Animated superheroes have long been a staple of TV programmming. From Batman: The Animated Series to Teen Titans, and countless more, kids are never without fantastic options. For adults, channels like Boomerang, and online streaming services offer a heaping dose of nostalgia at their fingertips.
However fans choose to view their favorites, there are still heroes whose adventures go greatly overlooked. Whether due to limited streaming options, or airing at an inopportune moment, some series have fallen into relative obscurity.
10 Hong Kong Phooey
Hong Kong Phooey premiered in 1974 and lasted for 16 episodes. However, subsquent reruns over the years have given the series intermittent appearances on the air. The series follows an unassuming canine janitor who, along with his cat sidekick, fight crime. As a many series of its era go, the cat did all the real work, while a none-the-wiser Phooey thumbed through his kung fu handbook.
By this point in Hanna-Barbera's reign as an animation powerhouse, The Herculoids and many Marvel adaptations existed, so, understandably, Hong Kong Phooey's goofy legacy has been given less of a run. There's also the matter of it being a problematic series, which might have something to do with its failure to thrive in the public imagination.
9 Thundarr The Barbarian
Thundarr the Barbarian takes liberties with Robert E. Howard's more famous Conan the Barbarian. The series takes the brutal warrior and reimagines him as a kids' superhero cartoon. Revolving around the eponymous barbarian, Thundarr followed three warriors roaming around a futuristic, mystical wasteland, and the various battles they find themselves in.
Thundarr was an odd but entertaining series, blending dystopic world-building and plenty of magic. As far as originality goes, the series was willing to play with tropes, including a character named Ookla the Mok, who was a thinly veiled stand-in for Chewbacca. Even Thundarr's sword was basically a lightsaber. The series lasted for 21 bizarre episodes, and features plenty of real-world locales rendered as ruins.
8 Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
Dynomutt, Dog Wonder first appearance in a split block called The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. Later, the segments were tinkered with and given their own block of time. However audiences were exposed to the goofy robotic canine, it was certainly an odd blend of Scooby-Doo and superheroes, combining Hanna-Barbera's hottest properties.
The series follows Dynomutt, the comedically inept counterpart to the deadly serious Blue Falcon (a Batman stand-in). Through Inspector Gadget-like technologies Dynomutt would inadvertently save the day just as much as he'd land the duo hot water. Notably, in the 2021 movie, Scoob!, the duo appeared, with Dynomutt rewritten as the brains of the operation.
7 Captain Caveman
It might be hard to describe exactly what's going on with Captain Caveman's body hair. Whether he's ensconced in a giant beard, or just a hairy, pear-shaped neanderthal is up in the air. What's certain is that the Hanna-Barbera cartoon was a charming oddity.
Somewhere between The Flintstones, Josie and the Pussycats, and superhero cartoons, the series paired the titular Caveman with the Teen Angels. Together, the team would travel the globe, solving mysteries. Notably, Captain Caveman was voiced by the iconic voice actor, Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and just about every other Looney Tune worth remembering).
6 The Batman
The Batman is one of Batman's lesser-talked-about series, largely due to having little to do with the DCAU, and the noticeable absence of Kevin Conroy. However, Rino Romano is more than capable of filling those Bat-shoes, and the series won a total of six Daytime Emmy's.
With character designs by Jeff Matsuda (Jackie Chan Adventures), the series has a distinct style that reinvents many of the Caped Crusader's most iconic allies and villains. While the stories more or less remix many of the major storylines from previous Batman series and comics, it's a solid, stylistically appealing series worth a watch.
5 Space Ghost
Space Ghost one of Hanna-Barbera's flagship superhero creations in the 1960s. Set in the far reaches of deep space, the series showed the adventures of Space Ghost – created and designed by comic book legend Alex Toth – along with his companions Jace, Jan, and Blip, a pet monkey.
Whether facing off against a race of space sharks, or Council of Doom member, Moltar (a guy in a hazmat suit), there was always a ton poorly-animated action and wooden dialogue in Space Ghost. However, the series biggest draw was its bizarre coterie of villains and a truncated runtime, with each episode broken down into shorts that never overstayed their welcome.
4 Static Shock
As far as egregious TV programming errors go, the cancelation of Static Shock still stings. The series follows Virgil Hawkins (voiced by the legendary Phil LaMarr), a 14-year-old with electromagnetic superpowers who squares off against all kinds of inventive nemeses that would make Superman blush.
Aside from great animation, and a metal disc Static Shock used as a hoverboard, the series is notable for its more socially astute observations. Static Shock never shied away from real-world issues, notably instances of racial prejudice and bullying. While the thinly veiled social commentary would find itself manifested in various villains, it all clicked in an all-too-rare poignant superhero cartoon.
3 Spawn
Following the blockbuster failure of the 1997 Spawn live-action movie, Todd McFarlane took his antihero to HBO. There, Spawn's long-form animated series lasted for three seasons. It was at HBO that McFarlane was finally able to give the character a properly rated supplement to the mega-influential comic.
As an R-rated superhero series, Spawn was ahead of its time, and destined to drawn in less viewers and readers than any of Marvel or DC's most iconic heroes. Nowadays, series like The Boys and Invincible populate the airwaves, and the murkiness of heroism is more willingly explored. However, Spawn was, and is, for many, a major step forward that people didn't entirely know how to handle at the time.
2 Batman: The Brave & The Bold
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is one of the most light-hearted depictions of Batman since the '66 Adam West series. Taking cues from the DC universe's Silver Age stories, each episode had Batman team up with a different DC character, such as Kamandi and Shazam.
The series has remained a fan-favorite since airing in 2008, especially as a gap-bridger between fans of yesteryear Batman and kids just seeing the Caped Crusader for the first time. In a world that has embraced muck darker-edged superhero series, The Brave and the Bold offers a show that doesn't ring needlessly dire.
1 The New Adventures Of Superman
The New Adventures of Superman took its cues more from Superman's Golden Age and early Silver Age comics, with a dry earnestness that might seem a bit rote to the contemporary viewer. However, with simplistic storylines untarnished with needlessly murky morality, it's just a pleasure to watch.
The series featured villains like Brainiac, Titano, and the original Parasite, each appearing in frill-free 8-minute episodes. Though not as well-regarded as the Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons, these standalone shorts still offer an animated look back into the past of the world's most famous superhero.