Netflix’s ‘Kid Cosmic’ has the Perfect Energy to Start This Year Off

If the name Craig McCracken does not immediately register in your head, the titles he worked on certainly will. The cartoonist behind The Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, and Wander Over Yonder has undoubtedly been as influential to many of our childhoods and his influence will persist into the next generation of young minds with his return to the superhero genre, Netflix’s Kid Cosmic. Kid Cosmic’s premise feels like a riff on Green Lantern’s origin story, as the action precipitates off a bunch of powerful cosmic objects falling to Earth. Our protagonist, affectionately referred to as ‘Kid’ by others and self referentially as Kid Cosmic, manages to find these artifacts and (being particularly well-read in all things comics) begins to channel his knowledge into becoming an actual superhero. Does this not feel like a Hanna-Barbera Herculoids poster? Courtesy of Netflix Freakin’ out? Breathe it out. As the lovingly illustrated comic book covers at the end of the episode indicate, Kid Cosmic is a serialized story that tells a coherent story over its ten-episode season. The inhabitants of the drive-by town in the desert of New Mexico include Kid’s grandfather, Papa G, Kid’s neighbor, Rosa, and the workers and regulars at a cozy little diner, notably Jo, the teenager who wants nothing more than a little more excitement in her life. Jo’s wish is granted pretty much immediately as she becomes the first person to join Kid Cosmic’s team in the pilot. The narrative …