The Invincible Iron Man This installment of Marvel Comics cartoons features the invincible Iron Man. In "The Death of Tony Stark," a laser beam emitted from a mysterious satellite orbiting the Earth destroys the home of wealthy industrialist Tony Stark. Iron Man's alter ego has obviously dodged the strike, but cannot disprove the rumor that Stark is dead until he confronts the culprit, the Mandarin. In "The Crimson Dynamo," Iron Man faces Soviet electrical genius Professor Vanko, who has designed his own suit of crimson armor in order to defeat Iron Man as the first step to destroying the ultimate capitalist, Stark Enterprises. These stories, rather dated in their cold-war depiction of the Chinese and the Soviets, are each divided into three six-minute serial-type segments. The animation is minimal, restricted mostly to camera zooms and moving limbs and mouths, punctuated by Batman-style sound effects ("Wham!"). -David Horiuchi The Incredible Hulk There was some amazing, classic animation done for superhero cartoons as far back as Max & Dave Fleisher's Superman series of the early 1940s (echoes of which can be found in Batman: The Animated Series). Those were done for the big screen; by the mid-1960s, superhero cartoons were being brought to television, and some of Marvel Comics' biggest heroes-Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk-were the stars. Unfortunately, television didn't have much in terms of cachet-or production values-at the time, and all four heroes suffer for it. The Hulk gets short shrift here; the interesting thing about the character has always been twofold: the misunderstood misfit trying to make a quiet life for himself, and the Dr. [+]

Animated feature centered upon street gangs in 1950's Brooklyn.

The Mighty Thor There was some amazing, classic animation for superhero cartoons done as far back as Max and Dave Fleisher's Superman series of the early 1940s (echoes of which can be found in Batman: The Animated Series). Those were done for the big screen; by the mid-1960s, superhero cartoons were being brought to television, and some of Marvel Comics' biggest heroes-Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk-were the stars. Unfortunately, television didn't have much in terms of cachet-or production values-at the time, and all four heroes suffer for it. Between Odin's ever-changing looks (Thor's father rarely manages to keep the same face-let alone the same outfit-from shot to shot) and the over-the-top dialogue, it's hard to follow whatever semblance of plot was scripted. On the two episodes here-"Enter Hercules," in which the Norse God of Thunder battles his equally brawny Greek cousin, and "Battle of the Gods," in which Loki enlists the Enchantress and the Executioner to defeat Thor-the animation is minimal. It looks as if only a couple dozen pictures of the main characters were drawn; for the most part, this is a series of stationary illustrations with voice-overs and plenty of narration. -Randy Silver Sub-Mariner This vintage 1966 cartoon features Marvel Comics' king of the deep, the Sub-Mariner. In the first story, "Atlantis Under Attack," the sacred trident of Neptune is stolen and all signs point to Namor's trusted grand vizier, Lord Vashti. In disbelief, Namor follows Vashti's trail to the carnivorous sea forest while the real thief, his archenemy, Attuma, lies ready to attack the city. The second story, "To Conquer a Crown," opens with a military demonstration by Atlantis's munitions expert, Namor's cousin Biera. [+]

Although it was ultimately overshadowed by Peter Jackson's live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy, Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy classic is not without charms of its own. A target of derision from intolerant fans, this ambitious production is nevertheless a respectably loyal attempt to animate the first half of Tolkien's trilogy, beginning with the hobbit Frodo's inheritance of "the One Ring" of power from Bilbo Baggins, and ending with the wizard Gandalf's triumph over the evil army of orcs. While the dialogue is literate and superbly voiced by a prestigious cast (including John Hurt as Aragorn), Leonard Rosenman's accomplished score effectively matches the ominous atmosphere that Bakshi's animation creates and sustains. Bakshi's lamentable decision to combine traditional cel animation with "rotoscoped" (i. e. , meticulously traced) live-action footage is jarringly distracting and aesthetically disastrous, but when judged by its narrative content, this Lord of the Rings deserves more credit than it typically receives. -Jeff Shannon.

Although it was ultimately overshadowed by Peter Jackson's live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy, Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy classic is not without charms of its own. A target of derision from intolerant fans, this ambitious production is nevertheless a respectably loyal attempt to animate the first half of Tolkien's trilogy, beginning with the hobbit Frodo's inheritance of "the One Ring" of power from Bilbo Baggins, and ending with the wizard Gandalf's triumph over the evil army of orcs. While the dialogue is literate and superbly voiced by a prestigious cast (including John Hurt as Aragorn), Leonard Rosenman's accomplished score effectively matches the ominous atmosphere that Bakshi's animation creates and sustains. Bakshi's lamentable decision to combine traditional cel animation with "rotoscoped" (i. e. , meticulously traced) live-action footage is jarringly distracting and aesthetically disastrous, but when judged by its narrative content, this Lord of the Rings deserves more credit than it typically receives. -Jeff Shannon.

This installment of Marvel Comics cartoons features the invincible Iron Man. In The Death of Tony Stark, a laser beam emitted from a mysterious satellite orbiting the Earth destroys the home of wealthy industrialist Tony Stark. Iron Man's alter ego has obviously dodged the strike but cannot disprove the rumor that Stark is dead until he confronts the culprit, the Mandarin. In The Crimson Dynamo, Iron Man faces Soviet electrical genius Professor Vanko, who has designed his own suit of crimson armor in order to defeat Iron Man as the first step to destroying the ultimate capitalist, Stark Enterprises. These stories, rather dated in their cold-war depiction of the Chinese and the Soviets, are each divided into three six-minute serial-type segments. The animation is minimal, restricted mostly to camera zooms and moving limbs and mouths, punctuated by Batman-style sound effects ("Wham!"). Other heroes in this series include Sub-Mariner, Spider-Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor. -David Horiuchi.

The Invincible Iron Man This installment of Marvel Comics cartoons features the invincible Iron Man. In "The Death of Tony Stark," a laser beam emitted from a mysterious satellite orbiting the Earth destroys the home of wealthy industrialist Tony Stark. Iron Man's alter ego has obviously dodged the strike, but cannot disprove the rumor that Stark is dead until he confronts the culprit, the Mandarin. In "The Crimson Dynamo," Iron Man faces Soviet electrical genius Professor Vanko, who has designed his own suit of crimson armor in order to defeat Iron Man as the first step to destroying the ultimate capitalist, Stark Enterprises. These stories, rather dated in their cold-war depiction of the Chinese and the Soviets, are each divided into three six-minute serial-type segments. The animation is minimal, restricted mostly to camera zooms and moving limbs and mouths, punctuated by Batman-style sound effects ("Wham!"). -David Horiuchi The Incredible Hulk There was some amazing, classic animation done for superhero cartoons as far back as Max & Dave Fleisher's Superman series of the early 1940s (echoes of which can be found in Batman: The Animated Series). Those were done for the big screen; by the mid-1960s, superhero cartoons were being brought to television, and some of Marvel Comics' biggest heroes-Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk-were the stars. Unfortunately, television didn't have much in terms of cachet-or production values-at the time, and all four heroes suffer for it. The Hulk gets short shrift here; the interesting thing about the character has always been twofold: the misunderstood misfit trying to make a quiet life for himself, and the Dr. [+]

There was some amazing, classic animation done for superhero cartoons done as far back as Max & Dave Fleisher's Superman series of the early 1940s (echoes of which can be found in Batman: The Animated Series). Those were done for the big screen; by the mid-1960s, superhero cartoons were being brought to television, and some of Marvel Comics' biggest heroes-Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk-were the stars. Unfortunately, television didn't have much in terms of cachet-or production values-at the time, and all four heroes suffer for it. The Hulk gets short shrift here; the interesting thing about the character has always been twofold: the misunderstood misfit trying to make a quiet life for himself, and the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde duality of the Hulk and his alter ego, Dr. Bruce Banner. On the two episodes here-"The Power of Dr. Banner" and "The Origin of the Hulk"-the animation is minimal and barely serves to capture a single facet of either character's personality. It looks as if only a couple dozen pictures of the main characters were drawn; for the most part, this is a series of stationary illustrations with voiceovers and plenty of narration. [+]