Image's Masters of the Universe Revival Teased a Darker Side to He-Man

 

As Nostalgia Snake continues, I'll be looking at the time He-Man faced temptation -- not in the desert, but in the bowels of Snake Mountain.

How Shredder (Finally) Faced 2003's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

This week, I revisit Shredder's full debut on the under-rated 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and its connection to the earliest TMNT comics.

And, here are a few more sections that didn't survive a final edit...

DESIGN-Y

There's a nice use of shadow in episodes, as the Turtles face the mostly-black Foot Clan and Shredder in dark alleys and midnight rooftops. The show also has a great use of flashbacks, swapping out its standard color palette for a sepia-tone look when Splinter tells the story of his past.

HEY, I KNOW THAT VOICE

Veronica Taylor, the show's voice of April O'Neil, pops up in a bit part as a young boy who walks in on Donatello and an injured Michelangelo after they sneak into his bathroom. She uses the same voice here she used as Pokémon's Ash Ketchum.

X-Men: The Animated Series - When Came the Apocalypse

 

This week, I'm looking at two episodes from X-Men: The Animated Series' debut season that eclipse two big-budget Fox films with similar plots.

And, hey, looks like two sections didn't survive someone's final edit in the actual article...

HEY, I KNOW THAT VOICE 

Apocalypse is voiced by John Colicos, the actor who played the first ever Klingon on Star Trek, Commander Kor. He's the perfect actor to deliver baroque lines like, "I am the rocks of the eternal shore. Crash against me and be broken!"

APPROVED BY BROADCAST STANDARDS & PRACTICES

Comics fans know that Angel became Death Angel after his encounter with Apocalypse, only adopting the name Archangel after yet another X-event, "Inferno." Archangel was undoubtedly a friendlier name for the censors, though.

And since comments on articles have disappeared in the past, here's showrunner Eric Lewald's kind response to the article...

'Thanks to Mr. Kendall for his insightful article. He is right about that these episodes were conceived as a two-parter and that we were guilty as charged about a few bits of "dodgy continuity." When Mark Edens and I laid out the first season of X-MEN:TAS, we were working very fast and were told simply to "try to keep as close to the spirit of the books" as we could. At the same time, X-Men superfan producer-director Larry Houston was starting to populate the backgrounds and corners of episodes with cameos/easter-eggs of X-Men-world characters. During the "Slave Island" episode, we writers had asked simply to have "a dozen enslaved mutants in the background" and, to the fans delight, Larry loaded this and other episodes with recognizable X-characters -- not necessarily checking how we might be using some of them (like Mystique) in later episodes, like these two, where she was a principal guest character. None of us caught this at the time. The same holds true with Angle/Archangel. Since we had the fun of having him "meet" the X-Men in season one, years later we should have left him out of the early-team-photo-like memories. And yes, our focus here was simple: tell the most compelling Rogue story we could while introducing two new major characters (Angel and Apocalypse). Character first. ERIC LEWALD"

Blind Cerulean - The Lost Chapter

 

Joining the ranks of 2003, I do have a mailing list you guys can join. I promise not to spam you or sell your address...or even send that many emails. I do provide updates on my projects, however, and now have an exclusive offer. 

There's a chapter of my upcoming novel Blind Cerulean I was rather proud of, and it did feature a seminal event for the characters...but darned if it didn't hinder the story's flow, and ultimately, nudge the word count a little too high. But, hey, it could also work as a tease for the book, and is pretty fun in its own right.

So my solution is to offer this chapter as an exclusive download for everyone who signs up for my mailing list. It's very possible this will be the first of several exclusives, actually. So, follow this link to join, make sure you check your Spam folder, then enjoy what could've been Chapter 7.5 of Blind Cerulean.

Tim Burton's Ultra-Obscure 1985 Batman Treatment

 

This week, I look at Tim Burton's 1985 "scriptment" for Batman, written soon after he was given the job. Surprisingly, it has nods to obscure old comics and a more emotionally mature Batman...and no Frank Miller influence, as it predates Dark Knight Returns.