Rob and Super Friends Chris Franklin, Paul Kien, Shawn M. Myers, and Brett Young take a look back at the SUPER FRIENDS series! Plus one last Listener Feedback!
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Opening and closing themes by Hanna Barbera.
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Congratulations Rob on completing the Superfriends series; we can all hear your love for these comics in every show.
I’m not yet halfway through listening but had to pause to discuss Letraset; firstly because I’m sure I had some of these transfer sets back in the 70s (definitely not all 12!). Given your background in graphic design, I’m amazed that you hadn’t heard of Letraset before! In the days before Desktop Publishing, Letraset’s main business was sets of letters in various typefaces which could be used in layup of all kinds of publications. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letraset)
I will return when I’ve listened to the rest of the show!
Oh, man, the intro from Shannon Farnon is most excellent – no better way to start the final show!
A few things:
1) on the subject of favorite ENB-created villains, I still think that a few of those throwaway villains who were essentially murdered as ingredients in the soup that created World Beater in issue no. 3, like Thunderhead, Bombshell or Apparition, could have been put to good use.
2) I definitely agree that the should be a regular (weekly or whatever) kids or all-ages cartoon featuring Wonder Woman. For a while, we had her as one of the regulars in DC Superhero Girls, which is absolutely awesome, but unfortunately it’s been cancelled. I think something in that style just focusing on WW could be really fun.
3) There’s a joke about Zan saying “Wonder Twin powers activate” to Marie Osmond, and her responding with “I’m a little bit country!” but I can’t figure out how to make it work…
Anyway, thanks to Rob and Chris, Paul, Shawn and esp. Brett (for the epic treatment of the third Futurio installment) for a fine show, and, of course, thanks to Rob for a great podcast.
in the cartoon they (I DONT Think) showed anybody Enter the hall of JUstice. Little kid me also wondered how they managed to have steve trevor without Dina Prince but that was LONG after the comic.
WAIT! I got answerS LOTS of them
1. GOOD JOB everybody im gonna miss this show
2 guest staring heroes? Creeper,Bulletman, Green Lantern Flash, HULK (IT’S ONLY A BIT LESS LIKELY THan bulletman
3 bad guys? Joker,Doctor Sivana
4. Futuro died in a lost chapter of crisis. Actully he’s JONAH hex’s mother now
Thank you for such a fun series! I’ve enjoyed every episode, and I’ll miss it.
As for the question of my favorite ENB-created villain, I’ll have to go with one of those doomed one-panel villains who went into the creation of the Worldbeater…”Turncoat” is a BRILLIANT name for a master-of-disguise villain, and it’s a shame that he was never actually used in a story.
And I’ll join everyone in wishing a happy retirement to the legendary Ramona Fradon. I’ve been fortunate enough to commission two sketches from her (Element Girl and Thundra), and they’re wonderful! I only wish I could have gotten more…I applied for another spot on her waiting list about a year ago, hoping to get a sketch of either Woman Wonder (the early Mad Magazine spoof of Wonder Woman) or Don Martin’s Captain Klutz. I’m a bit sad that I’ll never get to see her version of those characters, but I’m immensely grateful for the sketches that I’ve got.
Thank you for this wonderful finale to a wonderful podcast. Rob Kelly is truly a podcasting treasure. My apologies for the comment on Wonder Dog’s later mistreatment, but it still burns me up almost 20 years later. And happy retirement indeed to Ramona Fradon! I am so glad to have met her at a convention some years ago and had her sign a Super Friends trade for me. She was as gracious as she is talented.
Great job, Rob, and an excellent sendoff. Now I want the episode-by-episode review of the actual SF cartoon, skipping over the Marvin/Wendy/misunderstood-scientist-villain early seasons.
Our friends John S. Drew and Dan Greenfield are already doing that over at The World’s Greatest Super Friends podcast. It’s a great show!
Congratulations and thank you for finishing the show Rob! This has been a lot of fun.
Settle in for a long comment!
First off, when you announced this I wondered how intently I would listen to the show because I could remember thinking of Super Friends as a ‘kid’s comic’ even when I was a kid. Then you started to review the issues and I had bought a ton of them off the rack! I guess I was more into the book than I recalled (or wanted to admit as a kid). So reliving those issues and hearing about the other ones was great.
Now on to the questions you asked your cohosts.
Favorite story: like many, the three parter introducing the Wonder Twins stands out. But #28 with all the ‘sort of’ guest stars was a fave. I loved all those almost guests and the classic ‘face-off’ cover trope is perfect.
Favorite cover: Interestingly enough, not #28. How can it not be #13 with the giant green mole digging into the cover. That is a cover that would pop off the spinner for sure!
Favorite deep cut: Of course, Black Orchid. ENB really dusted not only her off, but a no-name villain from one of Orchid’s own stories! Amazing!
Favorite made up villain: Menagerie Man
Favorite back-up: It would be easy to say Seraph and the ‘easy on the eyes’ Oksner art. But I have to go Wonder Twins. Jayna as a topless mermaid in a water-filled alley for the win! Especially because they did it to gaslight a fellow student!
Favorite Global Guardian: I think look and powers makes me have to say Jack O Lantern even if his stories sucked
Least fave: Dr. Mist … dude, smile!
Thanks again for a great show! This will be missed!
Shawn a.k.a. The Bushmaster.
I enjoyed the entire episode (the whole series actually), but this silly throwaway comment made me howl.
Thanks for all the great content gentlemen.
Still partway through, but this is a great episode! Way to finish strong. Some random thoughts: Best deep cut (lateral cut?) — the Tony Stark mention in issue #4. Best ENB villain? Tie between Underling/Overlord II and Kingslayer.
Excellent job showing respect to Seraph.
Also, the Global Guardians and the Elementals were terrific concepts, and I’m glad more was done with at least one of them. And I loved all the issues you listed, but I would add every Futurio issue. At the tender age of whatever I was, I found the idea of a super-evolved human sort of from the future fascinating. And extra points to the issue that taught me krypton was a real thing.
A few more things to say:
Brett, I always believed this podcast would die hard, and you made sure of it. The other answers were great, too, especially Paul’s epic.
Miller Analogies Test, F&W edition: Rob Kelly is to Jason Todd as Brett Young is to: a) the Little Mermaid.
The Earth-3 Crime Syndicate analog for Aquaman is Sea King! SEEAAA KIIIINNNGG!
Rob, all the guests — terrific finale. Rob, terrific podcast. Thank you very much for many hours of joy.
I never was able to convince Rob to do an ACME Novelty Library, and now I never will.
And thanks again for letting me on to talk about Seraph, and especially for inviting Henry.
Great final episode, Uncles Gentlemen. The opening and closing sound bytes bookended it nicely.
Uncle Chris, I found a large photo of the Wonder Woman chalkboard pose on Heritage Auctions, and I suspect that the Ross Andru silver age Wonder Woman #103 cover pose may had been retouched by Ernie Chua/Chan. This is going by my comparing how this artist depicted Wonder Woman on some 1970s Wonder Woman and JLA covers. Take a look for yourself and see what you think.
Hmmm., I htink Paul was right that it is definitely redrawn from the Andru/Esposito cover for Wonder Woman #103, which in turn was reintepreted from this Irv Novick/Bernard Sachs cover for WW #45! I know both of those covers well, as Cindy has Wonder Woman merchandise with them on it! But it never clicked with me as the inspiration for this.
At first I thought you had nailed it, and it probably was Chan, but on looking at the covers he provided for Wonder Woman and JLA, he never gave Diana the stylized “Super Friends” eagle that we see here. That was an invention of Toth for the TV series that didn’t make it into too many comics. A rare exception was Bob Oksner who drew it on the cover of WW #212, which began her “Twelve Labors” to rejoin the JLA. But otherwise, this art doesn’t look like Oksner at all.
Late 70s WW artists like Chan tended to have the eagle form to her chest, almost like a bikini or bra. Chan also gave her very curly hair. Not Perez curly, but curlier than most other artists.
I think Rob may be correct that a DC staffer, or an artist at a licensor redrew over the Andru/Esposito piece, and used the Toth SF designs as reference. Possibly it’s hiding in one of the 100 page WW spectaculars, redrawn to use that pose, but modernize it. I hope one day we find out for certain who redrew it!
Good points, Uncle Chris. I admit I was looking more at the face than the costume, which I agree was intended to follow the Super Friends design since that was the only Wonder Woman on TV for a few years until the Lynda Carter series debuted.