Superjail!

Superjail! reminds me of the brilliant animation that one found 20 years ago in those animation festivals that toured college campuses. Sure, it is twisted and sick, but it is so unpretentious and loyal to its own universe that it is simply genius.

From the massive body counts to the animation that makes 'Yellow Submarine' look drug-free, Superjail! is a gift from above.

I cannot believe how lucky we are that this network, whose bread and butter is cartoons for children, turns around and embraces the cutting edge while little ones sleep. I wish that I could do more than just write this to show the network my support.

But is. The premise alone is insane as is most of the plot. But there's something magical and enjoyable about it.

I was excited when I saw more Superjail episodes were being produced after the first season, but I was less excited when I saw how the show was starting to become yet another surreal pothead Adult Swim animated comedy.

The acid-trip hellscapes and grimy, underground feel of the first season disappears in subsequent seasons, so that the show is a shell of its former self. A major problem is that the animation gets cleaner and brighter; the rough-around-the-edges, scrawled-on-a-bathroom-stall look was vital to season one's in-your-face insanity. Season 2 in particular really feels like a second-order pastiche or detached parody of season 1, with awful writing and painfully unfunny new characters like the unnecessary supervillain "Lord Stingray".

But nothing tops that first season. When I first laid eyes on it, late at night on Adult Swim, I thought I'd borne witness to another plane of existence, some abominable, squirming, televised thing that could only have been the sum total of a drug-addicted, homeless 30-something's soul vomited onto animation cells and then blasphemously beamed into homes around the nation. The show disgusted me, captivated me, and left images seared into my brain that I'll never be able to scrub away.

From the sound design, to the voice acting, to the fight and torture scenes, to the angry and violent end credits, the first 10 episodes of this show are to be savored by animation fans and those looking for something to watch that pretty much amounts to religious defilement. Can't say the same for the other seasons, though.

Oh, and "Time Police" Parts 1 and 2, the final two episodes of season one, will forever be one of the best two-part finales of any television show, ever - live action or otherwise. Watch those two episodes, if nothing else.

This is perhaps the most violent of all the Adult Swim shows, and it's filled with plenty of outrageous jokes, which combined with the bizarre-looking animation, it almost ends feeling like a fever dream.

But it works. It was entertaining to watch despite (or maybe because) of all the weirdness and extreme violence. At least nobody can deny it was a very imaginative series.

Shame it was cancelled in such an abrupt manner.

"Superjail" is a great cartoon from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block that combines psychedelic imagery with a bucket load of graphic violence. Focusing on the exploits of an insane jail warden and his crew, Superjail is perfect for cult audiences.

One of the best parts of this series is its use of imaginative imagery. The show packs as many weird images as it can into a fifteen minute cartoon, creating a dense visual style in which a single frame can contain multiple jokes.

The psychedelic visuals coexist with a flood of graphic violence, as prisoners kill one another or fall victim to the warden's various schemes. At times, the show comes across as the unholy offspring of an R. Crumb comic and the Happy Tree Friends. Although some reviewers have suggested this show is best watched under the influence of drugs, the amount of blood makes it at best questionable eye candy.

Ultimately, this show is best appreciated by cult audiences.