Thursday, May 3, 2012

Avengers Assemble!: Iron Man (1966)

Let's go back to the worst animated superhero series of all time, the Marvel Superheroes Show for a visit with Iron Man as we continue our run-up to the live-action "Avengers" movie, which opens tomorrow nationwide, but has already been a huge success overseas (Don't ask).

Canadian actor John Vernon, better known to toon fans of today's generation for his work on Batman: The Animated Series and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, was the voice of ol' Shellhead. Most folks, of course, might remember Vernon better for "National Lampoon's Animal House" and its TV spinoff, Delta House, but, believe it or else, Iron Man represents some of his earliest American television work.

Edit, 9/7/23: Have to change the video. Now, it's just the cheesy intro:


Iron Man, of course, would fare better the 2nd time around, as part of the syndicated Marvel Action Hour in 1994. Our "Avengers Assemble!" series continues throughout the month, so inevitably, we'll get to that incarnation of Iron Man.

Rating: C-.

4 comments:

magicdog said...

Dean Wormer was the voice of Iron Man? Color me surprised!

I remember this and other Marvel cartoons of the period (featuring Namor, Thor and The Hulk) and I HATED them!

I hated the lifeless animation, and the comic book word effects, and the middling storylines.

Talk about the Dark Age of Animation!

hobbyfan said...

Well, this was the ultimate in cost-cutting. Grantray-Lawrence would fare much better in producing the first season of Spider-Man the next year. Well, they had to. The show was sold to ABC!

As for John Vernon, well, I found out from reading Wikipedia, and when you stop and think about it, there is a bit of Rupert Thorne to his voice even then.

Jennifer L. Schillig said...

I remember seeing these when I was a kid. The "animation" (and I use the term generously) was beyond cheap (just a few effects to the original comic panels), but there were some things that stuck with me...mainly, the theme songs of all the heroes.

Imagine my surprise when I heard the "Iron Man" cartoon theme song in the Iron Man movie! (The band plays it at Tony Stark's award ceremony, and then we hear it again when we see Tony in the casino.)

hobbyfan said...

Hmmm, I didn't even notice it. Thanks for sharing.