You know what's cool to me? Back in the 80s, they kept giving @straczynski these licensed IPs that called for a minimum of effort because they were basically money machines, and he said "no, screw that, I want to TELL STORIES" sand wrote AMAZING CARTOONS.

The Real Ghostbusters was not only basically a cash-grab of a popular movie, Filmation beat them to the punch with their adaptation of a lesser-known TV-show, but the cartoon that JMS and crew made was ENTHRALLING.

She-Ra, another pure cash-grab. "He-Man but for GIRLS" and if you think that didn't have an impact, maybe you missed the hit reboot on Netflix.

Hell, I didn't even know that was a JMS show until @ThoughtSlime mentioned it when talking about that reboot.

Another one I just found out about was Jace and the Wheeled Warriors. The toy line was okay but never caught my interest. The cartoon? A ragtag crew of freedom fighters trying to prevent universal conquest by a group of mutant plant monsters?

I watched that shit RELIGIOUSLY.

JMS wasn't afraid to take kids' shows to dark places, even though the format meant the heroes were always going to make it.

The legendary Real Ghostbusters episode, "Mister Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" has the busters confront the Sandman and his evil plan to...

... end war.

That's it. The "bad guy" decides humanity is going to self-destruct and figures we're just cranky and need a nap. For half a millennium.

And when the guys fight back, he sics their nightmares on them.

JMS showed kids a world where their nightmares could come true and said that the real world could be even worse than that, and followed it up with "but you can BEAT that, so don't let it scare you."

Fuck yeah.