Rob and Super Friend Henry Bernstein review “The Creature That Slept A Million Years” and “The Boss and the Beast” by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ramona Fradon, and Vince Colletta from SUPER FRIENDS #34! Plus another installment of For All Merchkind and Listener Feedback!
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Hello Super Fans, Rob, and Henry.
Over the course of this podcast, we’ve had a few guests who admitted to having no exposure to this comic series, and (as a Wonder Twins fan) I had a gut feeling that one episode would have a guest who hated Zan & Jayna. Today was that day! LOL Luckily, years of Wonder Twins ridicule has toughened my skin, and I take the fact that Henry said that he liked their 2019 maxi-series as a win.
Before getting into the story, Henry had said he’d want to get an omnibus of this series, and you had mentioned the TPBs that had a few episodes. There is a two hardcover book collection out that has all 47 issues, as well as pages from “Super Friends – Limited Collectors Edition” and a story called “Aquateers Meet The Super Friends”. You can find them here.
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Friends-Saturday-Morning-Comics/dp/1401295428
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Friends-Saturday-Morning-Comics/dp/1779505922
Regarding the lead story, I completely agree with you regarding the feel-good aspect of it that kids can get, but how dark it becomes as an adult regarding Superman’s zoo. Those cages he has the animals in don’t look very roomy or comfortable. As for the cage for the cage with mirrors, as a kid I thought it was a smart solution. Now, I look and think: “So you’re gonna take an alien creature who is smart enough to find where you are and teleport to you, and put it in a cage and think it will be fooled into thinking its reflections are other creatures.”
As for the Wonder Twins tale, I felt this story was similar to the layout of a cartoon solo tale, but instead of helping a fellow teenager, the twins end up rescuing an adult who has managed to get himself into a bad situation.
See you next month!
Chuck
Hello Super Fans, Rob, and Henry.
Over the course of this podcast, we’ve had a few guests who admitted to having no exposure to this comic series, and (as a Wonder Twins fan) I had a gut feeling that one episode would have a guest who hated Zan & Jayna. Today was that day! LOL Luckily, years of Wonder Twins ridicule has toughened my skin, and I take the fact that Henry said that he liked their 2019 maxi-series as a win.
Before getting into the story, Henry had said he’d want to get an omnibus of this series, and you had mentioned the TPBs that had a few episodes. There is a two hardcover book collection out that has all 47 issues, as well as pages from “Super Friends – Limited Collectors Edition” and a story called “Aquateers Meet The Super Friends”. You can find both volumes on Amazon, I’m not sure if any comic stores would have them in stock.
Regarding the lead story, I completely agree with you regarding the feel-good aspect of it that kids can get, but how dark it becomes as an adult regarding Superman’s zoo. Those cages he has the animals in don’t look very roomy or comfortable. As for the cage for the cage with mirrors, as a kid I thought it was a smart solution. Now, I look and think: “So you’re gonna take an alien creature who is smart enough to find where you are and teleport to you, and put it in a cage and think it will be fooled into thinking its reflections are other creatures.”
As for the Wonder Twins tale, I felt this story was similar to the layout of a cartoon solo tale, but instead of helping a fellow teenager, the twins end up rescuing an adult who has managed to get himself into a bad situation.
See you next month!
Chuck
Rob, this is probably my least favorite issue of SUPER FRIENDS, mostly for all the points you and Henry discussed. There was very little “characterization” of the animal, and the “action” was, for lack of a better term, “pedestrian.” Basically, it was dull and the art was not great (thanks, Vinnie!). And I totally agree with Henry about the lack of interest in the Wonder Twin back-up. Ho-hum.
Speaking of Vince Colletta, he worked predominantly at Marvel during the late 80s. Maybe he WAS part of the Marvel House Look at that time?
you know that poor creature has the same Basic origin as Doomsday?
Rob, that is a mind-blowing point.
OH captain you hit my favrote mid 1990s jumping off point for failed pitches. The reason i SAY basic is cuz Doomsday orgin gets revamped in Hunter prey
Superman pushes Doomsday off the edge of the universe!
1. WAIT the universe has an edge!?
2 Superman knows where it is?!
3 that’s philosophically STAGGERING!
4. Doomsday (the creature who can adapt to anything) has seen the outside of the universe.
5 They did’nt DO anything with this!
now well might you ask “ok so what would you do? Glad you asked having seen the Freaking universe from the outside. He’s seen how EVERTHING IS CONNECTED AND having “Adapted to moving though space/time. I figure he can get anywhere frorm anywhere and still hates Superman.
Dc did not LIKE THIS(GRIN)
I’m wondering if you’ve seen the Teen Titans Go episode with the Wonder Twins where Jayna is hired to replace Beast Boy, and, since they’re a team, Zan was also hired, but only to answer the incoming phone calls.
Henry, I was halfway through the episode about Captain America’s Jewish friends when this dropped. (Look, I had to stop in the middle and listen to For All Mankind. Rob was gonna read one of my comments!). Anyway, I’m really enjoying it, or maybe getting a lot out of it is a better way to put it. I’ll probably have comments, because these comics were important to my Southern Gentile childhood, and hearing about them from your perspective is bringing up a lot of the same issues and answering some questions. I loved your episodes on Kitty Pryde and the Thing, also.
To both of you, great episode despite the less-than-Earth-shattering material. I like to see the Super Friends caring about an animal, and I appreciate a smaller story that shows smaller stakes matter, too. The Zoo in the Fortress has always been problematic, but in my head canon, they’re roaming virtual reality tesseract environments that are just like home. And Rob and Henry, I want you to know that I’ve met some of the folks in charge of my local zoo. They take conservation and education and enrichment of the residents’ environments and lives very seriously. Of course, we also have the aquariums for when Rob visits, and beaches that might suit both of you.
And Henry, good job obeying the ninth commandment, even though the truth hurts sometimes. Looking forward to hearing more of you both (and Brandon, too!) very soon.
Another great episode about another issue I have never read!
Best moment of the show? “I liked this comic because it didn’t depress me!” Perhaps the most pithy commentary on current comics I have ever heard! That should be a pull quote!
I never minded Superman’s zoo because in my head it was all creatures doomed to die on some dying planet or a creature doomed to extinction otherwise. It seemed noble in a way.
And I don’t know if Henry has covered this on his show but Reuben Flagg (of American Flagg) is Jewish … as are most of Chaykin’s protagonists. You could munch on his work for decades.
Hello Henry – welcome to the show.
As most have said, I do think that this is one of my least favorite issues of the Super Friends for all of the reasons mentioned above,
but also because the resolution is exactly like ‘The Mindless Immortal’ which they even point out IN THE STORY!
I LOVE the design of the creature but wish it wasn’t colored all yellow.
I think some color variations would have helped – especially on the cover.
I think it would have been cool if in a future appearance we would have had one of the Super Friends mentally reach out to the creature and call it to them to have them break out of some sort of trap with its shock wave!
E.N.B. loved call backs, so I could imagine that happening – I bet it was planned for issue #48!
Let me get this straight. Aquaman is participating in a boat race, which encourages people to get out and enjoy the outdoors, which, in turn, can lead those people to take an interest in protecting and conserving nature.
On the other hand, Superman is helping to build a dam, which is destroying natural habitat, displacing terrestrial animals, and cutting off fish from their spawning grounds. All to feed our insatiable hunger for electricity.
I’m sorry, but Aquaman is the true Super Friend (of the environment) in this issue.
Thanks for another excellent episode.
Hear, hear! (About Aquaman….)
Yep, Superman really does not come off very good in this issue, despite being the ‘best’ friend, or at least the one who did the most. I agree with you guys about the way he treated that poor donkey-headed alien creature and just the fact that he has a bunch of alien wildlife in little boxes in the fortress; pretty awful. I like to think that – at the very least – Supergirl pays surreptitious visits to the fortress and lets all of the animals out of their pens and plays with them…
Otherwise, it’s interesting – and also a little sad, I guess – to know that Henry has just learned about Bernie Rosenthal; sad because in my personal head canon she is the one & only for Steve and should have become his permanent love interest and just as established as Lois Lane. But anyway: yes, that era of Captain America is indeed great…
You know, sometimes you just have to ignore the idealogical differences you have with your friends, to keep the peace. But now that Rob is trying to influence young Henry, I have to speak up. The Wonder Twins (and Gleek) make WAY MORE sense as Super Friends trainees than the powerless Wendy and Marvin (and Wonder Dog). I will give you that comic Marvin isn’t nearly as annoying as animated Marvin, but either way, those kids had no hope of every becoming super heroes. They don’t even have motivations and a gimmick like Batman and Robin! The Wonder Twins already ARE super heroes! They just need guidance and…ya know…training!
Ahem, now onto the story. I had this issue as a kid, and I felt bad for the little critter then. I see both Rob and Henry’s point about zoos, but I also think zoos that give the animals plenty of environment to live in are important to teach kids (and adults) to care about animals. Seeing them up close and in person creates a connection that viewing them on a screen never will. Now Superman’s zoo in many of the comics seems to slide toward the “cruel” side nowadays, but in the DCAU, it was spacious, and he had a good reason to have it, as an alien was gathering up the last examples of extinct species (including Lobo!) and once Superman defeated him, he had no where else to take these creatures. Of course, one of those creatures was Starro…and that didn’t end well for Superman in Batman Beyond’s time. But we’ll be talking about that on JLUCast soon (plug)!
It was nice to hear Henry on the show, even if he was wrongly influenced by Old Man Rob. We owe the younger generation better, Kelly! 😉
(Why do I get the feeling Henry just replaced me as merch co-host…)
Count me in as another who didn’t find this the most sparkling issue. Why even give the WTs a back-up when there are so few pages available? I’d far rather have a full-length adventure with Zan and Jayna in there somewhere… I don’t remember readers pleading for the kids to have a spotlight.
Anyway, welcome Henry, what a lovely warm voice. It’s always fun to hear from someone brand new to the comic.
Regarding the occasional debare about the canon-or-not nature of the Super Friends, if the later use of the Global Guardians in DCCP and JLI isnt enough, take not of the covers of Justice League of America #110-116. They all saw the regular World’s Greatest Super-Heroes blurb replaced with ‘Here come TV’s Super-Friends’. Case closed!
Regarding Vince Colletta and Mike Grell, this has probably come up on the show, but if not, it seems Mike Grell became so peed off with Colletta being kept on the book that he too revenge. Brian Cronin has the details here:
https://www.cbr.com/mike-grell-walord-vince-colletta-gambler-insult/
I agree, the Steve Rogers/Bernie Rosenthal romance was great. That was such a terrific Captain America run, with Arnie Roth being my own special character.
Now, I know there’s not long to go with the show, Rob, but if you are indeed taking bids for empty slots, ping me in! *
* Shy bairns get Nate sweeties!
Stupid ‘autocorrect’. That’s ‘Shy bairns get nae sweeties’!
Great work by Rob and Henry. This issue is definitely one of the worst, but this For All Mankind podcast episode has been one of the best. You guys were dead on with Superman’s zoo. It definitely needs some oversight. Supes, don’t brag about having a four-winged alien bird when it’s kept in a 4 x 4 glass box, you monster.
Aquaman playing lifeguard for a boat race is a bit demeaning. Are we going to see Batman as a greeter at the Bellagio next?
The Donnie and Marie backup was not great. Sure, we all enjoy an adventure about a hippo solving crimes, but c’mon. Also, after Mrs. Paris’s husband was willing to take a gig with a known gangster, then lied to his wife about why he didn’t end up taking the job, maybe Bruce Wayne should’ve done a background check before welcoming him aboard Wayne Enterprises.
Finally, good job by Superman handling the… spaceship that was vibrating near the Justice League satellite. The ribbed edges of the spaceship definitely provided for a more pleasurable penetration of Earth’s atmosphere. We wouldn’t want the thrust of the spaceship to cause a premature explosion. Thankfully, it looks like this got wrapped up successfully and everyone was satisfied. Thank you. I’ll show myself out.