Toon Zone Talkback - "Superfriends": The Justice Chums

[Ed Liu]

This is the talkback thread for "Superfriends": The Justice Chums (http://www.toonzone.net/news/articles/34437/superfriends-the-justice-chums).

http://www.toonzone.net/news/images/2010-07/superfriendsS1V2/splash-superfriends.jpg
I must admit I came to many of the same conclusions as Maxie did when I covered Super Friends: The Lost Episodes (http://www.toonzone.net/news/articles/30873/super-friends-the-lost-episodes---we-all-did-love-them-once-not-without-cause) late last year. I walked in expecting to write a pan and walked out with a lot more respect for what they accomplished than I thought I would.

Not that I'm planning to BUY this set or anything...

[Silverstar]

Same here. I don't need to own Super Friends on DVD or anything, but when the show was airing on television, particularly when I was watching it on Boomerang as an adult, it was a fun show to MST.

I almost want to see these episodes again just to spot the observations Maxie made about how the adult heroes and Robin dealt with Marvin. :evil:

[hobbyfan]

Showing my age yet again here.

I remember seeing Super Friends when it debuted in 1973 as a 10 year old. I'd re-watch the eps, split into half-hours, and later restored to the original format once it came to CN/Boomerang. As Maxie points out, Wendy & Marvin were representative of the young viewers that were the target audience. Marv was the fanboy (as indicated with the homemade "costume" he wore. Wendy was the detective-type (because she was, as revealed in the comics, the niece of Harvey Harris, one of Bruce Wayne's mentors), a sort of Nancy Drew for the superhero set, if you will.

But if you look closer, they have some of the same characteristics as their successors, the Wonder Twins. Marvin, for example, wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed most of the time, and neither was Zan. It's just unfortunate that the scripts didn't allow enough depth of characterization.

Back to the '73 series. I happen to think "Gulliver's Gigantic Goof" is one of the best episodes of the series, largely because Gulliver (Casey Kasem doing a near-dead-on Peter Lorre mimic) was the very definition of the noble but misguided pseudo-villains the SF fought in the series.

[A.Magik]

And wasn't Marvin the son of Diana Prince, the star-crossed fiancee whom a newly-arrived Wonder Woman allowed to be with her beloved on the condition that she use her name for her Secret ID?

I have to say this...

I LOVE the opening credits. It is the best rendition of the Superfriends theme. I like how the cast is planted on top of the title, the introduction of each character with their title font, etc.

The Superfriends: Legendary Super Powers Show OP comes second. Galactic Guardians OP comes third, Challenge of the Superfriends OP comes fourth.

[Maxie Zeus]

And wasn't Marvin the son of Diana Prince, the star-crossed fiancee whom a newly-arrived Wonder Woman allowed to be with her beloved on the condition that she use her name for her Secret ID?

... Really? Citation, please? Because that would be awesome! It never occurred to me that SF would actually have backstory.


I have to say this...

I LOVE the opening credits. It is the best rendition of the Superfriends theme. I like how the cast is planted on top of the title, the introduction of each character with their title font, etc.

It is a great opening and a great theme. They even manage to make Aquaman look cool, and how easy is it to do that?

[Mister Intensity]

... Really? Citation, please? Because that would be awesome! It never occurred to me that SF would actually have backstory.



It is a great opening and a great theme. They even manage to make Aquaman look cool, and how easy is it to do that?

E. Nelson Bridwell provided Wendy and Marvin's backstory in the Super Friends comic book which started in 1976. He was the first fanboy turned professional to work at National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). He served as Story Consultant during the first season of Super Friends. His forte was explaining continuity in order to make sure everything was consistent. Because the show provided very little background for anything he provided it in the comic book like the location of the Hall of Justice in Gotham City (presumably to make it easy for Batman to drive to meetings). He also strived to make the comic book consistent with Earth One continuity. He probably made sure the show was somewhat consistent with the comics of the time like Clark Kent working for WGBS (although technically speaking Wonder Woman was not a member of the Justice League at the time show started in 1973).

However, when show went back into production as The All-New Super Friends Hour in 1977 Bridwell no longer served as Story Consultant and any consistency with the comic books went out of the window and the show went in its own direction like placing the Hall of Justice in Metropolis and the Super Friends easily traveling across space, making the TV show out of continuity with the comic book.

As for Aquaman, he was actually portrayed as a useful and respected member of the team during the first two seasons. It wasn't until the Challenge of the Superfriends season in 1978 when Aquaman became a water logged hero who was mostly useless. The change in voice actors was not the change Aquaman had in 1978. In Super Friends and The All-New Super Friends Hour, Aquaman was portrayed as an ocean expert that the other members deferred to in water related matters and he often displayed his considerable superstrength, something rarely seen in subsequent seasons. From Challenge on, Aquaman's only use was to summon fish.

[Maxie Zeus]

Very interesting. Thanks!

Funny, innit, that "summon fish" seems weak, when the intro does such a good job of making it look very cool and powerful.

[hobbyfan]

And wasn't Marvin the son of Diana Prince, the star-crossed fiancee whom a newly-arrived Wonder Woman allowed to be with her beloved on the condition that she use her name for her Secret ID?

No. Marvin was supposed to be the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White.

In recent comics, Wendy & Marvin were rebooted as the offspring of a villain, the Calculator.

[Maxie Zeus]

No. Marvin was supposed to be the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White.

Well, that explains it all right there. So Perry somehow bullied Superman into letting Marvin and his homemade cape hang out at the Hall of Justice ...

[Kenny E. McCall]

No. Marvin was supposed to be the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White.

In recent comics, Wendy & Marvin were rebooted as the offspring of a villain, the Calculator.

What the?!? Hobbyfan, Marvin White and Wendy Harris sounds right by me. Me like it that way. Besides, Wendy and Marvin being the son and daughter of Noah Kuttler, the Calculator, just wouldn't feel right.

That is, unless Wendy and Marvin were secretly working for the Birds of Prey against their father.

[A.Magik]

No. Marvin was supposed to be the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White.

In recent comics, Wendy & Marvin were rebooted as the offspring of a villain, the Calculator.

This is what E. Nelson Bridwell said in the first issue of Super Friends:
"Marvin, I decided, is Marvin White — no relation to Perry White. His father is Daniel White, inventor, and his mother is the former Diana Prince."

[hobbyfan]

What the?!? Hobbyfan, Marvin White and Wendy Harris sounds right by me. Me like it that way. Besides, Wendy and Marvin being the son and daughter of Noah Kuttler, the Calculator, just wouldn't feel right.

That is, unless Wendy and Marvin were secretly working for the Birds of Prey against their father.

Don't we wish. Blame Geoff Johns, who reintroduced Wendy & Marv to the DCU in Teen Titans. OBTW, Marvin was killed off about a year and a half ago, and Wendy is now a paraplegic in the core DCU.

Of course, you know, we have better ideas........! ;) :D

And, A. Majik, thanks for settin' the record straight. I never had a copy of Super Friends 1, so I couldn't commit that info to memory.

[Tobias]

Don't we wish. Blame Geoff Johns, who reintroduced Wendy & Marv to the DCU in Teen Titans. OBTW, Marvin was killed off about a year and a half ago, and Wendy is now a paraplegic in the core DCU.
.

I was never a huge fane of Wendy and Marvin, but that panel of Marvin having his throat ripped out by Wonder Dog was what turned me off of Teen Titans. I haven't been back to the book since.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Yeah, that was really one of the most outrageously bad comics to be published in the last 10 years. I hear that for a topper they're going to do a fumetti that's just pictures of Dan DiDio kicking puppies and kittens.

[launchpad20]

Interesting how DC actually tried to incorporate Marvin & Wendy into the comics. It's just too bad their ideas were mixed at best. I could probably see Marvin working with Lois, and Jimmy at the Daily Planet, or Wendy helping Batman out from time to time. The recent idea sounds kinda messed up to me. While I've not seen the first season as much, I'm surprised to learn how useful Aquaman was compared to the later shows.