Manic Expression

Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edofl2MH98I&feature=player_detailpage

Theme Song by Brian Setzer and owned by Walt Disney Records

During the development of the Avengers film andDisney’s acquisition of Marvel Disney wanted a show to promote the future megablockbuster on their network Disney XD. The crew that was assembled J were the right people to gather with directors and writers such asChristopher Yost and Boyd Kirkland who were either comic book writers or peoplethat worked on the DC Animated Universe and their classic animated shows. Whichis why it’s no surprise that Avengers EMH feels like a kickass 90s animatedsuperhero show. It has grand and big stories that constantly build on oneanother and excellent characters. It also brings back that triumphant goodfeeling of action and adventure with a little bit of X-men’s team dynamic foradded flavor. When the show was released the fans loved it and demanded moreleaving Disney with virtually no choice, but to order more episodes and thewriters delivered with a full fledged season and it even got renewed foranother season which is currently on the air now! This show’s stories,characters and big universe that has been created blew me away and it is now myfavorite Marvel show of all time! This is Avengers EMH!

STORIES AND STORY STRUCTURE

One of the smart things about the first 5 episodesof the show is that they were actually webisodes (that would be added to theDVDs in their true numbered titles) that introduced each member of the team andso the audience was eased into knowing the team. As far as a universe goes thatwas completely different. The show just threw you into the universe and youknew from the get go that this was a massive universe with plenty of heroes andvillains that the show could run for probably 4 or 5 seasons. With huge amountsof villains over 4 superprisons with evil organizations like HYDRA and AIMthere is no shortage of antagonists in this huge world. Episode 6-7 is calledBreakout where as the title implies all Superprisons fail and the villainsescape and when a powerful villains escapes it takes a whole team of heroes(Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Antman/Giantman and the Wasp) to defeat him. The teamdecides to stick together and the Avengers are born. Other episodes have theAvengers’ escapades capturing villains, thwarting evil plots and alien invasionsas well as finding and recruiting more members such as Captain America, BlackPanther, Hawkeye and just recently Ms. Marvel!

Here is a clip from the ending of Breakout and ithas one of the most awesome moments I have ever seen in my life and it’s the partwhere Graviton says that “he’s the strongest there is” and it’s near thebeginning of the video! AWESOME ENTRANCE AND LINE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoT78tW9qX8&feature=player_detailpage

By having so many villains and heroes there arestaggering amounts of plots that are showcased in the series. Pretty much everyvillain and even hero has their own plot. Now this may seem overwhelming, butit ultimately plays out in the show’s favor because it creates variety and asense that the show will never get formulaic because we as viewers don’t know whichplot is going to be explored in next week’s episode and makes the universe allthe more dynamic and real that somewhere something is going on and there willbe payoff (unfortunately this show is getting cancelled!!!!WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Now before I end this section the greatest partof any episode is the cliffhanger! The cliffhangers on this show shock me andmake me scream “Yes!!!” or “No Way!!!!” or “Oh my God!!!!!!!!” or“Whoah!!!!!!!!!” Everytime it just keeps getting better and better and you askyourself the question “Where are they going with this? How are they ging toresolve this?” It’s incredible and makes me super excited for the next episodeand eventually the finale!

CHARACTERS

Sorry guys I’m going to look at the characters as awhole this time. All these characters are very well done. In some cases theshow brings to life characters that have never seen animation before or haven’tbeen done justice in animation before. As far as the Avengers go they are allwell written and solid characters and the show does a good job of showcasingtheir abilities and developing comradery as the show progresses. Charactersthat were once considered jokes and useless such as Antman/ Giantman and Waspare done extremely well actually writing very clever scenarios where theirpowers come in great use and in some ways are vital to saving the day. That’snot easy to do and this show should be commended for saving these characters.Another character that is one of the best is the Hulk where he actually is afull fledged character that has average intelligence and actually has emotions(aside from anger) and is a thinking feeling character that I can mostcertainly care about! I like how Hulk and Banner are separate personalities andhow the Hulk takes Banner’s advice and proves to the world that the Hulk can bea hero and the power of the Hulk can be used to help people and that the Hulkcan find acceptance and even friends. The Hulk does find friends in theAvengers and the friendship he develops with them is a slightly tense one, butone of respect and the fact is since the Hulk doesn’t back down from a fightHulk will always have their back.  Hulk’strue friend in the Avengers turns out to be Hawkeye mainly because of the timespent in the training room and Hawkeye on Hulk monitor duty when Hulk is alonein the Mansion. Don’t worry folks Hulk still can get very angry and he stillloves the fight and he takes extreme rage out on villains or the training room.

MUSIC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxaJpUnF6xA&feature=player_detailpage

The actual score of the show is just okay and fitsthe mood of the show fine, but the opening is where the real effort was put in!The opening theme is amazing! This show officially brings back the energetic,action packed baddassery of the 80s and 90s opening sequence! It’s a fittingsong for the show and is a song where you want to just assemble your friendsand kick some ass (preferably against villains)

ARTISTIC PRESENTATION

The animation and designs for the show are decent.There’s nothing extremely stylized about it, it just gets the job done and isvery competent! Some may say it’s not good, but since the really importantthings are good and what we’re given is solid I can’t complain. Good stuff!

FINAL THOUGHTS

What started out as merely a promotion for a futuremovie turned into a full fledged return to the storytelling and characterstandards of 90s superhero shows. With it’s massive complex universe withmultiple interesting plots, great characters, a kickass theme song, decentanimation, and story arcs that never cease to amaze and surprise you AvengersEMH is definitely worth a watch and worthy of my choice of favorite Marvelanimated series!

Verdict: 5 Avenger Membership cards out of 5

Thank you for joining me for Marvel TV Month, butI’m not quite done with marvel yet! Join me next time where I give a latereview of the Amazing Spider-man movie!