03 August 2011

Marvelous Animation Tour - Iron Man (1994)



For better or worse, the 1994 Iron Man animated series has a lot in common with the 1994 Fantastic Four animated series. Both series debuted on the same September day as part of The Marvel Action Hour and both had disastrous first seasons.




Like the Fantastic Four series, Iron Man got a makeover between its first and second season including a new animation studio, new credits, and new character designs. In neither case (even with the addition of Tony's mega mullet) was the makeover enough to prolong the series beyond 26 episodes.



During the first season, episodes frequently focused on Iron Man's team facing off against a super-sized super villain team led by Mandarin including Dreadknight, Blizzard, Blacklash (AKA Whiplash), Grey Gargoyle, Hypnotia, Whirlwind, Living Laser, MODOK, Fin Fang Foom and Justin Hammer. 


Iron Man's team, called Force Works was made up of Century, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Spider Woman. If you haven't noticed, there were WAY too many characters to keep track of, let alone to care about.



During season two, Force Works disbanded giving more focus to a smaller group of Iron Man, Spider Woman, and War Machine. A few guests stopped by, including Nick Fury and Hulk, but even though the second season was improved, it still wasn't great. Two parters The Armour Wars and The Hands of the Mandarin remain worth checking out, just keep your expectations in check.

Season 1 Intro:





Season 2 Intro:





No comments:

Post a Comment