Amazing that on only five hours of solid sleep into today, I DID remember some things I wanted to mention, as of yesterday for the first entry. Hey, whoever said I was perfect! So, some quick bullet points for you to absorb before today's entry, proper:
- "Super Powers" actually is the "Super Friends" cartoon series with a bit of a "serious" bent to it. I don't think the team is actually called the Justice League of America in the first mini-series, but I do believe that is rectified in the second volume.
- Other "Super Friends" connections include the "JLA" headquarters being the traditional Hall of Justice, and Robin being a member of the team. How ironic that in the DC Universe continuity, Dick Grayson had to wait until he BECAME Batman to become a member of the JLA during James Robinson's run.
- The cartoon series, itself, was starting to reflect the toy line rebranding, with the season introducing Firestorm to the team being called "Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show".
But we're now in 1985. We've seen the first "Wrestlemania". We've watched "Rambo: First Blood Part 2" 10 times in one day. (Because Sylvester Stallone is the greatest Action Movie Star of all time. Just ask my Action Attraction fellows!) I do believe it's time for another DC "Super Powers" mini-series to reflect the changes to the second line of action figures! Showing up for this new round of merchandising are new JLA members:
- Doctor Fate
- Firestorm
- Green Arrow
- Martian Manhunter
- Red Tornado (Barbershop pole pants included!)
But for this second run, we couldn't just rely on more Batman/Superman villains. No... no.... We need a threat of galactic import! So, REALLY seeing introduction in this series is Darkseid and his band of followers:
- Desaad (Who came with what looked like a high-tech accordion.)
- Kalibak (Whose redesign actually benefited the character, if I say so myself.)
- Mantis (Who... eh... was there to fill the robotic-design character spot?)
- Para-Demon (Who I felt Jack "King" Kirby really dropped the ball on that redesign. But Mantis was hogging all the green and yellow, I guess.)
- Steppenwolf (Who I still wonder why he was considered "big league", because even in the "New Gods" comic, he only appeared ONCE! Guess being related to Darkseid pays off for appearances!)
The master chef behind this entire stew being Jack Kirby for writing AND penciling. Add a pinch of salt, and wallah! "Super Powers" mini-series part 2!
One interesting thing of note about this particular "Super Powers" series is it's ACTUALLY a sequel to Kirby's then-conclusion to his "Fourth World" saga, the graphic novel "The Hunger Dogs". The book starts off with Darkseid removed from power on Apokolips, hunted on the streets by the citizens he used to lord over. But while he considers "home sweet home" a bit of a wash, he manages to take his merry crew over to a secret base on Earth's moon. Because if he can't have Apokolips, why not make a new one on our Terra Firma? So Darkseid sends his servants to various periods of Earth's history to plant seeds that will tap into Earth's core energies to form the fire pits that are featured on
Apokolips travel brochures. (Along with spa treatments from the Female Furies, day care at Granny Goodness's Nursery, and poetry readings in the park with Kanto.)
Our heroes get squared away with what's happening at what given times, so as any superhero team does... they split into small groups to handle spreading crises! In the first issue, we highlight Martian Manhunter and Aquaman traveling back to Arthurian England, with Desaad playing Grima Wormtongue to the wielder of Excalibur, himself! The second issue is a different affair, with Hawkman, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado tackling their seed in the present time... but with Kalibak bringing the past INTO the present, with a dinosaur and prehistoric humanoid army! Also, each issue does feature a little bit of Darkseid monologing and plotting further. He's almost a bit like a child on Christmas Day morning, counting down the minutes until he receives that Red Ryder B.B. Rifle. ... Oh, I mean the planet Earth.
The third issue is weirdly enough a return to Jack Kirby's creative themes of ancient aliens establishing civilizations, with Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Doctor Fate tackling their seed issues against Mantis and the extraterrestrial sources of those Easter Island head statues! And Robert Graves would be very happy with Superman and Firestorm in the fourth issue, which finds them traveling back to ancient Rome to face off against the still amazingly-alive Steppenwolf... and actual gladiators! (Though I highly doubt, after this adventure, Clark Kent, Ronnie Raymond, and Martin Stein were itching to rent some Sword and Sandals VHS tapes. Oh well... There's always the "Star Wars" trilogy.)
Before you can say, "Holy Marty McFly!", the fifth issue has Batman, Robin, and the Flash transported back... to the FUTURE! They end up in a dystopian timeline where Darkseid finally got his innermost desire... a night on the Bunny Ranch... oh, I mean the planet Earth transformed into Apokolips. But it's also by this issue that all wrongs in the past have been righted by their individual teams, and it all leads to the sixth issue, which is the big duke-a-roo between the... essentially... JLA versus Darkseid and the Apokoliptian forces!
Now I will be forthright and honest: this really isn't Jack Kirby's best work. BUT it still has a lot of the Kirby vibrancy in each individual issue. Plus, this is the only time in Jack Kirby's history with DC that they let him draw every single character, without an artist "correcting" their appearance to fit the "house style". (A problem that would plague Jack Kirby in every issue of "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen".) And it's generally perceived that this is the best of the entire "Super Powers" mini-series runs, which I'd find hard to argue. There's a lot of action, it's a fun tie-in with Kirby's somewhat rushed "New Gods" conclusion, and it also gave the new toy line additions plenty to do in their adventures with the expanding Justice League of America! But can too much of a good thing become a questionable... if not "bad"... thing? We'll ponder that for the conclusion of our trilogy, tomorrow!
P.S. This mini-series was also adapted into an episode of "Galactic Guardians: The Super Powers Team", called "Seeds of Doom". Not as many new members to the Justice League as was in this story, but you do get a team addition that won't show up until the third comic mini-series... and is oddly enough a current New 52 JLA member! But again, wait until tomorrow for that mystery person!
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