Been watching: Catwoman - Hunted

 

  After stealing a particularly valuable gemstone Catwoman has now pissed off a particularly powerful international crime syndicate. 

  Her only option is to team up with Batwoman and try to take the syndicate down first. 

The plot really isn't that complicated: heist - chase - reluctant team-up - big fight - Catwoman  walks away. 

 Except for some reason the big fight at the end isn't the big fight at the end. 

  There's another big fight after that, then a second, then a third and final boss fight.  This does seem excessive although if all you wanted to see if Catwoman kicking ass and being playfully quippy then I suppose you''ll be Ok with it. 

 Me. I felt that somebody wanted to pad the run time a bit and there wasn't enough story to stretch any further. 

 The animation was done by a Japanese studio which gives the characters a semi-anime makeover.  This mostly works except one particular character who is supposed to be menacing just looks like she strayed in from a kids show. 

These quibbles aside - and I do have more - Catwoman Hunted is entertaining enough, with decent animation, decent voice-acting  and a fun lead character, but not what you'd call essential viewing.

That's all folks

DVD Review: Batman And Harley Quinn

  When Poison Ivy and rogue Tree-spirit Jason Woodrue break into S.T.A.R Labs to steal some biowarfare research, Batman and Nightwing have to track the flowery duo down before they can unleash mayhem on the world. 
   To do that, they need to enlist the help of somebody who knows Ivy better than anyone. 

 Unfortunately that somebody is Harley Quinn.  

  This DVD is a pleasant surprise to those of us who have happy memories of the old DCAU cartoons - Batman: TAS, Superman and Justice League - as it uses the signature stylised animation style and witty dialogue of the "Diniverse"

 As a useful bonus, Harley is the loudmouthed, fruitcake we know and love, rather than the darker-edged psycho of recent media.

  Since the writers are well aware that their DCAU audience is now older, they use the DVD format to push the envelope just a little bit. There's a couple of low-level naughty words, more graphic violence and then there's this ...

     It gets even less kiddie-friendly after this, believe me. 

  I loved this DVD. The cast are all excellent, especially Kevin Conroy who may be the definitive Batman.  There's plenty of action, plenty of funny bits and some developments that the writers clearly threw in for the hell of it. The oddball team-up of Batman, Nightwing and Harley is marvellous in itself and serves as a springboard for more fun-times.

   I think I made this face a few times. Minus the boobie-shake obviously. 

  Why's Harley looking so pleased with herself? 

Oh God. That's why.

  Batman suggests you buy this DVD. Or else.  

  

  To sum up: if you loved  the DCAU, loved Harley Quinn and want to see a DC movie that isn't grim and a slog to watch then check out Batman and Harley Quinn. 

  

Film Review: Gladiators of Rome (2014)

Genre: CGI Animated Movie.

About Gladiators.

In Rome. 

When Pompeii was destroyed Timo was left orphaned and homeless. Given a home by famous Gladiator trainer Chirone, Timo quickly becomes inseparable from Chirone's daughter Lucilla.

 But when Lucilla goes away to be educated Timo loses interest in life.  Years later, Timo is a pudgy slacker and the worst trainee gladiator in Rome. 

 When Lucilla returns, Timo has to become a real gladiator in a hurry and luckily there's somebody who can help...

 Apparently this is the msot expensive Italian aniamted film ever made. It's also, as far as I can tell, a complete box office flop.

 I think a lot of that might be down to marketing - because there doesn't seem to have been any. Christ knows I'd never seen or heard anything about this film until I stumbled across it while looking for something else. 

 And if it was ever released in the UK nobody bothered telling me.

 I think that's a shame because I enjoyed Gladiators of Rome quite a lot. 

You can probably guess the reason I checked the film out in the first place. 

I'm a sucker for a brass brassiere.

   While personal trainer Diana is fun to watch, I was pleasantly surprised by the rest of the film.  Considering that studio Rainbow Animation doesn't have the finances of Pixar or Dreamworks, the end result looks pretty good. The facials are good, the movement is good and the backgrounds look good.   The English cast do a stellar job with their dubbing (Italian film, remember) considering there's no "names" whatsoever. 

 Nobody is ever going to watch this movie and go "How the hell did they do that?" but the job gets done. 

 The story isn't too complex but again, the job gets done. Timo starts off as a total loser, screws up one time too many and needs help to turn his life around. Lucilla doesn't want to marry star gladiator Casio. Casio...is a dick for the sake of it. Nothing too difficult to follow.  Really, it's there to hang a series of gags onto.

 In particular Diana's training camp gives Timo lots of opportunity to hurt himself in amusing ways. And I was amused, especially when two particular characters shown up. They come close to being the most fun part of the film. 

  I could have done without the mascot bunny personally, but this is family movie so whatever. 

You may also not find the farting horse as funny as the writers did but again, whatever. 

  Sounds like I'm damning Gladiators of Rome with faint praise but really, this is a movie that delivers 95 minutes of good entertainment and I found myself really getting into it.  I don't ask a movie to do anything else. 

 To sum up: A pleasant surprise that was well worth my time. 

Screenshot time!

  Does this look like a man who is enjoying his life? 

Are we having fun yet?

 The lovely Lucilla.

Casio. 

A card-carrying wanker.

Diana and Timo share a moment. 

One of these people is in for a nasty shock. 

And here's the trailer:

That's all folks. 

Cheapo DVD Review: Defenders Of The Earth - The Story Begins. (1985)

  Day 6 of my DVD review marathon. Or day 7 if you want to be pedantic and count yesterday, when I didn't post anything. Hey, I didn't say I was doing 12 DVDs in 12 days.

Today's offering is blatantly stitched together from several episodes of an old cartoon.

When the evil space-tyrant Ming the Merciless lands on earth with a surprisingly small army of minions, a group of heroes come together to foil his dastardly plans on a weekly basis.

Flash Gordon - hero of the spaceways
His lovely wife   Oops, sorry. The memories of his lovely wife, built into a computer.
Rick Gordon - Son of Flash and computer wizard.
The Phantom - Protector of the Jungle and wearer of purple long-johns.
Jeda - The Phantom's teenage daughter. Friend of animals and token chick.
Mandrake The Magician. A magician. he wears a cape and everything.
Lothar - Mandrake's sidekick/muscle. He's big, black and desperately trying not to be a stereotype.
LJ - Lothar's son and token black kid.
Kshin - a spare brat Mandrake found lying about who totally isn't going to get underfoot and be annoying

And whatever the hell this..thing ...is.  

It's a mascot character. I hated mascot characters when I was a kid and nowadays, the only way I can describe how I feel about the unfunny little bastards would need words the English language hasn't invented yet.   

  On the bad guys side we have Ming the Merciless - green for some reason - his camp son, his really camp robot octopus and a platoon or so of Ice Robots because every 80s cartoon villain needed useless mooks to get utterly teabagged.
 Ming's daughter shows up in a later episode but I doubt she's as much fun as Princess Aura from the 1979 cartoon.  .

9 year old me was a big fan of Aura. I can't really blame him.

 I vaguely remember Defenders Of The Earth being on when I was much, much younger but I don't think I ever saw any episodes. Which means that when I finally got to see this movie  batch of episodes shorn of credits and duct-taped together I didn't have my nostalgia goggles on. 

I think I needed them. Some 80s cartoons aged well or were so cheesy that you can have fun watching them for the cornball.

 DotE has neither. It doesn't have the charm of, say, Thundercats or much in the way of memorable characters chracters. Then there's the storytelling.

Ming has an Evil Plan Of The Week, the team foil it - all very standard. 

 In theory, having three famous heroes team up to fight the bad guys could have been interesting. Having their kids fight alongside them might also have been interesting. Then again, this was the 80s and the idea of cartoons with intelligent writing was a concept some studios hadn't grasped yet.

Flash Gordon's wife is rather brutally killed in episode 1, which is unusual,. But everybody has forgotten about it within 10 minutes, including Flash and Rick. That bugged me. 

It also bugged me that the little purple sod kept changing size every other scene. 

Available evidence suggests that back in the mid-80s, I didn't miss out on much.

How much did I pay for this: £1.50

Was it worth it: Not particularly.  Defenders of the Earth is a typical 80s cartoon with all that implies. 

Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2 (2000)

(AKA: Heavy Metal 2000)

Starring:

Michael Ironside

Julie Strain Eastman

Billy Idol

Based on a Graphic Novel by Kevin Eastman,

Simon Bisley & Eric Talbot

  Tyler, a deep-space miner working an asteroid belt discovers a strange glowing artefact. Almost immediately it causes him to go crazy, and stage a bloody takeover of the ship. His ultimate objective: a legendary fountain that can grant immortality.

 Having gathered a new crew, mostly heavily armed and violent, Tyler stops off to lay waste to a backwater colony, and hauls the survivors off for medical research and, in the case of buxom schoolteacher Kerrie, a little personal entertainment.

  As it turns out, Kerrie's sister Julie also survived the attack and with the reluctant assistance of Germaine (marooned by Tyler for not being sufficiently psycho) she sets off in pursuit.

   The original "Heavy Metal"  -an ambitious anthology effort - was released in 1981 and was a moderate success. Thanks to all sorts of legal bollocks, a home video release didn't happen for another 15 years, ensuring that "Heavy Metal" acquired a cult reputation. I suspect a lot of people, myself included, eagerly picked up the VHS when it came out  then realised the only two really good segments were: B-17 ("the bit with the zombies on the B17") and Taarna ("the bit with the underdressed blonde on the giant bird fighting green mutants." )

  Anyway, when the time came to make a follow-up, it probably comes as no surprise that it ditches the interlinked stories of the 1981 film in favour of an underdressed brunette fighting space pirates. And lizardmen. And a guy who's sort of a mutant.
 One scene is even a knowing tip of the hat to "Taarna" You'll know it when you see it.

 The animation on "Heavy Metal 2000" is serviceable, (Think TV series with a decent budget) blending traditional 2d  with computer generated spaceships and mostly integrated well. It did lose a lot of points in the last few minutes with a godawful foray into CGI that was apparently animated in somebody's  bedroom.

  I also have a few issues with the soundtrack.
  Now  I currently have the soundtrack for the 1981 film sitting in my LP collection and plan to get the CD one of these days. There's some good stuff on it and the selection of songs adds value to their relevant scenes.Here's an example:

 Really not the case with the followup. What you mostly get is generic early 2000's aggro metal flung vaguely in the direction of the picture with no regard to how well it fits the scene. And the DVD cover is lying to you. Black Sabbath, BOC and Devo were all in the first movie.

  My final gripe is with heroine Julie. She does the asskicking part of the job more than adequately but I find it difficult to warm to her. As reluctant sidekick Germaine points out, her conversations with him mostly consist of  a snarled "Shut the fuck up."

    Still, bad guy Tyler chews the scenery like a champ, the whole thing is reasonably entertaining  and if you thought that the 1981 "Heavy Metal" would have been better with more violence and a heroine with bigger boobs then "FAKK2"might be what you're looking for.
 Time for some screenshots.

      Tyler decides that sanity has got kind of boring. 

 Isn't it tranquil? 

Obviously doomed then.

Having delivered her allotted portion of blatant fanservice, Kerrie is finally allowed to get dressed.

In case you are wondering,  the first thing we see of the heroine's 

younger sis is a close up of her bum. 

Subtle.

Germaine attempts to protect Kerrie from the other pirates.

It doesn't work and just gets him kicked out of the gang.

Julie's cunning plan. Catch up with pirates then start a firefight in a crowded bar. 

Julie kisses some green troll thingie, purely so the animators can 

let you know how much they hate you. 

Feeling his "Nutter" credentials in need of enhancement, Tyler kills 

an alien beastie and wears it's face as a hat. 

Tyler utterly fails to recognise the statuesque brunette who tried to kill him the other day. 

Julie finally gets into the outfit from the DVD cover and breaks out the big lizard-chopper.

  What's the deal with the extra spikes anyway?

Here's the trailer if you're interested.

My favourite cartoon ladies

 Today I shall be taking a quick moment to pay tribute to three of my favourite female characters from TV cartoons. If you want to think of it as blatant fanboying, feel free.

Weird Crushes: Princess Aura

 When I was a kid one of my favourite  cartoons was "The New Adventures Of Flash Gordon" and there were a number of reasons for that.
1. Considering the budget and time period it was surprisingly well put-together. Certainly a hell of a lot better animated than the Hanna-Barbera stuff I was used to, anyway. (Although even at the age of 10 I couldn't help noticing that certain shots kept getting reused. Filmation were infamous for this apparently )
2. I'd grown up watching repeats of the old Flash Gordon serials on a Saturday morning and here was more of the same. In colour!
3. Unusually for the period, Flash Gordon had an ongoing plot arc which saw Flash and Dale acquiring new allies before the final showdown with Ming.
4. Then of course there was something no other cartoon of the time had.

 Princes Aura. Red of hair, scant of clothing, heavily armed and rides a frigging Terror Bird. Cool.

 I was a massive fan of Aura pretty much from her first appearance in the opening credits (although I can remember my Mum raising a quizzical eyebrow) and truth be told, Ming's warrior-princess of a daughter was a lot more fun than the bland Dale Arden. 

 You can probably guess how the story ends. Aura spent most of the first series pursuing Flash and co. before switching over to the good guys and hooking up with tree-dwelling slaphead Prince Barin.

  Meanwhile a young Big D was left with a lifelong fascination with female characters who have red hair, a limited wardrobe and a tendency to settle issues with  a swung broadsword.

 Proof that Jessica Rabbit did not invent cartoon characters getting seductive.

"Season 2 will feature a cute dragon sidekick? That's this cartoon screwed then."

 Here's the intro if you're interested.

And here's the full-length version that came out a few years later. 

Been watching: Thundercats.

 

         The new Thundercats cast. Thankfully Snarf can't talk this time around.

  Prince Lion-O, heir to the throne of the mighty Thundercat kingdom, is something of a disappointment to his father. He's clearly not the warrior his adopted brother Tygra is, has an unhealthy fascination with the lost art of "technology" and seems unduly sympathetic to the plight of the Lizards, bitter enemies of the 'Cats.

 Then one terrible night the kingdom falls. Attacked by traitors from within and Lizards wielding terrifying new weapons,  led by an ancient nightmare reborn, the Thundercats are broken and their warrior king slain. 

 Having been told for years that he's not worthy of the job, Lion-O finds himself King and the last hope for his people. Acquiring a motley collection of followers - a brother who dislikes him, a pair of street urchins, a grumpy former general and a warrior-woman who's the last of her order - the young King sets out in search of the legendary Book Of Omens

I have to confess that I never got into the original Thundercats. Oh I watched it a few times, same as I did with He-Man and She-Ra but even then I thought it was a bit cheesy.

  Cheetara was cool though.

 That probably explains why, when I heard that there was an anime-influenced remake I didn't start foaming at the mouth. I also didn't start moaning that the new Cheetara was too skinny. 

  Apparently looking like this causes girls to have image issues  or some such bollocks.

FFS.  

I digress. 

 I've been following the new series as and when new episodes pop up on  Youtube etc and thus far I am impressed. If you want a short description try: Original Thundercats + Avatar: The Last Airbender = Thundercats 2011.

 The animation is done by the same people that did "Steamboy" and is rather pretty to look at. Like "Airbender" it manages to meld the American and Japanese styles and combine the best bits of each.

 Sticking with the similarities to Avatar, Lion-O and his crew have so far been traipsing across the world in search of the Book of Omens and in the process learning more about their world, their skills  and each other. Naturally they have a persistent bad guy on their tail but since he looks like a six foot fanged newt  I can't see the fangirls getting excited about him.

 Another Cheetara pic. Just because.

 One of the major differences in the new series is Lion-O who is now an inexperienced teenager prone to hotheadedness. Luckily when he's not being a dick he's actually rather likeable and in fact all the Thundercats are people it's easy to root for, despite their occasional failings. (Even the two kids and normally I hate cute "mascot" characters with a fiery passion. ) 
 By now you've probably guessed that I'm a big fan of Cheetara. Fanservice aside, the speedster can usually be relied upon to give useful advice and just generally be a big asset to a young king who's not entirely sure he's up to the job.
  So however you felt about the original series, the reboot manages to add extra layers of depth while still being entertaining. A worthy heir to the name, in my opinion.
 Check out the trailer here: http://youtu.be/enQXITlKRgg

And one more for luck.

Cartoon characters never  had cleavage when I were a lad, I can tell thee.

I have no problem with this.

Been Watching: Young Justice.

 Based - loosely, very loosely - on the DC comics series, Young Justice concerns the adventures of a group of teenage heroes.
 The very first episode opens with sidekicks Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy and Aqualad given clearance for the Justice League's HQ. This is good. Not as good as the membership they thought they were getting though. Realising that as far as the Justice League is conned they are just kids Speedy stomps off in disgust while Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad decide to form their own team and show their mentors that they can hack it.
 Over the course of the first series they are joined by Superboy ( teenaged clone of Superman with some issues), Miss Martian (Martian Manhunter's cute niece) Zatanna (younger than her usual portrayal) and archer Artemis (who also has a few issues) , with Red Tornado and Captain Marvel acting as den mothers and the rest of the League swinging by to offer advice/support as required.
 As it turns out, when you have a team of eager youngsters willing to get stuck in, you might as well use them and the new team becomes the Covert arm of the Justice League. 
 Does this mean their missions are easy ones?
Hell no.

There are several good US cartoons around at the moment: The Avengers, Thundercats and ..err...My Little Pony spring to mind and Young Justice is easily one of the better ones.
 DC have clearly given Young Justice some time and effort and it shows. The animation is some of the best tv work around at the moment, the voice-acting is up to the usual high standards and while each story is self-contained, there is plenty of ongoing development. There's one official romantic pairing, hints that another might not be beyond the bounds  of possibility, an intriguing story arc involving a mystery cabal and  the ongoing mystery as to who a couple of these young heroes really are.
 Darker than The Avengers, less animesque than Thundercats, Young Justice may not have inspired the fanaticism of My Little Pony but it is highly deserving of more love and if there isn't a second series I shall be most PISSED OFF. 

The team

Robin - Batman's quickwitted sidekick. Not the leader he wants to be but he's learning. Powers: None but he's nimble, skilled at hand to hand and good at hacking and planning
Aqualad - For the moment the team leader. The most levelheaded of the gang. Powers: Atlantean strength and toughness. Uses shaped fields of water to inflict thumpings.
Superboy - Clone of Superman. Doesn't have all the Man Of Steel's powers and maybe too hot tempered for his own good. Significantly less of a dick than he was initially though.
Kid Flash - Goofy speedster with hidden depths. Being good at science, for instance.
Zatanna - Magician. Newest member of the team and currently a bit overwhelmed by it all.
Artemis - Snarky archer with a few things she'd rather the rest of the team didn't know.
Miss Martian - Alien shapeshifter, telepath, psychokinetic. Innocent and likeable - but also has a few secrets.
Wolf - A big ass wolf Superboy made friends with on a mission and he kinda stuck around.
Sphere - A big metal ball...thing  that Superboy acquired during a mission.

Been watching: Green Lantern - Emerald Knights.

 When a Green lantern on patrol is brutally attacked and killed, the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps realise that an ancient foe is about to break free into our universe once again.
 While the Guardians homeworld  is evacuated and the Corps monitor the sun, Hal Jordan - Green Lantern of Earth's sector - tells a nervous new recruit a few stories about the Corps.
The First Lantern - how the Corps was formed and how a lowly scribe became the first to truly understand the power of the rings.
Kilowog - A group of raw recruits are thrown into their first battle.
Laira - a warrior princess turned Lantern returns home to confront her father. 
Mogo doesn't socialise - a quirky tale of a warrior looking for a fabled unbeatable Lantern.   Unfortunately, he finds him.
Abin Sur - two comrades face a common foe and discuss destiny.
and lastly, the framing story; Emerald Knights. - The Corps faces an ancient evil reborn.

  Western Direct to Video animation has a dubious rep due to way too many low quality tv tie-ins and halfhearted sequels. DC seem determined to change that and may well be suceeding. I don't think I've seen a single one of their original animated movies that isn't well-crafted and highly entertaining.
  Now I've only a hazy working relationship with the Green Lantern franchise. I've never read any of the comics and I've yet to see the film. Even so, Emerald Knights does a pretty good job of introducing me to the Green Lantern Corps and some of its notable chaarcters.
 The animation is consistently good; the fight between Laira and her father deserves special mention as it's handled as well as any anime I've ever seen.The voice-acting is also up to the usual DC high standards.
 My personal favourite segment would be Laira's trip home, mainly because of the aforementioned fight but also because the story also manages, within the brief  running time, to flesh out the characters and their motivations.  
 While the individual stories are all entertaining in different ways, the only weak spot would be the framing story itself. After waiting so long for Big Bad Krona to show up, the resulting punchup is good but maybe over too quickly. I suspect that's me being overly picky, though.

Apparently there's an upcoming tv series. If it holds up to the quality of this DVD I shall probably be a big fan.

Been Watching; The Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk.

While poking about Toys Am We* one day I picked up a cheapo DVD that looked interesting.

Yes, I bought it because She-Hulk was in it. 
Now I've never seen the first series but apparently it was a lot darker and featured more plot arcs. Then the network execs stuck their oar in and insisted on a more light-hearted series. They also wanted She-Hulk to feature more prominently.
 Given that series two only lasted 7 episodes I'm guessing the changes didn't go down too well.
So is it any good?
Well the opening and ending episodes are weak. "Hulk of a Different Colour" exists to tie up plot threads from the first series and "Mission Incredible" is a fairly dumb rip-off of "Mission Impossible"
 In between though, you get some good stuff. Mark Hamill and Matt Frewer have a ball  with their recurring roles as Gargoyle and Leader and Cree Summers' She-Hulk can be a lot of fun, being as lively as the comics version.
  Snag is, Shulkie manages to push Hulk into the role of supporting star in his own show and I can't see that pleasing anybody. "Fashion Wars" seems to have been written purely to let the Green Goddess vamp it up on the catwalk and Hulk spends a large chunk of the episode out cold. Incidentally, the close up of Shulkie's toned butt overflowing out of her Daisy Dukes is not something you'd expect to see in a kids show. Clearly a nod to any dads that might be watching and not entirely unwelcome. (That's an issue where I might go into more depth at some point, btw).
  Her constant catchphrase of "Situation Green" starts to get on the nerves too.
 But I maybe protest too much. When all is said and done, it kept me entertained for a couple of hours and that's pretty much all I ever require of a cartoon.

*Supposedly what people from Dudley call Toys R Us. It's a Midlands thing.

Cartoon: Roswell Conspiracies- Aliens, Myths and Legends.

He's a Badass Bounty Hunter. She's a Banshee. They fight evil.

  Back in about 1999 I stumbled across a cartoon called Roswell Conspiracies and was very impressed. After a few episodes it got bumped from the schedules and I never managed to catch up with it again.

  Until this week.

  Thank you Youtube.

  The first episode sees Bounty Hunter Nick Logan getting the shock of his life when a fugitive suddenly turns into this wolf...thing. Luckily the martial-arts lessons his father had given him included "What to do if your opponent suddenly morphs into a big ass werewolf." and a short fracas later Nick is handing over his catch to a team of agents. Who fly away in their jet-truck.

 At this point Nick can't help thinking something a little odd is going on.

 Never mind. He's got another job lined up. A cute Irish girl by the name of Sh'lainn.

 As it turns out. Sh'lainn is actually a Banshee and the rest of the clan want her back, not necessarily intact.

Caught between pissed-off Banshees and  heavily armed mystery men with industrial-sized laser guns, Nick and Sh'lainn hurriedly agree to a  truce and set about finding some answers.

The central premise is very simple. What if all the things that went bump in the night were real? Vampires, werewolves, Banshees and a dozen or so others, all real and all actually aliens who've been living alongside us for centuries.


 So wouldn't there be a Government department devoted to quietly hunting them down?

  I suspect that somebody had been watching a lot of X-Files and a wee bit of Anime and thought "Let's see if we can get a cartoon out of this." and the result is a cartoon that really needs more love.
   Quite early on it becomes clear that this is a bit more in-depth than "We good guys. Them bad guys. Kick ass." Yes, there's the usual heroics and quipping but every one of the major characters has their own agenda and can find themselves on different sides depending on the circumstances. The good guys are not always so good and the bad guys have their own good reasons for their actions. (Although the vampires seem to like being dicks for the hell of it.)  The mayhem level is high throughout and isn't always casualty-free.

 One of the big strengths is the relationship between Nick and Sh'lainn. Like most cartoon heroes he has his fair share of dick moments but has his heart in the right place and remains likeable. And Sh'lainn...

 The animators like Sh'lainn.

 All the blokes are given character designs best described as "Angular". Or possibly "Boxhead" but there's a bit of effort put into making Sh'lainn and the other girls look good.

 And it helps that the girl has a nice line in dry humour and gets in some genuine kick-ass moments. 

The chemistry between human and Banshee is always fun to watch and gets stronger as time goes by.  The supporting cast is fleshed out with a a collection of interesting, well-developed allies, enemies and bystanders and this has to be one of the few US cartoons before the DCAU that had anything resembling an arc plot.

 All 40 episodes can be found on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/user/EndaSrb21/videos

See what I mean?