Review: Heroes "Genesis"

Before I can review this episode, I have a confession to make. When I sat down to work on this, it had been at least a decade since I'd watched the show. As such, I realized something: I don't love this show as much as I once did. And the reason why is present in the very first episode.

Recap: Heroes: Chapter One: "Genesis" Part 2

So far in the series premiere of Heroes, one person is immortal, one person is a clockstopper, and everybody else is still figuring things out.

Some people are just late bloomers. It's fine.

Recap: Heroes: Chapter One: "Genesis" Part 1

Happy Eclipse, everybody!

What better way to celebrate the moon's journey between the Earth and the sun than with the TV show that milked that particular celestial phenomenon for all it's worth?

Besides, 2006 was a different time. Now that television has decided the time is right to bring us Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Inhumans, all that Netflix Marvel stuff, and however many X-Men-related TV shows Fox is doing, I think it might be fun to examine a period in history when the only way a superhero show could be taken seriously is if it didn't actually feature recognizable superheroes.

The pre-Iron Man/The Dark Knight days truly were a strange time to be a superhero fan.

Review: The Batman "The Big Chill"

You know, this episode's title will later get two callbacks with "The Big Heat" and "The Big Dummy." So let's see what previous episodes would look like with similar titles!

"The Bat in the Belfry"
"The Big Joke"

"Call of the Cobblepot"
"The Big Jerk"

"Traction"
"The Big Guy"

"The Man Who Would Be Bat"
"The Big Bat"

I think the third one's particularly on-the-nose, so perhaps it's for the best they didn't go with that title.

Recap: The Batman: "The Big Chill"

Batman: The Animated Series = Zig

The Batman = Zag

I keep saying this, I know, but I think it bears repeating here. This episode was inevitably going to be one of The Batman's biggest challenges. To be sure, reinventing the Joker was certainly going to be difficult after Mark Hamill's legendary run, but Batman: TAS reinvented Mr. Freeze in such a way that changed the way his comic portrayal was handled forever.

Mr. Freeze was a joke villain before Paul Dini and Bruce Timm got ahold of him.

A nobody.

A C-lister.

He was a one-dimensional gimmick villain who was largely abandoned after the Silver Age. So much so that before B:TAS, he once showed up as a resident of Comic Book Limbo, where all the forgotten characters disappear to; a strange realm filled with such residents as the Red Bee, the Boy Billionaires, and the Space Canine Patrol Agents.

His spot in Limbo was probably taken by Walker Gabriel.
If you just thought “Who?” then you’ve illustrated my point.

So today, The Batman has two choices

1. Imitate Batman: The Animated Series and hope that the new Mr. Freeze holds up.
2. Go in a direction other than the wildly-successful B:TAS did… and hope that the new Mr. Freeze holds up.

So let's see how Choice B worked out for them.

Also to be referred to as Operation: Zag.

Internet/Phone Update

After about a week, it has returned, better than ever. We're hooked up to some new cables that should be more reliable.

But due to reason of visiting relatives, posts will resume the 14th, with a special solar eclipse post on the 21st.

It's good to be able to use Google again.