Rob and Super Friend Chris Franklin discuss the SUPER FRIENDS SPECIAL from General Foods! Plus another installment of For All Merchkind and Listener Feedback!
Check out images from this comic by clicking here!
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Thanks for a fun show, I’ve never heard of this comic, ditto the Valentine’s Day stuff. Speaking of the latter, perhaps Flash and Supergirl are smiling after their big team-up in Super-Team Family #11, part of the Search for Jean Loring storyline. Unless that’s Iris in a Supergirl storyline, she has form in dressing up as super heroines…
Another great episode! I’m glad that you have decided to not stop at #47 and instead, go on to finish it off at an even 100! 😉
I think the reason that THESE two stories were picked to be reprinted is the fact that no super villains or dogs die in these tales, as opposed to SF #3 and #9!
When you talked about the back cover having various covers reprinted, I really expected you to spend the next 37 minutes of the show talking about why they cut and pasted the ‘DC Blue Ribbon Digest’ logo randomly over issues #1 and #9. I guess THAT will get it’s own episode!
You guys talked about entering contests which made me really smile because I am a HUGE fan of entering contests. I’ve won a bunch of cool stuff over the years with a lot of small things like movie tickets, CD’s DVD’s and blu-rays, books, an iPod, but easily the biggest item that I ever won was a one week trip to Disneyland! I’ve never understood it when people who wins contests say ‘I never thought I’d win’. LOL, I always think that I’m gonna win a contest that I enter!
In your comments section Brian Ciufo talked about TV theme songs and you told him to start that podcast.
I second that motion and offer myself up as a guest for an episode. I love theme songs!
I’m really looking forward to hearing the next guest stars that you have on your podcast! I bet that they’re gonna be fantastic!
Very interesting show, in that – like Martin – I had no idea that this Super Friends Special ever existed. However, using the Super Friends for a corporate giveaway comic certainly makes sense, and now I’m wondering if there are more of these floating around that we don’t know about. And I agree about the choice of stories included in the book: yes, the one with Warhead is quite good, but the other story should have been from Super Friends #39 (or maybe #43) to retain a consistent “villains with unusually-sized heads” theme.
Anyway, I’m assuming that the penultimate episode will probably cover the “Super Best Friends” from South Park…
Great episode.
I have never heard of this special so very cool to see.
I have seen lots of the Valentines on the web, even posted about the Supergirl/Flash one at some point. Never knew it was from this book. It is ironic that, of course, Flash/Supergirl were the sacrificial lambs of Crisis. Maybe the card should’ve said something like ‘Even though DC thinks we’re irrelevant, we still love each other!’
But know I am wondering what could episode #49 be about? Maybe the Lauren Faust ‘Super Best Friends’ shorts?
Fun show, Uncle Rob and Uncle Chris.
The talk of the puzzles by Marty Nadell reminded me of something I read on Mark Evanier’s blog yesterday about how Marty Nadell also invented the famous JUMBLE puzzle that is on the comic strip page of newspapers across the country (though it was called SCRAMBLE at first).
https://www.newsfromme.com/2023/11/25/bejlmu/
And yes, the Superman Club did actually happen. Dad explained that it was mostly salvaged from the DC Super-Stars Society fan club in 1978 (which cost $4.00 to join), a victim of the DC Implosion.
My dad talked about what happened when he and his uncle tried to join the DC Super-Stars Society, as well as some points about his Superman Club membership, here (time index 1:05:05):
http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/fwp_awodcc2/
He also shared this story on pages 326 to 328 of his new artbook, “Does This Trade Dress Make Me Look Phat?” (Available now! Inquire at xumswho@gmail.com)
The poster was originally for the DC Super-Stars Society, which had a Battle Stars/War Heroes chapter. That’s why Enemy Ace and Sgt. Rock are there. There was also a chapter for the JSA, which is why Power Girl is on the poster and not Supergirl (sorry Uncle Doctor Anj). Same with JLA, Legion and Shazam! characters.
The opening letter welcoming new club members was by Laurie Sutton, editor of The Super Friends Special and the editor of the Superman Club newsletter (named after “The Daily Planet”, and you can call her Chief!).
The letter has an offer to join other hero chapters for just $1.00 each! Essentially you would get a membership certificate that looks exactly like the Superman Club one with the wording changed to reflect the hero chapter, as well as another hero-designated Superman Club membership card with a secret code.
Note that while the front of the card is for “the Green Lantern chapter” of the Superman Club, the code on the back mentions the DC Super-Stars Society by name.
There were four “Daily Planet” newsletters published, the first was dated Sept-Oct 1980 and came in the welcome kit mailed to my dad (care of Great Uncle Kenzo’s address), with later newsletters mailed on their own (folded in half, with half of page four devoted to the mailing info and bulk rate postage). The second newsletter was dated Nov-Dec 1980, suggesting a bimonthly schedule, but the third was dated just “1981” and the fourth had no date at all (but is copyright 1981). There is no post office cancel stamp on these so I do not know exactly when these were mailed out.
Then on February 5, 1982, DC Comics’ then VP of Business Affairs, Paul Levitz, sent a letter to all members announcing that the Superman Club has been discontinued (but you’ll still be “one of Superman’s Special Friends”).
So it happened, but was short lived.
Uncle Chris’ suggestion for an ENB-written essay explaining how the Super Friends comics fit into DC Comics’ Earth-One continuity has inspired a new way for me to use one of Dad’s unused templates, so thank you for that.
I could also hear Uncle Rob’s eyes light up when Uncle Chris said the Super Friends Valentines book was tabloid size. If Treasury Comics plans to cover tabloid-sized non-comics such as this Action Valentine Playbook or the DC Super-Heroes Poster Book, let me know if you need any clear scans.
Isamu, just like your Dad, you never fail to amaze me, d. Thank you so much for all of this wonderful information! Also, I would love to see you tackle a full Super Friends index, in the style of those great 80s DC indexes by ICG, which I can see your Dad was riffing on!
Indeed, Uncle Chris. Dad told me that ICG planned to do indexes for The Flash and Green Lantern, which were written up but never published. So Dad planned to mock up his own (using the write-ups posted on Darkmark’s Comic Index and scanning the covers of his own comics). The template and a few Green Lantern pages (without cover images) was as far as he got.
Always great to see a comic that I had never heard of. I thought that I remembered this contest, but I was confusing it with the one sponsored by Clark Bar that promised a “trip to Gotham” and an appearance in a superhero comic book as the first prize. Seven year-old me, of course, thought it was Gotham City. However, they meant NYC, which is probably for the best since Gotham City would scar a kid for life. Second prize was a DC character watch and third prize was a subscription to your favorite DC or Marvel Comic. Anybody win any of those?
In a related vein, there was the whole Atari Swordquest contest a few years later where the top prize was a jewel-encrusted sword. Urban legends abound about that one and it’s a long story to go into except that it inspired a pretty good limited series from Dynamite about six years ago.
Great episode. I clearly remember those Super Friends valentines being the hot cards to get when I was in kindergarten (so that would have been V-Day 1981). I was especially fascinated by Green Arrow, since he seemed like a real deep cut to me at the time.
Do people in other countries have the U.S. kids’ Valentines’ Day tradition of giving a little card to every single classmate? For that matter, do American kids still do that? I don’t think I heard about/saw that happen to my nephews and nieces.
Canada had them, but that’s not too unusual.
We never did that in the UK. We like to make sure people feel left out… kidding, Valentine’s Day was never a thing until teenage years.
I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to remember if I ever gave or received those Super Friends valentines back in my grade school days, but to no avail. Curse my middle-age mind! Regardless of whether nor not I ever saw those cards in the wild, it was great to learn more about them (and the Super Friends Special) here.
Thanks for another excellent episode.
Awesome episode as usual. I had never seen either of these items! Thanks!
Thanks for a fun episode as always, Rob and Chris! I’m looking forward to the final two surprise topics. I am also a charter member of the Superman Fan Club, in my other identity. Should probably put that on my resume.
I know I still have the card and certificate. I may still have the poster.
Another great episode and can’t wait to see what’s next . Also have gotten any better as Flash Gordon pin ball ?
Great show, Rob and Chris! I had no idea this book existed!
I know the puzzles seemed a bit bland and unconnected to the Super Friends, but I wonder what Aquaman thought of his Fun Shop?
“Hey, it’s a Super Friends special and I actually made the cover! Although what’s up with my pose? I look like I’ve been riding my seahorse too long. But at least a I got a full body shot, unlike Peters and Lee over there. But of all our adventures, who picked these stories? In one story Ashford and Simpson’s pet beats up S&M Tarzan and in the other we all get boat-raced by a six-foot phallic in military dress so Plastic Man can look good. Where’s the shots of me riding a shark and kicking ass? At least I get my own Fun Shop page! ABCDE? Wow, what Mensa member came up with that brain teaser? Man, that clown is freaking me out. And what’s up with the freaky tree? My weed guy warned me that Afghani Kush could hit hard. Looks like I got to be on some valentines, too. You know what, kids, I’ve got a valentine for you:
Rose are red
Violets are blue
I’m the goddamn king of Atlantis and I deserve better than playing second fiddle to purple Sonny and Cher all the time!
Put that on a card!”
Rob and Super Friends!
Thanks for this podcast. I only started a few months ago, but I put a lot of hours in driving so I am all caught up. As someone who owns a complete set of Superfriends comics, I have enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Here’s hoping you follow this up with Super Powers – because those (Comics, Show and Toys) made my childhood complete.
Not sure if you ever peruse the Super-Team Family team up site, but they featured the SuperFriends this month. I thought you wold enjoy!
https://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/2023/12/super-friends-and-punisher.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR16kpaT_jU0DKgdbM9SDENantxd6MMpaho9rst1jSRB_h69oa7m9arei_s