Movie Review - Vixen (The Movie)

Vixen was created by Gerry Conway and Bob Oksner and debuted in July 1981 in Action Comics #521. As I mentioned in my video I didn't think she'd ever had her own run of books. It was intended to give her a series at one point when she 1st emerged but it was forced to be cancelled. 

She has featured primarily in team books such as The Justice League and The Suicide Squad. I can't recall her from Suicide Squad at all but it seems she joined them initially to get revenge on a murderous smuggler then when she was struggling to control her animal side she stayed on a more long term basis, she also had a romance with the Bronze Tiger, (a long time squad member), for a time.

In 2008 she had a 5-issue mini-series called Vixen: Return of the Lion which chronicles her 1st return to her home village where she confronts the warlord who killed her mother and has since taken over several Zambesi villages.

I did a bit of research now on this and found that indeed this DVD is made up of 2 season's of a web series that streamed on CW's online viewing platform with 15 minutes of added footage and a couple of her appearances from Justice League Unlimited and a featurette as added DVD extras. Each season ran for 6 episodes of 4 - 7 minutes in length which you think might make it seem a bit jumbled being compressed together on one DVD as a full length film but it works fine I think.

Cover art of Justice League of America: Vixen #1 (January 2017).
Art by Ivan Reis.

It is set in the Arrowverse which is the name given to the DC TV shows continuity which air on the CW network. The original cast members of The Arrow & Flash TV shows turn up many times in the cartoon and are voiced by the actors who portray them in the live action versions. So we see guest star outings from Flash, Arrow, Felicity, Cisco, Atom & Black Canary. Also as I am not at all caught up on the live action franchises I did not know that Mari McCabe/Vixen has also got a live action version, played by Megalyn Echikunwoke, (who also provides her voice for this film),  she looks very much ideal for the part going by this picture of her.

She has so far only appeared in 1 episode from Arrow season 4 but an ancestor of the character was played by Maisie Richardson-Sellers in season 2 of Legends of Tomorrow. I must have seen that I am sure but forgotten about it as Mr Memory is NOT my superhero name!!

Amaya Jiwe is Mari McCabe's grandmother

Another bonus with the DVD is that it comes with a digital download on Ultraviolet so you can watch it on your devices on the go. I've got quite a catalogue of Super films on my Flixster account now, I just wish they all came with that option.

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Justice League of America - Vol.1 The Extremists

Written by rising star Steve Orlando (BATMAN, MIDNIGHTER) and illustrated by a league of superstar artists including Ivan Reis (GREEN LANTERN) and Andy MacDonald (DETECTIVE COMICS), this JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD spin-off is a JLA for a whole new era--exploding from the pages of the blockbuster DC Rebirth event!

OK that's the blurb above on this new book giving you the who dunnit and all that, but how was it? Well I got this as a present from my dad and having not read any comics for a fair while now I wasn't up to date with events at all and I kind of judged the book by the cover a bit and guessed it wrong. I was thinking that this was a new alternate Justice League team called The Extremists. I saw Lobo and Killer Frost and figured it was a down and dirty team designed to do the jobs that the main JLA didn't want to sully themselves with. I seem to recall there was a team like this back in the 90's I think but I can't remember what they were called. I think Captain Atom led them and Amazing Man and maybe Booster Gold were in the team but the memory is hazy. I'll have to go through my long boxes and have a re-read sometime soon I reckon. Also I was given another book that I thought was another JLA team but was actually a prequel somehow to this. I read them in the wrong order too :( 

As a 1st book in the new series, similar to some of the others I have reviewed recently (See Saga, Super Sons, Trinity), this is very much an introduction to the team. You get the whole formation story and get some interplay between the new team members. Batman as ever is the driving force, he wants the team to be down to earth and seen by humanity rather than floating above it on the satellite. (This seem familiar too from somewhere) Black Canary is there to keep him in check and to keep him honest. Vixen has experience with the league, Lobo owes Batman for something and supplies the muscle and the attitude. Killer Frost is being offered redemption after seeming to have overcome her need to fatally feed off of others heat. The Atom (Ray Palmer's protegee Ryan Choi) and The Ray are young heroes looking to learn from their experienced colleagues. So this new team forms and pretty much straight off the bat (no pun intended), The Extremists turn up. I remember these guys when they 1st showed up they were very formidable and they have popped back every now and again. They are a cool looking bunch of evil world conquerors and could prove to be more than a match for this fledgling Justice League. Can the new team find their feet and gel quickly enough to overcome this potentially world threatening force?

This is a cool start up for this newest iteration of the League, interesting relationships are forming, some questions are being raised and one or two secrets are starting to emerge. Time will tell if I ever get to learn what happens in later books, I'll have to wait and see when my next level up day comes around again.