The Justice League: A Super Friendly Tour (Part 9)

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Brought back to life by an all new Kenner “Super Powers” toy line was yet another incarnation of Super Friends. The show returned to Saturday mornings in 1984 with a makeover and a new title. The show now consisted of two 11-minute stories per episode. This incarnation featured the core team of Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman (but not Aquaman), continued with the Wonder Twins and Gleek as well as other made for the series Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, Samurai, and El Dorado, brought back guest Green Lantern, and added for the first time Firestorm, who got more than his fair share of the spotlight.

This series also focused more on nefarious comic book villains, particularly a redesigned more robotic Brainiac (who still appeared in humanoid form in the title credits) and Darkseid (though power suit Luthor also appeared).

The program lasted one season and contained 8 episodes (16 11-minute segments).

Availability: Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show on DVD


Up Next: The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure * Super Friends * The All New Super Friends Hour * Challenge of the Super Friends * Legends of the Superheroes * The World's Greatest Super Friends * Super Friends (Shorts) * Super Friends (Lost Episodes) * Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

My Super Ex-Girldfriend (2006) - Film Capsule

Heroes: Jenny Johnson AKA G-Girl

Villains: Bedlam

Diabolical Scheme: The villain, Barry EDward LAMbert aka Bedlam, just wants to get back at the girl who broke his heart back in high school. The only "bad" thing he did during the movie was dangle her current boyfriend from the Statue of Liberty in a savable state.

Coolest Moment(s): Not sure cool is the right word, but it was entertaining. Besides, I never done seen an indoor shark attack before:



Worst Moment: Super bed breaking and wall shattering "love-making." Fortunately we got two such scenes. But now that I think of it, the flying while doin' it scene may have been worse.

Comic Book Logic: If touching a meteor gives super powers, why does touching it again take the powers away, and touching it a third time restore the powers? Is it one of those freaking touch lamps? And why is altered hair color a super power?

Opening Weekend: $8,603,460

Total Domestic Box Office: $22,530,295

Review in 50 Words or Less: Does the idea of a clingy girl using super powers to get back at her ex-boyfriend sound awesome? No!? What if she threw a CGI shark at him? Interested yet? What if that was the best part of the movie? Yikes. Maybe The Spirit wasn't so bad after all.

Airbender Teaser Wafts In

I have to admit, its only the last few seconds of this teaser that excite me. But seeing the enormous Fire Nation Navy approaching hints at the large scope this film could have. I think I will be on the fence until I see how they handle (or exclude) fantastical elements like Apa and Momo. I am looking forward to the full trailer. Yip Yip.

Smallville Goes Green

Brain Austin Green (the "cool" Vanilla Ice looking guy from 90210) is coming to Smallville to play (you probably didn't guess it) Metallo - the cyborg with a heart of gold kryptonite. Sure, why not. I certainly see the resemblance. If anyone is going to beat the living snot out of Superman, this guy seems like the one to do it.

BAG joins fellow Hillbilly Tori Spelling as columnist for the Daily Planet. Spelling had portrayed gossip columnist turned water-based Krypto freak Linda Lake on two previous episodes.

To be fair, most of the comic book based villains appearing on Smallville have been presented favorably and either way, Metallo has been one of the main Superman baddies yet unused. Basically all that is left now is uberthreat Darkseid. Below is a list of Superman villains previously used in the series (though some of them simply inhabited the bodies of regular characters) and ranked from best to worst.

1. Lex Luthor
2. Brainiac
3. Bizarro
4. Doomsday
5. Morgan Edge
6. General Zod
7. Vandal Savage
8. Toyman
9. Faora AKA Mrs. Zod
10. Maxima
11. Mr. Mxyzptlk
12. Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim

Feel free to make requests for future installments of the spotlight feature if you are unfamiliar with any of these folk.

Spotlight on Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex is in line to join an elite group of DC superheroes that have been given big-screen live-action movies. This list is so choice, even powerhouses like Wonder Woman and the Flash haven't made the cut. This list contains only the cream of the crop like Batman, Superman, and er um Steel (yes, starring Shaq). Well, so maybe the list isn't so much elite as it is short.

Anyways, the 19th century scar-faced civil war veteran / bounty hunter / anti-hero first appeared in issue #10 of All-Star Western in 1972. His onscreen debut in 1995 was depicted as a flashback of Ra's Al Ghul on Batman: The Animated Series.

Hex and Batman met face to face in the Justice League Unlimited episode The Once and Future Thing: Weird Western Tales in which Hex teamed up with the Leaguers as well as Bat-lash and El Diablo to fight another time traveling n'er do well.

Batman and Hex crossed paths again in 2009's Batman: The Brave and the Bold. First, the two teamed up against an Old West iteration of the Royal Flush Gang.



Later, Hex was recruited through time as a interdimensional bounty hunter who captured warriors for Mongol's War World in the present day.

But it is next Summer's Jonah Hex film that will give the ugly mug a chance to break out into the mainstream.

Teaming with Megan Fox, John Malkovich, and G.O.B. can't hurt either, though hopefully that creepy dude in the rear view mirror doesn't make the cut.

The Justice League: A Super Friendly Tour (Part 8)

Super Friends - The Lost Episodes

By 1983, Hanna-Barbera had created a neat little syndication package of the earlier Super Friends series, typically aired on weekday afternoons. Not wishing to compete with the syndication programming, ABC dropped the series from the Saturday morning line-up. Super Friends was canceled.

However, for some reason that makes no sense to anyone, Hanna-Barbera continued to produce new episodes of the Super Friends. In total, 24 of the so-called "Lost Episodes" were animated but not aired in the United States that season. These include an episodes "The Kryptonite Syndrome," featuring the one and only appearance of Robin sans Batman.

Three episodes were aired when Super Friends returned to Saturday morning ABC television the following year but the remainder of the episodes did not air until packaged with the Superman/Batman Adventures show in 1995.

Availability: Ironically, these Lost Episodes will find their way to DVD before the other Super Friends shorts.

Up Next: Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure * Super Friends * The All New Super Friends Hour * Challenge of the Super Friends * Legends of the Superheroes * The World's Greatest Super Friends * Super Friends (Shorts) * Super Friends (Lost Episodes)

The Spirit (2009) - Film Capsule

Heroes: The Spirit

Villains: The Octopus, Silken Floss, Plaster of Paris, Sand Saref

Diabolical Scheme: The Octopus wanted Heracles' blood to transform from being merely invulnerable into an immortal.

Coolest Moment(s): Wow, there are just so many to choose from... I guess the final assault on Mr. Ock. Or just The Octopus in general (He has eight of everything).



Worst Moment: Being told that toilets are always funny.

Comic Book Logic: I never quite understood where the octopus got all of his t-shirt wearing buffoon goons. Did he clone them? Then where did he get all the shirts. Comic book villains always seem to have plenty of muscle around to do their bidding.

Opening Weekend: $6,463,278

Total Domestic Box Office: $19,806,188

Review in 50 Words or Less: Interesting visuals combined with some odd egg-themed dialogue, overly dramatic acting, and lots of costume changes leaving me befuddled but not bored. Was it supposed to be serious or a parody? I probably enjoyed this more than I should have, but would feel guilty encouraging anyone else to see it.