Those who know me well know how much I love the two-part appearance of LOBO, writer Paul Dini’s “The Main Man”, from Kids WB’s SUPERMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES.
I followed it from its original 1996 TV broadcast (…and its many subsequent repeats), through home-recorded VHS tapes, and onto DVD in Warner Home Video’s SUPERMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES Volume One (2005), which had an episode commentary for Part Two! Yes! Producers, writers, directors, and animators… ALL TALKING LOBO!
Lobo would make an all too brief cameo in the later SUPERMAN TAS episode “Warrior Queen”, and a more significant contribution to the JUSTICE LEAGUE episodes “Hereafter” Parts 1 and 2.
But, alas, that’s all there seemed to be for “The Last Czarnian”. There were always intriguing rumors about a LOBO ANIMATED SERIES (…including one that cast him as a late night talk show host – a la “Space Ghost Coast to Coast”), however nothing came to pass!
All these years later, the real story is finally uncovered courtesy of John P. McCann – the co-creator of FREAKAZOID! (DVD reviewed here).
I followed it from its original 1996 TV broadcast (…and its many subsequent repeats), through home-recorded VHS tapes, and onto DVD in Warner Home Video’s SUPERMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES Volume One (2005), which had an episode commentary for Part Two! Yes! Producers, writers, directors, and animators… ALL TALKING LOBO!
Lobo would make an all too brief cameo in the later SUPERMAN TAS episode “Warrior Queen”, and a more significant contribution to the JUSTICE LEAGUE episodes “Hereafter” Parts 1 and 2.
But, alas, that’s all there seemed to be for “The Last Czarnian”. There were always intriguing rumors about a LOBO ANIMATED SERIES (…including one that cast him as a late night talk show host – a la “Space Ghost Coast to Coast”), however nothing came to pass!
All these years later, the real story is finally uncovered courtesy of John P. McCann – the co-creator of FREAKAZOID! (DVD reviewed here).
FREAKAZOID! and his other WB animation credits would be enough for a lifetime’s worth of gratitude from yours truly… but get a load of just how close Mr. McCann and Company got us to an actual LOBO series.
The additional voice casting McCann recalls indicates that AL and DARLENE from the LOBO comic book series might have been regulars in the cast! Wouldn't that have been wonderful!
The additional voice casting McCann recalls indicates that AL and DARLENE from the LOBO comic book series might have been regulars in the cast! Wouldn't that have been wonderful!
Beyond that, there is a great, ironic kicker to the end of Mr. McCann’s story that’s enough to make you run screaming from the room! So, go bask in the LOBO that almost was, and recoil in horror at the revelation of the exact moment that began “The End” for Kids WB’s Saturday morning, as I loved it in the nineties.
…Also, please enjoy John P. McCann’s blog, “Write Enough”, in general. He’s an interesting source of information… and he uses that same nifty “white-on-black” Google Blogger Template that I do! (…Freakazoid would have liked that last line! Or, maybe he wouldn’t because I was ripping off the writing style of his show! We’ll never know because Freakazoid isn’t real – no matter how much some of his fans on the Internet would like him to be! Aw, nut-bunnies!) …Did I pass the audition, Mr. McCann?
…Also, please enjoy John P. McCann’s blog, “Write Enough”, in general. He’s an interesting source of information… and he uses that same nifty “white-on-black” Google Blogger Template that I do! (…Freakazoid would have liked that last line! Or, maybe he wouldn’t because I was ripping off the writing style of his show! We’ll never know because Freakazoid isn’t real – no matter how much some of his fans on the Internet would like him to be! Aw, nut-bunnies!) …Did I pass the audition, Mr. McCann?
3 comments:
Joe,
Didn't the addition of Elmyra to PINKY AND THE BRAIN predate this decision? I'd still vote for that as the single most "precise" moment when WDTVA started down the wrong path, but the rise of POKEMON and the loss of a LOBO series certainly marked the end of an era and the beginning of another one.
Chris
Chris:
Oh, Elmyra was bad all right, but LOSING LOBO and GAINING POKEMON (a move that would change the direction of the Kids WB network forever more) is still THE moment!
Joe.
It really is Jamie Kellner *every* time. One man let his personal taste destroy the longterm viability of that network in exchange for the short-term success of an obvious one-trick pony, and a lot of execs higher on the food chain stood back and let him.
The man despised Looney Tunes as much as any newly created WBTVA product, and the fact that his pet hates rated well only enraged him further. WB essentially employed a Manchurian candidate.
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