Ben 10
I’d never heard of Ben 10 before my three boisterous great nephews arrived for a flying visit last week. Do you know who Ben 10 is? Chances are unless you’re under 4 foot nothing you won’t UNLESS of course you’re the parent forking out the moolah for the merchandise.
Ben 10 is an American animated television series created by “Man of Action” a group consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. I’ve personally endured the merchandise to especially bring you this blog entry!
Who are these masked men? Well suffice it to say, all of them pack a punch in the world of comic illustration and writing. Their reputations precede them for it’s depth, range and quality. In a nutshell, under four footers appear to have more discerning taste than some over four footers including this one!
Ben 10 is about the adventures of Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen and their grandfather Max. During the beginning of their summer camping trip Ben stomps off into the woods after another fight with Gwen whom he is not happy to have along on the trip. He finds an alien pod on the ground. When he examines it, he finds a mysterious, watch-like device, called the Omnitrix stored inside.
The device attaches permanently to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms, each with their own unique powers, quite similar to DC’s Dial H for Hero comic. Although Ben realises that he has a responsibility to help others with these new abilities at his disposal, he is not above a little super powered mischief now and then. Along with Gwen and Max, Ben fights both extraterrestrial and criminal evils. At the start of the series, Ben only has access to ten aliens. More are gained in the following seasons.
These include: Diamondhead, a ‘petrosapien’ or ‘intelligent rock’ from the crystal planet Petropia. Ben’s preferred offensive form is Fourarms, a Tetramand – tetra meaning “four” in Greek, mand being “arms” in Latin from the desert planet Khoros. Khoros epitomises a dystopia resulting in the strength-oriented Tetramands. Fourarms is the most used alien in the original series since it’s the form that most suits 10-year-old Ben’s fighting style: blindly rushing at the enemy with little forethought.
It’s at this point that my mind wanders as it does, of its own accord and quite without my say so. It occurs to me on this wandering plain that the Omnitrix is capable of what usually happens to adults in reality during the five o’clock mad dash in homes right around the world. They transform into a variety of alien life-forms, each with their own unique powers. In a fast foward through Ben 10’s list there’s also Ghostfreak, Greymatter, Heatblast, Ripjaws, Stinkfly Upgrade, Wildmutt and XLR8. So! Seasoned parents, what do you think? Sound like a five o’clock frazzle rock to you! Does to me!
My great nephews were worn out by their Ben 10 toys, me too! Boys are fascinating like that. It’s go hard or go home. So they went hard all afternoon and into the evening, running and hiding, sound effecting and being caught, giggling (yes boys do) and great belly-laughings all the way to zzzz-land. What’s the old saying? They’re so beautiful when they’re sleeping. Well they were but we don’t mind them when they’re awake either. I think I know just enough about Ben 10 now to get me out of a scrape from an enquiring four foot inquisition, it just goes to show you never know who your teacher will turn out to be.
