A Critique of Ben 10: Omniverse

So last week a friend of mine asked me if I've been watching the newest Season / Chapter of the Ben 10 Animaited Series. "Ben 10: Omniverse" I told him "Of course I am!" I've been watching Ben 10 since it's inception and have been watching it religiously. I wasn't too fond of it in the beginning except for the fact he could turn into my favorite Alien they had created at the time. "Humongasaur!

As episodes passed the story got really good and as seasons passed we got the progression of Ben and his friends growing up. Something you don't see very much of in cartoons these days. Cartoon characters don't usually just grow up. I got really into Ben 10: "Alien Force" and then of course "Ultimate Alien". It was just getting better and better. Each of the next chapters got a bit more serious, the animation style changed to a more mature way of making the characters appear like young adults, and Ben was acting older himself.

New Ben looks different, and not in a good way

Which brings us now to Omniverse. I was excited to see it, but was then shocked at the animation style. I was like, "wait what's going on?" And it showed Ben young again, I was like 'Oh it's just a flashback." Flash forward and the animation style hadn't changed. Ben was the same age but appeared younger looking like his child counterpart, everything was super confusing. I was thinking "why did they go back to the old style? I'm so confused!"

This is the new Kevin? "Are you serious?" 

The new styles of Gwen and Kevin were horrible looking, I liked it better when they looked like real college age kids. Now Kevin looks like a high school Punk and Gwen a book nerd. They even went as far as to change her look yet again mid way through the season to make her look even younger and nerdier. I just didn't get it.

The new Omitrix is a lot like the old one, it even looks less impressive on looks alone. It looks like a regular digital watch. The new aliens although cool looking are far from impressive and some are just modified abilities of other pre existing aliens. Not to mention some of the new animation styles of aliens past are not good. The aliens can't evolve either. I was most disappointed with the new look of "spider monkey". They were ruining everything I grew to love. Why would you abruptly change back to your old ways if fans love the changes you already made?

Not to mention, now that Ben was going to be on his own in this one, he was more immature than ever and dressing it too. No more Ben 10 jacket, back to the t-shirt and yes, as if he wasn't trendy enough he has a hoodie now lol.

Also, they introduce Rook as his new partner. A grad of the plumber academy and an alien as well. I thought "oh no, not a new character, what else could go wrong?" He's essentially Ben's babysitting and taking up most of what was Grandpa Max's screen time or the time Kevin and Gwen were with them. Writing them out of 99 percent of the season was a bad idea. They were just beginning to solidify as a team.

Apparently this is what college does to young girls

Speaking of changes, did you know Gwen has an alternate form now like her grandma? When did she learn that in college? Would have appreciated a bit of back story on that one.

Anyway, back on topic about Rook. As much as I disliked him at first he's really grown on me and probably become my favorite character, probably because all other characters have suffered so much through all these back peddling changes.

Rook has a truck that turns into a ship. Which reminds me, I miss "Ship" the little dog like alien that could turn into anything.  Rook also has a weapon that can turn into just about anything he needs at the present moment. It's the swiss army knife of weapons. I want one!

Despite all of Omniverse's poor changes, Rook is a win!

Also, the great thing about Rook is the humor that he unintentionally delivers. He doesn't grasp earth sayings and therefore will often respond in some hilarious way or mispronounce what he is supposed to say in the situation.

I was told this is the final evolution of Ben 10 but I'm sure if they wanted to, they could take it a step further, especially because they've gone backwards so much this time around.

I'm seriously hoping there is a point to the back peddling, maybe Ben gets turned back into a kid or something? Does he get sent back in time? Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, I have to say story wise, with the exception of Rook, this evolution of Ben is a de-evolution and I don't like it very much. But I keep watching to see what Rook will do next, if any twists pop up in story or anything story wise in general that might be vital to know shows up.

So that's my breakdown of Ben 10: Omiverse. What do you think of the show? Leave a comment or Tweet Me :)

Until next time, this has been a Geek Critique.

-Paul

Avengers: Earth's mightiest Heroes...Ends?!

If you are as big of a superhero geek as I am, than you are equally as upset as I am that Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is no more! What started out as only a season finale quickly became the last we will see of these favored heroes. But why is this?

Bad ratings? Actually no. Far from it. Now that Marvel is owned by Disney, they seem to think it's right to yank a successful series from the airwaves simply because they want a single production company under their employment to be responsible for all Marvel related series. A new series already being thought up would come from the same people who created the Ultimate Spider Man cartoon series.

I wanted to love ultimate spider man, I really did. I gave it a chance. But the fact is this has nothing to do with the ultimate universe in the comics it's just about training spidey to be the best spider-man he can be while he's still a youngin' in high school and teaming him with other teenagers who are lesser known heroes. The plots are terrible, all its good for is a good laugh. But comic book heroes, even spidey, shouldn't be comedy 24/7.

The fact they are ending Avengers just to start another one under these guys is ridiculous. I doubt the next series will be any good if these are the people writing and producing it. Earth's mightiest heroes was cut down it its prime moments. So what happened during Avengers final hour?

In past episodes we've seen a variety of heroes pop up. Yellow-jacket, the fantastic 4, wolverine, spider-man etc. Everyone basically is contacted and reunited for what looks to be the end of the world. The cause? Galactus! Devourer of Worlds. Galactus brings several heralds to earth who all plan on helping him destroy the planet. Everyone splits into teams. But they all learn these heralds don't actually exist therefore cannot be harmed.

Surprisingly I was shocked to discover there was no Silver Surfer anywhere to be found. He had never even showed up in the series at all in fact. Kind of disappointing because this would have been the right moment to bring him in.

After about 25 minutes of fighting all over the globe getting them nowhere, the brains of the avengers save the day. Reed Richards & Tony devise a way to open a portal to the negative zone which would suck Galactus in, never to return. They are successful almost effortlessly with the help of Thor who pushes Galactus completely through the portal.

The Avengers victory is celebrated by all of Earth and thus ends n amazing series. You can definitely see there is still room to carry on, it didn't seem like a permanent ending at all, but we'll never see it again now will we? A real shame.

The new series will have a lot to live up to, but considering the minds behind ultimate spider-man and the fact all future marvel projects things do not look well at all for the future of marvel cartoons. I hope I'm proven wrong, I really do. But considering the fact Avengers was cancelled based on a greedy move and ultimate spider man was ordered for another season, I'm not getting my hopes up just yet.

Though I just recently discovered THIS GUY seems to disagree and says its all based hearsay that Avengers has been cancelled. I guess only time will tell, I'm not putting too much faith in these guys, I think they just want the heat off of them until a press release comes out.

What do you think? Is having all marvel cartoons under the same people a good move? Was it worth canceling a successful series? Tell me your thoughts on all of this.

DC Nation ushers in a new season of Green Lantern TAS

If you haven't been watching Cartoon Network lately, you wouldn't know there have been two new episodes of Green Lantern the animated series

With the Red Lanterns now soundly defeated, Hal Jordan picks up right where he left off only to have his life further dramatically changed. His long time love Carol has dumped him, not because she doesn't love him anymore, but because she knows their life together would never stand the test of time with his pressures of being a Green Lantern. With that being said, she also fires Hal knowing full well he cannot be both a Lantern and Full time test pilot. Poor Hal, Fired and Dumped in one day.

Guy from GL TAS 

With Hal on the brink of quitting the lanterns to go back to his old life we finally get introduced to another main character of the Green Lantern Corps. None other than Guy Gardner! While Hal was off playing in space with Killawog and Razor, Guy was named the new Guardian of Earth. Sorry Hal Earth has a new protector. Geeze, fired twice in one day and dumped.  Then to our surprise, Hal gets promoted to honor guard. He now patrols all of space. No pay raise though lol. And still no Carol....For now at least

Tohmar-rae makes a reappearance and now surely to be around for awhile. He as well is part of the honor guard and has taken a liking to Hal. Enter the newest threat. The Manhunters. Surely to be the main threat of this season. Killawog and their sidekick ship Aiya rejoin Hal and Tomahr for another jetset journey to destroy all remaining Manhunters, only to discover the person in charge of this fiendish plot. I'll leave it there. No big spoilers for everyone.

Thoughts on this season so far? Love the way they have introduced Guy. He has a great portrayal in the series and is very classic "Guy" in a lot of ways. I loved the "Frienemy" type chemistry he and Hal had with one another. Dietrich Bader was a perfect casting choice for Guy as well. I hope we get to see more of guy later on, I'd like to say hes my favorite so far but in all honesty there is something I've come to love about each lantern. Usually I pick one character to stick by but it just goes to show what good casting, stories, and scripts can do for a character.

Is that a Green Lantern Limited Edition PKE Meter? 

Tomar's portrayal reminded me that of an alien Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters with repeated phrases such as "I'm detecting a low energy ion pulse" Are we busting ghosts or Manhunters? I mean, just look at this picture of him, its a GL version of a PKE meter!

Chip can't talk, but he can still kick Hal Jordan's butt any day of the week.

We also get to see "Chip" our squirrely little lantern kick Hal's butt then help him out later. Most likely not the last time we've seen him either as him and Hal became fast friends. 

I keep looking forward to the next episode of this series every week because something has always come out of left field to surprise you in the best way possible. 

Not once did I think "I can miss one episode" or "That episode was boring" anything and will more than likely be answered later, a good tease for the time being. 

If you haven't seen the series yet, watch it from the beginning, it won't seem like much at first but there is superb growth throughout the storyline and the poor CGI is forgivable with all the other things it has going for it.  

Here's a video showing you the opening title sequence to the show.

If you HAVE seen the series, what do you think of the new season so far? And anything you are hoping to see?

As always I ask you to leave a comment, or Tweet me on what you thought of this week's critique topic. Tweet me  @PSiege1

Until next time, remember....

"Sometimes its better to ask for forgiveness later, than to ask permission first"

- Hal Jordan, Green Lantern Season 2 Episode 2

Arrow takes Aim; The Turtles still have the Power!

Well the results are in. TMNT was number was the number one cartoon to watch during it's Saturday premiere. Not only that, but Nickelodeon has already called for 26 more episodes after this season ends.  This is according to the writers at Comingsoon.net / Superherohype.com Seems Nickelodeon is confident the Turtles still have the power. And so far, they have proven that. 

I can't say I was all that impressed with episode 2 but was glad they highlighted Raph's attitude issues. Not to mention, I was psyched about the guest voice appearance. Kid's wouldn't know it, but if you have a keen sense for voice identification like myself you'd notice the human Raph was having arguments with the entire show was none other than Comedian Lewis Black. Who better to piss off Raph than the King of Attitude himself. Nice casting job Nickelodeon, gotta give you props for that one.

Speaking of premieres Wednesday premiered the long awaited Green Arrow Live Action Series on CW. To clear things up, the Answer is No! This is not a Smallville Spin-off. It's a complete reboot, different actor and it takes place in Star City. Where Green Arrow is actually from in the comics. This is  along the same time period though, about a young Oliver Queen. Here's a peek at the show's trailer.

So after watching the premiere what are my thoughts? I can honestly say, the acting is great and the actor choice for Oliver was fantastic. I even liked how they showed him on the island and after 5 years appearing as the Oliver we know now. Full blonde hair, and goatee. A nod to the current look was fun to see in case he were to ever go for that look in the future.

As much as I was pleased with things that had continuity, things that differed bothered me very much. I'm not one to judge slight changes or implementing new stories with this being a different Universe and all but some things shouldn't be changed or blended together.

Biggest complaint, Oliver has a sister who he calls speedy. Without even seeing the next episode I'm already upset about this. Speedy (both male and female versions) are some of my favorite DC Characters. Taking aspects of both characters and putting them together as one ruins a lot of potential story. Not to mention Oliver was never related to either of them. So in terms of the sister character the show is already a complete turn off to me.

Second biggest gripe, they are rushing the introduction of Black Canary. As far as I know she never knew Oliver or had any issues with him. Unless I'm missing something from the Comics which I very well could be. But honestly I'd rather they not know each other and meet somewhere down the line as heroes. Why must everyone know everyone or be related to someone in this show? You can't just cross paths? Seems a little forced to me.

But enough about my gripes, here's more of what I like about the show. Merlin is in the show, you gotta have one of the biggest enemies or the show is no good. We could even see Ras Al Ghoul in the future (fingers crossed) that would be amazing!

Then theres the huge mystery of seeing Deathstroke's mask at the very beginning of the show. If you didn't catch it, it was on a pole by the fire that Oliver had set off. True Deathstroke was never a key character in the Green Arrow stories but I'm perfectly content on seeing him show up if he does. He's an awesome villain to battle. I just hope they don't screw him up too much like they are with the Speedy character.

Finally, I'm glad they are coming up with creative uses for the Arrows in true Green Arrow fashion. I need an arrow that can transfer money into my bank account too lol.

I believe there is potential for the show. Especially when I hear the Royal Flush Gang showing up is around the corner. Again, a favorite group of Villains so I hope they don't screw them up too. I'd say thats what I'm looking forward to most at the moment though.

There are always going to be some things about this show that will irk me, but I just need to keep reminding myself its a different Universe. I can still love things how I like in other ways such as animated show versions. Even the Smallville version wasn't too bad.

Speaking of Green Arrow, they announced yesterday Oliver will be on the main roster for the new DC Comics Videogame set to release April 1st 2013. If you haven't heard of it it's called Injustice: Gods Among Us with the likes of such characters as Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, Robin, and more. Since Green Arrow only has skills not powers I'm excited to see how creative they will get on making his moves that much more epic! Here's a preview to show you how he's going to look in the game.

That's all for this entry, don't forget to leave a comment with your thoughts. You too can be a Geek and Critique! You can also Follow me on Twitter @PSiege1 Until next time :-)

Happy Mutation Day!

This first Post of this Blog is very symbolic for me. Not only is this a genesis of new beginnings as you follow me along on my journey of all things Geeks love, but you will see what I am most passionate about in the Geek World. 

Secondly, We will cover the main topic of this post. The premier of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Nickelodeon which took place today. I will reflect, express my loves, my dislikes etc. about the first episode. I grew up with the Turtles and it was probably the first geeky thing I ever loved. 

I, for as long as I can remember have always been deemed a Geek. I was never any good at sports. I watched a lot of TV, and my earliest memories were of Comic Books of Superheroes, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Ghostbusters. I still have not grown out of these passions I grew up on and probably never will. I'm a big kid! 

So prepare for lots of critiques involving things like Superheroes and the like. 

Now that we are done with the formalities of introduction. On to our critique... or to put this simpler, my opinion of the TMNT premier. There has been a very long building period up until this point. 

Many fans will have their own opinions but this is the way I see it. Growing up in the 80s you hope your childhood to stay in tact. But Nickelodeon is not the first company that comes to mind with you think TMNT. I was rather quite scared about the acquiring of the franchise. 

I saw very early on sketches and it looked as if weapons were being changed. I was like "Oh Hell No they didn't!" Thankfully these changes never went through. But I was still afraid of the content being overly cartoony. The turtles are chillin with Spongebob now. 

Now, I know what you are saying. "It's a cartoon, it should be cartoony." Animation has come a long way though. There are cartoons for adult audiences now. They needed to draw a line where it was just childish enough without being considered stupid by adults. 

There was another Turtles series before this one and after the 80s. era. They did a great job blending the old fashioned 80s with the hardcore comics that the turtles originally stemmed from. 

Nickelodeon's style definitely goes more 80s, right down to the theme song and intro. Accurate, yet spoiled by a rap remix blended with it. Still, I think it will grow on me like fungus. 

The turtles have their own unique look with little details. Leo has white scar marks on his face, Raph has a crack in his shell, and Mikey has Ginger like freckles on his face expressing his true child-like nature.  

Speaking of child-like nature, Nickelodeon has taken the term "Teenage" literally, and tapped into the fact they are all only 15 years old. So they argue like little kids a lot. But they can also be smart mouthed as well like teens tend to be. Adults can relate to the constant sarcasm. They have also updated their catchphrases a bit. No longer will Mikey scream "Cowabunga" now it's "Booyakasha!" 

The voice cast for this time around is Jason Biggs (American Pie) as Leo, Sean Astin (Rudy) as Raph, Greg Cipes (Teen Titans) as Mikey, and Robert Paulsen as Donnie (Rob is actually the original 80s Raph) 

If you are a turtles fan from the 80s you can relate to the headache I was getting hearing Raph's voice come from Donnie's mouth. Why they chose to do this is beyond me. However, its still great to see Nick was smart enough to connect some nostalgia.

Rob is putting a new spin on Donnie. No longer is he the anti-social smarty pants. Now he's compassionate of others, often seen as Raph's reason to cause trouble, and is lovelorn for the reinventing of April O'Neil. 

Leo is same old Leo, obsessed with leading, duty and honor, but now this time in a more child like sense bowing down to fictional heroes on tv like we all did as a kid. I liked that. 

Raph still has an attitude as always, but hes less aggressive this go around and is more sarcastic. I'm sure Nick wasn't too fond of a violent Raph. 

Mikey is more kid like than ever. He is the true epitome of your bratty little brother, and it's pretty hysterical. 

 However, it's impossible for me to take Leo seriously at all. Hearing Jason Biggs' voice you are just waiting for an American Pie moment to happen any second. 

Sean Astin surprised me greatly! He's an excellent Raph and at first I thought theres no way he could hack it. Glad to be proven wrong. 

As for Rob, again, I wrestle with my feelings over him taking the voice of Donnie, but with great voice talent like his I know   he will take Donnie into unexplored territory. There can only be growth for this turtle. 

The story is great, there is a more sense of family from the very beginning. The turtles don't even know what pizza is until half way through so this is a true reboot. The series starts with them going topside for the very first time. April is the same age as them so shes not a reporter yet. She seems to be flirting with Don a bit, He fell for her from the very start. 

The Krangs are featured as alien invade robots, so this is reminiscent less of the 80s version with only one Krang. A new villain is created, one never seen anywhere in past series or comics. 

After an hour premier and some antics and laughs by the four the Shredder is in the shadows and about to make his debut next week. 

There is so much potential in this series, I look forward to waking up Saturday mornings once again, just like old times! 

Here's a sample of the first episode 

Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a comment and stay tuned for another Geek Critique by me. 

-Paul