Static Shock

Static Shock is an American animated television series based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics superhero Static. It premiered on September 23, 2000 on The WB Television Network's Kids' WB! block programming. Static Shock ran for four seasons, with 52 half-hour episodes in total. Part of the DC animated universe, the series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation from a crew composed mostly of people from the company's past shows. Although two of the comic's creators, Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan, were involved in the series, Static Shock had some alterations from the original comic book because it was oriented to a pre-teen audience. Nevertheless, the show approached several social issues, which was positively received by television critics. Static Shock was nominated for numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy. Even though the show received criticism for its jokes and animation, the series' popularity revived interest in the original Milestone comic. The show revolves around Virgil Hawkins, an African-American boy who uses the secret identity of Static after exposure to a mutagen gas during a gang fight gave him electromagnetic powers.

Background

 * Production

The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics character Static. Its supervising producer was Alan Burnett and Scott Jeralds was the main producer under the executive production of Jean MacCurdy and Sander Schwartz. The production team was mostly composed by people who were involved with Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, but also included Static's co-creator Denys Cowan.[2] Although the show hired the comic series creator Dwayne McDuffie as story editor and writer, McDuffie had no direct involvement on the development of Static Shock. The idea of a Static cartoon first emerged with DC's editor-in-chef Jennette Kahn during the time McDuffie was working for Milestone under Kahn.

She proposed to adapt some of Milestone comics; in 1993, Burnett was hired to write a pilot episode for a X-Men-esque series with Milestone superheroes called The New Guard. After attemptings on producing several other Milestone projects, Static was eventually the series "they went for". By the time Milestone and DC drafted their contract over DC distributing Milestone comics, the characters were from separate fictional universes. However, when crossovers between Static Shock and other DC animated series were suggested, it was established that they were from the same DC animated universe— "rather than having to muck around with multiple dimensions, or whatever."

Although McDuffie stressed that the show remains loyal to "the spirit and the tone" of the comic book, some changes were done because of its timeslot and target audience of pre-teens. For example, guns appeared less frequently, Richie is not portrayed as a homosexual, and he is Virgil's confidant instead of Frieda. Virgil is also younger in the animated series, his costumes and use of his powers are different than the original, and his mother is dead in the show despite she is alive in the comics. The latter change was done because producers had the intention "to focus on a strong, complex relationship between an African-American father and son." Nevertheless, McDuffie was concerned by the change because he originally intended to oppose the stereotype of black people not having a complete nuclear family.

However, McDuffie said "that [it] worked out okay" as the crew could use the absence of Virgil's mother to create a "couple of great stories". Virgil's father, Robert, "for all intents and purposes, is a new character", as he was reconceptualized as a social worker. The same goes for Richie, who is described as an amalgam of different characters from the original comic. For the villains, Hotstreak was reused from the Static comics, Edwin Alva was brought from another Milestone's series—Hardware—, and the group Meta-Breed was created for the TV series.

The third season of the show saw some of the biggest changes; in addition of Richie's superhero powers and a new opening, Static changed his costume. Cowan stated that the change was done to give his clothes a "feel of the comic book", while McDuffie said it represented a growth that Virgil was passing through. This maturation made possible to "explore some of the darker places in his world," to have more varied conflicts, as the villains have also become more mature. He described it is as "a natural outgrowth of all that, as is the new, more naturalistic look of the show." This change was followed by the second season premiere—"The Big Leagues"—when Static meets Batman and Robin. Burnett said, "after that show, everybody went, 'Let's go in that direction.'" Writer John Semper, Jr. commented, "of course, I always lean toward the dramatic ... But the same old light-hearted Static spirit is still there." Richie gains superhero powers because it was becoming hard to fit him into the story and the producers wanted to keep the "chemistry" between voice actors LaMarr and Marsden. There was also a positive response from children in focus groups so "[t]he answer seemed pretty obvious."

The series' music director was Richard Wolf, while he, Stanley Clarke and Max Gousse were the composers, and Kennard Ramsey was the orchestrator. For action sequences, Wolf wanted to use "real adrenaline-pumping beat" of 125 beats per minute; however, hip hop music usually only reached 110 beats. The predominant score was electronica with some hip hop-type and DMX-type vocals. R&B and classic hip hop melodies were also used depending on the scenes, and each character had a specific theme. Wolf composed the opening theme for the first two seasons. Starting from the third season, the show had a new opening theme, written by Master P and Lil' Romeo (and performed by the latter).


 * Broadcast

Static Shock aired on the Kids' WB! programming block of The WB from September 23, 2000 to May 22, 2004. The first African American superhero-centered television series, it ran a total of 52 episodes. Reruns of the series were shown on Cartoon Network starting from December 2001, and on Disney XD from February 2009. The first six episodes were released to DVD on September 28, 2004, in a single DVD volume entitled "The New Kid". The complete first season was made available for download on iTunes on July 4, 2011.

Static Shock‍ '​s episodes handle a variety of issues, including gangs, gun violence, homelessness, bullying, racism, mental illness, bigotry, and drugs. Other episodes also featured the subject of Chanukah and Christmas celebrations.nThe series was also marked by several crossover episodes with characters from the DC animated universe like Superman, Green Lantern, the Justice League, and the Batman Beyond cast. Several episodes also featured guest voice actors, including basketballers (like Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone, Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Steve Nash) and musicians, such as the B2K group, Lil' Romeo and the Backstreet Boys' A. J. McLean. Guest crew was also featured, including cartoonist Rick Hoberg as storyboard artist, and Paul Dini and John Ridley as writers.
 * Influence

Static Shock was an extremely popular show, granting its new renewal for a second season just a month after its debut.[13] As of December 2000, it was the highest-rated pre-teen—from 2 to 11 years—show among all networks on its timeslot, and the third best on the Kids' WB! lineup. From its debut to July 2003, the show secured the second post among boys aged 6 to 11 years. Ratings increased after Richie's character obtained superhero powers; McDuffie affirmed that this is what secured the renewal for a new season. Indeed, the show's third season was its most popular and was the second best-rated Saturday morning program among boys aged 6 to 11 years, and tweens and male tweens aged 9 to 14.

From February to April 2003, ratings regularly performed over the 4.0 stake among the public aged 9 to 14 years; it even reached the 6.4 mark in May. Static Shock‍ '​s last season was only surpassed by the children's anime Pokémon, and the show's reruns on Cartoon Network were only surpassed by the adult animated sitcom Family Guy.

Static Shock was the only program on Cartoon Network to be among the top 30 most watched kids shows in a week of October 2004. It was also the best rated program of the channel among kids on a week of January 2005, and the best rated show on Cartoon Network's Miguzi block as of March 2005. For the 2004–05 season, it was the 18th most watched Saturday morning children's show of all networks. Static Shock was ultimately cancelled due to the low production of associated merchandising products.
 * Legacy

The show's popularity led to new demand for Milestone's Static comics: the first four issues of it were reissued as Static Shock: Trial by Fire in 2000 and a miniseries, Static Shock!: Rebirth of the Cool, was released between January and September 2001. In May 2003, Midway Games announced the production of a platformer video game based on the show for the Game Boy Advance. Although it was displayed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the game was later cancelled. For a period starting on July 4, 2004; Subway Restaurants released a series of toys based on the TV series to be offered in the United States and Canada. On September 1, 2004; Scholastic Corporation published two tie-in children's books written by Tracey West.

McDuffie's work on Static Shock placed him in the circles of animated series, and he became a writer and producer for shows like Justice League, Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited, and Ben 10: Alien Force. McDuffie was responsible for diversifying the DC animated universe's Justice League by including black and female characters. Moreover, Arie Kaplan credits McDuffie and his co-writers for giving "a depth and complexity" the group was lacking since the 1970s. A future, older version of Virgil appeared in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing, Part 2: Time, Warped".

Plot
In a warehouse situated somewhere in Dakota, a masked teenager thwarts an electronics robbery, wielding a variety of electrical powers and flying around on a manhole cover. Magnetically removing their metal weapons, he subdues them in short order, sticks them to the ceiling by their coats, and finally creates a sign suspended in midair, directing the police—just arriving on the scene—to the building. Watching his handiwork, he thinks back to two days ago, when in his own words, he was the last person anyone would call "hero material".

Virgil Hawkins, an ordinary kid living in a black neighborhood, heads from home, with his sister Sharon and father Robert, to high school, with one thing in mind: To ask Frieda Goren to homecoming, with some coaching from his best friend, Richie. As he works his way around to the subject, though, he runs afoul of Francis "F-Stop" Stone, and nearly receives a beating, but is saved thanks to the intervention of another of his friends, Wade. Coming home from school, though, Virgil runs into him again, flanked by his friends, and soon finds himself cornered in the back of an alley. There, he is held back as Francis pounds him mercilessly, only stopping when Wade happens by again. Warned by their lookout, the bullies make a break for it while Wade finds his beaten friend, and orders him to meet him under the bridge in half an hour, not listening to his protests that that's when he has to meet his dad.

Thirty minutes later, still not too sure about it, Virgil meets Wade, alongside the rest of his "crew", and is stunned when they ask him to join them. Wade tells him he won't always be around to save him from Francis, but that joining them will keep him safe. Virgil, well aware of the dangers of joining a gang—and, indeed, his father's stance on the subject—is unsure. A while later, he comes home, writing off his injuries on the very flimsy excuse of "football injuries" before he goes to his room. Upstairs, he receives a call from Richie, who has already heard about his apparently joining Wade (he protests that he just gave a sort of noncommittal nod), as has most of the neighborhood. Richie himself can't believe it, as Virgil's own mother died from gang fire. Virgil, realizing how bad the situation is, begins trying to think of a way out when Wade calls on another line, telling him to meet at the dock, now, and hangs up.

He arrives at the dock, finding Wade and the rest of his gang preparing for a huge throw-down with Francis' gang, as well as a great deal of large metal canisters. When he is handed a gun, Virgil realizes exactly how bad the situation is, and throwing it into the water, tries to back out; unfortunately, he finds himself face-to-face with Francis himself. Just then, police helicopters arrive, casting a searchlight on everyone and breaking up the fight. Everybody scatters, ignoring orders to stay where they are, until finally, a canister of tear gas is fired down—right next to one of the canisters, causing an explosion and the release of a cloud of purple gas. Everybody who breathes it in begins coughing, then exhibiting strange physical reactions; one's face begins to stretch, as another's eyes begin glowing, while police move in with gas masks on. Virgil himself crawls over a fence, on the edge of the spreading cloud, and falls over the side.

The next thing he knows, he is in his bedroom, both alive and free. Soon, however, Virgil also realizes that his own blanket is clinging to him with inexplicable fervor. He narrowly gets it off of himself, and goes to the bathroom to shave—when the razor begins buzzing as soon as he approaches it, even though it's not even plugged in. He drops it, stunned, and realizes that he himself is somehow giving off electricity. Excited, he calls Richie, and tells him to meet him at the junkyard, where Virgil is already showing an impressive control over his abilities, he glides around on the hood of a car, showing off. Richie watches and concludes that he could be a superhero, just as Virgil crashes into a pile of cars. Back at Virgil's house, they go through a series of potential costumes, before finally settling the one he will go on to use in the fight at the warehouse.

Back at the warehouse, Virgil lets the burglars drop from the ceiling to the floor, allowing the police to arrest them. A moment later, he notices that among the electronics in the warehouse are the new lab computers for his own school. Meanwhile, as the students work on setting up the homecoming, Richie tries to cover for his friend until Virgil arrives, in costume, personally delivering the computers and introducing himself as Static: "I put a shock to your system!" He then proceeds to single-handedly put up most of the decorations, turn the lights on, and blow an electric heart in Frieda's direction, causing her hair to stand on end, as he wonders why it's never this easy for Virgil. Richie, watching with the rest of the crowd, muses that he's "a natural".

Elsewhere, in a hospital, several of the gang members exposed to the gas continue to mutate in a variety of unsightly ways, with the doctors helpless to do anything and waiting for a haz-mat team to arrive. Among them is Francis, literally burning up, until he breaks free of his bed restraints, and blasts out the window. Landing on the streets below, surrounded by fire, he remarks that "This is going to be fun", and strides off into the city.

While visiting an electronics store, Virgil and Richie watch a news report covering recent events, beginning with Static's interruption of the warehouse burglary. Offended when he hears that one of the burglars has labeled him a "mutant", Virgil decides on the more dignified term "metahuman" for himself. Next up is the gas explosion at the docks, which has been nicknamed the "Big Bang", and its victims "Bang Babies"—people undergoing all sorts of mutations, possibly numbering in the hundreds. While Richie realizes the weight of this, Virgil has already distracted himself with a CD, discovering that on top of all his powers, he doubles as a human CD player.

He is forced to stop when he sees Frieda Goren nearby, watching somebody in the corner turn sweaty, hunching over, and finally mutating into a slavering werewolf; the man is another Bang Baby. It goes wild, tearing up the store, driving people screaming out the door, Virgil and his friends among them. Outside, they have the misfortune to run into Francis Stone, now the self-styled "Hotstreak". He pushes Virgil aside, and then shoots a blast of fire from his hands at the werewolf, sending it running away—Francis, they realize, is a Bang Baby as well. He is no less a bully for it, though, turning his attentions to the three people before him. Virgil is sent sprinting down an alley, shielding himself from a wave of fire with a trash can lid, while Richie tries to defend Frieda from him, getting most of his shirt burnt off for his trouble. Just as things are looking bad, Static comes flying in on the same trash can lid, drawing Hotstreak's attention away.

Then, for the first time in their metahuman lives, the two teenagers attack one another with their powers while the others retreat to a safe distance; Frieda finds a phone and starts dialing. Static gains the upper hand at first, using his defiance of gravity to his advantage and avoiding the fireballs flung his way as he tosses some metal from a construction yard his way. Hotstreak burns the counterattack in midair, and then suddenly catches Static off-guard when, shooting jets of fire from his hands, he propels himself from the ground and tackles Static bodily into a nearby park. Static lies stunned, as Francis stands above him and prepares to finish him, when he is suddenly soaked by a fireman's hose, soon joined by two more, subduing him. Frieda's call has saved Static, who when questioned by Richie about being put down for the count, can only say that he "choked".

At Virgil's home, his father and sister debate the growing Bang Baby situation over dinner. Sharon supports Static, but their father has a low opinion of him. Barely anything is known about the Bang Babies, but most appear to be using their powers to commit crimes and torment people. What's more, Virgil's father unknowingly puts his son at unease when he decides that Static could very well keep changing and become a monster, and not even know it himself.

The next day sees Virgil and Richie in the high school science lab, comparing samples of their own blood under microscopes, with inconclusive results. Next, Virgil visits a medical clinic, where his doctor agrees to run a test on his blood; whether or not they'll tell his father remains to be seen.

Later that day, in fact, his father addresses the city council, forcing them (with the support of the people) to acknowledge the urgency of the Bang Baby issue. When pressed regarding the investigation into the gas canisters and their owner, the mayor keeps her response vague, promising answers as they come and hurriedly moving back to the subject of the budget. That night, feeding the ducks at a pond, she meets with a gaunt older man, discussing the events of the meeting. Across the pond, Richie and Virgil hide in the bushes, listening in on their conversation with creative use of a trash can lid and Virgil's powers. He is Edwin Alva, an extremely rich businessman, who amid their discussion, claims that his company would welcome an investigation before driving away.

Virgil follows him, suiting up as Static and closely tailing his car. He again uses his powers to listen as Alva gives orders to York, his right-hand man, over the cell phone. Static breaks into the company building, finding the lab and coming in on York just as he finishes backing up and promptly deleting the company's data on their mutagen formulas from the databanks, rendering them safe from investigation until they're out of the spotlight—until Static steals the disk from him. York attacks the young metahuman with a handheld laser, and after a destructive battle, traps him inside of a transparent tube. Static finds that his electrical powers bounce right off of the surface, keeping him inside as gas begins to fill the chamber.

Coughing, still unable to directly damage his container, Static also begins to notice the growing air pressure inside the tube. Painful as he finds it, he sees his only chance at escape, and putting everything he has into another blast of energy, builds the air pressure to dangerous levels until the tube finally shatters. He crawls away, draws a table over to himself, and propels himself out of the lab, through the halls, past security and out of a window to escape, briefly bouncing off of a shocked Edwin Alva's car. Alva watches him go with a pair of guards, the gears already turning in his mind.

Meanwhile, in a secured room at the hospital, an orderly attempts to force Hotstreak to take a pair of pills. Eventually, he is satisfied, and leaves, unaware as he spits them, flaming, back out.

The next day, Richie and Virgil talk about the disk, sure they'll put Alva on lockdown and learn more about exactly what was in that gas, when they hear chaos coming from the town square. Hotstreak has escaped, and is wreaking havoc in the park, terrorizing everybody nearby and raiding a hot dog stand while he's at it. Virgil realizes he has to stop him before anybody gets hurt, and again taking the role of Static, grabs a garbage can lid and flies into battle. Taken by surprise, his fun ruined, Hotstreak goes berserk, unleashing a barrage of fireballs up at Static. Static tries to evade them, but one connects, destroying the lid he's flying on and knocking him to the ground—as well as burning the disk to ashes.

As Hotstreak advances, pressing his advantage, Static rises, bringing his full power to bear, and for perhaps the first time, fully getting into his groove as a superhero. He now meets Hotstreak head-on, throwing huge piles of debris his way. Much of it is destroyed by his fire, but Hotstreak is finally driven on the defensive and hit. Knowing he's at a disadvantage, he runs a short distance away, bringing the fight—both combatants now beginning to tire—to an unadorned clearing. Hotstreak declares that he has Static exactly where he wants him, in a place with no metal to work with, rendering him helpless. Static responds that he only brought them here to keep them away from any more innocent people, and as Hotstreak scoffs at this, adds that here in the city, there's always metal, visible or not—and promptly raises a sewage line from the ground, breaking through the surface to dump gallons of raw sewage onto Hotstreak, putting out his flame and handily defeating him.

Later that day, Virgil goes over the day's events, claiming that although, as Richie claims, he stopped Alva, it amounts an empty victory; the evidence was lost, and Alva is still free. That's when he receives a phone call from Doctor Harris regarding his blood test: Everything looks fine, although his electrolytes are unusually high, something normally attributed to too much salty food. Besides that, he's perfectly normal, a fact Virgil celebrates as soon as he hangs up, flipping off of his bed and surrounding himself with electricity before an incredulous Richie.

Virgil is tutoring a popular athletic kid named Derek when Derek starts to get cramps. He leaves and then transformed into a bang baby with a monstrous appearance. Not knowing how to control his new powers the city of Dakota runs away from him frightened after he accidentally causes an a police car to crash. Derek runs away and meets a meta-human with shadow-based powers named Ebon. Ebon renames Derek D-Struct and convinces him to join his gang, the Meta-Breed whose members include Shiv, who is able to create light based weapons and Talon, a girl who has been turned into a half-bird meta-human. Ebon then tries to recruit Static too but Static turns him down flatly and soon realizes that D-Struct is, in fact Derek. After visiting Derek's mom's house Virgil and Richie learn than Derek has been missing for four days. Meanwhile, the Breed commits a robbery and Static is nearly killed by D-Struct who feels incredibly guilty afterwards. Static turns out to be okay and visits the Breed's lair in an abandoned subway system and convinces Derek to go home to his mother. Ebon tries to stop him and is jointly defeated by Static and Derek. Derek and his mother are reunited and Derek lets doctors study him for research on a Bang Baby cure.

Episodes

 * 52

Theme Songs

 * Opening


 * Static Shock Theme
 * Superhero Static Shock

Voice Cast

 * English


 * Phil LaMarr as Static/Virgil Hawkins, Static/Virgil Hawkins (Future) & Green Lantern/John Stewart
 * Jason Marsden as Gear/Richie Foley, Gear/Richie Foley (Future), Carmen Dillo (Season 2 - 4)
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Robert Hawkins, Kangor & Onyx
 * Michele Morgan as Sharon Hawkins
 * Crystal Scales as Daisy Watkins
 * Danica McKellar as Frieda Goren
 * Gary Sturgis as Ebon/Ivan Evans
 * Danny Cooksey as Hotstreak/F-Stop/Francis Stone
 * Tia Texada as Talon/Teresa
 * Brian-Tochi as Shiv
 * Kerrigan Mahan as Edwin Alva
 * Kadeem Hardison as Rubberband Man/Adam Evans
 * Matt Ballard as Carmen Dillo (Season 1 - 2)
 * Chick Vennera as Ferret
 * Kimberly Brooks as Puff
 * Michael Rosenbaum as Trapper
 * Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne (Old)
 * Eli Marienthal as Robin/Tim Drake
 * Sheryl Lee Ralph as Trina Jessup
 * Rosslynn Taylor Jordan as She-Bang/Shenice Vale
 * Corey Burton as Brainiac
 * Matt Ballard as Edwin Alva Jr./Omnifarious
 * Jean Smart as Maggie Foley
 * Bumper Robinson as D-Struct/Derek Barnett
 * Dan Lauria as Sean Foley
 * Neil Patrick Harris as Replay/Johnny Morrow
 * John Cho as Thomas Kim/Tantrum
 * Rickey DShon Collins as Boom/Byron
 * Gavin Turek as Mirage
 * Hynden Walch as Permafrost/Maureen Connors
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Jimmy Osgood
 * Mark Hamill as Joker
 * T'Keyah-Keymah as Nails/Allie Langford
 * Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel
 * Diane Pershing as Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley
 * Alfre Woodard as Jean Hawkins
 * Rachael MacFarlane as Timezone/Nina Crocker
 * George Newbern as Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El
 * Bud Cort as Toyman/Winslow Schott
 * Will Friedle as Batman/Terry McGinnis
 * Miriam. Flynn as Ms. Pettibone
 * Michael Paul Chan as Mr. Kim
 * Haunani Minn as Mrs. Kim
 * Ambrosia Kelley as Young Sharon Hawkins

Trivia
all information on Static Shock came from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_Shock
 * In the pilot episode, Static is trying on different superhero outfits and briefly wears the outfit of Superfriends character Black Vulcan (another superhero with electricity powers). On Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law, Phil LaMarr (who voices Static) has a recurring role as Black Vulcan.
 * The season 3 theme song is performed by Lil' Romeo, who also appears as himself in "Romeo in the Mix".
 * When Ritchie gains superpowers in season three, he considers Hardware as his hero name. Virgil says it's already in use. This is a reference to the comic book "Hardware", published by the same company (Milestone Media/DC Comics) that published the original "Static" comics, which both created by series producer, Denys Cowan.