Space Ghost and Firestorm

 

Uh oh, Mr. Universe is back to menace the heroes of STF once again! This time though, he's facing one who has met him before - Firestorm battled him alongside Mar-Vell in STF #4735.  Hopefully that experience and the help of Space Ghost will give him an edge this time around.

Fantastic Four Vs. Starro

 

It's too bad we never saw Starro the Conquerer on the Saturday morning cartoons back in the day. I think he would have fit right in in The Super-Friends.  

The FF first faced Starro way back in STF #278...

The Herculoids and Green Lantern

 

The HBO Max Lanterns series is the next DCU project that is coming up.  We have seen and heard surprisingly little about the show while it has been in production.  I'm glad they aren't giving too much away, but I do hope we will get to see at least a teaser treailer soon.

Starman and Space Ghost

 

A couple of cosmos inspired heroes stumbling upon a mystery on the Transformers homeworld is just the kind of set up to catch my attention when perusing the new comics rack. I think this one would have definitely made it into the buy pile.

Genie and Shazzan

 

Hmm... have these two actually found a loophole or would this maneuver be against the Magic Genie Code of Conduct? Other than their freedom, what might they wish for?

The Herculoids on the Planet of the Apes

 

I'm not sure why The Herculoids home Planet was later renamed Quasar when the property was brought back for new adventures - the former name of Amzot was a more unique and cool choice, in my opinion.  A minor nitpick to be sure, I'll never complain much about extra Herculoids episodes!

Han Solo and Space Ghost

 

Han Solo eventually grudgingly accepted the concept of The Force, but I wonder how he would react if he found himself having to fight side by side with a space-faring superhero.  I'm guessing that Han might wonder what space Ghost's motives would be, but as long as they had a common enemy to pursue they would make for a formidable team.

Legion of Super-Pets and The Herculoids

 

I've always been a fan of The Herculoids, and mostly because of the alien creatures on the team.  I liked that they were not treated as pets, but equal members of the roster.  Alex Toth's amazing designs made them always look cool, despite the limited animation.  My only gripe was Zok the Dragon's loud screech, which was a bit overused and could get a little annoying.

Shazzan and Thor

 

I quite  liked Thor: Ragnarok, and felt that it's injection of color and humor into the franchise struck a nice balance in that film.  Unfortunately, Director Taika Waititi was not able to balance out his follow up, Thor: Love and Thunder quite as well in my opinion.  The humor was far too broad this time around, with Thor going from a character with some funny traits to a complete buffoon.  Natalie Portman is a talented actress, but her attempts at comedy fell flat for me, and clashed with her terminal cancer sub-plot.  It's not a terrible movie, and there are some fun action sequences and a great mid-credits scene - but it felt like it could have used one more pass in the editing stage before sending it to theaters.

Justice Society and The Fantastic Four in: "The Kang/Karkull Contract!"

 

I am looking forward to the third season of Stargirl.  I hope they continue with the classic JSA flashbacks.  They probably wont include Dr. Fate or Hawkman due to their involvement in the Black Adam movie, but I 'd love to see Jim Corrigan, Alan Scott and Wesley Dodds appear.  Even just showing up in their civilian identities would be cool, but it would be even better to see them suited up and in action.

The FF and The JSA previously shared an adventure in STF #1950...

Batman and Shazzan

 

One of the reasons that the stars of Hanna-Barbera's World of Super-Adventure have a special place for me is from my memories of seeing the cartoon when I was very young.  I would get up early before everyone in my house to watch the show.  It was a brief time to myself, as I was the second youngest of seven kids - usually everything I did at home was in the midst of a crowd, certainly in the TV room.  By the time Bugs Bunny & Friends came on, I'd be joined by my siblings, but the early morning shows were mine to watch in privacy.

Space Ghost and Space Cabbie

 

Recently I have been watching the 1967 Jonny Quest series on HBO Max, and thoroughly enjoying them.  Sure, the animation of the time was fairly limited, but the plots and gorgeous visual work more than make up for that.  Alex Toth's designs for the characters, vehicles, hi-tech devices and weapons are a joy to take in.  Toth also gave Space Ghost one of the greatest superhero costumes ever, so It's no surprise.

The Quarrymen (The Animated Series!)

 

The Quarrymen continue to evolve in their fourth appearance.  The team began when The Thing met Igoo in STF #163, Blok joined in STF #270,  Badrock was recruited in STF #1185, and now they have their own cartoon show!  Despite the similarity of stony forms, these heroes all have very different personalities.  I bet this would actually be a fun group to follow.

Thor and Thundarr the Barbarian

 

I remember Thundarr the Barbarian being a pretty cool concept, but that the episodes all had a certain sameness to them.  I am sure a lot of that had to do with how much footage and musical cues were re-used in each episode, a common practice for animated shows of the time.  I wouldn't mind seeing an updated version someday, though.

Tarzan and The Herculoids

Both of these properties were part of my regular Saturday morning viewing as a kid, so this is a meeting I have been imagining for decades.  Their worlds really do seem like they would easily go together.  I would have loved to have seen an animated crossover.  Heck, make it live action - Sure there would be special effects required, but think of the money that could be saved on the wardrobe budget!

Black Canary and Black Cat

I'm glad when I get a chance to showcase the artwork of Alex Toth on this blog.  His artwork has amazed me since I was a kid.  I remember taking notice of his inventive panel layouts, something he had mastered years before most other artists started getting as experimental.  His character designs on the Super Friends cartoon really elevated that show for me, even with its limited animation, and they are the reason I'll still pop in an episode every now and then.

These two first met as members of the Black beauties way back in STF #299...

Green Hornet and Green Lantern (Part Two)

Continued from yesterday's cover, we see that there is one thing that can break up this new alliance.  I know that Batman and Catwoman flirted for a long time before tying the knot on Earth Two - but was Alan Scott the first hero to go ahead and marry one of his villains?

Green Hornet met Green Lantern Kyle in STF #844 and Green Lantern Hal in STF #1815...

Calvin & The Rocketeer (and Space Ghost!)

My father is 34 years older than me, and while that doesn't seem like much to me these days, as a kid and second youngest of seven, I felt like we had very little in the way of common interests.  He loved reading, but certainly not comic books, he has into car racing while I preferred to watch basketball or baseball, and so on.  So, it really made an impact on me when I saw how much he enjoyed reading Calvin & Hobbes in the paper.  I loved that he had the same appreciation for the humor, heart, imagination and artistic skill that went into Bill Watterson's classic cartoons.  I even wound up buying him some collected editions.  Now that I am approaching 50, I feel like I have a lot in common with my Dad, and our mutual love for that strip was the when I began to understand that.

Green Lantern Vs. Green Goblin in: "Double Jeopardy!"

I Wonder why Doctor Octupus was chosen to be Spider-Man's villain in the Superman Vs. Spider-Man, when The Green Goblin would have been a much better fit.  As much as I loke Doc Ock, GG has always been considered Spidey's greatest arch enemy, plus he is a wealthy and powerful businessman in addition to being a villain, making him more of a natural fit to join forces with Lex Luthor as well.  Perhaps the death of Gwen Stacy was still too fresh as the time the tabloid-sized crossover was released, and Marvel just didn't want to go there?

Green Goblin battled the Hal Jordan Green Lantern back in STF #660...

Tintin, Space Ghost and The Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer is one of the few characters that came out unscathed in the Fox movies.  I thought he looked and sounded great in the second Fantastic Four film, despite being in service to a lackluster plot and answering to a CGI cloud we were told was Galactus.  I wonder where The Surfer will appear again now that Marvel has the rights back.  A solo film?  A guest Star in a future Guardians of the Galaxy film?  Or maybe even joining Hulk, Dr. Strange and Sub-Mariner for a proper Defenders team?  There are plenty of places to use him, and I hope they don't make us wait too long.

This story serves as a direct follow up to the two-part tale where Tintin met The Watcher, and then had to be tracked down by Green Lantern and Space Ghost... and of course Silver Surfer and Space Ghost have met as well...