Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: Season 1 Review

Writers: Chris Yost, Brandon Auman, Keven Burke, Chris Wyatt, Michael Ryan, Paul Giacoppo, Joel Sellner, Eugene Son, and Brian Reed

Directors: Vinton Heuck and Sebastion Montes

Starring: Brian Bloom, Chris Cox, Phil Lamarr, Eric Loomis, Gabriel Mann, James C. Mathis III, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Fred Tiasciore, Rick D. Wasserman, and Wally Wingert

The history of cartoons based on Marvel comics is mixed bag of super hero cartoons. From older cartoons that weren't that well animated, to cartoons in the 90's that weren't that well animated, most of the shows made before the year 2000 just weren't that good. Even cartoons that were a beloved part of many fans' childhood, such as the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons from the 90s, just haven't aged too well. Still, in recent years a few gems have emerged, such as X-Men: Evolution, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, and Wolverine and the X-Men. These were series that not only had great animation, but were also well written, fun shows that any animation junkie can enjoy.

Last year, The Avengers got a new series called Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The series follows the Marvel Universe's greatest team with a very classic line-up of Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Captain America, Black Panther, and Hawkeye.

Now, right out the door, this show is a little tough to get into. The team doesn't actually form until the seventh episode, with the first five episodes being introductions to the various team members with the sixth and seventh episodes telling the story of how the Avengers came together. These are a rough seven episodes, with Captain America's episode being the strongest of the first five and the two-parter being just alright.

Things pick up a bit over the next few episodes as the team begins to get some more interaction. One of the things the writers really got down well is how the Avengers are very flawed individuals. Iron Man is the cool jerk leader whose ego often gets the better of him. Ant-Man is a good natured scientist, but is a little too hesitant to take action at times. Hulk and Thor are both a little too violent.

The writers also do a great job of putting some conflict in there with these characters. Hulk and Thor are quite stand-offish in the beginning. Iron Man and Thor will often argue about just how useful earth technology is. On the flip side, there are times where the conflicts can be a little cheesy, with the worst offender being a mid-season episode where Iron Man and Cap have an argument over whether having a well trained body or technology feeling a little weak considering that these are both rather intelligent men.

Perhaps the biggest strength of this show is just how well it was planned out. While the first seven episodes aren't very strong, they each have elements and plot points that carry throughout the first season and that pay off so well in the long run, with a few future threads hung out there to boot. It really helps that there is such a wealth of stories to draw from, with elements from the comics and movies.

For the truly nerdy at heart, there are also some really cool easter eggs thrown into the show. One example is James Howlett (aka Wolverine) being in the Howling Commandos in the Captain America episode. At another point, Hawkeye jokes that the Avengers should move to the West Coast. It's things like these that show that the writers really care to show that they know the base material well and intend to use it to the fullest.

If the show has any real weakness, it's that it may not be aesthetically pleasing to everyone. This is a very stylized series. Still, designs are very close to the original looks of their comic counterparts, save for Iron Man, who looks more inline with his look from the movies and Wasp, who sports a completely original design. Of all the designs, my favorite is Ant-Man, who has a really cool costume that uses the classic Ant-Man design when he shrinks, and the Giant Man design for when he grows into a giant.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an all around great cartoon. After the initial hump, which pays off later on, the series really picks up and shows it's stuff as perhaps the finest Marvel cartoon yet. If you love the Avengers, or even just cartoons in general, give this series a look. It can be found on Disney XD, Marvel's website, and on Netflix Instant Streaming.

My Problem with "Problem Solverz" aka OW MY EYES!

This past Monday Night, Cartoon Network premiered their latest animated series "Problem Solverz". The series is about three strange characters solving various problems for people. It's simple enough that you can use if for as many episodes as the network will give you. Sadly, it's not a show I'll be watching much at all, because I can't bare to look at it for more than 5 minutes at a time.

Now, unless you're blind you can tell almost immediately what my issue with this show is just by looking to the left of this very text: the color palette is so literally painful to look at. Never in my entire life have I seen a cartoon aired on television that hurt my eyes so much. Compared to two of the shows that air right before it, Adventure Time and Regular Show, both of which are colorful, but in a way that doesn't assault my senses as if they have some ages old vendetta against me. Not so with Problem Solverz. No, this show has a color palette that hates anyone can see and wishes to cause them pain, no matter the cost. And sadly, that cost might just be high enough.

Of course, my quarrel with the aesthetics of this cartoon are twofold, because I could get past the color blitz if I felt like there were enough redeeming qualities to make the save. Sadly, there aren't because this cartoon looks like it was animated with as little effort as possible. If you want proof, look at the video above. Characters in this series look like those Leprechaun's they'd give you to color in back in elementary school. You know the ones; the three sheets of paper, on with body, one with the limbs, and the other with the head. This is obviously the method they use in Flash. Make each part of the body individually, save them all, then paste them into each frame in whatever way you need them.

If this was a Newgrounds animation circa 2005, this would be acceptable. Sadly, this is a televised series in 2011. This is not acceptable. When a series gets picked up to be aired on television, than I expect a certain level of effort be used. This is nowhere near that level and if they aren't putting the effort in to animate this, why should I waste my effort watching it? And yes, effort is required to get past that color palette. Hell, even a handful of the cartoons on the Newgrounds put more effort into their animation than this series. And even a well known series that this is animated in a very similar way, South Park, makes up for that aspect in various other ways, from interesting animation sequences to not having an offensive palette.

I think the worst thing about this whole show is that there seems to be a genuinely good idea hidden underneath it's two irredeemable aspects. The writing wasn't all that bad, it's just not enough to save everything else. Sadly, this isn't a show I can continue to watch or even suggest to anyone I know. Cartoons are a visual medium and the visuals here are atrocious. Truly, that's quite a problem.

Unaired Cartoon Pilots: The Good, The Bad, and the Hackneyed Ass Title

Okay folks, I'm taking a break from comic reviews. I've gotten to a point where I feel like I'm just repeating myself week in and week out, so instead I'm going to make blog posts about other stuff. Today, I've decided to blog about some unaired cartoon pilots. Cartoons are something that have been a part of my life for about as long as I can remember. At no point have I ever not watched them and I don't think that'll ever change.

Of course for every cartoon I've ever watched, there has got to be another 10 or 20 that never made it on air. They had one episode produced that never saw the light of day. Sometimes these cartoons were terrible, but sometimes not. So let's take a look at these unaired toons and wonder what could have been.

Plastic Man

Plastic Man here is one of those little gems that should've made it on the air, but didn't. It was funny, it looked fantastic, and kids and adults alike could totally get into this. Best of all is that, unless my ears deceive me, Plastic Man seems to share the same voice actor as his counterpart from "Batman: Brave and the Bold". Sadly, this is all we'll ever have of this fantastic little show and I can't tell you just how sad that makes me, especially when you look at all the horrible stuff that have multiple seasons.

Doozy Bots

Of course, for every awesome pilot, there are 20 awful ones. Doozy Bots here is a pilot for a proposed 90's cartoon of the same name. Now, if you didn't make it past the first 10 seconds, I don't blame you; this is a hilariously bad attempt at bringing the Gundam mechs over seas. Hands down the best part of it all is that the crippled kid is the one who becomes Guntank, the one who has tank treads for feet. Oh, and he's also the obligatory minority, how classy. Mind you, the little bad guys here aren't too bad; hell, they're damn reminiscent of any SD Gundam badguys I've ever seen. Still, the crowning moment of this pilot is when the narrator describes it all as "beautifully animated". To think, somewhere out there is an alternate reality where Doozy Bots got green lit and now has a very fanatical fan community.

Constant Payne

Constant Payne here is a really awesome pilot that has one of the coolest opening sequences that I've ever seen. It's a damn shame that this one didn't make it on the air because it would've been amazing. Still, it's easy to see why it didn't make it on; the pilot was from early 2001 and it has a sequence where the hero's little airship narrowly avoids crashing into two very identical looking towers. Thanks again, Osama. But seriously, this series had all the makings of one of this past decade's greatest shows, or at least a cult hit that only a handful of us would remember. There's the story of the two brothers, the young daughter that perverts on the internet could pine over, and just an all around fantastic setting with this fantastic future where everyone flies airships. Sadly, we'll never know.

Sailor Moon

Okay, I know what you're thinking: "But Piggy, Sailor Moon did air on TV!" Well, if you'd just watch this video, you'd know that there was a pilot to make an original western version of the anime, with some live action mixed in for added effect. And like it's horrible brother "Doozy Bots" this series has a crippled sailor scout who fires lasers from her wheelchair. Of course, unlike Doozy Bots, I'm not sure this not happening wouldn't be for the best: Sailor Moon fandom (if it's anything like DBZ fandom) has a ton friction between fans of the dub and the original Japanese version as they stand right now. I don't see how having two entirely different products would make things any worse.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series

Finally, We've got Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series. This one I'm split on; on the one hand, I've always wanted to get into Buffy and this looks like it would've been the perfect catalyst to get me hooked. On the other hand, some of those jokes were very lame. But none-the-less, I'm sure many a Whedonite is very sad that they didn't get to have their favorite Vampire Slayer animated. There's so many cool places and animated Buffy show can go that I'm sure this could've led to some really awesome stuff.

So there you have it, five different pilots for five different cartoons. Some of these were really great ideas that could've been some of the most memorable toons of their respective generation. The other two would've been hilariously bad and possibly reviled by the fandoms of the series they were based on. Either way, they never made it on air and we'll never know what could have been.

That's if for now, but I'm thinking of putting together a "Favorite Things of the Year" list. Might just do one big post or several smaller posts, but either way I want to put it together. It's not a best of, mind you, just the comics, cartoons, movies, video games, etc. I enjoyed the most from this year. Until the