The Web abounds with rumors about an upcoming Young Justice animated series and I have to say I like what I see so far. The biggest part of the series of rumors to date is that of Aqualad being Black and played by a Black voice actor. I am currently unable to confirm any of this so take it all with a grain of salt but the picture of Aqualad with what may be the voice actor playing him is compelling. I've heard rumors of other members of the team but no Cyborg or any other Black characters for that matter so far. As I learn more I will keep you posted. You may already be familiar with the picture of Arrowette below who is also rumored to be in the upcoming series. She's not Black but her appearance does add credibility to the possibility that the series will exist. I'm excited about the possibility. Check here to find out a bit more.
I can't say I've been a fan of The Super Hero Squad Show as it's geared towards little kids and often really silly but when I heard the Heroes for Hire would be on an episode I figured I'd give it a try. As well as the usual good guys, this episode also stars Luke Cage, Misty Knight, and Iron Fist. Luke Cage is voiced nicely by Lil JJ. In fact, the character is quite likable. Too bad he's only a guest star. Misty Knight is voiced by Tamera Mowry. The team even teams up with the Falcon, a series regular voiced by Alimi Ballard, in this episode. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can see the first part of the episode right here. I'm interested in what you think of it so sound off in the comments.
Special Agent Baldwin P. "Bulletproof" Vess is the main character in the animated series C.O.P.S. (Central Organization of Police Specialists), the elite police force of Empire City. (B.P. Vess = Bullet Proof Vest.) He is introduced into the series as a Fed with considerable expertise in criminology. Named Bulletproof because of his armor-plated torso that is resistant to bullets, he leads the organization with selfless dedication. The character carries the distinction of being the first African-American lead in an animated action series and toyline though I suppose that is debatable. He does appear in every episode.
Based on Hasbro's 1988 action figures of C.O.P.S 'N' Crooks, the show is set in the year 2020 and sports the tagline, "Fighting crime in a future time, protecting Empire City from Big Boss and his gang of crooks." Somehow with all the future tech of the show, phones still had cords. The series originally ran from September 1988 through November 1989. DC Comics even ran a C.O.P.S. comic book series from 1988 through 1989 that ran for 15 issues. Later, in 1993, the show was repackaged for syndication as CyberCOPS so as not to be confused with the COPS reality show. The C.O.P.S. team was effective and very reminiscent of GI Joe. In fact, some of the fact sheets for the characters list some of the team members as GI Joe descendants. The series lasted two seasons (66 episodes). This was actually a good series, one well worth watching, that was partially eclipsed by the success of the He-Man animated series.
Bulletproof was always cool and a man of action as well, never afraid to get his hands dirty. Almost too cool for the show, he sported a trenchcoat, yellow shirt, thin black tie, and sunglasses. His stainless steel, cybernetic torso also allowed him to plug into and control local machines. In the series, he was a caring, effective and enigmatic leader and was well respected from day one. Since the entire series was based on a set of action figures, Bulletproof got a decent one. I remember watching this show but had no idea there were so many episodes. The entire series is available on video. Here's the intro and part of the first episode for your enjoyment:
Hammerman was a Saturday Morning cartoon that chronicled the super hero adventure stories of Stanley Burrell (The real name of MC Hammer) who used his magic shoes to turn into Hammerman and fight bad guys. The show debuted on ABC in the fall of 1991 and ran for one season (12 episodes). This was at a time when MC Hammer was at the height of his career, the same year he released Too Legit to Quit.
What powers did Hammerman have? That was never made clear. He could rap, dance, and walk up walls but the powers came from the shoes and they would ultimately do some kind of unpredictable magic to save the day. All he had to do was dance in them.
This cartoon was terrible on many levels. The art and animation was bad. The whole thing seemed to be made from bad graffiti. The music wasn't any better, and the story was worse. It was kind of preachy too. I was a big fan of MC Hammer at the time and this was a big let down. I really tried to watch it but could only bring myself to check out a couple of episodes. The network was apparently quite aware of how bad this cartoon was but managed to let all the episodes run before axing the show. It was killed the same year it started. MC Hammer may have gotten an action figure but Hammerman never did.
How did Stanley Burrell become Hammerman? Check out the origin video for yourself.
In the 70's there was a cartoon show called The Freedom Force that had five different heroes and unfortunately only five episodes. The members of that group were Isis, Hercules, Sinbad, Super Samurai, and Merlin. I remember the series well but I only just found out about the predecessor to that show, called Space Sentinels which actually lasted for a full season. In this series, there were only three heroes, each of a different race, Hercules (the well known White guy), Mercury (an Asian super speedster), and Astrea.
Astrea had the power to turn into nearly any living creature which, in this series, meant she could morph into any animal. Apparently she could fly too which makes her that much better than Jayna of the Wonder Twins. Apparently all three of the main characters could fly and had been granted eternal youth as well. I've had a chance to check out a few of the episodes and it seems that Astrea was the most level-headed of the group and with her ability to get into and out of tight places, she usually got to the bottom of things first. Mercury was a bit of a Joker and Hercules always seemed to encounter things that were stronger than him.
This series was noteworthy for its multicultural cast. It's also great to see a Black super heroine with a major role in an animated series, especially in the 70's. Regardless of how great she was, she didn't make the cut when the doomed series changed to become the even more doomed series, The Freedom Force. Still, Astrea is a part of history and apparently available on video. Both series are contained in one DVD set available here. How did this Black woman become Astrea? The brief origin of the trio is explained in the opening narration of the series.
Back in the late 70's there was a Black crime fighting couple called Superstretch and Microwoman that showed up on Saturday morning TV. He was basically Plastic Man complete with the jokes and somehow her shrinking abilities always seemed to come in handy. I remember watching them during the animated Tarzan show. The episodes were short, a bit silly, and there weren't many of them but as a kid I thought they were great. They both had afros, wore no masks, and often referred to each other by their first names (Chris & Kristy). Their constant companion was a dog named Trouble. As I look back I remember they even used to hug and kiss on screen. Black superheroes showing affection to America's kids? What a precedent! Anyway here's a rough look at part of one of their episodes. In this one they fight their evil dimensional counterparts. Enjoy!
There's a lot to be said about this short-lived hero. His first appearance was on the Super Friends cartoon in the 70's as they expanded their lineup to create diversity. Black Vulcan is among those Black Superheroes that has the word Black in his name for no reason other than the color of his skin. When he showed up in the Super Friends many comic book fans cried foul as he was obviously a take off on Black Lightning who actually did exist in the DC Comics Universe. Apparently there were challenges with the creator of Black Lightning (money issues), so Black Vulcan was invented. Other than the color of his skin or the sound of his voice there was little "Black" or even interesting about him. He was never more than the Black token hero who never even raised the bar to the level of stereotype. Basically he was able to produce lightning and fly. His powers, while always lightning based, seemed to change episode to episode defying all logic and common sense as his lightning bolts would turn into whatever he needed, and even allow him to travel through time. His contribution to the Super Friends was minimal yet as a child I watched week to week waiting in vain for him to do something amazing. He never did. The only thing I can say positively about him is that he as a Black Superhero that appeared on TV while I was growing up.
Multiple action figures were made of the character but he never achieved a fan base and he never crossed over into the comics. Black Vulcan continued his career on the Super Friends cartoon until they revamped the show yet again and replaced him with another Black Superhero, Cyborg. The character disappeared into obscurity until 2004 and 2005 when he showed up years later as a parody of himself in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law show. Here's an episode of the Superfriends Black Vulcan wasn't overly terrible in:
Growing up on comics and TV, most of all the Black Superheroes had the word "Black" in their name. There was Black Panther, Black Lightning, Black Vulcan, Black Goliath, and the original Black Power Ranger to name a few. They made sure you knew who the Black ones were. Then there were these other Superheroes that everybody knew were black but that fact wasn't played up so much, maybe because they weren't exactly human. Remember Panthro from the Thundercats? Yet another Black Panther. He was the technical one. His weapons were the Nunchucks and he never seemed to get angry, preferring to kick your butt politely. No one seemed to be in a hurry to upset him though. My personal favorite is Hong Kong Phooey. He was voiced by the irreplaceble Scatman Crothers all those years ago and Hong Kong Phooey hasn't spoken another animated word since which is a damn shame. The character wasn't too bright but he always won in the end and the people worshiped him. Even getting run over by him was an honor. Scatman also did the voice of one of the original Transforming Autobots, Jazz. He was among the first to die in the original Transformers animated movie. The character has since been redone over and over again but has always portrayed to be the essence of style and cool. Can you think of any others?
The Web abounds with rumors about an upcoming Young Justice animated series and I have to say I like what I see so far. The biggest part of the series of rumors to date is that of Aqualad being Black and played by a Black voice actor. I am currently unable to confirm any of this so take it all with a grain of salt but the picture of Aqualad with what may be the voice actor playing him is compelling. I've heard rumors of other members of the team but no Cyborg or any other Black characters for that matter so far. As I learn more I will keep you posted. 
You may already be familiar with the picture of Arrowette below who is also rumored to be in the upcoming series. She's not Black but her appearance does add credibility to the possibility that the series will exist. I'm excited about the possibility. Check here to find out a bit more.
They both had afros, wore no masks, and often referred to each other by their first names (Chris & Kristy). Their constant companion was a dog named Trouble. As I look back I remember they even used to hug and kiss on screen. Black superheroes showing affection to America's kids? What a precedent! Anyway here's a rough look at part of one of their episodes. In this one they fight their evil dimensional counterparts. Enjoy!
