Let's Look at the State of Superheros Back in the Day!

You've probably noticed that in the 2010's, superheros are a pretty big deal.  Back in 1994, there were also lots of superhero shows -lots, as we shall see in a minute- and "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" was a monster hit.

So of course, more Sentai series flooded the airwaves to cash in ride the tide.  I wonder if anyone has any nostalgia for "Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills"?  (Which, unbelievably, it turns out isn't made up by the author as a joke to see if us readers in the future were paying attention.  Although maybe, given later series like "The Mystical Knights of Tir-Na-Nog" [Sentai and also Irish folklore as interpreted by somebody who saw the commercial for "Celtic Moods" once] and the insane "Big Bad Beetleborgs" [Sentai and also classic movie monsters and a horrifying Jay Leno Genie thing because sure why not], it's not that unbelievable.)



But it's in animation that we find more of the established comic superheros in 1994.  This deeply strange (oh, we will get to that) article credits "Power Rangers" for their rise in popularity while ignoring the fact that, under some title variation or other, arguably the greatest superhero animation in recent history has been going strong for several years now.  I speak of course of "Batman: The Animated Series", which the author of this article enjoys because he can watch it with his six-year-old son, since it's easy to tell that Batman and Robin are good guys.  Not like in "Gargoyles", where the titular characters look scary.

Now... six is definitely a little young for "Gargoyles" to be fair.  It was the show you had to take notes on after all.  But the thing that strikes me as weird is that it's not only the little kid who can't process the series; that'd just be understandable.  It's also the grown-ass adult who can't understand that the monstrous-looking but very honorable Gargoyles are good guys, even though they fight obvious villains to protect the city and Goliath spends at least half of every episode talking about duty and bravery and generally being Proud Warrior Guy With A Very Sad Back-Story.

You know, like Batman is a Proud Warrior Guy With A Very Sad Back-Story.  Though the author just doesn't get who Batman is and why he fights villains and... uhhhhgh...

There's other weirdness, including a dismissive mention of "X-Men" and a very brief side-glance at "The Tick".  There's also a surprisingly fair explanation of why Disney was way out of their tree when trying to market "Gargoyles".  (I still can't look at their initial home media release's cover without thinking, "Ahahaha, damn..."  Looks like the States got that "Moms, this is totally an OK Disney movie to buy for your kids look how everybody's smiling cutely" cover while European markets got something just a tiny little bit more indicative of the actual show.)




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Draw of the Day

Everybody has a "Gargoyles" fan-character, here's mine. She's a library Gargoyle of course.