Vixen Season Two

Last year, before the live action debut of Vixen on "Arrow," I reviewed season one of her animated digital series on CW Seed. You can check it out here.  This year the character has not only a second animated season, but her grandmother, the Golden Age Vixen, who in Arrowverse continuity was a member of the Justice Society of America, is now part of the "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" crew. 

Her role in "Legends" was tricky as showrunners originally wanted Megalyn Echikunwoke to reprise her role but when she was unavailable, the time travel series turned to time travel for a solution and recruited Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Vixen's grandmother who also used the Tantu Totem to gain animal powers and fight crime and injustice.  When her lover, Hourman, was slain by the time traveling Reverse-Flash during World War II, she joined the Legends to hunt the evil speedster down.  That quest continues through this, the show's second season. 

In the second season of the animated "Vixen" on CW Seed however, Echikunwoke returns to reprise her original voice role. Vixen's journey to uncover her heritage and powers continues.  We once again see guest-stars the Flash and Cisco Ramon, as well as Firestorm when Vixen is called upon to help stop the Weather Wizard from destroying Monument Point.  As you can see from the linkage, this series is solidly entrenched in the Arrowverse continuity. 

Vixen's quest leads her to the discovery of four other totems similar to her own, but granting powers of the four elemental forces.  An old enemy of her family with the fire totem seeks revenge in this tale of consequence and reunion, that also guest-stars DCTV second stringers like Black Canary and the Atom. 

Bottom line, this is a fun adventure, and there are sure to be more as there are still two other totems out there.  CW Seed is a cool app too, now with the much missed "Constantine," and soon to host its possible animated continuation.  Great stuff.

Arrow S04 E20: Genesis

In the aftermath of the funeral that started this season and Oliver's vow to kill Damien Darhk, the villain returns to H.I.V.E. and promptly kills his former associates, longtime Arrow foe Milo Armitage among them. The plan Darhk and H.I.V.E. have been readying for far too long, Genesis, is now in motion.

Apparently Oliver has been in touch with John Constantine (I wonder what the cell charges are like from literal Hell) and he referred him to a 'magic tutor' in Hub City. Notably Hub City IL is the home of superheroes the Question and at one time, the Blue Beetle. The showrunners are fond of Blue Beetle, so much so that when they couldn't use the character for whatever reason they turned the Atom into a version of him. Let's face it, Ray Palmer is more Blue Beetle than Atom.

Anyway, with Oliver training in magic, the rest of the team take some downtime as well. Felicity insists on going with Oliver, Diggle goes on the hunt for his brother, and Thea has a weekend away with Alex Davis. All the while, Darhk is prepping Genesis, nice time for a vacay, guys...

John tracks his brother Andy down only to be involved in a shootout and eventually captured. While torturing John it becomes quite clear that Andy's not just a jerk and a liar, he's completely insane. Darhk is his savior and H.I.V.E. is his family. Yeah, Andy's gone bye-bye. If A.R.G.U.S. hadn't intervened, John would be a meatbag. Nothing was as it seems as usual, this was all a ploy for Darhk to get to Lyla and Sara... although it begs the question, why didn't John just take Andy into custody when he the chance?

Alex Davis takes Thea away to a place that seems too perfect. It's almost as if she's been hypnotized or dreaming. Yep, did we all forget that Davis works for Mayor Ruve Adams now? He's kidnapped Thea to a domed biosphere, where she'll be safe from/for Genesis, but more on that later.

Oliver and Felicity visit an underground casino where they end up playing cards with an exotic woman named Esrin Fortuna, another refuge from the Batman mythos. Mama Fortuna was the female Fagan to the Alleytown Kids, until the Black Mask put her out of business. Catwoman as a young girl was one of her kids. I didn't know that Fortuna knew anything about magic, at least not in the comics, that I know of.

This obsession with Batman has long ago gotten old. If the showrunners wanted to do Batman, why do they start a show about Green Arrow? And it's not that Green Arrow doesn't have history, he has lots of it, obscure, but lots, and all of it just waiting to be updated with new spins. Rather than yet another recycled Bat-villain, how about giving us new contemporary versions of Bull's Eye, Professor Merlin, the Rainbow Archer, Greenface, Skylark, even Red Dart, or, ahem, Dr. Davis?

Fortuna, another immortal, explains that Darhk's power is channeled through the idol, and it is fueled by fear and death. Oliver needs to equally channel light and hope or he'll just be making Darhk stronger. Oh boy, Oliver is going to need more than a lesson or two, he's going to need therapy! After two attempts to teach, Fortuna gives up, saying Oliver can't be taught - the darkness in him outweighs the light.

Nevertheless Oliver and Felicity show up just in time to save Lyla from Darhk. Again with the logistics. In the comics Star City is in California by most accounts with Hub City in Illinois... how long is that trip? At least it's not on another continent like Nanda Parbat. Green Arrow manages to repel Darhk's magic, but not before he steals Rubicon from Lyla.

Meanwhile John finally grows a pair and shoots Andy, something we viewers have wanted to do forever. The bad part is he lies to Lyla about it. Some men never learn. I guess they're headed back to divorce court sooner than later.

Now for, and finally, Darhk's master plan... Rubicon was the Maguffin from the Shadowspire episode, and it's a failsafe for all of the world's nuclear missiles, which of course can be manipulated to launch all those missiles. Yes, someone was dumb enough to build such a thing. Genesis has Darhk burning the Earth and starting over. And it looks as if Thea is a prisoner inside his hive...

The world is at stake. Who wants to take bets that Oliver never thinks to ask Arsenal or Vixen or the Flash or even Constantine for help? What's the point of a shared universe if you don't make use of it?

Arrow S04 E18: Eleven-Fifty-Nine

So unfortunately we find out who's in the grave this episode and it's not pretty, and it's also not anyone I guessed. However, if one watches this episode carefully, it's pretty heavily telegraphed for good or ill. I hate losing this character, especially considering how long it took for me to warm to her...

Meanwhile, I have to apologize, folks, because I've been remiss in my reviews here. Apparently we have seen the idol beneath Flashback Island before. It's the same one that Damien Darhk has been drawing power from, the Khushu idol, as identified by Vixen. I loved, when Oliver went to tell the rest of the team about it - "there's something I haven't been honest with you about" - Thea answered, "Shocker!" Will Oliver ever learn?

And then there's the Diggle brothers comedy hour. Andy blabs the whole evil plan to John. I don't know whether he's the worst double agent in the world or the best. Either way he's either leading Team Arrow into a trap or being led into one himself. He most definitely was a diversion so Merlyn could steal the idol. Anyone else notice that Laurel and Thea seem to be sharing the sarcastic lines Felicity usually says? Our favorite blond hacker is missed.

So Oliver had a serious write-in vote even though he pulled out of the race? So does this mean if Ruve Adams comes to a tragic end, Oliver might still be installed as mayor? In the meantime, the mean lady wants Laurel to be her district attorney. An interesting offer accompanied by ominous almost Prokofievian Peter and the Wolf rift. Perhaps there's a reason Laurel is getting so much screen time lately?

When Merlyn brings the idol to Darhk in Iron Heights, the villain gives a bit of background on the relic, noting it/they were forged by the Homo Magi. They are a race of hidden magic using humans from which the powers of Zatara and Zatanna come. Does this Easter egg mean we might have a possible Zatanna appearance coming? I hope so, but the problem at hand is that the idol is useless with a missing piece, a piece Team Arrow is still holding.

Speaking of the Team, while Oliver tries his best to break them up, once again over trust with Diggle, there's something else going on here. Katie Cassidy's Laurel is getting a lot of attention. She's being offered a dream job, kicking ass with Thea, having heart to hearts with her father and with Oliver. This is more screen time than she's had all year. Something must be up.

This is unusual on "Arrow." There have been entire episodes where she's done or said very little, and a few where she was missing altogether. And considering that in the comics Black Canary is the most important character in the Green Arrow mythos next to Green Arrow, this just isn't right.

Maybe the showrunners just don't know what to do with Black Canary. As we learned from DC Comics themselves in their Crisis on Infinite Earths, what do you do with characters you don't know what to do with? Simple. You kill them. Yeah, just the opposite of what I have always believed - there are no bad characters, only bad writers.

Meanwhile at Iron Heights, Darhk, with a little help from his creepy colleague Murmur, is planning a coup, an uprising, a bloodbath born of chaos to power the idol. And it's into this inferno that Team Arrow goes, including the Black Canary. After a gauntlet of Murmur, Merlyn, dozens of escaped convicts, and yes, even Andy Diggle, Team Arrow fights its way to Darhk who now has the completed Khushu idol and his full power back again.

After tossing our heroes around for a bit, Darhk focuses on the Black Canary. He monologues about how he always keeps his word, and that he swore he would do something if Quentin Lance turned on him. He keeps his promise and plunges an arrow into the heroine. At first, later at the hospital, she seems to be fine, but after a suspicious moment alone with Oliver… she seizes and passes. I wonder though… what went on between Oliver and laurel in that last moment we weren't privy to? A drug to imitate death? A dark secret? Or just a red herring? I'm sure we will find out sooner or later…

Time of death: 11:59 PM.

Of course, it has to be considered that Laurel just isn't dead, or dead for good. This is comics after all, and worse (or better?) than that, it's "Arrow," and does anyone really stay dead on this show? There's always the Lazarus Pit, or maybe Team Arrow could rescue John Constantine from 'literal' Hell, and he could help. Or perhaps that Homo Magi name drop is yet another way back from the dead.

We do know that Katie Cassidy will be appearing as the Black Siren on an upcoming episode of "The Flash." One could assume this would be the Earth-Two (or Earth-Three, if you buy into my theory) version of Black Canary. Perhaps she'll move to this Earth. It's not like she would be the first Black Canary to switch Earths, or when you get right down to it, die...

Arrow S04 E15: Taken

Since watching the short animated series on CW Seed, I have been wondering how they would show Vixen's powers in live-action. When Oliver calls on her to help locate Damien Darhk, I guess we'll find out.

First things first, we get diversions. Felicity is in therapy trying to relearn to walk now that the yet-to-be Mr. Terrific magic technology has been implanted in her spine. And then there's some of the usual nonsense from Flashback Island, and then just when we thought we were never going to get to the point, you know, live-action Vixen, they throw the real curve.

Darhk comes out of the shadows and confronts Oliver and Felicity, and basically tells Oliver to drop out of the mayoral race or his son William gets it. And as usual, Felicity is the last to know, only just engaged and in need of marriage counseling. When Samantha, William's mom shows up, it gets obviously worse. I find it ironic and hilarious that Oliver keeps saying he's changed when he obviously hasn't. Actions not words, Ollie, actions not words.

Seeking help for this dilemma, Diggle suggests John Constantine, but Oliver counters that he's in Hell - literally in Hell. Perhaps that answers the questions I had about going to him for help with Thea a few episodes back, but will we see him again? Perhaps a resolution to this Hell thing? Or maybe an explanation to how Oliver even knows this?

Then Vixen's name comes up. No words are spoken but the looks on the faces of Team Arrow, especially after the Constantine in Hell comment, convey the same thought - "what the heck, something else you're keeping from us???"

Cut to Detroit, bad guys on the run, with a growling unseen force in pursuit. Soon Vixen, portrayed by Megalyn Ann Echikunwoke, the same actress who voiced her in the CW Seed animated series, makes her appearance. She's perfect, and the CGI effect to show her powers is amazing. I couldn't ask for a better comics to TV, or animated to live-action transition.

Vixen mixed in with Team Arrow fairly well, although it seemed like she and Laurel knew each other. Have they met? I loved Oliver's comment about his 'animated encounter' with Vixen last year. To find William, Vixen uses one of the boy's favorite toys, a Flash action figure. Mari jokes to Oliver about not telling Barry. Is everyone so fast and loose with secret identities? Couldn't Samantha just put two and two together and realize the cop she met, Barry, is the Flash? And what was with Mari's disappearing and reappearing lipstick?

Speaking of secret identities, how is it that after several close encounters with both Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow (tricks aside), and all that hocus pocus at his disposal, Darhk isn't sure Oliver is Arrow? It's obvious.

I did like the first fight between Darhk and Vixen and Green Arrow. Speedy had some rather cool stunts this time. The end bit with William seemed both sad and a little too convenient. Felicity on the other hand has had enough of Oliver's crap. There's a momentary miracle of her legs finally kicking in, and she uses them to walk away. Good on her.

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow Discussion Group on Facebook.

Vixen on CW Seed

Having an adult animated series about a super-heroine of color is a wonderful thing, if only more folks knew about it. The genius mix of James Tucker and Greg Berlanti at the helm, along with setting it in the loose Arrowverse, that also features The Flash, Constantine, Arrow, and yes, even Supergirl, makes Vixen a truly hidden gem.

And hidden it is, on the CW Seed application for your phone or mobile device. This app also features the 1990s CBS television of "The Flash" starring John Wesley Shipp. There's other stuff but I can't remember what else, so it's not really even genre specific, or even a lot. This would a great place to put "Constantine," again provided the CW let anyone know about it.

Like most most comic readers, my first introduction to the Vixen character was in the ill-conceived, much-maligned, and underestimated critical failure known as 'Justice League Detroit.' In a deconstruction of the classic team, Aquaman disbanded the Justice League then rebuilt it using heroes who could give their time 24/7. A similar concept was done in Avengers in the 1960s when that team became 'Cap's Kooky Quartet,' basically Captain America and three former villains - they had to prove themselves the Avengers. Same thing here, mostly unknowns, including Vixen, and they were headquartered in Detroit.

This was where I first read Vixen, I'm sure she was around before that, in ads at least, before the infamous DC Implosion that cut production on much of the DC Comics line. Vixen may have even made an appearance or two but her advertised solo title never happened. Bad planning and bad economy killed a lot of good ideas that year, Vixen was only one of them.

Vixen had a sort of resurgence in the DC Animated Universe, appearing in "Justice League Unlimited" and later "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" before becoming part of the Brad Meltzer 'big guns' Justice League of America team in the comics. Now with her entry into the Arrowverse as the first animated series on CW Seed, she'll finally get the attention she deserves.

In the comics, model Mari McCabe is in possession of the Tantu Totem that allows her to access the abilities of certain animals for herself. With powers similar to Animal Man, but not quite, she is a terrific but criminally underused character. I'm happy to see her animated.

In the CW Seed series, in animation close to that television/anime style of the recent DC direct-to-DVD projects, we see her origins in the Arrowverse. Vixen's story is very good, but her first encounter with the Flash and Arrow is rather forced and weak, especially Cisco's naming of the character. It was kinda cool however seeing the two, hell, three heroes animated. And Mari's path of discovery to becoming a heroine is fascinating. I can't wait to see this animated Vixen come to life on "Arrow" this season.