Jonny Quest and Speed Racer- ahead of their time?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think these two shows really stand out from other cartoons that came out in the 60s and early 70s?

First, there's the action, and both shows had tons of it. JQ was basically a little Indiana Jones story, or something straight out of pulp magazines. And Speed Racer is probably the only thing that could bring together the most exciting aspects of NASCAR and James Bond. Most striking of all were the fatalities in both shows- villans usually died horrible violent deaths in JQ and, to a lesser extent, SR, and SR had all those spectacular car crashes- with no one bailing out in parachutes. Considering how stronger censorship was in the 1960s (compare movies and TV made in the 60s to today) I have to wonder how both shows even remained on the air

And it's not just the action- I remember some of the plots in both shows being relatively complex, with governments getting involved, international espionage, and so forth.

But compare them to action shows that were on the same time or came shortly afterward, and the others come up far short. Superfriends looks just ridiculous now (especially in comparison to the DC comics animated shows of recent years) and stuff like Space Ghost and Birdman don't hold up as well.