The Avengers In Animation - A Retrospective
The obvious place to start would the 1960’s Marvel Superheroes Show, which featured daily blocks of Captain
America, Iron Man, Hulk, Submariner and finally Thor that aired in syndication. Possibly the cheapest cartoons
in memory, these stories where only minutes long and literally featured panels from the comic books with the
occasional animated sequence, such as lips moving or sound effects drawn. Whilst perfectly entertaining (especially
to fans of Jack Kirby) and immaculately faithful to the comics they are based on, these five shows are probably
best known for their utterly cheesy theme tunes, much like the Spider-Man cartoon from the same era. Just try
not to sing “When Captain America throws his mighty shield!” after hearing it! It would be well over 10 years before another Avenger arrived on the small screen, in any manner. With Marvel producing their own Spider-Man animated series for syndication in 1981, this gave them an excellent opportunity to place any character they wanted in the show. Only Captain America and The Submariner would guest star in this particular show, but when Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends arrived a few years later, it was filled with guest stars and cameos in it’s criminally short 24 episode run. 
Both of these cartoons absolutely scream “1980s!” at the tops of their voice, so don’t expect too much in the
way of fighting, as it’s simply not to be found. The series did faithfully represent several of The Avengers
however, in a style directly influenced by the likes of Sal Buscema and John Romita. Sr. The likes of Iron Man,
Thor and The Hulk appear in one form or another and Captain America returns once again in Seven Little Superheroes,
which is arguably the highlight of the entire series, until it’s baffling ending when the real hero proves
to be Aunt May’s dog, Ms. Lions. I told you this show screamed 1980s! Things picked up around this time when The Incredible Hulk was given his own animated series to air in the same block as Spider-Man. Despite featuring some typical 80’s cartoon cheese, The Incredible Hulk was genuinely one of the great cartoons of the decade and came across as that touch darker than the usual squeaky-clean fanfare. Featuring nice designs, great characters and stories and well as an outstanding voice cast, the tale of scientist Bruce Banner searching for a cure for his green alter ego and keeping the fact he was the great green goliath was easily the best superhero cartoon before a certain Dark Knight came to our screens in 1992. It was all a very short but sweet affair for ol’ jade jaws however, The Incredible Hulk was cancelled after only one season of 13 episodes to make room for more child friendly cartoons. Poppa Smurf was indeed the most powerful of foes back in the 80’s cartoon market…
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