Two decades later, "Moon of the Wolf" was closely adapted into an episode of Batman: The Animated Series...so closely that the three transformation scenes in the cartoon correspond to the comic's. You can compare them by watching the videos hosted by our friend Dutchbull:
01. The reversion scene.
02. The partial transformation.
03. The full transformation.
The only major difference between the cartoon and comic was that Lupus was renamed Romulus.
Which version do you prefer? I vote for the cartoon. Adams's art is fantastic, with its patented mix of realism and dynamism, but his werewolf design is underwhelming--a hairy dude with lynx ears. The cartoon version preserves the original's bulk but adds a genuine wolf snout and a full-on jagged fur coat. In a nice touch, human Romulus sports a unibrow in old werewolf tradition.
Though BTAS was one of the greatest cartoons of the 1990s, "Moon of the Wolf" is regarded as one of its worst episodes. But from a transformation point of view it's fantastic, with some of the most lovingly storyboarded werewolf TFs of its time.
In the reversion scene we get detailed close-ups of Romulus's paws shifting into feet, claws into hands, and even reverse muzzle growth as he gives a last howl to the moon. In the third transformation, we get epic clothes-bursting (though there's a notorious continuity error involving his shirt--or shirts), hands bulging into black-tipped claws, and muzzle-growth wittily timed with a lightning flash. The superimposition of cells that creates the transformation effects recalls the lap-dissolves used in Wolf Man, but animation allows a fuller and wilder transformation than anything in comics or live action.
All in all, a great TF rite of passage for those of us who were impressionable kids back in 1992.
7 comments:
If you're going over comic transformations, red krptonite does some pretty interesting things to superman, such as in "The Monster from Krypton".
http://supergirlthemaidofmight.blogspot.com/2011/06/action-comics-303-monster-from-krypton.html
I especially like this transformation because there is zero mental change, but that's my preference.
Mason, thanks very much for the tip. I love those crazy old silver-age Superman comics, and this one was no exception. Unfortunately, since the actual transformation takes place off-panel, I don't think I can use it, but I very much appreciate the suggestion!
Ah! I understand how you like transformation now. It's different for me. I like the aftermath, everything post the shifting. Everything struggling with the new shape and how it contrasts with the old one.
A well done sequence is a bonus, but it's not why I like transformation. I understand what you're looking for here now. Alrighty.
The episode is generally considered so poor because it makes no flippin' sense. The storyline is disjointed, at one point a flashback has another flashback, and sadly, the animation is awful too. I don't have much fun with the werewolf transformation because it's just so badly done and rushed. Compare it to the two Man-Bat episodes, which have better storylines and holy cow, those Man-Bat transformations are the stuff of legends.
...also, Dr. Milo is a pretty lousy villain.
@Masonc1 I'm the same with you - for me, the fun is the aftermath.
The plot is relatively easy to follow and I have no problem with flashbacks within flashbacks (they're a film noir tradition). But as you noted, Dr. Milo is a lousy villain (and Anthony is a meathead). The animation, from the worst studio used by BTAS (Akom), is certainly substandard (Anthony even changes shirts mid-way through transformation). The Man-Bat transformations are undoubtedly better rendered, but the werewolf TF is still one of the finest ones I've seen in an after-school cartoon. Even Akom couldn't fuck up good storyboarding.
The aftermath is certainly fun, but for me the meat is in the transformation itself.
I was always bothered by the blatant continuity errors in the third scene. He starts off with a black shirt, then suddenly it's white. His left hand changes in the foreground, but his right hand is untouched - that is until we go to the next shot, where suddenly he's got the gray fur all over his body. The one thing going for this TF? It has one of the best muzzle-pulls of all time. I used to go frame-by-frame on that part so much I wore out the video tape I used to record the clip.
Akom, the animation studio that worked on this episode, was notorious for its shoddy work--the Batman producers often had to ask for retakes and they ultimately "fired" Akom from the show. I'm not sure why retakes weren't made to cover the continuity errors. That said, the storyboards for the scene must have been terrific, and even Akom did them some justice. I like the earlier reversion scene even more than this one.
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