Lionheart08's Journal: The corporate fat cats and the moderators continue to try and silence. Apparently the truth is to much for them to tolerate. Fanboys turn against me because I refuse to conform to any group. I'll let them have it there way, I'll take my influence away from system wars. They can continue to fight amongst themselves, eventually getting banned one after another. Then the fanboys will look up and shout "Save Us," and I'll whisper "No."

• 22Dec 09

  Top Ten Animated Series from the Past Decade: #6

  The Venture Bros.
  2003 - Present

  During the Boondocks Entry, I mentioned that there is a total lack of decent animated series on Adult Swim. Now in days, we get a bunch of crappy shows like Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, so outside of a few Anime Series, there's not a lot about Adult Swim I like anymore. That is, except for The Boondocks and The Venture Bros. Venture Bros. in particular caught my attention by satirizing elements from old Hanna-Barberacartoons and Comic Book series.

  The first thing I thought of when I first saw an episode of the Venture Bros. was Jonny Quest. Shortly afterwards I started laughing uncontroably because how sharply it lampooned the series. The interesting thing aboutThe Venture Bros. is, while itstarted off as a parody of Johnny Quest and other adventure shows of the same line, it ended up gaining it's own identity as time went on. The characters, who once epitomed the ideal of failures of their archetypes; Hank and Dean being failures as "Adventurers", Dr. Venture fails as a Scientist, and the Monarch at killing Dr. Venture) ended up developing past these traits. While the show still has it's over the top humor, you actually begin to relate to the characters for their short comings. So in short, in my opinion, Venture Bros. is a show, which while starting out good, ended up developing into something much more better series.

  

  • Posted Dec 22, 2009 7:12 pm PT
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• 21Dec 09

  Top 10 Animated Series From the Past Decade: #7

  Star Wars: The Clone Wars
  2003 - 2005, 2008 - Present

  This decade saw the conclusion of the Prequel Trilogy to Star Wars. To say the least, it the Trilogy wasn't really good. Cheesy acting, a really bad romance story between Anakin and Padme, and poor story pacing really led to some poor movies. Despite that however, there has been some pretty impressive adaptions of the Trilogy that made me more and more interested in these previous stories. These came in the form of the two series; Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

  The first series (the traditionally animated one) consisted almost entirely of 2-5 minute shorts (though the third season would have 15 minute episodes)and was animatedby the guys who also created Samurai Jack. Perhaps my favorite thing about the serieswas the thedevelopment of Anakin. Despite it's short length, it perfectly illustrated Anakin's descent into the darkside far better than the movies ever did.The Series also saw to the introduction of General Greviouswho is easily my second favorite Prequel Character (second only to Count Dooku.)

  The second series of the same name kickstarted last year when the pilot movie was released to theaters. Although it got off to a shaky start (the pilot movie was meant for TV afterall) the series has become the best thing from the Prequel verse. The series puts more emphasis on fleshing out some of the side characters, while continuing to build up Anakin's character even more (making his downfall in the third movie that much worst.) The episodes tells very well written stories, especially the episode rookies, which tells a story of Rookie Storm Trooper who have to withstand an invasion from Droids. Ultimately, both series rank among my all time faves.

  

  • Posted Dec 21, 2009 8:18 pm PT
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• 20Dec 09

  Top 10 Animated Series From the Past Decade: #8

  The Boondocks
  2005 - Present

  The Boondocks is a special case because I just didn't know exactly where to rank it on my list. I had not known about the comic strip until the I watched the show, and after reading and watching both, I have to say I love both. The comics served more as Aaron Mcgruger's Political Soap box and his cyncism towards common popular trends. The show however, entirely because it can't keep up with current trends like it's comic predecessor, essentially lampoons both "Black Culture" and everyone's views of Black Culture.

  The Boondocks is arguably one of the few good things left on Adult Swim. With shows like Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hungerforce becoming increasingly more sex driven comedy it's refreshing to see a show that's just plain funny. As I said previously, because the show is not as up-to-date as the comic (case-in-point, there was an episode about Hurricane Katrina in 2007) much of it's humor comes from lampooning Popular Black Culture. Whether it's mocking the homosexual undertones in Rap Music, immitating kids who try to idolize the gangster life (in the form of Riley), or just simple things such as the profuse use of the "N" Word, the humor is always on point. Perhaps the most thought provoking thing about the show is it can also make you think. Behind all the outrageous humor, the show can you make you realize some of the racism that still remains in the world and even make you question whether Martin Luther King Jr. would truly act the way he did in one particular episode if he saw the current state of the world.

  

  • Posted Dec 20, 2009 9:22 pm PT
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