Does Byrne's FF run get the respect it should in Overstreet?!?

[minutekev@50]

I got this information from a website that lists all FF cartoons:

 

THE NEW FANTASTIC FOUR

original airdates: Sept 9, 1978-Sept 1, 1979 on NBC

episodes: 13

animated by: DePatie-Freleng

distributed and owned by: ? and Marvel Enterprises

note: The Human Torch was not in this series because the network believed a man on fire would be bad for kids. The Human Torch was planned to be in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends but NBC still did not like the idea of a flaming man, so Firestar was born.

 

Kev

 

TV EXECS!!!

[Kevin Boyd]

From the Cartoon Network's Brak page:

 

"The New Fantastic Four" cartoon released in 1978 by Hanna-Barbera, whereas "The Fantastic Four" cartoon was released beforehand during the late 60s, which included Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Girl, The Thing, and The Human Torch. The New Fantastic Four cartoon featured Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Thing and H.E.R.B. (pronounced Herbie). Hanna-Barbera replaced The Human Torch, who's powers were to combust his body into flames. Hanna-Barbera, at the time, were worried that children watching the cartoon would want to be like The Human Torch themselves, and "flame on" by means of matches or campfire. I really doubt anyone with the right state of mind would actually try that, but.. I really wouldn't be surprised if some chimp-[!@#%^&^] kid thought he could possess super powers by lighting his sweater on fire. So, Hanna-Barbera took the safe route, avoiding any lawsuits, and slapped a robot named H.E.R.B. in The Human Torch's place. The Human Torch was also slated to have his very own cartoon series, via Hanna-Barbera, which never happened. I assume H.E.R.B. is an acronym for something. But I have no idea what it stands for, but it seems H.E.R.B. stands for pure trouble.

 

Kev

 

 

 

[Zonker]

OK, here's the source I was thinking of, one of Mark Evanier's Incessently-Asked Questions

 

Is it true that the Human Torch was replaced in the 1978 Fantastic Four cartoon show because the network was afraid that kids would imitate him and set themselves on fire?

 

No. In 1977, Marvel made a deal that licensed a number of their characters to Universal Studios to be developed as live-action TV-movies and potential series. The Incredible Hulk TV show (the one with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno) came out of that deal, as did TV-movies of Dr. Strange and Captain America. The Human Torch was one of the characters that Universal wanted to develop, and a teleplay was written but never produced.

 

This meant that, the following year when NBC wanted to buy a new, animated Fantastic Four series, the rights to the Torch were encumbered. Universal -- which was not to be involved in the cartoon show -- would not make a deal that would allow the Torch to be included. Therefore, he was replaced by a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E., conceived and named by Stan Lee and designed by Jack Kirby.

 

The rumor that is asked about above was abetted by a few statements from folks who worked on Marvel animated projects, saying that the Torch was omitted for the cited reason. Either they had short memories or figured there was some P.R. benefit to claiming that.

 

Suppose there's no way to know who is actually correct!

 

Cheers,

Z.

[Kevin Boyd]

I do recall that Universal held the option on the Torch for a long time, and that the project moved into the pre-production and testing phases a couple of times. I even recall reading some articles about the problems they faced trying to create a flaming Torch outfit for an actor/stuntman to wear but that they had to abandon the process and having fake fire effects added over top of living actors looked terrible so the film was abandoned. Perhaps that's when they considered making him a cartoon character.

 

Kev

[500Club]

I'd forgotten about the whole Torch/network exec issue. It's a story I'd heard before, and even if it is an urban comic myth, it may have been a myth that inspired Byrne.

[jbud73]

I have a question, whay is Byrne doing now? I only collect a few new titles and try not to read previews as it tends to get me interested in new stuff and really at $4 bucks plus a pop in Canada, 5 titles a month is enough. So I'm out of touch with the new projects a bit, anyone shed some light on this.

[Comicdave]

Byrne is currently writing and drawing the 12 issue limited series Superman & Batman: Generations III. Plus he is also currently ghosting on the art for the Funky Winkerbean comic strip. I had read he was only going to do it for a 2 week run, but it's been about 6 weeks now that he's been on it.

[Kevin Boyd]

Byrne is halfway through a series called Superman & Batman: Generations III.

 

Generations I & II dealt with a world where Superman and Batman first appeared in 1939 and aged normally (!), had children, grandchildren, etc. The first series skipped 10 year intervals 1939/49, 1959/69 and so on. The second series looked at the years in-between the first series and looked at some of the heroes surrounding the big two. The third series jumps ahead 100 years each issue and has a subplot concerning Darkseid and the New Gods.

 

Byrne has been hired to do a JLA run, to be written by Chris Claremont. The first issue isn't slated to appear until early next year.

 

Kev

[minutekev@50]

Byrne is halfway through a series called Superman & Batman: Generations III.

 

Generations I & II dealt with a world where Superman and Batman first appeared in 1939 and aged normally (!), had children, grandchildren, etc. The first series skipped 10 year intervals 1939/49, 1959/69 and so on. The second series looked at the years in-between the first series and looked at some of the heroes surrounding the big two. The third series jumps ahead 100 years each issue and has a subplot concerning Darkseid and the New Gods.

 

Byrne has been hired to do a JLA run, to be written by Chris Claremont. The first issue isn't slated to appear until early next year.

 

Kev

 

I didn't realize there was a second part to Generations. I just bought the trade of the first series. (Shows how much I know about new comics). Is the second one any good?

[Kevin Boyd]

It's not bad... not as good as the first one though.

 

First issue is quite good because Byrne draws the JSA again (against Nazis!). There are some great giant Spectre pages.

 

TP of Generations II is coming out in August. (It's advertized in the latest Previews).

 

Kev