User Reviews

I think this show is a wonderful and entertaining show. I'm 13 and I watch it almost everyday on nicktoons. One of the best parts is that they take old fables (such as the boogey man) and come up with an explanation.

But as I was reading though the other comments I saw some things that I had to say something about.

Ginger87: yes it did take place of Doug. But I think that nick thought it was getting old and people found it not interesting anymore.

katrina.delacruz@gmail.com: They do change there cloths, (well at least Martin and Dianna) they all just have the same colors/patterns.

Well I hope my comment was helpful. And I hope you all enjoy watching I know I will!

This series revolves around Martin Mystery, an insufferable teenager that investigates paranormal activities with an academically focused, quick thinking partner, Diana and harmfully stereotyped friend, Java Caveman. This show lacks character depth and original plot lines that reduce the aesthetic quality of the animation.

Sorry about that, I just had a kidney stroke and my hand slipped on the screen. What I'm trying to say is that Martin Mystery is an incredibly unique show for the early 2000s. I quite enjoy that the show sticks to its comic book roots and has the aesthetic of a 1940s pulp magazine. The show not only surpasses those that came before it, but builds upon its predecessors. It has a unique and colourful cast of characters. Such as strong-willed, academic party-pooper, Diana and sidekick Java Caveman. Martin's clothes and style are fire...literally. His watch is almost like 'precursor' to Ben 10's Omnitrix. Yet another show that was ingenious to its execution. Both shows clearly were far ahead of their time. Flawless, timeless, untamed.

As far as it went back to the year of 2004, I began watching Martin Mystery via Disney Channel Asia (I spent earlier childhood in Saigon). It wasn't until then that I had some concepts about what to watch. I usually sit down with a pack of chips and then just run through the programs. Until I hit MM.

So MM was a cartoon with paranormal activities - in most definitions - true. But if that was about to be a negative impact point, I'd rather disgust that. Martin Mystery used to be a series of comics of the same genré, with paranormal and goo-infesting schemes. However the comic was far too mature - a good way to put it - boring!!

I was of teenage back then. I immediately fell in love with the series. Martin resembles part of me just right - laid back, chill, childish, and caring (to a point) and Diana serves great half other part of me - a straight A goody two shoes. It is fun to see part of that reflection within the cartoon, but that reflection should not be just me - everybody had teenage. Everybody was once a teen, whom may have run their skateboards through the streets, or maybe flirting with girls and get slapped, or maybe with an A and declare themselves hero. Besides the slime and goo, we saw ourselves in the characters - woo, we were drawn into it. I can look back and forth now and see my friends around me whom were pretty much just like Java and Billy.

Now then, Martin and Diana can be seen arguing, yet no one gave a good look at the chemistry that formed between them. I cannot forget the image of Diana embrace Martin inside the sea monster's guts nor the image of the "spontaneous fun hug" in "Eternal Christmas". I cannot forget the moment when Diana was truly touched by Martin's words either. Of course that was before the pranks were revealed and Diana left with "enough heat to levitate". It cannot be incest - it is pure love between the two kids who happened to have their divorced or widowed parents married. We simply cannot condemn their love, but to embrace it for its pureness and the difficulties they have to get through.

The use of monsters was there taking part much criticisms from viewers as well. Yet, the contrast between a human being's rotten soul in comparison to a creature being negatively labelled "monster" is another aspect represented in Martin Mystery's adventures. I can still recall the episode "Shriek From Beyond", when Diana condemned the old sailor Rolf as being the real monster - not the Siren, whom was actually the victim. Along with the slime infected plot, we can see that glow of the ethical lessons being inserted and well appear, which, again, did taught us all something.

The last two episodes of the final season, the "It's Alive (1&2)", was a true disappointment. There were simply no way someone like Diana would do such a treacherous thing. I would interpret this as Marathon's rush to finish the work, however if this was to be a finely crafted work then I'd say those two last episodes had gone sour. There are no way someone like Diana could turn against her step brother, and simply no chance she would have the heart to toss the grenade down that hole knowing Martin may be killed. And if Martin was accused for lack of sympathy, then we should look back at the whole time line of the series for whether if anybody was ever so willing to share any "pathos" to Martin. There are a fair bit of unfair going on there.

2008 was a year full of disappointment for me. I turned on the TV after a hellish day. I can't see Martin anywhere. I waited for Martin, then for Kim Possible, then for my favorites, but none showed up. Without sufficient entertainment resources, I was rendered almost incapable. I was lost. Until now when I can find DVDs of the shows would I be a little bit more relief.

However, let's be glad to know that there are chances of Martin Mystery et al coming back to television in a whole new series. They had confirmed the project and await our support.

This is my expressions/feeling and review for this wonderful show. Would hope that everybody could take my words.

This series wasn't really thought for kids. In some ways, it's similar to Scooby Doo, but here the monsters are real, and there's fantasy. Sometimes it's childish, funny, or dumb, but many episodes from the first 2 seasons, and a few episodes from the third, are aimed to a bigger audience. There are a lot of references to classic terror horror movies which kids won't understand. Some episodes, some monsters are really creepy, they cause a reaction, suspense. I don't mean to exaggerate, it's just the way some episodes are. The Hole Creature, the sewer Thing, the Slime People (inv Body Snatchers), Lost Tribe, The body swapper (The Thing), House of Zombies (evil dead), Beast from Within, the Doppelganger, the Dark Druid, the Blackwater (The shinning and the exorc), the Djini, the Scarecrow, are some of the most memorable. I recommend some of these episodes to a big audience, especially if they've seen the classic horror movies. I think only Courage the cowardly dog can match or surpass the terror level from an animated tv series "for kids".

Seasons 1 and 2 were great, but in season 3, the show lost some quality. That's when it lost the suspense the first 2 seasons had overall (except for House of Zombies, Teen Town, or the Scarecrow, to name a few). It became more childish. About the 2 part specials, they were well done overall. I recall The day of the shadows (one of the few I remember seeing during childhood), had great moments but also had flaws, they had a great idea on hand, but the way a lonely Martin saved the world was somehow predictable, not realistic. They came from the gateway was amazing. The ending, It's Alive, with the series canceled, was acceptable but a little bit disappointing (the characters were out of character, especially part 1). The show didn't need much more episodes or more seasons, but it deserved a better ending. Maybe a short 4th final season with 15 eps would have been ok.

Then, the characters are uncommon. Based on a comic, where Java, Martin, and his fiancee Diana deal with paranormal investigations, here, the writers made a change, surely given the audience. Martin and Diana are stepsiblings (his father married her mother seemingly when they were moreless 10), so I guess his mother died, and her father died, as they're never mentioned. And with 16, they go to Torrington Academy, where Java works as a janitor, bus driver, serving food. And the three make the paranormal investigations provided by the Center, a sort of Men in Black org, which controls alien activity on Earth, but also curses, monsters, ghosts, and a lot more. Anyway, Martin is like the leader, he has the useful U watch, and despite being immature, childish, uncut for study, girl chaser, fan of paranormal theories, he usually ends up getting serious, with a good heart, and risking everything to save people, the world. Diana is his step sister, and her personality is different. Straight A student, goes by the book, she gets scared more easily, and many times is like the damsel in distress. She's not perfect, and she must tolerate Martin's antics, but she has a good heart too, and has saved the day sometimes with her own skills. Now, given how much time they have to spend together, that they work together on the field, that he must save her many times (she falls on his arms), and she must save him sometimes, or the fact that she seems jealous or tired of the "girl chase" behavior, and that he feels in a similar way when she admires Marvin or some other guy, it's clear there's something going on (Eternal Christmas got the clue). For some reason, the writers made them step siblings, not half siblings or direct siblings. And recalling for example Kim Possible, or The Mentalist (saving the distance), here Martin and Diana complement each other, like Kim and Ron, Patrick and Teresa. A very good team, with chemistry ongoing. Still, it's undeniable that sometimes they also behave like siblings, with the fighting, pranking, for example. So, I think the writers handled well the relationship between the pair of protagonists. Martin and Diana love each other, tolerate each other, and they need each other to accomplish their missions. They're like a kind of couple, but not in a really romantic way, given the "step siblings" part. Then, there's Java the caveman, the third guy. He turns out to be the "muscle" of the team, he's useful in many missions. As a reformed caveman, he also gets many of the funny lines. It's a good character, but the series does not focus much on him. At least more than one episode, he deserved to be the one who saves the day, because he has some qualities Martin and Diana don't have. And many times he's abducted, and must be saved by Martin. I'd have liked better the series, if Diana or Java saved the day more often, instead of almost always Martin. The fact that only he has the U watch seems unfair. About Billy, the little alien, he gets some of the funny parts. His best moments were during the first 2 seasons, everytime he'd appear out of nowhere to scare out the trio. During season 3, he was added to the team, but he was part of the childish side. He's good, but it's also uncommon to see a fearful, tiny, kind alien, the counterpart of Ganthar, his past giant King Kong form. As for MOM (whom I thought was a real mother before), she's the serious straight side, opposite to Martin's antics with her experiments. Without doubt, her part in the Gateway, and House of Zombies, was excellent. In the finale she was poorly written, but anyway. At school, the most known character is Jenny, Diana's friend, who usually rejects Martin given how immature he is. Then there's Marvin, a similar guy to Marvin, only that he was written to be the girls crush. Still, neither Jenny or Marvin have the good heart Martin and Diana have (they're pretty self centered, unlike the protagonists). About the drawing, animation effects, sound, all is well done. A great soundtrack is needed in the suspenseful moments, and the series usually got it. The characters are pretty well drawn as some monsters are drawn creepy, so I guess that's why the show is also remembered by people who saw it.

But despite the sometimes overly violent scenes, I think it great that the show is marketed towards little tots like my nephews because only children that age can be naive enough not to read into the wise-cracking and very subjective manner of the show. Okay the main idea is; Martin Mystery (the title character) and his step-sister Diana take assignment orders from their M.O.M. (Mistress of Mysteries) via a secret center. Upon receiving their new assignments each new episode, the duo go about fighting the glob goo spewing vermin that threaten the earth, but not before Martin ruins any new experiment M.O.M. is working on in her office each time they arrive to take their assignment. In one episode, Martin decides to go snooping around the center and in the process awakens a giant cave man whom they soon name "Java" (after Java man of course) and teach him the ways of the new world as they add him as a new member of their team.

Reasons you might now want children under the age of ten watching include:

1. Incest - There's this weird unshakable feeling of incest going on between Diana and Martin, IMHO.

2. Violence - Diana physically assaults Martin in nearly every episode.

3. Ignorance - The writers tend to be ignorant about other people's cultures, therefore reinforcing negative stereotypes.

4. Frightening Images - some of the monsters the siblings have to fight can be unnerving and not to mention, scary!

Just to mention a few. It airs on Nicktoons in the US.