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CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES | GROUP PHOTOS | |
In 1992 Warner Brothers debuted Batman: The Animated Series, a darkly stylized "noir" cartoon. Since then, the show has gone through several name changes, eventually settling in next to its companion series, Superman: The Animated Series, which took place in the same continuity while expanding the universe to include many more heroes and villains. Later, Cartoon Network debuted Justice League, which followed the same continuity as in the previous cartoons, and which featured hour long, two-part episodes centered around a core cast of seven heroes. After two seasons, the show mutated into Justice League Unlimited, with a new 30 minute time span and the concept that every hero in the DC universe was now potentially a member of the Justice League. The Comic In 2002, DC released Justice League Adventures, a companion book to the Cartoon Network JL series. This book later was cancelled and restarted as Justice League Unlimited, to match the new name and concept of the TV show. The Toys In 1993 Kenner first produced a toy line which focused largely on multiple variations of Batman and Superman, while ignoring other characters. Since then, however, the relatively successful line has included most every main Bat-villain and several Superman villains, while slowly adding to the supporting cast. Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and Lois Lane figures all saw release as part of more expensive boxed-sets. Several villains -- Talia, the Ventriliquist and Scarface -- also saw their first figures in the boxed set, while figures such as Ra's al Ghul, Poison Ivy and Batgirl saw new sculpts. But although collector's welcomed the new diversity afforded through the boxed sets, the attention to detail left many wanting more -- and left many customizers tweaking figures to make them more on-model. Starting in 2003, Mattel purchased the rights to make new figures, and they smartly decided to keep the animated scale very similar to what has come before. Their first releases, the JL figures, were wonderful, but what truly surprised fans were the figures released after the TV show changed into Justice League Unlimited. With the new, expanded cast, Mattel began producing an astonishing number of sometimes relatively obscure characters.
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The Acrobatic Robin Toy |
Harliquin |
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Animated Style Continuity Glitches Between the various animated Batman, Superman, Justice League and Adventures in the DCU books, a few continuity glitches have developed between the books and the cartoons. Most notably, three very different Green Lanterns have been depicted. While the ADCU comic featured Kyle Rayner as pretty much the same GL he is in the regular DC Universe, the Superman cartoon featured a re-designed Kyle Rayner who is more of an amalgam of Kyle and Hal Jordan, his predecessor. The GL in the first Justice League cartoon and book was John Stewart, altogether different still (and for a brief moment Hal Jordan made a 15-second cameo). Also incongruous are the two different Aquamen. In the comic, King Arthur is virtually identical to his regular scruffy-headed, hook-wieldin' DCU self, while the Aquaman who debuted on the Superman cartoon featured the same brash attitude but the old-style silver-age costume (and two hands), although admittedly he mutated toward his hook-handed self in his JL appearance. For our customizing purposes, we pull from all the various animated incarnations of characters, not limiting ourselves to only what is considered canon. After all, we're doing this for fun, and we'll make any version of any character we see fit. And that's the beauty of customizing. |
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