6. Darkwing Duck
Carl Barks was the cartoonist who breathed life in to Duckburg across the 1950s, working for Disney to surround Donald and his nephews with social relationships and a city to be in. From this rich substrate was born the DuckTales TV series, and spun off from the blooming and fleshed-out cast of DuckTales was the series Darkwing Duck. Looking like a cross between The Shadow and the Green Hornet, and acting like a cross between Batman and the Joker, Darkwing Duck is a cartoon hero who effectively mixes action and comedy. Originally screening in the early nineties, the series incorporates some of the characters from DuckTales, but recreates Barks' amazing feat of taking a bare-bones structure and creating a new city full of personalities for the established characters to interact with. Darkwing is not a character who prefers to go unnoticed. Never one to let a criminal capture get in the way of a good photo opportunity, he peppers his adventures with alliterative soliloquy and machine gunned gags for all ages. The show also presented occasional glimpses of darkness, hinting at the commitment level of criminals who are prevented from getting what they want to perform ill deeds up to and including murder; unusual for Disney, and even less usual for an afternoon cartoon. An effective superhero spoof and entertaining all round, Darkwing Duck is a series that should be seriously considered for revitalisation.