JUSTIN - I don't know precisely when the TGS site ended (I left the project in late 2003), but it's definitely become defunct ever since the brief SLG revival with "Clan-Building".
Todd Jensen
posted @ Sun, Dec 5, 2021 6:17:17 pm EST from 70.176.217.135

And lets not forget Project Rutabega. Klarion's about as comedic as the Joker.
Algae
Change! Change! O form of man! Free the prince forever damned!
posted @ Sun, Dec 5, 2021 3:04:54 pm EST from 217.183.44.235

It's been many years since I've been here or anything and I also recently checked out the old TGS site. How long has it been effectively dead?
Justin
posted @ Sun, Dec 5, 2021 1:03:41 pm EST from 162.1.159.113

And the first thing we see him do onscreen is torture an old man, and the world-without-grownups scheme probably had the biggest body count of anything in the series (at minimum, it's in the top three with the Joker-Venom plants and the superstorms caused by the Reach's contingency plan.)
Karrin Blue
posted @ Sun, Dec 5, 2021 9:24:24 am EST from 68.9.91.142

Klarion is a pretty comedic villain, but it's easy to overlook that he has the first onscreen kill in the series.
Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.
posted @ Sun, Dec 5, 2021 1:28:35 am EST from 64.85.245.77

[SPOILER] This one was cute. I liked Zatanna's little team of magic students, and I'm looking forward to revisiting the Dr. Fate plotline. I liked the flashbacks explaining how Klarion met Vandal Savage, though it kind of crossed over into the gross for the sake of it territory with Klarion LITERALLY standing on top of a pile of bodies of Vandal's family. Especially when he's such a broad, comic villain the rest of the time.

There's so many plotlines and characters in this show I do think I prefer when it explores the familiar. I was really curious to see more of what was going on in Markovia.

I feel like there are so many things a person who doesn't really read comics like me is missing out on, and I don't... necessarily think that's a good thing the way it's being done, but I really loved this episode anyway. [/SPOILER]
Alex (Aldrius)
posted @ Sat, Dec 4, 2021 9:56:31 pm EST from 70.48.44.157

[SPOILER] Well, we went back to Roanoke of all places, so I'm not ruling anything out.

... Huh, I wonder - if Khalid becomes Dr Fate this arc, if he'll put the helmet on for the first time there, too, like Zatanna and Zatara. It'd be kind of nice if Zatara was able to properly reunite with his daughter for the first time in ten years in the same place he had to leave her. [/SPOILER]
Karrin Blue
posted @ Sat, Dec 4, 2021 6:03:55 pm EST from 68.9.91.142

Speaking of which, [SPOILER] Wonder if we'll get another look at Abel's House of Secrets, be a nice, if obscure, callback to season 1. [/SPOILER]
Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.
posted @ Sat, Dec 4, 2021 1:47:07 am EST from 64.85.245.77

[SPOILER] I'm really loving the whole Vertigo vibe of this arc. [/SPOILER]
Algae
Change! Change! O form of man! Free the prince forever damned!
posted @ Fri, Dec 3, 2021 6:26:46 pm EST from 217.183.44.235

[SPOILER] Her avoiding saying "Marvel" was totally a dig at the rights drama - I meant more her going 'I can't actually say it, and Traci being the one to actually go 'Shazam.' Especially since Zatanna says she's drawing on other magic sources - the impression I got is she still is connected to the Shazam power, the Rock, all that, but for dramatic hushed-voice 'I had to' reasons is channeling it via magic instead of via turning into a demigod powerhouse.

I didn't think of the American Gods connection on my first watch, but you're right, that is a pretty iconic scene. And fitting for a foray into the weird world of magic. I'm not sure what the symbolism would be for Khalid having a lion, admittedly - I suppose it's a big gold symbol for nobility and authority, so it could have that connection to Fate?

Speaking of, I quite like that we got to see Khalid as a magician outside of Dr Fate - I haven't read his comics, but it seems like he usually uses magic through the helmet first and foremost. So it's cool to get to see his own specialty, and if he ends up negotiating with Nabu for Zatara's release then being able to show he's already got some mystic muscles will be pretty helpful. I also wonder if his magic color of green is a sneaky reference to Nabu (since it's what you get mixing blue and gold). I might be overthinking it though, green is also the most natural color choice for someone with growing-nature magic. [/SPOILER]
Karrin Blue
posted @ Fri, Dec 3, 2021 9:04:44 am EST from 72.10.127.194

[SPOILER] I figured that the reason why Mary didn't say Shazam or even call herself Sgt. Marvel was a little dig at the feud between Marvel and DC about whether Marvel gets to exclusively use the Marvel title or whether DC can use it as well.

I had fan casted Thomas F. Wilson as Blue Devil for so long that hearing that Scotch-Irish accent felt weird. Poor guy, you know he's out of his depth when it comes to working with teenagers or helping them with grief but he's still trying as best he can. I'm hoping to see him join up with the others so we can have a proper Sentinels of Magic team up.

The two Legionnaires do make sense, Chameleon Boy is a shapeshifter and Saturn Girl can not only pass for human but and psychically shield them from observation.

One last thing, I know they poke fun at Mary Poppins but the carousel ride strongly reminded me of American Gods when Shadow, Wednesday, Chernobog and Anansi meet the other gods by way of merry-go-round. Each character here choosing their steed most appropriate for them. [/SPOILER]
Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.
posted @ Fri, Dec 3, 2021 4:19:21 am EST from 64.85.245.77

Wow, that was an episode...
[SPOILER] This one felt like it was doing a lot of ground work setup compared to the others - although I suppose that makes sense; both the civil unrest/palace drama/murder mystery plot on Mars and the spy and secrets plot wrapped up last week had precedent for their tone and were mostly established characters, and since we've never gotten a really in depth look at the world of magic this would had to get us up to speed fast. It moves right along, though.

I kinda get the feeling they're experimenting with a sort of anthology structure? I'm with you on not seeing where it's going as a whole yet, but that might just be something we need to wait and see on. The main through lines seem to be family conflict, especially siblings (not sure if that'll be continued this time - the Shazam Fam are so goody-goody and nice I don't know if they'd ever really fight and not make up, and the others are, AFAIK, only children - maybe Flaw and Klarion will be framed as arguing siblings, or we'll dig into more of the Savage family?) and grief for the loss of Conner. Which are great emotionally, but for actually moving the plot forward, we might need more...

It might be something in Markovia? Certainly they keep reminding us that shenanigans are afoot there, it's been mentioned in every arc. But if that's the plan, I'd expect Halo and Terra to be getting a bit more focus, since they're the ones who will probably end up actually duking it out with Brion (or saving him from mind control, or whatever), and them suddenly being important again in the late game might come out of left field to some viewers, and there wouldn't be much room for the Legion conflict. So maybe that's being set up for season 5?

Speaking of the Legion - wait, those two are still on Earth? And biding their time, apparently. My current theory is they rescued Superboy, but whatever time travel machine they have only seats 3 - since Superboy needed medical attention, one person gave up their spot, and the other stayed behind to make sure they wouldn't be entirely alone (since Phantom Girl is, I think, the youngest, it'd make sense to send her back to base, where there's other Leaguers, rather than staying on a foreign planet indefinitely.) The clip from Space Trek was fun too - super cheesy and full of fake continuity jokes, but I feel like some of that heroic inspiration struck a chord with two Legionnaires far from home, unsure what will happen or why their friends haven't come back to meet them yet. And it feels a little bitterly ironic for present-Gar, too, which I appreciate narratively.

Speaking of... wow he is really not doing well, huh. I appreciate Blue Devil as den mother more than I can say (I don't understand why he's Irish, either, although it fills me with joy) but he really doesn't know how to confront someone who's obviously lying about being OK. Or at least get Dinah in here to talk to him.

I did like meeting the new kids! I'm very pleased to have called Khalid (and I empathize with trying to explain how to make a Ø®
sound to people who haven't learned any Semitic languages - although he did a better job than I ever have trying to explain that Channukah doesn't actually start with an H sound), and his focus on growing, living things makes sense for a med student. Mary is a mystery, but one I look forward to unraveling - her refusing to say Shazam makes me think she still COULD transform if she wanted, she just doesn't want to. Perhaps some fuel for my theory that she and Freddie had been close with Jason on the Team, and their grief over their deaths led them to leave the Team and take a hiatus from hero work for a while? It'd tie Mary to the grief Gar is going through now, and be some more foreshadowing for Jason (speaking of which: I'm now theorizing that Nightwing's arc will be next, and will start right when M'gann gets back to Earth at the end of May, when the Team and League will host a memorial/wake/etc for Conner - not like they'd hold one without her there, after all- and we'll get flashbacks to the funeral for Jason, the first member of the Team or League to need a memorial, to catch the audience up right before he bursts onto the scene in full glory.)

Also, I can't help but notice we're squarely in the middle of Ramadan, and that all the action has happened after sunset - so if Khalid has been fasting, he's had time to eat up before heading out for magic practice. I do hope we can see Leaguer suhur/iftar.

It was delightful to see Cree Summer again - and fun to see that some things, like a fake dramatic accent and a keen business sense, never change.

And... I believe that's all for now? Oh, I'm also enjoying Erika Ishii's performance - I loved her on Dimension 20, and she's great as Child. Ominous creepy kids are tough to balance, but she does a good job! And I'm wondering if Flaw would be affected by Terra's powers, and if this might mean some Gemworld adventures down the line. Who knows, really.

Oh and last but not least - the Phantom Stranger! He was on my list of people who might show, though I thought it was a long shot, but him showing up to basically tell Vandal 'remember that time you got beat up for ten straight months' is absolutely classic, and DB's work is excellent as always. [/SPOILER]
Karrin Blue
posted @ Thu, Dec 2, 2021 11:47:10 pm EST from 68.9.91.142

Oh and the IT Gals on Amphibia telling the Plantars that presents are an important part of Christmas? Methinks they definitely watch the Dexter's Laboratory Christmas episode:-D.
Antiyonder
posted @ Thu, Dec 2, 2021 10:34:27 pm EST from 71.93.3.194

Well that was certainly an interesting beginning to an even more...interesting relationship.

So my initial thoughts on "Odnu!", [SPOILER] Rather interesting that we would introduce the Child to the series considering how much this version of Klarion draws from them. If I had to guess, I reckon the Lords of Chaos aren't exactly happy with Klarion, probably because they think he's shirking his cosmic duties or that they see him as an errand boy for for some mere mortals.

So if this the current trend for episodes, a member of the Team from season 1 training the younger members, I can't say I'm opposed to it. But at the same time I'm just a bit lost on what the focus of the season is supposed to be. I'm sure the series will check up on what's going on with Jade and Onyx but at the same time, everything feels so, well, disconnected right now. I mean, this is the first time we've seen the Light since the end of Season 3 and while it looks like their consolidating their power in Markovia, it feels weird not knowing what they might be scheming towards. In any case, I'm hoping that this new plot thread starts to tie some things together.

Getting back to the newer members, the presence of Khalid does make me wonder if we're going to be seeing the end of the current Doctor Fate soon or whether they'll pull something unexpected. Also nice of Madame Xanadu to really step up to her mystic potential. But one thing that really stood out to me is Mary, we know nothing about her and Freddy's time on the Team. And as cool as it is to see her in the game, I can't help but wonder what caused her to leave the life behind for as long as she did.

Oh and the Phantom Stranger? I hope we get more narration from him because I really want to know how Vandal managed to get Klarion under heel. [/SPOILER]
Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.
posted @ Thu, Dec 2, 2021 8:51:16 pm EST from 64.85.245.77

Great! I always love its sequence.
epoxy floor chattanooga - [mulliganhelen3 at gmail dot com]
Beautiful Things Are Worth The Wait
posted @ Thu, Dec 2, 2021 8:15:58 am EST from 103.196.139.144

On the subject of recent Disney television animated holiday specials, there was one line in the recent "Amphibia" Christmas episode that I was wondering about.

[SPOILER] In the scene where the museum curator's explaining to the Plantars about Christmas in a very learned fashion, she mentions that mistletoe is linked to a dark story from the thirteenth century. She didn't say what that story was; given that a lot of the other things she mentioned were actual Christmas lore - such as its links to the Roman Saturnalia - it was most likely an actual tale rather than the writers' invention. The most likely candidate, based on my research, is the Norse myth of Balder's death, which featured mistletoe as the weapon and which appeared in Snorri Sturluson's "Prose Edda", which was written in the thirteenth century. I don't know for certain if the writers were referring to this or not, but it does seem probable. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Wed, Dec 1, 2021 7:59:27 pm EST from 70.176.217.135

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rt3jE0dQSE

Whole episode is available on Disney YT Channel.
Antiyonder
posted @ Wed, Dec 1, 2021 2:06:58 pm EST from 71.93.3.194

The whole sequence is really quite good- I'd recommend finding it on YouTube, or just watching the whole episode. I can't think of another time I've seen Hannukah in a show where it wasn't playing second fiddle to Christmas, but this one has a lot about both the lighter, fun traditions and the more spiritual and inspirational side. And the pogrom memory goes quickly, but it's also not something the viewer can miss; in a lot of ways the talk about how the menorah was one of the few things the family could bring to America, the montage of them through the generations, and how it reminds them how resilient they are, is the core of the episode (that and Libby's slam poetry retelling of the tale of Judah and the Maccabees. I'm not kidding, it's really sincere and earnest.) So I'd say give it a watch, especially if you can enjoy it with some younger family members in the holiday season.
Karrin Blue
posted @ Tue, Nov 30, 2021 10:43:36 pm EST from 68.9.91.142

That's...something.
Let's be frank, World War II isn't something that gets a whole lot of mention in western animation these days (there's a lot of complications that goes with any depiction). The events preceding the war? That's even rarer, so kudos to the show for that. Even if it's only doing slight allusions to it.
Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.
posted @ Tue, Nov 30, 2021 8:04:34 pm EST from 64.85.245.77

Depressingly, [SPOILER] That's not even a guarantee that it's Kristallnacht - Jewish-owned businesses being destroyed was a pretty regular feature of pogroms throughout Europe for long enough that the family traveling through Ellis Island is a more specific time indicator. So I actually didn't think it was Kristallnacht on my first watch, and I was a little surprised when everyone started saying it was. I suppose it is the most famous pogrom, though. [/SPOILER]
Karrin Blue
posted @ Tue, Nov 30, 2021 8:01:15 pm EST from 68.9.91.142

KARRIN BLUE - [the Ghost and Molly McGee just had a holiday special, with the first half being about Hannukah, and spending more time on how it's meaningful as a story of resilience and survival than I've seen in a kid's show in quite some time] - Yes, I noticed that it even contained [SPOILER] an allusion to Kristallnacht, probably the first allusion to that event on Disney animated television [/SPOILER].
Todd Jensen
posted @ Tue, Nov 30, 2021 6:42:03 pm EST from 70.176.217.135

And a happy second day of Hannukah! And speaking of holidays - I can't help but notice that S4E8 ends on April 22nd - meaning the day before Ramadan 2020 started. If the kid in the trailer is, indeed, Khalid, I wonder if we might get a look at a superhero iftar? Maybe seeing how Halo is doing on that 'explore what Islam might mean to me' thing? I'll admit, I'm partly thinking about this because the Ghost and Molly McGee just had a holiday special, with the first half being about Hannukah, and spending more time on how it's meaningful as a story of resilience and survival than I've seen in a kid's show in quite some time, and it'd be nice to have a superhero cartoon talk sincerely about what people find meaningful in Ramadan. And it might be nice to get scenes like the other Team members getting up early to help make suhur for Halo and Khalid, or something like that.
Karrin Blue
posted @ Tue, Nov 30, 2021 9:50:49 am EST from 72.10.127.194

I'm wishing the comment room once again a happy St. Andrew's Day, since St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, the gargoyles' original homeland.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Tue, Nov 30, 2021 7:31:00 am EST from 70.176.217.135

So the acrostic so far is INVITATION TO. It's really too bad there's going to be a hiatus (goodness knows why) after episode 13, we probably won't be able to get much out of one more letter.

[SPOILER] The last one references the Sentinels of Magic, which seems to be a pretty obscure pull from the very early 2000s. That one also had Etrigan, so it does seem pretty likely he'll be involved (finally! I mean, a demon who shares a body with a knight of Camelot who only speaks in rhyme, I think Greg and Brandon have probably been looking for an excuse to use him for ten years.) It also happens to involve the Specter, and I'm inclined to think he'll show up just because a specter is another word for a phantom, although who knows in what form. Though I don't expect much else from the Day of Judgement comic to stick, aside from maybe a few cameos by its comics members? Maybe we'll see Madame Xanadu has actually taken up real magic in the last decade, it'd be fun to hear Cree Summers again. [/SPOILER]
Karrin Blue
posted @ Mon, Nov 29, 2021 9:02:30 am EST from 72.10.127.194

So our upcoming episodes are "Odnu", "Domed Esir", Teg Ydaer" and Og Htrof Dna Reuqnoc"

[SPOILER] We've seen Zatanna and her team battling Clarion and the episode suggests the presence of Etrigan, but overall the descriptions for the episodes are pretty vague. Makes me wonder what's in store. [/SPOILER]
Matthew
When you return to your unobservable but empirically determined dimension of origin--tell them CARL SAGAN sent you.
posted @ Mon, Nov 29, 2021 12:08:28 am EST from 64.85.245.77