Sunday, 29 April 2012

First Impression DC vs. Marvel



Young Justice Invasion 

It’s no secret that I’m not a DC girl. For me, DC tends to miss the mark more often than it hits it. The same is true for their animation. Aside from Batman the Animated Series which is sheer awesome and the comedic anime-styled Teen Titans, I’ve not given DC a second glance. I do remember watching Justice League, later Justice League Unlimited as a kid and being unimpressed with the level of corniness. Then along came Young Justice and it was finally a show that DC seemed to have the right balance of silliness and maturity. Despite a relatively young cast, the show was surprisingly dark (in comparison to other superhero shows comprising of teenagers – Teen Titans or X-Men Evolution for example). The original season was clever, concise and had plenty of character development. The second series is a different matter.

Season two is set five years after the events of the season one finale (which only aired last week). Not that this is made clear as to why, it’s only briefly referenced by Batman. So in the initial episode we learn that Kid Flash, Artemis, Red Arrow and Aqualad are no longer part of the team. Wow, I mean that could be quite a kick to the teeth to their fans. Zatanna and Rocket have also left but we still do see them briefly as members of the Justice League. Replacing them are Robin (Tim Drake), Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Batgirl, Wonder Girl, Bumblebee and Lagoon Boy. Disappointingly none of these new characters actually makes an impression, their personalities pale in comparison to the original cast. Whereas season one gradually introduced its protagonists and even continued to expand up until the very end, season two completely jumps the shark by creating an entirely new line-up. Of course the biggest frustration is the break-up of Superboy and Miss Martian. During the original series their relationship was crucial to either character in order to gain stability and strength and ultimately to be able to accept themselves. It’s seems almost undignified that they should break-up off screen. Or that Miss Martian should be with Lagoon Boy (already top of the annoying list). I suppose the writers wanted the inevitable Superboy/Wonder Girl hook up to be less complicated.

In all, Young Justice: Invasion sure does have its work cut out. I mean in order to forgive tossing away five freaking years; it has to pull something beyond amazing out of its hat. I feel the need to explain to DC that fans get attached to characters. And fans don’t like change. We like characters with interesting personalities and experiences and we like watching them grow throughout the course of a series. We don’t like them being expendable or interchangeable.

Initial rating: 6/10


 The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Much like Young Justice, The Avengers had a killer first season with subtle hints towards an alien invasion in the next season. Unlike Young Justice, The Avengers is smart enough not to uproot its prior cast for an entire new one. Instead new characters/members are gradually introduced, notably Ms. Marvel, making her the second female to join the team, progress!

The second season spares no time in plunging the team into a new conflict with a new villain, none other than Dr. Doom. As well as introducing a new alliance, the Fantastic Four. The following episodes are primarily filler, exploring possible future story arcs, for example Maria Hill discusses superhero registration which would unavoidably lead into the notorious civil war scenario. The strength of The Avengers is in its awareness for what fans want to see. It doesn’t overload us with too many characters resulting in extended cameos, it takes its time to start on a smaller scale and build around the primary cast. This obviously allows certain characters – Iron Man for example more screen time, but more importantly is that it allows other characters the opportunity to develop within their own stories and solo adventures. For instance, Thor has not yet returned to Midgard, yet we have seen him and are aware a big bad Asgardian villain will pop up some time in the future. This is why I think Marvel has the upper hand as the creative staff seem to know less is sometimes more.

Initial Rating: 8/10 

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