Great work (except Aquaman, WTH?). I would have left out the fish king and gone with the 1930s Superman if only for the amazing look of it. Also, doesn't Batman Beyond kind of break the rules of cartoons based on comics since it was not a comic before it was a cartoon? At any rate, Static Shock was pretty good as was the Hulk cartoon from the 1990s. Great to see Tick, Spawn and Maxx in there. Next countdown should be top 10 animated DVDs based on comics (with Marvel and DC and even Dark Horse cranking them out, that should be easy).

If any other show had been #1 other than Batman I would have lost all respect for you guys.

Aquaman? Aquaman? Frickin Aquaman, but no roon for X-Men: Evolution? What the hell?

Man, Alex loves the sound of his own voice. Poor Pete, he lacks the snarky wit to cut people off and sound anything other than angry.

I will join the rant. Aquaman? Weird choice. What do you guys think of the new Spider-Man cartoon show. I think it's the best version out there.

I bet you guys haven't watched Spectacular Spiderman huh? Because of the art, huh? Go watch that show on youtube and do the countdown again:)
Love your show to death

Spectacular Spiderman has been really amazing. The way they did the venom storyline is the best ever done. Seriously anyone who havent checked this out yet needs to

nice list, glad to see the Maxx up there, and of course Batman at #1. Spectacular Spiderman could easily make the list in the future.

Alright, I might actually have to give kudo's to Pete. Very funny, spiraling staircase joke. Bravo (slow clap)
As for the list:
10) Superman: TAS (Just as good as Batman and made me love Superman more then I used to. The very first two parter appearence of Darkseid is the best episode(s) of the series.)
9)Spawn (Never saw it, cant comment)
8) Spider-Man: TAS (Fucking awesome show! Sure it feels a little dated now, but every episode is just fantastic.)
7) The Tick (It was okay, I'm not a huge fan of Tick so I cant say I hated this)
6) X-Men (Pete was singing the theme, easily my favorite theme of the whole list. Loved the cartoon, cause it felt more like an adult show)
5) Aquaman (What the fuck is this doing here? If you had the Superfriends, then I would understand...but not this smelly dump)
4) The Maxx (Again never seen it but if it's anything like the comic...then I wanna try and find it cause I loved that series!)
3) Batman Beyond (Controversial to have this, but I agree it is a very good show. It took a strange idea and made a great universe on it's own. Return of the Joker is my favorite out of the animated batman films btw)
2) Justice League Unlimited (Love this entire series! They spent so much time on B and C list heroes, just amazing. All the appearences of The Question made me realise how awesome this show was)
1) Batman: TAS (If this wasnt number one, we would have a problem here. It is one of the greatest shows of all time, not just animated...but up there with shows like MASH, All in the Family, and other live action classics. Mark Hamill as the Joker, greatest casting decision of all time. Any time he's in an episode, even for a cameo, he just steals the show. I've always loved Batman, but this series made it offical that he was my favorite hero of all time. Oh; and The Clock King, Joker's Favor, If Your So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?, Almost Got 'Im, The Man Who Killed Batman, and Over the Edge is my favorite episodes)

good list, JLU and BTAS are too close for me. The Maxx is awesome, the whole damn series is on youtube, usta b ne way. One thing though NO SUPERFRIENDS? aztec and samurai would be very dissapointed

I cant believe you ignores the Max Fleischer Superman from the 40's. Given the constraints of known technology for subject matter, he was beyond cutting edge. I guess technically these were films made for the theaters, but the list is "All-Time Top 10 Cartoon Series Based on Comic Books" so that shouldnt matter. Heck it was even nominated for an Oscar.

I think if you did this again in a year Spectacular Spider-Man would make the list, its really good.

I prefer more adult themed cartoons. The Maxx is really amazing. I think MTV peaked when they did this show on Oddities.

My favorite is HBO's Spawn, particularly season one. I have all 3 seasons on DVD and VHS. Its a Hard 'R' rating, so dont go renting it for the kids.

I have every Batman TAS on DVD, and thought its good, it's just aimed too young most of the time. It has its moments of genius, theres just too many episodes targeted at 8 year olds.

Kudos to you guys for putting Batman Beyond in at number 3. That IMO is prolly the best superhero cartoon [it ties with the 90's Spiderman].
But why no love for X-Men Evolution or The Fleischer Superman shows? Both of those were terrific and honestly X-Men Evolution was wayy better than the 90s X-Men [IMO].

Spawn was infact an awesome series. Probably my favorite incarnation of the whole spawn franchize.

justin you are the biggest queer going..X-Men 1992 should be in the top 3

action or detective comics ? paul dini rules!!

There was an Aquaman series? Chances are it sucked, I would toss it off the list. Same with the Spider-Man series. That thing was a smelly turd. It was like the story-telling was geared for kids with massive ADD problems.

I would also take exception with Spawn. Season one was fantastic, but season two sucked and season three was pointless.

I would add the current series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as it's very true to the comics and has some great action. Also I would absolutely have put Teen Titans on that list. That show was funny as hell and had incredible animation.

And what should also have gotten an honorable mention was the Fox Kids Silver Surfer cartoon. That one should have gone longer then it did.

I do love Batman: The Animated Series but I have to say that my favorite, as mentioned by previous posters, is Max Fleischer's Superman. The animation in that series is amazing, the stories are almost universal in appeal and I grew up watching it over and over on VHS. Great buy by my Mom at Goodwill.

I recently watched a few episodes of TMNT's with my friend and I gotta say, even better than I remembered.

Spiderman and X-men were my two favs growing up, so glad to see 'em on there!

Pretty good list all in all, however I was really hoping to see Sensational Spider-Man make an appearance. In my opinion this is probably the very best animated Spider-Man yet. I know it's extremely recent, but it's an incredibly good show with good animation and a plot that's a cross between Bendis' Ultimate Spidey and the classic Lee/Ditko years. Here's my full opinion of the show's first season in case you want some more details... http://www.vulturesonacarousel.com/?p=1007

Also, I was lucky enough to watch the new Batman: Gotham Knights animated feature a few days ago, and found it to be a great disappointment. Boring plots, below average art, and outdated action sequences. What did you guys think of it?

fellows.. The 90's Spider-man and X-men shows blew chunks. If you liked them, it's because you were 7 at the time. Watch them again and get back to us. And to add to the noise, watch Spectacular Spiderman! Spectacular Spiderman! Spectacular Spiderman! Spectacular Spiderman! Spectacular Spiderman! Spectacular Spiderman!
Superman, for the New Gods alone should rate higher than Aquaman.. Aquaman? Thats just there to piss people off... eh Justin?

yeah...efitz9 Max Fleischer's Superman!! Batman based the whole design on it. That is a classic and hand painted(if sometimes dated and racist) Some of these shows just don't belong on any top ten.. sorry guys..

Yeah those 90's Marvel shows had no pacing, the animation for X-Men was poor and the designs for Spider-man were "90's Extreme!!" (count the headbands! Punisher had one!) They basically threw every character ever in either book on the screen, yet spent most time with Smythe and other dumb ass folk. They each have there moments and yet those moments are lost when they continue to get more and more diluted. See Woverine's "Weapon X" episode or the Spider-man "Secret Wars" travesty. Really, can anyone watch this stuff now and honestly put them on a top ten list? The Snorks would be an improvement.

The Maxx does rule!!! The Tick is funny!! All the Warner Bros. Animation Bat/Sup/BatBey/JL/JLU/TeenTs are all of a superior quality. Interesting that The Spectacular Spiderman has some of the folks from the WB legacy. It;s very well paced and it is by far the best Marvel cartoon ever.

I protest nothing!!!! ya'll did a great job, though i will have to find the aquaman cartoon...i cant believe that it would have lasted over a season, maybie it did, who knows!

I am going to have to agree with 90% of what you guys said, except you guys said "not cartoons that where then made into comics" batman beyond! But you guys did not even mention the 1940's superman which was the inspiration for the batman animated series! you guys need to go watch it!!!!!!

I enjoy your reviews but you guys should consider breaking format more often, this list was a great episode. Have you done a "best comic book movie" list yet? How about "comic books that should be a movie?" Or hey, just argue about anything for 10 minutes and it'll probably come out entertaining.

well i think aquaman the series was a good choice because the show was (and still is unfortuantly) better than the actual comic books. plus unlike most of the cartoons at this time, this show allowed punching!!! yes the forbidden punching was allowed!! now i'm not too keen on spiderman tas. it had a great voice cast, but the dialogue was just too cliche. and every episode had too much internal monologue than regular talking. should replace that with challenge of the superfriends. i was extremely dissapointed to not see that on the list. sad sad sad.

Ok, little out of left field, and maybe only good for an honorable mention, but does anyone remember Big Guy and Rusty the boy robot. Frank Miller, late 90's, elbow machineguns?

i agree with the number 2 spot. justice leauge unlimited is awesome.

WOW!!!

love the top 10 comic to animated show..

haahhah i laughed so hard when you guys go "down stairs"..hahahahaha..i LOVE how the show is not always SO SERIOUS..it makes me come back for more..so keep up the laughter

great choice on #1..i watched Batman the animated series religiously..it was my fav..WOOO!!!!


liked all the top 10...except for aqua man..i honestly never seen the aqua man show..and im really not that big a aqua man fan.

well im DEF gonna keep watching..cant wait for the next new show..

peace

your friendly neighborhood fan,
Matt

Ok - Aquaman? But more than that - original spidey FTW! That series rocked my world and still has amazing sound - the theme, the episode sound, the episode with the violinist! And just a lot of amazing crap from that era that you have overlooked!

2nd. Teen Titans. You said that you were skipping it from the start, but you were wrong to do so. What an amazing series for bridging the generation gap and getting my daughter into comics! 4 realz dudez. And a great series that didn't get to go out in the same level of style as JLU - which also rocked! The question alone makes that worth the admission.