SUPER FRIENDS: THE LOST EPISODES - DVD review

"Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice…"

I've been a comic book superhero fan nearly all my life. I didn't start collecting comic books until I was twelve, but even before then I religiously watched any movies or cartoons starring superheroes. I started off as a Marvel fan thanks to Spider-Man and the X-Men though I'm more of a DC guy nowadays. As an ardent reader of DC Comics, I was in fanboy heaven watching all my favorite characters together on "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited." Long before producer Bruce Timm came long, DC and Hanna-Barbera teamed up to bring DC's iconic stable of superheroes to animated life with "Super Friends."

The show has had a long and complicated life as the series has been broadcast and reincarnated under several different iterations. It can be a difficult task to keep up with each version and the numerous DVD releases. "Super Friends" originally debuted on ABC in 1973 and was the product of a time overly concerned with political correctness and family friendly fare. In its initial run, "Super Friends" featured Superman, Batman, Robin (voiced by the great Casey Kasem), Wonder Woman (with the most perfect bouffant ever), and Aquaman along with Wendy & Marvin, a pair of teenaged sidekicks specifically created for the show. Wendy and Marvin were accompanied by their pet, Wonder Dog, and none of them had any super powers to speak of. Each episode was a mind-numbing hour long affair where our heroes essentially discussed philosophical differences with misunderstood antagonists rather than slugging it out with supervillains. Saccharinely sweet themes such as environmentalism were drummed into the heads of the young audience. Occasional guest-stars such as Plastic Man and Green Arrow were the show's only highlight for me.

The series was retooled as "The All-New Superfriends Hour" which consisted of several shorter stories featuring a different line-up of heroes in each segment. Wendy and Marvin were dropped in favor of the Wonder Twins, a pair of teens from the planet Exxor, and a blue monkey named Gleek. Bumping their fists together and shouting, "Wonder Twin powers activate," the siblings could shapeshift. The sister, Jayna, could transform into any animal while her brother, the slightly useless Zan, could change into any object so long as it was made from water or ice. Don't ask me how a bucket of water or a frozen hockey stick will help you against the Joker, but c'est la vie.

It wasn't until 1978 when the cartoon was relaunched as "Challenge of the Super Friends" that things really kicked into high gear. The Justice League roster was bolstered with the addition of Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the Flash. To bring ethnic diversity to the line-up, Hanna-Barbera created several minority superheroes such as Apache Chief ("Inuck-Chuk!"), the wind powered Samurai, and the electrically empowered Black Vulcan. I think it's easy to guess their nationalities by those names. Black Vulcan himself has been the topic of much discussion amongst comic fans who wonder why the studio didn't simply use the already established (and similar) Black Lightning. Rumors abound that bad blood between DC and Lightning's creator, Tony Isabella, led to the character's exclusion so Isabella couldn't receive any royalties.

This time around, the Super Friends weren't sitting around in the Hall of Justice singing, "Kumbaya." Gathered together were a collection of DC's most notorious villains. Led by Lex Luthor and known as the Legion of Doom, the roster included Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Toyman, the Riddler, Giganta, Solomon Grundy, and Bizarro, Sinestro, Scarecrow, and the Black Manta. This version of "Super Friends" is definitely the most iconic and beloved incarnation. The stories were exceptionally cheesy and illogical, but that was always part of the charm.

I never understood why the Super Friends stood around bemoaning the fact that the Legion of Doom escaped from their grasps. Did it ever occur to them to chase after the bad guys? Surely, the Flash (Fastest Man Alive), could scour the globe in a matter of seconds and round them up? I mean, it isn't as if the Legion of Doom's hideout was incredibly inconspicuous. Their headquarters was a giant Darth Vader helmet in the middle of a swamp! And poor, poor Superman. Everything in the world was made out of Kryptonite. I also think the disrespect shown to Aquaman had its start with "Super Friends." Yes, the guy talks to fish. That also includes sharks, dolphins, and giant squids. The dude could drop a killer whale on top of you if he wanted. Not to mention he's the king of the seas. Considering water comprises of three quarters of the world, that's a considerable kingdom.

The series was once again revamped when Kenner produced the DC action figure line, Super Powers. To capitalize on the toyline, the show was renamed, "Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show." Firestorm was added to the group and formed an unofficial B-team with Robin and the Wonder Twins. Darkseid and many of Jack Kirby's Fourth World characters became the main villains.

Before that, the network changed the format to "Super Friends" yet again from half hour episodes to quickie seven minute shorts. This particular run only lasted from 1980 to 1982. Though the show was cancelled for a brief period of time, Hanna-Barbera continued to produce shorts for broadcast in international markets. These episodes have been dubbed the "Lost Episodes" and are what comprise this 2-disc DVD set.

The episodes included are:

-Disc 1-
"Mxyzptlik's Revenge"
"Roller Coaster"
"Once Upon a Poltergeist"
"The Krypton Syndrome"
"Invasion of the Space Dolls"
"Terror on the Titanic"
"The Revenge of Doom"
"A Pint of Life"
"Day of the Dinosaurs"
"Playground of Doom"
"Space Racers"
"The Recruiter"

-Disc 2-
"Warpland"
"Two Gleeks Are Deadlier Than One"
"Bulgor the Behemoth"
"Prisoners of Sleep"
"An Unexpected Treasure"
"The Malusian Blob"
"Return of the Phantoms"
"Bully For You"
"Superclones"
"Attack of the Cats"
"One Small Step for Superman"
"Video Victims"

The Wonder Twins still played a prominent role in the series while some League members like Hawkman and Green Lantern were rarely utilized. The Atom popped up in a couple episodes and Hanna-Barbera introduced yet another minority superhero in the Hispanic El Dorado. While their efforts to diversify the show were admirable, the results left much to be desired. El Dorado may have had a variety of super powers, but speaking perfect English was not one of them. I cringed whenever he called somebody ‘amigo.'

The Legion of Doom only makes one appearance on the "Lost Episodes." In "Revenge of Doom," the Legion salvages the Hall of Doom to attack Metropolis. That pretty much does it for them aside from another appearance in which Grodd and Giganta attempt to destroy the Super Friends with an evil robot Gleek. Bizarro pops up in "Video Victims" and traps Superman, Wonder Woman, and Samurai inside an arcade game. Aside from these episodes and an appearance by Mr. Mxyzptlik, the Super Friends mostly battle aliens or science experiments gone wrong rather than classic villains. Meanwhile (he said in a booming narrator voice), the Wonder Twins taught kids valuable life lessons like not playing on abandoned roller coasters or joy riding with hotrods in outer space.

The "Lost Episodes" aren't as strong as the other shows due to the short length. A lot of the stories are even goofier because of the brief time given to resolve the plot. In "The Krypton Syndrome," Superman accidentally travels through space and time to a point shortly before the destruction of Krypton. The Man of Steel manages to save his home planet only to alter time, creating a world where Superman never existed and the Legion of Doom conquered Earth. Supes proceeds to travel back through time and (in a moment of pure Superdickery) casually destroys Krypton in order to ensure his own existence. Who has time for pathos or emotional turmoil?

VIDEO:
The video is presented in fullscreen and the picture quality leaves much to be desired. There's quite a bit of grain and a lot of little specks sprinkled throughout every episode. The colors run on the dark side (not the villain) from time to time.

AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Mono with both English and Portuguese.

EXTRAS:
Place the second disc in your DVD-ROM to read a pair of issues from the Super Friends comic books in PDF form.

This is pretty disappointing as some of the other "Super Friends" sets have some cool extras such as commentary tracks with comic book writers Geoff Johns and Mark Waid.

FILM VALUE:
In my opinion, "Justice League Unlimited" is the best superhero animated series ever and one of the best depictions of superheroes, animated or live-action. "Super Friends" isn't nearly as sophisticated nor is the animation, but it's really hard not to enjoy the show. It has had such an amazing impact on pop culture that's still felt today. The current producers of DC's animation definitely owe a debt of gratitude to the series. "Family Guy" and "Robot Chicken" constantly reference the show. Even tough guy professional wrestlers, the Road Warriors, were fans as Animal admitted to borrowing the nickname, "The Legion of Doom," from "Super Friends." Mattel caused a ruckus amongst toy collectors when they announced a Wonder Twins action figure set with the caveat that Gleek would only be available at Comic-Con. Just take a look at the prices that damned little monkey goes for on eBay.

"Super Friends: The Lost Episodes" will probably be a must-have for fans looking to own a complete run of "Super Friends." For more casual fans, this DVD set isn't as strong as the other releases. The episodes are just too short and the lack of extras is a disappointment.