Genre: Sci-fi/Mecha
Creator/Studio: Stan Lee/Bones
No. of episodes: 26
Recommended Age: 7+
Rating: 10/10
Distributor: None, streaming online at http://www.crunchyroll.com
Summary: Joey Jones is an ordinary American boy living in an ordinary American town. That is, until the local mad scientist successfully contacts alien life. Just one problem: it's the Skrugg, an evil, insect-like race. As fate would have it, lightning strikes Joey and his toy robot, turning it into a sentient (albeit silent) giant robot that Joey can control with a remote and voice commands.
Review: When I learned Stan Lee was involved, I had to check this show out. I'm a huge fan of his work. It's easy to see the parallels between this and some of Stan Lee's comics. For example:
- It takes place in America. Stan Lee is a firm believer in "write what you know". It's why all his stories take place in New York City. He spent most of his life there.
- Joey is a teen hero. Most of Stan Lee's heroes started out as teenagers.The hero has an alliterative name.
- Joey has an alliterative name. Stan Lee gave many of his heroes alliterative names in order to make them easy for him to remember. (Okay, maybe that's not all that relevant)
I really enjoy most, if not all, of the cast. Here are my five favorite characters.
Joey is an admirable boy who wishes to be as heroic as his father, who sacrificed himself to save his fellow miners. He has a courageous heart like any true hero.
Next is Simon (aka Psy), Joey's best friend. What makes him so cool is even though the kid's on crutches, that doesn't stop him from helping out Joey and fighting alongside him. He's the kind of friend everyone wants.
Then there's Lina, a blonde cheerleader that fits another type found in many superhero stories: the plucky girlfriend. Lina is essentially the Mary-Jane Watson of the show. She has a cheerful personality and even though she gets kidnapped once or twice, she's courageous enough to prevent her from being annoying. There's only one thing preventing the two of them from hooking up: Will, her older brother. He's like Flash Thompson from Spider-man: a jock with a bad attitude (to be fair, Flash and Peter's relationship did eventually mellow out).
The last character I like is Holly, Joey's big sister. At first, I thought she was obnoxious because of her crass personality and her penchant for beer. (definitely not ladylike) However, as her character developed, I saw her as a foil for Joey in that their opinions on their father differ. While Joey admires their father, she feels as though he abandoned them. In fact, when she discovers Joey is controlling Heroman, she's understandably angry about it.
The Skrugg are definitely a scary race. They kind of remind me of the aliens in the Alien movies, and with the exception of their leader Kogurr, all have a hive mentality.
This is an excellent series, even if you're not a Stan Lee fan, although it's easier to appreciate if you like his stuff.
As for the plot and pacing, I think the show did it well. It moved at a quick pace, but it still took enough time to show us how the characters were reacting to being invaded. Some actually tried to negotiate with the aliens, while others saw them as a threat and joined Joey in the fight against them. And for once, Washington DC was brought into the story and we didn't get a George W. Bush clone, since it was being done during his tenure! This time, although the president does seem to vaguely resemble him, we aren't made to see him as a stupid person, just someone who makes rash decisions because he's concerned about the citizens. The plot didn't come to a complete halt when it was time to develop characters, which I enjoy.
Music/Score: The music was not what I expected. I'm used to a more stirring score in superhero stories, like in the Superman or Batman movies. This was a little too cheerful.
Sub/Dub: Because there's no dub yet, I can't give a comparison. I thought the voices were okay, but I felt Joey's voice was a little high for someone who's on the cusp of puberty.
Violence: 4/10: For the most part, the show's pretty mild, except for the fact that Kogurr eats those who fail him.
Sexuality: none
Religion: none
Nudity: none
Related Media: There's a Heroman manga that inspired this anime, but I don't know if it's translated into English yet.
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