Never bring a hand to a fistfight. Wait….
Cartoon Network Presents #5
Featuring: Toonami
Don’t get your hopes up, anime fans. This is when Toonami was hosted by Moltar and Clyde 49. Using them as a framing device, when this came up in the anthology series it was to give the Hanna-Barbera adventure titles their moment to shine.
BUMPER WRITER: Terrance Griep, Jr. BUMPER ARTIST: Tim Harkins EDITOR: Bronwyn Taggart Birdman: “Act Of Kindness” WRITER: Terrance Grief ARTIST: Peter Gross COLORIST: Noelle Giddings LETTERER: John Costanza Herculoids: “Everybody Needs Somebody WRITER: Michael Kraiger ARTIST: Glenn Barr COLORIST: Bernie Mireault LETTERER: Phil Felix
Last time Clyde sent Moltar German Industrial Techno Music it blew his receiver at Ghost Planet. (While the stories are the more serious one, Moltar was based on the Space Ghost Coast To Coast version but less comical in the actual Toonami broadcast.) To readjust, Moltar has Clyde send him adventures from across the galaxy.
The first tale has Birdman traveling to Egypt when locusts made of pure darkness reign on one town. That same darkness surrounds a pyramid used by a follower of Set, the Egyptian god of evil (and a few other things, but evil is the focus in this story), who is trying to break back into our world. Though weakened by expelling his solar energy reserves against Set’s darkness, a gift from a little girl will save the day…and lead to another former Friday Night Fight entry.
What they got right: While I could complain about how the art doesn’t look like a cartoon, they look too good to do so. I wouldn’t mind a new cartoon looking similar to this. (Actually, I’d like a new cartoon that isn’t a legal drama parody. Please?) I like the moral of the story and Birdman and Avenger look good even with the usual “Birdman needs a recharge” story. Here it actually worked. Also, they seemed to indicate that Birdman got his powers from Ra, the Egyptian sun god. There’s an interesting origin story behind this.
What they got wrong: Actually, nothing. I kind of wish they had made more stories like this.
Clyde’s second footage comes from the Herculoids. Igoo is feeling alone, being the only rock ape the protectors of planet Amzot (I’ll get to that) have ever seen. Tara, Dorno, Gleep, and Tundro head to the rock forest but run into trouble. Speaking of Friday Night Fights, you’ll see the result of that tomorrow night.
What they got right: The characters sound like the characters and the artwork, like the earlier comic, looks like the characters but not like a cartoon. it still works, although I wouldn’t have minded a more cartoon-style look.
What they got wrong: I’m not sure that two statues are a proper substitute for actually finding your own kind. Please remember in the comments that this IS a PG site.
Other notes: Hey, I learned something. For the longest time I didn’t think the original series ever named the planet the show takes place on, while Space Stars called it Quasar. So I was often confused when they went with the name Amzot in the Toonami appearances in this anthology. Turns out an episode, “The Time Creatures”, did feature the name as Amzot, and Moltar and Zandor refer to the planet by that name in the Space Ghost episode “The Molten Monsters Of Moltar”. (I mentioned in yesterday’s Space Ghost comic that they crossed over with a few characters during the “Council Of Doom” arc.) Research is once again your friend.
Recommendation: Strongly recommended for fans of the original shows. Others could still take a look and see what kind of antics Moltar and Clyde 49 get up to when they aren’t on screen. It’s why I kind of missed them when TOM first appeared, although I soon warmed up to the little robot even before his upgrade.
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