The story behind the joke: the primary visual distinction between the Super Friends series and the rest of the DC line was that the panel borders of the former were rounded, instead of square.
Kind of ironic, considering the extent to which most of the super-heroes' characterizations were square instead of well-rounded.
I was a late-comer to the Saturday morning world of the animated Super Friends, mainly because our basic cable hook-up at the time didn't carry the nearest ABC affiliate. As a result, I only ever got to see the show on family vacations to various exotic travel destinations like Baltimore and Philadelphia. My appetite had been whetted, certainly; I was addicted to CBS' New Adventures of Batman series, and the knowledge that there was another DC-based show out there that I wasn't able to revel in was nothing short of slow torture.
Hey, I was only nine, okay?
In the grand tradition of comics imitating rating points, DC packaged a book that took inspiration from the cartoon series, complete with non-powered teenage and canine sidekicks. For whatever reason - common sense prevailing, perhaps - the typical earthling-type sidekicks were usurped in short order by a trio of extra-terrestrials named Zan, Jayna, and Gleek, The Wonder Chimp. Zan had the ability to transform his body into that of any shape of any form of water, and Jayna could change hers into any kind of animal. Or maybe it was the other way around. Like it matters.
Meanwhile, Gleek's only power seemed to be a very long, prehensile tail.
Yeah, you can just feel the excitement.
In all fairness, though, this book was targeted at a relatively young market, compared to the usual age range of DC's audience. It was a television tie-in aimed at fans of the cartoon, and on that level, the series worked well enough.
Ramona Fradon's artwork matched the tone of the source material very well, and the plots and dialogue hit their marks too. Surprisingly, series writers and editors even had room to indulge their own creative impulses, introducing many characters in those pages who would go on to form the collective Global Guardians team of heroes. Heck, one of 'em even made it into the Justice League! Well, okay, so it was during the Giffen years, but it still should count for something.
Not a bad legacy, Mr. Bridwell. Not too shabby at all.
- NP
