The Program

And so it begins:

Banded together from remote galaxies are thirteen of the most sinister villains of all time: the Legion of Doom. Dedicated to a single objective: the conquest of the universe.

Only one group dares to challenge this intergalactic threat: the Super Friends.

The Justice League of America versus the Legion of Doom!

This is the Challenge of the Super Friends!

If you're above the age of 25 or so, the preceding quote was probably one of the mantras you swore by on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons. Lying on the family room floor with a sleeping bag and a big bowl of Sugar Frostee Yum-Yums, garbed in our favorite pajamas with those built-in booties, many of my generation watched with gleeful abandon as Challenge of the Super Friends opened up a world of brave heroes, dastardly villains, colorful costumes and cosmic adventure! Gone were the collosal embarrassments known as Marvin, Wendy, and Wonderdog. The contrived annoyances of the Wonder Twins and that wretched little monkey, who also had dared to invade our collective consciousness, were also gone (for a short while, anyhow.) Instead, Challenge of the Super Friends gave us the World's Greatest Superheroes versus the World's Nastiest Badguys without any condescending interference from a bunch of lame characters designed to make the show more "accessible to younger viewers"! Lean and mean! No muss, no fuss, just old-school superhero comic booky goodness!

Or so it seemed. The original Super Friends cartoon, when it premiered in 1973, was a colorful and good-natured but ultra-cheesy cartoon that, while enjoyable on its own terms, was a streamlined and simplified show which didn't exactly challenge the expectations of anyone, really. The Superfriends roster originally consisted of DC Comics most popular heroes: Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman, as well as "junior heroes" Marvin, Wendy, and Wonderdog. While the show probably exposed DC's stable of characters to more people than the comic books of the time did, it did little to promote itself as anything more than kiddie fare. The heroes all had interchangeable personalities, and spent most of their time as do-gooders upholding the law and not engaging in the type of battles that earmark the most memorable of superhero adventures. What was memorable about the show was its simple honesty, colorful if simple sense of adventure, gentle life lessons, and some great character designs by Hanna Barbera artist (and Space Ghost designer) Alex Toth. It wasn't a great show, or even a very memorable one (the episodes were pretty standard and interchangeable throughout), but kids loved it and, for the first time, people got to see some of the world's most famous superheroes interacting together, outside of the comic books.

When the show came back for its second season, the junior heroes were gone and were replaced with the "Wonder Twins": Zan and Jayna, two purple-clad alien siblings who, when they smacked their knuckles together and let loose with their "Wonder twin powers...Activate!" battle cry, at least demonstrated some semblance of superheroics. Zan could transform himself into any type of water and Jayna could assume the shape of any animal. Along with their bucktoothed annoyance of a pet monkey named Gleek, they accompanied the Super Friends on all of their adventures. More DC heroes were thrown into the mix, including Hawkman and Flash, while some brand new heroes were developed to give the cartoon more of a racially diverse line-up: Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and Samurai. The show was still a little silly and childish - it was made for kids, after all - but in terms of quality and sophistication it was a step above the previous season.

(And as an aside: why did they insist on creating a new character in Black Vulcan when - if they needed a black character with electricity powers - they could have gone with the established DC hero Black Lightning? Did Hanna Barbera not want to pay for the rights to the character, or did they want to establish their own hero off of whom they could collect merchandising royalties? Curious...)

Finally, 1978 brought us Challenge of the Super Friends, an iteration of the show that really began to take advantage of the rich pantheon of heroes and villains that populate the DC Universe. The theme of the show was simple: a group of villains banded together in a giant Darth Vader helmet in a swamp, each week plotting a new scheme to (1) get exceedingly rich, (2) gain control of the entire world, (3) destroy the Super Friends (often going by their proper comic book moniker of "Justice League of America"), or (4) some combination of the above. Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman were joined by Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Apache Chief, Samurai, and Black Vulcan as they combated the combined villainy of the Legion of Doom: Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Toyman, Riddler, Solomon Grundy, Bizarro, Black Manta, Brainiac, Captain Cold, Giganta, Cheetah, Scarecrow, and Grodd. The show only lasted for 16 episodes before it reverted back to its previous iteration the following season, but it easily presented the most memorable version of the series (at least until The Legendary Super Powers Show and Galactic Guardians, the final two seasons of the show that brought an exciting level of storytelling, continuity, sophistication to the series.)

I won't pretend that nostalgia isn't clouding my opinion of the show, but I will say this: Challenge of the Super Friends was the first time that people took notice of the show and thought of it as "kinda cool". Here we had superhero battles between characters that just looked great facing-off on the screen. Each of the main heroes had villains pulled from their personal rogues gallery: Aquaman's Black Manta, Batman's Riddler and Scarecrow, Superman's Bizarro, Brainiac, Lex Luthor, and Toyman, Wonder Woman's Cheetah and Giganta, Flash's Captain Cold and Grodd, and Green Lantern's Sinestro and Solomon Grundy. The series had plenty of iconic moments, and Alex Toth's design work was as spot-on wonderful as ever. Sure, the show was still - by any standards - pretty silly and childish. But for the first time, it really worked. The stories were more cosmic, more exciting, and integrated more comic book and science fiction elements than any iteration of the series had done so before.

I also won't pretend that Challenge of the Super Friends has had a direct influence on the superior DC Universe cartoons of the 1990s and early 2000s, such as the incredible Batman: The Animated Series, Superman, Batman Beyond, and 2001's Justice League, the spiritual heir (if not exactly a direct descendent) of the Super Friends. But given its intended audience, the time period in which it was released, and its engaging use of colorful characters and silly if moderately enjoyable storylines, the show entertained and stimulated the imaginations of a generation of kids who vicariously lived thrilling superheroic adventures through their beloved Saturday morning heroes.

The following sixteen episodes are included in this two DVD set:

Disc One

• Wanted: The Super Friends
• Invasion of the Fearians
• The World's Deadliest Game
• The Time Trap
• Trial of the Super Friends
• The Monolith of Evil
• Giants of Doom

Disc Two

• Secret Origins of the Super Friends
• Revenge on Gorilla City
• Swamp of the Living Dead
• Conquerors of the Future
• The Final Challenge
• Fairy Tales of Doom
• Doomsday
• Super Friends: Rest In Peace
• History of Doom

The DVD

Hall of Justice is a section that provides character biographies for each of the Super Friends. Each biography page lists that character's powers and archenemies, and provides a short video clip of said character in action. Check out Wonder Woman's funky 70s montage music! And what's up with Black Vulcan's porn music theme? Legion of Doom provides the same, only this time for the Bad Guys. And finally, Other Collectible Sets is a collection of video advertisements for Batman: The Animated Series Volume One, The Jetsons: The Complete First Season, The Flintstones: The Complete First Season, and Jonny Quest: The Complete First Season.

Final Thoughts

I have to admit: I was a little skeptical before I started reviewing this set. I loved the show as a kid, but would it still entertain me 26 years later? Absolutely. No one will mistake Challenge of the Super Friends for high art, sleek sophistication, or even the most internally consistent cartoon ever made. (Flash can fly now? Okaaaaaaaay...) Nonetheless, this was a fun show, enthusiastically delivered in a colorfully retro fashion. The extras are enjoyable, especially for comic fans, and the presentation of the material is impressive. Overall, this is one of the most fun DVDs I've had the pleasure of reviewing this year. If you loved this show as a kid, you owe yourself to pick up Challenge of the Super Friends on DVD as an adult: its charm is positively infectious. Highly Recommended!