invited to the table with them were British animation legends, Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall. Their famous Manchester Production Company still working independently of the larger Nelvana Animation Group that they were now a part of, allowed them to work with both Hollywood Animation and Saban with little fuss from the higher-ups at both Nelvana as well as Penguin Productions. Shortly after initial talks were over, production began on what was to become one of the biggest hour-long weekly, afternoon sub-blocks in Syndication as well as some of the most iconic toons in the history of ABC.
Miracleman: Olympus! Based heavily on and set after the events of the Proyas flick and based loosely on Issue 16 of the original Eclipse Comics title by Alan Moore, produced, animated and written by Hollywood Animation in collaboration with Saban Entertainment and Cosgrove Hall Productions and broadcast on Children's ITV in the UK, YTV in Canada and Syndication in the US, as well as ABC Saturdays in mid-1995 at the same time as season 2 Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, Where on Earth, is Carmen Sandiego?.and The Crow animated series that lasted 4 seasons, based on the Sam Rami flick that DiC had worked on with South Korea's Rough Draft. Save that for later though. The Miracleman toon shows the continued adventures of Miracleman (played by Seán Barrett), the superhero who spent most of his career in a simulation, after the destruction of London in the movie, as he and his superpowered allies, Miraclewoman, (JoAnne Good) Firedrake, (Beau Billingslea) British Bulldog, (David Jason) Qys scientist Mors, (Jim Cummings) Warpsmiths Kana Blur (Derek Stephen Prince) and Phon Mooda (Linda Larkin) Winter Moran (Gemma Bissix) and their talking green lizard/dog sidekick Overdog (Neil Kaplan), save the world...from itself. Gradually taking over and improving human civilization/society as the ''New Gods of Earth'', by forcefully resolving all of humanity's many problems and ills over the course of three seasons.
The series, as evidenced by its 3-year/season lifespan, was a game-changer in the fact that, fittingly enough, it was a genre deconstruction aimed at an older child audience. Specifically, it was a genre deconstruction of Superhero team cartoons of that era and prior. X-Men, He-Man, Thundercats, Transformers and, naturally, Superfriends. Everything about the series demonstrates this, starting with the New Gods ''Hall of Justice/Cats Lair'' of Olympus. An enormous, golden, ornate Palace/Cathedral where regular mortals go to appeal or protest to their ''Living Deities'' through direct prayer. Our ''heroes'', while well-meaning, kind and trying to make the world better, are usually portrayed as self-righteous and autocratic in their approach. the fact that their ''adventures'' are actually a forceful, planetary takeover is never shied away from. The costumed "villains" (an element which Moore wholely despised, mainly because he's never actually watched the show, but OK.) are mostly depicted as civilians, businessmen, or politicians, simply trying to preserve the old way of life they've always known for better or worse. The desperate, the frightened, or just enraged at the gradual overruling of their freedoms of choice or autonomy under the mandates of their ''divine'' saviours. In many regards, they can be regarded as the true heroes of the series.
(Olympus as seen in both the comics and the show - nothingbutcomics.files.wordpress.com)
Even the individual members of Miracleman's team are deconstructions of Animated Superhero Archetypes. The titular hero's an uncertain, cold, despotic, disconnected, yet benign and gentle figure of few words, his female counterpart/wife, a dissection of the "Caregiver", suffers from a mild Peter Pan syndrome despite being his right-hand lady due to her own young life in the virtual reality hellscape, and her ''words of wisdom'' sound like the shit you'd see in a Hallmark Greeting Card, Mors, the ''Wise Wizard'' of the group only comes off as ''mystical'' in looks and is actually a logically minded scientist and technician, the Warpsmiths are portrayed as "siblings" in the sense of sharing the same race and profession, rather than anything playful or heartfelt, with Blur being as much a scholarly academic and researcher as he was a fighter and Mooda, the ''teenager'' of the team, being really wise beyond her years despite being so spiritually free-spirited, British Bulldog's patriotism and John Steed, ''british stiff-upper lip'' schtick's seen as ironic, irrelevant and ridiculous by many in the wake of superhuman globalisation, 10 year old ''kid sidekick'', Winter Moran's ''cute antics'' are depicted as somewhat unnerving to all but her parents while Overdog (whose comics name "Pluto" went unused, most likely to keep Disney off of ABC's ass), the ''animal sidekick'' is depicted as an ugly, semi-reptilian, bad-ass, brutal attack hound, yet treated like a heroic Scooby-Doo by his owners.
The only character that stays relatively constructed is Firedrake, the African-American Pyrokinetic, shown to be the most sensible, straightforward and well-meaning of the group. Not in spite of but because of his previous circumstances. Eventually, by the start of season 3, the male teen sidekick archetype would be deconstructed with the introduction of the revived Young Miracleman/Dickie Dauntless, (Christian Bale) who becomes the ultimate threat and eventual undoing of his mentor's Utopia, reviving traditional Superheroics using Mors' Qyrs tech to create a new team of protectors for a now uncertain world on the brink of total chaos. The show was also a deconstruction of kids' toons based on Adult properties, the kind that kept springing up in the 80s and 90s. Sex and nudity were, of course, toned down or removed, but the violence, gore, death and blood, which would usually rarely be depicted in superhero cartoons, were only toned down enough to keep the show on Saturday mornings and were depicted, as they should be, as situational. Couple that with a twisted, broken, Industrial rebuttal to all the epic, rocking theme tunes attached to hero team cartoons by Phil Bush and Shuki Levy, twisted Aesops and superb animation/writing during the winter years of Hollywood/DiC, and it's hard not to see why MM:OL has such a devoted fanbase to this day.
Amid all of this, However, HA/DiC was going through a tumultuous time, and many in production began to notice similarities in the behaviours and mannerisms of the Miracleman characters to the characteristics of ABC executives like Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, Jeff Katzenberg, and Daniel Burke. Some today still wonder if the Olympian takeover was a subtle reflection of the slow, political gamesmanship of the many senior executives. Sometime between the greenlighting of MM:OL and Eisner's infamous firing, heart attack and move down south to work for Ted Turner, Saban, Cosgrove and Hall had talked him, Kats, writer Don Chin and The Mullaneys into greenlighting a second Eclipse-based toon. This time, an affectionate Tribute to/Lampooning of the now world-famous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Saban, who'd been noticing the apparent decline of the original Turtles Cartoon throughout the decade and, mistakenly believed that the heroes in a half shell were on their way out, and Brian and Mark, who were most likely itching to take the piss out of American Toons again as they'd done with Avenger Penguins back in 93 to 95, had been in secret talks with The Mullaneys and Chin to adapt their old Turtles Parody, Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, into yet another cartoon series. After yet another meeting with the board, at which Daniel Burke enjoyed the pitch, the bargain was made and the series put into the pipeline. The Hamsters' backstory in the cartoon is an almost perfect adaptation of that from the comics...at least for the first half.
In 1980, NASA launches a space probe containing 4 baby hamsters in order to ascertain the potential danger of a mass of "Space Jello" heading in the direction of the Earth. Coming into contact with this radioactive purple goop, transforms the Hamster Babies into anthro versions of themselves, just as their probe crash-lands near a Tibetan monastery. Raised by the monks of this temple, the four are named after 4 of the best Martial-Arts Movie actors in the world, Leader Bruce (Eddie Griffin), and his brothers Chuck, (Rob Rackstraw) Clint, (Matt Hill) and Jackie (Simon Nash) trained by Head-Monk, Master Lock (Stephen Mendel), in the ways of Martial Arts from the age of 7. Sent out by Lock into the world at the age of 15, specifically to deliver a package to his brother in San Francisco, the quartet instead find themselves becoming reluctant heroes in NYC, embroiled in the machinations of the ''Pot Luck'' terrorist organisation against their will. While not addicted to Sex, Drugs and Debauchery like their comic counterparts, The Hamsters are still less than ideal role models. Selfish, egotistical, hedonistic, mentally unstable and detached from reality, leading to them quickly losing their heroic rep within the city within the first 2 episodes, as they try to find their way to San Francisco to deliver that damn package. A task that'd take 2 seasons to accomplish from 1995 to 1996. Of course, the awesomely cheesy Rap theme by Jeremy Sweet and Russell Velázquez is a banger and I still have memories of dancing to it to this day.
As you've probably guessed, despite its mere two-year lifespan, ARBBH grew to become a cult classic and, in re-runs, along with MM:OL, were the beginnings of what would become the hour-long, weekly, Friday ABC sub-block ''The Total Eclipse Hour.", but that wouldn't come to pass until later in the year when ABC and parent company, Capital Cities was merged with Universal and MCA. With his future standing with ABC appearing to be in danger, it came as a relief to Haim Saban when ABC's top brass took over the top positions at Universal, allowing him to continue working with the studio. However, while Cosgrove Hall would be permitted to finish the remaining seasons of MM:OL and ARBBH, CCO and COO Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sumner Redstone made it clear that Universal would not be working with them again, at least in the animation/writing department, insisting to Saban and Iger that the combined resources created by the merge would be enough to continue. This turned out to be a huge lie as they would work on future toons with the aid of Rough Draft Korea and Universal's old pals at UPA who had helped to produce Exosquad and Monster Force. But all of this was only the beginnings of what became both Saban and Bob Iger's personal brainchildren. The Daily, Two-Hour kids programming block/overseas channel to replace ABC Saturdays and something that had been in development hell for a few years, thanks, for the most part, to Eisner. KBC.
(By @ExowareMasses )
As KBC's "Funderground" Rebellion, Outer Reaches, Hacker theme brought the viewers in upon its launch in Early 96, Along with the usual stuff over the course of the decade. Saban dubbed anime, (Including Slayers and Virtua Fighter, not to mention Yu-Gi-Oh! and Monster Farm later down the line) cartoons produced/co-produced by Saban (Including Saban's Kriminal), select imports from Canada and Europe, (Including 3 Cosgrove Hall shows to start with, those being Avenger Penguins, Fantomcat and The Bromeliad Trilogy,), C-Bear and Jamal, Toons based on Modern video games (Crash Bandicoot, Earthworm Jim, Rayman and Disruptor), Toons based on ECW, the MLB and NASCAR. Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills [4], Masked Rider, Techno Beat: Future Police, (Based on the Metal Hero tokusatsu seasons Special Rescue Police Winspector, Super Rescue Solbrain, Blue Swat and the two B-Fighter series' & which was so popular, that it Stopped the source material from going down a more kiddy route) Universal and UPA studio originals (See Monster Force, Exosquad, Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad and the New Little Lulu, Gen-Munks and Woody Woodpecker Shows), Classic toons like Betty Boop, Little Lulu, Mr Magoo, the 80s Alvin and the Chipmunks, Underdog and Woody Woodpecker, Grizzly Tales and other DiC/Hollywood/ABC Saturdays fare from years past and present (Crow, Street Sharks and Bureau of Alien Investigators Included) as well as the late 90s re-boot of Gilligan's Island. Both the Miracleman and Hamster cartoons would join them along with other Eclipse Comics toon fare and so, The Total Eclipse Hour, with new episodes airing every Friday, was born To many the line-up would be unforgettable. Half each would be animated by Universal's expanded animation department and Saban and either UPA or Rough Draft.
UPA got Airboy, Golden Age Legacy Hero whose grandfather's death inspires him to pick up the mantle (1996 - 1998), Aztec Ace, 23rd Century Time Traveller protecting our timeline from all manner of threats. (1996 - 1998) and Coyote, a young, fun-loving, free-spirited, magically endowed, Native-American hero with a lust for living and unusual taking on the Underground conspiracies that threaten our world. (1998 - 2000) Rough Draft with its style it was perfecting with The Maxx cartoon on MTV got The Liberty Project, the story of a Multicultural team of young former C-List Supervillains, granted parole in exchange for defending The United States (1995 - 1999), Mr Monster, the two-fisted, pistol-toting (semi-satirical) costumed monster slayer from the Golden Age of Comics, (1995 - 1997) and Zot!, a Sci-Fi Peter Pan style show about a boy Science-Hero and adventurer from a retro-future world and his adventurers with his Wendy-esc friend and her simian brother from "our world." (and the reason behind a great, big multiversal crossover 3 parter that brought a handful of the characters from all the TEH heroes together) (1997 - 1999) Of course, at least 2 of each of these shows ran as various, alternating reruns on regular KBC on the other 6 days of the week.
With all of this greatness going on, it's no wonder that kids in the mid-90s have so many great memories of the stories they grew up with. For ABC, it definitely seemed as if a whole new lease on life had been opened up for them, thanks to Haim Saban. But the question is, would it las? How would ABC * Universal stand the test of what was to come? Tune in for part 3 as we discuss..."
____________________________________________________________
[1] ITTL, Eclipse never suffers the catastrophic office flood of 1986, which destroyed most of its back-issue stock. Most likely, someone saw the problem in time.
[2] Yup, it's canon ITTL too. Remember that IOTL, DiC was the one who came up with this knockoff? Well, thanks to Saban's working relationship with ABC and the introduction of Masked Rider, that project got shelved at the proposal stage for the rest of 1994. Early in 95, the project was revived with Saban's involvement and came out close to 96, the 10th Aniversary of Bio-Force. At this point, Haim Saban was getting a wee bit tired of Bio-Force and, as far back as Dino Warriors, was granting Disney more production control, in order to focus on less ''Formulaic Cornball'' Tokusatsu dubs like Masked Rider and Techno Beat. (Ironic, as MR was still quite formulaic while TB, while a lot less formulaic, still had that ol' Saban brand of humour that we know/love) As a result, TTAFFBH became less of an unfunny BM ripoff with a shit budget and more of a tongue in cheek, deconstructive, Austin Powers-Esc parody of his first big break. (with an adequate budget.) Basically, it was his chance to vent about the Bio-Force franchise's tropes and cliches and let off some steam and it worked well too, as he'd return as a creative consultant and executive producer for the 2nd half of the 10th Anniversary season.
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