Ben 10: The Complete Season 1 DVD: Review By Travis Young

Ben 10 is a relatively new show on Cartoon Network that debuted in 2005 and this is the complete first season of the show. Ben 10 is your average "kid dealing with responsibilities of being a hero" story. Ben is a ten year old kid who goes on a camping trip with his grandfather and cousin. While wandering through the woods, Ben discovers a mysterious alien device referred to as the omnitrix and when he puts this watch-like device on his wrist it attaches to him. Before long, Ben figures out that this device can turn him into 10 different alien creatures each with their own special powers; most of them resembling elements of the earth.

Each episode Ben seems to deal with the same problems. A new villain, whether it be an alien or some kind of bad guy who wants to mainly just cause destruction. Ben is still a kid, though, so he has trouble being mature and responsible with these powers. Though he always comes out on top, he struggles thinking he is better than he really is.

Ben 10 is a pretty good show. It doesn't break any new ground in terms of story telling and characters, but it does do everything fairly well. There's plenty of action throughout every episode and with all the different characters Ben can turn into, the variety of the fights stays fresh. There are also plenty of somewhat cheesy jokes that are common in these types of cartoons. Most of the episodes are consist too much of the same thing, but at the very least they provide some entertainment. The finale is really the highlight of the season with non-stop action, though it does end with plenty of questions.

Drawing Lessons

As the title suggest, here is where you will get some drawing techniques. In 3 minutes, Scooter Tidwell, the storyboard director for Ben 10, will show you exactly how he draws Ben. It would have been cool to see how he draws some of the creatures Ben turns into, but this is still a solid feature.

Commentary

There is only one commentary track featured and its for the final episode in season 1 "Secrets." The co-creators, writers, executives, and producers are all on board here to discuss the finale. This is your basic commentary feature with some good insights as well as what they were looking to do with this first season and final episode specifically. Certainly more commentaries would have been appreciated, but it was at least great that they had so many people on this one.

There's also an interesting sneak peak of things to come in the next season, though if you're already a fan of the show and have seen season 2, this is really pointless.

Fullscreen 1.33:1. A similar art style to many of the other action animated shows on Cartoon Network. The writers and designers do a great job of having a lot of good looking action on the screen at once.

English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0. Subtitled in English, French, and Spanish.

Standard DVD case with protective slip on the outside. Inside are two discs with all 13 episodes and special features. There is also a pretty cool poster on the left side that can fold out with all the Ben 10 omniatrix heroes. The cover art is good with Ben in Heatblast form on the front cover.

Ben 10 really isn't anything special, but for fans of good action cartoons, this might be worth a rent.