Monday, October 18, 2004

Cartoon Chronicles: Super Madness #6

Well, Wednesday was my sister's 6th birthday. The party wasn't until Friday, though. My dad & step-mom paid for a party at Pump It Up. If you've never heard of it, it's basically a pre-planned party for younger (and sometimes older) kids. You schedule a party there, and they'll let everyone who's with you completely tear the place apart. They have those inflatable jungle gyms and mazes for kids to race through and jump around in (hence the name), and some arcade machines. If you're planning a party for the young'ins, and you've got the money for it, I highly recommend it. It's pricey, but you're not the one who has to clean up afterward. I've changed the background song. If you didn't like the Ricky Fante song, you probably won't like the Anthony Hamilton song I've just put up. If you like Anthony Hamilton, you're in for a treat. Speaking of treat, I'm still deciding on this year;s Halloween costume. Last year I was Beast from the X-Men. I'd do that again, but that'd just be tacky. And with that comic book reference, let's segue into today's Cartoon Chronicle... Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Iceman and Firestar It started out like any other Spider-Man series. Peter Parker is a college student, living with his Aunt May, and a struggling photographer. As most of us know, that's where things stop being normal. One day, Peter starts to hit on this foxy new girl named Angelica Jones. Problem is, Angelica's guy-friend, Bobby, is the jealous type. Soon, Peter is having several pranks pulled on him that involve his food being too cold in one bite, and blazing hot the next. Turns out Angelica and Bobby were none other than the X-Men's Firestar and Iceman. They move into Aunt May's house, as she's been thinking of taking in boarders for money, anyway. Soon, the trio (Spidey, Iceman, and Firestar) are fighting crime together as the Spider-Friends. I know, I know. Spider-Friends is a horrible name for a superteam. Wanna know where their other options were? The Ex-X-Men and Iceman's Adoring Fans. They made their choice. A lot of you probably have no idea who Firestar is, or you have her confused with Teen Titans' Starfire. Firestar is a mutant with the power to manipulate and generate micorwave energy. Without getting too technical, let's just say she has fire-powers. She was supposed to premiere in her own comic book miniseries (then joining the X-Men books) in Spring 1985, but her comic was pushed back to 1986. Still, she debuted on Spider-Man's new TV show in 1985 anyway. The writers in the animated series didn't know where to go with her character, because she hadn't even been written into the comics yet. So they made her and Iceman former X-Men. When she finally premiered in the Uncanny X-Men books later that decade, she was only 13 and never actually joined the team. Her character was thus tweaked beyond recognition. Plus she had this weird ability in the animated series to be a brunette as Angelica, but have dual-shaded and highlighted red hair when in her Firestar costume. It's always bothered me. I know what some of you are thinking, and despite being the huge nerd that I am, I actually had to Google that information about Firestar before I wrote it. I'm a comic book nerd, but not a "I own comic books made before I could read" nerd. For that matter, I don't own any comic books. So would I recommend it? Yeah, why not. It was good programming in its day, and it was a little tongue-n-cheek. Nothing to take seriously. It's good for a nice laugh, when you want some 1980s animated campiness. Next time: Space Ghost. Before the talkshow, he was a superhero, and his bandleader was a villain. Much Love

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