[Report This]Date: November 10 2014 12:57 PM Title: Chapter 11: ERGO-NOMIC REPORTING
Ah, yes! Beany the Copy Boy. I fondly remember the one-and-only Filmation cartoon I ever saw him in. It was the series premier of the "New Adventures of Superman" and Jimmy wound up falling into a subterranean version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's LOST WORLD!
Unfortunately, for young Mr. Olsen, that was one of the few times he was without his trusty camera! So, Beany thought he had hallucinated all his misadventures.
Author's Response:
In the 1968 Batman Superman Hour (Filmation), Beany and Jimmy wore glow-in-the-dark costumes as a prank on Clark Kent at the end of "Luminians on the Loose Part 2".
As for these two chapters, they were originally the start of "Bat-Mite and the Masters of the Universe". But the He-Man characters had no gts women or tiny men. So I dumped their chapters, and left out the meeting with Bat-Mite, and worked the rest into this story to commemorate the recent DVD and Bluray release of Adam West's original live action Batman series of the 1960s. (Of course, he and Burt Ward voiced Batman and Robin in the 1977 Filmation version used in these chapters too).
[Report This]Date: November 10 2014 12:51 PM Title: Chapter 10: THE BIRTH OF POET-MITE
Electro must have been hiding out in Gotham in between confrontations with Spidey.*
*The first time I ever heard of Reddy Kilowatt's (corporate logo/mascot of United Illuminating) evil twin was on Season 1 of the Krantz-Gantray version of "Spider-man." ;-)
Author's Response:
Nope, the Filmation New Adventures of Batman 1977 Electro was totally different. His power was shrinking people, rather than lightning. (You, like me, have gone decades thinking it was "Gantray" rather than "Grantray". I only noticed the first "r" a few years ago.) Anyway, re Filmation Electro: here's some great pix:
http://www.google.com.au/search?tbm=isch&hl=en-AU&source=hp&q=New+Adventures+of+Batman+Electro&gbv=2&oq=New+Adventures+of+Batman+Electro&gs_l=img.3...1117.6823.0.7231.34.18.1.8.8.0.532.2353.2-6j1j0j1.8.0....0...1ac.1.34.img..21.13.2374.MCvfhaNbKpk
[Report This]Date: October 29 2014 12:02 PM Title: Chapter 9: KRYPTO'S COURTSHIP CROSSOVER
So, Dick is going to find happiness with Kelly and...vice-versa.
;-)
Author's Response:
yes, a happy ending for now. I won't tag the story as complete, in case I or someone else gets a new idea.
[Report This]Date: October 28 2014 9:27 AM Title: Chapter 8: REQUIEM FOR A MOISTENED MARINE MARVEL
Tries to picture Veronica as a fifty-foot version of Princess Niluvia.*
* "Red Arabian Nights Giantess; yummmmmmm!"
Author's Response:
I had to pinch the 50 Ft Veronica idea from Archie's Wierd Mysteries, but nonetheless keep this an all Filmation story.
[Report This]Date: October 28 2014 9:24 AM Title: Chapter 7: ARCHIE'S TV TINIES
Yeah, but the verisimilitude (I've ALWAYS wanted to use that word!) he brings to the appendices of those books makes it easy to believe that Tarzan and Doc were inter-related. Not only to each other, but to all the other literary crime-fighting giants of yesteryear, as well! Hence, the popularity of Alan Moore's salute to steampunk; THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN.
Author's Response:
yes true
[Report This]Date: October 27 2014 7:15 AM Title: Chapter 7: ARCHIE'S TV TINIES
There's nothing wrong with such genealogical embellishment. The late, great author Philip Jose' Farmer often did it in his own works of science fiction. Most notably, TARZAN ALIVE and DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE. If you can get hold of second-hand copies of the original hard-covers (including paper dust jackets), I would heartily recommend them.
Author's Response:
I didn't like his writing much. His "A Barnstormer in Oz" just (for me at any rate) ruined the charm and atmosphere of the original L Frank Baum Oz books.
[Report This]Date: October 25 2014 7:02 AM Title: Chapter 5: DICK DIGIT'S DROWNING DAMSEL
His own size, huh? If she's brunette, with a French accent, he might be in for some trouble.*
*There was an episode of FV:TAS with such a femme fatale.
Author's Response:
Yes, and the femme fatale clashed with Erica Lane, with both of them being voiced by Jane Webb.... which made it easy for Erica to imitate the femme fatale's voice in the scene that called for it. But no, that's not the character Dick's met.
[Report This]Date: October 22 2014 12:55 PM Title: Chapter 4: THE SHRINK'S CIRCUS
Postscript: "Trevor?" Your friend is married to Wonder Woman? Talk about a lucky guy!
Author's Response:
Nope. His first name is Trevor, by coincidence. And I was just jokingly incorporating his opinion of Jester in DICK DIGIT pilot: "... gives me the creeps."
[Report This]Date: October 22 2014 11:42 AM Title: Chapter 4: THE SHRINK'S CIRCUS
Just had a sudden thought. What if the capital city of DD's homeworld was named Kandor? That would certainly be a plausible way to introduce that part of the Silver Age Superman mythos, Filmation-style. ;-)
Author's Response:
Come to think of it, Dick Digit's origin does reflect what Brainiac did to Kandor, although the Filmation Brainiac plotline differed a lot, including the presence of Dr Heklar.
[Report This]Date: October 21 2014 9:33 AM Title: Chapter 3: S FOR SCHEIMER SHOW
And, this must be where Dick Digit from the planet Alderaan (???!) comes in.*
*Yes, I finally got a chance to see the previously unreleased pilot-cartoon on Youtube. Not bad!
Author's Response:
Yes, my friend said the Jester creeped him out (and hence you'll notice an upcoming gag on my friend, as well as my mistaken ID Joker/Atom plotline).
[Report This]Date: October 21 2014 9:30 AM Title: Chapter 2: THE DUO JOIN THE TEAMS
Ah, yes. The Justice League and Teen Titans segments of THE SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN HOUR OF ADVENTURE. I think I loved those even more than Hanna-Barbera's version of the Fantastic Four (with Paul Frees as the voice of Ben Grimm)! Which is saying a lot, as I'm generally a real big fan of the H-B superheroes of the Sixties.
Author's Response:
Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure is my favorite cartoon of all time. I saw the New Adventures of Superman first, and then was thrilled to find that Superman was drawn and voiced the same way in the Justice League of America segments of the Superman/Aquaman show. (I was 7 in 1975, when they reran them in Australia, which was my first viewing).
[Report This]Date: October 18 2014 8:52 AM Title: Chapter 1: SUPERBOY'S SUBTERRANEAN SEQUEL
Oops! Almost forgot one thing. Is Dick Digit a take-off on Rankin-Bass' "Agent Tom of T.H.U.M.B.?" If so, very clever. :-)
Author's Response:
No, i didn't create Dick Digit. It was Filmation's first pilot (if you don't count Rod Rocket) and never made a series. Then they got the rights to Superman and ran with that instead. The Dick Digit pilot is on youtube now. It ran 6 minutes, and used music that was reused in the Superboy filler story "The Jinxed Circus" and the Superman story "Superman meets Brainiac." I thought he'd be an excellent choice for an all-Filmation crossover gts story.
[Report This]Date: October 18 2014 8:50 AM Title: Chapter 1: SUPERBOY'S SUBTERRANEAN SEQUEL
Excellent! What a way to tie those two Filmation cult-classics, together. You know, most people probably don't realize it. But, long before he was the voice of Commissioner Gordon for the WB Batman series, he was doing the voice of teenage Clark Kent--aka Superboy--in the filler cartoons for the 1966 "New Adventures of Superman." Which was, more or less, concurrent with his then live-action role as Lt. Elroy Carpenter on MCHALE'S NAVY!
So, rest in peace, Bob. You were a highly versatile (and, imo, criminally under-rated) character actor who has given me many fond memories of TV's more halcyon days.
Author's Response:
Yes, Bob Hastings was the best Superboy voice ever. Dick Digit will work his way through my favorite Filmation entourages over time and chapters. You'll meet plenty of familiar characters.