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Welcome to the 175th edition of Adventure(s) Time, where we examine beloved animated series and their comic cousins. This week, the debut of the villainess who, in some parallel world, became Superman's Harley Quinn. Just not this world. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.

Debuting on September 13, 1997, "Livewire" comes from Superman: The Animated Series' second season, courtesy of writers Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer and director Curt Geda. Arguably, creating new characters wasn't a huge concern for the producers of Superman, just as their earlier priorities on Batman: The Animated Series focused more on adapting the classic cast members than creating new friends and foes.

Still, Batman introduced fans to Renee Montoya and Harley Quinn, which is certainly a respectable pedigree, and Superman's debut season brought us Mercy Graves, Lex Luthor's loyal (and lethal) assistant. "Livewire," originally...

"You'll believe a man can fly" is a misnomer, given how Superman is technically an alien. But Superman: The Animated Series showed the world that an orphaned alien raised on a farm in Kansas has more humanity than all the big shots in society. It is a low bar, but one that brings hope to millions of hearts around the globe, making the Man of Steel a working-class hero.

However, the show was far from being a sunny affair, as there were times that tested Superman and his friends to their limits. From devastating wars to attempts on life, some of the episodes were downright dark in plot and themes. And this is where Superman: The Animated Series shines as a grounded take on a timeless character.

Bizarros Tragic Origin Ends Up in Flames

Curt Geda graduated from working on Batman: The Animated Series as a storyboard artist on multiple...

After the beautiful restoration of Batman: The Animated Series to Blu-ray, now in time for holiday gift-giving is the Blu-ray edition of Superman: The Complete Animated Series. When the DVD edition arrived in 2009, I wrote in part:

“All the love and attention lavished on the Dark Knight was poured into this show, which was brighter and shinier, the villains larger in scope and giving the animators a chance to bust loose. Superman works great in animation and after the lackluster efforts from Filmation, Hanna-Barbera, and Ruby-Spears, this one clearly shows the potential fulfilled.

“As usual, the voice casting is fairly top-notch with Tim Daly alternating nicely between Superman and Clark Kent, sparring playfully with Dana Delany’s Lois Lane. Clancy Brown is wonderfully malevolent as Luthor and his ever-present menace is well handled, matching the reboot version launched a decade earlier.”

The new edition looks very sharp in 1080p in...

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Superman: The Animated Series with a fully remastered Blu-ray box set. Superman: The Complete Animated Series, which includes several hours of bonus features headlined by an all-new documentary detailing the creation of one of the most beloved animated Super Hero cartoons in history, will be available starting October 12, 2021.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation (Wba), the Emmy Award-winning Superman: The Animated Series was the perfect follow-up to the landmark Batman: the Animated Series. Producers Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett elevated The Man of Steel's animated presence with an imaginative, heartfelt look at Superman's adventures in Metropolis alongside Lois Lane and opposite the villainous likes of Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid and more. Premiering on September 6, 1996, the series continued Wba's dominance in Super Hero animation, once again setting new standards for storytelling, art direction and acting performances - and...

Burbank, CA – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Superman: The Animated Series with a fully remastered Blu-rayTM box set. Superman: The Complete Animated Series, which includes several hours of bonus features headlined by an all-new documentary detailing the creation of one of the most beloved animated Super Hero cartoons in history, will be available starting October 12, 2021.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation (Wba), the Emmy Award-winning Superman: The Animated Series was the perfect follow-up to the landmark Batman: the Animated Series. Producers Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett elevated The Man of Steel’s animated presence with an imaginative, heartfelt look at Superman’s adventures in Metropolis alongside Lois Lane and opposite the villainous likes of Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid and more. Premiering on September 6, 1996, the series continued Wba’s dominance in Super Hero animation, once again setting new standards for storytelling, art direction...

The team at Warner Animation were enjoying unrivaled success with their 1990s offerings from Animaniacs to Batman: The Animated Series. As a result, as they retired Bats after 65 award-winning episodes, they decided to roll the dice on something bolder. For a change, they were looking to the future and not the comics for inspiration. What if, they wondered, Bruce Wayne aged out of being Batman but the need for the Caped Crusader remained? Who would inherit the mantle of the bat?

As it turns out, they settled on a teen, Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle), to cross paths with Wayne (Kevin Conroy). Where once he relied on Alfred or Oracle for guidance, now he would direct the actions of his unlikely successor in the series Batman Beyond.

Given the futuristic designs and strong storytelling, the audiences proved loyal to the new franchise and the show lasted 52 episodes, spawning fresh merchandising opportunities...

Burbank, CA – The creative team behind hit live-action series Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow brings the acclaimed CW Seed animated series to a feature-length presentation in Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, Blue Ribbon Content and DC Entertainment, the action-packed film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment starting August 28, 2018 on Blu-ray Combo Pack ($19.98 Srp), DVD ($18.94 Srp) and Digital.

All his life, Ray Terrill has fought injustice, dreaming of making a real difference like his older brother, a Marine who was killed in Afghanistan. One day, he stumbles upon a dying Super Hero from another Earth and is stunned to find that this Super Hero looks just like him—because it is! The dying Ray Terrill of Earth-x transfers photokinetic energy to this Earth’s Ray, making him a Super Hero – The Ray. However, Ray quickly learns being a Super Hero...

Burbank, CA (February 23, 2017) – From executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings you the animated feature, Vixen: The Movie, on Digital HD on May 8, 2017, and on Blu-ray (including Digital HD copy) and DVD on May 23, 2017. Vixen: The Movie is priced to own at $19.98 Srp for the Blu-rayTM and $18.94 Srp for the DVD.

Vixen: The Movie combines the first two seasons of the CW Seed digital series into a single uniform story and includes 15 minutes of all-new, never-before-seen content. The special features include a brand new featurette and two Vixen-focused episodes of Justice League Unlimited handpicked by super hero animation icon Bruce Timm.

Produced by Warner Bros.’ digital studio Blue Ribbon Content, Vixen: The Movie features Megalyn Echikunwoke (CSI Miami, The 4400, Damien) as the voice of Vixen/Mari McCabe. She is joined by the voices of Stephen Amell (Green Arrow...

There is no creative reason Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants exists. It is merely a vehicle to promote toys for the younger segment of fan. Essentially, if you have enjoyed any of the previous Batman Unlimited offerings – Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts and Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem — this will be equally entertaining.

In this relatively thin screenplay from Kevin Burke & Chris “Doc” Wyatt, to Batman (Roger Craig Smith) and Green Arrow (Chris Diamantopolous), resort to wearing mech suits to sop the latest wave of terror in Gotham City courtesy of Mister Freeze (Oded Fehr) and Penguin (Dana Snyder). This time they have turned Bane (Carlos Alazraqui) and Killer Croc (John Dimaggio) into oversized monsters, necessitating the heroes suit up. And to help even the odds, they recruit Robin (Lucien Dodge), Nightwing (Will Friedle), and The Flash (Charles Schlatter).

The mayhem moves at a reasonable pace thanks to the steady direction of...

Batman Beyond, Season 1, episode 1: “Rebirth Part 1“

Directed by Curt Geda

Written by Alan Burnett and PAul Dini

Originally aired, January 10th, 1999

It’s a delicate balancing act to create a pilot that both delves into a story as well as be as thoroughly entertaining as possible. It’s even harder to delve in to an established universe with brand new characters and stories while not altering the source material, and Batman Beyond did that in spades; establishing new and exciting characters within a world where many of largest stories have already happened, when also creating a one of the darkest, more adult themed kids cartoon shows ever produced. That darkness was ever present with the first episodes “Rebirth” and “Rebirth Part 2”.

A dark, gripping saga for a new hero.

In the first frames, we meet our old familiar hero Bruce Wayne (voiced by Kevin Conroy in his finest of...

There’s a simple formula for taking material and translating it to a different medium - involve people who not only know the work, but also love it. I’m not sure how this very simple dictum escapes Hollywood, but all too often it seems to. Thankfully, we have shining examples like Superman: The Animated Series to show us how it works. More after the jump.

Fresh off the success of Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini got their shot at the other mainstay of the DC Comics Universe - Superman. For those unfamiliar with the character (and really, where have you been?), Superman is a strange visitor from another planet (Krypton) empowered by Earth’s yellow sun to have abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman is the ultimate immigrant story. Superman’s space craft landed in Middle America (Smallville, Kansas). The alien orphan baby...

Marvel and DC are both in the middle of a new movie strategy where they release animated films of some of their most popular characters direct to DVD. The two rivals have arguably been doing it for ages if you count the spin-off “movies” from their animated television series, but the last 4 years have seen a leap in activity. Have any of them topped Batman: Mask of the Phantasm? No, not really. However, each of the studios seems to be making huge strides with each successive movie. Marvel, having reached its 6 film marker (DC isn’t far behind at this point), have released them all in a box set. While it’s nice to have an anthology to put on the shelf instead of individual DVD cases, it ends up serving as a reminder of how far the films have come since the original Ultimate Avengers: The Movie back in...

You can bring home the animated adventures of the Man of Steel in its entirety on DVD this November. Superman: The Complete Animated Series will be released on DVD on November 24. This seven-disc set will contain all 54 episodes of this animated classic and the set will be priced at $53.82 Srp. You can take a look at all the special features below.

Follow the entire history of Superman from start to finish on this long-awaited DVD. Witness his incredible arrival on Earth, how he finds his place in his adopted home and his realization of what his powers can truly do for the forces of good. See Clark Kent balance his roles as a mild-mannered news reporter and superhuman crimefighter, facing mortal enemy Lex Luthor, while still keeping his day job.

Fans of the comic books and the TV show alike will rejoice as every single episode can finally be purchased...