The Superfriends & the Justice League of America

[bronze johnny]

When the Superfriends hit the Saturday morning cartoon line-up in 1973, many young viewers like myself were excited to see Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. together in a cartoon show. The series would successfully go on until the 1986. Concurrently, the Justice League of America continued its run through the Bronze Age of Comics.

 

Did the Superfriends have any impact on the Justice League comic book in terms of sales and popularity?

 

While DC did publish a Superfriends comic and references to the Justice League were made in the cartoon, did DC ever do more to promote the Justice League comic?

 

Was the Superfriends a missed opportunity for DC to promote the Justice League of America during a time when Marvel had successfully challenged it for comic book supremacy?

 

Interesting thing about the Superfriends is that the series lasted long enough for an entire generation to watch. Did the people at DC really understand the significance of Saturday morning cartoons in the 70s and 80s?

 

Perhaps the times were just different and the practice of a successful adaptation of a comic book character in one medium didn't translate into success for another?

 

Thanks for any insight,

 

John

[seanfingh]

When the Superfriends hit the Saturday morning cartoon line-up in 1973, many young viewers like myself were excited to see Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. together in a cartoon show. The series would successfully go on until the 1986. Concurrently, the Justice League of America continued its run through the Bronze Age of Comics.

 

Did the Superfriends have any impact on the Justice League comic book in terms of sales and popularity?

 

While DC did publish a Superfriends comic and references to the Justice League were made in the cartoon, did DC ever do more to promote the Justice League comic?

 

Was the Superfriends a missed opportunity for DC to promote the Justice League of America during a time when Marvel had successfully challenged it for comic book supremacy?

 

Interesting thing about the Superfriends is that the series lasted long enough for an entire generation to watch. Did the people at DC really understand the significance of Saturday morning cartoons in the 70s and 80s?

 

Perhaps the times were just different and the practice of a successful adaptation of a comic book character in one medium didn't translate into success for another?

 

Thanks for any insight,

 

John

 

I sort of disliked the Superfriends, even I though I watched it religiously. There was never any action and they were all portrayed as dumb. The Wonder Twins drove me crazy and all the plots were ridiculously formulaic.

 

By the time they got to the Legion of Doom version, I was a little old for it, but I enjoyed the Legion of Doom version far more than the pablum-ized earlier version.

[Jeffro.]

The Legion of Doom version has some teeth in it. Definitely my favorite version. The Wendy and Marvin years were pathetic. I have fond memories of the 80's series. That's the one I watched the most. Yeah, I was kinda too old for it but I'm still watching cartoons today.

[telerites]

I'm not sure what if any influence it had on the comics but I remember wondering why the show wasn't called the Justice League of America. I watched it religiously and the subsequent versions. I was around ten when the Superfriends came out in 1973 and even at that age, I thought it was kind of corny. Not that kept me from watching it.

 

I enjoyed Challenge of the Superfriends and the Legendary Super Powers show the most.

 

One thought is that the Superfriends did irreparable damage to Aquaman. What a wuss in the show although he was voiced by one of my favorites - Norman Alden.

[joecgcmaniac]

I'm not sure what if any influence it had on the comics but I remember wondering why the show wasn't called the Justice League of America. I watched it religiously and the subsequent versions. I was around ten when the Superfriends came out in 1973 and even at that age, I thought it was kind of corny. Not that kept me from watching it.

 

I enjoyed Challenge of the Superfriends and the Legendary Super Powers show the most.

 

One thought is that the Superfriends did irreparable damage to Aquaman. What a wuss in the show although he was voiced by one of my favorites - Norman Alden.

 

+1 on the irreparable damage to Aquaman. There were two generations who grew up with the mindset that Aquaman's only power was that "he talks to the fishes." The way they portrayed him made him the punchline to comedians and even in Toyfare's Twisted Toyfare theater.

 

[Zonker]

Yes, I think if they had made the JLA comic more like Super Friends, DC would have fallen even farther behind Marvel!

 

Wendy, Marvin, the Wonder Twins, Batman & Robin in the style of Adam West & Burt Ward... None of that would have worked in the mainstream DC Universe of the 1970s.

 

DC wasn't completely oblivious to potential synergies with Saturday morning TV though. They did change up the Shazam! comic to better match the TV show.

 

[Sal]

I watched the show religiously, event though there was an infuriating tendency for the characters to verbalise what was obviously happening on the screen;

 

EXT. SPACE

The alien space ships fly in, shooting laser rockets at our heroes.

 

HAWKMAN

Look out! They're shooting laser rockets!

 

BATMAN

We've barely got enough time to dodge!

 

The heroes dodge out of the way. The rockets blow something up behind them.

 

 

 

That used to drive me crazy.

[Sal]

Oh, and I am legally obligated to point people to this page whenever this topic is discussed;

 

http://www.seanbaby.com/super.htm

 

Make sure to read the Riddler and Aquaman ones. Those are gold.

 

"We swim to here!"

[seanfingh]

 

Love me some Seanbaby!!

[Sal]

It's funnier the first time than the thirtieth.

 

 

Being high would probably help, too. If that's something the kids nowadays still like to do, that is

[bronze johnny]

It looks as if the cartoon may have either had no influence on JLA comic book sales or may have even caused some dislike for DC's superhero team?

[Zonker]

I'm leaning towards no effect. The Super-Friends seemed aimed at the Scooby-Doo crowd of 5, 6, 7 year olds. By 1973 the JLA comic seemed geared more to pre-teens or older. The fact that DC produced a separate Super-Friends comic series, with more cartoonish artwork, indicates they saw their market segmentation in a similar way.

 

The Standard Guide lists these circulation figures for the JLA comic in the 1970s. From what I can tell, Super-Friends debuted in September 1973, and the next JLA issue to be published after that was #109. Issues #110-#115 carried the cover tag-line "Here Come TV's Super-Friends."

 

Year Issues Circulation

1970 77 - 86 . 200,715

1971 87 - 95 . 210,108

1972 96 - 103 168,871

1973 104-108 187,051

1974 109-114 189,392

1975 115-125 166,000

1976 126-137 193,000

1977 138-149 151,982

1978 150-161 126,809

1979 162-173 128,660

[bronze johnny]

Thanks Zonker - You have to wonder if DC had any idea that those children would eventually grow up. The opportunity to increase the universe of DC readers must have been there at some point. I keep thinking of how many kids were drawn to Marvel Comics after watching the Spider-man and Marvel Super Heroes cartoons.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I'm leaning towards no effect. The Super-Friends seemed aimed at the Scooby-Doo crowd of 5, 6, 7 year olds. By 1973 the JLA comic seemed geared more to pre-teens or older. The fact that DC produced a separate Super-Friends comic series, with more cartoonish artwork, indicates they saw their market segmentation in a similar way.

 

The Standard Guide lists these circulation figures for the JLA comic in the 1970s. From what I can tell, Super-Friends debuted in September 1973, and the next JLA issue to be published after that was #109. Issues #110-#115 carried the cover tag-line "Here Come TV's Super-Friends."

 

Year Issues Circulation

1970 77 - 86 . 200,715

1971 87 - 95 . 210,108

1972 96 - 103 168,871

1973 104-108 187,051

1974 109-114 189,392

1975 115-125 166,000

1976 126-137 193,000

1977 138-149 151,982

1978 150-161 126,809

1979 162-173 128,660

 

Wow, I started buying in 1972 with issue 100. I've never seen this group of sales figures before. The precipitous drop from 1976 to 1978 is fascinating. It correlates with the introduction of Pong and of computer arcade games sucking up quarters!

[chrisco37]

Is Apache Chief even in the comics? Or was he just a creation of the show?

[seanfingh]

 

Innek Chok!!!

[chrisco37]

When I say that, my pants rip.

[seanfingh]

When I say that, my pants rip.

 

That made me

[bronze johnny]

"Wonder Twins Power..." - the one thing I didn't like about the show.

[Sal]

I've got nearly the whole run, and I don't remember seeing Apache Chief in there. Black Vulcan might have made an appearance, though. They did, however, create a bunch of characters for various countries, but they set it up so that each country had basically one hero, like there was a quota or something.