40TH ANNIVERSARIES

 What? Say it ain't so! It's our anniversary, but these shows can't be going on

FRED LADD DEAD AT 94

 

You can read the full story here.

He was credited as being one of the first to introduce anime to North America, which included writing and voice directing the English dub of Astro Boy (1963). He also wrote for Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976), The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!, Hero High and The Incredible Hulk (1982).

MARTIN PASKO DEAD AT 65

You can read the full story here.

Along with a notable stint in writing and editing comic books, including working on DC Comics’ first Batman Adventures series and Marvel Comics’ Gargoyles, he wrote episodes of Thundarr the Barbarian, Blackstar, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Incredible Hulk (1982), Mister T, The Berenstain Bears, Teen Wolf (1986), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), Superman (1988), Batman: The Animated Series (including the film Mask of the Phantasm), and The Tick (1994). He also served as a story editor for the second season of Thundarr, Batman: The Animated Series, and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, which he also helped develop. 

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

PRESENTING: THE VOICES OF THE AVENGERS

To commemorate the release of Avengers: Endgame, we present our latest infographic highlighting all those who voiced the Avengers on Saturday Mornings. We counted official cinematic Avengers only, but don't worry: we'll get to the other characters in due time.

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.

 

SMF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (PART 6)

This weekend, we continue our 3 year anniversary celebration.

As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 35. Yeah, let that sink in--you first saw these programs 35 years ago.

Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page, or on Twitter @SatMForever. We'd love to hear from you!

Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...

NOTE: Not all intros available at this time.

CELEBRATING THE JACK KIRBY CENTENNIAL

Without Jack Kirby, many of the comic-based Saturday morning shows we've enjoyed wouldn't have existed. Today, we honor "The King" on his 100th.

ALAN YOUNG DEAD AT 96

Alan Young died on May 19. You can read the full story here.

Best known as the long-serving voice of Disney’s Scrooge McDuck since 1974, Young was also Mr. Frump in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends; the Cyclops Computer in The Incredible Hulk (1982); Gaggy Rogers in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show; Farmer Smurf, Scaredy Smurf, and Miner Smurf in The Smurfs; Tod Baker in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series; Mr. McDonald in an episode of Static Shock; and several roles in episodes of ABC Weekend Specials. He also provided additional voices in Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979), Rubik the Amazing Cube, The Dukes and Alvin & the Chipmunks (1983).

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1982)

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

(NBC, September 18, 1982-October 8, 1983)

Marvel Productions

MAIN CAST:

Michael Bell – Dr. Bruce Banner, Dr. Octopus

Bob Holt – Hulk, Puppet Master

B.J. Ward – Betty Ross

Michael Horton – Rick Jones

Pat Fraley – Major Ned Talbot

Stan Lee - Narrator

            Dr. Bruce Banner was a scientist with a dark secret. While rescuing wayward teenager Rick Jones from the site where Banner was testing his new gamma bomb, Banner was bombarded by gamma rays. The result was that every time Banner would grow angry or outraged, he’d transform into a massively strong green behemoth known as the Hulk. 

The origin of the Hulk.

Seeing how popular the Thing was in the then-recently launched Fantastic Four series, Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee took inspiration from Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to create the Hulk with artist Jack Kirby. The Hulk debuted in The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) and was initially depicted as gray to avoid portraying any specific ethnic group. The printer’s inability to easily render that color forced his skin be changed to green with the next issue, which is what it has remained for the majority of the character’s life. The initial series was cancelled with #6, but the Hulk would go on to guest-star in several other Marvel titles as well as co-found the Avengers before gaining a permanent feature in Tales to Astonish with issue #60, where most of his principle villains would be introduced. The character’s popularity with college-aged readers led to the book to become retitled The Incredible Hulk with #102, and the Hulk had a series in one form or another ever since.

With Universal Studios’ very successful and popular live-action The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno winding down, the time had come to return Hulk to his animated roots after giving audiences a taste with his appearance in an episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Produced by Marvel Productions, the series closely followed the comics with Banner (Michael Bell) trying to stay ahead of the military while finding a cure to free himself of the Hulk (Bob Holt). However, only Rick Jones (Michael Horton) knew that Banner was actually the Hulk, in a change from the comics where it is widely known. Another difference was that whenever Hulk reverted back to Banner, his missing clothing, torn away in the transformation, would miraculously return, albeit in a disheveled state.

Hulk leaping.

The character designs were inspired by the artwork of Sal Buscema, who had worked on the comic during the 70s and 80s. The fluid animation was a big step-up from the extremely limited movement of the earlier Hulk cartoon that aired as part of 1966’s The Marvel Super Heroes, despite utilizing stock footage whenever Banner Hulked-out. Hulk’s sidekick Rick Jones was modified slightly by being given blonde hair and always shown wearing a cowboy hat. Banner’s girlfriend, Betty Ross (B.J. Ward), was made a research scientist who worked alongside Banner. Hulk’s principal antagonist was renamed Ned Talbot (Pat Fraley) rather than Glenn like in the comics, and was changed into a cowardly klutz. In order to avoid censorship issues with a younger audience, many of the weapons featured on the show were done in futuristic sci-fi styles.

Rick Jones and the Hulk.

Other characters to appear on the show from the Hulk books were his super-smart arch-enemy, The Leader (Stan Jones), and General Thunderbolt Ross (Robert Ridgely), who headed up the task force dedicated to stopping the Hulk. Hulk’s cousin Jennifer Walters made her first appearance outside of comics since being introduced only two years prior as the Savage She-Hulk (Victoria Carroll, who happened to be the wife of Bell); the result of needing a blood transfusion from her cousin when she was injured and his gamma-irradiated blood mutating hers. The mechanical-limbed Dr. Octopus (Bell) made an appearance from Spider-Man’s rogue gallery along with the Fantastic Four’s foe Puppet Master (Holt), who could control anyone by molding their shape with radioactive clay. New characters introduced in the series were Rio (Roberto Cruz) and his daughter Rita (Susan Blu), who served as comic relief and Rick’s girlfriend, respectively. Stan Lee served as the series’ narrator.

The Incredible Hulk debuted on NBC on September 18, 1982. It was broadcast alongside the second season and reruns of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends in an hour-long block under the blanket title The Incredible Hulk and the Amazing Spider-Man. The second season of Amazing Friends ended up being only 3-episodes long due to Marvel Productions dedicating all of their resources towards Hulk. The series was written by Michael Reaves, Dennis Marks, Arthur Browne Jr., Fred Ladd, Martin Pasko, Misty Stewart-Taggart, Paul Dini and Marc Scott Zicree, with Marks serving as story editor. The series was animated by Dong Seo Animation and XAM! Productions. Johnny Douglas provided the music.

Hulk only lasted a single season of 13 episodes. It was rerun for an additional season alongside new episodes of Amazing Friends with the block retitled The Amazing Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, and later as part of the Marvel Action Universe, which served as a showcase of Marvel Productions programs. The episode “When Monsters Meet” was adapted into comic form by Marvel as The Incredible Hulk vs. Quasimodo in 1983, by regular Hulk contributors Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. Then-series editor Al Milgrom, dressed as the Hulk, appeared in a one-page back-up feature explaining the origin of the story. 

Enter: She-Hulk!

Two episodes were released to VHS as part of Prism Entertainment’s Marvel Comics Video Library, as well as two volumes containing three-episodes each. The first episode was released by Best Film & Video Corp. on the second volume of their Marvel Matinee series. Starting in 2012, scenes from the show, as well as  Amazing Friends, were cut, edited ad re-dubbed into comical shorts as part of the Marvel Mash-Up segments of Disney XD’s Marvel Universe on Disney XD programming block. They were shown between episodes of Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which also starred the Hulk with voices provided by Gabriel Mann and Fred Tatasciore. The series was made available to stream on Prime Video and Google Play.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Tomb of the Unknown Hulk” (9/18/82) – Solar radiation is causing Bruce to randomly change just as Dr. Octopus sets his sights on General Ross’ army base for their Kerium 99.

“Prisoner of the Monster” (9/25/82) – Rio tells Bruce about an ancient tribe that may have a cure for him, while Spymaster plans to steal the experimental Sonar Chrystalizer weapon.

“Origin of the Hulk” (10/2/82) – Bruce saves Rick from his gamma bomb, resulting in his being bombarded and changed into the Hulk.

“When Monsters Meet” (10/9/82) – In Paris, the descendant of Quasimodo kidnaps Betty in order to get the key she carries to a secret gold vault.

“The Cyclops Project” (10/16/82) – Dr. Donovan invents a super computer that develops artificial sentience and believes it should control the world.

“Bruce Banner Unmasked” (10/23/82) – General Ross has Bruce and Betty use a computer to determine Hulk’s identity while Puppet Master uses his puppets to take over Mesa City.

“The Creature and the Cavegirl” (10/30/82) – Bruce hopes to use the new Time Projector to go back and stop the Hulk’s creation, but Hulk ends up sending them back a million years instead.

“It Lives! It Grows! It Destroys!” (11/6/82) – Dr. Proto drains power from Bruce’s experiments to create a new life form that proves to be unstoppable.

“The Incredible Shrinking Hulk” (11/13/82) – Bruce accidentally shrinks himself while experimenting with gamma rays, and saboteurs target the new tank Major Talbot is testing.

“Punks on Wheels” (9/17/83) – Rita is kidnapped by a biker gang who have been given cybernetic upgrades by the Leader.

“Enter: She-Hulk” (9/24/83) – Bruce and Rick discover Bruce’s cousin became She-Hulk after a past blood transfusion from him and helps them stop Hydra from taking over Los Angeles.

“The Boy Who Saw Tomorrow” (10/1/83) – Betty’s nephew can see the future and sees the Hulk bringing down the NASA shuttle Betty pilots.

“The Hulk Destroys Bruce Banner” (10/8/83) – Betty believes the Hulk killed Bruce and vows to capture him.

Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2022.