With the mega success of the Iron Man films, it’s no surprise that someone would want to channel that popularity towards the little ones. Enter NickToons. IM:AA, a CGI animated series, comes off feeling very much like an “Ultimate Spider-Man” version of Tony Stark and his metal armor. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this concept when I first started watching, but I have to say I ended up pleasantly surprised.
In this version of Iron Man, Tony and his friends Pepper Potts and James “Rhodey” Rhodes are in high school. Tony’s father is killed in a horrible accident and Tony is kept alive only by a machine in his chest. The evil Obadiah Stane takes over Stark Corp. and it’s up to Tony, as Iron Man, and his friends who know his secret, to stop Stane and all sorts of other crazy villains that get in their way.
Things get even more complicated for Stark and crew when they befriend new kid Gene Khan and make a super new enemy at the same time, The Mandarin, never realizing they are one in the same! And the race to find all the Makluan rings is on!
This show has a mix of good and bad in it. The CGI is pretty terrible and in this day and age that really should be inexcusable. I mean if you can’t make a superhero cartoon look even half as good as The Incredibles then don’t even try. I think this show would have been much better had it been traditionally animated. Though, I can see kids who are fans of the show now, looking back on it fondly in their later years the way we look back at shows like Space Ghost and Super Friends. That’s about the biggest complaint I had about the show, that and the god-awful theme song by Rooney.
Despite my initial reservations and my dislike of the animation, I was surprised to find myself getting sucked into the drama of the characters. Tony, Pepper and Rhodey are all really great child versions of the original comic characters. I especially like Pepper, whose life dream is to be a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. The writers also do very interesting things with many classic Iron Man villains. Living Laser, Crimson Dynamo, Whiplash, Controller, Mr. Fix, MODOC and even Fing Fang Foom! Not to mention appearances by Hulk, Black Panther and Nick Fury.
And like “Ultimate Spider-Man” each of these characters is given interesting new twists to their story to fit it in with this kid-centric world. If you’re a geek parent look for ways to turn your kids into fellow geeks, then this show is probably a good way to get started on them early.
Episodes:
Disc 1:
Iron, Forged In Fire, Parts 1 & 2 4-12-2009
Origin story. Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Gene and the Mandarin are introduced.
Secrets And Lies 5-1-2009
Iron Man tangles with Count Nefaria and his henchmen: Killer Shrike and Unicorn.
Cold War 5-8-2009
Iron Man fights Blizzard.
Whiplash 5-3-2009
Iron Man fights Mr. Fix and his hatchet man, Whiplash.
Iron Man Vs. The Crimson Dynamo 5-10-2009
Iron man tries to stop The Crimson Dynamo upon his return from the Sun!
Disc 2:
Meltdown 5-17-2009
Iron Man goes head to head with Living Laser.
Field Trip 5-24-2009
Introduction of Whitney Stane.
Ancient History 101 6-5-2009
Tony and Gene learn more about the Makluan Rings.
Ready, A.I.M., Fire 7-24-2009
Tony Stark must save his friends minds from The Controller, who is working for A.I.M.,
Masquerade 7-31-2009
Iron Man takes on Madame Masque and Tony learns that she is someone close to him!
Seeing Red 8-7-2009
Tony unleashes the Technovore computer virus to stop Project Pegasus and Stane, but little does he realize that it gains physical from with a group of nano-mites.
Disc 3:
Hide And Seek 8-14-2009
Tony and Gene discover the third Makluan Ring.
Man And Iron Man 8-21-2009
Iron Man’s armor gains sentience and almost kills Mr. Fix and Whiplash.
Panther’s Prey 8-28-2009
Iron Man teams up with the very reluctant Black Panther to stop Moses Magnum and A.I.M.
Fun With Lasers 9-4-2009
Iron Man must work with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. to prevent Living Laser from destroying the world with S.H.I.E.L.D. technology.
Chasing Ghosts 9-18-2009
Madame Masque does everything she can to save Tony Stark from the assassin, Ghost.
Pepper, Interrupted 9-25-2009
Pepper gets caught in the middle of a gang war with Count Nefaria and Black Knight after her head.
Technovore 10-9-2009
Iron Man must stop Technovore, the virus that he unleashed and no threatens the entire world.
Disc 4:
World On Fire 10-16-2009
Tony, Rhodey and Pepper head off to find the fourth Makluan crystal without Gene.
Designed Only For Chaos 10-23-2009
A.I.M. steals Living Laser from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody to use him to power their latest evil creation: MODOC. Now Iron Man and Living Laser must team up to stop it.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy 11-13-2009
Tony’s classmate, Happy winds up in the Iron Man suite and causes all sorts of chaos for the good guys and the bad. Madame Masque, Killer Shrike and Unicorn also show up.
Uncontrollable 1-18-2010
Iron Man attempts to team up with Rick Jones and the Hulk to stop The Controller, A.I.M. and MODOC!
Best Served Cold 11-20-2009
Iron Man must fight Blizzard and attempt to save Whitney’s life.
Tales Of Suspense, Parts 1 & 2 11-28-2009
The showdown between Mandarin and Iron Man for the fifth Mekluar Ring. And War Machine and Fing Fang Foom show up to make things even more interesting.
The episodes are presented in fullscreen 1:33.1. Sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Despite the bad animation the show looks fantastic. It’s very crisp and clean, as you’d expect an Iron Man cartoon to look. The sound it really good too.
Suit Profile: (2 min.) These are four 30 second promos for the show.
Rooney Music Video: (2 min.) Now the really crappy theme song is even longer!
The Superhero Squad Show: “A Day In The Life”: (1+ min.) A promo for this crappy looking video game.
Storyboard Galleries: for Seeing Red and Pepper, Interrupted.
Original Sketches
Trailers: Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Wolverine & The X-men, The Superhero Squad Show and marvelkids.com.
I didn’t expect to like this show at all and was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a great show by any means, but it was very entertaining and an interesting take on the Iron Man characters that kids are sure to love. Now only if they could improve the animation and beef up the extras a little.
Walt Disney Pictures Home Entertainment presents Iron Man: Armored Adventures: The Complete Season 1. Created by Stan Lee and Larry Leiber. Starring: Adrian Petriw, Daniel Bacon, Anna Cummer, Vincent Tong, Mackenzie Gray and Kristie Marsden. Running time: 572 minutes on 4 discs. Not Rated. Released on DVD: May 4, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.
