Super Friends Challenge of the Super Powers marks a major shift in the focus and tone of the series as a new Kenner toyline is now part and parcel of the storytelling decisions. It does serve to give the stories a bit more dramatic heft, most of that delivered by the appearance of new villainy.
Darkseid and his minions Kalibak and Desaad are welcome additions to the rogues gallery of the Super Friends. Darkseid here is not quite the debased dictator of his comic book appearances, but the gravity of his presence does give his threats a grimness heretofore unseen in the series. He wants Wonder Woman as his bride and queen and that is running story through the season. He's not the only villain the team faces as a new deadlier Brainiac is also on hand.
But the big shift is the addition of Firestorm, a young hero who utterly changes the way the team functions. The Wonder Twins are still around but while Firestorm is a bit goofy at times, he's not just comedy relief as had been Gleek. With the ethnic heroes Apache Chief, El Dorado, Black Vulcan and Samurai sill very much in evidence the show becomes a really nifty version of the Justice League.
NOTE: This is classic post which first appeared at Rip Jagger's Other Dojo.
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Another cartoon that I don't think came to the UK and if it did it is certainly not one I watched. My only memory of Super-Powers was of course the toys and the DC comic (vol 2) which featured the work of the legend that was Jack Kirbys very much at the end of his powers. It was quite sad in that respect.
ReplyDeleteThose final years of Kirby production are hard to love at times, though I find my nostalgia frees me to treat them kindly. Darkseid lost some of his dark majesty in these cartoons and later comics.
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