Super Friends Volume Two

Wonder Twin powers activate! Form of a two-disc DVD set containing classic '70s cartoons.

The Saturday morning cartoon experience began for me with the Super Friends. The '70s cartoon series (which had a variety of name-changes) was reason enough to wake up just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. There I amazed at the adventures of a group of heroes who hung out in the Hall of Justice and battled dastardly villains across Earth, space and dimensions.

At that time, television animation was pretty raw, but as a kid, I didn't know to expect any better. Over the past few decades animation has improved, but so have storytelling techniques. So could my childhood love from the past possible stand the test of time?

The Show
Those hoping to see the most famous Super Friends episodes, which featured battles versus the Legion of Doom, will want to steer their cash towards the previously released Challenge of the Super Friends DVDs. Super Friends Volume Two is a collection of late '70s episodes that aren't quite as memorable as the mammoth confrontations with the Legion of Doom. There's no Lex Luthor here, no Cheetah or Black Manta. Instead, the Super Friends battle even greater foes, such as Dracula, the Anti-Matter Monster and an space island of Greek Gods.

The lack of the Legion of Doom shouldn't deter you from these DVDs. After all, these adventures feature the core members of the Super Friends -- Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman, The Wonder Twins and Gleek, the space monkey. The villains may not be notable DC classics, but there's still plenty of over-the-top menacing cretins to do battle with the Super Friends.

While the adventures of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman (rrrowr) and Aquaman (uhhh) might be worthwhile, Super Friends is perhaps most fondly remember for a trio of unique characters. Zan and Jayna make up the Wonder Twins, who, when they activate their powers, can turn into pretty much and shape or form they desire. An ice sled and a Kodak bear? Yeah, Zan and Jayna have been there. Accompanied by their pet space monkey, Gleek, the trio are often used as back-up to save the rest of the team when they get in too deep. But don't think of these three as merely comic relief or last-minute saviors. They have other vital contributions, such as Gleek's cloning experiments, which netted the Super Friends an endless supply of bananas. Sure, there's no Legion of Doom in Super Friends Volume Two, but there's plenty of Gleek.

Wonder Twin menage a trois.

The two-disc set includes sixteen Super Friends episodes, a wild music video and a short retrospective on the show that captivated youngsters through reruns for more than a decade.

Disc 1
1. Rokan: Enemy from Space
2. The Demons of Exxor
3. Battle at the Earth's Core
4. Sinbad and the Space Pirates
5. The Pied Piper from Space
6. Attack of the Vampire
7. The Beasts Are Coming
8. Terror from the Phantom Zone

Special Features: The Ballad of Zan & Jayna

Fantasy becomes reality.

Disc 2
9. The Anti-Matter Monster
10. World Beneath the Ice
11. Invasion of the Brain Creatures
12. The Incredible Space Circus
13. Batman: Dead of Alive
14. Battle of the Gods
15. Journey Through Inner Space
16. The Rise and Fall of the Super Friends

Special Features: Pajama-Rama "Super Friends" Retrospective, Trailers

Of the sixteen episodes, only one is truly awful. Do yourself a favor and skip "The Anti-Matter Monster," which is a pulsating blob of green that offers little in the way of entertainment. Beyond this rotten banana, the rest of the bunch offers the kind of nostalgic comfort food to soothe the dissatisfied soul of the 25-43-year-old male (and certainly a few females out there too).

Many of the episodes in this collection will actually prove new to viewers. Several of these saw only limited re-runs. Even if you've seen them all, it's refreshing to watch them, all with an adult's perspective. Seeing these episodes now, twenty years later, they're actually more enjoyable. The situations are so off-the-cuff and so unashamed about the cheese factor, that they are actual unique. Today's American cartoons are greatly tethered in reality or at least superhero reality. But Super Friends didn't care one bit about what made sense. Sure, Superman gets his powers from the sun, but that doesn't mean he can't become a vampire. Why the hell not?

"Batman: Dead or Alive" proves one of the best of the bunch. With a planet overcome by menacing Wild West bandits, the Super Friends zip off to the rescue. Batman has not one but two high noon duels and the luscious Wonder Woman must be rescued by the Boy Wonder (who looks and sounds more like a Man Wonder). The indebted Wonder Woman offers only a brief thanks to Robin, who quickly returns to Batman's side -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

Leave it to Batman to bring a Frisbee to a shootout.

Genius at work: Robot Cowboys

"Sinbad and the Space Pirates" proves that anything goes in a Super Friends episode. A band of pirates flying Spanish galleons through the cosmos arrive on Earth to plunder and pillage. They begin by using tractor beams to lift an Incan pyramid up out of the ground, making the piles of hidden gold more easily accessible. The episode ends with a glorious duel between Superman and the pirate captain, in which Supes uses his heat vision in a choreographed sword battle.

Another favorite is "Attack of the Vampires." There's something about Dracula that makes for classic television no matter what the situation. The episode begins in Transylvania with Lord Dracula awakening. Mock the limited animation all you like, but it takes a lot of ingenuity to show Dracula has awakened by having his eyes shift to the left suddenly.

In the '70s they didn't have red-eye filters on their cameras.

Oddly enough, this is before he became a vampire.

Using a special powder, Dracula begins turning the citizens of Transylvania into mindless vampires. Of course, the Super Friends are called into action. However, the group finds themselves in deep trouble early on. Batman and Robin are captured and put into a devilish trap that could drown the Dynamic Duo and Superman gets turned into a vampire. You thought Bizarro was cool -- wait until you get a load of the red-eyes and grey-skinned Undead Man of Steel.

All the set-up can't compare to the brilliant conclusion. Having been cured of vampirism by Batman (who's cooked up an antidote spray), Super puts on some make-up so he can pose as a vampire. It's this stroke of genius that allows Superman to slip into Dracula's castle and take on the fanged villain one-on-one.

If these types of scenarios have you rolling your eyes, Super Friends is not the DVD set for you. However, if they have you rolling in the aisles, then you may have just stumbled upon your next DVD purchase.

Read the complete review at IGN DVD.

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