It’s time for another edition of What We’re Watching. This time What We’re Watching is the television series Titans.
Created by Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, and Greg Berlanti, Titans debuted and already ran for two seasons on DC Universe. The show has now moved to HBO Max with a third season set to drop later this year.
Titans follows the adventures, misadventures, trials, tribulations and bloody fights of a group of teen, and slightly older, superheroes led by everyone’s favorite sidekick Dick Grayson (aka Robin, the Boy Wonder). Although, as the show begins, Dick has been out from under Batman’s shadow for five years and been replaced by a younger Robin (aka Jason Todd).
The show also features Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Hawk, Dove, Deathstroke, Connor Kent (a clone with combined Superman and Lex Luthor DNA), Wonder Girl and a host of other familiar names, faces and costumes. They’re especially familiar if you’re fan of the Titans‘s comics. Fortunately, we are.
The show is violent, profanity-laden and immensely enjoyable. Sure, some may not appreciate another gritty take on superheroes, but we think this one works. And yes, we’re aware of the “issues’ with the season one finale, the “problems” with Raven’s Dad Trigon and especially the “controversy” about the casting of Anna Diop as Starfire.
Some people are always going to be upset about something and these things don’t in any way detract from our enjoyment of the show. And it should’t for you either. In fact, especially in the case of Diop, we find the objections ridiculous.
She does a great job. Give her, and the show, a chance. You just might enjoy it. If not, you can always watch something else. Plenty of other things on HBO Max and the host of other streaming services.
Season one and two of Titans, which features Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson, Anna Diop as Kory Anders, Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth, Ryan Potter as Garfield “Gar” Logan, Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger, Conor Leslie as Donna Troy, Esai Morales as Slade Wilson and Iain Glen as Bruch Wayne, are available on HBO Max. Season three, which is filming now, arrives later this year.
Check out the trailers for Titans season one and two below. If you watched Titans, let us know what you think. Any other shows you love we should be watching?
At WonderCon 2014, fans crammed into the Arena to watch the world premiere of DC Universe’s latest animated feature, Son of Batman, and with good reason. The film, which is set to release on DVD and Blu-ray on May 6, delivers fun and adventure with a fresh plot based Grant Morrison’s 2006 DC storyline.
Bruce Wayne (Jason O’Mara) receives an unwelcome visit from his former lover and foe, Talia al Gul (Morena Baccarin), who’s brought with her a son Batman never knew he had. Damien (Stuart Allen) is exactly the type of kid you’d expect to come from these two: smart, strong, ruthless, and bloodthirsty. Bats, with some patience and an assist from Nightwing (Sean Maher), is able to get through to his long-lost son, and it’s not long before the arrogant kid is donning his own version of the Robin costume. He soars off alongside his father to take down criminal mastermind, Deathstroke (Thomas Gibson).
In keeping with its later animated features, DC does not hold back on the blood and gore of the battles. Damien, who is supposed about 10, takes quite a beating and there’s an especially cringe worthy part involving daggers. Still the action is very welcome and keeps the plot speeding ahead. One of my favorite sequences involved the new dynamic duo fighting off ninja man-bats, engineered by a kidnapped Dr. Langstrom (Xander Berkeley).
After the success of Smallville and the warm reception Arrow has gotten thus far, it isn’t a shock to see the DC Universe expanded in the second season of Arrow. This season, Arrow will add Barry Allen to the cast of characters and though he is referred to as Barry Allen and not the Flash, it looks as though his powers will emerge before the end of the season.
Grant Gustin of Glee fame will be tapped for the 8th, 9th and 20th episode of season two of Arrow. Episode 20 specifically with focus on Barry’s origin story which may be a back door attempt at testing the interest in a Flash spinoff series.
One thing of interest, first pointed out by IGN.com, is a 23 year old being slated as a police forensic investigator. Shy of being someone who skipped a few years of school, getting a Masters in Forensic Science and then being passed around to other cities for investigations probably isn’t the most realistic of situations. Although, the same could be said about someone hit by lightening which allows them to tap into the Speed Force.
Well one thing you have always got to give DC credit for is they are willing to give everything a shot with their gaming properties. From action titles like Superman 64 and Aquaman (which let’s be honest meant that they could only go up from there) to DC Universe Online and the upcoming Injustice: Gods Among Us, they seem to have no problem trying to figure out which genre their games fit into best. Now, less than a month before the release of Injustice: Gods Among Us, they have announced that they are stepping into the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena with Infinite Crisis for the PC.
As you’ll see in the trailer below, Infinite Crisis isn’t your ordinary DC game. With alternate worlds and the ability to control both heroes and villains, Infinite Crisis is going to lend itself to some creative matchups and hopefully and even more creative art style. Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Zatanna and alternate versions of themselves will face off against the likes of the Joker, Doomsday, Poison Ivy and their dopplegangers in a five on five MOBA style game. I mean, it was a good fit for Lord of the Rings so why not have DC make a go at it as well?
Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?
That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.
As we end the first month on the New Year, I thought it would be nice to pick up and read the best comic series published last year. Batman: The Black Mirror is a Batman story at its best. Mystery, murder, and clues mixed in with a personal and scary story from Commissioner Gordon’s past. In fact, The Black Mirror is one of the greatest Batman stories of all time, and it doesn’t even star Bruce Wayne. It stars Dick Grayson.
After the Final Crisis, when everyone thought Bruce Wayne was dead, Dick Grayson took up the cowl and became Batman. Bruce finally returned and decided to travel the world creating Batman Incorporated, a corporation of Batmen dedicated to protecting people. He left Dick Grayson in charge of Gotham City, and even let him continue to be Batman as Gotham will always need a Batman.
Sony Online’s DC Universe Online has had a pretty rough year. Between the server blackouts, the massive PSN hack, and dealing with a paid service to a broke community, they’ve fallen on some hard times.
But that isn’t stopping them from releasing tons of new content for their now freeDC Universe Online. Just a few months ago, we were opened up to the world of Green Lantern with their Fight for the Light DLC. Now their continuing in the trend with a whole Flash universe-based DLC in Lightning Strikes.
Set to hit your console and PC next week on December 6th, the new features include a brand new Eletricity Power set, as well as an all new map, new challenges, and tons of Flash-based characters for you to interact with.
We’ve got a brand new trailer highlighting these features for you to check out after the jump, as well as the full rundown on what the DLC includes. Take a look at that after the jump, and don’t forget to grab DC Universe Online for FREE on PC and PS3 now.
Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?
That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.
“I mock the costume. I mock my father — his life. I am a fool.” – Jack Knight – Starman #1
Everyone can relate to having problems with your father. No matter what you do, you always believe you’re not living up to his example, but imagine if your father was a superhero. A famous superhero that has saved the world several times, and is one of the most amazing inventors ever. How hard would it be to live up to his example then? That’s what this Trade Paperback Tuesday’s pick is all about.
The Starman Omnibus Vol #1 collects Starman issues #0-#16. Written by British writer James Robinson, and illustrated by Tony Harris, Starman was a series that followed the adventures of Jack Knight, son of Ted Knight, better known as the legendary hero of Opal City, Starman.
“I work hard at my job, Inspector. I won’t stop trying to expose the corruption of Metropolis. If that makes me an outside or a freak, I’m fine with that.” – Clark Kent, Action Comics #3
It’s month three of the New 52 Superman. No longer is he an ultra-powerful god that worries about being lonely. Now, he is a social crusader that can leap tall buildings and wears jeans. Did writer Grant Morrison continue the forward momentum and the fresh take on the character that made the first issue so successful? The short answer is yes, and the longer answer is that he did it in a way that I did not expect.
The issue begins with a flashback to the destruction of Krypton, beautifully illustrated by guest artist Gene Ha. Ha handles all the art on the Krypton sequences while series artist Rags Morales continues art on the rest of the issue. While the re-designs of Superman’s doomed planet are great, I was really bored with this sequence. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited by the new inclusion of Brainiac into the destruction of Krypton. (Something that was done first by Bruce Timm’s Superman: The Animated Series over ten years ago).
Parts of these pages have been seen over and over again by anyone that has ever read a Superman comic. Grant Morrison, himself, skipped over Krypton’s destruction by only letting it have two panels in his Superman epic All-Star Superman.In that book, he simply wrote, “Desperate scientists, doomed planet,” and that was all we needed to know. Thankfully, the book doesn’t dwell on Krypton for too long, and focuses on what makes this book excellent.
Superman makes only one tiny appearance in this book. Then who is the star, you might ask. Let me tell you. It’s Clark Kent, and Clark Kent is awesome in this book. No longer the meek, clumsy, nerd he was in the Christopher Reeve movies. This Clark Kent writes articles about corruption in every aspect of society: the police, businesses, and politicians.
He angers people with his articles, and gets beat up for it regularly. The police even search his apartment to get him to stop writing! This is a Clark Kent that matters. His articles and words fight for justice just as hard as Superman does.
Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?
That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.
“I’m only human; They don’t believe I can penetrate their stronghold. They don’t believe I pose a threat. Wrong.” – Batman – JLA #3
Everyone has their favorite superhero team. For some, it is the X-Men, for others it is the Avengers, but for me, it will always be the Justice League. The team’s membership includes not only Superman and Batman, which just by themselves are unstoppable, but includes classics like Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman.
Now, the Justice League has over sixty years of publishing history. So a reader wanting to read the Justice League may be a little confused about where to start, and that’s where our Trade Paperback Tuesday pick comes in.
JLA: Volume 1 collects the first nine issues of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s run in the 1990’s plus a Secret Files special. Morrison treated his Justice League team as if they were the Greek Gods themselves protecting their kingdom from their castle in the clouds. (This Justice League had its Watchtower base on the moon!) His team also included the “Big 7” of DC Comics, and eventually expanded to a membership of twelve.
Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?
That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.
“When I was a kid growing up, I never could decide what I wanted to be when I grew up.” – Green Lantern #75
Some heroes are born, and others are made.
In the mid-90s, Green Lantern wasn’t selling well. So DC Comics did the unthinkable, they created a storyline where Hal Jordan went crazy, became a super villain named Parallax, and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps. While that story line was pretty bad, the issues that followed were pure gold.
We were introduced to Hal’s replacement, Kyle Rayner, a twenty-something graphic artist who couldn’t hold a steady job, and flirted with all the ladies, a screw-up. Kyle received his ring not because of his ability to overcome fear, but because he was in the right place at the right time. Kyle was more creative with his ring than any other Green Lantern because of his artistic mind. The only trouble was with no Green Lantern Corp around anymore, Kyle had no training. Here was Kyle Rayner, a screw up, in possession of the most powerful weapon in the universe, and he has no idea what to do with it.