The Super Friends! is a DC Comics franchise created by Gardner Fox, William Hanna, Joe Barbara and Alex Toth. It was based on the Justice League of America from DC Comics.
It began as an animated series that ran a total of nine seasons from 1973-1985 under a variety of titles. The franchise also gave birth to many products and spin-off shows and television commercials.
Among the most popular products, was the toys, such as the Super Powers Collection; and the books, such as the comic book series.
Genesis of the Super Friends[]
The roots of the Super Friends! franchise can be traced back to the '60s Filmation cartoons, such as The New Adventures of Superman, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure and The Batman/Superman Hour, all of which served as preludes to the Super Friends!, as they clearly had some of the same voice actors, such as Ted Knight, Olan Soule and Casey Kasem, who would reprise their roles for the Superfriends, suggesting that they are part of the same universe.
Super Friends as a brand[]
The Super Friends! name became a brand throughout the 1970s and on into the present. Sometimes it is presented as Super Friends!, but also Superfriends, Super Friends and Super-Friends.
Other names used to license the brand was Super Amigos, Super Powers, Super Heroes and DC Super Friends. For the most part, the continuity of the franchise was set in the fictional universe known as Earth 1956, however this varied.[2]
Spin-off material and other shows in the Super Friends! universe[]
Although mostly conjecture, this wiki treats other DC Comics animated and live-action productions from Filmation and Ruby-Spears as part of the Super Friends universe, as well as DIC Entertainment's Swamp Thing.
The animated Wildstorm Productions are also considered part of, if not the universe itself, at least part of the multiverse. In the Gen¹³ film the Super Friends are referenced, implying they exist in that universe, but it's impossible to know for sure if it was supposed to be the Earth-1956 Super Friends or not. Furthermore, despite they were mentioned by the name "Superfriends," it's not entirely certain if real people were being referenced or fictional characters. Nevertheless, the simple reference is enough for them to be considered part of the franchise at least, after all Wildstorm was owned by DC Comics even when the film was released.[3]
Also, the classic sixties Batman television series is also included on this wiki, and anything related to it; however it's not part of the Super Friends universe, but a very closely related alternate universe. The fact that the two animated Batman cartoons from Filmation feature Adam West and Burt Ward in one and Olan Soule and Casey Kasem in the other shows that a strong connection between the two universes seems quite apparent. Not to mention the classic live-action specials with the Super Friends that starred West and Ward called Legends of the Superheroes. The relation between these to Earths is too noteworthy to not include that show. Not to mention that the two universes have crossed over before in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
It's also noteworthy to mention, that it has been implied, although not directly stated, that many other Hanna-Barbera cartoons are also part of the Superfriends Universe; such as Space Ghost and Dino Boy/Space Ghost and Frankenstein, Jr., Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, The Herculoids Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor and Space Stars. One example as to why this is, was that the Super Friends coloring book from Whitman Publishing that came out in 1975 was directly linked to an episode of Birdman and the Galaxy Trio. Both the cartoon and the coloring book featured the same aliens as guest stars. Because of this, those cartoons can be cataloged here as well.
References[]
- ↑ This image was taken from Doctor Freelance.
- ↑ For example, the DC Super Friends brand from Fisher-Price was clearly part of a different universe, possibly the same universe that The Joker's Playhouse was part of. However the 2015 series was also part of a completely different universe as well.
- ↑ Although it should be noted that at the time the film was released in 2000, the Wildstorm Universe was still its' own world and hadn't yet merged with the greater DC Universe. This didn't happen until 2011. Still, this wiki isn't bound by the way things were in the comics at the time, as they are not canon from the perspective of the Super Friends.
External Link[]
- Super Friends! at the DC Database