In the world of comic books they don't come much bigger than Stan "The Man" Lee. His creative forces were the reasons that we have Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and many others like Hulk and Daredevil. Yes, in the world of comic books there really is nobody as prominent as Stan and despite the fact that he's pushing 85 he's still creating stuff. Ok, for the sake of this review though, let's just forget Stripperella.

His newest endeavor is that of Mosaic; an animated adventure that takes place in its own world and time. With little knowledge about the project before sitting down to watch it I really didn't know what to expect. I figured that Mosaic was about a lead character named Mosaic though after watching the show I soon discovered that it was actually about a teenage girl named Maggie.

Maggie is your typical buxom blonde teenager with a supermodel's good looks and a passion for acting and her pet chameleon. Alright, so she's not that typical. At any rate her father is an Interpol agent and has gotten involved in a case that is way above anything he's ever dealt with before (think X-Files). After investigating a mysterious attack at a museum he locates an artifact and gets pulverized by some big brute named Mannequin. You wouldn't think that a guy who calls himself Mannequin would be very intimidating but this is a comic-like story after all.

While daddy is getting the crap beat out of him Maggie is at home working on a chameleon project for school. There's a big bad thunderstorm and she's on the computer which is just a no-no in the world of common sense. Then again she is a teenager. Well, the artifact that her father found begins blasting lightning all over the place and eventually zaps her. When she comes to she is shaken up but what gets to her even more is the fact that her skin is changing to match the colors of her environment; like a chameleon. Amusingly she quips about being bitten by a radioactive chameleon but being given powers by lightning is just plain weird.

She begins to explore her new abilities and soon learns that she can turn invisible, climb up walls, pick up big rocks, and mimic any living thing that she sees by examining its DNA. Interesting powers to be sure but she takes them all rather in stride. Instead of freaking out about them as much as you'd think she kind of has an "ok, now what" attitude. It belittles her sense of discovery and really trivializes her newfound abilities.

Soon after she is imbued with these powers she comes into contact with a person who has similar powers named Mosaic. We learn that Mosaic is part of another species called the Chameliel (convenient, huh?) who are basically another branch in the human tree. These critters possess all of the abilities that Maggie has just received though no human, apart from she, knows of their existence. Mosaic goes on about blondie being some sort of chosen one or Chameliel Princess or some such which kind of reduces her character to a certain level of generic.

Once Mosaic and Maggie get together they go out in search of Mannequin. The big guy with a lame name wants nothing more than to rule the world and crush humanity for aiding in the destruction of the Chameliel's island. It's all kind of a silly and stereotypical plot when you get right down to it but it's entertaining in a juvenile way. That's most likely because this entire project has been put together with 12 to 13 year olds in mind. As a 29 year old comic fan my tastes have grown over the decades and something like Mosaic just doesn't resonate as well.

In no way will Mosaic go down in comic book history has a landmark title. It takes a load of clichés and piles them together with hollow stereotypes to create a cartoon that is less than engaging. If this were a comic I can't help but feel that it would wind up in a $2 grab bag as filler because few would buy it. There are a few moments where the program becomes interesting but far too many where it just feels like it's trying too hard. Maybe Stan Lee's Condor (an upcoming similar release) will prove better? I guess we'll have to wait.

Mosaic is presented with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and looks very good. The picture may not be as impressive as something like Batman Beyond or Justice League but it's certainly sharper than X-Men: Evolution. The quality of the image remains strong throughout with solid colors, no compression artifacts, and little aliasing (there is some at points). The end result is a technically sound show that looks very good on DVD. Some finer points with the animation could have been better with stiff movements and static expressions but overall it's still pretty decent.

As far as the audio is concerned Mosaic gets yet another decent, but not entirely stellar presentation. There are 2.0 stereo tracks for English and Spanish available here but the main attraction is the 5.1 English option. In terms of presence on the soundstage this track offered a decent spread of dialogue, sound effects, and music. The dialogue some of the orchestral bits remained on the front channels while some atmospheric sound effects filtered to the rear. The sense of immersion wasn't as dynamic as you'd expect but there was enough diversity to enhance the experience. English subtitles are included as well.

As far as extra features go Mosaic has some but the release is kind of on the light side in terms of depth. There is an introduction by Stan Lee but it comes across as a little too eccentric for its own good. Stan's energy goes from being enthusiastic to cheesy but considering this is a show designed with kids in mind I guess it's not such a bad thing. Up next is a silly DVD game that doesn't take a lot of brain power to figure out. Again, this is something for the kiddies.

"Chameleon Traits" is an interview with Stan Lee. In the "interview" Stan basically just talks about how cool Maggie is and what he wanted in a character; how the world needs a teenager girl superhero, and whatnot. It's not a very interesting feature and in all honesty there's not much information or value added to the project by watching it. Another interview includes Director Roy Smith who adds a little more to the background of the show than Stan did. He talks at length about certain traits that Mosaic has and what it was like to work with Anna Paquin. Apart from some previews the last feature on the disc is a gallery of character artwork and information.

Mosaic isn't the worst comic book cartoon that I have ever seen but it's not exactly the best. Instead of creating a character and world that has a broader range this one comes across as being kind of generic and a little too immature for its own good. There are some interesting concepts here and the powers that Maggie inherits are cool but I can't shake the feeling that more could have been done with her.

If you're looking for a DVD to give a kid that is comic related that might spark an interest in something other than the big names like Superman, Spider-Man, and X-Men, this isn't a bad entry. Otherwise I don't see it being anything more than a rental for those of you who are curious and want to check it out.

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