Character Spotlight: Antonio Puzorelli

Continuity's a funny thing. Sometimes things are canon at one point and later ruled not canon (and vice-versa!). This can happen for all sorts of reasons. For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles volume 3, it happened because the creators weren't involved.

See, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird for Mirage, their independent comics company. TMNT quickly became a media powerhouse so Eastman and Laird were pulled away from the comic fairly early on (issue 11 was the last one they both worked on until issue 50). Presumably as part of that, Mirage started a second volume of the series, written by Jim Lawson, that ran for two years. In 1996, Image Comics published volume 3 and made it part of the Image Universe, but when Peter Laird and Jim Lawson partnered to make a new volume in 2001, they decided to ignore the events of volume 3, since it didn't have any input from Laird or Eastman. Therefore, this blog treats volume 3 as an adaptation like any other.

And that brings us to our point. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vol. 3 #7 (December 1996) introduced a gangster named Antoine "Big Tony" Puzorelli. He is the grandfather of Shadow, Casey Jones's adopted daughter, and he hired the Foot to find her and return her.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #25 (August 2013), we meet Antonio Puzorelli, a Mafia don who tried to broker peace during a turf war between the Foot and the Savate. He did not appear again until #93 (April 2019), which is when his last name was used for the first time and his connection to Big Tony made clear.

Character Spotlight: Dr. Chase Meridian

It's funny how standards slip as deadlines loom. Normally I don't include immigrants until they've been in a mainstream universe, but I didn't want the last couple weeks of this year to not have new content (even though I started doing Flashback Friday for just such an occasion), so here we are.

Batman Forever (1995) wanted to be a serious look into the psychology of Batman. You probably wouldn't recognize that from the final product, which had most of that particular plotline excised, but one artifact that remains is Dr. Chase Meridian, Bruce Wayne's love interest for the movie and a psychiatrist who is obsessed with Batman. Her name is a pun because she was supposed to help Bruce find a balance between his two personas; ie, "chase" the "meridian".

Despite being played by Nicole Kidman at her Nicole Kidmanest in a very successful movie (second highest-grossing movie of 1995 and highest-grossing opening weekend, which it held until 1997), Chase Meridian never made an impact on the comics. Even when she finally crossed over, it was only in an out-of-continuity digital comic. Specifically, it was Legends of the Dark Knight #77-79 (November 2013), which was later collected in Legends of the Dark Knight 100-Page Spectacular #4 (September 2014). Notably, she has a completely different look than the movie.

Personally, I think Dr. Meridian could fill a hole in the Batman universe. You'd think a series with an asylum as a major set piece would have a recurring psychologist/psychiatrist character. In fact, it has two, but they're both villains: Harley Quinn and Hugo Strange. It would be very beneficial, I think, to have Chase as a supervillain expert who also doesn't play their games.

Flashback Friday: Livewire

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Livewire!

These days, comic book adapters realize that Marvel and DC have thousands of characters and one of them will probably fit whatever story they want to tell. That wasn't always the case. Until the mid-00s (and possibly later), tv shows based on comics mainly used original characters, and the DC Animated Universe was no different. That brings us to Livewire.

Like Roxy Rocket, Livewire's first appearance wasn't really on tv. She debuted in Superman Adventures #5 (January 1997) in a story that has her attacking men because they've run the world for so long. What's interesting to me is that the issue is written as if everyone already knows Livewire, which makes me wonder if her premiere episode was originally planned for season one and then pushed back.

Either way, Livewire first appeared in Superman: The Animated Series in an episode of the same name (1997).  In the episode, Leslie Willis is a shock jock who was struck by lightning during an outside concert. The lightning gave her electric powers and changed her appearance, and she blamed Superman for it. So she became Livewire to get revenge. She became a recurring antagonist, also appearing in The New Batman Adventures, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.

She first began appearing in the main DC Universe in Action Comics #835 (January 2006). Her backstory is mostly the same as her animated counterpart, except that she was born with her electric powers. The lightning strike only enhanced them and changed her appearance. She continued to appear and even reformed by 2011, just in time for the New 52.

In the New 52, Livewire made her first appearance in Justice League #30 (May 2014) during Forever Evil as a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. In Batgirl #42 (July 2015), she receives a new origin - now she was a vlogger who was electrocuted during a prank where she tried to make the lights of Metropolis spell out a dirty word.

And if comics to tv to comics weren't enough, she also made it back to tv - twice, actually. The first was in Smallville ("Injustice", May 2009), although you'd be forgiven for not realizing it's the same character...

...and the second was in Supergirl ("Livewire", November 2015), where she has once again become a recurring character.

Lois Lane's Violet Eyes

Usually canon immigrants are big things like characters and events. But sometimes they're details so tiny, most people don't even realize they're there. This is an example of the latter. 

In Superman: The Animated Series (1996), Lois Lane had violet eyes to match her suit.

This had never been the case in comics before. When Lois debuted in Action Comics #1 (1938), eyes weren't given that level of definition at all...

...and once they were, she was depicted with blue eyes. 

After the animated series, however, she started appearing with violet eyes in the comics. In cases like this it's hard to determine the absolute first time it happened, but here's a smattering of examples released over fifteen years or so (the final one being a variant cover for Superman #13, July 2019).

I also can't guarantee her eyes are ALWAYS violet. Coloring is a tricky beast and there are often inconsistencies even when the colors of an object are set in stone.

Flashback Friday: Gray Ghost

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Gray Ghost!

As most people know, Batman is inspired by earlier pulp heroes such as the Shadow and Zorro. In fact, "inspired" is putting it charitably, considering several of Batman's earliest stories were plagiarized Shadow stories. But the comics and other adaptations like to pay homage to this in various ways, with the main one becoming that the Waynes went to see a Zorro film on the day they died (which Zorro movie it was changes based on when the story takes place, but it's usually The Mark of Zorro).

Batman: The Animated Series, however, provided its own twist on this idea. In the episode "Beware the Gray Ghost" (1992), we learn of an old tv show that Bruce loved to watch as a kid. The Gray Ghost is very inspired by the Shadow, and Batman was, in turn, inspired by the Gray Ghost. In fact, Batman's Batcave is an exact replica of the Gray Ghost's base of operations. The episode involves the Simon Trent, the actor who played the Gray Ghost (voiced by Adam West), dressing as the Gray Ghost and teaming with Batman to help solve a series of bombings based on an episode of the series.

The first time the Grey Ghost was mentioned in comics was Batman: Gotham Adventures #3 (June 1998), when Scarecrow's fear formula made it seem like Batman was dressed as the character.

The Batman Adventures #14 (May 2004) featured Simon Trent as the Gray Ghost and the creation of a Gray Ghost movie.

But both of those are extensions of the DCAU. The first time the Gray Ghost was seen outside of that world was, surprisingly, the Grant Morrison Vertigo title, Joe the Barbarian #1 (January 2010). This series is about a boy who hallucinates a fantasy adventure involving his toys thanks to low blood sugar, and Gray Ghost - along with Batman - is one of the characters who appears.

When he finally appeared in mainstream DC comics, it was in a much different form.  In Batgirl #15 (November 2010), the Grey Ghost appears as Clancy Johnson, Batgirl's self-proclaimed guardian angel. Incidentally, he's also the Mad Bomber (the villain of "Beware the Gray Ghost"). Clancy based his secret identity on the Grey Ghost tv show, which also now exists in DC Comics.

And then Simon Trent appeared as a theatre teacher in Gotham Academy, which I've previously discussed.

What I find most interesting about all of these appearances is that they keep the Gray Ghost a fictional entity. Writers could've easily made him a real hero, perhaps one active in the 30s. But they didn't. In some ways I prefer that.

The only (potential) example I can find otherwise is Batman Beyond 2.0 #40 (November 2014). I can't tell if this is Simon Trent taking up the mantle again or someone inspired by the Gray Ghost franchise. Either way, this series takes place on Earth-12, which is essentially the DCAU world in comics form.

Character Spotlight: Sergeant Slipper

Today we'll be talking about a comic strip called "Dennis the Menace", but first we need to get something out of the way: it's probably not the Dennis the Menace you're thinking of. See, the US and the UK each have a comic strip character called Dennis the Menace. They're both about young boys up to no good (who wear striped shirts) and they both debuted on March 12, 1951, but they're separate characters. Of course, successful properties get exported to other countries, so the US version is typically called "Dennis" across the pond, while the UK version is called "Dennis and Gnasher" outside of the British Isles.

Just like the American Dennis, the British Dennis - who first appeared in a comic book called The Beano - has found success in other media as well. In 1996, he starred in an animated series called Dennis the Menace (renamed Dennis and Gnasher in season two) that aired on CBBC.

The show's first episode (April 1996) introduced a police officer character named Sergeant Slipper who acted as an antagonist for Dennis. This makes sense; if your main character is always getting into trouble, there needs to be someone who can punish him. There are his parents, of course, but it might not make sense for them to be around in every story.

It made so much sense, in fact, that Sgt. Slipper started appearing in The Beano not long after the show. His debut was in #2904 (March 1998), in the cover story.

Although he's a much more minor character in the book than in the show, he has maintained a steady presence, appearing in 77 issues spanning the past 20 years. He also appeared in the 2009 animated series.

Character Spotlight: Snoopy's Mother

Last week I talked about Snoopy's siblings and how one of them - Andy - originated on tv. But guess what? He's not the only Snoopy family member who did! In fact, the other one appeared in the same tv special: Snoopy's Reunion (May 1991).

As you might imagine, a story about Snoopy reuniting with his siblings might also include an appearance by his parents. And it does: both his mother and father reunite with their kids. But while Snoopy's dad had already appeared in the strip on June 18, 1989...

...Snoopy's mother made her first appearance during this special.

She later had a small storyline in July 1996, with her only actual appearance being on July 26 of that year.

Unfortunately, it's hard to tell if this is meant to be the same character. Her design doesn't exactly match, although we don't get a great look at her. On top of that, her storyline takes place in Snoopy's World War I narrative (she's traveling to visit Spike in the infirmary), so we can't say what she's like in real life. That being said, with lack of evidence to the contrary, I am going to count it.

Character Spotlight: Andy

Of all the comic strips out there, only a handful are household names. Of those, Peanuts is probably the most well-known. And of all the Peanuts characters - and there are quite a few - none is so well known as Charlie Brown's dog, Snoopy. In fact, I'm sure you've heard someone refer to the Peanuts strip or franchise as a whole as "Snoopy" before. It stands to reason, then, that if everyone loves Snoopy, you know what they'd love even more? MORE Snoopy!

With that in mind, we got our first mention of Snoopy's brother, Spike, on August 4, 1975:

And we meet him on August 13, 1975:

After that, Snoopy's other siblings were slowly introduced: Belle in June 1976, Marbles in September 1982, and Olaf in January 1989. But that's only half  of the litter. The other three - Andy, Molly, and Rover - were introduced in the 1991 tv special, Snoopy's Reunion.

Andy then later appeared in the comic strip on February 14, 1994:

Interestingly, Molly and Rover never appeared in the comics. So even though Snoopy does canonically have two siblings we've never met, there's no guarantee they're Molly and Rover.

Andy made several more appearances in the strip, always accompanied by his brother, Olaf. His last appearance was September 27, 1999. about six months before the final strip ran.

Clayface's New Origin

Many people are unaware of this, but there have been several people who have gone by the name "Clayface" over the course of Batman's history. Arguably the two most important are the first and second ones. The original was an actor named Basil Karlo who, in his first appearance at least, wore the costume of a movie monster he played (Clayface) to attack people connected to a remake of one of his movies. The second, Matt Hagen, was a treasure hunter who touched some protoplasm and gained the powers to reshape his body, but the effects were temporary and he would continually have to return to the protoplasm to regain his powers.

 

These two characters were combined to create Batman: The Animated Series's version of Clayface, who first appeared in the two-part episode, "Feat of Clay" (September 1992). In this series, Matt Hagen was a famous actor until a car accident ruined his face. Since then, he has started working for Roland Daggett, who gives him a substance called Renuyu each month that allows Matt to reshape his face - and therefore also lets him look like other people. Daggett uses Matt's abilities for corporate espionage and asks him to try to kill Lucius Fox while disguised as Bruce Wayne to help facilitate a merger between Daggett's and Wayne's companies. The plan doesn't work, so Daggett cuts off Matt from Renuyu, and when Matt breaks into the factory to get some, Daggett's goons cover Matt with it and force him to drink liters of the stuff. This, of course, turns Matt into Clayface.

Matt Hagen is the only Clayface in the DC Animated Universe, but the comics are less picky. Prior to this series, there were four, which is not that surprising. There were also multiple Two-Faces and Mad Hatters, for instance, for reasons we won't really get into. But unlike these other characters, DC has continued to introduce new Clayfaces, for a total of nine as of this writing.

That being said, the comics likewise seem to have settled on Basil Karlo as the "main" Clayface, and to that end, featured a retelling of his origin in Detective Comics Annual 2018. Although it's not an exact retelling of "Feat of Clay", it does feature more beats from that than from Basil Karlo's original debut in Detective Comics #40 (April 1940). His face is disfigured in a car accident, and he fixes that using a chemical called Renu - no "yu" on the end in this version, since it's not meant to be a cosmetic...

...which is still made by Roland Daggett's company, spelled with one "t" in this version for reasons that aren't clear.

Similarly, being doused with loads of the Renu turns Karlo into a hulking mass of goo like the animated Clayface.

This, however, is NOT the first time The Animated Series has influenced Clayface's appearance. I've previously written about that. It's due for a Flashback Friday, but I don't know when I'll get around to it.