For All Mankind #22

Rob and Super Friend Jarrod Alberich review "It's Never Too Late" by Sergius O'Shaughnessy, Ramona Fradon, and Bob Smith, from SUPER FRIENDS #22! Plus Listener Feedback!

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22 responses to “For All Mankind #22

  1. Who’s Who in the Super Friends Voice Cast
    (For the sake of expedience I’m just listing the major hero voices. I’m not gonna bother with incidental side characters)
    Danny Dark: Superman/Clark Kent,
    Olan Soule: Batman, Martin Stein
    Adam West: Batman/Bruce Wayne
    Casey Kasem: Robin
    Shannon Farnon: Wonder Wiman, Hawkgirl, Rima
    B.J. Ward: Wonder Woman
    Norman Alden: Aquaman, Plastic Man
    William Callaway Aquaman (4 episodes)
    Frank Welker: Marvin
    Sherry Alberoni: Wendy
    Michael Bell: Zan
    Louise Williams: Jayna
    Ted Knight: Narrator/The Flash
    Jack Angel: the Flash, Hawkman, Samurai
    Michael Rye: Green Lantern, Apache Chief
    Wally Burr: The Atom
    Buster Jones: Black Vulcan
    Fernando Escandon: El Dorado
    Mark L. Taylor: Firestorm/Ronnie Raymond
    Ernie Hudson: Cyborg

    1. Cool, but not quite correct. Norman Alden was the voice of Aquaman in the first iteration, but Bill Callaway took over and voiced the role for the remaining seasons IIRC. If by “4 episodes” you meant “after season one” then I think you’re right.

      Also, I’m pretty sure Norman Alden did the voice of Green Arrow, too.

      1. I knew I missed someone.
        I was mostly using IMDB as my resource on this So while Alden was the Primary voice for Aquaman in much of the series. I think Callaway’s work was only done in Perhaps the Galactic Guardians where they had stepped away from THE BIG FOUR.
        I actually posted the list however because Rob had mistakenly credited Olan Soule as Superman and Danny Dark as Batman

          1. Random fact:
            In the Towering Inferno starring Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, the guy who explained the plan to blow up the water tanks was Olan Soule! I was watching the movie a while back when suddenly it hit me! That voice! I know that voice!

  2. Great episode and great issue. This is Ramona at her best and cranky Denny actually put some effort on it.
    I’m a sucker for Diana’s lasso transformation, and to have it drawn by Ms. Fradon just elevates it.

  3. Good morning Super Fans, and thank you to Rob & Jarrod for their work on this podcast!

    We’ll start with the cover. While Superman and Wonder Woman are the largest figures, it is the first cover to feature the entire team since issue #18, so that’s a plus.

    I must admit, as a kid I did not pick up on Wonder Woman’s snark in the splash panel about being around in case something ‘big” happens. Now I laugh at it. However, I did pick up on the comments made by Wonder Woman and her Mystery Date about each other (and women in general) and remember thinking (even as a kid) “How rude!”

    While Rob & Jarrod were amused by Wonder Woman’s knowledge of the Goodtime Blimp’s schedule, I was more amused by Chronos’ hideout, and how no one knew this massive purple fortress was just tucked away in this wooded area with a nearby waterfall.

    All the puns at the end got on my nerves, specifically the one by Chronos, only because if a criminal was being captured by super heroes, I would think the last thing on their mind would be making puns.

    Jarrod’s comments about off panel discussion about Superman and Wonder Woman talking about trying to find something for Zan & Jayna to do was funny, and like you, seeing them with Chronos cemented in my mind that Super Friends was Earth-1 continuity, and therefore Zan & Jayna were part of the DCU from the beginning.

    Speaking of the twins, what is up with their facial expressions on the last page? It’s like they’re thinking: “We’re part of the battle! Wheeeeeeeeeee!”

    see you next podcast!

    Chuck

  4. This was not one of my favorites as a kid because 1. lack of Aquaman action and 2. victory was achieved by stupid hench-men.
    The Super Friends didn’t even necessarily know that Chronos HAD henchmen, so the plan was to convince Chronos himself that time had stopped? Seems like he wouldn’t have cared all that much. As a kid I always wore my angry (short) pants, and this story’s plot point was especially stupid.

    As an avid reader of SUPER FRIENDS and JUSTICE LEAGUE. I often wondered if their respective artists (Ramona Fradon and Dick Dillin) would not include all the members in group scenes unless specifically told to do so. What I mean is, for the panel that Rob mentions where Robin is leaning on the desk, maybe the script said “the Super Friends are back at the Hall of Justice,” and not really thinking about it, Ramona drew Robin because Batman had lines, and B&R were always together? She wouldn’t think to draw Aquaman if he wasn’t specifically called out. Later, when Aquaman pops up on page 13 it’s because he has a specific line. But because he doesn’t have anything to DO in the attack on Chronos, maybe Ramona didn’t draw him just standing around. In this scenario, I blame editor Julius Schwartz, who should have noticed and switched Batman to Aquaman on page 17 panels 1 &2.

    And by the way, Steve Trevor had black hair (as Steve Howard) or blond. He was not a brunette. Also, he was dead as of Adventure Comics #460 (Dec 1978). So even though Mike’s Amazing World credits Wonder Woman’s date here as Steve, I’m suggesting it was her re-bound, Mike Bailey. I’m not kidding, that was her would-be boyfriend until WW #256.

    For those of you who might be interested, I updated and revised this plot for an issue of my fan-fiction JLA story in 1996. If you want to see how I re-distributed the lines and action (and ended it without stupid henchmen) click below. I warn you: I also deleted out the Matador Mob. Sorry! http://seiginonakama.blogspot.com/2014/04/jl-17-matter-of-time.html

  5. I LOVE this podcast. It is so nice to have a podcast about heroes who actually like each other.

    This sounds like such a fun issue. I really like the creative use of the Wonder Twins powers at the end.

    The only thing missing from this issue was a cameo by the Atom. When I was a kid, I had one issue each of the Atom, Atom & Hawkman & Wonder Woman. Guess which comic was the only one to feature Chronos? Wonder Woman. I don’t think I ever read a story pitting the Atom against Chronos.

    I noticed something today about this podcast that I’ve never noticed before. The episode on the For All Mankind feed is 90 second longer than the episode on the Fire and Water Network feed because the FAM episode has three 30 seconds ads. One at the beginning and two at the end.

    THANKS for another fun episode!

  6. Wonder Woman was not being snarky. The Matador Mob is hardly a threat that requires the entire team of of Super Friends! Besides, Batman gets first crack at gangs of crooks who dress alike. Regarding Wonder Woman’s mystery date, I think this was when Diana was in training to be an astronaut and was spending a lot of time at NASA in Houston. Jarrod, no detective can solve the mystery if he hasn’t received all of the clues! I like the idea about about side conversations regarding how to incorporate the Wonder Twins into the adventure du jour. The JLA members are thinking like educators. “How can we turn this into a learning opportunity for Zan and Jayna?”

  7. I’m only twenty minutes in, but I want to get some thoughts down before I forget:

    Welcome, Jarrod! Another Warriors reference this month, eh? For All Mankind is just like Action Film Face-Off!

    This may have been my introduction to Cronos. Odds are very good it was my intro to the concept of a billion.

    Pretty sure the Whirly-Bat in the trunk was canon from the diagrams of the Batmobile in that era.

    That’s all for now. More to follow, probably.

  8. Fun discussion gents! I bought this one off the stands, and it was no doubt my first exposure to Chronos and that Clock-Stopping Costume.

    Aquaman being at that Hall of Justice when he shouldn’t be is just Ramona tyring to emulate the SF animated series, where characters trapped millions of years in the past in one scene, can be standing in front of the TroubAlert in another!

    Adam West’s Batman often used a megaphone on the classic TV series. One episode that comes to mind is “The Joker Goes to School” where Batman uses the megaphone to try and convince Dick Grayson’s schoolmates to not follow the Joker’s criminal example. And yes Rob, it DOES have a bat-shaped front! Mattel even made an action figure of West’s Batman that came with the Bat-Megaphone.

    Oh, and I LOVE the Whirly Bat! Not only did Batman keep the modern model in the back of the Batmobile in regular Bat-canon, he did so in the late Golden and early Silver Ages (on both Earth-1 AND Earth-2), as seen in the Alan Brennert/Jim Aparo classic, “Interlude on Earth-Two” in The Brave and the Bold #182…my favorite comic of all time!

  9. The Whirly-Bat is indeed awesome, and probably my favorite piece of Bat-hardware – yes, sometimes I think I prefer it to the Batmobile.

    Another great guest and thus another great episode. I don’t think I ever had this issue, but since the topic came up in your discussion, I have to say that I always thought Chronos would have had one of the best costumes in super-villainy with a few tweaks. Mainly, I think it would look a whole lot better if the cape, boots and gloves were red instead of yellow. The striped leggings, though, are something I always found pretty sharp…

    By the way, your comments about Gleek in the listener feedback section has me thinking: when he says ‘gleek,’ is that kind of like ‘I am Groot,’ i.e., is he actually saying intelligent things but in a language that only sounds like that single word unless you understand it? These are the things that sometimes keep me up at night, or – as is the case right now -distract me from doing, you know, work that pays the bills.

  10. Thanks for yet another great episode!
    Don’t worry Rob, your love and admiration for Romona Frieden’s artwork is well established. I often hess see r on many of the podcasts from Rob, Shag, Chris or others that they hate to be critical of artists.
    I don’t believe you need to be. It’s OK to be critical. Being critical and being a hater are VERY different.
    I understand why you guys often make that statement, because you know you’ll get a deluge of people being critical of your criticism! It’s ridiculous. I myself have often mentioned s piece of work I thought was lacking, and of course hundreds of people come running at me with
    “Who are you to judge!?!”
    “Can you draw?”
    “Where is your published work?”
    Funny, when I praise a piece of work no one asks my my credentials. I never have to say “I can’t draw a stick figure, but this is the most incredibly well drawn cover in the titles history!”
    It’s ridiculous. We know what we like and what we don’t, and as long as we’re not just being haters and dumping on someone’s work, we shouldn’t have to qualify our opinions… of course… that’s just my opinion.

  11. Welcome to the podcast Jarrod, you were great and I totally fell for the issue 21 joke you told at the start. I loved it!

    I completely agree with Rob – the panel featuring the couple who’s house has burned down is incredibly moving and adds such a weight of emotion to the story – especially following the early ‘inconveniences’.

    Regarding your thoughts about a ‘missing’ page of the script between pages 4 and 5 – I don’t think they were missing anything at all – I think if was more of a movie or TV transition where a line of dialog (in this case “a billion dollars” is repeated so you understand the time lapse from one scene to another.

    I loved the look of the Matador Mob and can totally see them being in the DCU at the time. Maybe foils for groups like Inferior 5 or The Metal Men.

  12. The Matador Mob being a threat? What a bunch of bull!

    I had this one growing up and only remembered it when listening to the review. (I had yet to look at the gallery.) So it was good to revisit it in my mind.

    I wonder if O’Neil was using the Sergius pseudonym because this was a kiddie book. He was still basking in the glow of ‘I made Batman the Dark Knight again’ so I wonder if he worried that being part of a ‘good work chum’ Batman would tarnish his rep.

  13. Ta for another super-friendly episode.

    I really like that cover and while I don’t mind a bit of ‘dead space’ generally – does every square inch have to be busy? – surely it’s pretty essential here to show the range of the spider’s web ray effect?

    On the splash page, letterer Milt Snapinn has the title ‘It’s never too late’ and he gives ‘never’ a different treatment, for emphasis… but he also writes ‘It’s’ differently to ‘too late!’ When I looked at the page I misread that first work as ‘JLA’. Take a look.

    I’ve spent too long looking at compute screens, have my I?

    Count me in as another big Whirly-Bat fan – why they retired them, I’ll never know. The gadget had been portable since Detective Comics #266 in the Silver Age.

    Like my chums said, Steve Trevor was dead at this point so Diana’s unnamed date likely was (Not Podcasting’s) Mike Bailey.

    Chronos, if he had any sense, wouldn’t bother stealing things from the current day when there were no heroes around. He should steal things from treasure caves of Kings and warlords who don’t know he exists. And it’s shameful the Atom wasn’t called in to help out here.

    Never mind dad puns, a million points for Jarrod’s ‘Chronos is throwing gasoline on that pun-fire’.

  14. I take Chronos joining in the puns at the end of the story to be a sign of good sportsmanship and professional courtesy. He’s been around long enough to know when he’s defeated, and knows better than to take it personally. Besides, he’ll escape from prison in a couple of months, and be on to his next big plan. I’m sure Superman would do the same, if the tables were reversed.

    Thanks for another amazing episode.

  15. I suspect the “dead space” on the cover was intended for a word balloon from Chronos gloating how he had captured Superman in his time-net, and it was removed/never added when the editor saw it wasn’t really needed.

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