DINNER DINNER DINNER BATMAN!

I'm 32 years old and I still watch cartoons. Such a statement causes my family to tut and shake their heads, like I'm really that unwilling to grow up, but cartoons these days are a million miles away from a lot of the stuff that was around years ago. There have always been serious (or nearly serious) cartoons (one of my favourites is/was Ulysses 31) but the sheer abundance of modern cartoons that forsake goofy villains and talking animal sidekicks and feature some variation on the idea of a superhero fills my heart with giddy joy. 

BEN 10 is a little goofy, but BEN 10: ULTIMATE ALIEN is both an interesting idea (the same characters but older) and more sensible/mature/a little brain-melting for kids (one episode sees the team meet a time-travelling professor, who's been stuck in time for literally forever. He remarks at one point how he "went insane, until that got boring and he went right back to being sane again"). MEGAS XLR provided a comedic slant on the giant fighting robot genre that hasn't seen much action since Voltron, and featured Bruce Campbell playing a MODOK-like alien called Magnanimous, who piloted a giant Elvis robot with a chainsaw hand. How many kids are going to get THAT?! GENERATOR REX is Guyver for kids. The reboot of HE-MAN kept Orko as a comedy character but stopped Cringor/Battle Cat talking, and melted Skeletor's face off in the pilot episode. The new THUNDERCATS has removed Snarf's ability to talk, knocked several years off the characters' ages, and kept them on their homeworld of Thundera, where they wage war against Mumm-Ra (still evil, still cool) and the 'evil' of technology/progress. 

And then there's BATMAN.

The 1990s animated series was brilliant, primarily because it captured the tone so perfectly. Gotham was an art deco nightmare cloaked in perpetual night, where freaks robbed banks aided by goons wearing Halloween masks. There was violence, and fear, but filtered through a PG certificate (characters could fall from any height, as long as they landed in water; blood was very, very occasionally shown, though wounds typically weren't, etc). Batman was as much a part of the shadows as his enemies, but protected society instead of attacking it. There was lightness, sometimes, but the tone largely remained dark, and the show was all the better for it. The few spin-off movies took things slightly further (MASK OF THE PHANTASM remains not just one of my favourite animated films, but one of my favourite films full stop). PHANTASM saw not only a skull-masked assassin offing crime lords, but Batman duking it out with The Joker in a dilapidated World Fair, before knocking one of his teeth out with a splurt of blood. SUB-ZERO focused on the tragic origin of Mr Freeze, and showed that not all villains are the typical understanding of 'evil'. 

BATMAN BEYOND saw a very old Bruce Wayne hand over the mantle of the bat to a young man called Terry, and featured various peeks at old/familiar characters, but in a 'alternate future' setting (for instance, The Joker is absent completely, Barbara Gordon isn't crippled and is the new Commissioner) that worked well, despite the focus to a different sort of Batman (one who was probably more like Nightwing than the typical Dark Knight).

In fact, a lot of the DC animated series have been very good, like the JUSTICE LEAGUE ones. Mainly, this is down to cartoons being able to show/do what feature films cannot, and also because there is a clear respect for the source material.

Which brings me, eventually, onto BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD. The Red Hood was an original alter ego of the man who would become The Joker (a fact that's nicely dealt with in this film) but the current version is...someone very close to Batman. I thought already knowing who he is might spoil my enjoyment of the film, but in truth watching Batman figure it out was thoroughly enjoyable - two particular scenes stand out: one involves something Red Hood says to Batman, the other involves the 'reveal', and the off-screen reaction of Alfred.

But, for those not in the know: Black Mask (a crime lord with a burnt-on black skull for a face who appears to be channelling Tony Montana) runs Gotham's seedy underbelly. That is, until the gun-toting Red Hood appears and starts killing any of Black Mask's crew that refuse to swear allegiance to him instead. However, he isn't simply another maniac - he stipulates that if any drugs are sold to kids, he'll kill whoever sold them. A gangster with a heart of gold? Not quite. Try 'Batman with a skewered moral code'.

Everything, and I mean everything in RED HOOD is brilliant. The animation, score, character designs, pacing, dialogue...even the title sequence (which utilises live action) is great to watch. The only thing that caused me initial concern was the realisation that different people were voicing Batman and The Joker. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are the voices of these two, to such an extent that they're incorporated in mediums removed from TV - namely, computer games (DC UNIVERSE ONLINE and ARKHAM ASYLUM/ARKHAM CITY). They haven't voiced every iteration of these characters, but it's safe to say they're the very definition of synonymous.

Bruce Greenwood (who's voiced some Marvel animated features) and John Dimaggio (Bender in Futurama) take on the roles of Batman and The Joker, and both are great. Greenwood nails Batman straight off the bat (arf arf!) but Dimaggio takes a little getting used to, his Joker being a little more gravelly than you'd expect. But, then he laughs and it all falls into place...Jensen Ackles (from SUPERNATURAL, one of my favourite shows) voices Red Hood, and a bunch of other top/familiar actors provide other vocal duties. Black Mask is the highlight of the film, for me, as he's a different kind of psychopath than The Joker; one who is prone to spontaneous outbursts of violence, but is collected enough to realise when he's being played for a fool. Usually.

Interestingly, one of the recurring themes is how two otherwise-savvy villains (Black Mask and Ra's Al Ghul) underestimate The Joker, the most notoriously mental of all Batman's foes. Both men think they can control him, but since The Joker is chaos, that's a futile hope and perhaps tells you more about their arrogance than even they realise (they're both men used to controlling everything, so to control The Joker would show everyone else just how powerful they are - ie if he's in their pocket, there really is no stopping them).

In a nice touch, Nightwing plays a major part in the story, and his quips and unconcealed awe at the skills demonstrated by Red Hood really help lighten what is otherwise a very dark story centring around grief, regret, remorse, all that fun stuff.  There are also several wonderfully integrated flashback sequences, which see ghostly memories played out in front of Batman. One of these is especially, and surprisingly, poignant.

Batman is a character birthed from grief and death, and the events in RED HOOD force him to confront past memories and mistakes, and show that, infallible as he may appear, underneath the cowl he is only human. As much as I enjoy seeing superheroes endlessly wailing on bad guys, I much prefer to see them get a pasting every now and again - even if only on an emotional level - as a reminder that no one is safe from a lot of the things that affect 'normal' people, not even guys who wear their underpants outside their trousers.

BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD TRAILER

IRON MAN, IRON MAN, DOES WHATEVER AN IRON CAN

The best cartoons don't treat children like idiots, and THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN is definitely one of the very best. An episode in Season 2 has a fight scene juxtaposed with opera, for crying out loud! You don't see that in Scooby-Doo!

Spider-Man is probably the most adapted superhero, cartoon-wise, seeing as there's been absolutely tons, from the old 'motion comic' style one to Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, to the (also brilliant) 90's animated series. MTV made a short-lived cartoon, too, and there was even a bizarre 'Unlimited' version in which Spidey travels to an alternate Earth...so what is it that makes THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN quite possibly the very best? I've already told you - it doesn't treat the audience like idiots. Seesh, pay attention sometime, okay?

Superhero cartoons came of age to some degree with the 90's Batman animated series - here was a cartoon that actually showed BLOOD for one thing, and occasionally had PG rated episodes. You never saw anyone die onscreen (one of the director commentaries in the Season One box set tells how they could show people falling from great heights...as long as they landed in water) but the shadow of fear hung over many of the episodes, thanks in part to the wonderful design of Gotham, and the spot-on portrayal of big hitters like The Joker and Clayface (incidentally, his origin/initial defeat story is definitely in my top 5 list of 'best cartoon episodes ever')...and of course Batman. The show's writers never let you forget that Batman was driven by vengeance and an insatiable need for justice the same way most cars HAVE to run on petrol. The mythos took an interesting - and thoroughly worthwhile - detour into the future when Batman: Beyond appeared on the scene/small screen.

But SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN doesn't have blood, or a gothic backdrop, or PG rated episodes (I don't think) so how can it compare to the 90's BATMAN? Simple answer: it gets the character (and perhaps even more importantly, the supporting cast) absolutely spot-on. It follows the comics faithfully (in a sort of 3 parts original Spider-Man to 1 parts Ultimate Spidey) whilst putting neat (and sensible) spins on existing/known characters.

When Season One starts, Peter Parker is already Spider-Man has been for a little while. He's doing well at school and even lands an internship at a lab run by Dr Curt Connors. He's best mates with son-of-a-millionaire Harry Osborn and 'geekette' Gwen Stacy. Everything's going pretty well. Except his Aunt May is really struggling to pay bills now her husband Ben - Peter's uncle - is dead. So, Peter attempts to win a photography competition at the Daily Bugle in order to get some cash. This forms a nice progression to the early episodes as Peter works at being a better photographer whilst simultaneously trying to beat up bad guys and get home before his 10pm curfew (there's a smart running gag in which Peter, as Spidey, gets interrupted mid-fight by Aunt May calling to find out why he's running late).

Ah yes, the bad guys. The thing is, with someone like Spider-Man easily taking out all the usual thugs, crooks and robbers, New York's crime boss (known only as "Big Man") realises that he's going to need a better class of criminal. Superpowered ones. Cue a steady stream of new villains, including old favourites like Sandman, Rhino and Doctor Octopus. And less interesting ones like Vulture. Oh well, you can't have everything. Sandman's origin experiment is particularly cool as his skin ruptures and then dissolves. Normon Osborn looks on and basically says "Never mind. Plenty more test subjects where he came from" only for the pile of sand that used to be Flint Marko to steadily reform itself into a human form. Cue the first proper supervillain of the season!

There is actually a strong undercurrent of realism throughout the show, which helps give certain moments that extra emotional heft, whether it be to illicit sympathy for a character or raise a few wry chuckles (Spidey's quips are brilliant, although he doesn't get ALL the best lines). Apart from the "real men take care of their responsibilities" theme (given to Spidey by a villain, interestingly) there's the good old teenage love drama going on, as Peter realises he fancies Gwen, but gets introduced to Mary Jane Watson (another brilliant lead-up/pay-off bit), and then ends up with a cheerleader for a girlfriend. Add to the mix the fact that his duties as Spider-Man are helping give Peter Parker a reputation as an unreliable jerk and the ingredients are there for disaster and tragedy.

The first, or rather main, casualty of this unwelcome downside comes in the form of Eddie Brock. Oh yes. Working as a lab assistant in Dr Connor's lab, he's a surrogate big brother to Peter (they grew up together and their parents both died in the same plane crash) who starts to resent him after seeing the way he (unwittingly) treats those around him, seemingly abandoning those who depend on him most. Of course the irony isn't lost on Peter but when he tries to explain himself his pleas fall on deaf ears. And when a mysterious black substance hitches a ride on a space shuttle and then ends up in the lab...if you're a fan you know where this is going, don't you? Yep, VENOM is due an appearance!

The "Anti-Spider-Man" is more powerful and dangerous than any other foe our friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler's come up against, and what makes it worse is that it's one of his best friends behind the slavering jaws of the monster. The resolution (and later reappearance/repercussions) of dealing with Venom/Eddie is neat and well-managed, and not without a few surprises.

There really is much more to adore about the show: J. Jonah Jamesons's fantastic personality (everything he says has a time limit and is generally shouted), the character progression of school football star Flash Thompson (he starts off as a jerk but we soon come to realise he's a deeply honest young man who always stands up for what's right), the integration of Mary Jane Watson, the background details (the same mother and daughter are shown as recurring extras throughout both seasons, and a young couple who Spidey saves and inadvertently brings together in season one end up getting married in the second season). The list is as long as my arm, and right now my arm's very long indeed.

So the bottom line is, if you're like me (in your early thirties) and don't think cartoons are just for kids, and/or you like superheroes, then do yourself a favour and watch THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. It's a prime example of how, not only a superhero cartoon, but an animation, can stand head and shoulders above its peers (and many similar live action superhero shows *cough smallville cough*). And then subsequently get axed by a network who have no idea what they've got on their hands. It came out in 2008, and a third season has so far not appeared. Will it? That's anyone's guess, as suggested by THIS INTERVIEW with one of the show's creators. Maybe if enough people buy copies of the DVDs that'll change, but for now you can watch every single episode HERE. And if you like it, track it down on DVD. I know I'm going to, because I want to marry the bloody show and have its babies.