Today sees the official release of the seventh DC Universe Animated Original Movie, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths! I attended the world premiere screening last week (review podcast to come on Thursday) and on my way home I found myself in such a good mood (uh oh — is that a hint?) that I wanted more films and I wanted them now!
The original plan for these movies was to create mature, PG-13 animated adaptations of storylines that appeared in the comic books. They have veered off from that original plan with a few of the films, but they have kept pretty focused on the page-to-screen adaptations. In fact, the next film is another adaptation, Batman: Under The Red Hood, which is an adaptation of the storyline that… ugh… brought Jason Todd back from the dead.
Keeping in the original spirit of the films, I present to you, in order, my…
Top Ten Most Wanted DC Universe Original Animated Movies
10) “The Judas Contract” from The New Teen Titans #39-40 and Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44 & Annual 3
Back in 2006 when these films were originally announced, the first three that were meant to kick things off were Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. Superman: Doomsday came out and sold like gangbusters. JLA: The New Frontier came out and… didn’t. Suddenly we stopped hearing about The Judas Contract. Are the two events related? It’s hard to say. Rumors of Warner Bros. not believing that the Teen Titans have a broad enough appeal have been bandied about. All I know is that ever since the possibility of a mature animated adaptation of “The Judas Contract” was put into my brain, I haven’t been able to get it out! I want it! This is the storyline that first brought us Dick Grayson as Nightwing! This is the story where Deathstroke used his sexual relationship with an underage Terra to get her to infiltrate and betray the Titans! This is the Teen Titans storyline! This one stays on the list… probably for a long time.
9) “Hard-Traveling Heroes” from Green Lantern (co-starring Green Arrow) #76-82, 84-89
I love the idea of this one simply because it’s so unlike every other story on the list and so unlike most people’s idea of a superhero story. Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen go on a road trip across America and fight social injustice along the way? It would never happen, right? No, probably not. But it would be really fun and potentially really interesting if it did. This would be a film that would have to adapt the concept more than the actual story beats. For one, the story is just way too long. “Hard-Traveling Heroes” went on for well over a year and was sprawling and without a clear central narrative. For this one, I just love the concept: Hal and Ollie in a pick-up truck, driving across America, and finding trouble. Take that concept, and weave a tight little action plot around it.
8) “Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes” from Action Comics #858-863
When making this list I wanted to try to hit as many different areas as possible. Here I ticked two boxes with one story. I wanted one of the great modern Geoff Johns Superman stories, and I wanted to get the Legion of Super-Heroes on here. This might have been my favorite arc from Johns’ run on Action Comics, which really surprised me because I’m not, in any way, a Legion fan. I think it would be really fun to see some big animated brawls between the evil Justice League of Earth and Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Plus, there’s a really nice emotional subplot in which Superman reconnects with his Legion roots and remembers that he’s got a lot of good friends in the future. One of the big strengths of these films is giant, multi-character action set pieces and strong character development. This story is perfect for Timm and co.
7) “Batman Reborn” from Batman and Robin #1-3
This might be my riskiest selection, but also the one that I would be the most excited to see. There isn’t a ton of plot here but that actually works in its favor considering these films only run about 70 minutes. I think that of all the stories on the list this one as one of the best chances to survive an animated adaptation with the most of its beats intact. The only other concern that I had was about the level of (mostly implied) creepy gore, involving Professor Pyg, but now that I think about it there has been quite a bit of implied creepy gore in these Timm productions already. Seriously, how great would the animated interplay between Dick and Damian be? And I would be most interested in seeing how they would handle the new Batman, from the point of view of voice casting. In the book they say Dick imitates Bruce’s voice and we just accept and go with it because that’s how it works in comics, but when you have to actually figure out how that would sound and then cast an actor, that would be really interesting.
6) “Cosmic Odyssey” from Cosmic Odyssey #1-4
It would be a shame if we got through all of these films without an appearance by Darkseid, one of the best and most compelling villains in Bruce Timm’s previous DC cartoons. So how about a big, cosmic epic full of slugfests with giant aliens and buddy cop movie-esque team-ups between heroes and New Gods? It’s got action, it’s got pathos, it’s got a good portion of the major characters in the DCU. This one seems like such a no-brainer to me, that I feel like if it’s not already in development it’s probably because it came out 22 years ago. These films seem to be focusing on recent storylines, which seems odd because the primary audience for these films are people who have no idea when a story was published, nor do they care. The best thing they could do here would be to animated the story in a dark and shadowy style reminiscent of artist Mike Mignola. Is it unlikely that they’d animate it that way? Yes. But it’s potentially awesome.
5) “The Next Age” from Justice Society of America #1-4
I really cannot adequately describe to you how badly I want a kick ass Justice Society of America animated film. The problem? Most people don’t know who the hell the Justice Society of America are. Perhaps the sizable-for-The-CW audience who watched the Smallville TV movie that featured the Justice Society might give them a bit more cache at Warner Bros. But even with a slightly increased awareness, these characters are still relative unknowns to the general population. So what better story to adapt than Geoff Johns’ reintroduction of the current team in “The Next Age”? This film would also go a long way to making up for the travesty that was the Justice Society of America’s non-appearance in Bruce Timm’s Justice League because of the veto thrown down by former DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz. Man, I’m still bitter about that. Anyway, this story is one of those classic gathering the team together stories that would work really well in this format.
4) “Robin: Year One” from Robin: Year One #1-4
A bit of a wild card, this one is. I wanted another Batman story on the list but I wanted it to be a little different, especially considering that the next animated film to hit this year is a Batman one. In the end it came down to this and Batgirl: Year One. It was a really tough decision, but I went with The Boy Wonder. I chose this story over Batgirl’s for a few reasons. One, it would give Dick Grayson a starring vehicle and he’s my #1A favorite character. Two, I think that from a commercial point of view Robin is probably more of a draw than Batgirl. Three, I think this would just be a really interesting story that hasn’t really been explored enough. What’s it like to become Batman’s sidekick? How tough and how good do you really have to be to fight alongside The Dark Knight while wearing that outfit? This wouldn’t just be a fun action movie, but a great coming of age character piece as well.
3) “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and The American Way?” from Action Comics #775
Back when he was featured on one of our Talksplode episodes, writer Joe Kelly let it slip that this wonderful one-shot issue might be up for consideration for this film series. That’s fantastic if it’s true. Many years before Geoff Johns came around to remind everyone that Superman is in fact superawesome, Joe Kelly brought us this great issue that did the exact same thing. The story pit Superman up against an “edgy” team of super heroes very reminiscent of The Authority, and the kind of team that was very popular and influential in comics at the time. You might remember the iFanboy Mini that Josh did on this issue. Superman battling a bunch of younger, hipper, and “cooler” super heroes who think he’s an anachronism, and in the end proving just why he’s the best hero around? This one is tailor made for these films and the Bruce Timm ethos.
2) “Rogue War” from The Flash #220-225
Need a Flash story. Gotta have a Flash story. This one might be a few years premature because to the general population The Flash is still just a side character. Things might change if that live action film that Geoff Johns is shepherding ever comes to pass. But let’s put real world marketing concerns aside for the moment and focus on why this would make a great animated film. I had originally put The Flash: Rebirth on my list, but I had my mind changed by Mr. Chris Neseman. He said that this was the best Flash story to adapt and he’s totally right. This one has everything! A war between The Flash’s original Rogues and the new upstart Rogues that ends up involving Reverse Flash, Jay Garrick, Kid Flash, and, briefly back from the dead, Barry Allen! If you talk about one story that encapsulates everything that is great about The Flash — the Rogues, the legacy, the family — its hard to top this one.
1) “New World Order” from JLA #1-4
On my way home from the screening this was the first story that I wrote down in my little notebook. If there’s one thing that the Timm films seem to do really well it’s the Justice League. And for my money, the opening arc to Grant Morrison’s JLA is classic-through-a-modern-lens Justice League of America action at its finest. Plus, it’s the Big Seven, and we really need a Big Seven Justice League film. I will not rest until Aquaman gets his due in one of these films. It’s not always easy to find an adversary that can believably take on the entire Justice League, especially the Big Seven version. But a group of evil White Martians? That’s like having to fight a whole bunch of J’onn J’onzzes, and he’s one of the most powerful and formidable members of the team. There’s almost nothing in here that wouldn’t translate great into animated form. Every member of the team gets at least one big moment, and there’s even a morally ambiguous ending, which they love.
So there you have it. I had a bunch of really strong candidates from the Elseworlds imprint: books like Superman: Red Son, Batman: Gotham By Gaslight and JLA: The Nail. But for the purposes of this list I wanted to stick with films that would require as little extra explanation and set up as possible for the general audience. There were also the obvious choices that I would love to see animated like The Dark Knight Returns, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Kingdom Come that I think are just too complex to tell in 70 minutes without gutting the whole story.
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I would kill to see a "Robin: Year One." That’s one of Chuck Dixon’s highlights, and that’s no small feat considering his body of work with the Batman family of titles.
Nice list, all around.
-J.
I don’t want to be difficult, but wasn’t "New World Order" already more or less adapted as the first story arc of the Justice League cartoon?
More than the possibility of animated features, your list makes me want to go back and read the originals. I had completely forgotten that "Cosmic Odyssey" even existed! I think the other stories you chose really have the animation in mind. There are a lot of great DC stories from years past, but they wouldn’t necessarily work in animated form.
The only one I wouldn’t want to see animated is the "Batman & Robin" one only because the production quality of these is not on par with full-length animated features. I think they would need to spend a considerable amount of time and money to do true justice to Frank Quitely’s art.
Screw Robin: Year One, I want the 1991 Robin miniseries that introduced me to Tim Drake, Lady Shiva, and of course, Clyde Rawlins. I will never forget Clyde Rawlins.
The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One. Duh!
From a marketing standpoint, I could see a Legion story being a little tricky to do, what with the recent LEGION OF SUPER HEROES show. There could be confusion on the shelves about doing a standalone title so soon after the series ended. People expecting a direct continuation of that series may feel ripped off if it’s its own thing.
Of course, LEGION did only last two seasons, so I suppose that there’s not a rabid, angry fanbase to confuse.
If there ever is a Flash animated movie, I’ll be the first in line to get that puppy. Nice choice on "Rogue War." I could also see them doing the "Born to Run" Wally West origin story, but origins are so dull. Better to get lots of action, as "Rogue War" has in spades.
I wonder if the Teen Titan show on cartoon network had anything to do with the dissapearance of Teen Titans the Judas Contract. The show was very much for kids and the Judas Contract has quite a bit of adult themes in it.
But man if anything Conor you did make me want to go out and pick up some of these stories.
Cool list Conor. I would really like to see a Superman: Red Son or Batman: Emerald Knight animated film. Also I would like to see Batman: The Killing Joke or a condensed version of Batman: No Man’s Land.
I would love to see a good funny Justice League International
Apparently we’re getting some version of Young Justice soon
Crisis on Two Earths was disappointing. For the kiddies only.
I liked CO2E
I vote for the Superman/Legion story. Or the Johns Brainiac story.
My dream DC animated project would be a New Gods story. The more far-out the better. Funky Flashman and Barda and boom tubes all over the place.
I’ve never READ Judas Contract, mind you, but the Teen Titans cartoon show hit some of the main plot points, as I understand them (again, as I understand them having never read the original work).
I’ve never even heard of Cosmic Odyssey, but now I really want to read it. It’s awesome and worth owning, right?
Cosmic Odyssey is an inspired choice. Would like to see Great Darkness Saga or Loeb’s Challengers of the Unknown–Loeb’s first and (by a long mile) best work.
Great choices. I’d love to see Hitman get an animated film. You’d have to tone it down a bit (or maybe not, a guy got decapitated in Batman: Gotham Knights after all). And Batman as a back ground character. I think a hitman animated film would be awesome.
Legion of Superheroes by Johns is bang on conor! That would work soooo well as an animated feature. Somehow get it in the style of Gary Frank and bam! I would buy that sucker in a heartbeat.
Batman and Robin, at least the first arc, wouldn’t be much of a film though if I’m honest. A pilot for a tv series? Yes. Either way it might be very good to see.
Two stories I think would be perfect for an animated film release: Dark Knight Returns and All Star Superman. DKR would totally work as a film for me…..okay maybe I just want it cause I love it so much. But why not All Star Superman? That would be a great, and probably long, film about the ‘end’ of Superman.
Love the addition of Cosmic Odyssey. Mignola’s style would translate fantastically if they did a little bit darker version of the Disney’s failed Atlantis.
I feel like Cosmic Odessy was adapted for the season premiere of Justice League Season 2. I may be wrong though. I’d like to see Hush if only to see that huge cast interacting. The Legion story would be excellent as well.
I would actually prefer the Elseworlds tales. They would certainly distinguish themselves from the other superhero discs. I can imagine someone seeing Superman sporting a Communist uniform and having their interest piqued.
If we are going for mainstream books, then Conor’s list is pretty spot on. I think I would probably move Batman Reborn to the top of the list, but only if the art can look EXACTLY like Quitely’s. Can you imagine Pyg’s dance on the screen….
Batman Year One would translate really well to the format- but only if you’re willing to ignore any of the "kid friendly" market. Any of the Brubaker/Rucka stuff would be nice e.g. Officer Down, Turning Points or, go with me here, Gotham Central. I’d also throw in a vote for The Golden Age as it’s a personal favourite. I also think Batgirl Year One could have a wider appeal than you might think.
My firs thought is Superman Red Son as well. This is a great story that will never see any use out of comics because it is Elseworlds.
I would not mind seeing Allstar Superman but the tone might be hard to capture.
Kingdom Come
Spectacular list. I would seriously sit down and watch any of these picks. But here’s my top 5:
1. Rogue War – Flash (more specifically Wally West) deserves more exposure. This story would be a great example of how fun and exciting the Flash universe can be. And with animation techniques improving more each year, I think we could see some really cool-looking speedster action on screen.
2. JSA: The Next Age – I second your frustration on the lack of animated JSA appearances, Conor. These characters have certainly earned the right to appear on-screen. And The Next Age would serve as a great intro to the old-time DCU, as well as treating the kids to some new young heroes. Think of the vocal talent you could get for Alan, Jay, and Ted. Awesome.
3. Hard Traveling Heroes – This would be a violent nerd-gasm for me. Seein animated Hal and Ollie drivin around and gettin into trouble? Awesome. Ignoring everyday responsibilities is what these two guys do best. Give it to me.
4. Supes and the Legion – I’m not a huge Legion fan either, but this arc really sucked me in. And if they could convey even a little bit of Gary Frank’s style, it’d be well worth the price of the DVD.
5. New World Order – Part of me could go a while without seeing anymore Superman, Batman, or JLA cartoons. I’d rather see other characters get a fair shot. But Morrison’s first JLA story is just too good to pass up. And the other part of me is so bummed out by the pathetic state of the current title that I’ll take good JLA stuff anywhere I can get it.
Obviously, seeing DKR, COIE, or Kingdom Come on screen would blow my mind. But, like Conor said, they either need to commit to a full length animated film, or plan some kind of trilogy for any one of them. And I don’t see that happening. Great article. Fun stuff to ponder.
Nice list – I’d buy all of those. Action 775 would be superb as an animated flick.
I’ll second Kingdom Come (too expensive? How about a "A Scanner Darkly" kind of take?) and Red Son. Maybe get into Vertigo territory – I know those are mostly creator-owned properties, but how about a Swamp Thing, Lucifer, Losers or Hellblazer animated? Those could be huge. Maybe strike up a deal with Carey for The Unwritten – that could be killer.
I’d also love to see a Flash ongoing cartoon series in the Batman animated vein.
That’s an excellent list, my favorite being Green Lantern Green Arrow. It would be the first thing I would do but instead of one movie I would do 3. Try to get more of the story, or in an ideal world turn it into a show.
If I had to pick something not on your list I would go with the introduction of Tim Drake, his hunt for the Batman who’s slowly becoming unhinged and his attempt to save him.
Excellent choices. As someone who’s only really been reading DC for the last four or five years (except Batman, which I’ve been reading for *classified*), I have some slightly different takes:
10.) War Games/Lights Out: Starting the story with a bare outline of the War Games story. Throwing all the villains in early cameos, and then focusing on how the Gotham Central cops, as well as the Bat family grow distrustful of Batman.
9.) Space Ghost: DC’s version of Space Ghost was amazing. Viewing him and his compatriots as serious characters, as opposed to the satirical laugh factories from The Cartoon Network might jar some people at first. But I thought the Space Ghost mini was fantastic.
8.) Detective: Batwoman. Probably wouldn’t be a huge seller, but if they could get Williams art to translate to the screen as well as it works in the books, generations of college stoners will get high and watch that movie over and over.
7.) Teen Titans: Judas Contract, for exactly the reasons you stated.
6.) Blue Beetle. Start with the opening sequence from Crisis, and the death of the previous Beetle, and then focus on Jamie Reyes. The first arc or two of Blue Bettle were so solid and excellent, it was a shame to see Rogers run it into the ground.
5.) Arkham Asylum: Living Hell. While the original Arkham Asylum is much darker, and gorgeous to look at, Living Hell is a fantastic story of a criminal who thinks he’s grifting the system by pleading insanity. What happens to him instead is a cool story that involves a ton of Batman villains without actually involving Batman too much. They could also alter the story a bit and throw in a Harley Quinn origin.
4.) Batman: Reborn. For exactly the reasons Conor stated. But I’d also want it to start with that really good Judd Winick issue that starts with Alfred and Grayson talking on the steps of the mansion.
3.) JLA: Tower Of Babel. I don’t really like the JLA. I like that they exist, but I’ve been mostly bored by their comics. Morrison’s run didn’t excite me any more than anyone else’s. Several people told me I’d love Rock Of Ages, but I was completely indifferent to it. But the story about how Batman’s protocols to bring down the JLA should they ever go rogue being used by someone else? Fantastic.
2.) Identity Crisis. The only crisis I loved. The JLA out to protect their families at all costs. Complete with misdirects, and pissing off Batman.
1.) Superman: Red Son. Love the concept of Superman being Russian purely because he landed at a different time of day.
Superman Red Son, Identity Crisis, Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night, Batman Arkham Asylum, Kingdom Come, Kevin Smith’s GA.
Superman and the Legion of Superheroes would make a fantastic animated movie. They’ve played with that territory in a youth-oriented animated series, but I’d love to see a feature aimed at slightly older audiences.
My addition would be JSA: Liberty Files, a badass elseworlds tale set in an alternate WWII with some really cool takes on the JSA as well as Batman, Superman, and a few villains.
Batgirl: Year One would also be a lot of fun.
Actually, the Tower of Babel would be an excellent choice. Good idea, Akamuu
that story is a great adult, character study of the ‘big seven’ JLA. There are some really fnatastic scenes in there. each member gets a little air time but basically it’s a Batman story
i also having a mental image of conor typing "I will not rest until Aquaman gets his due in one of these film" and publishing his article then rolling over and having lovely little nap
@edward: That’s not too far from the truth.
Tom Katers turned me onto the Joy of Geoff Johns’ Flash. Rogue War would indeed be awesome.
Great list Conor!
I agree with Akamuu suggestion for Tower of Babel. One of if not the best story from that JLA run.
Cool list, I’m actually compiling my run of the Johns/Kollins run on Flash, and I definitely agree that it would make the basis for a great animated movie. At the next con, I’m looking to start compiling Kelly’s run on the Superman titles, so I’ll be getting that great sounding Action Comics issue.
My suggestion would be a Birds of Prey movie that’s strongly rooted in Simone’s run.
A nice list. I would to see The Dark Knight Returns (I know this was sort of done in the animated series, but a full fledged film would be awesome), The Spirit (by Darwyn, natch), and The Question: Zen and Violence (because he was awesome in Justice League Unlimited). The likely hood of those projects is slim, but to think of them is most excellent.
I’d like to see a condensed version of Cataclysm/No Man’s land, simply because I’ve always wanted to see a Batman movie that involves the Batfamily members who never get any screen time (Huntress, Spoiler, etc.)
How bout Kingdom Come?
I just realized I didn’t offer my favorite comic ever. Kingdom Come would totally work as a feature film. Probably would be hard to have it in the style of Alex Ross…..but if we can have a film made from watercolor (Ponyo), we can have an Alex Ross-lite animation.
One of the things that they said when they first talked about these films was they they were going to animate these films in the style of the art in the comics. That idea went right out the window when their very first film, SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY, looked nothing like Dan Jurgens.
NEW FRONTIER looked like Darwyn Cooke because he came up in Bruce Timm’s animation house and he draws like that anyway.
SUPERMAN/BATMAN looked enough (too much?) like Ed McGuinness because there isn’t that much of a leap from Timm style to McGuinness.
And as we’ve seen, CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS looks nothing like Frank Quitely.
Anime-influenced GOTHAM KNIGHTS aside, we’re probably not going to see much more fundamental variation in the animation style. That’s why the only animation style I mentioned was for COSMIC ODYSSEY because donig a dark, shadowy version of the already established style would work.
Identity Crisis and Robin Year one fasho!
My 10 in no order….I’ll try really hard not to put too many Batman stories in here.
10) Batman: Long Halloween (If it succeeds you might as well do Dark Victory right after)
9) JSA: Darkness Falls
8) Gotham Central (any story would due, this just needs to happen)
7) All-Star Superman
6) LoEG (I’m pretty sure DC owns this in some capacity)
5) Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreakage
4) Batman: DKR
3) Identity Crisis
2) Flash: Rogue War
1) Green Lantern: Secret Origin
5 should read – Crawking from the Wreckage
I just heard a door *slam* as my brain said "I’m outta here".
@PostMan86: They just did a Green Lantern origin movie.
Do people read the articles? he said why he didn’t want to see Kingdom Come and Teh Dark Knight Returns
Anyway, Zack Snyder should make a Kingdom Come movie with the same level of detail as Watchmen
Geoff Johns written JSA!!! JSA!!! JSA!!! with the Golden Age Sandman for that extra touch of awesome! I want that! PLEASE!!!
I would love to see Identity Crisis. I think a Batman: Year 100 could be great, but we seem to have enough Batverse for now.
Why not Starman? That first arc Sins of the Father (0-5) would be heartbreaking and beautiful.
Great list! If nothing else, this gives me some good reading ideas, especially ROBIN: YEAR ONE. I just read the first volume of All Star Batman and Robin/The Boy Wonder, and I really disliked it. I’m gathering this gives a better view Dick’s origin.
Great list, but I might just go Rock of Ages above new world order though…..and how in the world would they explain Tim as Batman if they did Batman and Robin?
@Gabe: "Rock af Ages" was actually originally on my list but I cut it because I didn’t want two MOrrison JLA stories.
Explaining Dick as Batman is easily done in one or two pre-credit scenes. He’s dead… a quiet funeral… Dick dons the cowl. It can be done in under 30 seconds, actually.
Personally, all of these are nice suggestions, but in reality I know they wouldn’t be as grand as we think they’ll be in our minds. How do we condense these amazing stories in 70-80 minute stories? DC has done a spectacular job with these animated movies to the point where the only ones I didn’t enjoy in Batman: Gotham Knight and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies were still enjoyable (they just didn’t wow me).
That being said, if I had to pick one story to be adapted into or loosely based on a DC Comic, I would love to see them do the intial Starman story. You can adapt issues 0-4 as the movie, and as a "short" animated film (as they’ve been doing), I’d love to see hem adapt issue # 5 aka Talking with David. You won’t have to tackle that much, it would fit the time limit perfectly and you can add more characterization with the short film.
@JoseRovera83: I don’t know about your head, but in my head I’m basing it off of Bruce Timm’s track record on all of these shows and movies and the excellent adapting jobs they’ve done so far with SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY, JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER, SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES, and (to a lesser, more conceptual extent) JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS. An adaptation isn’t a literal translation (though it sometimes can be), and I would never expect it to be.
All the stories I listed (I can’t speak for anyone else’s) could very easily be adapted into 70-75 minute films.
I would also like to formally pitch my Rogues: ReTweet story, originally presented as a Twitter-drama, as an animated feature. They burn down a Checkers!
I saw on a review for the Justice Leauge: Crisis on Two Earths that there’s a preview for Batman: Under the Red Hood, which is the next animated film. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t say for sure what it’s about, but it’s a mighty interesting title for sure.
…and I suck. Conor already mentioned it. Thank you literacy!
JLA Tower of Babel would be cool as well. Also if they were to do Batman and Robin, I’d love to see Red Robin (Granted that hasn’t ended yet, but I’ve been loving it so far). Also Azzarello’s Joker would be pretty damn sweet. Flash Terminal Velocity would be pretty rad, which could then lead into a sequel of Flash "Human Race".
The Justice League origin with Starro the Conquerer.
JSA – Black Reign
Full of characters, lots of battles, and, of course, the world needs to see how bad ass Black Adam is.
Its a great story.
Some great choices there Conor… (Hard Traveling Heroes, Judas Contract, Cosmic Odyssey …..nice work!)
I would like to see the following….
Camelot 3000
Crisis on Infinite Earths
The New Gods (Jack Kirbys original take….Tough to do in a two hour movie though)
Kingdom Come
Legion of Super Heroes: Great Darkness Saga (Issues 287-294)
Tales of the Green Lantern Corps 1-3 (BRILLIANT 1981 Mini Series and first appearance of Nekron)
And sooo many others….
Conor,
I see what you’re saying. These don’t have to be direct literal translations. If I came off like that, I apologize. What I’m trying to say is that the run times bother me more than the content. I know the animators are under deadlines. I also know sometimes these stories can’t support more than 75-80 minutes. For me, when I really start to get into one of these animated DVD films, they’re over just like that! I keep hoping I’ll get a little more bang for my buck, but they must have heard my cries because we now have the great Showcase shorts coming our way.
This is also coming from someone who was spoiled rotten on having a lot of the Timm-verse on growing up. All of those shows, in one form or another had a running arc and they had time to flesh out characters and moments, so when the big epic battle came, there was context to what was going on.
With these animated films, as good as they are, they’re so much rush to not only set everything up, establish characters and get to the big fight at the end that I always feel like something is missing. Again, these are not bad films. Again, I didn’t enjoy Gotham Knight and Public Enemies and maybe Superman/Doomsday as much as I did the rest, but I will never say those are terrible animated movies. I just wish they had more time to run with a story. That’s all.
I’m eagerly looking forward to Crisis on Two Earths and the Spectre short. And, if I can take solace in anything it’s that with every direct to DVD animated film they have, they’re seeing what works and doesn’t work in this format and for the most part, every film improves on the previous one.
Batman Year 100, ShadowPact, Astro City Confession.
Those are the three I want to see most of all.
Of course, I’d rather see something new.
I think this would make a great live action film but I would kill to see it in any medium:
STARMAN: SINS OF THE FATHER
(I think that’s the title but it’s issues 0-3 of Starman)
i would kill to see kingdom com and would love to see a solo nightwing movie
I’d watch a Snyder directed Kingdom Come for sure
@ Everyone, Who produces the best animated movies, Marvel or DC?
@2Kwon – DC. No contest.
@ PaulMontgomery – I was thinking the same thing…lol. The new JLA film was very well done. I loved the Owl. I see that DC is working on Batman: Under the Hood, it looks like it’s going to be good…what’s your thoughts on the project?
@2Kwon: Hold on for about 12 hours. We’ve got a podcast coming tomorrow morning where Paul and I (and Chris Neseman) discuss CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS and we talk a bit about UNDER THE RED HOOD too.
@conor – will do guys…looking forward to the discussion.
@2Kwon. DC, but Marvel’s been doing better. Hulk vs. is quite awesome
@conor – I know they just did a Green Lantern flick, but it had little to do with the origin. It just kinda jumped right into things. I’d just like to see the Johns secret origin arc covered.
I’d love to see the first volume of Teen Titans v3, that’d be sweet, I loved that series back then
@PostMan87: If by "little to do" you mean the entire first act was the origin…
@Everyone- I would like to see a film done on The Green Lantern Corp. I think the Batman and Robin series would be a good pick as well.
Y’know when its all said and done maybe Blackest Night would be a good story
JLA Year One
Batman Knightfall
Superman Our Worlds At War
JSA Black Reign/Vengeance
DC One Million
@conor – "I thought that the biggest problems with this film (Green Lantern: First Flight) was the first act…the first act basically consisted of Hal Jordan getting his ring going to Oa and finding out about the Green Lanterns and getting thrust into the corpse…and basically that’s it…he’s almost a full fledge Green Lantern…he doesn’t ask how the ring works…no one tells him what it does…he never seemed like a new Green Lantern"
Your words. Not trying to challenge you. But the problems you had with that flick (and myself too) is what Green Lantern: Origin, done proper, would make right – and do all the better.
@PostMan87: I know, but it doesn’t change the fact that the already made the GL origin movie. Whether or not it was good or successful is beside the point. 🙂
I would have to say:
1. JLA: The Nail (with a Showcase: Martian Manhunter short)
2. JLA: Year One (with a Showcase: Aquaman short)
3. Batman: The Long Halloween (with a Showcase: Manhunter short)
4. 1st arc of Starman (with a Showcase: Stargirl short)
5. JLA: Brave and the Bold (Flash & Green Lantern) (with a Showcase: Green Arrow short)