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A New Costume for Green Arrow and Other Fun Stuff
Both Arrow and The Flash are coming back to TV in the fall, and Comic-Con had a ton of news for both of them. First up, not only is the Arrow getting a tougher new costume, but rumor has it that he’s finally going to change his name to ‘Green Arrow’ in season 4. I like the new look.
So is his hood now ventilated?
There’s also word that both Anarky and Mr. Terrific will appear in Season 4, so it looks like more and more comic book characters are going to join this universe. They’re also going to go ahead and change the name Starling City to Star City, like it was originally in Green Arrow comics.
To say nothing of The Flash! Because not only are they going to get Jay Garrick and Earth 2, but Zoom is going to be the big bad and Wally West is finally going to show up. That’s neat. They’re also going to further explore Cisco’s transformation into Vibe.
Meanwhile, in Legends of Tomorrow, we’ve got confirmation that Hawkman is going to show up! That’s pretty cool.
And the first trailer for the Vixen cartoon has been released.
So yeah, good things coming from DC in the near future. I think they clearly won Comic-Con this year.
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6 Thoughts on the First Season of The Flash
With the first season of The Flash TV show complete, I think we can all declare that live action superheroes, complete with comic book craziness, are the new amazing. Arrow started small and kept things simple, but The Flash threw caution to the wind and burst out of the gate with everything from the Speed Force to Gorilla Grodd to a real, comics accurate costume!
That’s some mighty fine running!
I really enjoyed the first season of The Flash, and I’m very excited to see where they go next year. It wasn’t my favorite comic book show this year, but The Flash is nonetheless an accomplishment. It proves to audiences and executives that these sorts of superheroics can be amazing. The Flash wasn’t dark, grim or gritty like the DC movies, it embraced the friendlier, more colorful aspects of the character, and we all benefited.
So like I’ve done for other comic shows, I wanted to share my thoughts with you all on the first season of The Flash. I’ve got more than a few nitpicks. Join me after the jump! And beware of SPOILERS!
New Vixen Cartoon to Join the Arrow-Verse!
The Arrow-Verse just keeps getting bigger, it seems! Not only has The Flash debuted to strong ratings, and not only are both Supergirl and Teen Titans rumored to be joining, but a new cartoon series starring Vixen has been confirmed for the Fall! The show will air online only, it seems, but both Arrow and Flash will make guest appearances.
They all actually look pretty neat animated
Vixen was announced at the Television Critic’s Association press tour over the weekend, alongside renewals for new seasons of Arrow and The Flash. The cartoon will be about Mari McCabe, the hero with the power to copy the abilities of animals. Vixen can jump like a frog, run like a cheetah or swim like a fish.
Sounds like a solid idea for a new show to me!
So does having the abilities of a bird somehow turn her arms into wings capable of flight?
There are also rumors that The CW might add a new live action TV show starring The Atom. Brandon Routh has been a major guest-star on Arrow this season as Ray Palmer, and he’s going to don his shrinking superhero guise sometime in the latter half of Season 3. Would that make him spin-off worthy? You bet’cha!
My only concern is that the white male is in consideration for a live action TV show, while the black woman is getting relegated to an online cartoon show. What’s the matter, CW? Can only white men star in your live action superhero universe?
Hopefully, at the very least, they hire a real actress so Vixen can guest star on Arrow and The Flash at some point. They definitely need more female members of the off-kilter Justice League they’re building.
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Review: The Flash: “City of Heroes”
I first saw the pilot episode of The Flash over the summer, when it was leaked early on the Internet. At the time, I thought the episode was incredibly hokey. It was stuffed with forced exposition and more ‘running’ and ‘fast’ comments than my simple mind could handle. I was prepared to continue to dislike the show when the episode finally aired on TV this week…but I’m kind of happy to say that something definitely improved on a rewatch! I don’t know if anything was changed, or if perhaps I had inflated the level of hokiness in my mind, but the first episode of the new live action Flash show is actually a solid start. I’m definitely more excited for the series after watching it on TV.
This first episode of The Flash isn’t perfect, and it’s still kind of hokey. But now that it’s finally here, for real, I’m ready to become a fan.
TV Rating: 7/10 – Good.
When I first saw this episode, I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes. From the very first scene, they start hitting you over the head with their lack of subtlety. A young Barry Allen is telling his mother how he wants to be a hero, because he tried to intervene and stop some bullies, only to get beaten up himself. His mother replies that sometimes it’s “better to have a good heart than fast legs”. Come on! That’s Gotham levels of obvious. And it doesn’t stop there. Barry Allen has a reputation of being late at his job for no good reason, and everybody is commenting on things being ‘fast’ or that Barry should ‘run’. It’s stifling.
But when I rewatched the pilot, I didn’t notice it as much. I don’t know if it’s due to editing or what, but the show is smoother this time around. Maybe watching Gotham has blown my subtlety circuits. But I still don’t think Barry needs to have a reputation of being late to things just to reinforce his super speed. That’s just dumb.
Fortunately, the pilot as a whole isn’t as dumb as I’d feared. Hokey sensibilities out of the way, the episode actually works quite well, with a solid cast and spectacular special effects. They set up all of the major characters and plots, though that isn’t without a few stumbling blocks too. In the span of a single episode, Barry gets his powers, learns about his powers, becomes the Flash and defeats his first super-villain. It’s a bit rushed. And using shortcut exposition doesn’t help matters. Every time Barry encounters a new character, whether it’s his painfully obvious love interest Iris West or his painfully obvious rival Eddie Thawne, someone somewhere delivers a few paragraphs of exposition. It’s wince-inducing.
But weaknesses aside, this is a strong start to the new show. I’m glad I rewatched the first episode because it definitely got better the second time around. I’m really excited to see The Flash take off running.
Join me after the jump for the full review.
Epic, Full-Length Flash Trailer Reveals Everything!
Holy Guacamole, you guys! No sooner did The CW release that brief Flash teaser yesterday than they’ve come out with a full, 5-minute long trailer that reveals freaking everything for the new The Flash show! We’ve got Barry Allen, his supporting cast, his origin, the origin of his costume, the Weather Wizard, the death of his mom, the origin of metahumans, Vibe, it’s…it’s glorious!
Behold!
I love it. The show looks a little weird, a little kitschy, but I kind of like that too! I like the lead actor, I like the costume, I looooove the special effects! And I especially love the Green Arrow cameo. The show might have some growing pains, I think at the beginning. But it otherwise looks gorgeous.
Henchman-4-Hire 