I continue to be impressed with the Lauren Faust version of the DC Superhero Girls. While there haven't been many 'main' episodes on the Cartoon Network, the YouTube shorts are released with some regularity.
The latest, 'PrizeFighter', aired last week and was another fun look at the Supergirl character. This Kara is competitive and certainly a bit on edge but in a fun way. Here is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RaZ4t5fdio
One thing I love about this is that it feels a little more real than the prior DCSHG. The Shea Fontana shows were definitely great and I loved them. But it felt more like kids when they are at their aunt's house ... best behavior and careful. This new take is sort of a 'no holds barred' romp. The messages are still there, a bit more nuanced and always hilarious.
We also got a significant cameo in this episode. And as brief as it was it spoke volumes.
On to the show!
We head back to the arcade we saw in the pilot.
Diana, Babs, and Kara all head into the park for some fun.
Well ... almost ...
Diana is stopped in her tracks by the fortune telling vending machine out front. She is mesmerized by this Oracle. She makes her 'offering' of a quarter and gets a card ... and then demands to read more.
There is a lot I love about this. For one, the machine looks like the one from Big. The idea that Diana would get wrapped up in this plays on her being a stranger in a strange land. It almost feels like that Twilight Zone where William Shatner can't get pulled away from the diner fortune machine.
But I love this shot of Diana in the reflection of the machine. Such a nice shot for this cartoon which has been full of nice shots.
In the game room, Babs shows Kara what an expert she is at the whack-a-mole game. It is a perfect showcase for someone as frenetic as Babs, as she repeatedly racks up points and prizes.
But Kara deems this game 'too easy'.
She heads to a basketball game that Babs says is rigged. But Kara won't hear it.
She bricks shot after shot while we see Babs swimming in tickets and giant stuffed animals.
And for someone as competitive as this Kara, she can't take it.
Fired up, she releases a shot that is almost a 'Dragon Ball Z' blast. We see the basketball warped by the speed, shedding force lines and sonic booms, as it travels through the sky.
In the upper atmosphere it bounces of a smiling, perfect Superman who doesn't even break stride. He is on screen for a couple of seconds but it is clear, this Superman is going to be perfect, the best sort of foil for an iconoclast like this Supergirl.
The ball then bounces into a the burrito shop, conking a thief on the head, and then heads back to the hoop game and destroys it.
The carnie and the game are both broken and mangled. He hands a tiny key chain prize to Kara.
Beaming with pride, Kara flaunts her tiny prize to Babs who can barely carry all of her loot. Hilarious!
Outside the park, they have to pull Diana away from the fortune machine. She is blathering about the knowledge she has been given. As we pan back, we see the machine wasn't even plugged in. Was it real? Or all in Wonder Woman's head?
Love it.
Hope everyone is enjoying this take on the superhero girls!
5 comments:
This is a very "Loony Toons" take. Essentially, Kara demolishes an arcade merely because she was losing a game. But we laugh about it because it is comedy.
I liked seeing the Big Three hanging out together. Especially Kara and Babs.
I hope Superman isn't treated as an idiot and, although I guess he and his cousin will fight a lot, I hope it's shown they still love each other.
Poor Diana. Mesmerized by a fortune-teller machine which might or might not be real.
It is a part of the show's demented internal logic that somehow hyper caffeinated Batgirl is a Zen Mistress at Whack-a-Mole...
:)
JF
I have to say, I’m enjoying it a ton!
One thing I like about this new DC Superhero Girls is that Supergirl isn't always being sidelined so Batgirl and Wonder Woman can be featured. That happened far too often in the previous DC Superhero Girls.
"One thing I like about this new DC Superhero Girls is that Supergirl isn't always being sidelined so Batgirl and Wonder Woman can be featured. That happened far too often in the previous DC Superhero Girls."
I agree. I also noticed Supergirl was often sidelined. She could spend several episodes without being seen or heard of, but Babs and/or Diana couldn't miss any. It bothered me.
It hasn't happened in the new show so far, which I attributes to the main cast being smaller.
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