Avengers XD

Kaldath was kind enough to send along the following:

This Coming Wednesday Disney XD will be premiering a brand new Avengers Cartoon series. Last night and this morning, they showed a BOAT LOAD of 8 minute Long micro episodes setting things up for the premier. These Micro Episodes are on Youtube, and I thought you might like to see them, so here is a link for you.

One of my long-standing aggravations with my "out in the boondocks" Internet access is that watching streaming video is incredibly painful. So while I haven't yet been able to wait the requisite hours to actually watch one, I definitely like the idea of an Avengers cartoon, so I'm putting it up in the "Things I Like" file with the understanding that I can withdraw my provisional liking should the show actually, you know, suck.

Here's mini-episode 1:

I have to admit, I'm a little dubious about this. Just from the stills, it looks like Marvel's continuing to go with the traditional Japanese animation style, which I've never cottoned to. DC's animation studios in my opinion have always been much more successful than Marvel's, the exact opposite of their movies.

What makes DC's animated shows great is that they pick a unique visual style and go for it, combining it with great storytelling and a solid take on the characters. It started with Bruce Timm's Batman and hasn't slowed down, even as they abandoned that style for Darwyn Cook's "New Frontier" or the Kirby-like "Brave and the Bold". Marvel hasn't ever managed that same level of visual or storytelling success, in my opinion.

But a new day dawns, and hopefully "The Avengers" will right the ship. I'm curious to hear what you all think of the shorts.