Martin Mystery

I should like to register my opinion that this cartoon is an absolute bloody delight. It is consistently well written, with exquisite animation (I notice there is frequent use of purple). The distinctive voice acting is also charismatic. In some respects, the cartoon seems to me somewhat like an animated version of Doctor Who; there is even a line of dialogue "You will be exterminated" which I think may be a deliberate allusion to the Daleks. From what little I know of the Italian comic from which this is derived, this seems to be pretty loosely based on it, but it has a distinct, definitive feel to it all of its own. There also apparent references to various films, such as Ghostbusters (particularly with the incidental music), The Exorcist, and The Thing. Probably several more as well. For some reason, I can see a bit of a resemblance to the old Tintin cartoons as well, with the wide range of superbly animated location settings. Like Doctor Who, a lot of the programme has a strong scary quality to it. I personally don't find it frightening, but I might have done as a wee'un. If it gets released on DVD in Britain, I suspect it will get at least a PG. Well done to all involved in the creation of this programme. Yaaaaay!!

The animation is a bit like anime meets the old Spiderman but somehow it works. Sometimes simpler is better. My teenage son and daughter get a big laugh out of every episode and the Martin/Diana relationship is so much like my kids it is creepy! Martin is all teenage boy with girls on the mind and an overactive imagination (er.. think "sock gnomes" being responsible for missing socks). He jumps to conclusions based on limited knowledge and has an unshakable faith in his own opinions; he also has absolutely no clue about acceptable social interaction. He can be a total pain but when it counts he stands up for his step-sister and his friends. Diana is all about doing the right thing and making sure the rules are followed... but the teenage girl in her manages to get out anyways.

Martin and Diana often act like 2 year olds when fighting with each other, and to emphasize the point they get redrawn as immature kids. The effect can be hilarious and my kids love their childish arguments. I don't point out to them how much it matches reality around our place.

The comment someone made about Martin/Diana being incestuous is just totally out to lunch. There really is nothing offensive about this show. Just fun with slime, aliens, weird monsters attacking quiet rural towns, and cursed objects that are found by innocent people. No one is hurt in the end, and Martin usually saves the day despite being such a doofus. And sometimes his bizarre theories ARE correct.

Not sophisticated but provides surprisingly satisfactory entertainment.

BTW: Martin's closet contains several outfits that all look the same. He changes his clothes but not his look.

Monsters and sympathy in a cartoon that is very distantly inspired by an Italian comic of a completely different kind. Although the episodes are totally self-contained and there is no evolution of the characters, this cartoon manages to stand perfectly on its own legs. It is interesting and manages to scare you when you work hard. Martin is a silly, funny but likeable protagonist while Diana and Java are shoulders that work perfectly with their interactions and reactions.

The show I personally feel is wonderful. I hit on it one day on Nick purely by accident and fell in love with it. I've always been into the paranormal stuff and I am pleased that this show is showing that stuff as real instead of the made up lame stuff on Scooby Doo. True the animation is a bit laughable, but it is well worth it to see the unique take on monsters, ghosts, vampires, zombies...you name it. If it's paranormal and often coats our beloved heros in slime it's on the show. I look forward to watching this show more and more and if it does become avaible on DVD I will purchase it for my children to enjoy as well.

I used to watch this show on the T.V. before I got rid of it. It's a good show, considering that each episode is only like 23 minutes which is a rather tight time frame. There are a few weird things about the show I noticed, like sometimes the animators reuse the same clip, or sometimes they use the clip and run it in reverse. There's also the thing where in the original Martin Mystery comics, Diana is actually Martin's lover, and they are not related. I am unsure as to why they made the two step-siblings in this series, although it was probably to stamp out any temptation to show any chemistry between the two.

However this show is definitely for kids, not that you cannot enjoy it as an adult. The entire show is generally light hearted and not serious, and the show lacks anything that I can really relate to, with a few exceptions like the disappointed father, although as the series goes on if you watch enough episodes, you do become a bit attached to the characters. There is nothing serious relationship wise as I mentioned already, since the show is aimed at children they probably just took that aspect out which makes sense. But with this said, the show is aimed at being a fun mystery/horror type show and it delivers just that. The suspense is well paced and the violence is minimal. Most of the time it's the leading up to whatever monster is causing the trouble that is more interesting than Martin and his team actually confronting the problem.

However being the kind of person I am, I look a bit too hard into the show. I'm not sure if this is intended but I can't help but feel kind of bad for Martin and Diana, especially Martin. Here is a teenager who goes to school and works a job. He saves lives and yet he's a total reject, as in all the girl's thinks he's some type of creep. And whenever he saves the girls that he likes, they just get memory wiped and they hate him again. And somehow, Martin keeps up a chipper attitude, seldom ever showing any signs of being sad. He does have friends, but they seem extremely minimal, and although Diana and Martin do care for each other as siblings, I find it hard to believe that they would ever offer each other any emotional support. The writers might not have been aiming for this, I'm not sure, but although the characters have kind of shallow personalities, if you look past the surface they seem quite a bit more deep and complex. But it is just a show, and I'm very sure I'm looking way too hard.

Bottom line is this is a show you would watch for entertainment purposes only, but you may be presently surprised by it, like I was, and if you can make the show deeper then it might actually be, like I did, it really rounds out nicely and you will be a bit sad the series are no longer airing.