Love Dr. Strange or: How I Learned To Stop Waiting for DC and Love Marvel

(A review of the animated cartoon Super Hero Squad)

Let’s start with confessions. I’m a DC Comics fan. Always have been. I am, in particular, a Superman fan with an appreciation for several other DC properties. Although I don’t collect comics and read them only occasionally, I carry a Superman pocket watch, my cell phone and iPod sport Superman wallpapers, and a large Superman poster adorns the wall over my desk at work. On another wall hangs a Captain Marvel poster (the cool, Shazam one). The top of my desk is home to a growing collection of Justice-League-related action figures, which essentially function as poor man’s statuettes.

That being said, my relationship with DC has really grown into something of a love/hate thing. For the longest time, I have harbored the sneaking suspicion that DC just doesn’t have its act together. It seems as though Marvel continues to crank out original ideas and products, leaving DC scratching its head and wondering where the markets are trending. Some entirely anecdotal, poorly researched examples:

• When Marvel came out with the Marvel Legends series of exceptional action figures, where was DC? It took them several years to offer the competing DC Classics line.
• The whole “build a figure” thing with DC also came after Marvel’s success.
• When shopping for action figures at large retail stores, Marvel items are easy to find and well represented. DC products are limited to whatever TV show or movie they’re promoting at the time.
• Marvel continues to set the bar high in comic book films, bringing us heroes we love portrayed by quality actors in engaging stories. Where is DC? Marvel is laying the groundwork for awesomeness for years to come, with upcoming Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Avengers films already in the works. From DC, we have unconfirmed rumors of Batman and Superman films, Jonah Hex and Green Lantern films in production, and a long list of projects that will likely never see the light of day (JLA, Wonder Woman, Flash, Shazam…).
• The direct-to-video animated films seem to follow the same pattern, with Marvel cranking out quality stuff and a lot of it. DC’s offerings — JLA, Green Lantern — have been of decent quality, but rather sparse.
• Lest I neglect the comics themselves, I’ll mention the Green Lantern Blackest Night storyline. I was on board and having fun until it turned into one giant icky zombiefest. Gee, didn’t Marvel have some success with a bunch of heroes-turned-zombies stories not too long ago? Sorry. I don’t really do icky.

So it was with this collection of personal baggage that I began sifting through our TiVo’s list of recommended animated shows for kids. Batman: The Brave and The Bold is a fun romp, if a bit strange at times, and is usually well received in our house along with the nearly as strange Teen Titans. I went off in search of similar fare, pulled up “kids animation” on the TiVo, and came up with Krypto the Superdog from DC and Marvel’s Super Hero Squad.

If Batman: The Brave and The Bold is strange (with villains like Babyface, Miss Manface, and the Music Meister), then Krypto The Superdog is just plain dumb. “Batdog” Ace makes a regular appearance with “Superdog” in a series of episodes that have the feel of an old Hanna Barbera cartoon. A created-for-TV group of super-powered pets band together to battle villains like Mechanicat and Barrump Barrump. In the end, I merely shrug and dismiss them with a yawn. My kids seem to enjoy them well enough, but they wouldn’t miss them if the show ended tomorrow.

Once again, DC fails to compete as the Super Hero Squad hits me as one of the funniest and cleverest shows on television. This show highlights the endless breadth of the Marvel Universe, bringing in a variety of heroes and villains from the comics and pitting them in an endless battle for “Infinity Fractals,” fragments of a universe-altering artifact. Dr. Doom and his regular henchmen MODOK and Abomination reside in Villainville, where they constantly scheme against the Super Hero Squad. The Squad is essentially an Avengers-type collection of heroes like Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Thor, The Falcon, and others living on the SHIELD helicarrier patrolling Superhero City. While the show makes frequent trips to outer space and other locations, storylines tend to remain limited to these locations. Why they chose to limit the show in that way seems a bit odd to me, but it seems to work well. Each week, other heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe make cameo appearances in the constant struggle for the “Squaddies” to protect the fractals while Doom and his pals plot to steal them. Hilarity ensues.

Some things that make this show such a joy:

• The Mother of Doom. OH MY! This was a stroke of genius. Doom’s Mom shows up for an episode, complete with her own iron mask under white hair. I know I said that the show pulls characters from Marvel’s Universe, but this original character was just too rich to pass up. She nags heroes and villains alike until she is returned to exile in another dimension. And did I mention her name? She insists on being called “Coco,” because “Cynthia Von Doom” just doesn’t sound right. I’m still laughing about that episode.
• Good content for the grownups. There are plenty of pop culture references and innuendo to have the adults chuckling as well. My favorites include Iron Man taking a glance at his own backside while battling his doppelgänger Mystique. In another episode, I laughed out loud when Black Widow (Russian) was asked to say “Moose and Squirrel.” There is plenty of comic-related humor as well, such as references to “Quesada Joe” Mexican cheese.
• Fart Jokes. I admit it. Boys never mature past the fifth grade. As much as I enjoy cleverly disguised innuendo and subtle humor, I just can’t pass up a good gag involving body odor, flatulence, or belching.
  MODOK: “Ugh! … My eyebrows are melting. Abomination, open a window!”
• Stan Lee. The man himself doubles as Co-Executive Producer of the show and the voice of the costumed mayor of Superhero City. The character is reminiscent of Adam West’s mayor in Family Guy, if not as insane. Excelsior!
• One Liners. The show is replete with zingers, such as:
  • Dr. Doom: “Finally, my fool-hardy foes have found a fractal. Fascinating.”
    Abomination: “Hey, that’s pretty good. Try this one: Mister Sinister sold six stacks of silk slacks to Silver Surfer.”
  • Black Widow: “I have so much chocolate candy, darling. Do you think I should eat the caramel or devour the coconut?”
    Dr. Doom: “What kind of nonsense question is this? The caramel, of course. Coconuts displease me.”
  • War Machine (LeVar Burton): “Stop talking like you’re Iron Man.”
    Iron Man: “Stop talking like you’re on Reading Rainbow.”
  • Thor: “By Heimdall’s hairy headquarters, I have not seen the like. Yon toast landed jam-side up. ‘Tis against the laws of both nature and breakfast.”
  • Dr. Doom: (cell phone rings) “Private number? What the… hello?! Who dares reach out and touch Doom?!”

As of this writing, I am anxiously awaiting part two of the Galactus episode, where Galactus wants the Earth prepared for devouring right away. There’s a game on tonight and he’ll go for the Early Bird Special for dinner. Each episode brings an equally ridiculous plot and fun for the whole family. DC’s Krypto The Superdog may be a fine show, but it pales by comparison. Granted, things swing back and forth like a pendulum, and we may see DC driving the market again some day. After all, it was 1978′s Superman film that made us believe that a man could fly and that comic book movies could be worth watching. Market forces are almost never driven by quality but by potential earnings. I have long held a suspicion that DC being a subsidiary of Warner Brothers has done them no favors, relegating them to a tiny part of a huge uncaring media giant. It will be interesting to see if Marvel’s move into the Disney family of companies will have similar results.

In the meantime, my kids are being turned into Marvel Comics fans by the Super Hero Squad. Heck, who am I kidding? I may be turning into a fan as well. The only hope is that DC will follow suit with an equally clever version of the Superfriends.

One can only hope.

Related posts:

1. You Be Iron Man, and I’ll Be Whiplash
2. Step on Spider! Rebooting the Spider-Man Movie Franchise.
3. Episode 0030: Love Will Tear Us Apart
4. Episode 0036: The Robert Downey, Jr. Show

1. 

   Gaston says:

   February 17, 2010 at 9:09 am

   “Stop talking like you’re on Reading Rainbow.”

   That line alone makes me want to catch this show somehow. Thanks for the article, Minister Lynn!
2. 

   MJ says:

   February 17, 2010 at 11:04 am

   Your blog post has clued me into the real origin Sean’s great love for this show, the fart jokes. He is going through that peculiarly boy phase of finding farts to be the funniest thing that happens on this planet. Your post has also inspired me to sit down and watch more episodes with him.

   P.S. I LOVE Teen Titans
3. 

   John "Digital TV Reception" Doe says:

   February 24, 2010 at 8:22 pm

   [Editor's Note: The commentor's name has been altered because we like interacting with people and while it's entirely possible that Mr. and Mrs. Reception named their child "Digital TV", we doubt it. We've also removed the link left by this commentor, as it had a certain spammy feel to it. The text of the comment itself remains unchanged.]

   Love this “My desk is home to a growing collection of Justice-League-related action figures, which essentially function as poor man’s statuettes”
   Yep that sounds so familiar Who can afford things like Sideshow Statues anymore, nice though they are. Anyway action figures are smaller and so you can fit more on your desk-also a bigger range available.
   I agree with you about the cartoons. Although DC has done some pretty cool direct to DVD productions recently they are hardly for kids (all rated M over here in Australia)
   DC doesn’t seem to get that they are missing out on a whole generation of younger potential-fans who will be not buying their comics in the future but instead heading over to the Marvel rack.
   DC did well with JL Adventures and JL Unlimited for a while and yeah Teen Titans could be a great way to break into that age bracket…if done well.
   Cheers