For me, cartoons based on Marvel properties have never been as good as cartoons based on DC properties. They always lack something. It always feels like they are making a cartoon to make a cartoon, and not necessarily tell a good story.
Don’t get me wrong they’re not all bad, so to speak, just lacking. That is until I watched the New Adventures cartoon. I think they finally got it right. Marvel has finally gotten their “Super friends” or to compare it to something more modern, Justice League. This series is reaching back to the beginnings of the Avengers comics, and though they are modernizing, they are staying true to source material. I appreciate that.
I am only about 6 episodes in, but they are spending their time telling character driven stories and building to something much larger. Each of the characters have gotten an episode to showcases them to get the viewer interested. Then the characters begin working together without even knowing it.
The traditional Avengers characters aren’t the only characters of importance, you also have Nick Fury and his Shield Agents, the Asgardian pantheon, and a whole host of super villains. The world the writers are constructing is complex and far reaching. The threats come from around the world, other planets, other dimensions and even from the future.
Of course there are hints at the rest of the Marvel Universe existing right there in the first six episodes. There is a News Paper about a vigilante and a skull as a photo alluding to The Punisher, and Our friend Logan who will one day become Wolverine Fights along side Captain America back in WWII. I prefer a wide far reaching universes. Things seem to pop better when I can feel that there is a world living outside of the story I am seeing.
Another thing that really works for me is the animation. So many of the cartoons I am seeing these days has a distinct Japanese style, which is OK, I am not anti anime, I just don ‘t want that to be the only diet of animation that I get. the styling of this show is like watching a comic book with, comic book art, and “sound” effects. It is truly superb.
I have to say the Avengers, was a pleasant surprise. When I began watching I didn’t know what to expect. I have seen so many dumbed down super hero cartoons, I really wasn’t expecting much. This blew me away the animation is highly superior and the story telling is excellent. If you are a cartoon or comic book fan, you should check this out. If you have kids who like cartoons, let them see this. It truly is fantastic!
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