I remember liking this show when I was a kid, I even had some of the toys. But recently I found a few episodes on YouTube and was quite disappointed at the nonsensical nature of it. It was as if someone found G. I. Joe and the Transformers just a little too cerebral and decided to dumb it down.
First there's the premise of VENOM, who are not a terrorist organization (which gave Cobra their semi-reasonable motivation), but rather a criminal syndicate. They were always trying to steal something by utilizing technology and equipment that probably cost more than whatever it was they were trying to steal in the first place.
Seriously, Miles Mayhem flew around in a helicopter that could turn into a fighter plane. Why does this guy need to steal money?
Then there's the ridiculous way they always try to pull off their crimes, like turning a giant gold statue into liquid and then reconstituting it later. You'd think that if they could do that they could basically make as much money as they wanted with the technology alone, but nope. They have to have that particular statue so of course they get thwarted.
The bumbling henchmen, who seem to be so stupid it's a wonder they manage to put their masks on the right way around in three tries, were pretty standard for the era so I can overlook them to a point. But I can only imagine Mr. Mayhem must have put an ad out in Moron Magazine in order to find them.
And the less said about the (also standard) annoying robot sidekick the better.
Though I have good memories of this show in its time and place, and it's certainly not the worst twenty-minute toy commercial made by any means (I think that honor goes to InHumanoids ), It's still not very well made.
The toys were pretty good, though.
First there's the premise of VENOM, who are not a terrorist organization (which gave Cobra their semi-reasonable motivation), but rather a criminal syndicate. They were always trying to steal something by utilizing technology and equipment that probably cost more than whatever it was they were trying to steal in the first place.
Seriously, Miles Mayhem flew around in a helicopter that could turn into a fighter plane. Why does this guy need to steal money?
Then there's the ridiculous way they always try to pull off their crimes, like turning a giant gold statue into liquid and then reconstituting it later. You'd think that if they could do that they could basically make as much money as they wanted with the technology alone, but nope. They have to have that particular statue so of course they get thwarted.
The bumbling henchmen, who seem to be so stupid it's a wonder they manage to put their masks on the right way around in three tries, were pretty standard for the era so I can overlook them to a point. But I can only imagine Mr. Mayhem must have put an ad out in Moron Magazine in order to find them.
And the less said about the (also standard) annoying robot sidekick the better.
Though I have good memories of this show in its time and place, and it's certainly not the worst twenty-minute toy commercial made by any means (I think that honor goes to InHumanoids ), It's still not very well made.
The toys were pretty good, though.