I have discovered two excellent series this way. The first is Star Wars: The Clone Wars, an awesome action serial that takes place between the slightly less awesome Episodes II and III of the new trilogy (which gets no caps from this guy). I spent a while avoiding this show after the underwhelming reception of the animated theatrical film of the same name and because of my general ignorance of the "Expanded Universe", but I was gradually lured back by positive reviews from both io9 and IGN. I went through the first season over the course of several weeks (and hangovers) and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality.
There was a lack of consistency throughout the first part of the season, but by the end, the episodes each had at least something to get excited about for the most part. Jar Jar is still a useless character, and even in episodes that basically acknowledge his ineptitude, the quality still slipped. In an entirely animated universe, he still came across too 'cartoony'. Otherwise, the stories were classic action/adventure yarns that captured the spirit of the Star Wars Universe well. The fast paced episodes jump right into the story and some of the multiple episode arcs are especially impressive. The show also treaded some darker territory than I was expecting from it originally, which was nice to see since the primary fan base for this series is old enough to handle a little Dark Side action. The strong points of the season tended to be the action sequences. There were some truly impressive light saber battles in many episodes, and also a good mix of dogfights in space that worked well.
The show features most of the characters that existed at this point in the film franchise. Anakin, Obi Wan, Yoda, Count Dooku, General Grevious, and more are all accounted for and well represented for the most part. The real treats were the episodes featuring all those Jedi you wanted more of in the films. Kit Fisto has a great episode, though his Jamaican accent was somewhat distracting. One of the weakest characters is Ahsoka, Anakin's Padawan. She is the "entry point" for younger viewers who might be new to this universe. She gradually became less grating throughout the course of the season, but I am secretly hoping to see Anakin take her out at some point in Revenge of the Sith next time I watch it. Character development is not this series focus or strength, though there are some nice beats spread throughout the first season. I am as big a fan of character driven fiction as anyone, but even I can take joy in a minimalist approach in this context. These characters are archetypes, and many of them have been well establish in the films. It is good versus bad and "Hey look! Awesome action."
The animation takes its cues from the still superior Star Wars: The Clone Wars miniseries made by Genndy Tartakovsky several years prior. It is definitely not going for a realistic approach, but I found the universe to feel very believable in most cases due to the consistency of style. Some character designs look a little too exaggerated, such as Chancellor Palpatine, but it is never overly distracting. Characters such as General Grievous work even better in animation then they did on film. There is also an impressive amount of design work being done for this series. Episodes take place on a variety of planets and feature all manner of crazy Star Wars creatures. The animators also go out of their way to make the clones as recognizable as possible, by providing cosmetic details on outfits and faces. Overall, the design and animation started out strong and continued to improve. I am excited to see more.
The dialogue sticks with the tradition of the movies in offering a mostly wooden, if slightly more over the top, style. It is surprisingly effect coming from these characters compared to their live action counterparts. The music is often spot on in capturing the epic space opera feel of the films, but just as often it seems to stray into this odd muzak type territory that makes no sense. Several times I actually looked around the room to see if the sound was coming from an outside source. The sound effects are, of course, perfect. Star Wars is responsible for many famous film sound effects, and they are all preserved gloriously here.
The plan for this series is to have at least 100 episodes (season one making up the first 22), which means we can look forward to at least five seasons in total. Season two looks even better than what I have seen so far, so I am excited to watch this series develop. I have not enjoyed any new Star Wars project this much in many years, if ever. I wish they had worked out the kinks on the small screen, and then wowed audiences with what would likely have been a superior theatrical venture due to the experience they gained, but it is too late for that. Season One is available in a classy Blu-Ray set full of bonus features, and there is also DVD as well. Action animation and the "Expanded Universe" don't get too much better than this in fun and excitement.
I got to enjoy another series I had been meaning to check out for quite awhile during the mornings after several recent late nights out. The Spectacular Spider-Man did not impress me upon casual observation, but I would trust show runner Greg Weisman based solely on the work he did for Disney's 90s animated show, Gargoyles. He has a unique vision in the world of television animation, willing to tell long form stories in a medium that often caters to short attention spans. I went through both 13 episode seasons over the course of another several weeks and, again, came away largely impressed.
Season one of The Spectacular Spider-man has to be one of the best examples of economy of story in animation ever. The show jumps right into the action, no time for an origin, and quickly establishes Peter Parker's entire world. The show wisely combs through and combines decades of continuity in an extremely streamlined version that allows Weisman to get through several classic bits of Spider-Man lore. The action is intense and exciting. By the time season one was over many major villains had been introduced and Peter's high school life was also well fleshed out. Season two seemed more content to play in the sandbox that was created. This, at first, came at a disappointment when I was expecting more major milestones to be explored than I actually got, but it also offered a more consistent viewing experience. This is classic Spider-Man, full of the big fights, soap opera drama, and of course a main hero who just cannot win, but won't stop trying. The story compounds each episode, even while broken down into smaller arcs. There is a definite continuity to the proceedings, with nice touches such as seasonal changes and attention to school activities that give the show a sense of progression even outside of the constantly shifting character dynamics.
One of the most impressive aspects of this series is how many characters it introduces and how fluidly they all fit in. Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a perfect balance of likable and loser, but not annoyingly so most the time. Gwen Stacy was re-imagined interestingly, but the show never seemed quite sure what to do with her (I have a good idea that the Green Goblin might like). She improved dramatically by the end of season two, complete with a redesign, but I still feel like there have been some missed opportunities. Harry has been a lot of fun, and the way season two played with the story established in the first season and previous comics continuity is a major credit to the talent working on the series. Mary-Jane has also been inserted cleverly, and she is one of the more realistic high school characters in animation, though I wish she would just stop calling her girl friends "girlfriend." Obnoxious! The adults including Aunt May, George Stacey, J. Jonah Jameson, Dr. Connors, and especially Norman Osborn, are a great addition as well. The amount of villains the show has covered in 26 episodes is staggering. The list includes: The Lizard, Vulture, Green Goblin, Rhino, Electro, Shocker, Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Tombstone, Hammerhead, Venom, Chameleon, Mysterio, Kraven, Silver Sable, Black Cat, and probably more I cannot even think of. Though not all of these villains work out as well as I would have hoped, the worst offender being the out of left field interpretation of Kraven, the show does an impressive job juggling so many characters and providing at least a basic motivation for their actions.
The design and animation are two other valuable assets to this series. The design takes some cues from comics artist Humberto Ramos' exaggerated style, and while I am not always won over by it on the page, it works quite well on the screen. The character designs are inventive and usually successful. Spider-Man looks great. Peter Parker's tag sticking out on his shirt was a mildly amusing gag at first, but by the end of the series, it nearly drove me insane. I just wanted to reach into the screen and fix it for him. Choices like that are a little too cute for me. The villains are mostly hit with a few misses. Vulture, Electro, and Kraven are some of the weaker examples, but I really enjoyed Green Goblin, Venom, and Sandman aesthetically. Overall, it is refreshing to see the creators take chances with these classic characters, even if sometimes they should have just left well enough alone. The quality of the animation is incredibly consistent. The action flows smoothly due to fluid motion and dynamic angles. This series is also incredible for how well it establishes New York and all the various locales therein. There is a real sense of geography to the show that is unlike any other cartoon of this type (IE primarily a tool to sell toys) that I can remember. When Spider-Man's breath was visible through his mask, I let out an audible response to express how impressed I was. The animation seems even more well crafted due to the move to CG for many shows and Adult Swim's generally minimalist approach to cartoons. The whole thing just fits together wonderfully. Every element is recognizable as a piece of this specific place.
The dialogue is...well...it is much better than I expect from a show geared mostly towards children. The best thing I can say is that it makes me groan a lot less than anytime I go back and explore television animation of my youth. There are also quite a few strong moments to the dialogue that are worth noting though. Spider-Man's famous quips have at least a .66 hit rate, which is not bad given how many there are in the episodes. The high school drama, though simplified, is never too painful, even if it is only rarely compelling. The voice cast put together does solid work, with only minor exceptions such as Shocker's southern accent. What a treat it was to hear David Keith, as Tombstone, regularly again. The only bad aspect of the sound, is the theme song. It is appallingly horrible. Imagine, if you will, that all Fallout Boy members became mostly deaf and were then hired to come up with a children's theme song in seven minutes, while being molested by teenage groupies,and it is hot out so their hair gel is getting all over their instruments as well. I am not kidding when I tell you that one of the lyrics is, "...arriving in the speed of time." That does not make sense. This theme killed any excitement I had going into each episode. This is especially offensive given that the old Spider-Man song is one of the most famous animation themes ever ("Spider-Man, Spider-Man/Does whatever a spider can). It is possible I am over exaggerating this one flaw, but seriously Weisman, get rid of it.
Besides the two seasons that exists, there is no guarantee that we will get anymore of this series. Weisman fills that persona non grata role in animation about as well as Joss Whedon does in science fiction, as far as getting shows to stick. I would love to see more, and hopefully, if they are allowed, they will continue to plow through those juicy moments of continuity that over 40 years of comics provide. It would at least be nice to see Peter make it out of high school, which at the current pace, seems to require two or more seasons. This show brings to mind the many quality DC animated series that have come out over the years. It is nice to see Marvel offer something of competing quality. Hopefully, it will continue.
If you suffer hangovers and like cartoons, you could do a lot worse than either of these two options for those fuzzy mornings.
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