Rainbow Grey

Well, for the latest instalment of the rainbow thread I've done Jean Grey. OK, that might be a bit of a cheat but c'mon--who really wants to see the Grey Gargoyle? Sheesh! This isn't perfect but isn't too bad...I had originally intended to do a nice flamebird effect but time got away with me again (what with catching up on sleep, washing and ironing, etc) so I had to let it go.

Rolf Harris Night on BBC3 tonight so I'll watch most of that, though I'll flip over to watch Survivors...I don't recall the original but the premise is interesting so I'll give it a try. I've been watching DC Super Heroes on DVD recently, something of a strange collection.

Containing 18 6-minute episodes originally run as backup segments of the Superman/Aquaman Hour (if I recall my research on my still lingering book on comic movies and TV correctly), this DVD features 3 outings each for the Atom, Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, who also join with Superman in 3 Justice League episodes: the original Teen Titans round out the disc. These were produced by Filmation, who produced such childhood cartoon favourites as Flash Gordon and Tarzan and are apparently notorious for reused footage. This is quickly evident in the animation itself but also the plots, which usually find the heroes fighting off alien invaders. Though primitive by today's standards, and burdened with a stereotypical superhero narration, the shows are not without charm but get hard going if viewed together.

The designs are fairly faithful with two notable exceptions. The Atom and Kid Flash have two of comics' greatest designs but the cartoons do away with the Atom's red pointed torso design and extend his blue mask and chest area down to his shorts, a pointless change that detracts from the visuals. While the Flash is given yellow gloves and a standard yellow belt, he is not as altered as his sidekick (who keeps calling his mentor "Flasher"!). Kid Flash basically has his colours reversed and is also given a pair of shorts: the only reason I can think they made this change was to make him look more like the Flash, except he looks almost identical to Johnny Quick instead.

While a friend laughed at a Frazetta DVD special feature showing Frazetta draw with his left hand (sounds amusing till you find out he had a stroke which means he can't use his right hand to draw so he learned to use his left hand instead--and he's still good!), this contains the most pointless DVD extra EVER: the end credits of the otherwise unrepresented Aquaman cartoon! It wouldn't be so bad if the sequence was interesting, but it's just a still shot of the domed city of Atlantis! WTF? Another thing that puzzles the hell out of me is the inclusion of Birdman on the DVD menu. Now I don't recall this character at all (currently revived as Harvey Birdman, Attorney on Cartoon Network), but not only does he not appear on the disc whatsoever, he was a Hanna-Barbera character and has no ties to Filmation's DC adaptations whatsoever.

These goofy facts are more interesting than the episodes and the DVD has convinced me not to try the Space Ghost DVD as I can't face anymore shoddy old animation---though Space Ghost could be gold in comparison...