DVD : Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show - The Complete Series (DC Comics Classic Collection)

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- The Title Says It All!
"Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show!" as announced in the opening main title by veteran voice artist Dick Tufeld (Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Thundarr the Barbarian) was the next-to-last incarnation of the long-running Super Friends series.

Based on the Super Powers toy line of the time featuring select DC Comics heroes including hero Firestorm (a long-time personal favorite of mine), Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984) is most revered as the Super Friends series that first introduced Firestorm the Nuclear Man in animated form, along with evil Apokolips lord Darkseid. Not to mention Adam West reprising his caped crusader role as the voice of this show's animated Batman.

Though still "Super Friends fun," the art and animation for "Super Powers" was diminished to rather cartoony proportions, as most Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the time (Challenge of the GoBots, Scary Scooby Funnies) tended to be. Dedicated SF fans will overlook it, while those spoiled on today's animation may not be so inclined. Firestorm's transformation scene still looks cool though. Plus the tone of the show is *slightly* more intense (for Super Friends) than the previous versions thanks to the presence of Darkseid. So while the quality of the show is down a bit, it still remains highly watchable.

Comprised of 16 episodes totaling almost 8 half hours, this "Super Powers" collection also may seem limited, especially to SF fans who were hoping that the follow-up series Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episodes would be included on the set. However, unlike the previous collections (each also containing 16 episodes, but were wrongly/confusingly titled "The First Season" and "Volume Two"), Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show - The Complete Series is properly titled and contains exactly what the title says. Look for "Galactic Guardians" in its own 2-disc complete set on October 23rd.

Superfriends: The Legendary Supers Powers Show - The Complete Series is a 2-disc set featuring all episodes from the 1984-1985 season; Full-Frame (1.33:1) video; plus the following Special Features: "Evolution: New Heroes, Viler Villains, and Ethnic Additions": Featurette on the impact of the Super Friends era of cultural diversity in animation; "The Super Powers Collection": Featurette covers the correlation between the Super Friends and the toy industry; Commentary: On 5 key episodes by experts.

Episodes:
1. The Bride of Darkseid (Part 1)
2. The Bride of Darkseid (Part 2)
3. The Wrath of Brainiac
4. Reflections in Crime
5. No Honor Among Super Thieves
6. Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Magic Lamp
7. Case of the Shrinking Super Friends
8. The Mask of Mystery
9. Darkseid's Golden Trap (Part 1)
10. Darkseid's Golden Trap (Part 2)
11. Island of the Dinosoids
12. Uncle Mxyzptlk (Super Brat)
13. The Case of the Dreadful Dolls
14. The Royal Ruse
15. The Village of Lost Souls
16. The Curator

Rating:

- Probably one of the best SF series ever
Yes if they are only doing the 1984 series, it will be a bit skimpy (still want to know what the bonuses are, and I wonder if any of the "lost" 1980s shorts will make it on this set, as they were seen as filler on some of the original broadcasts). But being "abused" by WB's marketing schemes in this case is worth it to me...well, in general, I am a big Superfriends fan anyway. And by this time, the show was turning towards the elements (including a slightly more serious nature) that would culminate with The Super Powers Team. It took one of Challenge of the SF's main strengths by using more villains from the comics; Lex Luthor and Mxyzptlk would return, joined by appearances from Mirror Master, the revamped Brainiac, and most of all, Darkseid and other New Gods characters! And on the side of justice is one of the most underrated DC heroes, Firestorm the Nuclear Man (by the time of the SPT, Cyborg would join next, and we'd see the Wonder Twins and most of the Multicultural Pals phased out). As a bonus, Batman's voice from then on would be Adam West, which made the character seem less nerdy than the Olan Soule version. Soule would take over the role of Martin Stein, one-half of Firestorm, in this season. Stein and Batman even team up for one episode!

Yes this might be a sparse DVD release, but still worth it for me to have pristine copies of this season. Bring on the Super Powers Team, and some more of the Superfriends series (All-New SF Hour, anyone? World's Greatest SF? The aforementioned "lost" episodes? Heck I'd even buy a set devoted to the Wendy and Marvin episodes)

Rating:

- Really Really hoping for more
I am glad that WB is continuing to release different incarnations of the Super-Friendsa, and will hopefully release them all, but I have concerns with the lack of content of this set. The 1984 season of "Superfriends:The Legendary Superpowers show" only had eight 1/2 hour episodes (sixteen, 11 minute episodes if you break them down), but with most DVD box sets all that could easily fit on one disk. I am hoping the 2nd disk has the follow up season "Galactic Guardians", which only had seven 1/2 hour episodes with some being a full 1/2 hour, and some being two short episodes. These would be great to package together as one set, but I fear WB will get cheap and try to get the most for their money that they can. Lets just hope they decide on what most fans would like, so that their DVD sales can continue to be profitable.

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