Rob and returning Super Friend Paul Kien review “Battle Against the Super Fiends” by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ramona Fradon, and Bob Smith, from SUPER FRIENDS #21! Plus Listener Feedback!
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Welcome back to the show, Paul. You did a GREAT job again.
I hope that we get to hear you on many more podcasts!
I love the ‘evil double’ story idea in general, and here it’s used very effectively – still – it could have used more goatee, though!
Ramona did a fantastic job on the design of the Exorian cops on pages 2 and 3. I love the detail of their chest symbols being triangular. That (along with the superhero emblems) probably factored into the symbols that Zan and Jayna chose to wear on THEIR costumes!
An interesting coloring mistake on page 4 really makes Ulpar look like the original design of The Red Tornado.
Interestingly, the mistake is the same in the original comic book, the DC Universe app, and the Saturday Morning Comics hardcover.
Regarding the Wonder Twins hesitancy about returning to Exor – I think it’s very understandable and relatable.
Returning would be horrible for them and they are doing far better on Earth by helping people here with their heroic deeds.
I try not to duplicate (heh-heh-heh) comments from my notes that you discuss on the show, but I have to say – Superiorman’s evil grin and eyes ARE spectacular!
I’d like to ‘No Prize’ the ‘pointy’ A on Waterman’s costume. We are assuming that the belt material is metal – – – but as a avid cosplayer in my younger days I can tell you that FELT is a fantastic material to make things with and NEVER jabs, points, punctures, or stabs!
Maybe whatever Waterman’s A is made out of has the same characteristics!
Although it was nice that Illik formally gave ownership of Gleek to The Wonder Twins, I wish it could have been done from either Gleek having an active hand (or tail) in stopping the villains, or perhaps a line of dialog that mentioned Gleek defeating The Time Trapper!
You mentioned the letters page making reference to Hieronymus Bosch and M.C. Escher and how as a kid you would have tried to look them up.
Without having the internet back then you could maybe look them up in an encyclopedia – or probably you would have gone to your school’s or your local library! (Very big smile!)
Hello Rob and welcome back, Paul!
I’ll start with the cover, which I do like, but I remember seeing this as a kid and wondering why Exxor’s sky was suddenly green. I even went back to issue #14 and looked at panels from the Wonder Twins origin story to confirm that yes, their sky was blue. However, since Exxor was an alien planet, perhaps a green sky would’ve been cool.
I thought Zan & Jayna’s reluctance to return to their home world was justified, given their childhood, and the circumstances of their departure. I wouldn’t want to go back either. I agree with the sentiment that being given proper ownership of Gleek was a nice touch.
I completely agree with your assessments on the artwork. The panels on the Wonder Woman and Aquaman stories are stand-outs, and the facial expressions of Yeltu & Fegla (which I always seem to mispronounce as “fell-gah”) are well done.
Regarding Superiorman and Wonderous Woman, when the letter column for this issue appearend (in issue #26) there was a bit of debate on these two. There were questions about Superiorman not being affected by kryptonite, and how Yeltu had not become a Kryptonian, so he would not be affected by it. However, wouldn’t that also mean that Fegla did not become an Amazon, therefore having her bracelets welded together wouldn’t have stopped her?
Overall, a good story, and a definite improvement over the last issue.
uh if it really the earth 1 Robin he’s done A LOT OFspace travel
This is one of my favorite issues, for all the reasons you both pointed out. The art is fabulous, the “cameo appearances” of Hawkgirl and Batgirl, and the freedom for the Wonder Twins makes this issue worthwhile. I do remember thinking it was stupid for all of them to go if Superman and Wonder Woman were going to do their solo acts. I would have liked to have seen the whole team fight (or atleast show up to fight) Super-Yeltu and Wonder Fegla. That scene where Aquaman and the Twins tell Superman and Wonder Woman to stand down would have worked better if they were all facing off the bad guys together.
I also remember from a few issues after that, one letter write pointed out that the “look” of the Prime Minister and guards etc were wrong! In the initial appearances of the Twins, they didn’t have chest emblems. So having all of the Exorians with chest emblems was a continuity error. Of course, most of us didn’t notice.
Always a delight to hear Rob and guest discuss this joyful series! The only thing I want to add is another clue that “Hawkgirl” was an imposter. In the panel shared on the gallery, “Hawkgirl’s” boots have a yellow vertical stripe down the shin and ending at the toe. However, they do not have the horizontal yellow stripe that crosses the boot just below the toe! Always buy genuine Kubert footwear. Much more subtle than a goatee!
Thanks for another super episode!
You can count me among those who love an evil duplicate story. Who doesn’t love a bearded Spock or even better Uhura in that “Mirror Universe” uniform.
My favorite episode of the Super Friends cartoon is the Universe of Evil with an eye patch wearing Aquaman and mustachioed Robin and too much eyeliner Superman! Ok.. ok.. I’ve gone off on a tangent. Anyways, evil duplicates are the perfect way to challenge a hero. They are a perfect physical match and an interesting insight into a hero’s dark side.
Scanning the pages in the gallery, for a split second I thought this issue included a cameo by Red Tornado! The miscolored image of Ulpar in panel 3 of page 4 looks like Reddy’s original all red-and-purple design!
I’ve never owned this issue, but read the story as reprinted in the SF TPB from 20 years ago. I’m a sucker for evil duplicates, and being a cohost of JLUCast, I’m always happy to see Hawkgirl get the spotlight…even if it isn’t the real Shayera! The SF episode Matt pointed out “Universe of Evil” is my absolute favorite episode of the series. I wish either the cartoon, or maybe the comic, had given us the sequel hinted at in the episode’s finale. It’s a shame that ENB didn’t really follow the TV series at all. By this point we could be reading issues with the Legion of Doom every month!
Oh, and I love that underwater upshot of Aquaman too, Rob. That Ramona is just GREAT!!!
Always a pleasure to hear Paul on the network!
Chris
Well, I agree that it’s nice to hear Paul again on For All Mankind. Looking forward to hearing him in episodes 31 and 41 as well…
But Rob, I’m a bit disappointed that the brief mention of Ultra the Multi-Alien did not get its trademark vocal effect this time around. I hope such a flagrant oversight will not be rectified going forward.
As to the issue at hand, I kind of like that Zan turned himself into a block of ice to imprison an opponent. It reminds of some of the post-Saturday playground talk at school, when we’d joke around that Zan should turn into an iceberg or a tidal wave or something.
p.s. Ultra, the Multi Alien.
Ultra the Multi Alien? Isn’t he a pal of The Whip? Or am I thinking Shazam?
When Superman and Wonder Woman left the rest of the team twiddling their thumbs, I like to think that Aquaman put that time to good use, familiarizing himself with the local sea life. That’s why he was able to command the alien flying fish so easily, later in the story.
Thanks for another incredible episode.
Cheers for another excellent show, with your good self, Rob, and Paul as smart and charming as ever.
This was another fun story and yeah, DC should have brought the bad guys back…I’d no one else was interested, Nelson could always have done an Earth 2, Golden Age version in Mr and Mrs Superman, over in Superman Family.
Given that the evil doubles always had pointy ears, how on earth could the Wonder Twins be confused as to who was whom?
What is Wonder Woman on about, patronising Robin for not having done enough space travel? Had she not read World’s Finest comics… Robin was on alien worlds every issue for a decade or more!
Oh, and while it’s nice the Gleek was transferred over to Jayna and Zan, it would’ve been nice had the little monkey been emancipated, recognised as their own person, and equal partner – they’re at least as smart as Zan. I can see why Proty was upset to be considered a pet.