TV Wars

Fans of superheroes today are lucky to live at a time where so many networks are clamoring to get a piece of the live-action pie. Since AMC's The Walking Dead grabbed the mass's attention, other attempts to adapt comic stories to the television with various levels of success. Some miss their mark, though few have managed to balance a fresh take on its material while keeping its characters true to the source.

CW was first in these recent attempts at the superhero genre on prime-time with Arrow. The show found success delivering solid action and character drama, and bringing to the screen not only Green Arrow, but also Black Canary, Red Arrow, Huntress, the Flash and villains Deadshot, Merlyn, Mocking Bird, a very brief Harley Quinn cameo and one of my personal favorites Deathstroke. Also, there is a version of Deathstroke's young lady protege, Ravager whose identity is a twist I don't want to spoil. Other appearances from the books, not exactly accurate to the source are Brother Blood, the Royal Flush Gang, the Clock King, Shrapnel depicted as a serial bomber instead of creature composed of sharp metal and Solomon Grundy referred to only as Cyrus Gold, powered by an experimental serum instead of the Hulk-like undead monster-man in the comics.  While thrilling action scenes and character drama provide mass appeal, the variety of familiar heroes and villains keep longtime fans happy. For fans with sharp ears, the writers of this show like to slip in tongue-in-cheek references to writers and artists. In the season two epsiode "Suicide Squad" Amanda Waller, Mockingbird refers to a room in a hotel as the Ostrander Suite" name-dropping John Ostrander, a writer famous for his work on the Suicide Squad comic among other titles. There was also mention of a "Giffen Street" referring to Keith Giffen, the artist who worked with Ostrander on the same series.  And in the "Birds of Prey" episode the police are looking for the Huntress. Her location is announced over the dispatch: an abandoned building at the intersection of "Gail and Simone," of course name-dropping superstar DC writer Gail Simone who added Huntress to the lineup in her iconic Birds of Prey run. One of the most interesting elements Arrow brings to the table, is its handling of the hero's origin. Oliver Queen was stranded on an island for five years, until his return, seen in the premiere episode. As the show unfolds we get flashbacks of this time period where he learns to survive, making both allies and enemies.  At a rate of about one year on the island per season, the audience is treated to the slow transition from billionaire playboy to hardened vigilante, whose concern shifted from parties and women, to a crusade to free Starling City of corruption. One complaint with this adaptation is that the plot of the first season revolves around a list of names Queen got from his father in his last moments. Green Arrow starts his career crossing off each name by killing them, taking justice into his own hands. I found it hard to root for him as he constantly crossed this line. This flaw stayed in the first season, though. After the death of his closest friend, Ollie decided he couldn't go on killing everyone with no thought of the consequences and rededicated his career to bringing justice without the use of deadly force.

Arrow's Ravager

...and her comic version

Spinning out of CW's has quickly become a personal favorite. I've read the words "My name is 'Barry Allen.' I'm the fastest man alive!" so many times that the voice-over in the intro-credits gives me chills.Taking elements from both Barry Allen and the younger Wally West Flash this adaptation shows much respect and love to its source material. Though the hero's classic rogues gallery provides a villain of the week like Captain Cold, Heatwave, the Pied Piper, Girder and the Trickster, the show stays fresh with longer story arcs featuring Firestorm and the Reverse Flash. Any longtime fan who knows the latter's identity as time-traveler, Eobard Thawne would be kept glued to the screen during his gradual reveal with a bait-and-switch, having Detective Edward Thawne rival Barry for the affections of Iris West.  There's also a team-up with Green Arrow and one with DC sci-fi staple, the Atom played by former Superman actor, Brandon Routh. Though some tweaks are necessary to bring comic characters to the TV screen, most of the important elements are true to the characters' original form. Cold earns his moniker with mean calm and ruthless cunning as well as his cold-gun. The Reverse Flash is completely devious and quick to anger. More recently, Gorilla Grodd was brought to screen as a truly terrifying sight to behold, a giant gorilla who paralyzes you with fear, looking like he could rip a person in two, then you realize his voice is in your head. Instead of being a scientist whose sole ambition is to rule Gorilla City and eat anyone who gets in his way, this Grodd was the result of genetic experiments. There are a couple nods to the short-lived 90's version. The lead from that series, John Wesley Ship plays Barry's father who is serving a sentence for the wrongful conviction of his wife's murder, which provides Barry's main motivation. Also, Mark Hamill reprises his role as the unstable Trickster for the third time (acting in the previous version as well as providing his voice in the animated Justice League: Unlimited series). My one complaint is that though the show shares a universe with Arrow, DC content outside of the CW network is off-limits. I would love to see this Flash help found the Justice League but the movie version will likely be different, as the Suicide Squad movie has already announced its cast alternately to the one featured in Arrow.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC was met with mixed reactions. Created by Joss Whedon it follows a diverse and quirky cast of agents lead by Phil Coulson who was introduced in the Iron Man film. Weekly they work on cases that deal with the fallout of the Marvel movie-verse as the larger mysteries of Coulson's return after his apparant death in Avengers and other main character, Skye's unknown past unfold more gradually.The major problem with this show is its lack of costumed heroes. Though they reference characters so obscure even I have to consult the Marvel Wikia, in the first season the only major superhero to appear was Deathlok. As thrilling as his reveal was having him in a handful of episodes was not enough besides the fact that most of the time he's being manipulated by the baddies for their own purposes. To be fair, in the second season they improve this situation by adding to the main lineup Agent Barbara 'Bobbi' Morse, known to comic fans as Mockingbird. She dominates fights with her Amazonian build and a pair of staves, her weapons of choice in the comics. Vice versa, Agent Coulson has been appearing more in the comics and in 2014 the rest of the show's cast  got their comic debut in a title called S.H.I.EL.D.

ABC's "Mockingbird"

...and her comic counterpart

When Agent Carter was announced I thought it would be a story/event within Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or a mini-series taking its place temporarily. Did we need another family-friendly S.H.I.E.L.D.-based show exploring the Marvel movie-verse? Despite my doubts, the show sets itself apart setting it's stories in the past and exploring the history of Howard Stark, Arnim Zola, the Howling Commandos and title character, Peggy Carter outside of the films. Carter provides an interesting perspective as one of the few people to know Captain America as a man as she hears the legends that arise in his absence. I enjoyed the pilot but I will have to wait to finish the season. As it happens, I missed a few episodes and the full season is not available to stream yet.

NBC has Constantine. Admittedly I am not extremely familiar with the character, but from what I do know this adaption is more faithful to its source than the 2005 movie. John Constantine is a blond trenchcoat-wearing Brit who practices black magic to fight demons and protect innocent souls, not as much the unblinking Keannu Reeves version that the film gave us. More than that, the framing, camera angles, lingering closeups, and dialogue feel very comic book-y. I hate using such a vague description, but watching the show I feel like I'm enjoying comic story-telling. The only problem I see has been the delays between episodes, but if they're taking their time in order produce the same level of content they can take as long as they need.

Gotham on Fox is a show that I wanted to like. It follows the perspective of James Gordon just starting at his new post in Gotham City. He takes interest in a young freshly orphaned Bruce Wayne. While I really like the premise of the police procedural set in Gotham pre-Batman I have a few issues with the show. Some are superficial like Donal Logue's portrayal of Sgt. Bulloch. The gritty voice he's using sounds more like Batman than the Brooklyn accent from the animated version. Also the scenes with Bruce Wayne are few and far between. Other more major issues show problems with the entire structure of the show. The inclusion of characters like Catwoman, Bulloch, and other police Crispus Allen and Rene Montoya don't really mesh with Batman's timeline. These are characters who are depicted as less experienced than Batman and in this show they're all much older and in already in play. I can't see Montoya or Allen donning the heroic identities, the Question and the Spectre respectively if they're already adults maybe a decade or more before Batman enters the fray. Also the character played by Jada Pinkett Smith, Fish Mooney is an odd addition. She plays a believable crime lord, but I can't help but think that the role was created in order to shoe-horn in some star power. One error that I'm sure had Bat-fans everywhere scratching their heads, occurred in the premiere episode. Detective Gordon is chasing a criminal through an apartment building, when he encounters a young red-headed girl. You can see abundant plants inside her apartment and when he asks her her name she sheepishly replies "Ivy." If you had seen the acclaimed animated series (from the same network as this show, mind you), or read one of her many comic appearances you'd know that if this kid was supposed to be Poison Ivy, her name should be Pamela Eisley. Are we supposed to believe young Pamela is already experimenting with plants and has adopted her alter-ego after school? It's more likely that this is a blatant mistake that even the universally hated movie, Batman and Robin was closer to getting right.

Daredevil's costume in Season 1

Makeshift costume worn in Daredevil: Man without Fear

Marvel Studios' latest in the TV Wars is Daredevil on Netflix. The exclusive release has allowed Marvel to create content targeted towards a decidedly adult audience. Though violent, the show avoids being gratuitous, by revealing character details through action, relentless to the point of brutality and at least once, beyond. Early on Matt Murdock describes how his father, boxer 'Battlin' Jack Murdock would corner his opponents and pummel them relentlessly. Also his father was known for being able to take a brutal beating as well. As Daredevil, he does both throughout the series, honoring his father who was killed after standing up to the mob by refusing to continue taking falls for bribes. In twisted contrast, the main antagonist, Wilson Fisk was raised by an abusive man. In this case, the violence that formed his character was directed towards a neighborhood bully, as Fisk was forced to beat him by his father. Later his father mercilessly beats his mother. This history manifests in the adult Fisk in the show's most gruesome scene, as Fisk murders a subordinate in a rage that continues after his victim's death. Vincent D'Onofrio delivers a frightening performance, fitting Fisk, known as the Kingpin in the comics. One thing the show excels at is its fresh take on common superhero tropes. They avoid the cliche of the hero's origin by showing the perspective of his father, who finds young Matt just after the accident that took his vision and elevated his senses to a hyper-keen level. I like the depiction of his enhanced senses, which sets this adaptation apart from the 2003 film. By showing subtle reactions, actor Charlie Cox tells us he's aware of information most others are not. Daredevil doesn't don the familiar red costume until the final episode, instead wearing a more stealth-friendly black costume referencing a makeshift uniform he used in the story Daredevil: The Man Without Fear by Frank Miller. There are plenty of other references to the comic universe for fans to look for (which I don't want to list because youtuber, Mr. Sunday Movies beat me to it here.) There's one notable nod to the movieverse. Fisk talks about his ventures in reconstruction in the wake of an otherworldly disaster, establishing the setting in New York after the first Avengers film. Unlike the S.H.I.E.L.D. based shows, its link to the movie-verse is less of a crutch allowing for a quality show that stands on its own. I highly recommend Daredevil mostly because it satisfies my Bat-cravings far more than Gotham tries to.

Update: NBC has finalized their decision not to pick up Constantine Season 2. This bad news comes with a granule of hope. Showrunner, Daniel Cerone has begun shopping around other networks like Fox, SyFy and CW. CW acquiring another DC property is exciting enough, but Arrow actor Stephen Amell has shown interest in a collaborative crossover. We'll have to wait and see where this show ends up.

In other more recent Superhero/TV-related news, CBS has released a trailer for Supergirl. At over five minutes it plays like a short film. I didn't even realize this project was in production but I'd say I'm fairly excited to see it. I want to see how they present a world where Superman has already been operating and how they will deal with his absence. It may be perceived as anti-feminist to focus on a female who is forced to exist in her male-counterpart's shadow, but that's her main character arc. Supergirl has to discover her own identity, distinct from her cousin. She'll find that she can be powerful, smart, sexy and independent, and that there is no shame in being called "girl."