Seven Great Superhero Cartoons

I've read a few comic books, but my interest in superheroes was primarily cultivated while watching cartoons as a kid. Here's a look at seven great superhero cartoons that have influenced I, Crimsonstreak.

Batman: The Animated Series: This is probably the crown jewel of them all. Batman: TAS combines great animation and writing to create what I consider the definitive version of the Caped Crusader. The Art Deco styling is gorgeous, Kevin Conroy is pitch-perfect as the Dark Knight, Mark Hamill rocks it as the Joker, and everything just "works" in this fantastic interpretation.

Justice League/Justice League Unlimited: This series opened the door for a flood of terrific animated tales featuring the DC Comics universe. Justice League is a fantastic show with a well-rounded voice cast, solid writing, and its own signature look. Once the "main" stories were told, we were treated with Justice League: Unlimited, which gave us the adventures of some of DC's lesser known heroes and heroines like Booster Gold, the Question, and Dr. Fate.

The Tick: I will never, ever pass up an opportunity to declare my love for the Mighty Blue Avenger. The Tick ran for three seasons on Fox in nineties, and remains one of my all-time favorites. Featuring the goofy nigh-invulernable Tick and his unfortunate sidekick Arthur, the show admirably lampooned the superhero genre. Populated with off-kilter characters like Die Fledermaus, Sewer Urchin, American Maid, Dinosaur Neil, and Thrakkorzog, this one always coaxes a smile.

Darkwing Duck: Often forgotten, this kid-friendly Disney cartoon from the early nineties featured a brooding Batman-like hero named Darkwing Duck, an amalgamation of Batman, the Shadow, and various pulp heroes. A melodramatic hero, he often appeared out of nowhere announcing to villains, "I am the terror that flaps in the night." The show was a spinoff of DuckTales and featured Launchpad McQuack as the sidekick. Villains included Darkwing doppelganger Negaduck, Megavolt, and Quackerjack.

Young Justice: This is the newest entry on this list. Young Justice features several younger heroes in the DC Universe with powers similar to established champions of justice. Kid Flash, for example, is a super-speedster like the Flash. Miss Martian has abilities mirroring those of Martian Manhunter (her uncle). Connor Kent is a clone of Superman. The roster also includes Robin (Dick Grayson version), a revamped Aqualad, archer Artemis, and magician Zatanna.

Batman: Brave and the Bold: This series gave us a goofy version of Batman who hung around with the DC B-list and fought against a variety of different villains. I loved this show when it was on (it aired its final episode last November). Brave and the Bold was sheer lunacy, and you didn't know what to expect from week to week. The show had an endearing charm and a sharp sense of humor punctuated by frequent guest hero Aquaman--who is the closest thing I've seen to the Tick in years. I really do wish this one were still on the air.

X-Men: The nineties Fox animated series was a sort of CliffsNotes for some of the most important storylines in the X-Men universe, including the Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past. The main lineup featured Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Jean Grey, and Professor X. Others like Colossus, Cable, and Nightcrawler also appeared in episodes, making this series a great introduction to the X-Men in general.

Superhero ABCs: Letter D

D is for Doctor Fate.

I could've gone with Daredevil. Heck, I could've gone with Darkwing Duck.

Fact is, they're both more recognizable to non-comics fans than Dr. Fate. After all, Ben Affleck played Daredevil in a movie that did relatively well at the box office. Darkwing Duck had his own cartoon.

I picked Dr. Fate for a very specific reason. He represents heroes who weren't doused by gamma rays or bitten by a radioactive spider. He's no tech expert in a suit or armor; no scientifically-enhanced super soldier.

Dr. Fate represents a different side of the superhero continuum, and an important one at that. He embodies the magical, mystical side of comic books. The character's history is convoluted, but if you boil it down to its most basic parts, the Helm of Nabu endows the wearer with magical powers. This comes at a cost, of course, as Dr. Fate is a kind of amalgamation of the personalities of both the wearer and the source of the helmet's power, an ancient wizard named Nabu.

Dr. Fate is a powerful character, and my experience with him is mostly tied to his appearances in the Justice League cartoon series. I think he also made an appearance on Batman: Brave and the Bold as well. I found Dr. Fate to be an interesting character, and thought he had an interesting (if, as mentioned earlier, convoluted) history.

For the purposes of my Superhero ABC's, Dr. Fate stands in for those heroes who use magic. There are others who could've stood in. Captain Marvel, while very Superman-like, is also a magical character in many ways. You've got the magicians Zatara and Zatana. And then you've got Doctor Strange, Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme. To be honest, I almost went with Dr. Strange for this one, but I just like Dr. Fate a little bit more.

It was a close call, actually. A character in my novel, the Amazing Merrick, represents the magic wielders in I, Crimsonstreak. He's probably closer to Zatara than Fate or Strange. But Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum directly influenced the Batcave-like lair of another hero, the Crusading Comet. So when you step into the Sanctum Cometus, you'll know where the idea came from.

Monday: You can't sell a few comics without breaking Batman's back. Or killing Superman. Or pitting Iron Man against Captain America...

Previous Entries:

C is for Captain America
B is for Batman
A is for The Avengers