X-Men and Bakugan

Tonight we just chilled out with some cartoons. Of course it's not like when I was a kid, when you had to - you know - wait for the cartoons to come on. No, now there's TV on demand. Khalil navigated the menus with the remote and, probably figuring I'd like it because we've talked a lot about Wolverine, he chose one of the early episodes of "X-Men Evolution".

I got quite a kick out of this cartoon. Many of the elements of the comic books that I read for years were in it, but it had been shaken up enough to make the differences interesting. For example, most of the characters are very young. More shockingly, Colossus was a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants! The only thing that really bothered me was that just about all the characters sounded like they were teens or twentysomethings from Long Island. Ororo (Storm) was an African who was orphaned and spent the early years of her life as a street urchin in Cairo! She shouldn't sound like a some girl I'd hear on the New Jersey Transit! Oh well. The Sentinel was really cool. It reminded me a lot of the Iron Giant.

After that was over, Khalil put on Bakugan. Oh boy. Way to make me feel old, Khalil. I felt exactly like those parents in the South Park episode Chinpokomon: absolutely baffled. Well, not really baffled as such, just overwhelmed with the hyperkinetic visuals and the barrage of jargon.

Basically the show is about kids who engage in gladiatorial combat using their Bakugan - little spheres that morph into enormous creatures - as proxies. The creatures have intrinsic powers which can be augmented. All the creatures and the tricks you can play with them reflect cards. Cards that kids can buy. Cards that the makers of the show WANT KIDS TO BUY A LOT OF RIGHT NOW. Get the point?

Well, I'm sure I would've liked it lo, those many years ago when I was Khalil's age. What kid wouldn't enjoy the fantasy of having a super-powered magical pet that you can carry around like a talisman, waiting for the moment when its powers are needed? Anyhow, it's always nice to have Khalil share his interests with me.