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: Mas y Menos

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

This week: Mas y Menos!

Mas y Menos first appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon, beginning with the episode "Titans East, Part 1" (January 2005). They're speedsters who can only use their powers when they're touching, though this extends to touching something the other is also touching.

They first appear in comics in Teen Titans Go! #20 (June 2005), although this is a tie-in series to the show. They appeared in several issues of this series.

They debuted in the mainstream in Teen Titans #38 (July 2006), which established them as Titans during the 52/One Year Later gap year. This appearance would set the stage for all future appearances; they seem to only exist to cameo.

They appear on a screen in Teen Titans #66 (December 2008)...

Final Crisis #1 (April 2009) shows them in action for the first time, but only for two panels with no dialogue...

They're in Teen Titans #100 (August 2011), but only in a pinup after the main story...

And Multiversity: The Just #1 (October 2014) has them in a group shot at a pool party.

Not the most illustrious career, but at least they still exist in the post-Rebirth DC Universe (even if, right now, it's only on Earth-16).

Character Spotlight: Hubert and Reba

Hubert and Reba are Jon Arbuckle's elderly neighbors in the Garfield comic strip. They debuted in Garfield's first television special, Here Comes Garfield, which aired on October 25, 1982. They play a major role in the plot, as Hubert calls the pound on Garfield and Odie for messing with his dog, Honey Bun. Garfield escapes but Odie is captured, leading to Garfield having to try to get Odie back.

Hubert first appeared in the comic strip on November 7, 1982. Reba is mentioned but doesn't appear.

Reba first appears on November 11, 1982, in a non-speaking role.

To my knowledge, Honey Bun has never appeared.

Character Spotlight: Cousin Ambrose

Cousin Ambrose is Sabrina the Teenage Witch's cousin. It's right there in the name. He's one of the lesser known Sabrina characters because he never appeared in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch TGIF series from the 90s, the version most people are familiar with.

That's somewhat ironic since he debuted on television. He first appeared in Filmation's Sabrina the Teenage Witch cartoon, in the second segment of the first episode, titled "Hiccups" (September 1969). He's a foppish gentleman with a mustache who Sabrina summons to help her cure her hiccups, which are causing her magic to malfunction.

He later appeared in Archie's TV Laugh-Out #1 (October 1969), which I've mentioned before. His comics version has a more modern style than his animated counterpart.

He's continually appeared in comics since then, including The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. This series reinterpreted him as a young adult who has to live with the Spellmans as punishment for revealing himself to mortals.

He likewise appears in the Netflix series of the same name, as the same basic character. I assume this will be where most people know him from.

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: Harvey Kinkle

Last week I showed you how Sabrina the Teenage Witch joined the Archie Universe, and today we'll continue along that path with the introduction of Sabrina's boyfriend, Harvey Kinkle!

I should point out that Harvey was not the first boyfriend Sabrina had, which makes him all the more interesting. Information online is scant about Tommy Baker, but I know he at least appeared in Archie's Madhouse #55 and #59 (June and December 1967, respectively) and he was Sabrina's boyfriend in both appearances. He also knew about Sabrina's powers.

When the time came for Sabrina to have her own show, she needed a supporting cast. Filmation brought over Hilda, Zelda, and Salem from the comics, liberally used the existing Archie cast, and then also introduced Sabrina's best friend, Ophelia; Ophelia's crush, Spencer; and Sabrina's boyfriend, Harvey Kinkle. Why didn't they use the already existing Tommy Baker? I'm not sure, but Sabrina seemed to interact with people sporadically in her stories (usually only one or two per story, from what I've seen), so it's possible the writers didn't know he existed. Regardless, Harvey took his place and first appeared in the first episode, "The Fairy Godmother", in September 1969.

Notably, Harvey doesn't know Sabrina is a witch, because he's dumb as a brick and can't piece together obvious clues, like in this episode when he sees her in the window on the second floor and then she's instantly sitting in his car behind him.

Anyway, ComicVine says he first appeared in comics in Archie's TV Laugh-Out #1 (October 1969), the same comic that integrated Sabrina into Archie's world. Unfortunately, I could not find photographic proof of that, so here he is in Archie's TV Laugh-Out #3 (December 1969). He appears in nearly every Sabrina story in this issue, so they were really pushing him as a major member of the cast.

Since then, Harvey has become a mainstay of the Sabrina brand, appearing in everything from the TGIF series with Melissa Joan Hart to Sabrina The Animated Series and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Sabrina in the Archie Universe

I love when one of these surprises me, and this one certainly surprised me.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch is one of those characters that people know but don't necessarily know she's a comic book characters. I'd wager most people know her from her numerous adaptations, especially the 90s TGIF series starring Melissa Joan Hart (though I'm sure the numbers will quickly lean in favor of the current Netflix series, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). And I'm sure that many people who know she has comics don't necessarily know she's an Archie Comics character. I've pretty much always known that, but here's what I only just learned: although she's always been published by Archie Comics, she wasn't always part of their world. In fact, in her first appearance - Archie's Mad House #22 (August 1962) - she's watching Archie on tv!

This is especially strange because an Archie show - The Archie Show, in fact - wouldn't exist until 1968. And when it was created, it needed characters to play bit parts and Sabrina was pulled in. Although I can't find any definite screenshots from this first season, she did prominently appear (by name, even! Always helpful) in the video for "Sugar, Sugar", interacting with Betty. The video was released in May 1969.

Her appearances on this show led to her getting her own animated series - likewise called Sabrina the Teenage Witch - as part of The Archie Comedy Hour, which later became The Archie/Sabrina Hour. Over time, both The Archie Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch would morph into other forms, with "Sabrina" becoming Sabrina and the Groovy Ghoulies and then Super Witch. As both series took place in Riverdale, characters and locations would also cross over frequently.

Sabrina was then integrated into Archie's comics world in Archie's TV Laugh-Out #1 (October 1969), in a story where Sabrina throws a party at home and the Archie gang attends.

She's been part of the universe ever since! She even almost appeared in Riverdale, although it didn't work out. But The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina still mentions Riverdale (and Riverdale likewise mentions Greendale), and the 1996 tv movie is set in Riverdale.

Appearance Spotlight: Lady Octopus

There's a strange phenomenon that happens as part of being a comics fan: the characters and concepts you're introduced to in your first couple years of reading comics become far more important in your mind than they are in the grand scheme of the universe. It's certainly true of me. It's why the Slingers are one of my favorite superteams, it's why I'm still disappointed Conduit never appeared in Smallville, and it's why my favorite Scarlet Witch outfit will always be this one. It's also why I'm glad Lady Octopus is having a resurgence.

Lady Octopus, or Doctor Octopus as she was originally called, was a former student of the original Doctor Octopus, who took over the role when he died. She first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #406 (August 1995), and as that story is not only in the mid-90s, but in the Clone Saga as well, her story is needlessly complicated. I won't get into it all here, but suffice to say, it involves blending reality and virtual reality. Again, mid-90s.

After the original Doc Ock returned, she started going by Lady Octopus and only made sporadic appearances here and there. Recently she had a cameo in Amazing Spider-Man #17 (March 2019), though not wearing either her classic costume or her current one...

...which is strange, because in the next issue - Amazing Spider-Man #20 (April 2019) - she IS wearing an updated version of her classic outfit. Looking at the two, it seems like the one above is simply a coloring error, but I don't know that for sure.

A few months later, though, she appears in a brand new costume with the new Sinister Syndicate in Amazing Spider-Man #25 (July 2019).

What's the deal? Well, only a few months earlier - December 2018 - a movie called Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released. And one of the many villains who appeared in that movie was a female Doctor Octopus. To be clear, she is not Carolyn Trainer. She's Olivia Octavius, the CEO of Alchemax. She looks like this.

Clearly it's not an exact match. But side-by-side, it's easy to spot the similarities. The long, pulled-up brown hair instead of the short brown, black, or pink hair. The green, round goggles. The cream chestpiece. The green abdomen. The black arms and legs, and the lighter colored...thigh-highs, for lack of a better word.

One thing I wish they would've adapted was Olivia's clear, more lifelike tentacles, which would have made her more distinct from the original Doc Ock. But either way, it's nice to see a great movie like Into the Spider-Verse already impacting the comics!