Tooned In: Superfriends – The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984)

(You know you got guys who want to be more comic accurate when the title shows nobody flying who’s not supposed to fly…)

Anyone who follows me close enough knows I am obsessed with MeTV Toons. So this is a test column focused on that. Anyway, with its variety of classic, 90s-and-back (with a sprinkle of 2000 and up), it’s really hard not to like. For those of you who missed the “original” Cartoon Network, or if it was…before your time…there I am admitting I’m OLD…MeTVT is pretty much what it used to be. Most of its content too comes from Warner Discovery owned properties, so you get the likes of Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, various Yogi Bear series, Tom and Jerry…their usual heavy hitters. There’s also other studios’ characters such as Mister Magoo, Popeye, the Harveytoons stable (Casper, Herman and Katnip, and….sigh…Baby Huey…), the Walter Lantz group headed by Woody Woodpecker, Rocky and Bullwinkle, even some old-time anime like Speed Racer and Supermarionation shows in the wee hours.

And this past October, they introduced the Superfriends to the lineup at last.

I take it most of us are familiar with Superfriends. Hanna-Barbera’s Saturday morning, somewhat pacifistic, version of DC’s Justice League. It began in 1973 as pretty much another “teenagers and their wacky mascot(s) solve mysteries” show ala Scooby-Doo, with Super Heroes In Training (and some people would say they were in fact S.H.I.T.’s) Wendy and Marvin, who not only had a Scooby wannabe in Wonder Dog, but the entire JLA to help them…you guessed it…solve mysteries. To be fair, W&M DO have better backstories in the Super Friends comic adaptions. After one season, and after reruns got popular, H-B brought the show back as The All-New Super Friends Hour. The show was broken up into four adventures, which stopped the show from dragging in places, and Wendy and Marvin were replaced by the Wonder Twins, another group of teenagers who cause more trouble than they mean, but hey at least Zan and Jayna have super powers. Shit got real next season, though, with Challenge of the Superfriends, which introduced the Legion of Doom, a team of DC super villains who were a far cry from the misunderstood aliens and scientists the series began with.

The show continued for numerous seasons on ABC, and older episodes were syndicated in the early 80s, and then Kenner decided to take advantage of the DC Universe’s staying power with its Super Powers action figure collection. And along with that, Superfriends decided to update themselves to form a synchronicity with the toy line. And so in 1984, the show as amended to be called The Legendary Super Powers Show (key words: SUPER POWERS. Collect them all!) Episodes of this version began on 12/10/2024 on MeTV Toons.

But the show was a lot more than just an action figure tie-in. After 11 years on and off the air, the Superfriends took steps into sophisticating itself and adding lots of fan service. Olan Soule, the voice of Batman, stepped down after working as the character since the Filmation Batman series in 1968 (which is a solid show and a good spiritual Season 4 to the live action series). In his place? Someone who was quite familiar with the Caped Crusader…ADAM WEST. To younger me this was a welcome change, not only because it was Adam West, but I prefer my Batman to have a deeper voice. I’ve come to appreciate Soule too, but SF Batman was a bit “nerdy” sounding? I used to joke he was “Mister Rogers as Batman”.

The Legion of Doom had since been disbanded apparently, but most episodes still feature actual comic villains. Lex Luthor is still there, with his new green power suit (Kenner: “Super Powers’ Lex figure has said suit…just saying…”) Brainiac returns in his new exoskeleton design (Kenner: “…also seen in our Brainiac toy…”), and we see others such as Mr. Mxyzptlk and Mirror Master. But the big addition to the Superfriends’ rogues? DARKSEID. Yes, the Kirby Third World villains from Apokolips became the new main heavies of most of this season, and you see Darkseid, Kalibak, and DeSaad in most episodes. Although a lot of the show still had what you remember Superfriends for, this addition made it feel more serious and grounded.

But the side of good was not without changes. Superman, Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman were still there. We see none of Aquaman or Flash in this season, and being one of the original five, no Arthur was a strange omission. The Wonder Twins are still around but are being phased out. You do see a lot of the “Multicultural Pals” (TM Williams Street)…Apache Chief, El Dorado, Samurai, and Supervolt….oops, Black Vulcan get a lot to do (…in their pants). But the big news is the addition of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man. Created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom in 1978, Firestorm was a combination of two civilian identities: teenager Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein. They could fuse together as the hero, with Ronnie in physical control while the Professor spoke in his head offering advice and support. His main powers included flight, intangibility, and most notably the power to transmute inanimate objects into whatever he thinks of. I will say that I never forgot Firestorm from the show, and remembering it led me to seek out his comics by the end of high school and through college. He remains a favorite DC character, puffy sleeves and all.

So on 12/11/24, MeTV Toons, which usually has an hour block of Superfriends episodes every afternoon, and two hours Saturdays, started with the first two LSPS episodes: “The Bride of Darkseid” and “The Wrath of Brainiac/Reflections in Crime” What did I think? Well…

(Damn right they have.)

The Bride of Darkseid : Black Vulcan, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all aided by new superhero Firestorm. The Superfriends quickly decide to learn more about him and recruit him. Meanwhile, Darkseid and his henchmen arrive on Earth to inact their evil schemes.

• MeTV nitpick: they cut the cold open previews (scenes from SF episodes with Superman or Wonder Woman telling you to stay tuned). They also did this on The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries.
• So remember that fan service I talked about? We get a little in the first act when we see the Daily Planet, complete with Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The Planet logo is falling from the building, and Clark pretends to chicken out and need to make a phone call. When Firestorm beats Superman to the rescue, Clark returns and bemoans, “I must have forgot my change!” Both Kent and Lane appeared before, but the VA for Lois appears to be even more Margot Kidder-like this season.
• Wonder Woman is back, but sounds a bit different. That’s because Shannon Farnon fell victim to what Mae Questel apparently did with H-B Popeye: she had to audition for the new season, for a character she did for years. Only to be replaced, here by Connie Cawfield. But…I actually get it. As you’ll see, this Wonder Woman has to act a bit more vulnerable, especially when it comes to Darkseid. It was hard to imagine Farnon reciting some of the stuff she does here. Plus, we will later see Diana Prince for the first (official) time. Cawfield does the high/low contrasting voice Bud Collyer did for Superman…I guess casting wanted someone who could do that easily?
• It could be NEWZ or an actual rumor…but just as Adam West became Batman, they may have wanted Lynda Carter to do Wonder Woman? Anyway, Cawfield turns up the invoking Greek gods to eleven. Whereas Farnon usually stuck with “Great Hera!”, she adds “Merciful Minerva!” and yes, even “Suffering Sappho!” makes its Superfriends debut.
• Oh god, Darkseid and Wonder Woman. H-B set the lord of Apokolips’ goals a little lower. Perhaps fearing the Anti-Life Equation might be too cerebral for us little ones, Darkseid has a new goal: to romance a certain Amazing Amazon. No really, take a drink every time he says “I’ll SO-AND-SO….if….Wonder Woman will become my bride!” Heck, it says it right on the label of this episode. And using DeSaad’s mind control device, he almost succeeds, and Wondie leads the rest into a Vince Russo SWERVE, BRO trap. It takes Firestorm remembering he’s two minds in one to have the strength to break free and rescue the other heroes. Batman then uses Wonder Woman’s magic lasso and commands her to break the spell (this was also used in an earlier season, though Superman more obviously says it’s because of the lasso’s truth compelling powers, so Diana couldn’t lie about whether she was really his friend or enemy…)

• So Firestorm. They give him a toned down origin (instead of being caught in an explosion at a nuclear power plant protest, he’s just in Professor Stein’s lab when one of his experiments exploded). But I will say the writers did a great job translating the character, he is really true to the comics, for a SatAM audience of course. Ronnie and Professor interaction included, as Martin (voiced by Olan Soule, and yes, later in the season Stein and Batman get to share a scene) has to remind Firestorm that his more-innocent-than-Darkseid crush on Wonder Woman may not be returned, as he is too young for her. In a tighter situation, Stein reminds him that the two of them have enough brain power to conquer Darkseid’s brainwashing.
• I will go as far to say two more things about Firestorm: first, he is probably the one Superfriend that has the most dimensions to his character. While the others are written to be heroes and nothing more, here they remember to add a dash of Peter Parker-like humor and a bit of teenage angst (the aforementioned hot for teacher crush on Wonder Woman, and when he fails to save her from Darkseid, he even beats himself up a bit over it). I might even add that this is my favorite other-media Firestorm, period. Others quite didn’t hit the mark for me. CW version wasn’t everything it could have been, though the bases were there. Most animated Firestorms turn up the “dumb” in “dumb jock” for Ronnie too.
• Speaking of voices, 80s kids will recognize the Darkseid voice as the same as Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget.
• And for no other reason but for my own inappropriate humor….Black Vulcan: “You guys know how to make an entrance!” Me: “…in my pants!”

(Brainiac says what DC fans everywhere were thinking…)

The Wrath of Brainiac/Reflections in Crime : Brainiac returns in a new form and wants to get back at the Superfriends by confusing them with android doubles. In a second adventure, Mirror Master tries to trap the heroes in the sixth dimension of reflections.

• As mentioned, the updated form of Brainiac appears and is explained with brief exposition. Never mind that the original Brainiac is seen every week in the intro. Also, I guess exoskeletons don’t need a decent pair of pants, so there goes that load off of Brainiac’s CPU.
• And dammit Darkseid, you ruined the villains’ plans and why? Because Wonder Woman agreed to be his queen if he released the other Superfriends from Brainiac’s captivity. No really, while he doesn’t do it yet (Batman figures out how to short circuit all the holding cells), he leaves and pitches a fit to Brainiac about the plan like a teenager whose parent won’t let them go out on a date.
• The end gag of course is Darkseid’s crew, the Superfriends, and the androids are running amok as Brainiac’s ship is fogged up, and Darkseid thinks he captured Wonder Woman…only to learn it’s the android WW. But this isn’t “Looks like Gleek made a monkey out of you!” end tag humor. Darkseid has to shut the robot down with his Omega Beams, and proceeds to threaten the actual Wonder Woman while talking to the deactivated double.
• Between the Superman cocoa ad with Captain Cold and Mirror Master here on the Superfriends, Flash sure liked everyone else taking care of his Rogues.
• And the mirror dimension is the Sixth? Nice attention to detail on Hanna-Barbera’s part, so as not to step on Mxyzptlk’s toes. But…what’s Dimensions 2-4 though then?
• Superman traveling through the mirror universe was some good SatAM humor, as he tries to call out to Lois Lane (Lois: “I must be hearing things, that’s what love does to you…”) and surprising a random, then scaring a woman who presumably is not decent yet.
• I forget which of the two episodes it was, but there’s a bit where Firestorm and Robin are trapped somewhere, and Ronnie transmutes it to be escapable, and he flies out. Robin then looks like he’s about to get a leaping start, then he just jumps as if he remembered he can’t fly.

So overall, you can tell that the Superfriends franchise was ready to go in a new direction. The premiere was the better of these two, but all of them had a bit of everything in ways of the new tone, humor, and more. There were some things they needed to shake off though, and you can tell they were keeping the “old guard” around as it were. But that changes in big ways next season.

For more MeTV Toons musings, this is a pretty neat site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/510036838444351