Early 90s Cartoon Superheroes

Now we all know who people like, ‘Superman’, ‘Batman’, or organizations… (yeah I said it, organizations…) like, ‘The X-Men’, ‘The Avengers’.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="840"] Batman as he is about to kick ass in Batman: The Animated Series, a cartoon that was on TV in the early to mid 90s[/caption]

I mean immediately what comes to the minds of most people in the new millennium would be stuff like, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (The Latest Batman movie), or Bryan Singer’s time working on the X-Men series, or hell, even watching the mega-box office smash hit that came out a few months ago in, ‘The Avengers’…

But for most of us who were kids in the 90s, we were not quite so lucky to have these historically epic smash hit Super Hero movies to enjoy… As a matter of fact, during that time , outside of the Batman movies on the big screen, ‘Louis & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,’ or, ‘Buffy: The Vampire Slayer’, there honestly wasn’t to many live action super hero (or super hero styled) movie or TV shows that we could enjoy!

So what did we have… We had cartoons of course, there was such truly classic super hero cartoons as, ‘X-Men’, ‘Spider Man’, ‘Batman’ and in the older term s, the old Superman movies…

You might think that because I am making this sound like the rant of an old man that, ‘we were happy to get what we could back then’… Well believe it or not, this is quite the contrary… As a matter of fact I have to say that those old cartoons were great! In some ways you could almost say that they were better than the movies!

It’s more true then you know, (and in almost every case the 90s Batman cartoon was drastically better then George Clooney’s Batman!) But either way hear me out…

What I mean by this is that, most Super Hero movies or TV series, rather they be on the big screen or the small screen, rather they are animated or live action tend to derive from their comic book predecessors, especially the ones that I have mentioned above have come from either the DC or Marvel Universes! (Of course that doesn’t go for all Superheroes on either on the big screen or the small screen but, those are for another blog…)

With the above mentioned in mind, if you are a fan of comics like I am, then you will understand why these old school cartoons about these classic super heroes are so great! What I mean by this (and the live action films do a pretty solid job of this, and some of the cartoons of today do them just,) but one of the things that the animators did on these early 90s super hero TV series did that I actually kind of thought was pretty excellent was that they drew their, ‘X-Men’, or their, ‘Superman’ in such a way so that rather they know it or not was actually an homage to the comics from where they came from!

So if you’re as much of fan of comic books as I am, it was a real treat because you got to actually kind of see these amazing, larger than life heroes come to life in some cases in the adventures that made them so popular in the comic book series!

Another thing that was kind of a real treat I believe for kids in regard to these old super hero cartoons (I know it worked for me in this fashion because in some cases I was still a child when some of these cartoons were released,) that it could start to give children their first taste, regardless of the fact that it is pretty fictionalized, that there is more out there then just there house, school, or even city, state, country or planet… I would even go so far as to say that it could give kids there first, (albeit fictionalized) taste of the importance of Science, or Science Fiction and could end up leading children in to space/space related industry or some form of Law Enforcement careers!

Now listen, I know I am putting an awful lot of importance on these old cartoons, what I said may or may not be true for your kid (I just know that it was for me when I was a kid), in the end though, these old cartoons are just a lot of fun, and can be in some ways educational for those of you out there who have kids!

http://youtu.be/HsQ5EBskkFg

http://youtu.be/KZw64rBswqc

The Avengers (2012) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignright" width="300"] Official Score = 4 Devils[/caption]

Remember when you were a kid, the joy of collecting and trading comic books and (well if you were a kid in the 90s) trading comic book cards? I do, I used to love all that stuff!

Now I always loved comics and comic book cards that DC produced, but my favorite always had to be.... You guessed it! MARVEL!

Rather it be reading the gritty adventures of, 'Cable', or reading about the, 'X-Men' battling the latest threat to the world, or for that matter any of the other super hero's or super hero teams that fought the forces of darkness!

So it delighted me to discover a lot of my favorite costumed heroes from the Marvel Universe were being turned in to movies! Including, the X-Men series, the Spider-Man series, the Iron Man series, to name a few...

And of course the most recent Super Hero movie was great as well, The Avengers!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The Avengers as they are about to assemble![/caption]

Written by: Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), and Zack Penn (The Incredible Hulk) and Directed by: Joss Whedon. Starring: Robert Downey Jr. (Zodiac), Chris Hemsworth (The Cabin In The Woods), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Scarlett Johansson (Eight Legged Freaks), Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island), Tom Hiddleston (Thor), Jeremy Renner (Dahmer), Samuel L. Jackson (Deep Blue Sea), and Colbie Smulders (Andromeda).

The Avengers tells the story of how, after Loki's (Hiddleston) defeat on Asgard in the movie, Thor (2011), by his brother Thor (Hemsworth). Loki retreats to the vastness of space. During this time he comes across a race that has offered to fight for Loki, when Loki decides to take over the Earth!

So after stealing an item called, 'The Tesseract' (an item that can draw power from space), from a S.H.I.E.L.D. run research facility, and taking over the free will of a Doctor, and an Agent by the name of, 'Clint Barton' (Renner), Loki takes off with his new soldiers in an effort to create a portal from Earth to the planet where his army is currently waiting on!

With the world now threatened by Loki and his minions, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Jackson) calls on: Iron Man (Downey Jr.), The Black Widow (Johansson), The Hulk (Ruffalo), Captain America (Evans), (and later Thor and Hawkeye join as well), to combat the threat posed by Loki, and save the Human Race as, 'The Avengers'!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="460"] 'The Avengers' assembled going to war![/caption]

Now as an interesting side note, this movie is the culmination of past super hero movies such as, Thor (2011), the Iron Man series and, The Incredible Hulk series as well!

In my opinion, with this movie being the perfect blending of, 'Science Ficition' and, 'Action' this movie may actually be the best Super Hero movie to come out since the first X-Men movie (A personal fav of mine).

Now before I get in to why I think this movie is so awesome, I should probably tell you a little bit of history and how The Avengers came to life...

The Avengers came in to being through the creative inspiration of comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and had their debut in September of 1963... Since then, 'The Avengers' and the team members that make up, 'The Avengers' has become an international sensation amongst the legions of , 'Avengers' comic book fans, 'Avengers' movie aficionados and even , 'Avengers', video game fans around the world! And being a fan of, 'The Avengers' in all 3 of those categories, it kind of goes without saying that I would be a fan of this movie as well!

But besides that, the truth is, is that carry overs from their original movies, 'i,e. Tom Hiddleston as (Loki), or Robert Downey Jr. as, (Iron Man)' continue to do an amazing job portraying the characters they portrayed in the other movies... So much so that it was great to see Robert Downey Jr. reprise his role as, 'Iron Man', Chis Hemworth reprise his role as, 'Thor' as they both match pretty closely to what I would have thought the characters from the comics would have looked like in real life!

http://youtu.be/1hPpG4s3-O4

Ultimate Avengers (2006) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Marvel has been hitting it big in the new millenium, what with having released movies that for the most part almost all of them were summber block busters! Such movies as the X-Men series, the Spider-Man series,the Iron Man series, and now with the success of the big screen box office smash hit, The Avengers (2012)! And speaking of the Avengers, before the recently released movie came out... As a matter of fact, before most of the sub-series for the characters from this team was released, there was great animated movie series version of, 'The Avengers', (which I also belive may have eventual spawned a cartoon series on TV) called, Ultimate Avengers (2006)! Written by: Greg Johnston (Planet Hulk) and Directed by: Curt Geda (Batman: The Mystery Of The Batwoman), Steven E. Gordon (Terminator: Salvation) & Bob Richardson (Daredevil Vs. Spider Man). Starring: Justin Gross (Ninja Gaiden), Grey DeLisle (Bolt), Michael Massee (Millenium), Oliviia d'Abo (Point Of No Return), Marc Worden (Sky Blue), Nolan North (TMNT), Andre Ware (The Cost Of Heaven), David Boat (The Super Hero Squad Show) and Fred Tatasciore (Team America: World Police).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="290"] Captain America & Black Widow as they are trying to recruit Iron Man for the, 'Avengers'![/caption]

The first thing that I thought that I should mention that I thought that you guys would find pretty interesting is the fact that this Avengers Team is very different then the one that you saw in the live action movie! What I mean by that is that in the live action movie that came out just a few months ago, that, 'Avengers' team consisted of, Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and the members of S.h.i.e.l.d. that they work with... In the, 'Ultimate Avengers', the team consists of Captain America (Gross), The Wasp (DeLisle), Bruce Banner (Not the Hulk, and he is voiced by Michael Massee), Black Widow (d'Abo), Iron Man (Worden), Giant Man (North) as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. Crew that work with them! As for the story, this movie (which I was really quite impressed with the animation for), tells the story of how near the end of World War 2, Captain America and his United States Soldier, are about to win the war when Nazi Germany gets some help by an Alien race that has given the Nazis the technology for the Atom Bomb! Now of course this can't work for Captain America, and takes out the nuclear weapon while it is in mid air, the only problem is that after he takes out the bomb, and with the U.S. Millitary giving him up as being killed in action, Captain America falls in the the Atlantic and freezes in to a glacier (where he is able to stay alive by being kept in suspended animation! 60 years later, the U.S. Government and the people who work at S.H.I.E.L.D. are fighting a super secret war against the Aliens that have stayed on Earth... When they find Captain America and thaw him out, General Nick Fury (Ware), is ordered to iniiate the, 'Avengers' program and bring together the above mentioned heros to fight against the alien invasion and stop this secret war before it comes out in the opening!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="448"] Nick Fury, Black Widow & Captain America as they are prepping to kick some major ass![/caption]

Now like I mentioned above, the animation in this movie really was cool, the reason for that is the fact that I always enjoy watching the comic book characters (literally) come to life in the style that they were drawn in the comic books... (With the exception of Thor, and to a degree Iron Man... But still the animation was great!) Also I have to admit that story was a lot of fun! The last thing that I thought that I would mention is that this movie would in the end produce a sequel, as well as I believe a really awesome cartoon series!

http://youtu.be/R_Tgw6f61Vg

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_390" align="alignright" width="178"] Official Score = 1 Devil[/caption]

A few years ago when I first saw Iron Man (2008), I heard of a rumor that the plan for Iron Man, was to have him have his own individual movie series, but then to eventually create a sort of compilation movie, which would include, Thor, The Incredible Hulk & Captain America & the rest of The Avengers crew as well!

Now at the time I figured that the rumor would mean that there was going to be a whole slew of new superhero movies that would be coming out, including movies for, 'Thor', 'Captain America', and the rest of the, 'Avengers' crew from the epic comic book series from the epic Marvel Comic book series...

At the time though I didn't quite believe it, what with the fact that there were at the time only two, 'Incredible Hulk', movies and one, 'Iron Man' movie...

Boy was I wrong! I mean since then there has been another, 'Iron Man' movie, and, 'Thor' came out in 2011!

The only one that was really left was, 'Captain America', and low and behold... Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) was pretty much the last cog in the machine to be put in to place before the studios would start making, The Avengers!

Written by: Christopher Markus (You Kill Me), Stephen McFeely (The Life And Dead Of Peter Sellers) & Directed by: Joe Johnston (The Wolfman). Starring: Chris Evans (The Avengers), Hayley Atwell (The Return Of Captain Nemo), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan), Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black), Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), Dominic Cooper (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), and Toby Jones (The Mist).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Captain America (Chris Evans) as he has gone to war![/caption]

Captain America: The First Avenger, tells the story of a very patriotic young man by the name of, 'Steve Rogers' (Evans), who during World War 2, tries at every chance that he can to join the Army, but usually ends up failing for medical reasons!

That is until one night, when while on a double date with his best friend Bucky Buchanan (Stan), and his girl, Rogers decides to split away from the pack and try his hand again at signing up for the Army... This time he actually makes it in!

You see, there is a German scientist that is working with a special research unit of the United States Army and billionaire, Howard Stark (Cooper), in an effort to create a genetic super soldier!

Well the good news is, that the experiment is a success and actually makes young, scrawney Captain Steve Rogers in to a large power house super soldier!

The only problem is that during the experiment, Doctor Abraham Erskine (Played by: Stanley Tucci), the person who is the project director ends up being shot by a Nazi spy that had infiltrated the ranks of the guests that had been invited to watch the experiment!

Now instead of doing it right and sending Captain Rogers in to the war to kick some ass, the government decides to send him on a USO tour as, 'Captain America' to promote American values and the positive side of going to war against Nazi Germany...

That is until one day while entertaining the troops in Italy, Rogers learns that his friend Bucky had been taken prisoner by the forces of, 'Hydra' (An organization which is controlled by a Nazi by the name of Johann Schmidt 'A.K.A The Red Skull' (Weaving).

After Captain Rogers rescues these soldiers from the forces of Hydra, the permanently christened, 'Captain America', is given his own crew, and is sent behind enemy lines to destroy, 'Hydra'!

Now the truth is, is I have to admit that this movie was pretty disappointing to me, some of the story was unbelievable beyond the point of my tolerance, (to the point where I am pretty convinced that the ending was created in an effort to throw Captain America in to, 'Present Day' New York.)

Also I have always enjoyed a good World War 2 war movie, but this one was just bland!

http://youtu.be/-J3HfllvXWE