New Marvel Toon: Superhero Squad

[Mr Light]

So I was channel flipping this morning and came across a Marvel comic cartoon I'd never even heard of! It's "The Superhero Squad Show". Y'know those cute kiddie-friendly Marvel action figures with the big hands and feet and big smiles of all the characters? Well they made a cartoon out of it!

In the few minutes I saw it had about 20 characters, heroes and villains, including a pre-dead Wasp in her final costume. Kinda blew my mind. Of course on the other hand it was clearly aimed at 8 year olds.

Is anyone watching this show? Do they like it or not? Are there always that many characters in the mix? Do they have newer characters like the Sentry?

 

[Admiral_Young]

There is a thread on this somewhere. I'm enjoying it for what's worth. It has an excellent voice cast..but as far as we know no Spider-Man or X-Men yet.

 

[davejames]

I'm SO glad I got to grow up with the cartoons of the 80s, that actually had adult characters and took place in fairly believable worlds (Robotech, Gi-Joe, Transformers, He-Man, etc).

I'd hate to be stuck with the cartoons they make now, where every character and show is overly stylized and kiddified beyond belief.

 

[Christopher]

^You're kidding, right? There's a far wider range of target ages for animated shows today than there was in the '80s. Animation in the '80s was still highly stereotyped as strictly children's programming; that didn't begin to change until late in the decade when shows like The Real Ghostbusters began to bring more sophistication, ultimately leading to the '90s when we had shows like Batman: TAS, Gargoyles, and Justice League. And today, even many of the "kids'" shows are easily smart and sophisticated enough for adults -- Avatar and The Spectacular Spider-Man being prime examples.

It's ridiculous to cite The Super Hero Squad Show as representative of all present-day animated shows. On the contrary, it's aimed at a significantly younger audience than any other Marvel-based animated series has ever been.

 

[Cutter John]

Watched a few minutes of this last night. Sad.

Why is it DC characters get so many amazing animated shows, while Marvel seems to be stuck in the 80's?

 

[barnaclelapse]

I saw a little bit of it at a friend's. Doesn't look like I'd get much out of it.

 

[Nowhere Man]

I watched it friday as I was channel surfing and was not impressed at all. I have to agree that the 80's and 90's cartoons are so much better than the ones now. Transformers and GI. Joe was intended for kids between 7 and 10 and was better than this crap. X-Men and Siderman was for pre-teens and teens. You compare those shows and demigraphics to today's cartoons and tell me which ones are better overall.

 

[Christopher]

^If you're assuming that Super Hero Squad is in any way typical of the current Marvel shows on TV, you're thoroughly mistaken. It's actually the odd one out, the only one that's targeted specifically at young children. Of the other three Marvel TV series currently airing, Spectacular Spider-Man and Iron Man: Armored Adventures are both aiming for the same kind of preteen/teen demographic as the '90s shows you cite, while Wolverine and the X-Men is going for a teen and college-age demographic, I'd say. And all three are pretty good shows, especially SSM.

 

[LaxScrutiny]

I watch it with my 5 year old. He absolutely loves it. Now, he is fussy about his cartoons.

He doesn't like Batman the Brave and the Bold, for example, even though it seems a bit more kid friendly. He likes the Spectacular Spider Man, but doesn't do many repeated watchings.

Super Hero Squad he will watch over and over, like one episode 15 times the way only a 5 year old can. He loves all the snot jokes.

So I'm not saying this is a great cartoon. I actually like it a bit more now than I did watching the initial episode, I'm used to it and know what to expect... And what not to expect.

The point of the cartoon seems to be to get younger, and I mean way younger viewers interested in their heroes, and it does the job. I pick my son up from kindergarten and we hang out with his friends for a few minutes and they are all playing heroes and talking cartoons.

My 12 year old is fully corrupted and comes with me ComicCon and dresses in costume and watches Star Trek. It took a lot of work, but I have totally geekified her. Shows like Super Hero Squad make the job a lot easier IMHO.

 

[jep316]

It may be aimed at 8yo's but it dose have some material aimed a little higher,like the one I saw with Ironman talking with Warmachine about WM being on the Downlow with Squirrelgirl.

Of course the real question is if all those Marvel characters can appear in this "kiddy" show then why can't we have a more mature version of a animated Marvel universe show?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Do not like the character design.

 

[Holoaddict]

There is a thread on this somewhere. I'm enjoying it for what's worth. It has an excellent voice cast..but as far as we know no Spider-Man or X-Men yet.

You do realize that Wolverine is in most of the eps. And Storm has appeared in atleast two. Still, I agree that it would be neat to see how they handle Spidey.

 

[Praetor]

I didn't want to enjoy it, yet I did. My initial reaction seeing the characters behave like children is "No! No! No!" but when I realize that they're not trying to make a faithful recreation of the Marvel Universe, I can deal with it.

 

[Mr Light]

I enjoy Superhero Squad for what it is. It's actually really great to have on while you're getting ready for work in the morning... nice stupid colorful fun.

 

[Christopher]

I might find the show enjoyable if it weren't for all the gross-out "humor." I miss the days when children's shows were wholesome and enriching. These days they seem to target the lowest common denominator.

 

[Nowhere Man]

^If you're assuming that Super Hero Squad is in any way typical of the current Marvel shows on TV, you're thoroughly mistaken. It's actually the odd one out, the only one that's targeted specifically at young children. Of the other three Marvel TV series currently airing, Spectacular Spider-Man and Iron Man: Armored Adventures are both aiming for the same kind of preteen/teen demographic as the '90s shows you cite, while Wolverine and the X-Men is going for a teen and college-age demographic, I'd say. And all three are pretty good shows, especially SSM.

I haven't seen spectacular spiderman, but I doubt it's as good as the one fox aired in the 90's and Wolverine and the X-Men is definately not as good as the one from the 90's. Ironman:Armored Adventures sucks a big one. The only cartoon going on right now that is really good is SW:The Clone Wars, it's for ages 8-10 and for older fans too. Cartoons these days are so horribly written and really don't feature any kind of plot. Don't think I'm just bashing marvel, I hate Batman:Bold and the Brave. I mean hell, even the new Garfield Show is not as good as Garfield and Friends.

 

[Christopher]

I haven't seen spectacular spiderman, but I doubt it's as good as the one fox aired in the 90's...

I'm a devoted fan of the '90s Spider-Man series. For a long time, I considered it the pinnacle of Spidey's animated adaptations and was sure it would never be surpassed. All it took was two episodes of SSM to prove me wrong.

Actually the second season hasn't been as good as the first, but overall I love both shows about equally. And SSM is definitely an improvement in some ways. The '90s series had its faults -- aside from the progressively deteriorating animation quality, it had very stilted dialogue (which was authentically Stan Lee-ish, but still corny and awkward) and its editing was often bizarrely clunky. The new show is smoother, sleeker, more self-assured.

and Wolverine and the X-Men is definately not as good as the one from the 90's.

No, but it's still worth watching. And it has many of the same advantages as SSM -- smoother animation and less stilted dialogue than the '90s FOX series (although it's nowhere near as gorgeously animated as X-Men Evolution).

Ironman:Armored Adventures sucks a big one.

It's the weakest of the three, but it's better than I expected. There's some good character stuff, and some of the design work is impressive.

Don't think I'm just bashing marvel, I hate Batman:Bold and the Brave.

The Brave and the Bold is an acquired taste, but I think it's great fun. You have to be open to embracing the goofiness of the Silver Age, but they bring some pretty smart modern sensibilities to it as well. And it's fun to see a show that just cuts loose and isn't afraid to be wild and bizarre. The voice work is excellent, and it's interesting to get to see so many obscure DC characters who have never been animated before.

 

[Nowhere Man]

I'll check out spectacular spiderman then.

 

[Christopher]

One unique thing about SSM is that it's the first filmic adaptation to feature Gwen Stacy as a major, regular character -- although its version of Gwen is kind of a cross between Gwen and Debra Whitman and de-aged to about 15. And that's another distinctive thing about the show -- its embrace of the high-school setting. Most adaptations have focused on a college-age Peter. The '90s series was largely a reflection of the style and continuity of the '80s and '90s comics, though it did some good adaptations of classic stories from earlier eras. The new show pays extensive homage to the Lee-Ditko era, while updating it and using characters and plotlines from throughout Spidey's history.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

George Takei as Galactus was truly inspired casting?

http://twitter.com/jeffrsmall/statuses/9408546811



aired yesterday, someone was kind enough to youtube it for me. watch it before it gets pulled