Thundercats, HO!! (And Madden, Too)

In a distant galaxy, the world of Thundera is in crisis. The planet's structure has become unstable and is near collapse. Under threat of impending global cataclysm, the Thundercats (a humanoid feline race) escape in a spaceship to find a new home. Trouble is, they were also involved in an ongoing war with the Mutants, their mortal enemies, who seem to have issues with anyone not as ugly as they are. In their escape the Thundercats are attacked and their craft is irreparably damaged. Jaga, the eldest Thundercat, sacrifices himself and pilots the ship safely to its destination: Third Earth [No word on what happened to First and Second Earth.]

The characters were -- LionO, naive tough guy, leader, and wielder of the Sword of Omens; Tigra, brooding intellectual that often stopped Liono from being too much of a jackass (he could also turn invisible); Panthro, muscled Mr. T type that built the Thundertank and accomplished other engineering feats; Cheetara, the token amazon woman that could run faster than a speeding bullet and see into the future all while sounding like Katharine Hepburn on quaaludes; Wileykit & Wileykat, children and causers of mischief; and Snarf, an all-around strange creature and former nursemaid of Liono that mostly wallowed in self-pity, ate a lot, and provided comic relief.

Since the series started when I was 3 years old and ran until I was 5, I don't remember watching much of its first run. But thanks to ample re-runs in the '80s and early '90s, a collection of videotapes, 4 pair of Thundercats Underoos (no I don't still wear them.. much), and a brother who thought he was the reincarnation of Lion-O, I've developed a rather unhealthy case of fanatic devotion. Not that I have any shame in this... One can find the Eye of Thundera displayed in (and on) my car, in my AIM buddy icon, on a few pairs of "undergarments" and multiple t-shirts, on various books, folders, and dvd covers, the outside of my laptop, and I still own a Sword of Omens that I received for Hanukkah in 1986. I once tried to get contact lenses with the Eye on them just for kicks but apparently that design is not in production.

The good news is the set is being released today and contains 3 double-sided discs that include the first 33 episodes of Season 1. Volume 2, which is due out later this year, will complete Season 1 on DVD. I can't say that Thundercats beats out GI Joe and Transformers for best cartoon of the '80s but it comes pretty damn close. Then again, most cartoons in the '80s were nothing short of amazing. It's a shame that cartoons are piles of rubbish nowadays. The last one (and I'm talking after school/Saturday morning cartoons - not "adult" series like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, and stuff on Adult Swim) was X-Men. No animated series has done the job since and I suspect none ever will.

In other news, Madden was released today at midnight. While I know quite a few people have scooped it up already, I won't be getting my copy until later this evening. From what I've heard thus far, save the new quarterback vision, the game doesn't much differ from 2005 and that's a shame. If you're going to monopolize the industry by cornering the licensing market, the least you can do is provide the public with some new features. EA = Evil Assholes. Not that it really matters. They'll still get my $50 by COB today.. the vulturous bastards.