Sup Guys, First of all, lets get this out of the way, I'm not talking about any Superfriends series with Wendy and Marvin or Zan and Jayna. I'm talking about the one where 13 members of the Justice League of America battled the Legion of Doom (vs.) Justice League right before the evolved into Justice League Unlimited. Last year I rewatched every episode of Superfriends I could find on you tube and this year I am rewatching Justice League and just got up to the part where they form the JLU. Both were Saturday morning staples of mine. Indeed, both of their theme songs echoed through my home as I sat with either my bowl of cereal or my orange juice and bagel. But which do I think captured the excitement of a group of heroes banding together to battle the forces of evil better? Where do we start? At the beginning with : ................................................................................................................................................................................ THEME SONG AND OPENING CREDITS: Tim Burton's Batman set the ball rolling with dramatic orchestral theme songs and was followed by BTAS, STAS, and eventually Justice League. Lets face even the WB logo filled our hearts with anticipation for the show, however the drums and the horns slow build up while the shadowy silhouettes of the heroes walked forward and then the explosion of a full orchestras music was pretty epic as each individual hero was introduced, and ended with the revalation that the heroes had all come together as a team. I know I hummed this tune from time to time before opening a Justice League comic well after the show was cancelled. Challenge of the Superfriends however was no slouch either though. Indeed, using the same slow opening with louder horns but a sense of dire urgency and forbode, like something bad was about to happen, while the narrorator advised the viewer that the unthinkable had happened, the villans had joined forces all to that same melody of forebode. Then suddenly, as it appears all hope is lost, the music picks up and the Superfriends march in in full color as opposed to shadows, and hope is restored as the images change and he heroes are defeating the villains while an exciting a larger assortment of instruments kick in. s about to happen real soon This one I give to the Superfriends: I did not like the silhouettes at all and when I first saw them I prayed that that wasn't the animation style they were using. Fortunately it was not. Seeing the heroes and villains face off and learning the plot and the roster of each team from the jump was far better in my opinion. The music is a draw, but the point for all of the above in this category goes to Challenge of the Superfriends. Point: Challenge of the Superfriends WHO HAD THE BETTER ROSTER Superfriends had Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Apache Chief, Hawkman, Black Lightning, Samurai, Justice League had Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Hawkgirl, Martian Martian Manhunter, (and a hell of a lot of guest heroes including Aquaman) I believe that the point goes to: Superfriends. Why, although the Justice League had the magnificent 7, Superfriends, had a larger and although ridiculed sometimes for it at times, more racially diverse cast. This meant two things. There was a greater chance of finding your favorite hero out of thirteen heroes rather than seven, and children of several ethnicities had a character that showed them hey, my people can be heroes to. To me that was important, as a child growing up. I loved the whole cast of Superfriends, but Batman and Black Vulcan were always my favorite, add the fact that Robin was there for the kids to relate to and there was no contest. Superfriends had something for everyone. Point Superfriends: WHICH CHARACTERS WERE PORTRAYED BY THEIR DIALOGUE AND ACTORS BETTER The voices of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin and Aquaman, were well known and mainstays for Challenge of the Superfriends, but so were the voices of the Justice League. Indeed, aside from the newcomers, Daly's Superman and Conroy's Batman were the voices most of this generation associates with those characters, so familiarity won't be the deciding factor here. That leaves script. Lets face it. Every character in Justice League had a unique voice and personality. You knew how each was going to react to a situation almost before they reacted. You knew when Flash would crack a joke, when Batman would be grim, when Superman would be reassuring, when Hawkgirl would be gruff, and when Wonder Woman's feminist sensibilities would be offended. For the Superfriends however, it was not so. If you handed Batman's script to Apache Chief and didn't have Apache say, "C'mon Robin, to the Batmobile, you wouldn't know the difference. They were all pretty much the same character with a different voice. They tried to create defacto personality traits by having hem say things like "Great Krypton or Hera Give Me Strength" but it wasn't enough. There simply wasn't a significant enough difference between them to make them unique from one another. The point here goes to Justice League. SAME VILLAINS OF THE WEEK VS NEW VILLAIN EVERY WEEK This is tough. Though Justice Leagues new villain of the week, which harkens back to the Adam West Batman show days, that prevents any form of continuity and growth with the supporting cast and the rogues, there is also something to be said about Justice League's scenario of never knowing who would step up to challenge the heroes next. It makes the episode exciting from the very beginning as you wait for the big bad to be revealed and then the theme song to play. However, the mere existence of the Legion of Doom, and the knowledge that they are constantly waiting in the shadows and tirelessly trying to devise new plots which may involve subtlety and traps or simply saying F-it and attacking en masse, that is also thrilling, and like I said above, by attacking over and over again, they grew, learned, their plots got better, and they eventually won several times. This is too close to call, Both plot devices worked for me. Point: Draw To be continued
Continued: BATTLE SCENES: I loved seeing several of the Superfriends square off against several of the Legion of Doom, and when Hal and Sinestro created hard light projections to battle one another, or Wonder Woman lassoed Cheetah, Giganta and Apache Chief faced off out or Superman picked up Solomon Grundy and threw him, it was a sight to behold and a comic fans dream come true. To make it even better, sometimes a hero would fight someone else's arch villain. Black lightning would take on Capt. Cold, or Batman would tie up Luthor. Joy to the world, indeed. Its what I didn't say the Superfriend's did that is the deciding factor. They never actually hit each other. Sure they'd tie people up, put them in cages, or bend a steel beam around them or sigh worst of all, create the 1000's whirlwind by running quickly around them but they never hit each other. Justice League on the other hand did that in spades, and when they hit someone you felt it. Justice League was not shackled by the almighty parents groups who also put a ban on the word kill or die an such like Superfriends were. They truly tried to take people's heads off, and would fight as dirty as their villains. Point: Justice League WHO HAD THE BETTER STORY ARCHS: Justice League was basically a story about a group of heroes learning to work together despite their differences, and earning the trust of the people of earth. Each week they faced off against a different villain from the vast assortment of the villains in the DCU and worked hard to save the day. The most compelling episodes was when they did not get along with one another and of course the betrayal of one of heir members who was a mole for an invading alien army, and the time travel. Challenge of the Superfriends was story about a group of heroes who had realized that they could do more good working together and their individual enemies retaliating by join forces for self preservation and to come up each week with a new and clever ways to take over the world, rob the world blind or get rid of the superfriends. Although JL dealt with modern and adult issues such as sexism and racism Superfriends plots were not totally childish either. Indeed, to their credit the Legion of Doom tried very hard to destroy the Superfriends. They went back in time to stop them from existing, they made a deal with Satan, Yes I'm calling him Satan, to get rid of the Superfriends., and in a final attempt, destroyed themselves, the Superfriends, and the world while trying to do so. These were deep plots for a kid show, and is why point goes to Superfriends. Justice League never truly faced death at the hands of their enemies. Every week there truly was a good chance the Legion of Doom would win, because sometimes they actually did. Point goes to Superfriends. Holy Marie Antoinnete Batman, that was a close shave, however, Superfriends meeks out a win, 3 to 2. At the end of the day I agree with the power puff girls:
So death is the deciding factor for a deep plot, and by extension, a better story-arc? I'll use A Better World as my case as to why JL is had better storyarcs- How About Some Death? - Superman killed Luthor, because Luthor killed Flash. That's Some Dark Stuff - Superman lobotomized Doomsday. Let that one sink in, because that's not a topic for children. They'd be So Proud - Batman argues with Lord Batman on why he does what he does. "So no 8-year-old boy will ever lose his parents because of some punk with a gun." You also said that every week that there was truly a good chance for the Legion of Doom to win. The same argument could be made for enemies of the JL. They have to win in JL. The villain can lose a million times, but all it takes is for them to win once for the world to end. Hereafter - Vandal Savage destroyed the world. He is the only one left until Superman appears. StarCrossed - Thanagarians would have destroyed Earth. They need to win, the nature of these stories is that if the Justice League ever lost, there would be no more episodes. There is more on the line for the Justice League than there is for the Superfriends to succeed in their stories.
But good sir, Id argue that the issue was not the mere risk of defeat or death that put Superfriends slightly above Justice League, for every action show has tha, but rather the fact that the villains actually won several times on Challenge. If memory serves me correctly aside from the one time you mention with Vandal, the Justice League has never lost. Yes they fought high stake battle from time to time, but I'd sooner put money on the JL winning then the Superfriends, not because the heroes were worse but because the writing dared more often to make the villains win. Out of the 13 episode run, the LOD won hands down 3 times. I'm not a math guy but with a percentage of wins like that, I'd dare say that was a slightly more exciting program.
dumb one i rem, sun out of control, going to hit earth ....... GL powerless against yellow.... then they turn it red to make superman powerless........ then the dumb way they solved crisis i forgot, but i rem thinking, its not yellow any more, GL get ur butt to work
