Fantastic Four: The Complete 1994-95 Animated Television Series
Marvel Comics'Fantastic Fouranimated series (1994-95)--depicting the first family of superheroes--got significantly better as it went along.  The series always had good intentions, borrowing plots, concepts, characters, and even lines of dialogue from the classicStan Lee-Jack Kirby comic booksthat kicked off the Marvel age of comics.  And it was willing to spend two or even three episodes on a single story line.  The early episodes, however, had serious drawbacks, such as a clumsy animation style (the Silver Surfer never looked less noble), weak humor (the origin episode created a framing sequence in which the FF appears on theDick Cavett Show), and an awful theme song by Giorgio Moroder (Flashdance,Top Gun).  Fortunately, the animation improved in the second season, and instrumental theme music replaced the song.  Memorable moments from the series include the monumental Frightful Four-Inhumans tie-in and Galactus's search for a new herald. Memorable characters include villains Doctor Doom, the Skrulls, the Mole Man, and the Puppet Master, and heroes Daredevil, the Black Panther, Thor, and the Hulk. Guest voices include Ron Perlman, Michael Dorn, Kathy Ireland, Mark Hamill, and John Rhys-Davies.  It's worth a look for FF fans, especially in the complete four-disc set that contains all 29 episodes, a welcome change from Disney's single-disc compilations of theSpider-Manseries from the same time period.  (Ages 8 and older: cartoon action, threatening situations, some mature concepts)--David Horiuchi