“Super Friends” comic guest stars: good, bad, and original

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:

The Atom

Green Arrow (one appearance, 1973 season)

Hawkman

Hawkman

Plastic Man (one appearance, 1973 season)

heroes who did not appear on show (not counting Global Guardians except Green Fury, who later became Fire):

Red Tornado

TNT and Dyna-Mite

(tied with Black Orchid for the most obscure guest star)

Swamp Thing

The Demon

Man-Bat (though a villain at the time)

Black Orchid 

(tied with TNT and Dyna-Mite for the most obscure guest star)

Supergirl

(inside: Weather Wizard, enemy of the Flash)

Green Fury

Green Fury

pre-existing villains who also appeared on show:

Toyman (enemy of Superman; note: different version of Toyman appeared on show)

Cheetah (enemy of Wonder Woman)

The Penguin (enemy of Batman)

The Penguin

The Riddler (enemy of Batman)

Mirror Master (enemy of the Flash)

Bizarro (enemy of Superman)

Solomon Grundy (enemy of multiple heroes)

Grodd (enemy of the Flash)

Scarecrow (enemy of Batman)

Toyman

Sinestro (enemy of Green Lantern)

pre-existing villains who did not appear on show:

Poison Ivy (enemy of Batman)

Human Flying Fish (enemy of Aquaman)

Grax (enemy of Superman)

Time Trapper (enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes)

Chronos (enemy of the Atom)

Queen Bee (enemy of the Justice League)

Hector Hammond (enemy of Green Lantern)

(inside: Kanjar Ro, enemy of the Justice League)

original villains (none of whom appeared on the show):

World Beater 

(also appeared in #45 and #46; see below)

Skyrocket

Greenback

Menagerie Man 

(also appeared in #33; see above)

Kingslayer 
(introduced in mainstream continuity in 

Superman [volume 3] #48, 2016)

Overlord 
(also appeared in #39 and #43)

(inside: Green Lantern, Mera, Aqualad, Nubia, Green Fury)

Warhead

Futurio (Overlord)

Green Thumb

Futurio-XX (Overlord)

The Conquerer

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

Meanwhile, at the (real) Hall of Justice…

I suspect I am the first person who has taken a photo like this:

The explanation will tickle some and scare others.

The first line of the opening theme of season one of Super Friends (1973) is "In the great Hall of the Justice League, there are assembled the world's four greatest heroes, created from the cosmic legends of the universe." 

This was tweaked slightly for the second incarnation (The All-New Super Friends Hour, 1977): "Gathered together from the cosmic reaches of the universe, here in this great Hall of Justice, are the most powerful forces of good ever assembled."

In both cases, the first name-drop is not any of the characters but rather their headquarters, created for the show. That great Hall of Justice was so great, it became a star in its own right. 

And it's based on a building in Cincinnati: what was originally called Union Terminal, a distinctive Art Deco train station built in 1933.

courtesy of Rain Noe/Core 77

Soon after, the dominance of rail service waned. Union Terminal was then repurposed multiple times (once as a mall and currently as a multi-purpose facility including museums, a library, and an IMAX theater). In between reinventions, it remained unoccupied. It evaded demolition at least once and is now protected with landmark status (granted only a few months before Super Friends debuted). 

You may think me batty (or not), but not only did I make a special trip from Dayton (where I spent a week for school visits) to Cincinnati (one hour one way) to see it, but before the Dayton schools brought me to Ohio, I even tried to book speaking engagements in Cincinnati (where I'd never been) so I could go to Union Terminal. 

I did so the warm weekend afternoon of 5/12/18. The site is under renovation so I did not get an unobstructed view. Therefore, unfortunately, my photos have fences and equipment in the background—but no people, because the place was deserted. It was surreal enough to be standing before the real-life Hall of Justice and even more so to be there alone. 

But then around 5:30 pm, people began dropping off kids with sleeping bags…turns out the Girl Scouts were holding a sleepover there that night. Gathered together from the city limits of Cincinnati…

Side note (literally): the building is adjacent to Kenner Street, which I found apropos in that Kenner was the toy company that produced Super Powers action figures. The line launched in 1984, a tie-in to the last two incarnations of the Super Friends cartoon.

I owned the first two waves of figures, and as you saw at the top, I still have them. I dug them out so I could bring the original five Super Friends for this geeky photo shoot. (I even remember the order of some of the purchases from when I was 12. The first figure I got was Joker. The next two were Green Lantern and Aquaman at the same time. I also remember other pairs I got at the same time—Superman and Flash one day, Hawkman and Penguin another.)

Another side note: Ohio is also home to the creation of Superman, but I'd already been to Cleveland.

Farewell, great Hall.

"Chupacabra" tweets (plus a pop culture reference)

The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra released on 3/7/17 with the goal of making people laugh, and I'm happy to report that several have. Here is proof:

Though I like Star Wars, I am also not a MEGA fan, and as such, this allusion...

...was unintentional.

However, there IS a pop culture reference in the book…in fact from the same decade…but it goes beyond a one-off phrase.

A hint: "activate."

An easier hint.