This weekend saw the premiere of Cartoon Network's new show Ben 10: Alien Force, both on the network itself and at a panel at the New York Comic-Con. For those not in the know, Ben 10 is a successful CN series about Ben Tennyson, a 10-year-old boy who comes into possession of the Omnitrix, a watch-like alien device that lets him transform into any of ten different superpowered aliens, and who uses it to fight crime and alien invasions, alongside his same-aged cousin Gwen (who later gains magical spellcasting powers) and their Grandpa Max (who turns out to be a member of the Plumbers, a Men in Black-type secret agency defending Earth against aliens). It was a moderately entertaining show at best, notable for its comic-book-like continuity (and a heavy Jack Kirby influence in its art style, if you like that sort of thing), but definitely geared toward younger viewers.
After four 13-episode seasons, an animated movie, and even a live-action sequel movie (which astonishingly is in canon), the executives in charge of the show decided to do something different, so they created this sequel series. Ben and Gwen are now five years older, and the show is more mature and sophisticated as well. To tackle this new direction, CN brought in veterans from the DC Animated Universe and other DC-based shows. The producer of Alien Force is Glen Murakami, best known as the producer of Teen Titans, but also a veteran of The New Batman/Superman Adventures and Batman Beyond. The story editor (head writer) is Dwayne McDuffie, who created the well-regarded Static Shock and was the head writer for Justice League Unlimited, scripting virtually every episode of its acclaimed Cadmus arc. There are plenty of other DC/WB veterans in the production staff as well (even though technically it's from Cartoon Network Studios and not WB Television Animation), including directors Dan Riba and Butch Lukic, voice director Andrea Romano, and composers Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis, the trio of Shirley Walker proteges who have worked on all the DCAU shows as well as Legion of Super Heroes and the new Spectacular Spider-Man.
So far I've only seen the hourlong pilot, but I'm very impressed by it. McDuffie's writing is great, with good character interplay and emotion and some excellent one-liners. The characters are more mature, less annoyingly kid-like, but still youthful. And the new series has an even stronger story arc than the original, with the pilot setting up a number of mysteries to be explored over the course of the two planned 13-episode seasons. And it has a good look and feel to it, evocative of past WB/DC shows in visuals, music, and voices.
Speaking of voices, Ben (played in the original by the ubiquitous Tara Strong) is now Yuri Lowenthal, formerly Superman in Legion of Super Heroes. He's able to use a "younger" voice for Ben, and he's better suited for it than he was for Superman. And there were times when he managed to capture the rhythms of Strong's characterization pretty well. Gwen (originally Meagan Smith) is now Ashley Johnson (Teen Titans' Terra), who does a very nice job. Kevin Levin (originally Ben's archnemesis "Kevin Eleven," now a reluctant ally/antihero) is voiced by Greg Cipes, who I thought was excellent as Beast Boy on TT, and who does a very different voice here. (Michael Reisz and then Charlie Schlatter played the younger Kevin.) Grandpa Max is still Paul Eiding as in the original. As for the aliens Ben turns into, in the original show they were played by a variety of actors, but in this show they're all Dee Bradley Baker, a rising talent who's well-regarded for his versatility (and who did three of Ben's Omnitrix aliens in the original).
The show airs Saturdays at 10 AM, which unfortunately puts it opposite Spectacular Spider-Man. But it should probably be rerun sometime during the week (for instance, the premiere was rerun Sunday at 11 AM, although with a glitch that skipped over several minutes in the first half; fortunately I caught the showing at Comic-Con). It's worth checking out, especially for people who miss JLU and other DC shows. And of course for people who were fans of Ben 10 before, although this show is definitely not just for them.
After four 13-episode seasons, an animated movie, and even a live-action sequel movie (which astonishingly is in canon), the executives in charge of the show decided to do something different, so they created this sequel series. Ben and Gwen are now five years older, and the show is more mature and sophisticated as well. To tackle this new direction, CN brought in veterans from the DC Animated Universe and other DC-based shows. The producer of Alien Force is Glen Murakami, best known as the producer of Teen Titans, but also a veteran of The New Batman/Superman Adventures and Batman Beyond. The story editor (head writer) is Dwayne McDuffie, who created the well-regarded Static Shock and was the head writer for Justice League Unlimited, scripting virtually every episode of its acclaimed Cadmus arc. There are plenty of other DC/WB veterans in the production staff as well (even though technically it's from Cartoon Network Studios and not WB Television Animation), including directors Dan Riba and Butch Lukic, voice director Andrea Romano, and composers Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis, the trio of Shirley Walker proteges who have worked on all the DCAU shows as well as Legion of Super Heroes and the new Spectacular Spider-Man.
So far I've only seen the hourlong pilot, but I'm very impressed by it. McDuffie's writing is great, with good character interplay and emotion and some excellent one-liners. The characters are more mature, less annoyingly kid-like, but still youthful. And the new series has an even stronger story arc than the original, with the pilot setting up a number of mysteries to be explored over the course of the two planned 13-episode seasons. And it has a good look and feel to it, evocative of past WB/DC shows in visuals, music, and voices.
Speaking of voices, Ben (played in the original by the ubiquitous Tara Strong) is now Yuri Lowenthal, formerly Superman in Legion of Super Heroes. He's able to use a "younger" voice for Ben, and he's better suited for it than he was for Superman. And there were times when he managed to capture the rhythms of Strong's characterization pretty well. Gwen (originally Meagan Smith) is now Ashley Johnson (Teen Titans' Terra), who does a very nice job. Kevin Levin (originally Ben's archnemesis "Kevin Eleven," now a reluctant ally/antihero) is voiced by Greg Cipes, who I thought was excellent as Beast Boy on TT, and who does a very different voice here. (Michael Reisz and then Charlie Schlatter played the younger Kevin.) Grandpa Max is still Paul Eiding as in the original. As for the aliens Ben turns into, in the original show they were played by a variety of actors, but in this show they're all Dee Bradley Baker, a rising talent who's well-regarded for his versatility (and who did three of Ben's Omnitrix aliens in the original).
The show airs Saturdays at 10 AM, which unfortunately puts it opposite Spectacular Spider-Man. But it should probably be rerun sometime during the week (for instance, the premiere was rerun Sunday at 11 AM, although with a glitch that skipped over several minutes in the first half; fortunately I caught the showing at Comic-Con). It's worth checking out, especially for people who miss JLU and other DC shows. And of course for people who were fans of Ben 10 before, although this show is definitely not just for them.
