I AM BATMAN!
Hello Pixlbit, how have you been? Hope everyone is enjoying my blogs so far, and before I forget, Happy Valentines Day. Just remember you don't need a special day to tell that special someone you love them. Now with that out of the way, I'm going to move away from games today and talk about super hero shows. I love super heroes, I never read the comics but I've watched alot of shows based on the characters that I know most that there is to know about them. I know that I may be missing some really great stories that may never get adapted on the screen, but I already have so many stuff that I wouldn't know where to put the comics. Sure I could always get them digitally but I am one of those stubborn fools who prefers physical media, especially games. But like I said, I know alot about the heroes I like, that I'll be writing about my favorite shows about super heroes. There are still some I haven't seen so some might be missing, but before we go out and deal some Justice, here are some blogs you might of missed:
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And with that out of the way, here are my favorite super hero shows:
Adam West Batman Show: I had to get this one out of the way because I have a feeling someone was bound ask about it. I haven't seen alot from the Adam West Batman, but I like what I've seen so far. I remember watching reruns of it on TV Land back in 2003/2004. I actually watched Batman The Movie almost 2 years ago and it was a fun movie. Sure it may be cheesy, but I think it had a good structure for a show from the 60's. Plus maybe we'll see the series on dvd with the new toys being around for months.
60's Spider-man: I actually like this more than the 90's Spider-man and now I bet you think I'm crazy. I like the 90's one but it just hasn't aged well in terms of the animation, plus the terrible cgi that might of been cutting edge at the time. That's actually a big problem I have with Marvel's 90's cartoons. But yeah, 60's Spider-man hasn't aged well too but I actually like it. I mean yeah the animation is so bad that it's hilarious, but some of the plots are actually good. Plus Spider-man was pretty resourceful with his web here, I mean you wont see Spidey making a boat propeller out of his webbing, or a web sword. It's worth watching, atleast only the first season. Season 2 is okay but season three is were everything started to get weird and when they reused old episodes.
Freakazoid!: To be honest, this isn't really a superhero show, but rather a comedy cartoon with superheroes thrown in. This was actually supposed to be a show like Batman TAS but Spielberg wanted a comedy, and thus we got the super hero powered by the internet. I love this show, it's funny and love how Freakazoid breaks the 4th wall. If you pay attention you'll find alot of adult humor and sexual innuendo, like every 90's cartoon. Alot of the references may be old which is a problem, but they are really well written. I want them to remake or do a modern take on Freakazoid with modern pop culture references, it would be hilarious if done right.
The Tick: He's the Wild Blue Yonder. The front line in a never-ending battle between good and not-so-good. Together with his stalwart sidekick Arthur, and the magnanimous help of some other folks he knows, they form the yin to villany's malevolent yang. Destiny has chosen them. Wicked men - you face the Tick. I know that's from the live-action show but I thought it was good. The cartoon however is really good as it is funny. I mean how can you hate the big blue bug of justice? I remember watching it often but don't remember alot of the episodes. What I do remember alot of is the Tick's metaphors, really funny but pretty good. It's a good cartoon with plenty of humor and action, and parody's.
Iron Man: Armored Aventures: I'll admit that I wasn't a big fan of the animation when I first watched it but it grew on me overtime. The stars a teenage Tony Stark who is of course, a genious. Most of the show, atleast from the first season is about Tony finding out about the mysterious disapearance of his father, while trying to lead a normal life, and save the world as Iron Man with the help of his friends, all while trying to keep his identity a secret. The show is actually pretty good, alot of the episodes are pretty good to, and you see Iron Man team up with other heroes of the Marvel Universe on occasion. The look might take a while to get used to, but this may be infact the best Iron Man cartoon out there.
Teen Titans: I used to watch this show alot as a teen, I liked it. I didn't know anything about the Teen Titans, the only character I recognized was Robin because of Batman. But the show was actually pretty good. It may not be for everybody, but it has plenty of action as well as plenty of laughs.
X-Men: Evolution: I think this may be my favorite X-Men cartoon. I love the animation and the character designs better here. I like the 90's X-Men too but the animation just hasn't aged too well in my opinion. The show was really good, I loved how they did all the characters and the plots, like if something happened in a previous episode, it wasn't forgotten episodes later. It depicts the X-Mne as teens, except Wolverine and Storm and Beast. I also liked how they portrayed Nightcrawler here more, he was always upbeat and funny and like Rogue here more for some reason. I mean she is afraid to touch other people because of her mutant power in other media, in Evolution she wasn't afraid to if she had to. But she was still cautious to those around here. But pretty much everyone was portrayed pretty good. It's certainly aged better than alot of the 90's X-Men, I recommend it to those who hadn't watched it.
The Arrow: This one really isn't that old but it's actually pretty recent. I only knew who Green Arrow was thanks to JLU and Batman: the Brave and the Bold (more on those later) and I was a bit sceptical about a live-action super hero show, especially on someone most people (outside comics) don't know about. But it's actually pretty good, it shows you Oliver Queen's origins at the start, and little flashbacks of his time in the island during the episodes, usually depending on what he's doing as Green Arrow. I'm loving it so far, I love the action segments the most when Green Arrow starts doing archery stuff. It's pretty good, so good that this could have easily been a Batman show.
Wolverine and the X-Men: I didn't know about this till Epic Greenman told me about it. I'm not sure what storyline is supposed to be adapted from, but there is a comic series with the same name, so for now I'll assume it's from there. I watched the whole series, well what was available and just wondered why it got cancelled. It's really good, the animations look really nice and the style of the characters. That and the story was really good too. I learned that it got cancelled due to not agreeing with Marvels animation partner on the budget or royalties. I recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen it.
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: I never knew who the Avengers were till I saw this. I learned that they are a super hero team for the Marvel universe much like how the Justice League is for DC. I thought it was pretty good, I do think it could get state from time to time, but pretty good show. I also noticed that the characters are almost drawn in a style that almost resembles the Justice League cartoon. It kinda feels like it too, I think that this was pretty much Marvels anwser to the Justice League cartoon. I also feel that the last 2 episodes were rushed, but could be just me. It's worth a look if you're a fan of the Avengers.
Transformers: Prime: Not sure if this would count as a super hero show, but the Autobots do heroics from time to time. From all the TF shows I've seen, this one is the darkest in my opinion considering it's targeted at kids. Heck you get a character death in the first episode. It's also really good, it might drag on a bit from time to time but it's really good. I also like how the show doesn't forget plot points of previous episodes. The character designs seem to take cues from the Bayverse but the show is based on the War/Fall of Cybertron timeline. This is one of the best shows I've seen in recent years.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Not sure if I like this more than The Batman but I'm putting Brave and the Bold here because I've seen more of it than the former. One of the things you notice first when watching it is that the characters have thick outlines like Dexter's Lab. It may seem to be targeted at kids and the obvious toy selling propaganda but it's actually quite good, really good that it might be the best Batman cartoon since TAS. Every episode has Batman go after a criminal or villain and he has to team up with another hero. Sometimes it's an A-lister but more often it will be a B or C-list hero. The episodes themselves are well done, and there are alot of references and nods to other Batman media like the cartoons, comics, and movies, and other DC cartoons. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a good Batman cartoon that is a bit less dark but but really good.
Transformers: Animated: Not sure if I like this or Prime more but as was TF Prime was darker, Animated is much more funnier. I know alot of the people didn't like the designs because of the much more cartoony look, but look what happened with Wind Waker. The show is actually really good, alot of the characters are well written and the stories from those episodes are pretty good. It wasn't afraid to geta little dark sometimes. This is before Optimus Prime was the wise and noble leader of the Autobots, this is instead a much more younger version of Prime leading a rag-tag team if Autobots. I mean you got Prime as the leader, Prowl the serious cyberninja, Bumblebee the youngest of the team, Bulkhead which makes the girth and muscle of the team, and Ratchet, the medic war veteran. Too bad it got cancelled, but I highly recommend it if you're starting to get into Transformers.
Batman Beyond: Or known as Batman of the Future in other countries. This show takes place after the Animated series in the far future. Batman gives up the mantle of the Batman and was forced to retire. Since then Bruce had servered all ties with his friends, villains, and the Justice League. It isn't till one fateful night that Bruce was forced to come out of retirement to train and be the mentor of the new Batman, Terry McGinnis. This show is really underrated, it's almost as good, it may be just as good as TAS. This show is actually more darker than TAS. It did get cancelled because WB and DC were working on the Justice League at the time, but the series got a send-off with getting 2 episodes in Justice League Unlimited and a animated movie to finish the series. Speaking of the Justice League...
JL/JLU: I think this may be my favorite super hero team-up cartoon. Most of the episodes consist of 2 part episodes for bigger story arcs. Some episodes have the whole team depending on the threat, but most of the time it's just a few members. It's really good and it was so good that it got a sequel series called Justice League Unlimited. Which is technically season 4 and 5 of the Justice League. I never actually saw JLU during it's original run, but Netflix has this and JL right now.
Spectacular Spider-man: From all the heroes who get shows, Spider-man seems to get the short stick. I mean every Spidey cartoon has been cancelled during their respective runs. 60's Spider-man was cancelled though I could be wrong, 90's Spider-man which is the longest running Spidey cartoon got cancelled, Spider-man Unlimited got cancelled, and Spider-man 2001/2003 known as Spider-man MTV got cancelled. Spectacular Spider-man was a really great series, the episodes were really well written, as well as the characters, and the fights were real damn good that it's ashame it got the axe. Ultimate Spider-man seems to be doing well so far though, I don't like it as much as Spectacular Spidey, but I feel that they are trying to do a Brave and the Bold thing with the super hero team-ups. If you have season 2 of Spectacular Spider-man, consider yourself lucky as it's impossible to find.
Batman The Animated Series: God were to begin, this, along with 90's Spider-man were my favorite super hero cartoons as a kid, though I don't like the latter as much now. I even remember seeing Batman at duch a young age, I guess he's the first hero I was exposed to. I love everything about the show, Batman's Rogue's Gallery, the story in the episodes and Batman himself. The way the show looks now might seem dated but the animation speed of the show makes it watchable unlike Marvel's 90's stuff. The Animated series paved way for the DCAU or the Timmverse and gave us media staples as Mark Hamil as the Joker and Kevin Conroy as the main man himself and introduced us to Harleyquinn and many more characters. It also used a distinct animation style, it wasn't realistic but certainly wasn't too cartoony. It was really action oriented with crime elements but it wasn't afraid to get dark and sometimes funny. It also showed Batman as this mysterious being in the criminal underworld and as with the saying Batman says, Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot. Despite it's age this show seemed to age better than most hero shows of the 90's. It's my favorite super hero and Batman show to date, not sure if WB and DC will ever top it with another Batman cartoon but we'll see.
Whats your favorite super hero show? Is there one you like that I didn't list? Thanks for reading and later.
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