Super Friends #1

I think it was before the holidays last year that I was surfing online and i saw an image of the DC Super Friends Hawkman. It looked awesome. Right up there with Ralph and Sue Hawkman and Hawkgirl/woman are favorites of mine. So, when I saw that Hawkman was the NEXT wave, and that there was a wave already available, I had to track down each figure.

This, is the first issue based on that toy line.

The stories and activities are pretty fun and cute. Professor Ivo and Amazo look pretty cool here. Kinda reminds me of the Super Friends of my youth. Yes, I am old enough to remember first hand the Super Friends cartoon and comic book. One of my favorties was the issue with the Batman imposter - who's villainous deception was uncovered by his costume having HEELS on the boots, where the real Batman wore boots with NO heels. C'mon, it was the '70's.

I really enjoyed reading this newer updated version. The figures are a bit oversized kinda like the figures that their based on - which may not be a good look for Wonder Woman (I'm wondering why there was no Wonder Woman figure in the first wave. Is this a toy line aimed at boys?) The stories stress really cool, positive themes, like team-work. No Wonder Twins; no Wendy and Marvin - no Scooby Doo dog ripoff; no Robin. Batman is smiling and back in his blue and gray costume...hu-bu-wha-?

Wait for it, here it comes...

But, DC - or should I say some creators (Bruce Timm and Paul Dini among others) have been making a big effort to erase the Super Friends. While not going completely grim and gritty, Batman is in a darker costume and doesn't smile. Watch and episode of Justice League with The Batman and The Flash and you'll get what I mean.

I really enjoy the all-ages comics. I read Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four. I'll probably pick up the digests of the Marvel Adventures' Spider-Man and The Avengers. The Batman Strikes is my "best for last" title, along with Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans Go!

As much as I want to keep liking and reading the DC Super Friends, there are a couple of reasons why I probably won't. Most of the other all-ages comics ARE all-ages. Super Friends looks likes it is aimed directly square at the younger audience. I'm not a real big fan of the Johnny DC branding. Another reason is I'm not a big fan of comics based on toy lines. I never read Micronauts or Transformers comics. Sorry. I read Scooby Doo. I read Super Friends. The Super Powers comics seemed a bit lame, too. Since Tiny Titans and Super Friends have launched, Teen Titans Go! and Justice League Unlimited have both been canceled. That's a bummer. I liked both of those books and this is a kind of jarring transition. I can kind of understand paying $2.25 for those two books and Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four - they're all-ages books. Maybe even Tiny Titans. But DC Super Friends is aimed at a younger audience. The coolest thing about comics growing up was that the quarter or thirty-five cents I had from my allowance I spent on comics. If my Mom and Dad bought me comics it was in the three-packs. Or it was an inch thick stack.

Kids today don't know what they missed in my/our day...