Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode 1 Review

 

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur animated series has made its debut on the Disney Channel and thankfully for some of us was also uploaded on the official Youtube channel. For a change of pace, and given my post discussing the villain Aftershock potentially being inspired by the MC2 version of the character, I thought I’d write a little review of the first episode.

 

Right from the beginning, I could tell this series is going all out. The theme song is so enjoyable to hear and it really stands out. Music itself plays a pretty intrinsic part of the shows make-up, be it existing real-world music, the score or the show’s own original songs.

Next up, the art style. Phenomenal. Seriously, I don’t usually go in for animation in this vein but it’s impossible not to watch this opening episode and not be sucked in by its visuals. The vibrant colours, the stylistic approach to character design, field of view or the way the animation seems to flow so smoothly and dynamically during the high-energy action scenes.

The titular character, Lunella Lafayette aka Moon Girl is not only a wonderful lead character that gives off shades of classic super hero tropes like Spider-Man. This is most evident in her ‘friendly neighbourhood’ earnestness and desire to help those around her but also her  intelligence and resourcefulness. The entire support cast are fantastic even in their brief roles here with episode one. The main voice cast  were immaculately cast, from lead Diamond White as Lunella, through Fred Tatasciore as Devil Dinosaur to Alfre Woodard as the delightful Mimi.

 

Additionally, this episodes guest voice actor Alison Brie did a great job of juggling the more menacing and off kilter villain Aftershock, who we can now confirm is a version of the MC2’s own Allison Dillion thanks to her civilian alias ‘Ms. Dillion’. Really nice to see. I wonder if the Alison/Allison connection was a bit of an inside joke or simply a coincidence.

The plot is not only well paced but structured in such a way as to introduce the viewer to the Lunella’s neighbourhood of the Lower East Side, her family and school life one at a time before bringing all of these elements together in an extremely satisfying way that also grounds (pun intended) the character and her world despite the giant dinosaur. By effectively tying these aspects of Lunella’s life together you feel invested in the lower stakes thanks to the personal connections it forms.

 

With eye-poppingly beautiful visuals, ear-meltingly delightful music and voice performances and spectacular command of storytelling structure and form, I have no doubt this show will reach not only a young audience but a larger, older one as well. Kudos to the entire team behind the scenes for producing a phenomenal final product. Hopefully the entire series becomes available in my region so I can continue to watch it and introduce it to the youngsters.

 

Until I get my own pet dinosaur, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the MC2's Aftershock in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur?!

 

I do not usually like to do these sorts of posts because of how poorly they tend to age, but with recent rumblings surrounding the new Disney animated series Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, I figured I might as well take the time to quickly lay out what we know about the potential appearance of an MC2 character within the show: Aftershock.

 

With the release of a few clips from the upcoming tv series, we have seen glimpses of the villainous Aftershock, voiced by Alison Brie along with a few officially released images. Visually, the electrifying character bears some resemblance to a few iterations of Electro, such as the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series and elements of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics which itself inspired the live-action version portrayed by Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie. I have also seen some making comparisons to the DC Animated Universe’s Livewire.

 

 

 

 

But none of that ties Brie’s character to the MC2’s Allison Dillon aka Aftershock and there is another shocking alternative to consider: the Main Marvel Universe has its own version of Aftershock also known as Danielle Blunt who first appeared in Young Allies (vol. 2) #1 and originally believed herself to be the daughter of Electro despite the age discrepancy. Interestingly, both versions of Aftershock were created by writer Sean McKeever, though the MC2’s went unnamed in her initial appearance and her familial connection to Max Dillion was not established until later.

 

I should also mention there is a third candidate for the identity of this animated version of Aftershock, though somewhat less likely: Francine Frye who assumed the mantle of Electro in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #17. On the other hand, it is just as likely this iteration of Aftershock’s secret identity will go unidentified within the show, given it is a show intended for children and other similar programs do not focus on this sort of thing.

 

 

Anyway, we will find out soon enough when the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur cartoon debuts next year. Until then, let me know what you think! Either way, we are getting a big red dinosaur teaming up with a young genius girl, what is not to love?

 

Until we get a nice slice of MC2 in our media adaptions, I remain

 

frogoat

The Living Tribunal in the MC2

 

The Living Tribunal has appeared on the big screen very briefly thanks to the new Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness following a brief cameo on the small screen in Disney+ series Loki. So, as usual I’m going to detail the character’s MC2 counterpart: The Living Tribunal in the MC2.

During the events of Last Planet Standing, with Galactus poised to destroy the entire universe in an attempt to rid himself of his never-ending hunger, a gathering of the Great Powers of the Universe took place to discuss the threat posed to reality. The cosmic forces in attendance included Master Order, Lord Chaos, The In-Betweener, The Shaper of Worlds, The Stranger, The Gardener, The Collector and of course The Living Tribunal (Last Planet Standing #2).

 

The Great Powers of the Universe’s attempt to reason with the World-Eater one last time fails. Ultimately deciding they must destroy Galactus using a combined destructive bolt strong enough to wipe out the Earth and the entire Milky Way Galaxy, the Great Powers are halted in their attempt when Reed Richards is forced to use his Transdimensional Cannon's single shot on the cosmic beings (Last Planet Standing #3).

That’s all we glimpse of The Living Tribunal in the MC2. Presumably the form of the Living Tribunal that is hit by the Transdimensional Cannon is an M-Body or Manifestation Body or simply wasn’t destroyed but merely delayed. I say this because the Living Tribunal is multiversal in nature and exists across all universes as a single entity with various forms.

 

Anyway, let’s see what I cover next.

 

Until I find myself with three heads and maintaining celestial balance in the multiverse, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Ultron in the MC2

 

I might be a little late to the party with this post, but I still wanted to put something out to cover Ultron in the MC2, especially given I missed my chance last time he made a major appearance on the big screen, so now with his return to the small screen via the Disney+ animated series What If, I'm seizing the opportunity.

 

I briefly touched on Ultron in my History of the MC2: The Avengers post but let’s take a more focused look this time. At an unknown point in the team's past prior the original team’s final mission, an Avengers team which included Captain America, Iron Man and Thor fought Ultron Extreme, the newest model of the team's old foe. Iron Man eventually managed to erase Ultron's programming and the villain's indestructible body was sealed away ‘half a world away, in a cavern far beneath the Earth’ for over a decade (Avengers Next #2-#3).

The Avengers Compound contains an armory and ‘trophy room’ within which an inert head of an older model Ultron was kept. During Sylene’s staged attack on the Avengers Compound by ‘Zombie Avengers,’ her lackeys Warp and Ulik secretly stole this Ultron head. Sylene then used her magicks upon this Ultron ‘artifact’ so that it would guide her to the body of Ultron Extreme (Avengers Next #1-#2).

 

Still inert with its programming wiped, Sylene imbued the shell of Ultron Extreme with her magic and set it against the Avengers, while disguising herself as another ‘prime’ Ultron resembling that of the stolen head. However, when ‘Ultron’ Sylene’s assault module was suddenly destroyed leaving her vulnerable, she was forced to cover her deception by appearing to ‘self-destruct.’ Busy using her magic to disguise herself as the kidnapped and depowered former Avenger Kevin Masterson to enable her to enact her final plan, the Ultron Extreme body was left to collapse inert once again on the remote island atoll (Avengers Next #3).

It’s also worth mentioning that a model of statue of Ultron is on display in the Avengers Compound alongside many others representing past Avengers foes (American Dream #1). Presumably the actual head of Ultron and other villain ‘artifacts’ are kept well away from the public in the aforementioned armory or trophy room.

 

While this might be the last time we see of Ultron in the MC2, the ever-clever Stinger notes that the villain was previously only deactivated and that his programming could be copied or restored in the same way Avengers members Mainframe and the Vision have done in the past (Avengers Next #3).

 

Until I learn how to restore myself from some lines of code, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

The Collector in the MC2

 

The Collector aka Taneleer Tivan has returned to screens thanks to the new Disney+ series What If following his appearances in films such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Infinity War. So, as usual I’m going to detail the character’s MC2 counterpart: The Collector in the MC2.

 

During the events of Last Planet Standing, with Galactus poised to destroy the entire universe in an attempt to rid himself of his never-ending hunger, a gathering of the Great Powers of the Universe took place to discuss the threat posed to reality. The cosmic forces in attendance included Master Order, Lord Chaos, The In-Betweener, The Shaper of Worlds, The Living Tribunal, The Stranger, The Gardener and of course The Collector. Tivan argues they had failed to destroy Galactus in the past and would place Earth in jeopardy by attempting to again. (Last Planet Standing #2).

 

The Great Powers of the Universe’s attempt to reason with the World-Eater one last time fails. Ultimately deciding they must destroy Galactus using a combined destructive bolt strong enough to wipe out the Earth and the entire Milky Way Galaxy, the Great Powers are halted in their attempt when Reed Richards is forced to use his Transdimensional Cannon's single shot on the cosmic beings (Last Planet Standing #3).

 

That’s all we glimpse of The Collector in the MC2. It’s interesting to see Taneleer appear in his more alien form in Last Planet Standing, as this is apparently a more powerful form which fits with the seriousness of the threat of Galactus’ plot. Perhaps someday future writers will return to the MC2 and play around with the Great Powers of the Universe who reside there?

 

Until I finish my never-ending MC2 collection of posts, comics and products, I remain

 

frogoat

The Incredibles in the MC2?!

When I finally watched Ant-Man and The Wasp recently, I also watched The Incredibles 2 right afterwards. The way my mind works, I was planning potential blog posts relating to Ant-Man and The Wasp that would relate to the MC2 while viewing the latter film. That's when I realized there was a direct connection between The Incredibles and the MC2's Spider-Girl: Edna Mode, dahling!

In Spider-Girl#91 ('The Shocking Secret of the Spider Shoppe!') fashion designer Daniel Kingsley is plagued by La Fantome at the fall premiere of his 'Season of the Spider' line. It turns out Daniel stole the designs in his show from the boutique Spider Shoppe and is now being targeted by La Fantome for exploiting the images of various Spider-Women. As a result of the bad publicity, one of Kingsley's supporters- a very familiar looking woman -decides to pull their funding...

…But the discussion is interrupted by the sudden arrival of La Fantome and the woman makes a hasty exit.

I'm surprised she didn't lecture La Fantome about the dangers of wearing a cape. Spider-Girl #91 was cover dated December 2005, only a year after the release of The Incredibles. I don't think it's a stretch to think Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz were fans of the film.

Until I stop drawing crazy patterns in fiction, I remain

frogoat

The Evolution of Mainframe in Animation

I decided there might be just enough to make a third video in the series. So here is Mainframe's two appearances in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. I mean he does evolve and change, so that's gotta count for something, right?





Until I can make an animation entry for Spider-Girl, I remain


frogoat

The Evolution of American Dream in Video Games

The Evolution of American Dream in Video Games

After the previous video, I kinda felt like continuing. So, please enjoy this,admittedly shorter, second entry in the 'MC2 Evolution' videos:




Sadly, I don't think there is enough for a third video in this 'series' unless--

Until I learn how to edit videos more efficiently, I remain


frogoat 

Mainframe Returns to Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Marvel has tweeted a clip of the upcoming season two finale to Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. which features a gathering of animated universes various heroes including the series iteration of Mainframe.

The Agents of S.M.A.S.H. series previously introduced the animated version of the MC2's own Mainframe in the Season 2, episode 18 'Wheels of Fury' where he was voiced by Jeffrey Combs. Appearing initially as an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark, at the conclusion of that episode, he took on a form resembling his armored MC2 design.

  
The season two finale of Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.  is titled 'Planet Monster (part 2)' and is set to be broadcast on June 28th on Disney XD.

Until American Dream shows up in a Captain America Corps animated series voiced by Tara Strong, I remain

frogoat

Seeing Things

I don't know if you've seen it, but the recent computer animated Disney feature film Frozen was excellent. I loved the themes in the story, the character relations and the score is brilliant. But why am I talking about this movie, apart from the fact my life partner obtained the soundtrack and played it on a loop?

Elsa from Frozen

Bitter Frost from Amazing Spider-Girl

No reason. My brain is weird. Both have a tragic back story, both change after a dramatic event and both obviously have 'ice powers'. The difference is one is redeemed by love, the other is damaged by those who should have loved her. Just something to think about.


Until I start singing 'Do you want to build a Snowman' fluently at the top of my--never mind!

frogoat