{"id":34235,"date":"2025-11-10T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=34235"},"modified":"2025-11-09T17:07:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T17:07:33","slug":"dc-finest-super-friends-the-fury-of-the-super-foes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/11\/10\/dc-finest-super-friends-the-fury-of-the-super-foes\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Finest: Super Friends – The Fury of the Super Foes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy E. Nelson Bridwell<\/strong>, Denny O\u2019Neil<\/strong>, Ramona Fradon<\/strong>, Kurt Schaffenberger<\/strong>, Ric Estrada<\/strong>, Alex Toth<\/strong>, Joe Orlando<\/strong>, Bob Smith<\/strong>, Vince Colletta<\/strong> with Dick Giordano<\/strong>, Curt Swan & Geoge Klein<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-79950-316-3 (TPB)<\/p>\n

This book contains Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced during less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Evergreen Superhero Sagas For All… 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once upon a time comics were primarily created with kids in mind. Whilst I\u2019d never advocate exclusively going back to those days, the modern industry has for the longest time sinned by not fully addressing the needs and tastes of younger fans these days. By that I mean less tie-ns and more accessible standard stoires like Marvel Adventures<\/strong> material or this stuff here.<\/p>\n

Happily, DC has latterly been rectifying the situation with new and – most importantly for old geeks like me – remastered, repackaged age-appropriate gems from their vast back catalogue.<\/p>\n

A superb case in point of all-ages comics done right is this tome celebrating the joys of childhood when comics and TV shows were interchangeable in kids\u2019 head. It was all one great big dangerous fun world to save or conquer…<\/p>\n

DC Finest: Super Friends:- The Fury of the Super Foes <\/strong>gathers comic book tales spun off from a hugely popular Saturday Morning TV Cartoon show: one that, thanks to the canny craftsmanship and loving invention of lead scripter E. Nelson Bridwell, became an integral and unmissable component of the greater pre Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong> DC Universe.<\/p>\n

It was also one of the most universally thrilling and satisfying superhero titles of the period: featuring the smart, witty, straightforward adventures people my age grew up with, produced during a period when the entire industry was increasingly losing itself in colossal continued storylines and bombastic, convoluted, soap opera melodrama.It\u2019s something all creators should have tattooed on their foreheads: sometimes all you really want is a smart plot well illustrated, sinister villains well-smacked, a solid resolution and early bed…<\/p>\n

TV show Super Friends<\/strong> ran (under various iterations) from 1973 to 1986; starring primarily Superman<\/strong>, Batman and Robin<\/strong>, Wonder Woman<\/strong>, Aquaman<\/strong> and a brace of studio-originated kids as student crimebusters. The cast was supplemented by guest stars from the DCU on a case by case basis. The animated series made the transition to print as part of the publisher\u2019s 1976 foray into \u201cboutiqued\u201d comics which saw titles with a television connection cross-marketed as DC TV Comics.<\/p>\n

Child-friendly Golden Age comic book revival Shazam!- the Original Captain Marvel<\/strong> had been adapted into a successful live action series and its Saturday Morning silver screen stablemate The Secrets of Isis<\/strong> consequently reversed the process to become a comic book. With the additions of hit comedy show Welcome Back Kotter<\/strong> and animated blockbuster Super Friends<\/strong> four-colour format, DC had a neat outreach imprimatur tailor-made to draw viewers into the magic word of funnybooks.<\/p>\n

At least that was the plan: with the exception of Super Friends<\/strong> none of the titles lasted more than ten issues beyond their launch…<\/p>\n

This massive mega-extravaganza collects Super Friends<\/strong> #1-26 (spanning November 1976 to November 1979), includes promo comic Aquateers Meet the Super Friends <\/strong>and reprints material from Limited Collectors\u2019 Edition<\/strong> #C-41 and C-46.
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\nThe fun begins a crafty 2-part caper by the wondrous E. Nelson Bridwell and illustrators Ric Estrada, Vince Colletta & Joe Orlando. \u2018The Fury of the Super Foes\u2019<\/em> finds heroes-in-training Wendy<\/em> & Marvin<\/em> – and their incredibly astute mutt Wonderdog<\/em> – studying at the palatial Hall of Justice<\/em>, even as elsewhere, a confederation of villains prove imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… if not outright intellectual theft. Having auditioned a host of young criminals, The Penguin<\/strong>, Cheetah<\/strong>, Flying Fish<\/strong>, Poison Ivy <\/strong>and Toyman <\/strong>are creating a squad of sidekicks and prot\u00e9g\u00e9s to follow in their felonious footsteps. Now Chick<\/em>, Kitten<\/em>, Sardine<\/em>, Honeysuckle<\/em> and Toyboy<\/em> are all ready and willing to carry out their first caper…<\/p>\n

When the giant \u201cTroubalert\u201d screen informs our heroes of a 3-pronged attack on S.T.A.R. Labs\u2019 latest inventions, the team split up to tackle the crises, but are thoroughly trounced until Wendy & Marvin break curfew to help them. As a result of the clash, Chick and Kitten are brought back to the Hall of Justice, but their talk of repentance is a rascally ruse and they secretly sabotage vital equipment. Thankfully, Wonderdog has seen everything and quickly finds a way to inform the still-oblivious good guys in issue #2, but too late to prevent the Super Friends being briefly \u2018Trapped by the Super Foes\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Aided and abetted by inker Bob Smith, the incomparable Ramona Fradon (Aquaman<\/strong>; Metamorpho the Element Man<\/strong>; Brenda Starr, Reporter<\/strong>) became penciller with #3, as \u2018The Cosmic Hit Man?\u2019<\/em> sees 50 intergalactic super-villains murdered by infernal Dr.<\/em> Ihdrom<\/em>, who then blends their harvested essences to create an apparently unbeatable hyper-horror to utterly overwhelm Earth\u2019s heroic defenders. However, he falls victim to his own arrogance and Wendy & Marvin\u2019s logical deductions…<\/p>\n

\u2018Riddles and Rockets!\u2019<\/em> sees the Super Friends overmatched by new ne\u2019er-do-well Skyrocket<\/em> whilst simultaneously seeking to cope with a rash of crimes contrived by King of Conundra The Riddler<\/strong>. Soon a pattern emerges and a criminal connection is confirmed…<\/p>\n

Author Bridwell (Secret Six<\/strong>; Inferior Five<\/strong>; Batman<\/strong>; Superman<\/strong>; The Flash<\/strong>; Legion of Super-Heroes<\/strong>; Captain Marvel\/Shazam!<\/strong>) was justly famed as DC\u2019s Keeper of Lore and top Continuity Cop thanks to his astoundingly encyclopaedic knowledge of its publishing minutiae and ability to instantly recall every damn thing! \u2018Telethon Treachery!\u2019<\/em> gave him plenty of scope to display it with a horde of near-forgotten guest-stars joining the heroes as they host a televised charity event. Sadly, money-mad menace Greenback<\/em> lurks in the wings, awaiting his moment to grab the loot and kidnap the wealthiest donors. Then The Atom<\/strong> (Ray Palmer<\/em>) plays a crucial role in stopping the depredations of an animal trainer using beasts as bandits in \u2018The Menace of the Menagerie Man!\u2019<\/em> before a huge cast change is unveiled in #7 (October 1977) with \u2018The Warning of the Wondertwins\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

You all know TV is very different from comics. When the next season of Super Friends<\/strong> aired, Wendy, Marvin & Wonderdog were abruptly gone, replaced without explanation by alien kids Zan<\/em> & Jayna<\/em> and their elastic-tailed space monkey Gleek<\/em>. With room to extrapolate and in consideration of fans, Bridwell explained the sudden change via a battle to save Earth from annihilation whilst introducing the newest student heroes in memorable style. At the Hall of Justice Wendy & Marvin spot a spaceship hurtling to Earth on the Troubalert monitor and dash off to intercept it. Aboard are two siblings from distant planet Exor<\/em>: a girl able to transform into animals and a boy who can become any form of water, from steam to ice. They have come carrying an urgent warning…<\/p>\n

Superman\u2019s alien enemy Grax<\/em> has resolved to eradicate humanity and devised a dozen different superbombs and attendant weird-science traps to ensure his victory. These are scattered all over Earth and even the entire Justice League<\/strong> cannot stretch its resources to cover every angle and threat. To Wendy & Marvin the answer is obvious: call upon the help and knowledge of hyper-powered local heroes…<\/p>\n

Soon Superman and Israel\u2019s champion The Seraph<\/em> are dismantling a black hole bomb whilst Elongated Man<\/strong> and titan-tressed Godiva<\/em> perform similar service on a life-eradicator in England. Flash<\/strong> (Barry Allen<\/em>) and mighty-leaping Impala<\/em> dismantle uncatchable ordnance in South Africa before Hawkman<\/strong> & Hawkwoman<\/strong> join Native American avenger Owlwoman<\/em> to crush darkness-breeding monsters in Oklahoma, whilst from the Hall of Justice Wendy, Marvin and the Wonder Twins monitor the crisis with a modicum of mounting hope…<\/p>\n

The cataclysmic epic continues in #8 with \u2018The Mind Killers!\u2019<\/em> as Atom and Rising Son <\/em>tackle a device designed to decimate Japan, and in Ireland Green Lantern<\/strong> Hal Jordan<\/em> and Jack O\u2019Lantern<\/em> battle multi-hued monstrosities before switching off their technological terror.<\/p>\n

In New Zealand, time-scanning Tuatara<\/em> tips off Red Tornado<\/strong> to the position of a bomb cached in the distant past whilst Venezuela\u2019s doom is diverted through a team-up of Batman, Robin and reptile-themed champion Bushmaster<\/em>. And in Taiwan a melding of sonic superpowers possessed by Black Canary<\/strong> and the astounding Thunderlord<\/em> harmoniously saves the day…
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\nThe saga soars to a classic climax with \u2018Three Ways to Kill a World!\u2019<\/em> in which the final phases of Grax\u2019s scheme fail thanks to Green Arrow<\/strong> & Tasmanian Devil<\/em> in Australia, with Aquaman<\/strong> & Little Mermaid<\/em> sorting out the embattled seas off Denmark and Wonder Woman<\/strong> & The Olympian<\/em> preserving modern Greece.<\/p>\n

Or at least, they would have if the Hellenic heroes had found the right foe. Sadly, their triumph against Wrong-Place, Right-Time terrorist Colonel Conquest<\/em> almost upsets everything. Thankfully, the quick thinking hero-students send an army of defenders to Antarctica where Norwegian novice Icemaiden<\/em> dismantles the ultimate booby-trap bomb.\u00a0 However, whilst the adult champions are engaged, Grax invades the Hall of Justice seeking revenge on the pesky whistleblowing Exorian kids. He\u2019s completely unprepared for and overwhelmed by Wendy, Marvin & Wonderdog, who categorically prove they\u2019re ready to graduate to the big leagues…<\/p>\n

Thus with Zan & Jayna enrolled as latest heroes-in-training, Super Friends<\/strong> #10 details their adoption by Batman\u2019s old associate – and eccentric time travel theoretician – Professor Carter Nichols<\/em>, just before a legion of alien horrors arrive on Earth to teach the kids that appearances can be lethally deceiving in \u2018The Monster Menace!\u2019<\/em> In #11, \u2018Kingslayer\u2019<\/em> pits the heroes against criminal mastermind Overlord<\/em> who has contracted the world\u2019s greatest hitman to murder more than one hundred leaders at one sitting…<\/p>\n

Another deep dive into DC\u2019s past resurrected Golden Age titans T.N.T and Dan, the Dyna-Mite<\/strong> in \u2018The Atomic Twosome!\u2019 <\/em>These 1940s mystery men had been under government wraps ever since their radioactive powers began to melt down, but when an underground catastrophe ruptures their individual lead-lined vaults, the Super Friends are called in to prevent potential nuclear nightmare. Then the subterranean reason for the near tragedy is tracked to a monstrous mole creature, and leads to the introduction of eternal mystic Doctor Mist<\/strong>, who reveals the secret history of civilisation and begs help to halt \u2018The Mindless Immortal!\u2019<\/em> before its random burrowing shatters mankind\u2019s cities. From here, Bridwell would build a fascinating new team concept that would support decades of future continuity…<\/p>\n

Super Friends<\/strong> #14 opens with \u2018Elementary!\u2019<\/em>; introducing four ordinary mortals forever changed when possessed by ancient sprits. Tasked by Overlord with plundering the world, Undine<\/em>, Salamander<\/em>, Sylph<\/em> & Gnome<\/em> are defeated by our heroes yet retain their powers and so become crimefighting team The Elementals<\/em>. Also on view is a short back-up illustrated by Kurt Schaffenberger & Bob Smith. \u2018The Origin of the Wondertwins\u2019<\/em> at last reveals they are Exorian genetic throwbacks (despised outcasts on their homeworld) who fled from a circus of freaks and uncovered Grax\u2019s plot before taking that fateful voyage to Earth.<\/p>\n

Big surprises come in \u2018The Overlord Goes Under!\u2019<\/em> (Fradon & Smith) as the Elementals begin battling evil by joining the Super Friends in crushing the crook. All those superheroes are blithely unaware that they are merely clearing the way for a far more cunning and subtle mastermind to take Overlord\u2019s place…<\/p>\n

\u2018The People Who Stole the Sky!\u2019<\/em> in SF<\/strong> #16 is a grand, old-fashioned alien invasion yarn, foiled by the team and the increasingly adept Wonder Twins whilst \u2018Trapped in Two Times!\u2019<\/em> has Zan & Jayna used by the insidious Time Trapper<\/em> to lure their adult mentors into deadly peril on Krypton<\/em> in the days before it detonated, and future water world Neryla<\/em> in the hours before it\u2019s swallowed by its critically expanding red sun. After rescuing the kids – thanks largely to Superman\u2019s legendary lost love Lyla Ler-Rol<\/em> – the Super Friends employ Tuatara\u2019s temporal insight and Professor Nichol\u2019s obscure chronal methodologies to hunt the Trapper in a riotous yet educational \u2018Manhunt in Time!\u2019<\/em> (art by Schaffenberger & Smith), by way of Atlantis before it sank, medieval Spain and Michigan in 1860CE: all to thwart a triple-strength scheme to derail history and end Earth civilisation…
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\nSF<\/strong> #19 sees an encore for Menagerie Man in \u2018The Mystery of the Missing Monkey!\u2019<\/em> (Fradon & Smith) as the animal exploiter appropriates Gleek: intent on turning his elastic-tailed talents into a perfect pickpocketing tool, before Denny O\u2019Neil (as Sergius O\u2019Shaugnessy) teams with Schaffenberger & Smith for a more jocular turn. Here, chaos and comedy ensue when the team tackles vegetable monsters unleashed after self-obsessed shlock-movie director Frownin\u2019 Fritz Frazzle<\/em> uses Merlin\u2019s actually magical Magic Lantern to make a \u201cmasterpiece\u201d on the cheap in \u2018Revenge of the Leafy Monsters!\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Bridwell & Fradon bounce back in #21 where \u2018Battle Against the Super Fiends!\u2019<\/em> has the heroes travelling to Exor to combat super-criminals who can duplicate their power-sets, after which \u2018It\u2019s Never Too Late!\u2019<\/em> (#22, O\u2019Shaugnessy, Fradon & Smith) reveals how time bandit Chronos<\/em> subjects the Super Friends to a chronal-delay treatment rendering them perennially too late to stop him… but only until Batman and the Wonder Twins out-think him.<\/p>\n

The Mirror Master<\/em> divides and banishes teachers from students in #23 but is ultimately unable to prevent an \u2018SOS from Nowhere!\u2019<\/em> (Bridwell, Fradon & Smith) to the Flash. This episode also spends time fleshing out the Wonder Twins\u2019 earthly alter egos as Gotham Central highschoolers John<\/em> & Joanna Fleming<\/em>…<\/p>\n

With O\u2019Shaugnessy scripting, \u2018Past, Present and Danger!\u2019<\/em> sees Zan & Jayna\u2019s faces found engraved on a recently-unearthed Egyptian pyramid. Upon investigation inside the edifice, the heroes awaken two ancient exiles who resemble the kids, but who are in truth criminals who fled Exorian justice thousands of years previously. How lucky, then, that the kids are perfect doubles that the villains can send back with the robot cops surrounding the pyramid – once they\u2019ve got rid of all those busybody Earthling heroes…<\/p>\n

Enjoying promotion through treachery, habitually harassed Underling<\/em> has seized power at last in Bridwell\u2019s \u2018Puppets of the Overlord\u2019<\/em>, and then employs forbidden technology to mind-control adult and junior heroes. Happily, international champions Green Fury<\/em> (later Fire<\/strong>), Wonder Woman\u2019s sister Nubia<\/strong>, Tasmanian Devil and Seraph can join Green Lantern and Queen Mera <\/strong>of Atlantis in delivering a liberating solution, after which this splendid selection of super thrills pauses with SF<\/strong> #26 as Bridwell, Fradon & Smith bring back some old friends and enemies for \u2018The Wondertwins\u2019 Battle of Wits!\u2019<\/em> when a scheming former Bat-foe enacts an infallibly murderous plot…<\/p>\n

Rounding out the frenetic fun is a features section that includes the Alex Toth cover from Limited Collectors\u2019 Edition<\/strong> #C-41\u00a0 and new material from sequel C-46. These include a comic strip collaboration with Bridwell on introductory tale \u2018Super Friends\u2019<\/em> which was a star-studded framing sequence for a big reprint issue of Justice League<\/strong> classics. The wonders are further augmented by Toth\u2019s comprehensive pictorial essay on creating \u2018TV Cartoons\u2019<\/em> (with contributions from Bob Foster), plus his \u2018The JLA on TV\u2019<\/em> model sheets, and designs of \u2018The Hall of Justice\u2019<\/em> by Terry Austin. As you of course know, comics legend Toth was lead designer on the characters\u2019 transition to TV animation…
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\nThe extras include mini-comic Aquateers Meet the Super Friends <\/strong>– a 1979 promotional giveaway included with every purchase of Super Friends Swim Goggles<\/strong>. An uncredited framing sequence (which looks like a Continuity Associates project that Dick Giordano & Frank McLoughlin had a hand in) segues into \u2018The Greatest Show on Water\u2019<\/em> – an Aquaman short by Fradon originally published in Adventure Comics <\/strong>#219, (December 1955).<\/p>\n

The bumper fun wraps with Alex Ross\u2019 painted cover from 2001 book collection Super Friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

With covers by Fradon, Smith, Schaffenberger, Colletta, Ernie Chan and more, this hopefully initial compendium is superbly entertaining, masterfully crafted and utterly engaging. It offers stories of pure comics gold to delight children and adults in equal proportion. Truly generational in appeal, they are probably the closest thing to an American answer to the magic of Tintin<\/strong> or Asterix<\/strong> and no family home should be without this tome.<\/p>\n

Sadly, this masterful mystery megamix is not yet available digitally, but we live in hope. In the meantime, if you prefer your cartoon crimebustng computer collated you could access 2020\u2019s <\/em>Super-Friends: Saturday Morning Comics volume 1<\/strong>.
\n\u00a9 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 2001, 2025 DC Comics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

Today in 1697, Willam Hogarth<\/strong> was born. Notionally adding to the comics lustre and significance, in 1918, Howard Purcell<\/strong> was also added to the planet\u2019s roster, as was Neil Gaiman<\/strong> in 1960. In the exit column for today, in 1993 we lost astounding illustrator Alberto Breccia<\/strong>, and in 2006 immortal sci fi writer Jack Williamson<\/strong>. All those other guys you can find in old posts here, but I particularly recommend Beyond Mars – The Complete Series 1952-1955<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By E. Nelson Bridwell, Denny O\u2019Neil, Ramona Fradon, Kurt Schaffenberger, Ric Estrada, Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, Bob Smith, Vince Colletta with Dick Giordano, Curt Swan & Geoge Klein & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-79950-316-3 (TPB) This book contains Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times. Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Evergreen Superhero Sagas For All… 9\/10 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “DC Finest: Super Friends – The Fury of the Super Foes”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,280,351,133,211,92,10,258,383,76,290,384,91,15,82,69,16,97,311,172,107,121,9,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-animal-antics","category-apes-monkeys","category-aquaman","category-atom","category-batgirl","category-batman","category-black-canary","category-carmine-infantino","category-dc-superhero","category-dinosaurs","category-elongated-man","category-flash","category-green-arrow","category-green-lantern","category-hawkman-hawkgirl","category-jla","category-kids-all-ages","category-legion-of-super-pets","category-robin","category-science-fiction","category-supergirl-graphic-novels","category-superman","category-wonder-woman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8Ub","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34242,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34235\/revisions\/34242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}