"DC Super Hero Girls" Season Two Talkback (Spoilers)

[Frontier]

Arkham as a reform school? Definitely fits the younger-leaning tone of the show. I could totally see the teen version of villains ending up there, like Ivy. They probably would've used that in the original DCSHG .

Perfect Halloween episode where everyone exchanges costumes...except Zatanna, because she's a princess so of course she's Wonder Woman .

I loved the "Great Hera" joke. I thought to myself "has Diana ever actually said that on the show before?" and it turns out everyone assumes she says it even though she doesn't even like Hera, and then she still says it in the end because she's Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman says "Great Hera" .

Joker was pretty standard Joker, and Jeremiah Watkins did a pretty solid job in the role (I know people complain about Hamill-esque performers but I thought it worked fine here). The only weird thing was the lack of his purple jacket. I did like how he joked about not being able to understand Batman's mumble growls and then it turns out he can perfectly impersonate said mumble growl .

We got Harley finally teaming-up with Joker and they play it pretty straight for a modern adaption. I was almost wishing Harley had actually gone through with blowing up Gotham but I guess they couldn't break Babs' heart like that .

Gentleman Ghost was a surprise pull, let alone Jim Craddock's hip old lady descendant who ultimately helps beat him. I was half-expecting them to call in Hawkman since Craddock's a Hawk Rogue and Nth Metal is the only thing that could hurt him but that would probably be a little too much .

Solomon Grundy! As soon as I heard Slaughter Swamp I knew where they were going with it. And Fred Tatsciore plays Grundy for the umpteenth time. What was with those numbers on his shirt though ?

Man-Bat! Or, I guess, She-Bat! I think this is the first time an adaption has just used Francine instead of her husband as their Man-Bat but it was a nice twist. For a second I thought they were going with Kitty Faulkner because of STAR Labs, but still cool .

Well, the status quo is once again shaken up as Babs and Harleen are now aware of each others' identities. I'm curious how much we'll see further shake ups among the Hero and Villain Girls .

 

[SweetShop209]

I'm willing to bet that the next special will involve one of the villains finding out the secret identity of one of the girls (like if Pamela Isley finds out that Jessica Cruz is Green Lantern).

 

[Yojimbo]

Great 2 parter! The true plot did remind me a little of "Harlequinade" in broad strokes with Joker planning to destroy the city but Harley disrupts his scheme.

Also dug the finer details like when Kara says trick or treating is for nine year olds and wackadoos then after Harleen arrives, she conspiratorially elbows Jess to connote her point was made. Or Kara leaning in to pinch and the glare off between Harleen and Diana. And of course, Zee would show up fashionably late in a limo. lol. Thought it was cute the dog that scares Karen off was dressed as a bee. Jess revitalizing Victoria's wilted plant was neat. Or Harley luring Grundy away with a Big Borger bag. I lol'd in that quick shot of She-Bat tossing the cop because you can see a pink doughnut right after. Nice callback after Batgirl leaves S.T.A.R. she sits on the roof of the convention center first from and scrolls pics from #GothamCon where the Joker came up a few times.

Loved Victoria Craddock. Such a cute old lady, and stayed in character the whole 2 parter as an 80s hip hop artist.

Mayor Borg was a deep cut, he was the mayor in the '89 live action movie.

My favorite moment was Wonder Woman's punching Joker's tooth out and declaring, "I do not suffer fools."

Arkham as a reform school? Definitely fits the younger-leaning tone of the show. I could totally see the teen version of villains ending up there, like Ivy. They probably would've used that in the original DCSHG .

Yeah, I'm guessing that was the juvie hall section because Arkham Asylum appeared briefly in #GothamCon.

We got Harley finally teaming-up with Joker and they play it pretty straight for a modern adaption. I was almost wishing Harley had actually gone through with blowing up Gotham but I guess they couldn't break Babs' heart like that .

Well, there was the "my number one gal" moment.

Gentleman Ghost was a surprise pull, let alone Jim Craddock's hip old lady descendant who ultimately helps beat him. I was half-expecting them to call in Hawkman since Craddock's a Hawk Rogue and Nth Metal is the only thing that could hurt him but that would probably be a little too much .

The interesting bit I latched onto was he was so disappointed GL and Zatanna were "what passed for super-heroes" these days. So you know, perhaps they fought in one of his previous lives.

Solomon Grundy! As soon as I heard Slaughter Swamp I knew where they were going with it. And Fred Tatsciore plays Grundy for the umpteenth time. What was with those numbers on his shirt though ?

Were those his initials, "SG"?

 

[Eldorado]

I knew when the summary mentioned "Gotham's most notorious SuperVillain" they had to be mentioning the Joker. After all, who else has that title? Though I am disappointed that there wasn't more to it than just a half-hour 2-part episode. However, I DID know that once Joker appeared then it would be the episode that either Barbara or Harleen found out each other's secret identity. I imagined it would be Harleen finding out first then she would spend some time heartbroken and away from her until the two fight in a climactic battle that makes Harley force Batgirl to reveal her identity and eventually Harley is arrested and their friendship is over for good. I'll explain more on how I'm glad that didn't end up the case later.

I always knew that a Halloween episode would feature both Gentleman Ghost and Solomon Grundy together all the way back when I imagined a Super Best Friends Forever TV series. Of course, back then I figured the whole thing would be set up by Calendar Man. Speaking of Solomon Grundy, after a while I figured he would NEVER appear in this series but I'm so glad he did. However, I am SEVERELY disappointed that he does not have a more updated version of his SBFF'S design (I enjoyed the big chin) nor that Keith Ferguson reprises his role. I also imagined that if Man-Bat appeared he would be one of the school teachers trying to cure his own deafness but eventually learn to regain his intelligence while in Man-Bat form.

Now comes my response on the whole Harleen/Barbara thing. First off, I want to state how clever it was for Joker to think ahead and realize that one day someone could overthrow him as the creator of the "scariest night in Gotham" so he decides to make that night the night Gotham is destroyed. Now the fact that Harley did not approve of this plan shows that she will one day realize that Joker is nothing but toxic to her and finally stand up and fight back against him. Plus, the fact that she disarmed the bomb was something I was hoping she would do and was super surprised in the end that she actually did it and that it wasn't Batgirl's Batarang that stopped it. Which means that their friendship will never end and that Harley may one day join the side of good. But for now, the question that remains is what's going to happen to Harleen? Is she going back to Metropolis High and avoid Barbara for a while or is she going to drop out, stay with Joker, and when she decides to become a hero is she going to turn herself in and go to Arkham Reform School?

I'm willing to bet that the next special will involve one of the villains finding out the secret identity of one of the girls (like if Pamela Isley finds out that Jessica Cruz is Green Lantern).

Like maybe a Christmas episode where Pamela teams up with another plant villain to liberate all the world's Christmas trees and begins an uprising.

Mod Note: Double post merged.

 

[Frontier]

Great 2 parter! The true plot did remind me a little of "Harlequinade" in broad strokes with Joker planning to destroy the city but Harley disrupts his scheme.

Because Harley has to draw the line somewhere .

Mayor Borg was a deep cut, he was the mayor in the '89 live action movie.

I was wondering if they were from anything .

My favorite moment was Wonder Woman's punching Joker's tooth out and declaring, "I do not suffer fools."

Being realistic about how a fight between Wonder Woman and Joker would go .

The interesting bit I latched onto was he was so disappointed GL and Zatanna were "what passed for super-heroes" these days. So you know, perhaps they fought in one of his previous lives.

Zatanna knew about him so it sounded like he had an extensive history...of course I'm immediately jumping on the JSA .

 

[Yojimbo]

Jenny Calabro posted some Joker poses.

Drew Green boarded the scene where Batgirl and Wonder Woman meet Joker.

 

[Frontier]

Jenny Calabro posted some Joker poses.

Still feels weird seeing him without his purple jacket .

 

[Yojimbo]

Still feels weird seeing him without his purple jacket .

10/30: Idk, thought it was a nod to The Dark Knight. Halfway, he's jacket-less when he's arrested I think?

EDIT: Aprilyn Cunanan posted bgs from "#NightmareInGotham".

11/3: Calabro posted some She-Bat poses and she and Drouhard recall the latter had to redo a scene because Storyboard Pro ate a file.

 

[Frontier]

11/3: Calabro posted some She-Bat poses and she and Drouhard recall the latter had to redo a scene because Storyboard Pro ate a file.

Nice mane she's got there .

 

[Yojimbo]

Calabro posts Shebat poses.

 

[Frontier]

Calabro posts Shebat poses.

Such a fluffy mane...

 

[Fone Bone]

DC Super Hero Girls "Detention Club"

That was fun.

I never expected to find sympathy or delight from any version of Poison Ivy so I especially liked that aspect of it.

And Chapin is such a nimrod he believes the Principle is the hero of The Breakfast Club. Should we tell him?

Funny stuff. ****1/2.

DC Super Hero Girls "Small Victories"

I was a little bored with this one. But I always take notice of and love how cute Bumblebee is when she's tiny. Those beady eyes always make me smile. **1/2.

DC Super Hero Girls "Cruz Control"

The problem with doing a kiddie cartoon political episode in the current climate is that current politics are so horrible. You have to raise the levels to such ridiculous lengths to mirror what happened with Trump, that I'm sure there are kids in the audience who are like, "Yeah, right." It's the exact problem the U.S. version of The Office had. They had to make Michael Scott cartoonishly stupid just so the David Brent-style gag of the boss being secretly awful would register with Americans. Many Americans would find nothing wrong with David Brent's behavior. Which is another reason this Cobblepot thing is really reaching too. Many American adults would hear the things he says and the things he been caught on tape doing and he'd get 47% of the vote anyways. The problem with doing a kiddie political cartoon in the current climate is you can't be cynical enough. And if you somehow ARE cynical enough, suddenly the moral and allegory is inappropriate to teach kids. Kids DESERVE happy endings. But so do adults. But our society is so broken that we keep failing the kids.

Maybe having kids recognize political b.s. as young as possible is the right move. But it sure doesn't make it any fun to watch. **1/2.

DC Super Hero Girls "Why So Blue"

Pretty good Blue Beetle debut.

I took note that you could see red blood in the scratch on Ted's face at the end.

Like I said, pretty good. ****.

DC Super Hero Girls "One Enchanted Evening"

Wasn't DC's Enchantress that terrible villain that practically ruined the first Suicide Squad movie? She wasn't quite as lousy here.

The episode was okay. ***.

DC Super Hero Girls "The Aquaman Cometh"

This version of Aquaman was great! Not quite as great as the one from Batman: The Brave And The Bold, but probably my second favorite version after him.

I like that he seems to be modeled after Matthew McConaughey. He's pretty chill. Him declaring himself "not worthy" to Garth after finding out he was his videogame rival was super funny. The Wayne-ish bowing was hilarious.

What a great episode! *****.

DC Super Hero Girls "Nightmare In Gotham"

I like that the episode ended on hope for Harleen.

I like that the girls dress in each other's costumes for Halloween.

I don't like the idea that the Joker is a kid who escaped from Arkham reform school. His voice actor seems to be channeling Mark Hamill though, which is okay by me.

I like the Francine Langstrom version of Man-Bat being called She-Bat. Batman: The Animated Series should have done it.

I like that the episode disrupted the status quo for Babs and Harleen. That plot point has been stagnating for too long. Because of the forward momentum there, I liked the episode. ****.