Imagine the world's most prominent superheroes gathering together to face an alliance of the world's most cantankerous villains. Well, The Super Hero Squad Show Volume 1: Quest For The Infinity Sword! isn't quite what I'd imagine for that scenario, but I believe that was the intention of Marvel Animation. In Super Hero City where the SHS (Super Hero Squad) reside, the Hulk (Travis Willingham), Iron Man (Tom Kenny), Falcon (Alimi Ballard), Silver Surfer (Mikey Kelley), Thor (David Boat) and Wolverine (Steve Blum) are the supreme alliance of heroes, along with a little help from some other well known characters. Together, they guard the city from mayhem, all while trying to stop Dr. Doom (Charles Adler), and his own alliance of villains, from gathering infinity stones, which when pieced together hold the power to rule the universe.
This over-the-top, wacky series, which airs on Cartoon Network, is anything but a traditional comic spin-off. Everything, from the animation style to the usual brooding heroes and villains were thrown out the window to give viewers an idea of what those famous 2-inch Hasbro Marvel figurines would do...given they had the same opportunities as their more aesthetically pleasing counterparts. The answer is a lot of fart jokes and bickering.
Episode 1: “And Lo....A Pilot Shall Come” introduces us to a world where the superheroes can't fight until they “hero up” and the main super-villain, predictably, surrounds himself with dim-witted henchmen who routinely screw up. By the end of the first episode, it's pretty clear that The Super Hero Squad Show is not exactly for a discerning audience. There's a wealth of action, but mixed with the humor it's like watching a grade-school showdown.
The animators aimed for cheap laughs with zany accidents and the excessive use of repetition, especially with the signature “Hulk smash.” In between this pandemonium, both superheroes and villains fought and bickered among themselves as though they were on a VH1 reality show. The most memorable dispute was in the third episode “Hulk Talk Smack!” Up until this point, Hulk is portrayed as nothing more than an overgrown hammer, and his IQ as slightly less than one. In a library showdown, against the advice of Falcon, he picks up an infinity stone and transforms into Gray Hulk. Gray Hulk is smart, clean and sophisticated, and the SHS embrace this transformation until they realize that Gray Hulk is also a pretentious jerk. Falcon, who is bothered the most by this, tries to outwit him without success.
In an effort to get revenge, he resorts to pranking Hulk with a bucket of water. It's the kind of logic you would expect from either an 7 year-old, or the cast of Jack-Ass. In addition to the constant fighting and rivalry among the characters, the main ingredient that stood out was the show's fascination with bodily function. I have never seen so many references to boogers, farts or loogies packed in one show. It's disgusting but amusing...in a kid way.
To it's credit, the series did seem to smarten up a bit as it got going. By episode 4: “To Err is Superhuman!” the humor is noticeably less dumbed down. At one point, the characters even mention the USO and David Copperfield; references which would usually go over the heads of most younger viewers. The Super Hero Squad Show even pokes fun at itself, morphing its own catch phrase “hero up” into “ugly up” for the villains. I wanted to like this, and I tried to, but in the end, The Super Hero Squad Show proved too immature for my tastes. If you do decide to take a chance on the immaturity, I highly suggest taking a break in between episodes to save yourself the agony of having to listen to the “hero up” theme song several times in a row. If rabid monkeys could sing or play a tune, it would probably sound eerily similar.
DVD Bonus Features
The Super Hero Squad Show bonus features include a short interview with the legendary comic book writer and former president/chairman of Marvel comics, Stan Lee. There you'll find him in ecstasy over his part as the voice of mayor of Super Hero City. There's a short SHS World Tour video, featuring the SHS across the globe, including pictures with President Obama. There are also two trailers, one of which is an original for The Super Hero Squad Show, and the other, a preview for The Super Hero Squad Show Infinity Gauntlet video game coming in 2011.
"The Super Hero Squad Show Volume 1: Quest For The Infinity Sword!" is on sale July 13, 2010 and is not rated. Animation. Directed by Micheal Gerard. Written by Various (Anthology). Starring Alimi Ballard, David Boat, Mikey Kelley, Steve Blum, Tom Kenny, Travis Willingham.
