Super Powers Print and Are You Ready?

Check out this AMAZING Super Powers print by Tom Whalen aka StrongStuff on Deviant Art. This print is limited to 250 copies and is actually available for $99, which is incredibly reasonable. Hmmmm... I love that even Clark Kent, who was a mail-in figure and The Riddler, who was only released in foreign markets (and was a repainted Green Lantern) are included. I especially like how Brainiac and The Penguin, two of the original bad guys (along with Lex and the Joker) are given special representation. Just WOW!
I've sat down to blog nearly every day this week and nothing has come out. Guess this is the calm before the storm. There really hasn't been much going on, other than DC wrapping up its comics line to set the stage for next week's relaunch. The relaunch is huge, too. The pre-order numbers are the biggest this year, so retailers are expecting pretty much everyone that reads comics to pick these up just out of curiosity and I think they're right.

Other than that, Mattel did not meet the numbers needed for the DC subscription to go forward, however it would appear they are crunching numbers now to see what can be done. No official statement is expected until next week. It would be nice if the people who committed to subscription actually got something, but we shall see.

Images from the set of Superman popped up, showing villain Faora.
As you can see, Superman is indeed trunks-free in this version. Hate. The main problem with that, is, to me, this makes him look more like Ultra Man, the "evil Superman" from the Crime Syndicate.
Ultra Man is a copy of Superman. He looks like Superman; Superman shouldn't look like him. Tsk. Let the dread begin.

And uh... yeah, that's all.

Alex Toth/Super Friends Week - DC Universe Classics Super Friends

The one bright spot to getting home on Saturday and finding our basement had been ruined was that also waiting for me was the latest assortment of DC Universe Classics, nicknamed by fans as "The Super Friends Wave." And properly so, as you can see above, the set included El Dorado, Samurai and Black Vulcan along with the not pictured jester Toyman. The wave was rounded out by two characters that have nothing to do with the Super Friends, Bronze Tiger and a scuzzy looking Captain Boomerang. (I'd have vastly preferred a more classic, Silver Age interpretation. This is the way he looked in Identity Crisis, which is one of my least favorite developments in the DCU in the last decade.) Each figure in the wave included a piece of the giant Apache Chief! (Collect 'em all, kids!)
I think it's interesting that Alex Toth originally intended Apache Chief's costume to be yellow and white! That would have been an... interesting take.
Ugh, sorry that's blurry as hell! (It's hard to tell on an iPhone! This is why I stick to borrowing pics from the web, normally). Here's the FULL line up from Super Friends. Well, except Rima, but that's one I'm resigned to NEVER seeing in this line. Y'know, even after they did The Wonder Twins as a ComiCon exclusive, I STILL never thought I'd see the ethnic Friends. This is indeed a red-letter day! A (pretty much) FULL roster of the Super Friends in one collection! (Well... I didn't include Green Arrow and I don't have the Plastic Man they did as last year's ComiCon exclusive, but they were in that first season only and honestly, in my mind, I kind of consider that a different continuity.)
Another full team shot. Sigh! I hate how Hawkgirl's hunched forward like that. She's always looking down. Hey, notice The Atom on Apache Chief's shoulder?
Poor Atom and Hawkgirl were the only Justice Leaguers from the comics that were not included in the epic Challenge of the Super Friends season. Speaking of...
I'm a tad short on the Legion of Doom. Bizarro and Scarecrow were offered as part of the DC Super Heroes line, which preceded DC Universe Classics, which I didn't collect, so I don't have them! I'm hoping they'll reissue them soon, otherwise, I'll have to pony up the $$$ for the older figures. (Not related, but I'm also hoping they redo The Penguin and make him fatter and funnier looking than the skinny, grotesque one they issued in Wave 1 of DCUC.)
Speaking of The Penguin, both he and Orion were in Wave 1 of DCUC, which I initially didn't buy because the lineup was overall lackluster. But then, when I started buying the later waves, I was hooked! Here we have a mashup lineup, featuring the full Super Friends, plus all the heroes (minus Orion and Plastic Man) they made for the Super Powers collection, including totally made up character Cyclotron and... oh whoops, I left the Golden Pharaoh out. Guess I'll have to reshoot this later! I also added Black Canary and Zatanna, as they SHOULD have been included in the SP line, but their vaginas made them ineligible.
Woops! Lobotomized Apache Chief! You know I'm pretty excited when I actually take my toys out and PLAY with them! Good times!

Throwback Thursday 05-06-10 The Super Powers Collection

The Mego toy line had died in the late 70s, though on occasion you could find figures here and there. But for the most part, super hero toys were extinct during the early 80s. Then, one spring day in 1984, I got the new issue of Tales of the Teen Titans (issue #44, part of the now-legendary Judas Contract storyline) and as soon as I opened it, on the inside of the front cover was this ad:My prayers had been answered! FINALLY, a new super hero toy line! One more in keeping with the modern definition of "action figures" (versus Megos which, let's face it, were dolls). Not just that, but this line boasted big name heroes like Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, who'd never before appeared as toys! I was thrilled... and MISERABLE that these toys weren't already out! I dreamed about them day and night, until one day, FINALLY I located them at the hobby store in the mall!
The first wave included ALL of the big names! You had the core of the Super Friends, Aquaman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Superman and the three most famous second-stringers from both the cartoon and comics, Green Lantern, Flash and Hawkman.
Plus you had the four biggest-name super villains in comics, The Joker, The Penguin and the recently redesigned Lex Luthor and Brainiac. (Updated for the 80s.)
Really what more could a kid ask for?!
My first acquisition from this line was Robin, while my brother got Superman.
These toys were (and still are) flawless! They looked exactly as they did on TV and in comics. No discrepancies or mistakes AND no ridiculous variations like you see today, like Scuba Batman or Arctic Superman or Drag Queen Hawkman or whatever ridiculousness they can think of! SPs were vibrant and eye-catching. And they came with perfect accessories. Hawkman came with his trusty mace, Aquaman a kingly trident and Green Lantern, his power battery. Not to be left out, The Penguin of course came with a trick umbrella with a hidden rapier inside and just for fun, The Joker swung an enormous green mace with his face on it! Once again, nowadays, every action figure has some bogus weaponry that really fires or whatever... in the 90s, there was a Flash figure with attachable armor to make him run faster. He's The Flash! He can already run fast enough to travel through time! How much faster does he need to go?!
Every figure had a "Power Action" mechanism that worked when you squeezed either their arms or legs together. Superman, Batman and Lex Luthor swung their fists, Wonder Woman crossed her bracelets to deflect bullets, Robin had a karate chop, Green Lantern aimed his power ring and The Joker and Penguin brandished their weapons. Flash and Aquaman both kicked their feet to simulate Flash running at super speed and Aquaman swimming. Brainiac is the only head scratcher.
The computer mastermind... kicked. However, looking at those sharp feet, that may have actually been the most lethal of all the Power Actions!



The first wave also included three vehicles.
The bad guys could swoop around in the Lex-Soar 7 (not sure where the name came from, but in the comics, Luthor had discovered a plant that he named Lexor, so maybe that), which included a capture claw on the bottom and a huge chunk of jeweled green kryptonite! Every super hero toy collection NEEDS a chunk of kryptonite! Prior to this, I'd been stuck with a stupid, green spray painted rock!
In the 70s, Corgi wanted to make a Supermobile, a vehicle for Superman, who... doesn't really need a vehicle. Nevertheless, someone designed this oddity, sporting a pair of extending metal fists on the sides. DC introduced the Supermobile both in the comics and on Super Friends.For the Super Powers Collection, it was redesigned, with the fists replaced by a more nondescript battering ram on the front, activated by the silver button behind the ship's fin. I dunno, though... there's something really whimsical about those two fists. Plus, the redesigned version never appeared in the comics or on a cartoon, so it's kind of like an imaginary accessory to me.

The best however was the most obvious, the stunning Batmobile:
Not only was this baby sleek and beautiful LOOKING, it had three super awesome action features. The bat silhouette on the hood's "eyes" raised up as headlights, which were raised AND LOWERED via the mechanism in the Batmobile's cockpit, however EVERY kid that I let play with it, would pop them up with the lever and them MASH them down with their fucking fingers, which eventually made it so that they couldn't raise up all the way anymore. Stupid fucking kids. I should never have let anyone touch my toys. (That's what she said.)
Not just that, but the grill of the car was a battering ram and the rear of the car concealed a capture claw!

Sadly, next to the Batmobile, the second most famous super vehicle, and logical choice for inclusion in this line would have been Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet.
In fact, a vehicle was designed and pitched, and would have featured a retractable ladder and engines that could snap off and connect together to form a flying sled. But sadly, the "girl" in any boy's action figure line was nearly always the poorest seller, so Kenner opted NOT To make a vehicle for Wonder Woman. BOO!

And to finish off the first series, the heroes converged at their Hall of Justice base! I was startled by this inclusion because years earlier, I'd realized that the Super Friends was "imaginary" and that the comics were "real" and in the comics, the Justice League's headquarters was actually a satellite orbiting the Earth. Oddly, the toy version of the HoJ is yellow, whereas it was always colored white on TV. Originally, the HoJ was designed to be a simple carrying case, but at some point Kenner decided to make it an actual functioning playset.


The Super Friends cartoon was revamped to promote the toy line, changing its title to Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, which depicted Luthor and Brainiac adopting their new souped up looks and introducing cosmic uber-villain Darksied along with his minions, his brutish son Kalibak and the twisted scientist DeSaad. These characters (plus a slew others, collectively known as the New Gods) were originally designed by legendary illustrator Jack Kirby, who'd since fallen on hard times, so Kenner hired him to revamp the look of some of his characters, thus paying him royalties, since he'd never been paid any when he first deigned these characters for the comics.
All three new villains were included in the second series of Super Powers figures in 1985, along with newly-redesigned cohorts Steppenwolf (who'd been issued early, as a mail-away figure, before being released in stores normally), Mantis and a Parademon. To bolster the ranks of the god guys, Kenner brought in JLA comic stars Firestorm (who'd also been introduced in the cartoon), Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow, plus frequent guest-star Dr. Fate. This basically rounded out the male members of the Justice League, with two exceptions, the Elongated Man and the miniature Atom. Elongated Man was probably just too obscure and maybe even too hard to pronounce. The Atom is normally about six inches tall in "real" life, so they probably didn't know HOW to market him, which is too bad because since he appeared in the Super Friends and was therefore one of the (no pun intended) bigger name heroes.
A sleek and cool Batcopter was added to the heroes' arsenal, with a spinning propeller and pop off battering ram/grappling hook with a retractable cord.

Unfortunately, rather than produce Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet or even made up vehicles for other heroic characters (a couple of Green Lantern items were designed but never produced), Kenner simply opted to make up new vehicles, Kalibak's Boulder Bomber, The Darseid Destroyer for the bad guys and for the good guys, a generic vehicle called the Delta Probe One.


Despite the second series not selling as well as the first, Kenner released a third, including: Captain Marvel/Shazam! and Plastic Man, both of whom had previously starred in their own Saturday morning cartoons; two heroic New Gods, Orion (once again revamped by Jack Kirby) and Mr. Miracle; Cyborg of the Teen Titans (Kenner had at one point, planned an entire wave of Teen Titans Super Powers including a Titans Tower playset, but Cyborg was the only one that made it to the actual line); and Super Friends perennial Samurai. In a surprising move, Kenner also added two all-new, Kenner-invented characters that weren't tied to either DC Comics or the Super Friends, The Golden Pharaoh and Cyclotron. They also added Batman's enemy Mr. Freeze in an extremely detailed suit of armor and Tyr, a one-armed, red-skinned alien marauder from the 30th Century-based Legion of Super Heroes comic (like the Titans, Kenner had at one point, planned to make an entire Legion SP series, but once again, Tyr was the only figure to make it to the actual toy line).

A ridiculous final vehicle was produced, the Justice Jogger:
Two additional items were pictured on the toy packages and solicited to buyers, but were never released, another generic hero vehicle, the All-Terrain Trapper and Darkseid's Tower of Darkness villain's playset.
Prior to the cancellation of the line, Kenner was already at work crafting an extensive fourth wave. My biggest complaint about the line, prompting me to send my first letter to a toy company, was the scarcity of females. Wave 4 would have seen Supergirl added to the series, alongside a number of additional characters from the comics and cartoon, including El Dorado, Black Vulcan, The Wonder Twins and newer comic heroes like Obsidian and Blue Devil. It looks like Kenner had realized they could reuse some of their existing molds and repaint them to produce newer characters, like The Reverse Flash and John Stewart, the black Green Lantern. Also, Kenner would have continued adding all-new creations like the four armed Quaddrex (alternately known as Bio Bug and Insecta Six), Silicon, who'd have been molded out of translucent see-through plastic and Howitzer who carried a big gun. They also planned to produce new deluxe armored versions of older characters like Superman, Batman and Robin, as well as small vehicles for other characters like Cyborg, Brainiac and Plastic Man.

Sadly, the line was officially canceled just as the third wave was reaching stores, so only a few of these even made it to the prototype stage. Most are known to have been considered simply by production drawings that were found.

This line is my SECOND favorite toy line of all time, just after Megos. It really was a perfect line. They characters were depicted EXACTLY as they appeared in the comics and on TV. The weapons and power actions were likewise taken directly from the source material. And while the character selection in the later waves may have been too obscure for the uninitiated, it was a dream come true for comic fans. Beyond that, and what makes this wave "better" in my opinion than newer lines, is that they are so vibrant and colorful. They look like cartoons come to life, whereas nowadays, I think toy companies try to make their action figures too realistic with darker paint hues and black washes for shadowing. They're TOYS! They should be bright and colorful! Not drab and dour! There's enough of that in the real world!

Ahhh memories!

My-Tee Obscuri-Tee

This site has the freakin' awesomest geek-wear you can possibly imagine: My Tee Spot. I just popped by to see if anything new and cool had come out and OH MY has it ever! On the one hand, SWEEEEET! On the other, Ooops! Maybe this was a mistake.

Now, of course there are MILLIONS of different Superman and Batman tees. There are also probably nearly as many The Flash and Green Lantern tees. There are even a sizable number of Aquaman tees. I know. I own them. And for the ladies and scrawny bird-chested males like myself, there are almost as many Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batgirl tees... which sucks for me, because that just doubled the number I NEED to own.

But as a TRUE dork, I pride myself on owning not just tees based on the household names, but more obscure characters. I have a Bizarro tee and Hawkman and even The Wonder Twins! So I popped over to My Tee Spot and saw what I thought was a tee featuring the logo of The Atom:
However, upon closer inspection, The Atom actually appears above the "T" in the logo, just really tiny, which is appropriate since his power is to shrink down to micro-size.
The Atom?! Wow, that's right up there with Hawkman! Maybe I should get that! Little did I know that The Atom was (no pun intended) just a delicious amuse bouche to whet my appetite for the delightful geekstravaganza to come! (Did NOT buy... maybe on a slower new tee day, but it didn't measure up to the other riches I found.)

Next I saw a shirt featuring Firestorm!

No way! Now, both The Atom and Firestorm are somewhat obscure, BUT they've both starred in their own comic series and they were both on the Super Friends. (Especially Firestorm who was a focal character the last two seasons.) (Did NOT buy... I look awful in black!)

But...The Red Tornado?! Aw HELL!!! I GOTSTA get me one of those! Plus, it's red so I can wear it to work! Red Tornado never had his own comic and was never on the Super Friends! (He DID have his own Super Powers action figure though, which I assume is why he gets his own tee.)(BOUGHT!)
But these could not prepare me for what came next. Aqualad, Aquaman's sidekick! That takes the cake! Now Robin is the king of sidekicks and often gets his own tees and appears on quite a few others alongside the other big names. I am also the proud owner of THREE shirts featuring Wonder Girl, buried in crowded group shots, but nonetheless, there she is and YES her presence is the ONLY reason I got them! But the rest of the Teen Titans have never had a high enough profile to warrant this type of exposure!

That one went right in the Shopping Cart. I wasn't waiting and running the risk of it selling out! (Okay, that's not going to happen any time soon... however, I will point out that Robin tees always sell out of the smaller sizes first, so maybe other scrawny geeks like myself also relate to the eternal teen sidekicks moreso than to the strapping lead heroes.)

Also, may I point out that at one point in the 60s, Aqualad was BUMPED from the Teen Titans (because they could never find a use for him in stories... sigh, such is the curse of the Aquas) and replaced by Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy? HA! Take that, Boy Bowman! Where's your tee?! (Obviously, BOUGHT!)

So that's all well and good, but this next one BLEW MY FUCKING MIND!!! This surpasses the El Dorado Valentine's card!
Samurai! WHO?! Like El Dorado (and Black Vulcan and Apache Chief), he was an ethnic super hero added to diversify the all-white Justice League on Super Friends. That's right, he's not even a REAL comic book character! Power-wise, he was sort of a replacement for Red Tornado, able to summon tornado winds. He could also turn invisible, burst into flame, and wield a lightsabre-esque lightning katana. (Yep, the writers were making it up as they went along.)
He DID receive his own action figure in the Super Powers line, because it was cheaper to reuse the Red Tornado figure's tornado twisting waist mechanism than create a new mechanism for a different character with a different power. (Also, I'm not sure how you'd get a small plastic toy to mimic El Dorado's ability to pull whatever super power he needed out of his ass.)

ASIDE: I never relate to the Asian super hero, because they are usually actually FROM someplace in Asia. Like Samurai had that accent and was dressed like a pagoda. He had to say magic words in Japanese to activate his powers. Instead, I could definitely relate to the Wonder Twins, even though they were technically from an alien planet, Exor, because they had dark skin like me, but spoke normal "American." Even so, I can never dress like a super hero for Halloween, not just because I'm built like a skeleton, but because #1. there are like 2 Asian super heroes and #2. I can't be one half of the Wonder Twins without the other. Such is my dilemma. (BOUGHT!)

But it wasn't just a super HERO extravaganza. Ho no! There are probably nearly as many Joker tees as there are Batmanand also even a FEW Catwoman tees, but I don't think I've ever seen a Two Face tee!
There probably have been tees featuring him based on his movie depictions by Tommy Lee Jones and Aaron Eckhart, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen a comic book Two Face tee. There was also probably a tee or two made based on The Governator's performance as Mr. Freeze in the shiteous Batman & Robin, but I don't think I've ever seen a comic book Mr. Freeze on a tee... until now!
Once again, this ties into the Super Powers toy line, as this is how he looked in that collection. He hasn't worn this overly detailed suit since that time period, but I'm sure he's happy to wear anything, so long as he gets his own tee shirt! (Did NOT buy. I respect that they were made, but neither is a particular fave of mine.)
Sinestro HAS had his own shirts, because as of right now, Green Lantern is the hottest hero in DC Comics' stable and Sinestro is his arch enemy. Even so, I'm digging this "vintage look" Sinestro. Plus, I DO look great in yellow. (However, did NOT buy. Maybe later. I'll put it in the Wish List.)
I already have a Bizarro tee, featuring his image from the Super Friends, but this is a comic book image of Superman's evil duplicate. It irks me, though, because his S logo should be sdrowkcab. Needless to say, me no am going to get this. (That's how he talks.) Actually, since he usually says the opposite of what he means, I suppose that should be, "Me am getting shirt with frontwards logo." (Did NOT Buy.)
Are you KIDDING me?! Mr. Mxyzptlk?! Never... NEVER! NEVER in my wildest dreams did I imagine anyone would EVER produce a tee featuring this 5th Dimensional Imp, who uses his magical powers to constantly punk Superman until the Man of Steel tricks him into saying his name backwards! Hell, can anyone say his name FORWARDS?! (It's Mix-yez-pit-ill-ick.) (BOUGHT... even though I know every time I wear it, I'm going to get asked, "Mr. WHO?" a million times.)

And there was no way I was able to resist the feline feminine appeal of:

Wonder Woman's arch nemesis, The Cheetah!Sigh. Okay, so Cheetah will always be the other feline femme fatale, but she was a member of the Legion of Doom and her depiction, smokey, purry voice and all, beats Catwoman's appearance on the Batman cartoon, with her helium voice and ugly green jumpsuit. What's so catlike about that? I've never seen a green cat before... well, except Battle Cat. But that's neither here nor there. Hello Junior XL! Reow! Hiss! (BOUGHT! I mean it's WONDER WOMAN'S archenemy!)

What was even more delightful was that not only did they offer tees based on famous heroes' foes, but one borderline obscure hero's. Meet Captain Marvel:
It says "Shazam!" because that's the magic word he says to turn into a super hero and Marvel Comics would sue the shit out of DC if they dared put out anything with the word "Marvel" anywhere on it. Leading to an entire generation thinking that this character's NAME is Shazam. Now Shazam/Captain Marvel isn't a complete unknown, as he starred in a very popular 70s live-action Saturday morning series that is quite fondly recalled today. He often muscled his way onto licensed merchandise during that time in place of Super Friends star Aquaman. (Read a blog all about it from the Aquaman Shrine here.) Bastard. But in the ensuing years, Captain Marvel has faded into the background. He's not even a member of the Justice League like Firestorm and Red Tornado. So it's mind-blowing that not only does he have his own tees, but so do his wacky villains!
Just as Captain Marvel is a poor man's Superman, Dr. Sivana is his poor man's Lex Luthor. No powers, unless "evil" counts as a power. Or "ugly." That's a pretty dynamic design for a tee for such an UN-dynamic character! (It kinda looks like he's letting loose a powerful fart, doesn't it?) But wait! There's more:
Mr. Mind is Captain Marvel's enemy, a genius hypnotic WORM! Captain Marvel is actually probably Mr. Mind's second arch enemy behind tequila manufacturers. (I should get that for St. Patrick's Day! Er, the shirt not tequila... that would be like holiday mish-mashing.) (BOUGHT Captain Marvel's... hey, it's red, I can wear it to work! Did NOT buy the two villains, but may come back for Mr. Mind.)

And finally (almost), once again spawned from the Super Powers toy line... which, by the way, didn't even have this many tie-in products back when it was out! Ahem... spawned from the Super Powers toy line come three shirts based on Jack Kirby's New Gods. First:
Super escape artist Mr. Miracle. Real name: Scott Free. LOVE a terrible pun! One of THE. UGLIEST. SUPER SUITS. EV-ER!!!
Orion, son of evil overlord Darkseid, constantly caught between the struggle of light and darkness. And I know what you're thinking, but this all happened like 10 years before Star Wars came out! Also, this was how the Orion action figure looked, which is different from the way he normally looked in comics:I effing hate Orion. You know his ONE character trait? He's angry ALL. THE. TIME. And you know what his power is? Super strength. THAT'S IT. Like there aren't 20 billion other super strong heroes out there already! Needless to say, I will NOT be adding this to my collection, even though I am impressed that it was made. Also, I hate wearing black anyway, which is why things will never work out between me and the Firestorm tee.

And finally, Darkseid himself:

Ruler of the horrific planet Apokolips and uber-foe of ALL of the DC super heroes, Darkseid sashays into the world of fashion flanked by his two most famous servants, his brutish son Kalibak and the nefarious DeSaad (as in the Marquis...) as well as one of his army of Parademons, all four rendered... you guessed it, like they appeared in the Super Powers toy line. (Did NOT buy any of the three.)

I've saved the most obscure for last. The absolute cherry on top of this sundae is:

Robotman. WHO? Answer: NOT a member of the Justice League. NOT on the Super Friends. NOT a Super Powers action figure. Then who... he was a member of an odd-ball team called the Doom Patrol in the 60s, until they were all killed in action (supposedly). He was revived in the 80s as a member of the new Doom Patrol, until all of THEM were killed (except him again). He's still clanking around. I think the original Doom Patrol is back... I'm not sure. They're kind of hard to follow. At any rate, there's a book out now called the Doom Patrol and he's in it. (Until it gets canceled which ought to be any day now because no one cared about them in the 60s and no one cares about them now. Seriously!) AND YET here he is, posin' it up on his very own baby blue cotton tee! I want to buy it just for the shear absurdity! (I probably won't though.) But as I've said before, EVERY super hero is someone's die-hard fave, so I'm sure someone, somewhere shit his pants when he saw this! I almost did... but that was a whole other issue. I had my own things going on. (Did NOT buy.)

Yup! So YEAH! Viva obscurity! Hopefully, this will lead to a whole slew of wacky tees featuring
Metamorpho the Element Man! or...Bwana Beast! (Who can combine two different animals into one hybrid creature... you can't make stuff like that up!) Or what about...
Black Lightning! Oh PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make Black Lightning next! C'mon insane tee shirt maker! Make my blaxploitation dreams come true!