I think this is a good concept, poor execution.

In this cartoon, a rotten little jerk of a kid gets a transformation watch, the "Omnitrix" enabling him to turn into 10 different aliens. Silly rabbit, Omnitrix are for kids!
Grandpa takes the kids on a three month camping trip (that's not creepy at all, by the way) and Ben sees a meteor crash. Like an idiot, he runs towards it.
Ben gets the watch after finding it in the forest. And proceeds to nearly burn the whole damn forest down after first turning into "Heatblast".
He is also aided and abetted by his Grandpa Max, and his cousin Gwen, who learn about his secret quickly after he gets the powers. Grandpa Max has an irritating habit of forcing "Fear Factor" edibles on the kids, because he's a dickweed.
You have your stereotypical villain who wants the powers for himself, and floats in a vat of whatever life preserving fluid. It's beyond me why anybody would take orders from somebody floating in pickle brine or whatever it is.
I think the powers that be should have just went ahead and made a "Dial H for Hero" series instead of this.

I haven't seen this, but I saw a preview before a movie. David Lucas/Steven Blum is the VA for one of the alter egos. I'm beginning to believe that Cartoon Network/Williams Street has the man chained to an office wall.

Two episodes were shown tonight, the origin story and a second one. Grandpa, Ben and Gwen tool around the city in Grandpa's rv, looking for crime.
Very little care is taken to protect Ben's identity, as his powers run out after awhile.
I have to admit "HeatBlast" looks really cool.

You don't suppose there's a picture of that somewhere, do you? Anyway, I'll watch the late repeat now just to see if I can pick out his voice...**

That's right - when you can remove the villain by dumping a bottle of nail polish remover or bleach or something in the pickling jar, it lessens the tension.

**It took all of eight seconds of watching to figure it out, because his character was in the teaser.

So far, it's more like Ben Six. I wouldn't really care, except one of the Man of Action crew is Joe Kelly, who kicked a lot of ass as a writer for Marvel and DC Comics. You can tell MoA is made up of comic talent...you think "Ben" and "Gwen" were put in as names because they rhymned? I'm guessing Grandpa's name is "Parker" or somesuch.

I think this show's starting to grow on me. I just hope that Grandpa's given up on the "Fear Factor" diet; that show gives me the creeps.

crap... unorginal poorly written... crap

Subwoofer isn't too far off the mark with that one. I think this show has a hell of alot of potential, but is so far not living up to it. Granted, there are only 3 episodes aired to far, but still. So far we have seen pretty much no continuity. But hey, this show designed for kids, and the kids WILL watch, because it IS pretty cool. That's all the big wigs care about. On an unrelated note, are any of you scratching your heads as to why CN just premiered a Nickelodeon made movie, which if memory serves, Nickelodeon has yet to show? This is just like seeing the Sega logo on a Nintendo game. The times, they are a-changin

My biggest problem with the show is Ben himself. I'm guessing he's 10 years old, hence a double meaning in the show's title. But, still, for a 10 year old, Ben is terribly annoying and not all that likeable so far. It's not that I want protagonists to be super nice and great people, but if the hero has some glaring negative qualities (which is more realistic), then he better have a good sense of humor...or something.

The theme song is the best part about it. I also liked that Grandpa was a "plumber," but the kind that worked for the CIA, not the kind on This Old House.

I'd hate to suggest ripping off Spider-Man, or any number of heroes, but a better choice would have been a more serious kid struggling with his new powers.
Eh, I'll watch one more time.

Ben 10: Ten Different Superheroes, One Annoying Kid

It's too early to say whether I really like the show or not. Some shows I love from the first episode, but this ain't one of them. On the other hand, some shows I totally dislike right away, and this ain't one of those, either. So far it's just kind of meh. Needs to improve, but it's got potential, and I like the animation. I think Gwen's cute, but then I think almost all animated girls are cute. And I think Grandpa Max may get pretty interesting, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he already knows about aliens. And I hope to see more of the alien who was trying to steal the Omnitrix in the pilot, there's gotta be a story there. Although I do think he kinda looks like a Glorft.

This morning's episode had Ben and pals visit the retirement community. Lots of old people jokes, and more Fear Factor food. Underwhelmed, I am. Aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm done.
Nice try Cartoon Network. Now go greenlight some more DC or Marvel comics properties.

*cries* MEGAAAAAAS

I'm right there with ya, buddy. I mean, they're in a nursing home already; why add insult to injury?

I actually kinda liked the last episode, because they met an alien of one of the types Ben transforms into. The episode made me think they may actually start building a real plot instead of just random stuff all the time. I look forward to learning more about all the alien species Ben turns into, and what their relationship is to the evil alien who wants to get the Omnitrix. What's the political situation in the galaxy, and all that...

Yeah, my daughters were suckered in to this show by CN's relentless advertising. But I agree completely with the fresh maker. Ben's so bratty and unlikeable that I can't see any reason to care about him. Aliens want to squash him? Fine by me!
I wish that his cousin had gotten the Omnitrix or whatever it is. Now she'd make a much better super.

I like the fact that Ben is bratty, it's refreshing. Usually characters like Ben end up as the sidekick. I'm glad his cousin didn't get the omnitrix, I can just imagine the long drawn out angst filled episodes she would put us through.

The last few episodes have been decent, but it's still lacking.

I picked up a copy of ToyFare last week...Bandai is making action figures from the show. So far, six of Ben's incarnations are set to roll out in the summer: Fourarms, Stinkfly, Wildmutt, Heatblast, Grey Matter and Ghost Freak. I'm guessing the others were harder to sell. "Upgrade? Oh, he's a weird sloth critter that merges with technology and boosts it."

I've been kind of watching it the past couple weeks. I admit the theme song is catchy.

I hope this show isn't the reason why CN decided to cancel JLU.

I saw one episode of this. Why did I see one ep. of this? 'cause my mom is the cousin of the executive producer (think think that is what Alex Soto is, e.p.). It's really funny when you get a bunch of Colombians who last time saw a cartoon was when they showed Bug Bunny shorts right before the main feature back in th 40's or 50's, to watch something like this. Anyway, Alex's mom is really proud of him.

It seemed pretty generic to me. And it would seem to be very boring to have a boy and his family hunted down just for his watch. Boy is hunted down, boy learns valuable lesson about his true self, despite his new abilities, boy defeats bad guys.

But most of you seem to think it will evolve. And like someone mentioned, I think kids will like anything you put in front of them as long as it moves.

And now there is another new alien? (a bowling ball?)
Already out of stories with the original 10 I guess.

There is still potential, but the show wallows in mediocrity. And it's predictable. Seriously...any time Ben actually calls out the alien he's bringing out, something bad is gonna happen. At least they have the backstory of Grandpa being a MiB...oh, sorry, "Plumber."

By the way, if you live in the New York City area, Joe Casey and Joe Kelly will be at a comic show on July 30.

This happened on a recent "what if" episode. She actually did turn out to be pretty adept with the powers, but I'm actually glad Gwen didn't get it. I like Ben more than her because of the snotty comments she makes.

So why don't they call it "Ben 11"? Ha--just kidding. Actually, I'd like to see this new form in action. What episode was it in?

It happened in Episode 15, "Big Tick." The new form is called Cannon Bolt.

I managed to watch an entire ep of this show, like yesterday on Miguzi. It was one of the those cliche alien arena eps, where two characters are captured and forced to fight in an arena.

It was actually okay, an featured the "bowling ball" alien. I almost want to watch it on regular intervals. But I absolutely can't stand that Kevin guy. Honestly, blaming someone else for your own misfortune...

Anyway, aside from that, I gotta say I love Ben. He's such a cute kid and he's capable of doing stuff on his own too, a plus in my book. ;)

Oh and from the ep I described in the beginning of my post, I loved...uh, gawd, what was his name? The arena champion guy? Totally cute.

I just saw the same episode, Nagurikorosu; my favorite part was when Kevin [the obnoxious twerp who somehow downloaded Ben's powers into himself] got sent to a galaxy far, far away...heh.

I also liked how Ben managed to summon "Cannon Bolt" again. Seriously, why don't they just call it "Ben 11"? Or they could just do what the Big Ten Conference does (it has 11 teams, despite the title), and kind of sneak the number into the logo. That would work for me.

Oh man, they could totally work that into the shows title. Very easily. I have no idea how many eps this show has, but they really threw the 10 thing out the window early.

Also, I liked that Ben used his head more than his powers in that ep. Come to think of it, it was more of a mix of brain and brawn than anything. Ben's not too far from being an early (Pokemon's) Ash himself.



Mine too. And after I was whining about Kevin being such a prick. He brought that on himself.

Looks like we got another alien in the latest episode...some kind of weird plant lifeform that can launch some kind of spore grenade. My best guess for Ben's name for it? "Meanus Guytrap." It's possible, right? I refuse to look on Wikipedia.

Saw "Camp Fear" tonight. Just a big ol' plate of Deus Ex Macchina and suspended disbelief. In other words, when Ben dumps athlete's foot powder into the gaping maw of a giant plant monster, the monster dies, and the giant mushroom monsters attacking the rest of the campers will follow. Don't question it, just run with it.

ETA: New episode will air on Tuesday night.

Did I say Tuesday? I meant Thursday. Oops.

Interesting episode...something about a mask, the robot-looking, alien-buying mofo that wanted to taking Grey Matter in the first season, and Grandpa getting severe tunnel vision to the point where he doesn't think of Ben or Gwen at all. Also: he puts on Plumber gear. Dear God, no...not when he's got a gut that big. Oh, and we get the first Ben-to-Grey Matter animation sequence.

Checked Wikipedia...apparently "Meanus Guytrap" (or "Badass Flytrap," if CN had any balls) is called "Wildvine." That's great, but there's already Wildmutt. As flawed as Ben can be, you'd think he would have more cute nicknames prepared.

So I guess we're back down to Ben11.
Lost Ghostfreak in this one.

Damn...Ghostfreak was a dick. I mean, he was easily the scariest-looking of the bunch, but I never would've guessed there was a capacity for evil...or, at the very least, a need for self-sustistence. Would he/it be the only one, or would Ben have another fight on his hands in the future?

Got to meet Joe Kelly yesteday at a comic show. He was there with fellow Man of Action member Joe Casey. I've met Kelly several times...even interviewed him back when he was writing Deadpool. Anyway, I got two sketches: Fourarms from Kelly and Grey Matter from Casey. As for the thought balloon...it refers to Dave Johnson, who did some character designs for the show. Not bad from two writers, huh?

Yeah, most writers I have found can doddle a little. I have a couple 'sketches' from writers in my autograph book I take to conventions.

Speaking of conventions, I attended the Ben-10 panel at the San Diego Comic-Con (my son wanted to see it as he enjoys the show). I did not realize Tara Strong does the voice of Ben. Tara is a super-hottie and does the voices of Bubbles (Powerpuff Girls), Raven (Teen Titans), Dill Pickles (Rugrats: All Grown Up) and Timmy Turner (Fairly Odd-Parents). She actually did them all in succession in response to a child's question, showing her voice versality. I was impressed.

Tara doing Ben's voice actually isn't that surprising, considering she also does Terence on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, which Ben always reminded me of voicewise.

Speaking of which, it's too bad Tara couldn't also be at the Foster's panel, even though Terence is a minor character. Would've loved to hear some Tara/Grey anecdotes.

I recognized Tara's voice in the show. It sounds like a deeper Timmy Turner. I did not know that she does Dill Pickles, though.

I'm not surprised that Tara voices Ben, as she voices Raven in Teen Titans and those shows are both by the same guy (Glen Murkami, I think is the name).

But the show is quite lackluster, IMO. The concept of a kid who has a watch that can turn him into aliens is cool, but it's just so poorly done I can't watch it.

Ben & Gwen having rhyming names is just stupid. It was clever to have Ben Ten, but this isn't a Dr. Seuss production. But B&G are cousins, right? They seem to have lots of fights and stuff for cousins, and I think they would be more realistic if they were siblings.

I think the episode also slips up since there's only two other characters, (Gwen and Gramps), so Ben's character is very limited.

There's also not much new happening in each episode. Just the three heroes driving that Winnebago and, uh-oh! ALIENS! Go, Ben10! Credits. Just kinda redundant.

It's a nice concept but it just got screwed up badly.

Actually, during one of the panels at Comic-con (either Billy & Mandy or Foster's), Grey DeLisle said that even though a lot of actors are recast by producers they've worked with, they're always open for newly tapped talent (which explains Keith Ferguson being cast as Bloo for Foster's).

On another note, were Ben and Gwen born on the exact same day?

I wonder if they'll ever show Ben going back to school and the wacky hijinks that will pose. Because right now it's the longest summer vacation ever.

Yes, they were. (They were arguing about in the episode where creepy mushrooms took over a camp.) So not only do their rhymes name, they also have the same birthday.

I agree . They must live in the same town, attend the same school, and live practically next door to one another to argue as much as they do. Strange how we haven't heard too much about their pasts or about their dads (who are Grandpa's sons).



Ditto. Summer has to end sometime, and that means seeing an alien destroy Ben's hometown during school hours, Ben trying to get his umpteenth hall pass to be excused to turn into one of the ten heros, Gwen trying to pretend Ben's not missing during the fracas and after it's all over, Ben flunks his math quiz despite having saved the Earth.... again!

Revive "Gwen and Ben" is sort of a homage.

Ben=Ben Parker Spider-man's uncle

Gwen= Gwen Stacy Spider-Man's girlfriend.

Abso-fraggin'-lutely. Ben & Gwen aren't exactly on a "Permamnent Vacation" (or are they?), so it's gotta be "back to school" sooner or later.



That could work, especially if they rip off the whole student/super-hero thing from Spidey; after all, you might as well steal from the best.

Well, for comically-challenged people like me, all I see is the rhyming. But thank you. Their names are less annoying now.

So are their parents dead or something? Since this isn't Teen Titans it's kinda hard to reference to anything...

Nothing much was revealed about their lives back home before the vacation began - but I think at least their moms are around - and that Ben was looking forward to some private bonding time with his grandfather. This seems like maybe Ben doesn't live with Grandpa and was looking to get away on a summer adventure alone (remember how annoyed he was when he learned Gwen was going at the last minute?). I think Grandpa mentioned (in the pilot) the kids' mothers thought it would be a good idea for both of them to go. His sons are Ben & Gwen's dad's so there should have been some mention of where they are or what happened to them.

Heads up...new episode airs tonight. And while poking through Target and Toys R Us, I found B10 action figures.

ETA: Dr. Animo attacks, just when Ben manages to tear the control dial off the Ommatrix. Not only do we get funky combos this side of Kevin 11 (Fourarms/Stinkfly, Diamondhead/Grey Matter, Heatblast/Ripjaws), Animo gets to play around with the discarded piece to mutate local swamplife. Also: Grandpa gets turned into a Stinkfly-like grub...with his own hair intact. Thank you, Duncan Rouleau, for that bit of crack storytelling.

In case you haven't heard...CN will have a B10 marathon on Monday, ending with a new episode.

In case anybody missed it...Ben accidently does something to the Omnitrix, allowing him to "go hero" at will for as long as he wants. Since we're dealing with something that flies against the show's premise, Gilgax and Kevin 11 team up to mess with Ben. We go back to the old formula by episode's end - with the bad guys in a faux Phantom Zone - but we got some sweet animation of Ben swapping forms on the fly.

New episodes will start airing next month...and judging by the teaser, Ben gets a new hero. Remember the little electric critters Ben faced in one of the first episodes? He can turn into that. I had to pause the tape to check for Ben's shirt pattern on the alien. I feel dumb for not wondering where an electric-themed hero would be coming, especially since I've been exposed to Zatch Bell and Pikachu.

Damn...totally jumped the gun about Ben getting that electro-alien as a new form. Stupid, stupid episode about the future.

I kid...it was a nice ep, with a Ben that has 10,000 aliens to pick from, but forgot how to be human. Also? A Gwen that's a hardcore magic user, and Max has a beard and a cyborg arm. Not bad for an 80-year-old...especially after watching episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh G/X where the dubbers had Grandpa Moto say all old guy stuff short of "I think I crapped my pants again."

Bwah! Lantern has like four posts, back to back to back to back on this page.

I only saw a bit of the ep. I liked what I saw though. Ben is still so cute though! Hee.

That said, I am sorry to say this, I get the distinct vibe of "trailer" (as in trash) from this show. I am sorry, but I do. I think its great that the hero actually travels around and is not in the same damn place all the time.

Also, what happened to the military antagonists? Was that too inappropriate for the kiddies and Ben?