AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

 It's been awhile since I've watched any episodes of AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES on the Disney XD cable channel. I recently watched a couple of new episodes and really got a kick out of them.

In one, the Avengers (comprised of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel and the Vision) square off against Killgrave, the Purple Man. In the other, it's the beginning of the Skrull invasion of earth, a storyline lifted directly from the recent SECRET INVASION series that ran in almost all Marvel Comics titles a couple of years ago.

The writers, directors, animators and voice actors get everything right with this one. Tony Stark sounds like Robert Downey Jr. The characters look like they should and the entire Marvel Universe is on display here, both heroes and villains. While the emphasis is on action, there's character development as well. Very impressive.

When I was a kid, the only Marvel comic book superhero cartoon shows I could watch were SPIDER-MAN and THE FANTASTIC FOUR. I have the complete SPIDER-MAN series on DVD but the FF (produced by Hanna-Barbera) has never been released in any home video format. The syndicated, limited animation series, MARVEL SUPER-HEROES, never ran on an Austin television station and, to my knowledge, has never been released in an authorized format (bootlegs and downloads are available).

DC comic book superheroes were represented by in shows featuring Superman, Batman, Aquaman and other DC characters. These have all been released on DVD and I've got them on my shelf.

Of course, there were other classic super-hero cartoons when I was a kid: JONNY QUEST, SPACE GHOST, BIRDMAN, THE HERCULOIDS, MIGHTY MIGHTOR, DINO BOY, MOBY DICK, SHAZAN!, FRANKENSTEIN JR., THE IMPOSSIBLES and THE GALAXY TRIO ruled the Saturday morning airwaves on CBS and NBC for several seasons. I have some of these on DVD and will certainly have them all at some point in the future.

If someone had told me when I was ten-years-old that I'd be able to see both an Avengers animated television series and a big screen motion picture in the same year, I would have thought they were dreaming. Whaddya know? Dreams do come true.

Check out THE AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES if you love classic Marvel Comics and well-done animation. You won't be disappointed.