The Super Friends Vs. Doctor Doom

There was a lot of hoopla a few weeks back with the release of four teaser trailers for Avengers: Doomsday.  I thought that they were fine, if a bit premature for a film almost a year away from hitting the theaters.  They didn't reveal much that anyone who follows movie news didn't know about already, but I guess the purpose they served was to get the conversation rolling for general audiences who don't pay as much attention.  I think that marketing will stay quiet for a while and really ramp up in half a year or so from now.  

Doctor Doom confronted the Legion of Doom back in STF #4171...

The Super-Friends Vs. Galactus

 

While the movie had it's issues, it was still great to see Galactus finally realized properly in Fantastic Four: First Steps.  The sense of scale in the scenes featuring the World Devourer was very well done and the vocal performance suited the villain well.  Now that he's been checked of the list, I am hoping to see Annihilus and a Thing/Hulk fight in the FF's next cinematic outing.

Galactus met Apache Chief of the Super Friends in one of the Back-Up Stories in STF #3300...

Super Friends and Spider-Man

 

Miles Morales has been seen traversing the multiverse into many realities, some quite familiar to long time comic fans.  It would be cool to see him wall crawl his way into the Saturday Morning Hanna-Barbera universe.  I'd love to see his reaction to these family-friendly heroes.

The Super Friends met the Peter Parker Spidey (and his Amazing Friends) in STF #1299...

Super-Friends and The Punisher

 

I loved with The Super-Friends would have a guest star on the show like Plastic Man or Green Arrow.  It made the world they inhabited seem even more expansive and inclusive of the comics in my young collection.  Frank Castle appearing would have truly been a surprise though - I can only imagine what a Super-Friends version of The Punisher would have been like!

The Super Friends and The X-Men

 

The Disney+ X-Men '97 animated series keeps getting pushed back, but I am  interested to see how it turns out.  Will it take right after the original cartoon left off, or will a few years have passed?  Will they be sticking closely to the original designs and look?  The first series followed the comics pretty closely, so I expect that this follow up will continue along that path.

The Super Friends and The Super Globetrotters

I'm sure there are a number of reasons why such a show would never make it to air today, but as a kid I got a big kick out of  The Super-Globetrotters.  I loved comics, superheroes and basketball, so this cartoon definitely caught my attention.  I remember enjoying watching the live action Harlem Globetrotters games against the hapless Generals - man, that bucket of confetti gag got me every time! 

 

Super-Friends and The Fantastic Four

 

For years I have been trying to find clean copies of the  Fantastic Four cartoons that originally appeared on Hanna-Barbera's World of Super Adventure.  I've only ever seen wobbly VHS copies of them.  I was hoping they would show up on Disney+, but they aren't among the various FF cartoons offered there.  Recently my hopes were raised when I saw that HBO Max had the original Jonny Quest and some other HB cartoons on there.  Still no FF though.  These cartoons were taken directly from Stan Lee's first stories and stuck close to Jack Kirby's designs, I'd love to see crisp versions of them someday.  I wonder who is holding on to the rights?

The Super Friends meet Dynomutt

 

My heart would have skipped a beat if I had seen this team up on TV back in the 70's.  I know that Dynomutt and Blue Falcon were somewhat more comedic spins on superheroes, but I tool them very seriously as a kid.  They fell under the Hanna-Barbera umbrella so this crossover could have been done.  DC's done a bunch of comic books teaming their roster of heroes with the HB characters, but I haven't seen this one yet.

Super Friends and Birdman

 

Wendy and Marvin didn't do much for me as a kid watching The Super Friends.  I know the idea was for me to see what it was like for someone closer to my age to hang out with the World's Greatest Super-Heroes, but in my imagination, I wanted to actually be a hero, not just a bystander.  The Donnie and Marie-inspired Wonder Twins were a better solution, since they actually had powers and could participate in the action.  Still, like the first two companions, they had no comic book counterparts, so I never got very attached to them. 

Super Friends and Guardians of the Galaxy

 

As a kid I thought that The Wonder Twins were an improvement over Wendy and Marvin, who seemed pretty useless on The Super Friends.  At least they had powers and could join in on the action.  Still, if they had to have more teens on the team, I would have preferred they used established DC characters like Wondergirl, Aqualad or Kid Flash.

The Human Torch joins The Super Friends

If indeed Namor is about to be introduced in one of Marvel's upcoming planned movies, other possibilities will soon open up as well.  A solo Sub-Mariner film could delve into the character past and include some of his WWII era allies and foes.  Even if Chris Evans is out of the picture which dampens my hope for a true Invaders team, there's no reason that the Jim Hammond Human Torch cant show up.  He and Namor have plenty of non-Invaders history in the comics and the MCU Torch was established in a cameo in the first Captain America.

The Super Friends and Gatchaman

I think my interest in superhero teams and team-ups definitely goes back to the Super Friends cartoon show.  It was regular Saturday morning viewing for me and I was entranced watching all of the colorful costumed heroes interacting with one another.  Later seasons would have multiple stories each episode, with some tales featuring team ups between one of the Super Friends and a special guest star, and I absolutely loved those.  It's safe to say that the show is a cornerstone for my lifetime love of comics, and ultimately the creation of this blog.

Space Ghost and The Super-Friends

Here's another team up that I would have loved to have seen animated in my childhood.  I loved both of these cartoons when I was growing up, for different reasons.  The Super-Friends featured the characters that I loved from the comic books, and Space Ghost had more action.  Maybe a crossover is something that DC can finally do today, at least in comic form.

Space Ghost met the Justice League of America back in STF #1249...

Godzilla Vs. Apache Chief

"SKREEONK!"

"Eh-Neeek-Chock!"

'Nuff said!

Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends and The Super Friends

For a long time growing up, these two cartoons were all there was as far as animated superheroes on TV went.  I will always have a soft spot for The Super Friends, especially the "Challenge" years, but I preferred Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends because they had better action.  My only complaint was there were not enough episodes - I felt like I watched each one 20 times over!

The Atomics and The Super-Friends

It just occurred to me that the heroes we ill be seeing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice are the same core line up from The Super Friends.  Well, Aquaman is supposedly only a cameo and Robin appears to be dead, but still. that fact certainly underscores how dark and moody the film looks - in stark contrast to the brightly colored heroes we grew up watching.  I still hold out hope that the film has some true rays of hope and light by the end and what we have seen thus far is the dark before the dawn.

The Super Friends Vs. The Avengers

When it comes to TV superhero theme songs, there are a few that rise to the top for me.  The 60's Spider-Man theme has a great beat and is fun to sing along with.  I also quite liked the 80's animated Hulk theme song, it felt right for the character.  Still, my favorite has to be the classic Super Friends theme.  There was no way not to get excited when I heard that orchestra playing.  It sounded majestic and powerful, and very befitting of Earth's greatest superheroes.

The Thing and The Super Friends

Yknow, when I was listening and reading all of the negative reaction to the Green Lantern film (a movie I liked a lot more than most - the action, performances and overall look made up for a less than inspired script for me), I was thinking about how spoiled we comic fans are nowadays when it comes to seeing our favorite superheroes in other media. When I was a kid getting up early in the morning to watch an episode of Super Friends that was in it's third re-run, I never dreamed of a day when so many comic characters would be translated into film and television properties. If I'd had a peek 35 years into my future to see what was in store, I think my little head would have exploded with excitement. Now, in an age when we have so many comic book movies and shows to choose from, we tend to focus on what they got wrong rather than how cool it is that these things got made at all. back in the 70's when Super Friends was the only game in town, it was a different story. I was never bothered by the fact that they were rarely called The Justice League or that nobody ever threw a punch, I was just thrilled that the guys from the comics were on my TV, in full motion! When they added more characters in later years, I loved it even more... and of course my favorite seasons were the ones where they had multiple stories per episode - Full team, Zan & Jayna adventure, Safety tips or magic tricks, and then best of all a team up between a Super Friend regular and a special guest star! It was like reading one of those 100-page comics with all the various features. I of course loved the Legion of Doom years, even though the episodes were somewhat repetitive in nature, it was just too cool to see so many comic characters in one big story. Sure the series looks very quaint and dated now, but I am glad I was at the right age to appreciate it because for most of the heroes featured on it, it would be decades before we got to see them animated again.