Super Friends was a Saturday morning fixture for more than a decade, with new seasons every fall from 1973 to 1985 except 1974-76 and 1982; new episodes were produced in 1983 but didn’t air till later.
I had a front-row seat almost the entire time.
A comic book based on the series was published from 1976 to 1981, 47 issues in all. I began collecting with #19 in 1979, then tracked down many of the 18 back issues, and ultimately got a subscription—the first and only time I subscribed to a comic book.
The comic was interesting to me for a number of reasons:
- it sometimes included guest heroes who never appeared on the animated series—and were not even popular characters in mainstream DC comics
- it sometimes included villains who never appeared on the animated series
- it sometimes featured villains created for the comic who never appeared on the animated series or in other DC comics, though at least one did later cross over into “regular” continuity
- it introduced the Global Guardians, who also joined continuity
Statistics (covers only)
heroes who also appeared on show:
Hawkman
heroes who did not appear on show (not counting Global Guardians except Green Fury, who later became Fire):
(tied with Black Orchid for the most obscure guest star)
The Demon
Man-Bat (though a villain at the time)
(tied with TNT and Dyna-Mite for the most obscure guest star)
(inside: Weather Wizard, enemy of the Flash)
pre-existing villains who also appeared on show:
Cheetah (enemy of Wonder Woman)
The Penguin (enemy of Batman)
Solomon Grundy (enemy of multiple heroes)
pre-existing villains who did not appear on show:
Human Flying Fish (enemy of Aquaman)
Hector Hammond (enemy of Green Lantern)
(inside: Kanjar Ro, enemy of the Justice League)
original villains (none of whom appeared on the show):
(also appeared in #45 and #46; see below)
(also appeared in #33; see above)
(introduced in mainstream continuity in
Superman [volume 3] #48, 2016)
(also appeared in #39 and #43)
(inside: Green Lantern, Mera, Aqualad, Nubia, Green Fury)
This leaves 17 covers that fell into none of these categories.
Quick lists
heroes who also appeared on show:
The Atom
Green Arrow
Hawkman
Plastic Man
heroes who did not appear on show:
Red Tornado
TNT and Dyna-Mite
Swamp Thing
The Demon
Man-Bat
Black Orchid
Supergirl
Green Fury
pre-existing villains who also appeared on show:
Toyman *
Cheetah *
The Penguin
The Riddler *
Mirror Master
Bizarro *
Solomon Grundy *
Grodd *
Scarecrow *
Sinestro *
* members of Legion of Doom
pre-existing villains who did not appear on show:
Poison Ivy
Human Flying Fish
Grax
Time Trapper
Chronos
Queen Bee
Hector Hammond
original villains:
World Beater
Skyrocket
Greenback
Menagerie Man
Kingslayer
Overlord
Warhead
Futurio (Overlord)
Green Thumb
Futurio-XX (Overlord)
The Conquerer
6 comments:
Marc:
The Toyman used in the book DID NOT appear during the Challenge season. This was the original Toyman, Winslow Schott. The other Toyman, Jack Nimball, was on Challenge, and, from what I understand, was killed by Schott in the books around the time he was on TV!
BTW, I just copped the 2nd hardcover collection of the series to complete the set. having scored volume 1 earlier this year. Total bliss.
Yes, hobbyfan, thanks. I will amend!
I need to correct you on one point. Plastic Man absolutely did appear in one episode of the Super Friends. He extracted a mouse out of a computer.
Jeffrey Grant - thanks! I don't know why I goofed on Plastic Man when I didn't on Green Arrow (since both made only one appearance and in the same season). I will fix that and leave your comment here.
I’ve been reading your blog for years. Big fan!
Big thanks, Jeffrey!
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