Serious or campy: how do you like your action cartoons?

[Catholic Light]

Another toon thread w/ a twist...

For action cartoons like Marvel/DC/Transformers/TMNT etc, do you prefer the stories to be: mostly serious with intimifdating villains and perilous situations?

Or do youlike wacky setups, incomeptent but funny viallians, breaking the fourth wall, etc?

I guess Im pretty cut in wanting action shows to be generally serious with some subtle one0liners if its in a characters dispositon to do it. I generally think that if I want to watch funny shows , there plenty of material, looney tunes, etc.

discuss.

[Demon Dash]

Quite a wierd choice to be honest, but I'm feeling you... Personally I prefer a more serious storyline, I find wacky touches to be too comical and it doesn't fit too well with the cartoons I like. Of course this doesn't mean I don't like wacky cartoons like Loony Toons or Animaniacs, but when it comes to action the has to some level of seriousness there...

[Rhio2k]

I like 'em serious, like Btas, Cybersix, Justice League, and 2k3 TMNT where actions have repercussions that are sometimes visible throughout the whole series. Shit like Teen Titans' "I just got fucked-up, but a couple anime-esque double-takes, and I'm just fine" left me cold and annoyed.

[Million]

I prefer the serious tone, surprisingly. Justice League was a shining example of that done perfectly. This reminds me; I need to get that season that ended with Brainiac/Luthor.

This topic also made me think of Teen Titans right away...as that's probably the best mix there is. It's silly and absurd at times...but also serious, and surprisingly dark at other times. And on another note...I'm still bitter how it all ended so early....we will NEVER see the mystery of the Red X unfold, and we will NEVER see what happens regarding Slade after the whole thing with Raven's demon daddy trying to destroy the world. Fuck you to whoever decided to cancel that.

[DS]

Another toon thread w/ a twist...

For action cartoons like Marvel/DC/Transformers/TMNT etc, do you prefer the stories to be: mostly serious with intimifdating villains and perilous situations?



I like them to be serious. It's cool to have the comedy relief there(i.e. Flash[JLU], Robin[Batman TAS], and Mikey[TMNT]), but a serious storyline is the way to go. That's why sometimes, I have a gripe with 80s cartoons. As much as I love them, sometimes they got a little too campy and it detracted from the main point of the story.

If you look at it, the shows did get an upgrade. So, it's not like we got stuck with just that one campy version:

TMNT -> TMNT 2003
Adam West Batman -> Batman TAS
Superfriends -> JL/JLU
Transformers -> Beast Wars

So, it's kinda cool to know that we have both worlds in this situation. The epitome of seriousness was Batman TAS. I don't think you can go any darker than that on American TV.

[True Grave]

Seriousness w/slight hints of camp here and there.

[maxx]

I like them to be serious. It's cool to have the comedy relief there(i.e. Flash[JLU], Robin[Batman TAS], and Mikey[TMNT]), but a serious storyline is the way to go. That's why sometimes, I have a gripe with 80s cartoons. As much as I love them, sometimes they got a little too campy and it detracted from the main point of the story.

If you look at it, the shows did get an upgrade. So, it's not like we got stuck with just that one campy version:

TMNT -> TMNT 2003
Adam West Batman -> Batman TAS
Superfriends -> JL/JLU
Transformers -> Beast Wars

So, it's kinda cool to know that we have both worlds in this situation. The epitome of seriousness was Batman TAS. I don't think you can go any darker than that on American TV.

u can go darker than batman the animated series..ruffnecks people were dieing on the show...batman no one really died..ur imagination was made to think people died..but no one said anything like someone was actually dead.

[DS]

u can go darker than batman the animated series..ruffnecks people were dieing on the show...batman no one really died..ur imagination was made to think people died..but no one said anything like someone was actually dead.


The creators admitted to people dying on the show. It's just that the censors made sure they didn't mention it. The FCC was just as evil back then as they are today.

The only cartoon that goes darker than Batman TAS is Spawn. And I'm talking about broadcast television.

[Xero Kaiser]

Serious. Some shows manage to do both pretty good (Bleach) but if I had to choose, I'd rather have a serious show

[ReggieHadoken]

Teen Titans came to mind when I saw this thread. This show has a well ballanced mixed of campyness and seriousness.

Personally, I prefer my action cartoons to be serious. Deathscythe already mentioned Batman: TAS and JL/JLU, so I'll go ahead and throw in Batman Beyond and Superman: TAS. Also, can't forget Gargoyles, one of the darkest things to ever come out of Disney.

[Shadowcuz]

i like serious storylines, badass villains, and kickass fights

[Catholic Light]

Im also curious would you consider G1 Transformers to be a middle of the road approach or do you think it is more campy.

just curious.

[DS]

Im also curious would you consider G1 Transformers to be a middle of the road approach or do you think it is more campy.

just curious.


It's a toy commercial, really. The first season was pretty dope. From there it started getting a lot more campier. Come on, all you have to do is look no further than a Decepticon in midevil times. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhHf8fkxYB4

IMO, it didn't really get serious until Beast Wars came about in terms of TV. The comics by Simon Furman were dope though. Crazy shit happened in all those issues.

[SFFanatic]

Serious. Batman: TAS and Batman Beyond(which is almost as good) are my favorite action shows because of the tone they take.