Cartoons and childhood superheroes

Ever since I was a kid, my only source of entertainment without having to lift a finger was watching cartoons on television. Alone in the house, you’d catch me sitting in the couch all day just watching Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai X, Cooking Master Boy and the list goes on. Contrary to when my parents were around who kept telling me to do this and do that and read and learn how to cook and stuff. My mom even joked that I looked like a cartoon character with huge eyes and a body twice smaller than its head which I kinda like the idea. LOL

I remember the cool characters from DC and Marvel Comics, they were the greatest! (and still are) Among the shows that made me jump with excitement was Justice League. Earth's seven mightiest heroes unite against the threat of outside entities and an alien invasion and decide to remain together to defend Earth against attacking aliens, sorcerers, super-villains, and any other threat that might arise.

Among their number are Superman, the super-powered last survivor of the planet Krypton; Batman, the Dark Knight Detective; Green Lantern, wielder of an alien Power Ring; The Flash, the Fastest Man Alive; Hawkgirl, Winged Wonder and policewoman from the planet Thanagar; Wonder Woman, Princess of the Amazons, and Martian Manhunter, last survivor of Mars.

The whole series is available thru torrent (it doesn’t take that long to download given that your internet speed is over 2Mbps) and starting with the third season, the show was retitled "Justice League Unlimited" and now the core members, under the guidance of the Martian Manhunter, command teams of specialist heroes brought together to deal with specific crises they are best suited to handling.

Meanwhile, another cartoon superheroes from Marvel Comics also dominated the televisions not so long ago. The X-Men: Evolution brought the fan favorite comic book title onto the TV screen. The series loosely follows the main stories of the original comic. The main cast has been turned into kids (with the exception of Wolverine, Prof. X, and a few select others). Most of the fan favorites are accounted for, including Wolverine, Cyclops, and Storm.

X-Men: Evolution follows the lives of six mutants (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, ShadowCat, Rouge, and a new original named Spyke) who attend Xavier's Institute for the Gifted. There they learn how to control their powers and use it for good.

These are just two of the 100 cartoon shows that I used to kill my time on. Although, I have to admit that some people are cynical about watching cartoons due to false sense of reality and children at a young age can’t tell the difference between cartoons and reality. How come, at a young age, I was able to tell the difference? (smirk)

Moreover, I read from a certain article online that children who watch too much cartoons on television are more likely to have mental and emotional problems, along with brain and eye injuries and unexpectedly the risk of certain physical problems.

I went to Manila 7 years ago to attend an ANAK TV conference where they showcased the effects of television on the general population especially on children and was able to ask some adults about their views. They claimed that it had become a problem because too many children are watching too much television and the shows that they are watching have become violent and addictive.

Well, it's a good thing my mom was so strict that if she caught me watching these shows for more than 3 hours I wind up kneeling in my room with salt all over my knee caps. :P