The fact that your here, means you either watched this show as a kid, or you just found out about this show and want to know more about it. I just bought the complete series of static shock on DVD, something i never thought would happen, it took years, but i now own this incredible show in my collection, and now that I've binge watched it, id like to review the entire show overall. The show takes place in the city of Dakota, which is infested with gangs and crime, the main character is named Virgil, who is very likeable, endearing and very realistic. He deals with the death of his mother from gang violence, almost more realistically than most teen dramas would. One day he is forced into participating in a gang war at the docks, where surprisingly for a cartoon, a violent brawl occurs. And just to sum up how mature this cartoon is, Virgil is handed a gun ( not a fake), which he immediately throws away. The police soon show up and accidentally shoot tear gas at tanks of experimental gas known as Quantum vapor, which somehow mutates all the gang members and bystanders in the area, this event is called the "Big Bang", Virgil is able to get home and wakes up to find he has electricity superpowers, he decides not to tell his noble dad or overbearing sister, but instead goes to his best friend Richie, accidentally infecting him with the gas as well. They both decide to become the superheroes duo, named Static and Gear. Unfortunately, a large amount of criminals became mutated by the gas, some get awesome powers, while others horrifically mutate, also it is speculated that a large majority of all the infectees died from their transformations. I love how the show starts off, and quickly demonstrates vigils character and gives him the same origin story as all his villains, also the fact that most of the super villains were all gang members explains why they are evil and petty. Some of the most notable villains, are Ebon and the meta breed, Ebon having shadow powers, being the most active villain in the show, and always calling static, He-Ro. Another great villain is Hot streak, who was antagonistic to static even before they got powers, if his name doesn't give it away he has fire powers, and is present throughout the show. Besides the bang babies being statics main antagonists, there is an occasional mad scientist or monster. Whats very interesting about the show, is it has a lot of superheroe cameos, including the justice league, especially Batman, and several celebrities who just so happen to be superheroes as well, not to mention a lot of crossovers with other shows, including justice league unlimited, where we get to see static's older self in the future. Also fellow bang babies, rubber band man and Shebang, would occasionally help static and Gear fight crime. But what made this show great wasn't the cliche good vs evil there was actual real life moral dilemmas present, Gang violence was present throughout, mental illness, there was the subject about racism, and most infamously an episode where a human student at Virgils high school, brought a gun to school to kill his bullies, and ends up shooting Richie in the leg! The show was very endearing, and i always felt i learned a moral lesson after some episodes ( The pep talk from static sure helped. However the first 2 seasons had painfully bright animation, but as the show went on the animation and colors really improved, also despite being an amazing show not every episode was good, but the show was just so well made that it was impossible not to like, even the most weird of episodes ( The Hoop Squad episode). I actually never saw how the show ended as a kid, i would occasionally catch a episode or 2 on cable, and every time i heard that theme song ( superhero static shock, whoo whoo), my siblings and i would stop what we were doing and glue ourselves to the tv, there is no show right now that gets that same reaction out of me. And now that i own the complete series those sweet nostalgic moments have returned to me, i also got to finally see all the episodes i missed. The final season was a bit lackluster, especially the finale, perhaps it had something to do with the lack of realism or perhaps just the fact, i never saw any of the last episodes as a kid. However i really enjoyed watching the continuity of episodes leading up to the cure for all the bang babies, and how static and gear were going to keep their powers. And after watching the entire show, i have to say it still holds up after a decade, and has got to be one of the greatest superhero shows of all time, probably in my top tens, it is certainly far more sophisticated and entertaining than any of the arrowverse shows, in fact i have no clue why this show has not been made into a live action show yet, i feel it has all the right components and hopefully with some good dialogue and special effects it could still be one of the best for the modern audience. If you haven't seen this show before, i urge you too do it now, i guarantee it will send a shock through your system.
Review of Static Shock
