Super Friends!: Your Favorite Television Super-Team is Back! [Paperback]

Various (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001

"Smashing out of the TV screen! Your Saturday-morningfavorites!" While no doubt of inestimable value to true Super Fans, this vintage collection of Super Friends comics first published in the late 1970s still somehow manages to be one of the stupidest comic book series ever. But, if you stop to really think about it, do you want to risk missing out on comic books that are this dumb? Clunky exposition, ridiculous story lines, andlow-budget art are one thing, but the '70s-era dialogue is truly (as Wendy and Marvin might say) a must-dig: as Cheetah is eluding Wonder Woman's magic lasso, she shouts, "Arrr! You Amazons preach Women's Lib--and this woman is going to stay liberated!" Plus, there's the unceremonious dumping of Wendy and Marvin for the much sexier Zan and Jayna ("Form of an Arctic current!"). You'll also meet some truly strange characters who never showed up on TV, such as the Seraph, who carries Moses' rod and Solomon's ring, and whose powers, well... as he says to Superman, "You might call them magic!" --Paul Hughes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Smashing out of the TV screen! Your Saturday-morning favorites!" While no doubt of inestimable value to true Super Fans, this vintage collection of Super Friends comics first published in the late 1970s still somehow manages to be one of the stupidest comic book series ever. But, if you stop to really think about it, do you want to risk missing out on comic books that are this dumb? Clunky exposition, ridiculous story lines, and low-budget art are one thing, but the '70s-era dialogue is truly (as Wendy and Marvin might say) a must-dig: as Cheetah is eluding Wonder Woman's magic lasso, she shouts, "Arrr! You Amazons preach Women's Lib--and this woman is going to stay liberated!" Plus, there's the unceremonious dumping of Wendy and Marvin for the much sexier Zan and Jayna ("Form of an Arctic current!"). You'll also meet some truly strange characters who never showed up on TV, such as the Seraph, who carries Moses' rod and Solomon's ring, and whose powers, well... as he says to Superman, "You might call them magic!" --Paul Hughes

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563897164
• ISBN-13: 978-1563897160
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,491,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, that's right: 5 STARS!!!, September 3, 2005

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Super Friends!: Your Favorite Television Super-Team is Back! (Paperback)

This review is for both Super Friends trade paperback collections: SUPER FRIENDS! and SUPER FRIENDS: TRUTH, JUSTICE, & PEACE.

There are many who regard the Super Friends and anything related to them as garbage, as if a poorly-animated TV show with boring plots and stereotyped characters could have nothing good to offer! Seriously, when it comes to the cartoon, I am very middle-of-the-road, but not so when it comes to the tie-in comic series released by DC. In fact, while I owned some of these comics when they were originally released in the '70s, I had no concept of how they tied into the greater DC Universe and integrated so well with official DC continuity... okay, I know that Crisis on Infinite Earths undid all of that, but if you are a fan of the DCU in general, you should pick up these two books. The stories, written by DC veteran E. Nelson Bridwell and the TV series designer Alex Toth, are actually very well-written, much more so than the cartoon, and the art, by legends Ramona Fradon, Alex Toth, and Kurt Schaffenberger, is clean, vibrant, and stunning, evoking memories of DC's silver age. The main focus of the stories is the "heroes in training", first consisting of Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog, and quickly switching to the Wonder Twins Zan & Jayna, and their pet elasti-monkey Gleek. The regular team of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman serve to futher the plot, primarily through instructing their charges, but it is commonly the trainees who solve the various crimes and mysteries. References to Golden and Silver Age DC stories abound, and you'll see many other DC characters make cameos (Sinestro, Nightwing and Flamebird [!], and doubles of Swamp Thing, the Demon, Man-Bat, and Solomon Grundy) or play central roles in stories (Elongated Man, Green Arrow, the Global Guardians, Dr. Mist, Black Orchid, TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite, Supergirl, and Felix Faust). Add to this a very detailed feature in volume 1 on how network cartoons are made, written and profusely illustrated by Alex Toth, and you've got a two-volume set that deserves more recognition than it gets. Covers by Alex Ross (vol. 1) and Alex Toth (vol. 2) only add to the charm.

Two minor problems with these books are that the series is not presented in chronological order, plus some shorter stories ended up being left out; however, I feel lucky that these stories were even reprinted at all, giving me a chance to get a better perspective on some comics that many would regard as throw-aways.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Saturday Morning Fever!, January 25, 2007

By 

Alex Honda "onyx575" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Super Friends!: Your Favorite Television Super-Team is Back! (Paperback)

This is volume one of the Super Friends tie-in comic books, based on the cartoon series of the same name, which aired on Saturday mornings during the 70s. And it's all in COLOR!

Considering these stories were written and aimed at children, the story lines are pretty light and the dialogue is somewhat dated, which might put hardcore comic fans off. Especially since other comics written during the same period featured darker stories and characters.

Never-the-less, SUPERFRIENDS VOL ONE is a nostalgic keepsake of Saturday mornings and innocence, when having a dollar in your pocket made you feel like a millionaire. Oh...how times have changed!

This collection follows the adventures of the SuperFriends and includes how Wendy and Marvin meet the SF and the origins of the Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna.

Anyway, here is a list of the included comics in this volume (all comics listed with a *** were issued as single comic books and published between 1976-79)followed by the issue number.

01. WENDY & MARVIN MEET THE JLA-I think this is a new intro written for this volume explaining how Wendy & Marvin & Wonder Dog are introduced to the JLA (Superfriends)

02. ***THE FURY OF THE SUPER FOES-#1

03. ***THE MENACE OF THE MENAGERIE MAN-#6

04. ***THE WARNING OF THE WONDER TWINS-#7

05. ***THE MIND KILLERS-#8

06. ***THREE WAYS TO KILL A WORLD-#9

07. ***ELEMENTARY-#14

08. THE ORIGIN OF THE WONDER TWINS-Supplemental info for this volume?

09. ***BATTLE AGAINST THE SUPER FRIENDS-#21

10. ***THE SPACEMEN WHO STOLE ATLANTIS-#27

11. ***TV CARTOONS-#C-41-Presented in Limited Collectors' Edition in 1976

Again, all stories are presented in color and each chapter/issue is separated by the cover of that issue.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up, Up, and Away!, December 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Super Friends!: Your Favorite Television Super-Team is Back! (Paperback)

This collection of Super Friends stories by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ramona Fradon, and Ric Estrada is a blast from start to finish! Solid super-hero stories without the angst of the modern anti-hero movement. Awesome stuff! Even better than the TV series that inspired it! This is a nice companion to DC Comics' The Batman Adventures and Justice League Adventures--some issues of which have been collected in the trade paperback format.