And Scooby Doo looses his cred...again.. for a 2nd time

[silverzeo]

Saw this preview on CBR....and just... WOW.




And 4 issues in and they kinda jump the shark with their team up book... why am I not surprise?


And yes. Robin here is the same the Robin in the earlier issues... guess how they explain this.



Yeah...  that explains the total art shift too, not like they could have drawn the gang in TTG style... and really? They bring up the voice work too in this? Cause it is SO easy to hear how people talk and sound when you read their dialogue balloons... would say it's an Easter egg, but to who? To those who would get it would be too old for this book...

I know I shouldn't be hating a preview...  but still this is a total promotion for the new Titans show and their comics too... thanks WB/CN for making THIS happen.... wonder if any, if not ALL the Teen Titans DIE in this comic like how most of the episodes of the show has them to be. BB pulls a prank and every is literally dead, Robin gets super-powers, stops all crime everywhere, lives a mundane life till he is on his deathbed and regrets his powers, only to have friends come out and laugh at him before he flat lines, and Cyborg's head hooked up to the tower, goes power mad, and decapitates all his friends' heads and put them on appliances... YEAH. Glad to know Scooby Doo is going to be affiliated with THIS show... sure beats that annoying nephew of his.. maybe if we're REALLY lucky... an issue will have Scoob just might. MIGHT team up with one of CartoonNetwork's  oldest running shows right now... Johnny Test.

I don't want to be the nerd who rants about stuff like this, just on previews of things he hasn't seen the full story of... but how can I not as a fan of the Teen Titans show, animation, and comics in general? A lot of shows and parodies dump on Scrappy being the worse thing about the franchise, even by the franchise itself several times. But to be far, while he may not the most liked thing about the show, he was just a TIP of an ice berg of bad ideas for the show... and this comic just screams "Worse than Scrappy" Heck, WB seems to milk "hating Scrappy" almost like Family Guy does with Meg or the newer SImpsons episodes with Skinner.

And with all that said, I end this with a parody comic I came across on Tumblr... and another rant...



Yeah. That a legit question there. Ben10 has a toyline... but Johnny Test? That show not only outlasted ALOT of the other CN shows that got canned, but it also seem to have outlasted most of the other "classic" CN shows too. Hell, he was somehow in the 20th Anniversary of the Network (but not ME\egas or SWAT Kats) How is he still on... and don't say it's because the show is so cheap to make... cause we know that's ONE reason...
 

Comments

[drexer]

I love a good nerd rant as much as anyone else, but I can hardly follow what exactly is being complained about here.

Is it the show? The teamup? The art-style?

I'm lost.

[silverzeo]

Pretty much all of the above.

[silverzeo]

... but I guess I was using rage-lish when writing this...

[coldfury]

I think this is a bit of a harsh review of TTG. I mean, it's not *supposed* to be Teen Titans. It's a series of slapstick shorts, it's not supposed to have any strong continuity.

I mean, if it's not your thing, that's cool. But I think you're looking at something aimed at kids and trying to shame it out of existence because it was made for kids. That's not going to work out very well.

[silverzeo]

Yeah, I know. When I watched the first 2 episodes, I kinda liked it and I thought that what the show is about: the lives of the Titans outside of fighting crime... but then I got the episodes where the characters were just jerks and I didn't care for it... BUT THEN... there were the episodes where the Titans seem to die or have horrible stuff happen to them, like the episodes I mentioned before. The show ended up with darker stuff than season 4 of the original show... and THAT'S aimed for a younger audience!?!?

[rolzup]

I've got to say, my own kids LOVE TTG!, and think that it is absolutely hilarious.

They also really like the original Teen Titans cartoon, albeit not as much as their mother does. But the frenetic silliness of TTG! really appeals to them, and the darkness? It's not, tonally. Certainly, it's no worse than the stuff that *I* loved as a kid.

Indeed, has any Titan faced a fate as dire as that of Daffy in Duck Amuck? Has Slade at any point been overheard chanting "Kill the Wobin, kill the Wobin!" ?

And I enjoy it because it's smarter than it looks, and the little in-jokes that it sneaks in are really quite funny. Plus, the kids and I both love the TTG! version of Batman....

(Plus, I'll take even the darkest of Teen Titans Go! episodes over any given episode of Spongebob.)

[silverzeo]

Okay... I really do need to get it through my head that not everyone likes/hate the same things as me...

But how do they feel about Johnny Test?

[rolzup]

Johnny Test, they don't care about. Youngest's favorite show is Peppa Pig, eldest's is probably Adventure Time...although, given his druthers, he'd prefer to watch Minecraft videos before all else.

I do not understand this, but I accept it.

Similarly, the boys both thought that Green Lantern show was fantastic, and Young Justice was not worthy of their time. I held the precise opposite opinions, but kept this to myself.

Annoying Orange, for the record, is where I drew my line in the sand.

[silverzeo]

Yeah, those are fair enough viewpoints...

At first, I thought Family Guy and any other Seth McFarlene show was getting worse with each season... as they seem to defy any form of logic, common sense, and their own continuity for their own cheap jokes, most of which worthy of Marvel Comics' "Mar-ville" if Mar-ville had an even HIGHER high-horse,a nd thought a majority of people felt the same... and when Brian "died" this season (and just to blow off steam, Cleveland doesn't bring THAT up when the guys slamming him for his show... BECAUSE? And another note: they think Bob's Burgers is nothing?), I learned I was wrong as people made and signs petitions to bring Brian back... the same Brian who lied and manipulated a blind woman and did nothing for 6 years suffering horrible neglect because he thought their day care lady was hot....

[silverzeo]

Another question: How do any you feel about that new Tom and Jerry Show?

[rolzup]

Oh lord, there's a new Tom and Jerry?

The kids would probably like it; Youngest is obsessed with "Tom and Jerry Kids" for some reason, despite his brother's moans that "You've seen this episode a million billion times already!"

I'm not entirely certain that he's exaggerating, either.

I've never been a fan myself. Even as a kid, Tom and Jerry was a "there's nothing *good* on" cartoon, and you'd only watch it as a last resort. The only two episodes that really stick out as good in my mind were the spy episode, and one set on a space-station. Oh, and Jerry's uncle Paco! "C...c...c...crambone!"

For the most part, though, Itchy and Scratchy have it right, with the violence. And, for the early episodes, there's the racist bits...which they still showed on TV when I was a kid!

[silverzeo]

Yeah... it's kinda like Tom and Jery Tales... cept they're using Flash anoimation... and not the good kind, like Friendship is Magic or Wakfu....

Really, the kids watch the Tom and Jerry kids show too? Yeah, I barely remember that show... and they had Droopy have a son that was dropped after the spin off (yes: Droopy and his son got a spin-off from that show) was canned. I also notice how much a jerk Spike was as he beat up Tom the Kitten (which made me wonder recently: why are Tom and Jerry the only 'kids' of the show while everyone else was pretty much normal age?).

But yeah, Tom and Jerry plots CAN be a tad predictable (like Tom has to get Jerry our of the house or keep it clean, other wise he will be in trouble... guess how they ended.) and it also the 2nd franchise after Scooby Doo that WB seems to milk alot (One bad theater release movie that even I got bored in the middle as a tyke, and a dozen direct to video movies).

And forget the racism parts (almost EVERY cartoon, no matter what studio, had those at the time). One the shorts they play TODAY actually had Tom SMOKE a CIGAR! ... do you know how impossible to even show a cigar in anything with young demographic audience anymore? They have pipes that HAVE to make bubbles to show it not real smoke! And there is also the cartoons with characters being tipsy and get to near death situations that can't happen any more, and don't get me started on the hypocrisy of the ban on Speedy Gonzales cartoons...

Is there an old saying that goes: "The more can you do something, you somehow do LESS of doing anything at all?"

[icon_uk]

They bring up the voice work too in this? Cause it is SO easy to hear how people talk and sound when you read their dialogue balloons...

Ummm, yes it really is, especially when it's the comic version of a TV show. Just look at how easy it is to read Paul Dini written Joker with Mark Hamill's voice.

[silverzeo]

Yeah, but were you expected to hear Casey Kasem in the first 2 issues?

[icon_uk]

To be honest, yes, either him or Burt Ward, since they did the voices in the Scooby Doo and Batman cartoons I watched growing up.

[silverzeo]

Yeah, but would the kids reading this get it? They are the intended age group... but since when has age demographics stoped nerd from doing anything. Heck, MLP broken the girl barrier...

[icon_uk]

The kids who don't get it wouldn't really care I suspect, it's an easter egg of the older fans.

[donnblake]

The shark?

Scooby-Doo jumped the shark back in the sixties, and I'm not sure they've ever looked back.

[silverzeo]

Except for Scrappy... and they keep bring him back just to remind us he shouldn't exist... and yet they manage to overuse that joke... or maybe I'm just sick of it because Family Guy and the Simpsons seem to use it on Meg and Skinner way too much and can't seem to get past that...

[icon_uk]

Mystery Incorporated forgives a multitude of less than stellar interpretations IMHO

[donnblake]

I was a big fan of Mystery Incorporated too, but I don't mean to use Jump the Shark in a derogatory way. It's just that Scooby and Shaggy jumping over a shark while on waterskis, as part of some kooky chase scene doesn't seem like it would be a cheesy departure from form- Scooby Doo is goofy and over the top by design, not by deteoriation.

[lego_joker]

Ehhh. I still think it tried to mix together too much from both extremes of the darkness-light spectrum. But maybe I just went into it with the wrong expectations (I was expecting something akin to Zombie Island; what I got felt like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo combined with the odd Batman: The Brave and the Bold story).

I think that "The Song of Mystery" was where I started to have serious misgivings (the Mr. E plot is nice and all, but the whole parents-casually-abandon-their-kids thing was more over-the-top than anything I've every seen in any Scooby franchise). I didn't fully jump ship till that episode where the gang get trapped in an old house, though (the ending was just so freaking weird that I couldn't take any part of the show seriously anymore).

[crinos]

Big yeah on Symbionic Titan.

Their excuse for canning it is "It didn't sell toys." Really? Its a show about giant robots. If you can't sell giant robot toys, then you may as well give up because you have FAILED AT LIFE. I could go into my kitchen right now, and make a grilled cheese sandwich, and that would be more difficult than selling giant robots to kids.

Meanwhile, we have Johnny Test, a terrible show that failed on the Saturday morning cartoon block (And was one of the heralds of the end of that era), which was revived and extended like some Herbert West experiment. We had the clone wars CGI show which CN pushed super hard only to be stabbed in the back by Lucas when he sold the rights to Disney, only two seasons of young justice and one season of Green Lantern.

And I think we can blame most of this on one Stu Snyder, the former Executive VP of Cartoon Network from 2007 to March of this year. Snyder was the guy behind those abysmal live action reality shows that clogged CN in recent years, such as Destroy build Destroy (The show where Andrew WK blows shit up. And seriously, if you can fuck up that premise there is something profoundly wrong with you) Dude, what would happen (Because yes, what the world was clamoring for was a PG version of Jackass), and Level Up (Which... okay I gotta admit that one I kinda liked, or at least could tolerate, but that was an exception that proved the rule).

Stu Snyder was also the reason that Underfist never became an ongoing series, and was the one who drove off Genndy Tartakofsky and Craig McCracken.

But now he's gone, so hopefully there will be a chance of CN regaining some sanity.

[silverzeo]

Yeah, I heard on a review done by RebelTaxi/PizzaPan that the suits were planing to retool it to be more like Ben10. Of course the creators said no and we can guess where that lead too... still, not sure of that entirely...

I'm not even sure why Johnny Test is considered to be a CN's show as it was for Canada's TV-7 or other... unless they actually bought and save the voice actors, the foley and music guys, and everyone BUT the animators...

And speaking of YJ and GL... DC Nation is done now? Silently put to death because they made people stop caring as they pulled BtB EXACTLY like the shows in 2012 only to put off even longer that the DVD sales had the episodes set but never aired? Generator Rex went through that too... early late 2012, they actuall aired the final episodes... on weekday morning... and I think even THAT was once a week....

Yeah... and before he stepped down Stu got an award for that AntiBully campaign... which itself is entirely confusing as any kid who is kinda cut and force to stay will STILL be in trouble, even more so with the school if he actual tries any form of force to get away, like stomping on their toes or shoving them... so you can't say he is all bad... unless he was also the one who sold Megas XLR as a tax write off and is pretty much the reason why not only we don't get to see reruns of the show... but not even DVDs or digital episodes of it...

[crinos]

yeah, the Generator Rex thing peeved me, I didn't even get a chance to watch the finale until it became available on Netflix.

And according to what I have read, they are going to air the last 15 episodes of Beware the Batman starting May 10th, AT 3 AM.

Yeah, if that isn't a massive fuck you I don't know what is.

Yeah, apparently CN's brilliant plan to continue DC Nation by canning two well beloved and awesome shows in exchange for a mediocre show and a terrible show did not work in their favor. Seriously, Beware the Batman, I could not sit through that. It was just AWFUL. Teen Titans Go I can at least leave on for background noise, even if it is the literally "Teen Titans: The Flanderizing." Beware the Batman isn't even good for that.

[thezmage]

Really? I found Beware the Batman to be delightful from the very first episode, and inconsistently liked it better than Young Justice. This was the first time in years that I actually found Batman to be an interesting character, instead of just a highly idealized audience surrogate.

[thezmage]

I don't know, I think saying Genndy Tartakovsky failed at life just because he made a giant robot show that wasn't designed to sell toys is more than a little harsh. his highly stylized art was always one of his major selling points, and I don't think it was worthwhile to adopt a more general one so that it's easier to make toys off of it.

[crinos]

I was referring to the executives. Not Genndy, Genndy didn't fail at life, the executives did because they couldn't think how to make toys off a giant robot show.

Besides, we all know that was a bullshit excuse anyways.

[arbre_rieur]

Wouldn't that be the toy company's failing, not some TV exec's?

[thezmage]

It would. The execs decided to make the show with the expectation that the expense of producing it would be offset by merchandising, specifically toy sales. None of the toy companies were interested, and thus the show died. I believe that Crinos believes that the tv executives were not zealous enough in pursuing the toy companies, whereas I believe no American company was interested in making a toy line consisting of four robots, including a combining robot that they couldn't sell combining toys for, as well as a bunch of ordinary-looking humans and a handful of monsters of the week that would require custom sculpts without lasting for more than one episode.

IOW, I think "giant monsters sell toys" is an attitude that hurt the show, setting up unrealistic goals for its success among the higher ups. What we got was quite possibly the least toyetic action cartoon I have ever seen this side of Samurai Jack. And, as much as I am pro business and marketing, I applaud Genndy for putting the art first, even if it screwed him in the end.

[big_daddy_d]

but Johnny Test?

Johnny Test? How about The Annoying Orange and The Amazing World of Gumball? We lost Young Justice but those are still around..

[crinos]

Gumball is okay. Its not setting the world on fire but it isn't terrible.

Annoying Orange.... had a Holiday special where Alice Cooper and Weird Al did a musical number together. That show can do no wrong in my eyes.

Someone please help me

[drtechnobabel]

My theory on why Johnny Test is still kicking around is because there's some sort of subliminal message that they insert in their show that makes certain people watch more Johnny Test. How do I know this? Because I found out about Johnny Test 3 days ago, and I wanted to watch an episode to see if it really deserved the hate that it got. So I found some on YouTube and started watching.

And now I can't stop.

I don't even like the show. It's got a good line every once in a while, but overall it's just simplistic and annoying, especially with the near-constant screaming and sound effects (I'm not one of those people that deals with non-stop auditory stimulation very well). I mean, I know it's made to appeal to kids, but it's still pretty low quality compared to other stuff out there, all of which do at least something, if not everything, Johnny Test does except better.

But none of that matters. I watched three episodes on YouTube, and suddenly my recommended videos and channels are full of goddamn Johnny Test, and I end up clicking on one every couple of hours if I'm alone. Except it's never just one. It's always a chain of at least three or four at a time, partially because they're so short, but mostly for a reason I cannot fathom. Did you know there are at LEAST three channels on YouTube dedicated to posting Johnny Test episodes? That's one of the things I've learned these past few days.

All of this has led me to one conclusion: Johnny Test can literally brainwash people who aren't careful... but for what purpose? Money? Power? Or perhaps it is in service of some dark, unspeakable horror that we cannot even comprehend the motives of. I can't even tell any more. All I can say is that unless someone stops me, I am going to watch more Johnny Test immediately after posting this.

Please, someone: if I have any chance of recovery, help me stop hurting myself with this show. And to those innocent souls out there that are unsullied by Johnny Test: don't watch it. Never watch it. If it shows up on your TV, or if you start to hear the theme song (You'll know it when you hear it: it's an almost direct ripoff of Green Day's 'American Idiot'), save yourself and your children and change the channel before it is too late. If for some reason you can't do that immediately, or if we reach the horrible day where every channel is showing Johnny Test at once, do yourself a favor and throw a brick through your TV screen before it brainwashes you or steals your soul or worst of all, makes you watch more Johnny Test.

Re: Someone please help me

[crinos]

I think its just that Johnny Test is the epitome of junk food TV. It has no actual substance, but its filling. Its something you can just throw on in the background or have on while you're doing stuff on a computer or tablet because it doesn't take a lot of attention to watch.

Re: Someone please help me

[michaelhealy]

Was this post's stylistic resemblance to a Lovecraft story intentional?

I'm not sure which answer would scare me more.

[thezmage]

It's simple, Johnny Test is cheap to make. Really, really cheap to make. By putting no effort into either the art style or the animation, it's a cheap show to make, while something as detailed and stylized as Symbionic Titan is expensive to make, with the expectation that they would be able to make money back on merchandising.

[silverzeo]

What merchandising? I mean... I rarely go down the toy aisles in most store anymore... but I can safely say I haven't seen any Johnny Test merch at all... although... haven't seen much Power Rangers stuff on shelves either...

[thezmage]

There's no Johnny Test merchandising. It's so cheap, it doesn't need to offset it's costs.

Symbionic Titan is the show that they cancelled because the lack of expected merchandising led to a smaller rate of return than they could justify keeping the show alive for

Not all cartoons are equal. A show that is cheaper to make can survive where more expensive shows fail. And when you complain about the production values of Johnny Test compared to Symbionic Titan in relationship to the shows' longevity, you're ignoring the fact that the production values are a factor in their longevity.