ForeverGeek has an interesting writeup on Cartoon Network’s 15th (yes it’s been that long) anniversary. With quality issues in terms of creativity in shows and business acumen of the operators (outsourcing of animation and dubbing), Cartoon Network might be going the way of good TV gone bad (do I hear TechTV here?).
This October will be Cartoon Network’s 15th anniversary, and it is rather alarming the shape “Cartoon” Network is in. In only five years the network has disintegrated into everything that made MTV a laughing stock among music fans. Even more recent innovations in the network’s programming (Adult Swim) have deteriorated at light-speed thanks to lazy programming (12oz Mouse, Tom goes to the Mayor). Perhaps by Cartoon Network’s 20th anniversary, they will resemble the television powerhouse dedicated to preserving iconic animation they once were. However, if they’re anything like MTV, things are only going to get worse.
If you’re a lover of cartoons, you may agree or disagree with the author, as some comment-posters have. I know many geeks are likewise fond of Japanese animation, and would fight to the bone if any of their favourite Animes are regarded as poor substitute to American cartoons.
And for the fanboys (and girls) out there, here are some good reads suggested by the author, and some short comments.
- Detective Comics #820: “Face the Face part 7” – Well, Batman’s first One Year Later arc is almost over (just one installment left). For the most part, this arc has just been a tour of Gotham City and the new Post-Crisis world Batman lives in. A few surprises in what villains survived, what villains didn’t and what aspects of Batman’s history were reintroduced.
- 52 Week 5 – In this issue we get to see what happened to all those heroes who were stranded in space at the end of the Infinite Crisis. Most of the results were pretty gruesome, too. Think the “Amalgam” concept from the early 90’s only a little closer to the Megatron-Ratchet hybrid from Simon Furman’s Transformers comic.
- The Punisher (Max) #34 – This volume of the Punisher has been nothing but a string of the most outrageously violent, vulgar and vicious acts of brutality any human being can possibly comprehend. And Ennis does it all with a disturbing sense of humor, too.