55TH ANNIVERSARIES

 Sammy Hagar may not be able to drive it, but these shows are definitely turning

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: STAN LEE

STAN LEE

(December 28, 1922-November 12, 2018)

Notable Roles: Writer, editor, publisher, producer, Stan Lee, Willie Lumpkin, Mayor of Super Hero City, The Genralissimo, Papa Smurf, Future Tony Stark, Boss Awesome/Fred’s Dad, Stan the Janitor, Mr. Mystic

Born Stanley Lieber, Lee always dreamed about writing the “great American novel”. When he ended up working for Timely Comics (later Marvel), he adopted his pen name when he worked his way up to being a writer so as not to hurt his chances to be accepted as a legitimate writer. When Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left the company in 1941 due to creative differences with publisher Martin Goodman, Lee was promoted to interim editor at age 19 while also continuing to write. After serving in WWII, Lee returned to Timely, now called Atlas Comics, and wrote a variety of genres throughout the 1950s; becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his work. When rival DC Comics had reinvigorated the superhero genre in what became known as the Silver Age of Comics, Goodman tasked Lee with doing the same for Atlas. Since he was planning a career change, his wife, Joan, encouraged Lee to just do the kind of story he wanted. He decided to create heroes that weren’t gods, but instead flawed, real humans, and with Kirby made the Fantastic Four. Their popularity led to even more creations under the imperfect hero philosophy, such as Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and the X-Men with Kirby, Daredevil with Bill Everett, and Dr. Strange and Spider-Man with Steve Ditko, which would culminate in the Avengers and revivals of Golden Age characters Sub-Mariner and Captain America. Lee introduced full credits for each issue, engaged readers directly in the “Bullpen Bulletins” found in every issue as well as with their fan club called the Merry Marvel Marching Society, and developed the “Marvel Method” of scripting to alleviate some of the pressure of writing and editing most of the company’s output. He also had some input in the productions of the first Marvel-based cartoons, including Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Lee’s bombastic personality led to his becoming a figurehead and the public face of Marvel. In 1981, he moved to California to oversee the development of Marvel’s properties into other media; particularly as part of Marvel’s animation division: Marvel Productions. He would earn the title “The King of Cameos” as he came to be featured in some way in many of Marvel’s various TV shows and movies (as well as many outside of the company); sometimes as a narrator, sometimes as himself, other times as a minor character. At one point, Lee was named President of Marvel, but stepped back down to publisher in order to keep involved with the creative output. Lee moved away from Marvel in 1990, but remained a salaried employee as chairman emeritus. He went on to co-found several media companies, including Stan Lee Media and POW! Entertainment, and worked on a variety of comic and other media projects for them and others. Lee’s later life was full of great upheaval. His wife of 59 years died in 2017. At the same time, it was said he was the victim of elder abuse from his two businesses managers that wanted to get their hands on his assets. Lee sued POW! following their acquisition by Camsing International over a contract that granted them exclusive use of his likeness and that POW! took over his various social media accounts. The suit was dropped in 2018. Lee also retired from the grueling convention circuit in 2017, but told friend and colleague Roy Thomas he was still up for more cameos as long as he didn’t have to travel. Lee died in November of 2018 of cardiac arrest with respiratory failure and congestive heart failure. Tributes for Lee were added to the end of Once Upon A Deadpool, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Avengers: Endgame, and in the Marvel Studios logo for Captain Marvel.

Saturday Credits:

Fantastic Four (1967)

Spider-Man (1967)

The New Fantastic Four

Spider-Woman

Spider-Man (1981)

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

The Incredible Hulk (1982)

Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies

Pryde of the X-Men

X-Men: The Animated Series

Biker Mice from Mars (1993)

Spider-Man: The Animated Series

Silver Surfer

Avengers: United They Stand

Spider-Man Unlimited

X-Men: Evolution

The Spectacular Spider-Man

Wolverine and the X-Men

Big Hero 6: The Series

Marvel’s Spider-Man

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: JACK KIRBY

JACK KIRBY

(August 28, 1917-Feburary 6, 1994)

Notable Roles: Comic book artist, comic book writer, comic book publisher, storyboard artist, character designer

Born Jacob Kurtzberg, Kirby was a comic book artist, writer and editor regarded as one of the medium’s major innovators, the most prolific, and the most influential; which is why he was affectionately dubbed “The King”. He began in the 1930s, drawing under various pen names before settling on Kirby. He frequently partnered with writer-editor Joe Simon, which led to the creation of Captain America for Timely Comics (later Marvel) in 1941. After serving in WWII, Kirby worked for National Comics (later DC), Harvey Comics, Hillman Periodicals, Crestwood Publications (where he and Simon created the first romance comic, Young Romance) and started his own short-lived publishing company, Mainline Publications, with Simon. He returned to Timely, now known as Atlas Comics, and in the 1960s, with writer-editor Stan Lee, created the bulk of the company’s major characters: the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, the Avengers and more. As Marvel began licensing out their characters for adaptation, Kirby provided storyboards for the first Fantastic Four cartoon by Hanna-Barbera. In the 1970s, Kirby felt he wasn’t being treated fairly by Marvel; he felt publisher Martin Goodman made him numerous unfulfilled promises, had a lack of creative control, received no recognition for his story or character contributions, and was resentful over Lee’s prominence in the media. After getting an unfavorable contract, he left the company to return to DC where he created his Fourth World saga, OMAC, Kamandi, Etrigan and Kobra. Because DC kept putting him on books he didn’t want to work on, he returned to Marvel where he created The Eternals, Machine Man and Devil Dinosaur. Once again dissatisfied with his working conditions, Kirby left Marvel to work for Hanna-Barbera; designing characters for Turbo Teen, The New Shmoo, Thundarr and others. He also worked on the second Fantastic Four cartoon for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Kirby also branched out to storyboarding and designing for films; part of which led to his drawings being utilized in the CIA’s “Canadian Caper.” Kirby spent the 80s and 90s working for a variety of smaller publishers like Pacific Comics, Eclipse Comics and Topps Comics, doing a lot of creator-owned work. DC executives Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz had him re-design the Fourth World characters for the Super Powers toyline in order to get him some royalties for his creations, and he helped create The Centurions for Ruby-Spears Productions. Kirby also spent a great deal of time in a legal battle with Marvel over the return of his tens of thousands of original pages, which resulted in his only getting a fraction of his total output for the company back (many of them had been lost, stolen, or given away as gifts). The last comic Kirby worked on was Phantom Force for Image Comics before he died in 1994 from heart failure. An episode of Superman: The Animated Series, which made extensive use of his Fourth World and modeled the character of Dan Turpin after him, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), which adapted an original Mirage Studios story inspired by Kirby, were dedicated to his memory.

Saturday Credits:

Fantastic Four (1967)

The New Shmoo

The World’s Greatest Superfriends

The New Fantastic Four

Thundarr the Barbarian

Space Stars

Goldie Gold and Action Jack

Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Turbo Teen

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (characters)

The Incredible Hulk (1982, characters)

Mister T

Lazer Tag Academy

Pryde of the X-Men (characters)

X-Men: The Animated Series (characters)

Superman: The Animated Series (characters)

Silver Surfer (characters)

Avengers: United They Stand (characters)

X-Men: Evolution (characters)

Wolverine and the X-Men (characters)

Young Justice (characters)

Justice League Action (characters)

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: JANET WALDO

JANET WALDO

(February 4, 1919-June 12, 2016)

Notable Roles: Pearl Slaghoople, Libby Freeman, Lana Lang, Granny Sweet, Nancy, Penelope Pitstop, Judy Jetson, Josie McCoy, Morticia Addams, Mrs. Anders, Scooby Dee, Princess, Susan, Shanna the She-Devil, Zerona, Mayda Munny, Hogatha

Waldo got her start with bit parts and small roles in films beginning in 1938; although in 1941 she was the leading lady in three Westerns: Silver Stallion, The Bandit Trail and Land of the Open Range. Her big break came when she joined Cecil B. DeMille’s Lux Radio Theatre, leading to a radio career topped by the starring role in Meet Corliss Archer. Her likeness was used for the Meet Corliss Archer comic book published by Fox Feature Syndicate in 1948; the first time fans got any visual indication of what the character looked like. Waldo made the transition to television in 1952 with guest-starring roles on I Love Lucy, The Phil Silvers Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (reprising the role she played on the radio version) and others. She would make an appearance in another Lucille Ball series, The Lucy Show, playing Lucy’s sister in 1963. That year, she began her career as a voice actor in animation as supporting characters in Hanna-Barbera’s Loopy de Loop and Jonny Quest. She assumed the recurring role of Pearl Slaghoople, Wilma Flintstone’s (Jean Vander Pyl) mother, in The Flintstones franchise from Verna Felton in 1964. She also had a starring role in the short-lived sitcom Valentine’s Day as Libby Freeman. By 1966, Waldo had edged out of appearing on camera in favor of a voice career, primarily working for Hanna-Barbera; although she did do voices for Ruby-Spears Productions’ The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and The Puppy’s Further Adventures, Marvel Productions’ Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, and anime dubs such as the Princess in Battle of the Planets. Her most recognizable characters included Judy Jetson from The Jetsons franchise, Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races and its spin-off, and Josie McCoy from Josie and the Pussycats and its spin-off. Waldo continued acting until the new millennium, making a few documentary appearances afterward. Waldo died in 2016 from an inoperable brain tumor. At the time of her death, Waldo was the last surviving member of the original Jetsons cast.

Saturday Credits:

The Secret Squirrel Show

The Atom Ant Show

The New Adventures of Superman

The Space Kidettes

Shazzan

Fantastic Four (1967)

Wacky Races

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

Josie and the Pussycats

Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!

The Roman Holidays

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

Around the World in 80 Days

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

The Addams Family (1973)

Inch High, Private Eye

Jeannie

Hong Kong Phooey
These Are the Days

The New Tom & Jerry Show

Clue Club

Jabberjaw

CB Bears

Yogi’s Space Race

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

The New Fred and Barney Show

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

Heathcliff (1980)

The All-New Popeye Hour

ABC Weekend Specials (episodes)

Richie Rich

Thundarr the Barbarian

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

The Smurfs

The Gary Coleman Show

The Puppy’s Further Adventures

Rubik, the Amazing Cube

The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show

Pac-Man

Mister T

The Dukes

Saturday Supercade

Alvin & the Chipmunks

The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

Dink, the Little Dinosaur

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

Droopy, Master Detective

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: ALEX TOTH

ALEX TOTH

(June 25, 1928-May 27, 2006)

Notable Roles: Cartoonist, comic book artist, character designer

Toth displayed artistic talent early in his childhood and was encouraged by a teacher to pursue it. Toth enrolled in the School of Industrial Art where he studied illustration. He sold his first piece of freelance art at age 15 and worked on stories for Heroic magazine through comic book packager Steve Douglas. Toth had dreamed of doing newspaper strips but switched over to comic books after considering the strip industry “dying”. After graduating in 1947, Toth was hired by Sheldon Mayer at National Periodicals (precursor to DC Comics) where he would spend the next 5 years working on a variety of books as editor Julius Schwartz considered him “my best artist at the time.” In 1950, he briefly realized his dream of doing strips by ghost illustrating Casey Ruggles with Warren Tufts. In 1952, Toth moved to California and began a career with Standard Comics until he was drafted into the army. While stationed in Tokyo, Toth wrote and drew his own strip, Jon Fury, for the base paper, Depot Diary. Returning home in 1956, Toth worked for Dell Comics until 1960 when he became the art director for the animated science fiction show, Space Angel. Noticing his work, he was hired by Hanna-Barbera where he served as a character designer and layout artist. He created the characters of Space Ghost, The Herculoids, Birdman, the Galaxy Trio, Dino Boy and Johnny Quest, among others. In 1973, he was assigned to the Australian division to oversee production of Super Friends. Toth continued to work in comics, including doing the Hot Wheels comic that tied into the animated series. In 1990, he was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. Toth was known for his intense study of other artists and was often outspoken in his analysis of comic throughout the years. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he contributed the columns “Before I Forget” and “Who Cares? I Do!” to the magazines Comic Book Artist and Alter Ego, respectively. Although he left the animation industry following Bionic Six, his characters and designs found new life in the Cartoon Network parody shows Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab 2021, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. After years of declining health, Toth died in 2006 from a heart attack while working at his drawing table.

Saturday Credits:

Space Ghost and Dino Boy

The Herculoids

Shazzan

Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio

Fantastic Four (1967)

Sealab 2020

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

Super Friends (1973)

Devlin

Clue Club

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

Dynomutt, Dog Wonder

Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

The All-New Super Friends Hour

Challenge of the Super Friends

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1980)

Thundarr the Barbarian

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: PAUL FREES

PAUL FREES

(June 22, 1920-November 2, 1986)

Notable Roles: Ludwig Von Drake, Wally Walrus, Boris Baddenov, Inspector Fenwick, Captain Peter “Wrong Way” Peachfuzz, Squiddly Diddly, Morocco Mole, Double-Q, Yellow Pinkie, Claude Hopper, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ape, Baron Otto Matic, Evil Star, The Thing, Santa Claus, Burgermeister Meisterburger, K.A.R.R.

Frees was known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices”; a title he shared with colleague Mel Blanc. He began his career in the 1930s as an impressionist under the stage name Buddy Green. This skill set would prove to be a boon to his career as he would be called in to re-loop dialogue of other actors or correct for foreign accents in various productions. In 1942, he began a 40-year career in radio that was briefly interrupted by first being drafted into WWII and then attending the Chouinard Art Institute before his first wife’s failing health sent him back into it. Frees worked extensively with various animation studios of the time, including Disney, Warner Bros., Walter Lantz Productions, UPA, Jay Ward Productions, MGM (which would lead him to Hanna-Barbera), DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Rankin/Bass and Ruby-Spears. His first Saturday morning entry was The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, where he played multiple roles including primary antagonist Boris Baddenov. While best known for his voice work, Frees did make a few on-camera appearances in minor roles, was a songwriter and a screenwriter. Frees died in 1986 from an overdose of pain medication. Although ruled a suicide, his agent released a statement citing the cause was heart failure.

Saturday Credits:

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

The Dick Tracy Show

Hoppity Hooper

The Secret Squirrel Show

Super President

George of the Jungle

The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show

Shazzan

The Beatles

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure

Fantastic Four (1967)

The Pink Panther Show

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

Jackson 5ive

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

Run, Joe, Run

The Pink Panther Laugh and a Half Hour and a Half Show

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: DON MESSICK

DON MESSICK

(September 7, 1926-October 24, 1997)

Notable Roles: Ruff, Professor Gizmo, Ricochet Rabbit, Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, Muttley, Spike, Boo Boo Bear, Ranger Smith, Dr. Benton Quest, Mumbly, Godzooky, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Papa Smurf, Azrael, Dreamy Smurf, Astro, R.U.D.I., U.N.I.B.L.A.B., Hamton J. Pig, Droopy Dog

Messick originally wanted to be a ventriloquist and made a living at it early on. After performing in front of the program manager and chief announcer of radio station WBOC in Salisbury, Maryland, he was given his own weekly show at age 15 where he performed all of the voices and sound effects. After serving in the U.S. Army’s Special Services unit, Messick was hired by the Mutual Broadcasting radio station in Los Angeles to play Raggedy Andy and Farmer Seedling on The Raggedy Ann Show. At the suggestion of Daws Butler, director Tex Avery hired Messick to perform the voice of Droopy Dog when his regular actor, Bill Thompson, was unavailable, giving Messick his start in animation. He and Butler joined Hanna-Barbera as regular players in 1957 and were often paired together. Messick typically played sidekicks like Boo Boo Bear, provided the narration for various shows, or sound effects for various creatures. He became a major headliner when he was cast as the voice of Scooby-Doo, which would turn out to be the studio’s most enduring character. However, after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, he retired from the role, claiming quitting smoking robbed him of the rasp he needed to perform it (although he did perform one more time in a 1996 Burger King commercial). After suffering a stroke while recording in 1996, Messick retired from voice acting altogether. He died from a second stroke the following year.

Saturday Credits:

The Ruff & Reddy Show

The Secret Squirrel Show

The Atom Ant Show

Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles

Space Ghost & Dino Boy

Super President

Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor

The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show

Space Kidettes

Fantastic Four (1967)

Herculoids

Shazzan

Birdman and the Galaxy Trio

Wacky Races (1968)

The Adventures of Gulliver

Cattanooga Cats

The Archie Comedy Hour

Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

H.R. Pufnstuf

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (1969)

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Doctor Dolittle (1970)

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

Josie and the Pussycats (1970)

Help!... It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!

Harlem Globe Trotters

The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show

The Funky Phantom

The Flintstone Comedy Hour

The Barkleys

The Houndcats

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie

Jeannie

The Addams Family (1973)

Bailey’s Comets

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

Inch High, Private Eye

Yogi’s Gang

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch

Hong Kong Phooey
These Are the Days

The New Tom & Jerry Show

The Oddball Couple

Jabberjaw

The Mumbly Cartoon Show

Dynomutt Dog Wonder

The Skatebirds

Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics

CB Bears

Fred Flintstone and Friends

Baggy Pants & the Nitwits

Yogi’s Space Race

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

The New Fantastic Four

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

Challenge of the Superfriends

Dinky Dog

The New Fred and Barney Show

ABC Weekend Specials

Fred and Barney Meet the Thing

The Super Globetrotters

Godzilla (1978)

Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979)

The Flintstones Comedy Show

Drak Pack

The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show

The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang

Space Stars

Heathcliff (1980)

Trollkins

The Kwicky Koala Show

Spider-Man (1981)

The Smurfs

The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour

The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show

Saturday Supercade

The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

The Mighty Orbots

Get Along Gang

Yogi’s Treasure Hunt

Pink Panther and Sons

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

Galtar and the Golden Lance

Scooby’s Mystery Funhouse

Popeye and Son

The Real Ghostbusters

Foofur

Pound Puppies (1986)

DuckTales (1987)

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

Garfield and Friends

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera

Tom & Jerry Kids Show

Tiny Toon Adventures

Bobby’s World

Yo Yogi!

The Plucky Duck Show

Droopy, Master Detective

Freakazoid!

STAN LEE DEAD AT 95

You can read the full story here.

Writer, editor, publisher, and the self-proclaimed “King of Cameos”. Stan was one of the architects for what would become known as the Marvel Universe, involved in the creation of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk, the Avengers, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Mighty Thor, Daredevil and others, as well as the foundations for their individual worlds and supporting characters. His bombastic personality and engaging prose led to his becoming the face of Marvel comics, and one of its most well-known creators.

As Marvel expanded its characters into other media, Stan had various levels of involvement with their productions; particularly during the brief existence of Marvel Productions. Traditionally, Stan has received an “executive producer” credit on any Marvel-based project, including the Marvel-produced Biker Mice From Mars (1993). However, he was actively involved as the story and art consultant for Spider-Man (1967) and Fantastic Four (1967), wrote several scripts for The New Fantastic Four, was the executive story editor for RoboCop: The Animated Series and the supervising producer for Pryde of the X-Men. He also developed Spider-Woman and oversaw the development of X-Men: The Animated Series’ first season and Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

Some of his legendary cameos came in the form of the narrator for Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, The Incredible Hulk (1982), and Pryde of the X-Men. He appeared on screen as himself in a fantasy sequence of Muppet Babies, meeting Spider-Man in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and pulled double-duty as a cameraman in Marvel’s Spider-Man. He also reprised his role as Fred’s Dad from the Big Hero 6 film in a recurring role in Big Hero 6: The Series.

 

40TH ANNIVERSARIES

FANTASTIC FOUR (1978)

FANTASTIC FOUR (1978)

(NBC, September 9-December 16, 1978)

DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Marvel Comics Animation

MAIN CAST:

Mike Road – Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards

Ginny Tyler – Invisible Girl/Susan Richards

Ted Cassidy – The Thing/Benjamin J. Grimm, Mole Man

Frank Welker – H.E.R.B.I.E., Impossible Man

Dick Tufeld - Narrator

For the history of the Fantastic Four, check out the post here.

            The second Fantastic Four cartoon was probably the most hated. The reason being? One word: H.E.R.B.I.E.

The Fantastic Four, featuring H.E.R.B.I.E.

Before Marvel became an entertainment powerhouse at the box office, they were constantly struggling to bring their characters out of the comics and onto the screen. They often had to rely on other studios, and thus made deals licensing out their characters for production. In 1977, Universal Studios optioned an assortment of characters for various live-action productions. Most famously in that deal was the Hulk for The Incredible Hulk television series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Universal also optioned the Human Torch. JUST the Human Torch.

H.E.R.B.I.E. helping work the Fantasticar.

When NBC’s Fred Silverman wanted to commission a new Fantastic Four series, Universal would not allow the use of the Torch (ironically, NBC would come to share owners with Universal decades later). A popular myth that had spread over the years was he was left out in fear kids would try to emulate him and set themselves on fire (forgetting that Hanna-Barbera had successfully produced a show with the Torch back in 1967 with nary a reported fatality). In the comics up to this point, the Inhumans Crystal and Medusa and hero for hire Luke Cage served as alternate members of the team, as others would as well down the line. But, instead of using an established Marvel character, they decided to use an all-new one: H.E.R.B.I.E. (Frank Welker).

The strange Inhumans.

H.E.R.B.I.E., or Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-Type, Integrated Electronics, was a robot created by Mr. Fantastic (Mike Road) to aid in his experiments and their exploratory missions. Stan Lee pitched the idea of a cute robot sidekick to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, with comic artist Dave Cockrum commissioned to design it. However, Cockrum ended up disliking the character immensely and was replaced by Fantastic Four co-creator Jack Kirby.  Lee would also serve as a writer for the show, while Kirby provided storyboards.

The menace of Magneto!

Like the previous Fantastic Four series, it adapted some of the plots from actual comic stories, albeit heavily altered especially for the inclusion of H.E.R.B.I.E. For instance, “Medusa and the Inhumans” adapted the first encounter of the Inhumans and the Fantastic Four from Fantastic Four vol. 1 #45 (1965), but they were led by Medusa instead of her husband, Black Bolt, and had typical villain plans for world conquest. Medusa later returned as a member of the Frightful Four in the same-titled episode, however as a willing member and not under the influence of amnesia as depicted in Fantastic Four vol. 1 #36 (1965). “Calamity on Campus” was based on Fantastic Four vol. 1 #35 (1965) but relocated the story’s setting to St. Louis, Missouri instead of the fictional New York State town of Hegeman and omitted the alchemist villain Diablo. Along with the standard Fantastic Four foes, like armored arch-nemesis Dr. Doom (John Stephenson), the android Dragon Man, the subterranean Mole Man (Ted Cassidy), and the shape-changing alien Impossible Man (Welker), there were also appearances by some original characters and even the X-Men’s Magneto (although, he wasn’t called a mutant during his appearance and was depicted as a typical crook, voiced by Stephenson).

Ad for the series.

Fantastic Four, also known as The New Fantastic Four, debuted on NBC on September 9, 1978. The series actually began development at Hanna-Barbera when Marvel decided they wanted to shift the show over to DePatie-Freleng. As a trade-off, Hanna-Barbera got the Godzilla cartoon DePatie-Freleng was working on. Along with Lee, the series was written by Roy Thomas, Bob Johnson, Christy Marx and Bob Stitzel. In an unusual move, the episode would begin immediately after the intro with narration by Dick Tufeld, and then cut to the title card shortly after instead of at the traditional start of the episode following the intro. The series’ theme was composed by Dean Elliott and Eric Rogers, with the remainder of the music done by Elliott. 

 

Even Dr. Doom is a completionist when it comes to his action figure collection.

The result was that nobody was particularly happy with the show—especially Silverman. Lee even sent a letter to Hanna-Barbera’s Margaret Loesch detailing his desire for the next attempt at the Fantastic Four to be more action-oriented. Despite DePatie-Freleng’s attempts to salvage the license with a proposed Thing spin-off, Silverman was ready to move on entirely. He took back the rights to the Thing and gave them back to Hanna-Barbera to combine with an idea they had to make The Thing. DePatie-Freleng turned their attentions to another Marvel hero, Spider-Woman, before eventually being taken over by Marvel’s parent company, Cadence Industries, to become Marvel’s first studio, Marvel Productions.

H.E.R.B.I.E.'s comics debut.

At 13 episodes, this was the shortest Fantastic Four cartoon to date. H.E.R.B.I.E., while not a popular character, soon found his way into the comics in Fantastic Four vol. 1 #209 (1979) by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Glynis Wein and Tom Orzechowski. The story’s explanation for his creation was that Mr. Fantastic was inspired to build H.E.R.B.I.E. after the character was included in an in-universe television show as a replacement for the Torch who was unavailable to give permission to use his likeness. H.E.R.B.I.E. has since appeared in a variety of comics, programs, movies and merchandise. 

The cover to Fantastic Four #236, celebrating 20 years of the comic.

For the comic’s 20^th anniversary celebration in Fantastic Four vol. 1 #236 (1981), Marvel decided to include finished and reworked storyboards from the episode “The Challenge of Dr. Doom” as a clunky 14-page back-up story without Kirby’s knowledge or permission. At this time, Kirby’s relationship with Marvel was strained—along with the comic industry in general—as he was trying to reclaim his original artwork from the company, and had refused to provide a new story for the issue. While his name was used to promote the story on the cover, a caricature of Kirby standing next to Lee was removed from the cover drawn by Byrne at Kirby’s behest.

One of the VHS release covers.

            Milton Bradley made a board game inspired by the show, which had players rescuing H.E.R.B.I.E. from Dr. Doom. Prism Entertainment Corp. released six episodes to VHS as part of their Marvel Comics Video Library across several volumes. A two-video set featuring “Meet Doctor Doom” and “The Olympics of Space” was also released. Morningstar Entertainment transferred several of the videos in the Marvel Library series to DVD for release in Canada, which included ‘Meet Doctor Doom” and “The Impossible Man”. The complete series was released to DVD in the United Kingdom in 2010 by Clear Vision Ltd. In 2012, scenes from the series were used and reworked as comical shorts for Disney XD’s Marvel Mash-Up as part of their Marvel Universe on Disney XD programming block.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“A Monster Among Us” (9/9/78) – The Fantastic Four take on an alien monster that crash-landed on Earth.

“The Menace of Magneto” (9/16/78) – Magneto wins leadership of the team from Mr. Fantastic and turns them into criminals.

“The Phantom of Film City” (9/23/78) – The Fantastic Four’s movie is plagued by Skrulls.

“Medusa and the Inhumans” (9/30/78) – The Fantastic Four investigate reports of strange beings in the Alps and end up prisoners of the Inhumans.

“The Diamond of Doom” (10/7/78) – The sinister Queen Sebel enlists the Fantastic Four’s aid in retrieving the Great White Stone stolen from her.

“The Mole Man” (10/14/78) – The Fantastic Four have to stop Mole Man’s theft of power plants around the world.

“The Olympics of Space” (10/21/78) – Thing is abducted by warring aliens and made to compete in their contests.

“The Fantastic Four Meet Doctor Doom” (10/28/78) – Doctor Doom forces the Fantastic Four to go back in time to steal the treasure of Blackbeard.

“The Frightful Four” (11/4/78) – Wizard creates his own team, the Frightful Four, to combat the Fantastic Four.

“Calamity on the Campus” (11/11/78) – Gregson Gilbert’s robotic Dragon Man ends up stolen by his assistant for his own sinister purposes.

“The Impossible Man” (11/18/78) – A shapeshifting alien comes to Earth and inadvertently befriends a criminal who makes use of his abilities.

“The Final Victory of Doctor Doom” (11/25/78) – Doctor Doom blackmails the United States into turning the country over to him.

“Blastaar, the Living Bomb Burst” (12/2/78) – The discovery of the Negative Zone leads to Mr. Fantastic accidentally unleashing Blastaar on the planet.

Originally posted in 2018. Updated in 2025.