I'm celebrating the increased attention Green Lantern is getting -- what with the live-action film and animated series on their way(!) -- by making avatars that are variations of the Green Lantern insignia.
I'm starting first with Alan Scott's emblem since he was the original Green Lantern way back in late 1939! From there, I'm going to periodically change my avatar (at least once a week) -- mainly with variations of the Silver Age GL (Hal Jordan) insignia from time to time.
I'd be willing to release the avatars I've created -- 25 in all, web-safe, site-compliant, nothing that's NSFW -- to one of the webmasters if they'd like to distribute them somehow on the site or post them in this thread if that's all right...
I doubt anybody's going to get in trouble for this. WB would probably be happy with more free GL publicity!
Green Lantern: The Animated Series arriving in 2012
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Okay,
I'll do that, Ben!
Expect some symbols to pop up soon. These are NOT all the GL symbols that have existed. There are too many ring and chest symbol variations to count. Nobody draws them the same in comics and they 'evolve' all the time!
This WILL be the year of Green whether or not the film is a huge success. (Odds are it will be a success -- now if it's Iron Man good, I'll be pleasantly surprised.)
Oddly enough, only Alan Scott's costume has an actual lantern on the chest. All other GL's have ring insignia's on their uniforms... although come to think of it, from time to time, a ring insignia has been drawn on Alan Scott's costume and its armor variants, too.
I'll do that, Ben!
Expect some symbols to pop up soon. These are NOT all the GL symbols that have existed. There are too many ring and chest symbol variations to count. Nobody draws them the same in comics and they 'evolve' all the time!
This WILL be the year of Green whether or not the film is a huge success. (Odds are it will be a success -- now if it's Iron Man good, I'll be pleasantly surprised.)
Oddly enough, only Alan Scott's costume has an actual lantern on the chest. All other GL's have ring insignia's on their uniforms... although come to think of it, from time to time, a ring insignia has been drawn on Alan Scott's costume and its armor variants, too.
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... imated.htm
Short trailer for the TV series is up on various websites.... Link to the trailer above.
First impressions -- hopefully, it's WRITTEN better than the live-action film but I've got to see a higher-quality trailer than that.
Animation quality at first glance looks cheapish. Quality of a videogame CG cut scenes from around 5 years ago... Hope the series has the charm to escape the limitations of a TV CG series budget.
With only a few exceptions, I've found most CG animated TV series to be horribly bad...
Don't know why they're going CG on this series. Is hand-drawn really that much more expensive? It's not as if overseas animated studios get paid much either way...
Short trailer for the TV series is up on various websites.... Link to the trailer above.
First impressions -- hopefully, it's WRITTEN better than the live-action film but I've got to see a higher-quality trailer than that.
Animation quality at first glance looks cheapish. Quality of a videogame CG cut scenes from around 5 years ago... Hope the series has the charm to escape the limitations of a TV CG series budget.
With only a few exceptions, I've found most CG animated TV series to be horribly bad...
Don't know why they're going CG on this series. Is hand-drawn really that much more expensive? It's not as if overseas animated studios get paid much either way...
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You can't really tell too much from that, since it's a series of big whizz-bang moments, but, yeah, cheap looks to be the word. I think it's a style thing rather than cost: WB have shown they can make good-looking traditionally animated shows.
Talking about CG shows, however: have you seen the Tron: Uprising teaser George? Pretty impressive!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xFZ2XV3Q34
Looking for that, I also found this very cool fanfilm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xFZ2XV3Q34
Talking about CG shows, however: have you seen the Tron: Uprising teaser George? Pretty impressive!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xFZ2XV3Q34
Looking for that, I also found this very cool fanfilm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xFZ2XV3Q34
I'm a bigger fan of the older style artwork for both the DC animated TV series and TRON.
TRON: Legacy wasn't horrible but it wasn't a great film, either. I felt let-down in what I felt was an opportunity to improve upon and expand the original film. It did neither, IMHO, and came off more as a retcon and remake than a true sequel to the original TRON.
The original TRON played upon videogame conventions of its time and unknowingly was the first virtual reality theatrical feature. I'd argue in 10 years that the original TRON will STILL hold up better visually than TRON: Legacy which was a very unambitious film.
One of my huge problems with both sci-fi and fantasy films today is art direction that insists on duplicating reality to the point that the final product is "meh" and looks like something that could have appeared on a reality TV series or Extreme Sports tournament. Art direction is one of the big points being missed about the science fiction and fantasy films of the 1970s and 1980s... Argue all you want about casting and scripts -- and yes, certain elements were in place that hit at the right time when those films were made -- but I have to believe that a large part of what is missing in films today is good art visual direction. Art direction impacts setting, mood, and overall visual effects.
We have all this great digital technology today and a good part of WHY it's not working -- in spite of all the advantages over analogue and old-fashioned film compositing -- is that the great art directors just aren't there. It's very easy to pick apart film matting that didn't work in Superman and the original Star Wars and Star Trek films but unless you're a complete newbie to films and have bad eyesight I think it'd be a hard argument to make that the films of the past 12 years actually look better than what was made in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The complaints about CG are misplaced.... It's not the technology that's flawed, it's the direction and usage of it. Gotta have good directors in art and film compositing as well as good sound editors...
P.S. -- The TRON:Uprising teaser looks fine but it's more of the same in a direction I just don't care for. The fact that it's a Disney XD-exclusive series also means that more people aren't going to see it. I wouldn't pay for more cable channels just to see one show... My basic cable set-up doesn't have Disney XD and the few times I have seen that channel in other people's homes I haven't been impressed by the overall show line-up. It's the cartoon version of SyFy...
TRON: Legacy wasn't horrible but it wasn't a great film, either. I felt let-down in what I felt was an opportunity to improve upon and expand the original film. It did neither, IMHO, and came off more as a retcon and remake than a true sequel to the original TRON.
The original TRON played upon videogame conventions of its time and unknowingly was the first virtual reality theatrical feature. I'd argue in 10 years that the original TRON will STILL hold up better visually than TRON: Legacy which was a very unambitious film.
One of my huge problems with both sci-fi and fantasy films today is art direction that insists on duplicating reality to the point that the final product is "meh" and looks like something that could have appeared on a reality TV series or Extreme Sports tournament. Art direction is one of the big points being missed about the science fiction and fantasy films of the 1970s and 1980s... Argue all you want about casting and scripts -- and yes, certain elements were in place that hit at the right time when those films were made -- but I have to believe that a large part of what is missing in films today is good art visual direction. Art direction impacts setting, mood, and overall visual effects.
We have all this great digital technology today and a good part of WHY it's not working -- in spite of all the advantages over analogue and old-fashioned film compositing -- is that the great art directors just aren't there. It's very easy to pick apart film matting that didn't work in Superman and the original Star Wars and Star Trek films but unless you're a complete newbie to films and have bad eyesight I think it'd be a hard argument to make that the films of the past 12 years actually look better than what was made in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The complaints about CG are misplaced.... It's not the technology that's flawed, it's the direction and usage of it. Gotta have good directors in art and film compositing as well as good sound editors...
P.S. -- The TRON:Uprising teaser looks fine but it's more of the same in a direction I just don't care for. The fact that it's a Disney XD-exclusive series also means that more people aren't going to see it. I wouldn't pay for more cable channels just to see one show... My basic cable set-up doesn't have Disney XD and the few times I have seen that channel in other people's homes I haven't been impressed by the overall show line-up. It's the cartoon version of SyFy...
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Gotta agree the (quick) scenes shown look a little cheap, but I need to see much more before passing final judgment. I didn't like the initial art released for The Brave and The Bold, but when I saw full footage at Comic-Con, I "got" it. Maybe full scenes of GL will work better than half-second shots.
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That's what so frustrating about the Star Wars sequels...Lucas had all that wonderful story stuff to play with AND a whole new slew of marvelous technical toys. We really should have been coming out of those films with our jaws on the ground, not finding them full of faults or trying to justify various elements (depending on what side of the fence you sit).
And I'd still take the mattes of Superman: The Movie over the rubber CG of Superman Returns.
Agreed on Tron: Legacy 2 (as I think I said in my review) and to an extent on Tron: Uprising. I don't get Disney XD either, but am betting on a season set somewhere down the line that hopefully we'll get to review here.
On Green Lantern, Rand's right. It's always hard to gauge things from half-second teasers, although I do have a feeling here that they're cutting so fast and using their big money shots to cover over the fact that the rest of it is cheaper looking. Hopefully the stories and vocals will help overcome those aspects.
And I'd still take the mattes of Superman: The Movie over the rubber CG of Superman Returns.
Agreed on Tron: Legacy 2 (as I think I said in my review) and to an extent on Tron: Uprising. I don't get Disney XD either, but am betting on a season set somewhere down the line that hopefully we'll get to review here.
On Green Lantern, Rand's right. It's always hard to gauge things from half-second teasers, although I do have a feeling here that they're cutting so fast and using their big money shots to cover over the fact that the rest of it is cheaper looking. Hopefully the stories and vocals will help overcome those aspects.
I don't know about Disney and TRON: Uprising set.... Probably 'yes' since the recent revival was successful enough and is fresh but Disney has a lousy track record on releasing season sets for its own Disney Channel series. They generally don't do them!
There have actually been quite a few Region 2 and 4 releases of Disney series that never materialized in Region 1. I've wikii'd quite a few Disney series and am amazed by the release patterns. Consistent Votes of No-Confidence-in-the-home-audience from Disney Co!
(Big complaint here -- I'm one of very many people who is puzzled by Disney's lack of movement on getting ANY Marvel series released in a full series set aside from the years-out-of-print Spider-Man '67 series. There are tons of people who grew up on Marvel animated series and regardless of how faithful or rotten the shows are there are many fans who would like to own legitimate, cleaned-up digital copies of those series...! Disney owns them all except the 1960s H-B Fantastic Four series and yet there's no sign Disney will EVER release full-season sets of most of those shows, period. Lots of people also want the live-action Spider-Man series on DVD, too, but that may be tied up in copyright issues depending on what company produced that series in the 1970s.)
AS FOR SUPERMAN...
I can forgive the slight special defects that occur in the 1978 and 1980 movies just because there are enough significant emotional and good acting moments in those films. Those moments are why the films transcend the original comics they were adapted from and why they remain the standard to judge other hero films by. It's just too bad that as time goes on it becomes more and more obvious that they're special once-in-a-lifetime films... and not just because they're the best live-action Superman to date. They had many other things going for them. They're faithful to the intent of the original comics but don't become constrained by them nor do they veer off and do so many things that are stupidly removed from the four-color context, too. Superman IV gets a big fail from me because you DON'T want to tie Superman to real-life world events and get too political with the character. Reeve was warned about that by one of the prime scriptwriters of the first Superman movie.
The reasons why people complain about newer superhero films are mainly the lack of emotional depth and rampantly bad acting in most of them. Yes, the FX could be better, too, BUT if you don't have a good script, good directors, and enough good leads to begin with...!
P.S. -- There was a line in the 1978 Superman movie that was blatantly copied from an old Marvel comic, nearly word-for-word. Not many people are aware of the fact that the words Clark Kent spoke at Jonathan Kent's funeral were originally written for Captain America/Steve Rogers in The Avengers Vol. 1 #4 (1964)....
That happens more times than people realize... and it's usually not such a subconscious thing, either. It happened a lot when Marvel and DC Comics were headquartered close to each other in New York City. Didn't hurt that writers and artists were constantly going back-and-forth on assignments between the companies, either.
There have actually been quite a few Region 2 and 4 releases of Disney series that never materialized in Region 1. I've wikii'd quite a few Disney series and am amazed by the release patterns. Consistent Votes of No-Confidence-in-the-home-audience from Disney Co!
(Big complaint here -- I'm one of very many people who is puzzled by Disney's lack of movement on getting ANY Marvel series released in a full series set aside from the years-out-of-print Spider-Man '67 series. There are tons of people who grew up on Marvel animated series and regardless of how faithful or rotten the shows are there are many fans who would like to own legitimate, cleaned-up digital copies of those series...! Disney owns them all except the 1960s H-B Fantastic Four series and yet there's no sign Disney will EVER release full-season sets of most of those shows, period. Lots of people also want the live-action Spider-Man series on DVD, too, but that may be tied up in copyright issues depending on what company produced that series in the 1970s.)
AS FOR SUPERMAN...
I can forgive the slight special defects that occur in the 1978 and 1980 movies just because there are enough significant emotional and good acting moments in those films. Those moments are why the films transcend the original comics they were adapted from and why they remain the standard to judge other hero films by. It's just too bad that as time goes on it becomes more and more obvious that they're special once-in-a-lifetime films... and not just because they're the best live-action Superman to date. They had many other things going for them. They're faithful to the intent of the original comics but don't become constrained by them nor do they veer off and do so many things that are stupidly removed from the four-color context, too. Superman IV gets a big fail from me because you DON'T want to tie Superman to real-life world events and get too political with the character. Reeve was warned about that by one of the prime scriptwriters of the first Superman movie.
The reasons why people complain about newer superhero films are mainly the lack of emotional depth and rampantly bad acting in most of them.
P.S. -- There was a line in the 1978 Superman movie that was blatantly copied from an old Marvel comic, nearly word-for-word. Not many people are aware of the fact that the words Clark Kent spoke at Jonathan Kent's funeral were originally written for Captain America/Steve Rogers in The Avengers Vol. 1 #4 (1964)....
That happens more times than people realize... and it's usually not such a subconscious thing, either. It happened a lot when Marvel and DC Comics were headquartered close to each other in New York City. Didn't hurt that writers and artists were constantly going back-and-forth on assignments between the companies, either.
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I think the lack of Disney seasons on DVD is that they just don't sell that much. In Region 2 and 4 countries those shows don't play on basic channels anyway, so there's more of an audience for them to see them "new".
I think a Tron: Uprising set is more likely than not, since it's going for a different audience than most of DC's output and Disney will have seen how popular Clone Wars is on disc, and they know that the audience for this is probably more adult or collector prone, like for their live-action shows, which they do release frequently.
I think a Tron: Uprising set is more likely than not, since it's going for a different audience than most of DC's output and Disney will have seen how popular Clone Wars is on disc, and they know that the audience for this is probably more adult or collector prone, like for their live-action shows, which they do release frequently.