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This Batman: The Animated Series documentary streamed live on YouTube 16 hours ago. I found and watched it earlier today. A thorough look at and paying tribute to a iconic show, Batman: The Animated Series.

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Watched the first two episodes of Avengers: EMH with the 8 year old over the weekend. Haven't seen these in a while but the level of complexity/moving parts compared to almost any other Marvel cartoon of the 2010s is amazing. Every character has a wholly developed world seeded from the comics. The amount of characters they use is just nuts. Just a full unveiling of Marvel lore. I can see why they tried so hard to dumb it all down after season 2, but it's a real shame.

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12 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Watched the first two episodes of Avengers: EMH with the 8 year old over the weekend. Haven't seen these in a while but the level of complexity/moving parts compared to almost any other Marvel cartoon of the 2010s is amazing. Every character has a wholly developed world seeded from the comics. The amount of characters they use is just nuts. Just a full unveiling of Marvel lore. I can see why they tried so hard to dumb it all down after season 2, but it's a real shame.

Kudos to the both of you having great taste, @Matt D. Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is terrific. I bought the DVD set collecting it all. One the best comic book animated series ever. Ditto the theme song:

I recommend Christopher Yost's comics: Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2), Avenging Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up and New Warriors (2014). Nobody wrote the Superior Spider-Man better than Yost. Yost is one of the most underrated Spider-Man writers ever.

Edited by The Natural
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I also just watched all of Avengers: EMH.  My three-year-old son is on a big Avengers kick.  I had watched all of the episodes a few years ago with my daughter and remembered liking it.  It is really complex for a kids' cartoon super hero show.  And goddamn does that theme get stuck in your head.  Now, we're on to Super Hero Squad and another theme that gets stuck in your head.

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12 hours ago, Matt D said:

Watched the first two episodes of Avengers: EMH with the 8 year old over the weekend. Haven't seen these in a while but the level of complexity/moving parts compared to almost any other Marvel cartoon of the 2010s is amazing. Every character has a wholly developed world seeded from the comics. The amount of characters they use is just nuts. Just a full unveiling of Marvel lore. I can see why they tried so hard to dumb it all down after season 2, but it's a real shame.

This is actually my main criticism of EMH. In the first story they throw like twenty supervillains on the screen with no real explanation of what any of their deals are. As an old Marvel geek it didn't throw me, but it seems like it would be a bit much for the uninitiated.

I thought they eventually hit the perfect balance of complexity and comprehensibility, though, so I was disappointed when they started simplifying the stories towards the end.

12 hours ago, The Natural said:

My top five comic book cartoon series:

5. Justice League.

4. Batman of the Future.

3. Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

2. The Spectacular Spider-Man.

1. Batman: The Animated Series.

I haven't seen enough Batman (Beyond/of the Future) to rate it, but leaving that out that's a Top 4 that's hard to argue with. I think I'd put Justice League above EMH, though, for the reasons mentioned above. More consistent in quality across its run, and its highs are only as smidgen behind EMH's. Could be I'm overcompensating for my Marvel fanboyism though.

I have a hunch Spectacular Spider-Man would have moved into my number 1 spot if they had actually been able to finish it, but as it is I can't rank it above B:TAS.

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On 6/19/2020 at 9:05 AM, Cliff Hanger said:

Netflix has indefinitely delayed Transformers Siege.  The show is complete but the foreign dubs have been delayed due to COVID and Netflix won't launch it til they can do so worldwide.

I mean, is it really a delay when it never had a release date beforehand? Whatever it was, that didn't last long.

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10 hours ago, tbarrie said:

This is actually my main criticism of EMH. In the first story they throw like twenty supervillains on the screen with no real explanation of what any of their deals are. As an old Marvel geek it didn't throw me, but it seems like it would be a bit much for the uninitiated.

I'm not sure if you watched it on Disney+, but they have the first few episodes out of order on there.  It's supposed to start with 5 episodes, each one dedicated to an Avenger (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Cap and Ant Man) then there's a two-parter where all the supervillains break out.  For some reason, on Disney+, they have the two-parter first and then the five introductory episodes.

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1 hour ago, Log said:

I'm not sure if you watched it on Disney+, but they have the first few episodes out of order on there.  It's supposed to start with 5 episodes, each one dedicated to an Avenger (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Cap and Ant Man) then there's a two-parter where all the supervillains break out.  For some reason, on Disney+, they have the two-parter first and then the five introductory episodes.

I watched it on Netflix, but they used the same order you describe for Disney+. According to wikipedia, that's also the order they were first broadcast on TV as full episodes. (At least I think so. There are two paragraphs on this page, one right after the other, which contradict each other on that count.) I suspect the question of which is the "correct" order is one for the philosophers.

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My only gripe with EMH is that it seems like there are a lot of episodes/storylines that involve the Avengers being turned "bad" or imposters posing as them.  It mostly annoys me because it leads to endless, "Why Iron Man bad now?",  "Why Thor bad, daddy?"  questions from my son.

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good list, @The Natural. mine would look like this:

1: Justice League / JLU

2: Batman TAS

3: X-Men TAS

4: Batman: the Brave and the Bold

5: Avengers EMH

Batman Beyond i just can't get into (i think it's the setting), and the art kills Spectacular Spidey for me.

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Top 5 (as in best) for me would be

  1. Justice League/JLU
  2. Batman: TAS
  3. Avengers EMH
  4. Superman: TAS
  5. Spectacular Spider-man

If I was to go by favorites though then Superman and Spectacular would be displaced by the 90s X-men & Spider-man. On both lists Batman Beyond is just probably no. 6 or 7.

Edited by Eivion
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4 hours ago, twiztor said:

good list, @The Natural. mine would look like this:

1: Justice League / JLU

2: Batman TAS

3: X-Men TAS

4: Batman: the Brave and the Bold

5: Avengers EMH

Oh, I forgot about Brave and the Bold. That certainly deserves a spot somewhere in my top 5.

4 hours ago, twiztor said:

Batman Beyond i just can't get into (i think it's the setting), and the art kills Spectacular Spidey for me.

I particularly hated the design on Jameson when I first saw it. I got over it, though.

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It was the first 70s DC toon (I think) to not just have the Big Three. Robin and Aquaman.

You had the 60s stuff, which was not readily available by the mid 70s.

Plus, so many villains, which first few seasons of SF didn't really have (except maybe Lex). 

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Thank you for your top five comic book animated series. Interesting seeing how similar our choices are and where they differ.

On 7/21/2020 at 9:35 PM, twiztor said:

good list, @The Natural. mine would look like this:

1: Justice League / JLU

2: Batman TAS

3: X-Men TAS

4: Batman: the Brave and the Bold

5: Avengers EMH

Batman Beyond i just can't get into (i think it's the setting), and the art kills Spectacular Spidey for me.

Thank you, @twiztor. My favourite thing about Batman of the Future is the mentor/student aspect between the elder Bruce Wayne teaching Terry McGinnis, the new Batman. When I think of Batman of the Future, it's that and the fucking chilling Our Family Memories from the uncut Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000). That's probably my canon final confrontation between Batman and the Joker even though what happens to poor Tim Drake. Legit getting chills thinking about that sequence.

I never had a problem with the art design of The Spectacular Spider-Man apart from Venom thinking it's an upper body business. You ain't alone in not liking the art from it, it's the reoccurring criticism of the show I see the most.

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Fitting you have a choice when it comes to Jason Todd/Robin's fate like the public phone poll for Batman: A Death In The Family. I'm sure bits of it are from Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010). Wise choice as that's one of the very best DC animated movies. In fact, I'd only have Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) in that order ahead of it.

Edited by The Natural
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