Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot

The show "Big Guy and Rusty" was deceptively interesting. Upon first hearing of it, I thought it would be off the air within a week. Of course, I had never read the comic, mind you. Little did I know that one viewing of one episode would lead to me become an absolute fanatic of the show. Not only has it inspired me to buy all the comics relating to the show, but has also inspired me to be a better American and to show respect for my country. That's right, folks. A kid's cartoon show has compelled to salute the flag and recite the pledge of allegiance.

Big Guy and Rusty is one of the best cartoons out there today. I read that someone related it to "Gigantor" meets "Astro Boy". The show is filled with voices you wouldn't think of doing a cartoon. R. Lee Ermey is General Thorton, he's still doing military roles but not like his known drill sgt. Stephen Root and Kathy Kinney are Donovan and Jenny, Stephen is Jimmy James from, "News Radio" and Kathy is Mimi from "The Drew Carey Show." Clancy Brown was recently in "Starship Troopers" and now he's all four voices of the Legion in the cartoon. The Big Guy is funny as he dishes out lines like "Who wants pie? Piping hot," with his guns drawn. The placement of his guns are humor enough, they look like arm pit cannons, and when he's not using his guns he's doing wrestling like moves to pummel the bad guys. Looking at the comic book, the animated version looks pretty good. Big metropolitan looking Neutronic City with the Shiny Big Guy and Rusty the boy robot guarding it against disaster. The Big Guy is patriotic while Rusty is learning the ropes of saving lives. With their number one rule, "Robots don't harm humans." This is a wonderful show with humor left and right, enough for the kids and the adults to enjoy. I hope we get more episodes or seasons, or more shows like this.

The artistic contributions of Geof Darrow are great. His designs were used for most of the vehicles and Legion Ex Machina Technology The legion did not appear in the 1995 comic book seres). His Dr. Spiderhead is also the inspiration of Dr. Noidburgh. This cartoon is one of the better shows to come from fox but is being replaced by thier crappy cartoon version of the avengers.

It's true. The guy who wrote the Dark Knight Returns (a great story about an aging Batman) and Sin City has created a show aimed for kids. And it rocks! It has strong stories, likable archtype style characters (Rusty is based on Astro Boy, Big Guy looks like a robot from an early 60s cartoon) and a fun atmosphere. And it's not just for kids. I watch it every week and enjoy the action packed adventures with tongue in cheek dialogue from Big Guy. It's theme song seems kinda cheezy at first but it grew on me with it's patriotic overtones (and I'm not even American) if Fox Kids shows more Cartoons like this I'll never get out on Saturday Mornings. Oh, and note that Jim Hanks (Tom's Brother) is the Voice of Big Guy's Alter ego.

This was an awesome show that I'd wake up at 6am for. Why'd it end? Did anyone see the last episode? Was there any ending to the show? The comic was incredible but I think it was only one issue and Rusty came only at the very end. That sucked and I wish Darrow and Miller made more. Darrow's illustrations are incredible. He also designed the matrix sentinels and other mechanical devices such as the gun used to suck out the bugs and the Nebucannezzar. Geoff's comic illustrations are so detailed he draws on huge sheets of paper that are then condensed to comic size pages. I also noticed while watching this show that Rusty and Bobby Hill from King of the Hill have the same voice. Cool.