'Teen Titans Go!' debuts

Lawson Jr. and I watched the series debut last night of "Teen Titans Go!" on Cartoon Network.

It's a follow-up to the Manga-style "Teen Titans" animated series of a decade ago, with most of the voice-actors returning to the same roles. But this one is even more kid-friendly, entirely appropriate for my 4-year-old boy. In the first story last night, the Titans search the world for the perfect sandwich. It was very cute. As a DC fanboy who grew up reading THE NEW TEEN TITANS in the early 1980s, I'm delighted to share this stuff with my kid.

"Teen Titans Go!", along with a new Batman/Batgirl series, will replace "Young Justice" and "Green Lantern" on the DC Nation block of time on Cartoon Network's Saturday morning schedule.

It's designed for the same age as the Krypto the super dog show.

I thought there was going to be some funky new Batman show too...
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/01/28/dc-nation-gets-a-shakeup-in-new-cartoon-network-schedules-young-justice-and-green-lantern-nixed/

I appreciate the attempt at younger viewers. Seriously. That's cool and all, but the people who were watching and enjoying the other shows didn't suddenly turn four years old. The Cartoon Network lost Green Lantern, Young Justice, as well as Clone Wars and Thundercats. I had read where GL's cancelation was a direct result of merchandisers getting stuck with a lot of GL movie crap, and Clone Wars was Disney moving their stuff to their own networks, but it looks like the Cartoon Network is moving away from action adventure cartoons in general.

Ben Ten seems to be the Cartoon Network's Stargate, (For a while there it semed most of SyFy channel's sci-fi programing was Star Gate spin-offs). It's on it's forth series now? Maybe DC should try to pitch Cartoon Network, a Dial H for Hero show.

It would be great to see an all-DC Comics cable channel broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For live-action television series, you've got the 1950s Superman show, the 1960s Batman show, the 1970s Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel shows, the 1980s Superboy show, the 1990s Flash and "Lois & Clark" shows, and then the more recent "Smallville" and Green Arrow shows. Plus, there was a short-lived "Birds of Prey" show in there somewhere, with Huntress and Black Canary, I think.

For live-action feature films, you've got Superman movies, Batman movies, a Supergirl movie, a Green Lantern movie, a Catwoman movie , a Watchmen movie and a Swamp Thing movie. (Mind you, I'm not vouching for the quality of all of that. I'm just saying, you've got them.)

The mother-lode is the animation. Starting with the Fleischers' 1940s Superman cartoons and working your way through the 1960s Filmation cartoons with the Justice League and Teen Titans, the 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoons with the Super Friends, the 1980s Ruby Spears cartoons with Superman, the excellent Bruce Timm-produced cartoons of the 1990s and 2000s with Batman, Superman and the JLA, the Manga-style Teen Titans cartoon, the crazy-retro "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" team-up cartoon and, finally, the recently departed Green Lantern and Young Justice cartoons.

Plus, DC has released at least a dozen straight-to-DVD animated movies in recent years featuring most of its major heroes.

You could put together a cable channel of admittedly mixed quality that would keep my household entertained for ages.

Not including my wife.

Oh yeah, there's tons of stuff. They could probably do it pretty easily. There was all those serials, and the animated Shazam and Plastic Man cartoons, and I think there were two Swamp Thing movies, and a two season live action tv series as well as an animated series...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lU8vSa5se0

And imagine if they had access to every WB superhero franchise, movies, cartoons series, all the Hanna-Barbera Productions stuff, anything that looks like superheroes... Space Ghost, Herculoids, I wonder who owns stuff like, Man From Atlantis, Mantis, My Secret Identity, Manimal...

Plus there are all the vertigo movies movies like Constantine, RED, V for Vendetta, The Losers, History of Violence etc... for the later in the evening Graphic Novel Theater. Maybe some new programming, a late night show, that screens fan made live action, You Tube movies based on DC heroes, prizes could involve a budget and a half season buy for the network, with option for additional episodes if the ratings warrant it. How a bout a half hour AFV style show with DCU and related cosplay videos, the show could include a how-2 segment. Maybe a guy could dress up like Jonah Hex and show old WB westerns in a MST3K style. Or Phantom Stranger could show old Horror films. Stuff like that.

Cosplay only works for me when it's cute, buxom girls.

If I never see another dude in a Batman costume, I'll be OK with that.

Lawson wrote:

Cosplay only works for me when it's cute, buxom girls.

Exactly.

I was at a comics convention two years ago with a buddy, and he griped about the cute, buxom cosplayers, of which there were blessedly quite a few that day.

"Most of these girls aren't even real comics fans," he said, rolling his eyes. "They're just flirty exhibitionists who like to squeeze themselves into tight costumes once or twice a year with their boobs hanging out so guys can look at them. Who needs it?"

I managed not to smack him upside the head.

This resentment of cute, buxom cosplayers apparently is a serious gripe among some in the comics world.

Boy, do I not have my finger on the pulse of the comics world.