10 Best Static Shock Episodes
Looking at the best tales from Dwayne McDuffie's classic cartoon.
Every generation can point to a name or names that helped to build their perception of media and how they engage with it. Gen-Xers have Spielberg, George Lucas, and the creative team at Filmation, for example. Meanwhile children of the early 2000's have Paul Dini, Gennedy Tartakovsky, Stephen Hillenberg, and of course, Dwayne McDuffie.
One of the founding fathers of the DC Animated Universe we all know and love, this late great animation legend made some of the best cartoon entertainment on television with his brilliant character writing, crackling dialogue, and engaging stories.
And none better encapsulate all three better than his pet project, Static Shock.
Originally a character for Milestone comics, created by McDuffie himself, Static was absorbed into the DC canon along with the rest of Milestone. His cartoon series wasn't as dark or violent as the comic, but it retained its great characters, fun stories, and bombastic heroics.
This is a celebration of that work, a showcase of its best episodes. It managed to put a shock to each viewer's system for years until its cancellation, and even after, with Static appearing in Justice League too.
Here, though, are the best episodes from his own series...
10. Where The Rubber Meets The Road
Static Shock was known for being aimed at much younger kids than most of the other DC animated shows of the time. So it was more likely to get educational. Static went one step further, imparting lessons on things that most other kids shows were too scared to discuss.
Case in point, Where The Rubber Meets The Road. In this episode, we learn that Static's enemy turned ally Rubberband Man is dyslexic. For most kids watching this show, this was the very first time we learned what dyslexia was and how it can inhibit those affected by it.
The episode is respectful towards the subject matter and the audience. We're shown in a very clever and natural way how Rubberband Man's dyslexia affects his life, such as him never opening his fan mail and having little to no reading material in his home. But it also shows clearly how one lives with dyslexia, and that it can be overcome through practice and classes.
A very well thought out episode touching on subjects none of its peers thought to tackle. A trend you can expect to repeat throughout this list.