Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Aquaman was created
by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger for More Fun Comics#73 (1941) during
the period known as the Golden Age of
comics.He is the ruler of the
undersea kingdom of Atlantis and
possesses super strength, speed, and the ability to communicate with sea-life
via a form of telepathy.
Aquaman's Golden Age origin.
Like many other early
comic characters, Aquaman’s origin had undergone some revisions over time.
Initially, his father, a human undersea explorer, discovered the ancient
civilization of Atlantis and chose to live there with his son after the death
of his wife. There, he taught his son how to survive in water and gained
additional abilities through scientific means. This origin prevailed throughout
his remaining appearances in More Fun
Comics until #107,
when he was moved over as a starring feature in Adventure Comics#103 (1946).
Tom Curry meets Atlanna.
During the Silver Age of Comics, his origin was revamped by Robert Bernstein
and Ramona Fradon in Adventure Comics #260 (1959) to
have his mother, Atlanna,
be an Atlantean outcast who fell in love with human lighthouse keeper Tom Curry. They had a son,
Arthur, who inherited his abilities from his mother. He had decided to use his
powers to defend Earth’s oceans, adopting the identity of first Aquaboy and
later Aquaman. In The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960),
he became one of the founding members of the Justice League of
America; a team of superheroes that banded together to protect the world of
threats too severe for the heroes to handle by themselves.
Aquaman vs. Black Manta.
In 1962 Aquaman finally received his own self-titled series. It was
during this period that Aquaman’s mother had died and Tom eventually remarried
a human woman. Together, they had a son named Orm. Orm grew up jealous of
Arthur and turned to petty theft, eventually contracting amnesia and becoming his
arch-nemesis Ocean Master:
a high-tech pirate who attacked ships and caused natural disasters. Other foes
introduced were The Fisherman
(Aquaman #21, 1965), a high-tech international criminal with a
pressure suit, collapsible fishing rod, and gimmick lures; Black Manta (Aquaman #35, 1967), a mysterious armored figure whose suit
allows him to exist in the water, fly, and fire eye beams amongst a myriad of
weaponry; and the terrorist organization known as O.G.R.E.
(Organization for General Revenge and Enslavement, Aquaman #26, 1976).
Aqualad and Tusky rescue Mera.
Aquaman wasn’t just making enemies, though. Along the way he befriended
Aqualad (Adventure Comics #269, 1960); another
Atlantean outcast and orphan that Aquaman took under his wing and mentored. In Aquaman #11 (1963), Aquaman was introduced to his future wife,
Mera; queen of an alternate dimension called Dimension Aqua. In
addition to having similar powers to Aquaman (sans the telepathy), she could
create hard water objects and control certain amounts of water.
Aquaman and Aqualad on Storm and Imp.
In 1966, Filmation Associates
had produced their first television program: The
New Adventures of Superman. With that show’s success, they acquired the
rights to further DC Comics (then-National
Periodical Publications) superheroes. They created a show based around Aquaman,
bringing him (Marvin Miller), Aqualad (Jerry Dexter) and Mera (Diana Maddox) to
life along with an assortment of his foes. Unlike Superman, Aquman
was played more towards the campy tone of the live-action Batmanseries that
inspired CBS’ foray into superheroes. Helping
that tone was the inclusion of the giant seahorses named Storm and Imp, which
Aquaman and Aqualad rode, and the comic-relief pet walrus named Tusky
(seahorses appeared nameless in the comics; both Imp and Tusky were voiced by
Knight, who also provided episode narration). Aqualad also took a cue from Robin’s playbook with the
constant exclamation of “Holy halibut!”
As with Superman, Filmation
produced two 6-minute episodes for each half hour. The remaining time was
filled by an alternating segment featuring different “guest” characters for a
series of three episodes each. The first segment involved the Justice League of
America, which starred Aquaman alongside Superman (Bud Collyer, carrying the
role over from The New Adventures of Superman),
the Atom (Pat Harrington, Jr.), the Flash (Cliff Owens), Green Lantern (Gerald
Mohr) and Hawkman (Vic Perrin). The line-up was largely based on the original
team line-up from their debut throughout most of the 60s. Missing were Batman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter,
whose rights were not included in the deal.
Another team segment involved the Teen Titans. Created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani, The
Titans began when Robin had to team-up with Aqualad and Flash’s sidekick, Kid
Flash (Tommy Cook), to defeat the weather-controlling villain Mister Twister
in The Brave and the Bold #54 (1964). In
issue #60,
they were joined by Wonder Woman’s younger sister, Wonder Girl (Julie Bennett),
who shared the same abilities, and they adopted the Titans name. They received their own series in
1966 where they were aided and eventually joined by Green Arrow’s
sidekick, Speedy (Harrington), who used trick arrows just like his mentor.
Initially, the team helped teenagers but expanded their focus as their series
went on. Each of these sidekicks were inspired by the success of Robin, with DC
deciding to duplicate that formula by giving their other heroes their own
partners.
The remaining segments focused on the exploits of the League members away
from the team. The Atom was an update to the Golden Age character
of the same name. Developed by editor Julius Schwartz along
with Gardner Fox and Gil Kane in Showcase #34 (1961), Ray Palmer was a scientist who developed a
means to atomically compress matter in order to fight overpopulation. He used
the process on himself in order to save his students on an expedition, and
began his miniaturized crime-fighting career.
Another Golden Age update, the Flash was developed by John Broome, Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino for Showcase #4 (1956). He was forensic scientist Barry Allen until
a freak lightning strike sent him careening into a shelf full of chemicals.
That caused him to gain super speed and he became the protector of Central City, naming himself
after his hero, the original Flash Jay Garrick. Flash
shared his adventures with Kid Flash, who was the nephew of his girlfriend (and
later wife) Iris West and
gained his powers in a similar fashion.
The next Golden Age revival came in the form of Green Lantern. Schwartz, Broome
and Kane introduced stunt pilot Hal Jordan in Showcase #22 (1959) who came across a downed alien’s ship. That
alien, Abin Sur, used his
dying breath to bestow his ring upon Jordan, turning him into a Green Lantern
and a member of the Green
Lantern Corps. As Green Lantern, Jordan could use his willpower to create
anything from his ring that he could imagine, fly and survive in space. His
bosses were the Guardians
of the Universe (Paul Frees); emotionless beings who resided on the Corps
home planet of Oa. Joining him was
his best friend and mechanic, Kairo (based on Thomas Kalmaku from the
comics, also Frees).
Lastly were the cosmic exploits of Hawkman. Changed from his Golden Age form as
a reincarnated Egyptian Prince, Schwartz along with Fox and Joe Kubert
reimagined him as an alien policeman from the planet Thanagar. His costume, composed of Nth metal, allowed him to defy
gravity and mentally control his wings. Despite access to an array of fictional
weaponry, his weapon of choice was an Nth metal mace. He debuted in The Brave and the Bold #34 (1961)
and came to Earth with his wife, Shayera, aka Hawkgirl, in pursuit of
a criminal and stayed to fight crime. They adopted the names Carter and Shiera
and became curators of a museum in Midway City before both
eventually joined the Justice League. Unlike the other updated characters,
Hawkman’s appearance was largely unchanged.
Aquaman debuted on CBS on September 9, 1967. It was aired
alongside Superman in a block
entitled The Superman/Aquaman Hour of
Adventure. As with Superman, actual employees of DC worked
on the show; including the writing-editing team of Haney and George Kashdan, who
worked on nearly all the “guest” segments, and Aquaman creator Weisinger, who
handled the ones involving Superman. The music was composed by John Marion. Like the comics
that dominated the Silver Age, many of the stories dealt with some kind of
alien invaders and extreme science-fiction elements. Aquaman could retroactively
be considered the debut of the first African-American character on Saturday
morning television when Black Manta was revealed to be one a decade later in Adventure Comics #452 (1977).
Aquaman using his mental powers.
The continued success of Filmation’s DC programs led to additional
programs entering development. Among them was the transmutable hero Metamorpho, the malleable Plastic Man, WWII-era
ace pilots The
Blackhawks, the super-powered misfit team of The Doom Patrol, the
animalistic B’Wana Beast
and the robotic Metal Men, as
well as a series centered around the Flash and Wonder Woman. However, CBS
secured the animation rights to Batman and tasked Filmation with making a show
for him instead. As a result of its last-minute status, Filmation abandoned
most of their plans in order to reassign as many people as they could into the
Batman series. No further Aquaman segments
were produced, and it was broken off into its own series of reruns for the
following season to allow The Adventures of Batmanto be paired with Superman in The
Batman/Superman Hour.
“Menace of the Black Manta / Between Two Armies / The Rampaging
Reptile-Men” (9/9/67) – Black Manta attempts to sink a luxury liner. / The
Justice League has to bring peace to the Rock and Crystal people from Mercury
before they destroy Earth. / Reptile beings attack a hydropower relay station
for Atlantis.
“The Return of Nepto / Target Earth / The Fiery Invaders” (9/16/67) – A
revived Viking sea-tyrant attacks Atlantis. / The Justice League has to save
Earth from Rom-Nex’s gravity device. / A sun being wants to dry out Earth’s
oceans.
“The Sea Raiders / Bad Day on Black Mountain / War of the Water Worlds”
(9/23/67) – Alien big game hunters prowl the oceans. / Mastermind lures the
Justice League into a trap in order to get them out of the way. / A plant being
captures Mera in a sub-aquatic world.
“The Volcanic Monster / Invasion of the Beetle-Men / The Crimson
Monster From the Pink Pool” (9/30/67) – A lava giant opens up a volcano. / Atom
must protect a nuclear plant from alien insects. / An acid-spitting monster
attacks Atlantis.
“The Ice Dragon / The Plant Master / The Deadly Drillers” (10/7/67) – Aquaman
fights a dragon who can freeze things. / Atom has to defeat plants granted
sentience by a criminal scientist. / Mole men attack Atlantis in drilling
submarines.
“Vassa – Queen of the Mermen / The House of Doom / The Microscopic
Monsters” (10/14/67) – Vassa attacks Atlantis with robot bull whales. / Atom
goes up against a scientist and an alien warlord. / Black Manta steals
Aquaman’s plankton enlarging ray.
“The Onslaught of the Octomen / The Monster Machine / Treacherous is
the Torpedo Man” (10/21/67) – Aquaman is captured by an advanced race of
octopus-like beings. / The Teen Titans have to protect Earth from multi-armed
robots. / Torpedo Man lures Aquaman to an unstable pirate ship wreck.
“The Satanic Saturnians / The Space Beast Round-Up / The Brain, the
Brace and the Bold” (10/28/67) – Fish beings from Saturn attack Earth. / The
Teen Titans have to recapture the prey dropped by alien hunters. / Mutant
scientist The Brain uses his intellect against Aquaman.
“Where Lurks the Fisherman! / Operation Rescue / The Trio of Terror”
(11/4/67) – The Fisherman sets a trap for Aquamna. / The Teen Titans have to
save a scientist and his son from an alien mountain tribe. / Black Manta, Vassa
and The Brain join forces against Aquaman.
“Mephisto’s Marine Marauders / The Chemo-Creature / The Torp, the
Magneto and the Claw” (11/11/67) – Marauders attack an oxygen exchange plant
and then Atlantis. / Flash goes up against a mutated ant. / Torpedo Man joins
with Magneto and Claw in a plot against Atlantis.
“Goliaths of the Deep-Sea Gorge / Take a Giant Step / The Sinister Sea
Scamp” (11/18/67) – A giant attacks a mermaid society. / A scientist sends a
robot after Flash and Kid Flash. / A raider uses a device to bring a poisonous
phosphorus boulder to life.
“The Devil Fish / To Catch a Blue Bolt / The Sea Scavengers”
(11/25/67) – Black Manta captures the Navy’s new undersea craft. / Flash and
Kid Flash have to protect Earth from an equally-fast alien. / Pirates use a
giant submarine robot in their crimes.
“In Captain Cuda’s Clutches / Peril from Pluto / The Mirror-Man from
Planet Imago” (12/2/67) – A pirate raids a bed of crystals. / Hawkman must
protect Earth from a threat on Pluto. / Reflecto gives The Brain a perfect
double of Aquaman to use against Atlantis.
“The Sea Sorcerer / A Visit to Venus / The Sea-Snares of Captain Sky”
– (12/9/67) – Aquaman fights an evil warlock. / Hawkman is lured into a trap in
order to rescue a manned space probe. / A sky pirate attacks Aquaman.
“The Undersea Trojan Horse / The Twenty Third Dimension / The Vicious
Villainy of Vassa” (12/16/67) – Mera causes an artificial seahorse to attack
Atlantis. / Pranksters from Jupiter use teleportation rays on Hawkman. / Vassa
returns to attack Atlantis with a fleet of laser-drill ships.
“Programmed for Destruction / Evil is as Evil Does / The War of the
Quatix and the Bimphars” (12/23/67) – The Brain creates a device that will make
Atlanteans float helplessly to the surface. / The Guardians send Green Lantern
after Evil Star. / NASA sends Aquaman and his friends to explore an ocean
planet.
“The Stickmen of Stygia / The Vanishing World / Three Wishes to
Trouble” (12/30/67) – Mera and Aqualad’s prank helps them defeat cyclopsian
beings. / Green Lantern is distracted from an escape from a penal planet. / A
sea genie grants Aqualad’s wishes leading to trouble.
“The Silver Sphere / Sirena, Empress of Evil / To Catch a Fisherman”
(1/6/68) – A mysterious growth becomes the source of conflict. / An evil queen
attacks the planet Oa. / Fisherman’s trap for Aquaman backfires on him.
For the history of Superman, check out the post here.
When Fred Silverman
was appointed the head of CBS’ daytime
programming in 1964, he immediately set about figuring out counter programming
to pull the network ahead of their competitors. In particular, he wanted to
breathe some life into the network’s neglected Saturday morning schedule by
doing something rarely done before: creating programming specifically
for that schedule. Up until that point, the network’s Saturday morning
programming was largely comprised of prime-time reruns, served as the 6th
day in a program’s daily schedule, or were full of programs produced by advertisers
with little involvement from the network. Noticing that the live-action The
Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves was getting
excellent ratings in syndicated reruns, Silverman decided that an all-new
Superman show could be popular if done animated. He contacted National
Periodicals (the precursor to DC Comics)
and licensed the character for television.
Filmation founders Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott.
In the meantime, Filmation
Associates was a struggling studio. Founded by radio announcer Norm Prescott, Larry Harmon animation team
member Lou Scheimer, and Disney animator Hal Sutherland in 1962, the
studio had largely been doing television commercial work. Their most ambitious
project, a sequel to The Wizard of Oz called Journey Back to Oz,
had just lost its funding. Their closing was imminent until they received a
phone call from Superman story editor Mort Weisinger.
Weisinger had known Prescott from the latter’s work on the film Pinocchio in
Space, since Prescott had approached Weisinger for some help on the story. Now
it was Prescott’s turn to help Weisinger with information on how to get the new
Superman cartoon animated overseas.
Superman takes flight.
Seeing an opportunity for Filmation, Prescott offered their services.
Unfortunately, there was a catch: Weisinger wanted artist and editor Whitney
Ellsworth to check out their studio first. Lacking any projects—let alone
employees—the Filmation founders scheduled a time for Ellsworth to visit and
packed the studio with as many of their friends and colleagues from other
studios as possible and had them pretend to be working on various productions. The
ruse worked, and Filmation secured their first television show. Because of the
paltry $36,000 per episode the series was budgeted for, many of the standard
practices that Filmation would employ over its 24-year existence were developed.
In order to save time and money, characters had limited animation and each
episode utilized a cache of stock footage; particularly when Superman flew or
changed from his alter-ego, Clark Kent. But, even with these limitations, the
artwork was faithfully (though inconsistently) adapted straight from the comic
pages, eventually resembling artist Curt
Swan’s style by the third season.
Perry White, Lois Lane and Clark Kent at the Daily Planet.
National was heavily involved in the production of the show. They appointed
their then-press agent Allan “Duke” Ducovny, who had developed The Adventures of Superman
radio serial in 1940, as their contact with Filmation. Harkening back to the
radio show, the cartoon’s voice cast came from there as well. Reprising the
role of Superman was Bud Collyer, who had also played him in the Fleischer/Famous Studios theatrical
shorts. Collyer’s performance was heralded for his ability to shift the tone of
his voice in mid-sentence from the meek and timid Clark Kent to the powerful
and heroic Superman; particularly during the sentence “This looks like a
job…for Superman.” Doing the show was a labor of love for Collyer as it meant
working for a significantly smaller paycheck than what he was receiving as a
notable television personality at the time. Joining him from the radio show was
Joan Alexander as intrepid reporter and loveinterest Lois Lane (who was also in
the Fleischer shorts), Jack Grimes as young photographer Jimmy Olsen, and Jackson
Beck as copyboy Beany Martin, in addition to assuming the roles of arch-villain
Lex Luthor, Daily
Planet editor-in-chief Perry White, and the show’s narrator. After the
first season, Perry was taken over by Ted Knight for the rest of the show’s run.
Julie Bennett, who had subbed for Alexander for several episodes, assumed the
Lois role in season 2 until Alexander returned for the next season.
"This looks like a job...for Superman!"
The series marked the animation debuts of Jimmy and Lex, as well as Brainiac (Cliff Owens), who was altered
from his comic counterpart and made the creation of the alien Professor Hecla and given a
shrink ray for a “cosmic Noah’s
Ark”; Toyman,
son of the original version from the comics that used lethal toys in his
crimes; Prankster, a pranking
villain given a different look than the comics; Titano, a giant ape created from a
collision with a Kryptonite
meteor; and the all-powerful fifth-dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk (Gilbert Mack), amongst others.
New villains were created for the show as well, including the magical beings The Wicked Warlock (Owens)
and The Sorcerer.
A Superboy and his dog.
Acknowledging the live-action show, the series was called The New Adventures of Superman and used
a similar introductory
narration by Beck.National provided the series’
writers, which included George
Kashdan, Leo Dorfman,
Bob Haney, William Woolfolk and Batman co-creator Bill Finger, was well as
Weisinger himself. Other writers included Oscar Bensol, Ross Braddock and J.W. Doctor from Filmation’s
writing stable. It was National’s decision to craft each episode with three
short story segments rather than one full half-hour adventure. In between two
Superman stories would be The Adventures
of Superboy, one focusing
on his formative years in his hometown of Smallville, Kansas as Superboy.
The early days of Superboy.
Superboy was the creation of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel with Don Cameron. Siegel had
originally pitched the concept to National twice, but they didn’t find any worth
in the idea until the success of later teenaged superheroes revealed an appeal
for such characters in the marketplace. National reversed its decision in 1944
in an effort to expand the Superman franchise with a character relatable to
younger audiences. He made his debut in the anthology More Fun Comicswith
issue #101 in
1945, written by Cameron and drawn by Superman co-creator Joe Shuster. Siegel was
off serving in WWII
at the time and had no input or approval, although he did contribute stories
during Superboy’s run. After seven issues, Superboy moved to be a feature in
anthology series Adventure Comicsfor three years before becoming the sixth National superhero to
receive his own comic book series. While the earlier stories were more
grounded, Superboy gradually evolved into a junior version of Superman complete
with the costume and supervillains.
The Adventures of Superboy largely
embodied the kind of storytelling found in the Silver Age of
Comics, which was the era underway in the books at the time. Superboy (Bob
Hastings) would often be pitted against extreme natural disasters, aliens of
various types and temperaments, or science gone wrong. Along for his adventures
was often his trusty sidekick, Krypto the Superdog (Knight). Krypto hailed from
Krypton and was used by Superboy’s father Jor-El to test the
rocket that sent Superboy to Earth; getting lost along the way and not landing
until Superboy was already a teen (a somewhat similar origin to that of Supergirl). As a
result of Earth’s yellow sun, Krypto shared Superboy’s powers. Also
participating in some adventures was Superboy’s love interest and classmate,
Lana Lang (Janet Waldo). Both characters
made their debuts during Superboy’s stories before working their way into the
regular Superman mythos. It was the first successful attempt to bring Superboy
to television following an aborted live-action attempt in 1961 that didn’t get
beyond a pilot episode.
Young Clark Kent and Lana Lang.
The New Adventures of Superman
debuted on September 10th, 1966 and underwent a few transformations
during its run. For the second season, it was combined with Filmation’s next DC
program, Aquaman, to from The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. The Superman/Superboy series continued as it was, but Superman also appeared
in the three Justice
League segments that aired as part of Aquaman’s
half of the block. For the third season, Aquaman
was broken off into its own separate program comprised of reruns while Superman was paired up with The Adventures of Batmanfor The
Batman/Superman Hour. For this
incarnation, a single Superman story was told in two parts around the Superboy
segment. The series’ theme was composed by John Gart (as John Marion). Gordon Zahler composed the rest
of the series’ music.
Fisticuffs are hurting the children!
Superman proved a hit, as did the rest of CBS’ action-oriented
line-up that included Frankenstein
Jr. and the Impossibles, Space
Ghost and Dino Boy, The Lone Ranger (1966), Underdog and Mighty
Mouse and the Mighty Heroes. The other networks were quick to imitate by
refocusing efforts on their own Saturday morning schedules, as well as ordering
up as many action shows as they could. By 1968, roughly half of the available programs
were action-oriented. Unfortunately, 1968 ended up being a
turbulent year that would end up leading to the dramatic reshaping of
Saturday morning programming. Media coverage of the Vietnam War and the
assassination of Martin Luther
King Jr. gave rise to moral crusades worried about the effect violence had
on children. It all came to a head following the assassination of Senator Robert F.
Kennedy on June 5th, which kicked off a “moral panic”.
Civic groups such as the National Parent
Teacher Association and grassroots organizations such as Action
for Children’s Television refocused their efforts against violence in
cartoons. McCall’s,
a popular magazine for women, published methods their readers could use to pressure
the networks to abandon violent programming. A widely-circulated Christian Science Monitor report commissioned
that July counted 162 acts of violence or threats of violence on a single
Saturday morning. Feeling the pressure, the networks decided
to pivot away from the action-adventure and science-fiction genres into
safer ones, like comedy. CBS would use the success of another Filmation program,
The
Archie Show, to create more programs centered around teenagers—particularly
of the mystery-solving variety. As a result, Superman was cancelled at
the end of its third season despite still being a ratings success for the
network. It remained for an additional season of reruns before being taken off
the schedule entirely.
Despite Superman apparently being bad for children, that didn’t stop him
from appearing on two episodes of Sesame Street. In the first of its five
pilot episodes, they reused footage from the episode “The Chimp Who Made it
Big” and worked in a line teaching “D for ‘door’.” In 1971, Filmation’s
Superman made another appearance in a new segment describing words that began
with “S.” This segment was voiced by Lennie Weinrib. In 1973,
Superman would join his fellow Justice Leaguers on Hanna-Barbera’s
long-running Super Friendsfranchise. Although Superboy did appear in two Super Friends flashback episodes, it
would be another decade before he would return to a starring role. Ilya and Alexander Salkind, the producers
behind the Superman
movie franchise starring Christopher
Reeve, finally brought the character to live-action in Superboy(later renaming
it with a revived The Adventures of Superboytitle),which aired from 1988-92.
The DVD cover.
In 1985, Warner
Home Video released seven episodes of both Supermanand Superboyon VHS as part of the “Super
Powers” video collection that were rereleased in 1996. In 2007, they
released the complete
first season to DVD, with the remaining episodes on another
volume in 2014. The first season was re-released
in 2018 as part of a double feature with the complete series of The
New Adventures of Batman. However, none of these releases
contained the Superboy portions of
the program; however, streaming services have begun featuring episodes from seasons
2 and 3. Beginning in 1969, Siegel and Shuster entered
into a legal dispute with DC Comics to regain the rights to Superman and
Superboy. The contention continued after the creators’ deaths through their
families. In 2007, the legal troubles forced DC to devise creative ways
to address or represent any of their Superboy characters in their media until
2008; such as calling the character Superman in the animated series Legion
of Super Heroes despite the original press
release calling him Superboy. After numerous rulings and appeals in regards
to the case, the 9th Circuit Court ultimately
ruled in DC’s favor in February of 2016.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Force Phantom / The Spy From Outer Space (Part 1) / The Mermen of
Emor” (9/10/66) – An alien ship unleashes an energy creature on Earth. / Superboy
is told of a pending alien invasion as he’s captured on another world. / Scuba
divers become the prey for malevolent fish beings.
“The Prehistoric Pterodactyls / The Spy From Outer Space (Part 2) Merlin’s
Magic Marbles” (9/17/66) – Pterodactyls are freed from their frozen prison by
an earthquake. / Krypto rescues Superboy and returns to Earth to stop the
invasion. / Lex Luthor gains magical powers.
“The Threat of the Thrutans / Krypto’s Calamitous Capers / The Wicked
Warlock” (9/24/66) – Alien astronauts threaten a rocket base if not provided a
rocket home. / Superboy’s attempts to stop three villains are constantly
thwarted by Krypto. / The Warlock seeks a gem that contains powerful magic.
“The Chimp Who Made it Big / The Man Who Knew Superboy’s Secret / The
Deadly Icebergs” (10/1/66) – A chimp sent into space is irradiated by space
debris and returns to Earth as the giant Titano. / An alien claiming to be Kryptonian
knows Superboy’s identity. / Thieves use giant icebergs to rob a luxury liner.
“The Robot of Riga / The Deep Sea Dragon / The Invisible Raiders” (10/8/66)
– Lois and Jimmy are kidnapped by aliens and held by a fire-breathing robot. / Superboy
has to rescue a deep sea expedition and the dragon threatening them. / The
Sorcerer renders his henchmen invisible to commit their crimes.
“The Neolithic Nightmare / Super Clown of Smallville / The Return of
Brainiac” (10/15/66) – Jimmy ends up in a creature-filled underground world. / Superboy
accepts a challenge to make an old man laugh. / Brainiac returns to Earth and
shrinks Jimmy, Lois and Superman.
“The Magnetic Monster / The Visitor from the Earth Core / The Toys of
Doom” (10/22/66) – Aliens try to conquer Earth with a magnetic weapon. / A
crystalline creature from below follows Superboy back to retrieve the egg he
mistakenly took. / Toyman unleashes deadly toys on Metropolis.
“The Iron Eater / The Beast that Went Berzerk / The Ape Army of the
Amazon” (10/29/66) – An alien metal-eating monster causes chaos. / A solution
turns a pygmy elephant into a rampaging mastodon. / A scientist uses apes to
rob an archaeological dig.
“The Fire Phantom / Superboy’s Strangest Foe / The Deadly Dish”
(11/5/66) – A fire creature emerges from a mining shaft. / Superboy stops two
trouble-making aliens until he learns they’re just children playing with toys.
/ Luthor plans to use Superman’s friends to lure him into a deadly trap.
“Insect Raiders / The Capricious Crony / Return of Warlock” (11/12/66)
– Flying insects steal around Metropolis. / Krypto babysits a trouble-causing
creature from an underwater volcano. / Warlock attacks the Daily Planet to get
revenge on Superman.
“The Abominable Ice-Man / Krypto, Super Seeing-Eye Dog / The Men from
A.P.E.” (11/19/66) – An ice-man threatens to begin a new Ice Age in Hawaii. / A
Kryptonian space probe accidentally blinds Superboy. / Luthor, Warlock, Toyman
and Prankster team-up for revenge on Superman.
“The Tree Man of Arbora / The Black Knight / The Image Maker”
(11/26/66) – An alien tree creature has an unquenchable thirst for water. / Clark’s
friend finds a magician’s mantle that sends him back in time to Camelot. / Prof.
Nula seeks revenge on Lois for imprisoning him.
“Superman’s Double Trouble / Operation Counter Invasion / The Deadly
Super-Doll” (12/3/66) – Superman must stop a giant lobster and alligator. / Superboy
tricks alien invaders into believing Earth is populated by metahumans. / A
sorcerer uses a clay doll of Superman to control and distract him.
“Lava Men / The Jinxed Circus / Luthor Strikes Again” (12/10/66) – Stopping
a lava flow leads to the formation of lava men. / Superboy must save a circus
from a disgruntled former employee. / Luthor kidnaps Jimmy to lure Superman
into a trap.
“Mission to Planet Peril / Hurricane Fighters / The Pernicious
Parasite” (12/17/66) – Superman helps aliens free their planet from an
overlord. / Superboy tries to stop a violent hurricane. / A man gains the
powers of a parasite and drains Superman’s powers.
“The Two Faces of Superman / Superboy’s Super-Dilemma / The
Imp-Practical Joker” (12/24/66) – Toyman builds a Superman robot. / Superboy is
accidentally given a super plant-growth formula. / Mr. Mxyzptlk won’t return to
his home dimension unless Superman can get him to say his name backwards.
“Superman Meets Brainiac / A Devil of a Time / Seeds of Disaster”
(12/31/66) – Brainiac comes to Earth to collect two of every animal to repopulate
a dying world. / Superboy plays Lucifer when he spots two crooks. / Alien pods
release seeds that turn into destructive plants.
“The Malevolent Mummy / The Revolt of Robotville / The Birdmen from
Lost Valley” (1/7/67) – Lois accidentally awakens a mummy in Egypt. / Superboy
has to stop a futuristic robot city set on a rampage by an evil programmer. / Birdmen
are blackmailed into robbing farms.
Season 2:
“A.P.E. Strikes Again / The
Beast with Two Faces / The Lethal Lightning Bug” (9/9/67) – Luthor, Warlock and
Brainiac team-up to destroy a crime warning system developed by Prof. Noble. / Criminals
kidnap an alien to get control of his pet. / A lightning storm creates a giant
lightning bug.
“The Prankster / The Gorilla Gang / The Saboteurs” (9/16/67) –
Superman tries to out-prank the Prankster. / Superboy has to secretly rescue
himself and Lana from the clutches of the Gorilla Gang. / Lois and Clark are
captured on a government train carrying atomic waste.
“The Wisp of Wickedness / The Chameleon Creature / Superman Meets His
Match” (9/23/67) – An evil alien is turned into mist that falls on a man’s hat
and drives its wearers mad. / A shape-changing white ape kidnaps Lana on a
safari. / A Kryptonite meteor crashes to Earth and opens to reveal a creature
with Superman’s powers.
“Night of the Octopod / The Great Space Race / Brainiac’s Bubbles”
(9/30/67) – Superman has to save a rocket base from a flying saucer. / Superboy
and Krypto accidentally stop an alien cop from capturing his prey. / Dr.
Heckler kidnaps Lois for his queen to repopulate the planet Meiga.
“War of the Bee Battalion / Finger of Doom / The Toyman’s Super-Toy”
(10/7/67) – Crooks use a growth ray to create giant bees. / Cosmic rays alter
an astronomer to give him powers and make him evil. / Toyman uses giant robotic
insects in his latest crime spree.
“The Cage of Glass / Krypto, K-9 Detective / The Atomic Superman”
(10/14/67) – Brainiac shrinks Metropolis and puts it under glass. / Krypto goes
undercover to solve the theft of a circus dog. / A new explosive liquid leaves
Superman unable to speak without spitting fire.
“Luthor’s Loco Looking Glass / The Neanderthal Caveman Caper / The
Warlock’s Revenge” (10/21/67) – Jimmy ends up caught in a mirror trap set up by
Luthor for Clark Kent. / Crooks trick a thawed caveman into fighting Superboy
as a distraction. / The Warlock is freed by his sister and he sets out putting
Lois in peril.
“The Halyah of the Himalayas / The Terrible Trio / Luthor’s Fatal
Fireworks” (10/28/67) – A plane crash awakens an ancient beast. / Superboy
teaches three school bullies a lesson. / Luthor kidnaps Jimmy to lure Superman
into a trap full of Kryptonite fireworks.
Season 3:
“Luthor’s Lethal Laser / Forget Me Not, Superdog” (9/14/68) – Luthor
kidnaps Jimmy and Lois and holds the Earth hostage from the moon with a laser.
/ Superboy and Krypto are hit by a Kryptonite meteor causing Krypto to lose his
memory.
“Can a Luthor Change his Spots? / Superboy Meets Mighty Lad” (9/21/68)
– Luthor claims to have reformed and convinces Perry, who gives him a job in
the Daily Planet building. / Superboy meets the show-off Mighty Lad, who
appears to have the same powers and origin.
“The Team of Terror / King Superboy” (9/28/68) – Superman foils
Satana’s nuclear theft to attack her own planet, leading her to team-up with
the Warlock against him. / Superboy and Krypto save an alien planet who
believes him to be their god of legend.
“Rain of Iron / Double Trouble, Double Doom” (10/5/68) – Lois follows
Vamore to a remote island where he launches iron spheres at the Earth. /
Superboy and Krypto search for a trio of lost mountain explorers that were
captured by alien criminals on the run.
“The Mysterious Mr. Mist / The Trap of the Super Spacemen” (10/12/68)
– A mist being crashes the Daily Planet picnic and attempts to abduct Lois to
make her his Queen. / Superboy and Krypto rescue a space capsule, but the
astronaut inside is revealed to be an alien.
“Luminians of the Loose / The Space Refugees” (10/19/68) – Luthor
teams up with two light-based Luminians to cause havoc until they turn on him.
/ The last surviving members of an alien race seek refuge on Earth but are
harassed by three men.
“The Ghost of Killbane Castle / The Monster Molecule” (10/26/68) – In
trying to hide the secret of their Scottish castle, a pair of twins
accidentally unleash a ghost. / A scientist is accidentally exposed to a
malfunctioning device, necessitating Superboy’s traveling to the future to save
him.
“The Japanese Sandman / The Great Kryptonian Caper” (11/2/68) – A
Japanese businessman is harassed by a saboteur who summons a supernatural
sandman to aid him. / A crook plans to lure Superboy into a Kryptonite trap,
but Lana stumbles into it instead.
In the 1930s, the
medium known as comic books first emerged. However, they weren’t quite how we
know them today. These early comics were predominantly reprinted collections of
newspaper strips folded into magazine form, with the first being Dell Publishing’s Famous Funnies: A Carnival
of Comics. It wasn’t until 1938 that the comic that would define a
medium, and a genre, would be born. In 1938, there was Superman.
A brief telling of Superman's origin.
Born Kal-El on the
dying planet Krypton, he
was saved by his father Jor-El
by being sent to Earth. There, he was found and raised in Smallville, Kansas
by famers Jonathan and Martha Kent as Clark Kent.
His Kryptonian DNA had a strange interaction with Earth’s yellow sun, granting
him incredible powers: super strength, flight (originally super leaping),
invulnerability, super breath, heat vision and super hearing. Deciding to use
his powers for good, he became Superman and took a job as a newspaper reporter
in order to be quickly alerted of troubles that required his aid.
Siegel and Shuster
unsuccessful shopped the character around for six years. Frustrated, Shuster
burned all the pages they had created, but Siegel saved the cover. Siegel began
shopping around for a new collaborator but eventually reunited with Shuster.
The character began to evolve, with inspiration being adopted from mythological
characters and a costume developed based on characters from comic strips, pulps
and the traditional circus strong-man outfits. They shopped it around again as
a comic strip before it was eventually bought as the lead feature in National
Allied Publishing’s (the predecessor of today’s DC Comics) new title Action Comics. Revising the concept, the character appeared in
1938’s Action Comics #1.
A brief example of Superman's evolution over the years.
The character became
a hit and launched a new genre of comic books: the superhero. Other publishers
began to rapidly churn out their own costumed adventurers; some with powers,
some without. Many of these characters
appeared for a single issue and their designs were recycled for another one-off
character, while others persevered for much of what was dubbed the Golden Age of
Comics. Beyond that, Superman was one of the few to endure the changing
comic climate to follow; being continually published to the present day.
Superman's friends, family and sometimes foes.
Superman’s popularity
led to his own self-titled series and a newspaper strip in 1939, and gradually
a slew of spin-off titles featuring his younger self in flashback stories as Superboy, Lois Lane
and Daily Planet
photographer (and unofficial Superman sidekick) Jimmy Olsen. In 1940,
Superman was brought to life on The Adventures of Supermanradio show, which ran for eleven years. From 1941-43, Superman hit the big
screen for the first time as animated theatrical shorts by Fleischer Studios (later Famous Studios). These
shorts are still perceived today as the finest animated cartoons produced for
that time period. They were also responsible for giving Superman the ability to
fly. These were followed in 1948 and 1950 by two serials starring Kirk Alyn, and a third starring George Reeves in 1951, which led
to the character’s first television program also called The Adventures of Superman.Reeves also had an appearance on I Love Lucyand the
short film Stamp Day for Superman.
In 1966, Superman
finally moved faster than a speeding bullet to Saturday mornings…
This year, Warner Bros. has taken the first steps
towards launching their own unified cinematic universe. Batman v Supermanstarted
out as the first silver screen meeting of DC
Comics’ two flagship heroes, but over its production time gradually
expanded to introduce other members of the Justice League
leading to the subtitle Dawn of Justice.
Furthering those developments, Ben
Affleck’s Batman is set to
appear in August’s Suicide Squadmovie.
To celebrate the birth of the DC
Cinematic Universe, this month we’ll be looking at shows that star members of
the Justice League (with a few Suicide Squad-ers thrown in for good measure).
Plus, not to mention every freakin’ Batman and Superman cereal EVER!
On March 5th, what better
place to start than with the first superhero in his first Saturday outing The New Adventures of Superman. Joining
him is the second Saturday DC-toon Aquaman.
On March 12th, we jump a
bit ahead to the recent past with Beware
the Batman, which starred Suicide Squad’s Katana, followed by Green Lantern: The Animated Series starring
the League founding member.
On March 19th, we get
unified with the Justice League in Super
Friends and the Teen Titans, which
starred eventual League-er Cyborg.
Finally, on March 26th,
the match-up you’ve all been waiting for since this blog started. That’s right,
it’s Batman and Superman: The Animated Series. And for some of the Justice League fun we've already posted, you can check out The Adventures of Batmanand The NEW Adventures of Batman.
