Both Marvel and DC have to an astonishing degree started to pick up these last few years, with several well-appreciated shows that I really enjoy: Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Green Lantern TAS, and now this; The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
I'm pretty sure many of you reading this remember when back in 2001, Bruce Timm brought the Justice league into the DC animated universe. And I'm also pretty sure that everyone who does remember, can agree with me that it was an absolutely fantastic show.
Now Marvel's counterpart to the Justice League, The Avengers, have finally gotten a cartoon that really is something to behold.
Let me just make it very clear that I'm not much of a comics reader, pretty much everything I know about pretty much any character from Marvel/DC stem from their incarnations in television.
I'm a 17-year old guy with too much free time on my hands, some of that free time is mostly spent watching cartoons on the internet: more specifically, superhero cartoons.
I have seen superheroes of both Marvel and DC portrayed in wildly different ways on television: from the monumental Timmiverse incarnations of the Justice League and other DC characters, to Teen Titans and The Batman. From The 90s Spider-Man show to X-Men: Evolution
I was only vaguely familiar with most of the characters presented in "TA:EMH", so I didn't know what to expect. In fact, the only one I was at least somewhat familiar with was Iron Man, through the 2008 movie and the TV series "Iron Man: Armored Adventures".
I knew their names, their powers, and their origins, but I had literally nothing to say about their characters.
However, many people say that this show depicts the characters perfectly and 100% faithfully to the source material.
This is a good thing, because that gives me the opportunity to get to know these characters, to learn to understand them and interpret them.
This, coupled with outstanding story lines and great animation, makes "TA:EMH" an absolutely fantastic show that any fan should be able to enjoy.
My personal favorite characters among those I only vaguely knew are probably Ant-Man/Giant Man, and Thor.
I admire Ant-Man's's constant struggle to find "a better way" and his belief in the inherent good in every human being. It's really a great show of character to see him believe that even in such a violent world as the Marvel Universe, it's never too late to start again and try to put your life in line. And he's a good example for the kids watching this show. The kids need good role models too you know.
Thor strikes me as kind of similar to Superman in a lot of ways: noble, kind, powerful. But he's still a very different character. If I may point this out, I'm Norwegian, and it's something infinitely cool about watching one of the deities my ancestors (the vikings) worshipped portrayed as a noble and powerful hero of the modern day. A shame he doesn't offer Norway a thought though, oh well, you can't have everything.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is a monumental cartoon and a great achievement in animation. Absolutely worth watching.
