My Top Ten Comic Based Cartoon Shows

Sup Vato Locos.  This is another segment that I would like to do weekly called My Top Ten.  This week I am choosing to spotlight the 10 best comic based cartoons.  I am not including any manga and for the most part am going to stick with the Marvel and DC.  There are plenty of shows that I may have left out that deserve to be on the list, but these were the best of the best.  Nostalgia factor may have gotten to me so I apologize in advance and I think that 2-5 could be mixed up in any order depending on the day.  So here it is the ten best shows based of cartoons. Enjoy!!!


Honorable Mention: Spiderman Unlimited - This show did not get much love while on the air, but it was vastly underrated. Here is the plot according to Wikipedia.
While covering the launch of John Jameson's one-man mission to Counter-Earth(another Earth located on the far side of the Sun), Spider-Man attempts to stop his two symbiote adversaries Venom and Carnage from boarding the shuttlecraft. Blamed for Jameson losing contact with our Earth by J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle, Spider-Man becomes a target of persecution by the media and the public at large, with a bounty placed on his head. Believed to be dead after saving a person's life in a fire, Peter Parker uses the ruse to embark on a mission to retrieve John Jameson on Counter-Earth. His new Spider suit using nanotechnology discreetly borrowed fromReed Richards to design a new suit that incorporates built in webshooters, stealth technology and anti-symbiote sonic weaponry. Making his way to the planet, Spider-Man learns that Jameson has fallen in with a band of freedom fighters opposed to theHigh Evolutionary whose Beastials, hybrids of animal and humanoid attributes, are the dominant species whilst humans are the second-class minority.

Although this isn't technically based on any comic book and an all new story line was created, it was still a great cartoon. The suit was different nanotechnology that was awesome and there were some twists and turns that you didn't see coming. With familiar characters with slight twists on them all.  Good guys being bad, bad guys being good. Almost Planet of the apes with Spiderman.

10. Superman: The Animated Series - This series was the quintessential Superman story. The boy scout that saves everyone and always does the right thing. They had a lot of fun crossovers with the Flash, Green Lantern, Batman and Lobo. I still maintain that this is the best Lex Luthor and Brainiac outside of the comic books themselves.  Occasionally, Superman would be a little overpowered for the villians that they had assigned him in the show, specifically Toyman and Weather Wizard. However, Parasite and Lobo knocked Superman around pretty good.  If you have not seen this show, you have to watch either the episode with Lobo or the episode where Batman disappears and Superman steps in to the Dark Knight's shoes with Robin guiding him.

9.  The Tick - The Tick was an incredible goofy offbeat superhero show, but it was entertaining and different than anything that had been done at the time or anything else that was on.   It basically made fun of every other show on this list.  It seemed like the Tick just fought people until his sidekick thought of something or did something that would save the day.  Then the Tick would take all the credit. It was done in a way where kids would still think its funny and may learn something, but that adults could laugh and enjoy it themselves. I remember My dad hated this show and would rarely let me watch it because it was too stupid. I think that also made me like the show even more since I wasn't supposed to be watching it. 



8. Justice League - The Justice League was basically a continuation of two other shows on this list, Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series.  However, this introduced Martian Manhunter, who was freakin awesome as well as Jon Stewart.  I was always a Hal Jordan Green Lantern guy, but this opened my eyes to a tough as nails Jon Stewart. This also gave plenty of screen time to a smart mouthed Flash, a no nonsense Hawkgirl and a Wonder Woman who you did not cross. The best part of this show was that the first couple of seasons were at least two episodes long, so the first episode would always leave you thinking that the League was in trouble.   Season three and four were not as good as the first two, but it did introduce other characters that were awesome to see like, Aquaman, who cut off his own hand. Additionally, you got to see Green Arrow, The Question, Huntress and Wildcat. There were a couple of time traveling episodes that were fun as well. Overall this was a great show that you should check out if you have not.  It is currently on Netflix.

7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - When the evil Shredder attacks, these turtle boys don't cut em no slack. One of the greatest theme songs of all time. Ninjas that are turtles that are trained by a rat.  Do you really need to know more?  This was the late 80s where punk was still in, just look at Rocksteady and Bebop.  I have rewatched some of these episodes and the first season really does not stand the test of time, but it does get better from there.  It was the typical kid good versus evil, but really nothing deeper than that.

Looking back at this show, it had one goal in mind, to sell you toys. With that being said, it was still a fun idea and captured every kids imagination.  Kids were always fighting which turtle they wanted to be. The Turtle van was one of the greatest toys that I have ever had.  Also, do you remember that the foot soldiers were robots in the cartoon.  I totally forgot about that I have watched the live action movie too many times. 


6. Black Panther - This was my introduction to Black Panther. Although it was a motion comic and may not technically be a cartoon, but the show was amazing.  The episodes were short, around 13 minutes, but still amazing.  SPOILER** The best part of this series is when Captain America gets his lunch handed to him by Black Panther.  This actually made me go back and read a lot of Black Panther Comics.  If you are interested in learning more about Black Panther, this is a great jumping on point.




4. Batman Beyond - Batman Beyond was every kids dream, get trained by the original Batman and have all his toys while fighting crime and going to school on the side. This had a lot of mature issues to deal with, like Terry's dad being murdered, corporate espionage, bullying, betrayal and responsibility.  It is always fun to see what the future holds for some of our favorite characters. One of the best episodes was where Bruce was taken by Talia to a Lazarus pit to make him young again. It was a great throw back and was great to see Terry and Bruce fighting side by side.  Also, there was a Return of the Joker movie that was great and incorporated a Batgirl and Robin element along with the original Joker.  This is one of my favorite animated movies and is a must watch for any batman fan.

4. Spiderman - The opening sequence alone blew me away as a kid.  Computer Animated opening sequence with great ninety's music. Wikipedia says that Joe Perry of Aerosmith did the music, which I had no idea until I started writing this and kind of blows my mind. This show did a ton of crossovers with other Marvel characters that were awesome.  They brought in  Blade, The Punisher, Daredevil, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Doomsday, Captain America, Red Skull, Iron Man and War Machine. The villains were all grade A in this show. They brought them all in, Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Venom, Carnage, Rhino, Scorpion, Shocker, Chameleon, The Lizard, Morbius, The Vulture and The Kingpin.  For the longest time I thought that the Kingpin was the main villain of Spiderman.  This show was so well done and mixed in a moral of the story each week while still being super entertaining. They captured the voice of Spiderman so well in this show.  Smart mouthed, funny and struggling with juggling his job/studies and his Super Hero duties. This is a must watch for any Spiderman fan.


3.X-Men - The Animated Series - One of the greatest opening theme song in a cartoon history, fighting with TMNT, Spiderman and Duck Tales - Da na na naaaaaaa na naaa Da na na naaaaaaa na naaa.  Wolverine pull back!!!! This cartoon is what made me love the X-Men. I hadn't had any exposure to the X-Men before this series.  Gambit and Wolverine were my favorite for sure, but Beast and Colossus were awesome as well. I loved the Sentinels, Omega Red and Magneto. I cannot say enough good things about this cartoon. Recently I have watched these again and some of it is pretty cheesy, but  most of it is still amazing. For a kids show it has the typical good versus bad, but it depicted social injustices that happen every day.  This show also had the coolest action figures around. My cousin had the Black Bird, which always tempted me to push him down, take the plane and run home.  Had he not been my cousin, this may have happened.   


2. Young Justice - I have never been a Teen Titans type of guy, but this story was so well done that
you will be hard pressed to find someone that did not like it. This story is a great coming of age story for the young sidekicks trying to find their way.  The Team starts out with Superboy, Robin/Dick Grayson, Kid Flash/Wally West, Aqualad/Kaldur, Miss Martian and Artemis. This was the first time that I thought Aqualad was actually bada$$ and wish they would have developed him like that more in comics. This is also the case for a couple other characters as well, including Sportsmaster, Red Tornado, Dr. Fate, Beast Boy, and Blue Beetle/Jaime Reyes who either I wasn't familiar with them or thought that the character was boring and or weak. 

The story telling was amazing with complex and mature issues.  I found and watched this show as an adult so no nostalgia factor gets in the way.  This is a must watch for anyone who likes the super hero genre. It is currently on Netflix and there have been rumors that a potential season 3 could be picked up by Netflix.  A rumor is probably all it is, but it still would be awesome if it happened.  From everything that I read, this show was cancelled because it was not selling enough toys. Whether it is true or not, this show was amazing and it being cancelled is a travesty.


1. Batman: The Animated Series - This will always the Batman that everything is compared to. This revolutionized cartoons and help launch 3 shows on this list, Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League and was the template for any darker cartoon that weren't just for kids. There were a couple goofy episodes, but for the most part, this was a perfect cartoon. The Noir feel, with old looking cop cars, blimps, and the occasional tommy gun, was so unique and incredible. This show was rebranded a couple of times, first to Batman & Robin, then The New Batman/Superman Adventures, which lead into the creation of Justice League.  The Animation was revamped in season 3 and 4, which had its pros and cons.  Even today this cartoon stands up to the test of time. The voice acting was cast perfectly. The supporting cast was carefully crafted and perfectly executed in Alfred, Bullock, Gordon and Montoya. The villains were dynamic and intriguing especially Catwoman and Mr. Freeze. This show also created vastly popular Harley Quinn, who just starred in Suicide Squad.

Don't agree with me, think I missed one or rated something too low or high?  Call me out in the comments.  Thanks again for taking the time to read.