Customer Reviews

Super Friends!: Your Favorite Television Super-Team is Back!

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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.

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.

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.

I was a huge fan of this comic when I was younger and, despite the fact that it had been cancelled in 1981, was able to find a good amount of the issues in backbins at comics stores (this was before somebody decided that these were very collectible).

I was glad to see that DC had released this paperback, but disappointed by the quality. True, the art by Ramona Fradon and Bob Smith looks great and has that wonderful cartoon quality, and it's always fun to see Wendy and Marvin but what the heck? There is no real introduction (save some explanation on the back) to this book and explaining the history of the SuperFriends cartoon and book. Plus, the reader is cheated.

The first two issues of the book were a two-parter and the editors of this collection cut off the last two panels of the first issue and promptly end the story abruptly. Would it really have killed the powers that be to include the second issue which concludes the tale? This is very sloppy and anybody can see that the story is never resolved.

Thankfully, we do get the entire three-part story where Wendy and Marvin are replaced by the Wonder Twins (something never explained on the series) and some other decent stories.

Enjoy this book, but unfortunately you'll have to look elsewhere for the conclusion to the first story.

Yes, the bitter malaise of some reviewers need to be discarded. Enjoy the light-hearted stories.

It takes me back to childhood. I loved the Saturday morning cartoon and the comic, so this is a treasure.

This book includes entire issues of the comic book series with additional info written by the original writers of the comics.
A fascinating journey back in time to many of our youths. This book is a must have for all DC Comics superhero fans.