25TH ANNIVERSARIES

 We head into the 90s with the shows turning

DAVID HEMBLEN DEAD AT 79

You can read the full story here.

A star of stage and screen, he was probably best known for his role of Magneto in X-Men: The Animated Series. Additionally, he played the Vaultkeeper and several minor roles in the second season of Tales from the Cryptkeeper; Baron DeKlaus in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective; The Supreme Intelligence and Husserl in Silver Surfer; Mack Salmon in an episode of The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police; and Hephaestus, a royal hunter and a villager in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend. He also provided additional voices for WildC.A.T.S.: Covert Action Teams and The NeverEnding Story (1995).

RIP NORM SPENCER

You can see the announcement here.

He was best known as Cyclops, aka Scott Summers, in X-Men: The Animated Series and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He was also Drax in Silver Surfer, Hades in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend, and Billy Blazes in Rescue Heroes, and provided voices for Piggsburg Pigs! and Ultraforce.

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)

D.C. FONTANA DEAD AT 80

You can read the full story here.

Best known for her association and contributions to the Star Trek franchise, she served as a script consultant, story editor, associate producer and even wrote an episode for Star Trek: The Animated Series. She also provided scripts for an episode of ReBoot and Silver Surfer. 

RIP RICK BENNETT

You can read the full story here.

He provided the voice of the Juggernaut in X-Men: The Animated Series and subsequent video games, Votrick in Silver Surfer, and Ares in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend. He also provided additional voices for the Ultraforce cartoon.

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.

 

DENIS AKIYAMA DEAD AT 66

You can read the full story here.

It was just reported that Akiyama had died on June 28th. While never starring on Saturday morning, he did provide voices for a variety of guest roles. He voiced Dockwell in two episodes of WildC.A.T.S.: Covert Action Teams, Iceman and Silver Samurai in X-Men: The Animated Series, Watcher Prime in Silver Surfer: The Animated Series, Mr. Referee in the English version of Medabots, Amycus and another cyclops in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend, and Dr. Chris Johnson in an episode of Avengers: United They Stand. 

 

HARLAN ELLISON DEAD AT 84

You can read the full story here.

Ellison was a notable science-fiction author who also dabbled a bit in acting. He had unspecified voice credits for Mother Goose and Grimm and The Pirates of Dark Water, and contributed a story for an episode of Silver Surfer. 

SILVER SURFER

SILVER SURFER

(FOX, February 7-May 29, 1998)

Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Studios, Saban International A.G., Fox Kids Worldwide

MAIN CAST:

Paul Essiembre – Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd

James Blendick – Galactus

Gary Krawford – Thanos

Colin Fox – Uatu

Camilla Scott – Shalla-Bal

        The character that wasn’t supposed to exist.

The moment that launched a universe.

             Going into the 1960s, Stan Lee’s duties at Marvel Comics had grown exponentially to the point his time was a premium. He and Jack Kirby had just propelled the company into a new era with the debut of Fantastic Four vol. 1 #1 in 1961, with more and more superheroes joining them every year. Lee was editing and writing a good portion of Marvel’s output at the time. With deadlines looming and artists sitting idly by waiting for the next script, Lee devised a way to keep production going around his hectic schedule: let the artists tell the story.

Galactus arrives.

             In what would come to be dubbed “The Marvel Method,” Lee would discuss the plot of a book with the artist either at length or in a brief quickly-typed page and then let the artist go to town. The artist would then give Lee the completed artwork with some notes on what was going on in the story, and Lee would write the dialogue and sound effects and hand it off to the letterer. Lee had already been working this way with Kirby, whose profile in the industry granted him some creative freedom, and with Steve Ditko, although that stemmed from a growing animosity between the two, and had resulted in some of the company’s best-selling books. Over the years, this method of writing has led to debate over how much Lee actually contributed to the books that bore his name; especially when one considers the case of Fantastic Four vol. 1 #48 (1966).

Norrin's sacrifice.

Galactus is a cosmic entity with an overwhelming hunger that could only be satisfied by consuming the entire life force of a planet, rendering it dead and inert. Finally, Galactus set his sights on Earth leaving the heroic Fantastic Four with the herculean task of saving their planet. In what was intended to be a simple story of the Fantastic Four versus the massive Galactus, artist Jack Kirby had snuck in a new character of his own creation: The Silver Surfer, a being whose body was entirely covered in silver and who rode a silvery surf board through the cosmos. Kirby postulated that a being like Galactus would have a herald as a sort of advance scout to do the heavy searching for sustenance sources, to which Galactus would then follow. The reason for Surfer’s mode of transport was because Kirby had grown tired of drawing spaceships.

Creation of the Surfer.

The Surfer began as Norrin Radd, citizen of the planet Zenn-La, which was once on Galactus’ menu. To save his planet and the love of his life, Shalla-Bal, Radd offered himself up as Galactus’ herald to aid in his quest with the intention of leading Galactus to suitable planets devoid of sentient life; thus, sparing billions. Galactus infused Radd with the Power Cosmic, turning him into the Silver Surfer. But it came with a price: Radd’s soul had been altered by Galactus, making him forget his intentions. 

Alicia reawakens the Surfer's humanity.

Lee, initially skeptical of the character, grew to appreciate him and the Surfer became an integral part of the story as he would become touched by the nobility of the Thing’s then-girlfriend, blind sculptress Alicia Masters, and turn against his master. Galactus is driven off, exiling Radd to Earth with the erection of an invisible barrier around the planet. Popular with readers, the Surfer would return for several guest-starring spots in Fantastic Four before gaining his own series in 1968, the first of several, and becoming a mainstay in the Marvel Universe. In 1967, Surfer made his animation debut on Hanna-Barbera’s Fantastic Four cartoon voiced by Vic Perrin, and then had his origin retold in the 1994 version as part of The Marvel Action Hour on Sundays voiced by Robin Sachs.

Norrin and Shalla-Bal.

             Fox Kids head Margaret Loesch had successfully brought Marvel to television in the 1990s with the hit shows X-Men: The Animated Series and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Also having an affinity for the Silver Surfer, he was the subject of the next Marvel offering for the network. Developed by Larry Brody, the series was heavily influenced by the work of Kirby and inker Joe Sinnott in its look for both settings and the characters designed by Roy Burdine and Shannon Denton. To create an original visual presentation, the series was done in a blend of traditional cel animation and computer animation; particularly for the scenes set in space and Galactus himself. The computer animation was overseen by art director Dale Hendrickson.

Galactus.

         Silver Surfer debuted on FOX on February 7, 1998 and was co-produced by Saban International. They chose to begin the series with a retelling of the Surfer’s (Paul Essiembre) origin; however, the Fantastic Four was omitted in the Surfer’s decision to save Earth to keep the show’s focus on the Surfer entirely. And, instead of being trapped on Earth, Galactus (James Blendick) punished Surfer by hiding Zenn-La from him. The series was notable for being the most verbose of any action-oriented cartoon; duplicating the dense monologues Lee would script for the character in the comics. Along with Brody, the series was written by Michael Steven Gregory, Dallas L. Barnes, Harlan Ellison, D.C. Fontana, Mark Hoffmeier, Christopher Kane, Jeffrey Knokey, Andrea Lawrence, Alan Swayze and Brooks Wachtel. Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (under the alias Kussa Mahchi) served as the series composers, and animation duties were handled by AKOM.

Surfer vs. Thanos.

             While Galactus would make appearances throughout the show’s run, the ultimate villain of the show was Thanos (Gary Krawford), an all-powerful being set on destroying the universe to win the love of Lady Chaos (changed from Death due to FOX’s standards and practices, voiced by Lally Chadeau). Like the other Marvel shows of the decade, Silver Surfer featured guest-appearances by other Marvel characters; particularly from their space-based stable. Amongst them were Uatu the Watcher (Colin Fox), a being part of a race dedicated to observing history as it transpired without interfering; the genetically engineered perfect being Adam Warlock and his dark counterpart, the Magus (both Oliver Becker); Pip the Troll (Robert Bockstael), a teleporting being created as part of the Kree’s slave labor force; space mercenary Nebula (Jennifer Dale); Ego the Living Planet (Roy Lewis); Gamora (Mary Long & Alison Sealy-Smith), the most dangerous woman in the galaxy; Galactus’ new herald from Earth, Nova, aka Frankie Raye (Tara Rosling), who served as an alternative love interest for the Surfer; Drax the Destroyer (Norm Spencer), a cyborg with an organic brain created by Thanos’ father (brother in the show due to a typo) Mentor (Cedric Smith) to battle Thanos; Beta Ray Bill (Karl Pruner), who in the comics was associated with the Norse thunder god Thor but instead merely shared characteristics with him, and whose people were locked in a group dream utilizing Zenn-La technology; and the cosmic entities Eternity (John Neville), the embodiment of the multiverse, and Infinity (Elizabeth Shepherd), representing the totality of space.

Beta Ray Bill.

             When the show was in production, Marvel was undergoing financial trouble that would result in its eventual bankruptcy and subsequent reorganization. This also led to some legal disputes between Marvel and Saban. The first season had been completed and aired, and production for the second season had already begun. After 8 scripts for season two had been written, production was shut down while both parties worked it out. Ultimately, Silver Surfer ended up being cancelled by Fox despite its strong performance in the ratings in favor of starting over fresh with Marvel and looking into new properties for adaptation. That took the form of Spider-Man Unlimited, also helmed by Brody, and Avengers: United They Stand, both debuting in 1999.

Nova.

In the time since, Brody has released the series bible, the scripts for the first season, and the scripts for season two on his website, along with additional material. Silver Surfer was the last Marvel cartoon to be relatively faithful to the source material as all of the programs since have had a focus on drastically reinventing the characters and story by either changing locations, adjusting character’s ages, or being based on movie properties. In 2019, it became one of the launch titles for the streaming service Disney+.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 1” (2/7/98) – Galactus comes to feed on Zenn-La, and Norrin Radd offers himself as Galactus’ herald if he spares the planet.

“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 2” (2/14/98) – Surfer, devoid of memory, undergoes his new task as herald, but finds deep feelings stirring inside of him.

“The Origin of the Silver Surfer – Part 3” (2/21/98) – Galactus threatens Earth, sparking the return of Surfer’s memory and causing him to rebel against his master.

“The Planet of Dr. Moreau” (2/28/98) – Searching for a way back to Zenn-La, Surfer ends up entangled in a battle against the Kree.

“Learning Curve Part 1” (3/7/98) – Surfer’s search for Zenn-La leads him to the Universal Library, base of the knowledge of the Watchers, and to trouble.

“Learning Curve Part 2” (3/14/98) – Surfer must choose between obtaining all knowledge in the universe or remaining human and free.

“Innervisions” (4/4/98) – To save a planet, Surfer must destroy the foundation of its existence.

“Antibody” (4/11/98) –  Galactus is dying, and only the Surfer can save him.

“Second Foundation” (4/25/98) – Nova attempts to help Surfer find Zenn-La, but they end up on the Skrull homeworld instead.

“Radical Justice” (5/2/98) – Galactus’ survivors capture Surfer and put him on trial for crimes against all life.

“The Forever War” (5/29/98) – Surfer must accomplish a task for the Kree before they will allow him audience with their Supreme Intelligent for help home.

 “Return to Zenn-La” (5/9/98) – Surfer finally returns home, but soon discovers it’s a construct of Ego, the Living Planet, who seeks to repay his debt.

 “The End of Eternity, Part 1” (5/16/98) – Eternity and Infinity recruit Surfer to stop Thanos from causing time to flow backwards, thus destroying the universe.

Originally posted in 2018. Updated in 2025.