For All Mankind #15

Rob and fellow podcaster Sean Ross review "The Overlord Goes Under" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ramona Fradon, and Bob Smith, from SUPER FRIENDS #15! Plus another installment of For All Merchkind and Listener Feedback!

Check out images from this comic by clicking here!

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Opening and closing themes by Hanna Barbera.

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15 responses to “For All Mankind #15

  1. Another early morning commute accompanied by For All Mankind. It makes leaving the house at 5am a lot more pleasant.
    Once again E Nelson Bridwell packs a ton of story into a small package. He not only gives everyone plenty to do, but he gives them all amazing moments. Robin kicking butt outside of The Shadow of the Bat. Aquaman fighting fire with the SAME fire! Superman punching out satellites, etc. So much fun to be had.
    For All Merchkind is a fascinating entry. While I don’t remember this product, I do remember other arts & crafts activity sets for kids. Shrinky Dinks, Chia Pets, Presto-Magix and numerous other stuff to keep kids out of their parents hair on rainy afternoons. I’m so glad you pointed out that the image next to Wonder-Dog was Storm the Seahorse! When I was looking at the images on the website, I couldn’t figure out what it was for the life of me! Thanks for saving a shred of my sanity.

  2. Am I the only one who liked the Elementals original costumes better? Okay, I thought so. But I do!

    ENB was an IP generating machine. He’s now introduced, what, like 3 super teams in this comic? The Global Guardians, The Monster Heroes, and now the Elementals, and you’re only on issue #15. Too bad only the Guardians made it out of this series, and only a handful have put to any good use.

    I think we owe Sean a free sub now. But not the steak and cheese or chicken bacon ranch. Those are extra.

    Chris

  3. Thanks for another amazing episode, gentlemen.

    Fun fact. The symbols on the Elementals’ new costumes are the symbols of the four classical elements from Western alchemy. I thought that was a nice subtle tie-in to the teams origins. By the way, I still want more of the Elementals.

    Also, Chris mentioned one, but Perler Beads are another descendant of Prestofix. They are colored plastic beads that you place on a plastic pegboard to make different images. The beads can be fused together with a clothes iron to make the design permanent. My daughter was really into them a year or two ago. We even got her a Justice League Perler Bead set.

  4. Hello Rob!

    Thanks to you (and guest Sean) for another great podcast!

    You are not the only one who gets angry when Aquaman is left off the cover of an issue. Letters from fans for issue #15 appeared in the letter column of issue #20, and this is an excerpt from one letter:

    “Once again (and it seems to be a regular practice now) the “Big Three” (Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman) are the only ones on the cover (with the Wonder Twins thrown in for a little balance). Don’t ignore Aquaman, Robin and your guest stars!”

    I enjoyed the pacing of this issue, and each Super Friend got a chance to shine in their own section of the story. I agree with both you and Sean, Robin and Aquaman came out the best here.

    Also, like Sean, I was impressed with Zan and his shift into Jack Frost. Will all the ice-sculpture shapes he used in the cartoon, it was refreshing to see him use his power set in a new and inventive way.

    I will admit when reading this as a kid, I was completely confused when the Elementals were explaining how their new outfits were made, specifically when Undine and Sylph said their clothes were made from “mostly water” and “air”. Whut?

    Glad you were able to use the submission for All Merch Kind!

    See ya next podcast!

    Chuck

  5. Oh, yeah, more action with the Elementals! And Overlord, the most fearsome villain ever! O.k., maybe I’m exaggerating a bit about Overlord, but I still loved the show.
    I have to say, though, since it comes up relatively often in your shows: you guys were lucky to have doctors, dentists and whatnot who had comics in their waiting rooms. The only reading material for kids I remember seeing at those places was Highlights magazine. And let me tell you, Goofus and Gallant were a poor substitute for the Super Friends.
    Also, I’m a bit miffed at Sean’s casual dissing of one of my earliest little boy TV crushes, Lindsey Wagner. Not cool, man. (And for the record, I don’t think she ever suffered from bulimia).

  6. As I suggested in last month’s comments, my first thoughts when reading about Elementals in DC comics are from Firestorm’s elemental era, so I was a bit surprised to hear that neither of the hosts had a context for a Fire Elemental growing in size simply by increasing the flames within them, since Firestorm does exactly this on more than one occasion during his elemental run.

    While I did enjoy these elementals, and agree that their costumes are great, I’m not too surprised that they weren’t used again. After all, they said in the previous issue that the human hosts really had no interest in being heroes. Of course, they also said that the elemental forces could only gain their souls by doing good “over a long period,” so we’re left to wonder if the elementals were doomed by their human hosts’ unwillingness. Perhaps there were more adventures off-panel? We’ll probably never know….

  7. Another fun episode! I vaguely remember reading this issue as a kid, but I didn’t remember any details apart from the Elementals demonstrating their powers.

    Regarding the letters page: Beppe Sabatini had a brief career in comics in the 1980s; he started his professional career with a story in DC’s New Talent Showcase #3, with art by Dan Day (brother of the late “Master of Kung Fu” artist Gene Day), then wrote a Superman back-up story in Action Comics #572. He then did some work at Eclipse Comics, contributing stories to their anthology comics “Alien Encounters” and “Tales of Terror,” and writing a one-shot Transformers/GoBots spoof “R.O.B.O.T. Battalion 2050” (which was originally announced under the more amusing working title “Cheap Shoddy Robot Toys”). I don’t know what he did after his short stint in comics, but hopefully he found fulfillment in whatever path he pursued afterwards. In any case, having a story illustrated by Gray Morrow (in Alien Encounters #10) would be a highlight of any comic writer’s career, no matter how brief.

  8. Welcome to the podcast Sean (my feller from another speller!)

    Nearly everyone above me in the comments have already hit on all of my story and podcast notes, so thankfully for everyone else, my comments this month will be brief!

    I think it’s GREAT that Wonder Woman made mention of The Elementals costumes since, basically, the women’s outfits are almost identical in style to her own!

    I’m a child of the 70’s and LOVE all of the Super Friends merch but I had NEVER seen or heard of PrestoFix before. I was amazed that not only did they make Super Hero PrestoFix but after a Google search I saw that they had Disney, Muppets and Peanuts versions as well – WOW! What other period specific treasures might be out there that I have never come across in my life ?!?!?!

  9. I really do like the Elementals’ new outfits, they look like a Eurovision Song Contest group. I must say, though, Ginger seems to have gotten sunburnt, maybe a side effect from her Salamander powers? And Grant’s looks a lot shinier than the others, black leather maybe?

  10. Great episode as always but it was the Reader Feedback mention of the DC Implosion that I wanted to comment on.

    The DC Implosion was something that had an big impact on my 10 year old self! I remember looking for Firestorm #6 for months before finally giving up. I discovered of the existence of the Cancelled Comics Cavalcade via the Overstreet Price Guide in the 80’s but didn’t think I would ever get a chance to read it. Luckily in the 90’s, via the USENET rec.arts.comics newsgroup, I connected with another collector that was willing to photocopy his copy of it for a minimal fee. So I’m a proud owner of a 4th or 5th generation recycled photocopy version!

    I also snapped up the TwoMorrow’s Comic Book Implosion when it first came out and loved it.

    I would love to see the F+W Network do a special podcast (or series of episodes) covering the DC Implosion, the TwoMorrows book and the books in the Cancelled Comics Cavalcade!

    Thanks
    Phil

  11. Rob & Sean, thanks for the entertaining coverage of another great issue that I bought off the rack. Regarding PrestoFix: This is basically cross-stitching with beads. I know about cross-stitching because my brother learned it from a girlfriend, then taught me enough for me to help him make our mom’s Christmas present that year. Of all the projects my brother drafted me into, that may have been the one with the most immediate benefit to me. Mom loved it, and it cost nearly nothing. Anyway, to make sure you stay on pattern in cross-stitching, you count the little squares. I’m betting PrestoFix works the same way.

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