Thursday, May 17, 2018

My Crazy Youth: Swamp Thing- The Cartoon Series

If DC wants to make new Swamp Thing, I might as well cover this.

After the Comic been affected by the release of the Batman Film (cutting Alan Moore's run down to avoid any 'bad publicity'), they decided to then...market the hell out of Swamp Thing.  Comics!

From 1990 to 1993, he had a Live-Action Show (which I'll talk more about later).  In 1991, he also had this short-lived Cartoon Show...
In this 5-Episode Show, Swamp Thing is just already a thing (his origin told in flashback) and Arcane wants to study him to become immortal.
As you can see, things don't go too well for Mr. Arcane.  Who's he got with him?
At first, he has these guys and their gimmick weapons- like plant killer spray and a boat.

Just to be clear- these two guys are *supposed to be* human?!?  Sure they are!
He makes them into his Un-Men (aka new toys to buy).  They fail spectacularly in only the first Episode, but I'm sure they will totally redeem themselves.
Of course, we all know what this is really about...
Nostalgia is a beautiful thing.  Right off the bat, the Show has a Theme Song that you will just love or hate.  It is the DK Rap of Cartoon Intro-Songs.  You really have to hear it for yourself.  Once you get past that, you get a pretty silly and shallow experience.  Swamp Thing exists for one of two reasons.  First- to be part of a Creature Feature.  Both of his Live-Action Films- flawed as they may be- excel in that regard.  The first is definitely a darker version, but they touch upon many of the same things.  The second reason- to tell an Eco-Friendly Tale.  It's one thing to thing of, say, Swamp Marshes in a State you don't live in dying out, but it's another for Swamp Thing to die out!  His name is Alec- he's special, dammit!  The Show doesn't really do well in either regard.  Arcane does make his mutants, but they aren't that inspired.  The poor guy who is now like 80% Centipede- the original Human Centipede!- is neat, but otherwise 'meh.'  The bigger thing about the Show is just how blatant the whole thing is about toys.  In the first Episode alone (out of 5, mind you), we get three shades of Swamp Thing, two forms for each Henchman (regular and Mutant), Arcane in 2 forms, two sidekicks and at least 3 Vehicles!  Tone it down, guys!  The Show is theoretically kind of rare (in non-digital form), so that does add to the appeal of it in 2018.  Just, whatever you do, don't make a Shot that will look really goofy in a Screen Cap for some jerk on the Internet to post ironically.  Oops...
Another strange and quirky Show from my childhood.  Was it just a toy commercial?  Kind of, yeah.

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