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The final season of Kid Cosmic, the latest cartoon series by veteran creator Craig McCracken, is finally here. In case you haven’t seen the previous seasons, here’s a quick rundown of the plot. Kid Cosmic follows the adventures of the titular Kid. A young boy who lives in the Southwestern US, who dreams of being a superhero. One day he happens upon several rings of power that bestow their wielders with phenomenal cosmic abilities. Through trial and error, Kid along with his friends and family learn to harness their newfound powers. All while trying to save the universe from both local and galactic threats. Read below for our review.
The third season, Kid Cosmic and The Global Heroes find our protagonists hitting the big time. After stopping Erodius the Planet killer in season 2, several stones of power are scattered around the globe. Kid and the others receive Global Hero status by the Planet Protection Group, with the tasks of protecting the earth and recovering the stones.
Following the momentum of last season, the six-episode finale shows what happens when Kid seemingly gets his wish of being world-famous. Despite everything going well for our heroes, things just seem a little too good to be true. Jo and Papa G begin to assume things may not be what they seem, while Kid couldn’t be happier. As the season unfolds, Kid has to choose between finally getting to live out his heroic fantasies or facing the consequences of the reality of being a hero.
Despite its smaller size, season three packs a colossal punch, bringing everything full circle in more ways than one. The entire cast is put to full use both dramatically and comedically as they face their biggest challenges yet. Kid (Jack Fisher), Jo (Amanda C Miller) and Papa G (Keith Ferguson) stood out the most for me overall. Little Rosa (Lily Rose Silver) is still a fave as well, with her rambunctious bundle of toddler energy and enthusiasm.
Kid’s development from being naive and selfish, to empathetic and heroic is wonderfully done. Even when with his incremental emotional growth, he’s still prone to rash and reactionary actions gave that he’s just a 9-year-old boy. In the end, he always ends up doing the right thing, it just takes him a few steps to get there. One thing I will say, it is still a shame to see such creative shows like this only occupy our lives for maybe a year or two at a time. Before being relegated to the archives of Netflix with little to no hope of any future content.
Kid Cosmic is fresh and creative enough to justify making many more seasons. The series wears its love for various superhero media on its sleeve. Most notably cosmic pulp comics and the later work of creators like Jack Kirby. The particular way that Kid Cosmic both appreciates and makes observations of superhero stories is something I will truly miss. Without giving any plot away, the final season manages to pack in numerous twists, turns and foreshadowed callbacks on its journey towards the end. Even with its short life span, Kid Cosmic ends on an optimistic note that I couldn’t see going any other way. I look forward to seeing what McCracken and the other creatives involved with this series work on next.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch Kid Cosmic yet, now is the perfect time to check it out. With each season being 10 episodes or less, it’s a nice compact binge packet to watch on your own or with your kids. The show sports a spiffy art style with line art, shadings and gradients made to resemble marker and coloured pencil. It really pulls you into the lens with which Kid sees the world as you watch the story unfold. It might not be everyone’s particular taste, but it’s definitely a fun watch. Especially if you grew up watching shows like Ben 10, My life as a Teenage Robot or Wonder Over Yonder (another cartoon by McCracken).
Also if you’d like to read more about the creative efforts that went into making Kid Cosmic, Craig McCracken did a thread on Twitter going over the steps taken to bring the show to life. A true labour of love, starting from a small comic strip to a now 24 episode series.
Kid Cosmic is available to watch on Netflix right now!
