show name	Super Friends
format	Fantasy / Cartoon series
voices	Danny Dark Olan Soule Casey Kasem Shannon Farnon Norman Alden Sherry Alberoni Frank Welker Ted Knight Ted Cassidy
company	Hanna-Barbera ProductionsDC Comics
theme music composer	Hoyt S. Curtin Will Schaefer
country	United States
language	English
num seasons	10 (production)over 13 years
num episodes	109
list episodes	List of Super Friends episodes
executive producer	Joseph Barbera William Hanna
producer	Lewis Marshall Iwao Takamoto
runtime	60 minutes approx.
distributor	Taft Broadcasting (1969-1986) Great American Broadcasting (1988-1991) Warner Bros. Television Distribution (2002-present)
network	ABC
first aired
last aired
related	''Justice League''''Justice League Unlimited''
website	http://www.batmanytb.com/animated/index.php#shows }}

''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of America (JLA) and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.

The name of the program (and the JLA members featured with the Super Friends) have been variously represented (as ''Super Friends'' and ''Challenge of the Super Friends'', for example) at different points in its broadcast history. There were a total of 109 episodes and two backdoor-pilot episodes of ''The New Scooby-Doo Movies'', with Batman and Robin appearing in "The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper."

Series titles[link]

Over the years, the show existed under several titles:

''Super Friends'' (1973–1974) ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' (1977–1978) ''Challenge of the Super Friends'' (1978–1979) ''The World’s Greatest Super Friends'' (1979–1980)

''Super Friends'' (1980–1983)

''Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show'' (1984–1985) ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians'' (1985–1986)

Writing[link]

Plot lines for the first incarnation of the ''Super Friends'' did not involve any of the familiar DC Comics super-villains. They focused on the far-fetched schemes of mad scientists and aliens, who were revealed as well-intentioned but pursuing their goals through unlawful or disreputable means. Typically, at the end all that is needed is a peaceful and reasonable discussion to convince the antagonists to adopt more reasonable methods.

''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' departed somewhat from the previous series' formula by featuring villains using more-violent methods to further their goals; they could not be reasoned with, requiring the heroes to use force to stop them. Beginning with ''Challenge of the Super Friends'', several of the heroes' arch-villains from the comic books (such as Lex Luthor and The Riddler) began to feature prominently in comic-style stories. Throughout the series, plots often wrapped themselves up neatly in the final minutes of an episode in typical deus ex machina fashion.

Production history[link]

When animation company Hanna-Barbera acquired rights to the DC Comics characters and adapted the ''Justice League of America'' comic book for television it made several changes in the transition, including the change of name to ''Super Friends.'' Nevertheless, team members sometimes referred to themselves as the Justice League on the show. The violence common in superhero comics was toned down for a younger audience and to adhere to broadcast standards governing violence in 1970s children’s television.

Like most Hanna-Barbera shows, the rights to the ''Super Friends'' franchise are owned by DC's parent company (Warner Bros.); as a result, the series has been under Warner Bros. control. Thus, Cartoon Network was not able to air the series until after the merger of Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System was completed.

1973–1974 series[link]

''Super Friends'' first aired on ABC on September 8, 1973, featuring well-known DC characters Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Superman, Batman and Robin and Aquaman had each previously appeared in their own animated series produced by Filmation, and voice talent from these prior programs was brought in to work on the new show. Shortly before the ''Super Friends'' series was developed Superman and Wonder Woman also guest-starred in two episodes of ''The Brady Kids'', while Batman and Robin appeared in two episodes of ''The New Scooby-Doo Movies''.

In addition to the superheroes a trio of sidekicks was introduced, each of whom were new characters not drawn from the comic books: Wendy and Marvin (voiced by Sherri Alberoni and Frank Welker) and Wonder Dog (also voiced by Frank Welker), none of whom had any special abilities (save the dog's unexplained ability to reason and "talk"). Inspired by the Scooby-Doo gang, the trio—or at least its human members—were depicted as detectives and/or superheroes-in-training.

Each episode began with the heroes responding to an emergency detected by the massive TroubAlert computer in the Hall of Justice, which served as the headquarters of the team. Colonel Wilcox, a U.S. Army official, was a recurring character who would act as a government liaison with the Super Friends during emergencies. Conflicts were usually resolved with the antagonists persuaded to adapt more reasonable methods to achieve their aims (with the assistance of the heroes). Natural disasters triggered by human (or alien) activity were often shown, and environmental themes featured strongly in the program. Three other DC Comics superheroes were featured as guest stars during this season: the Flash, Plastic Man, and Green Arrow.

This first run of ''Super Friends'', consisting of 16 one-hour episodes which were rerun several times, concluded on August 24, 1974. At this point, the series was cancelled. However, interest in superheroes among ABC's prime-time viewers (with the success of ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' and the live-action ''Wonder Woman'' series) caused the network to revive ''Super Friends''. The original 16 episodes of the series were rebroadcast as a mid-season replacement, running from February 7, 1976 to September 3, 1977. These episodes were edited into half-hour versions. At the same time DC Comics published a ''Super Friends'' comic, which used Wendy and Marvin from issue #1 (Nov 1976) to #6 (Aug. 1977). In the meantime, Hanna-Barbera began production on a revamped version of the show.

1977–1978 season: ''The All-New Super Friends Hour''[link]

''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' featured four animated shorts per program, following a basic format each week. The first segment of every show featured two of the heroes (for the purposes of the team-ups in the first and fourth segments, Batman and Robin were considered "one hero") teaming up in a separate mini-story. The second segment featured a story with the Wonder Twins. The third segment was considered the "primary" adventure of the week, featuring the entire Super Friends roster (including the Wonder Twins) in a longer adventure. The fourth and final segment featured a story with one of the primary lineup and a "special guest star". This segment typically featured a problem that was solved using the guest star's unique abilities.

Between segments there were short spots with members of the Super Friends giving basic safety lessons, providing first-aid advice, demonstrating magic tricks, creating crafts, and presenting a two-part riddle featuring the week's primary plot line. This was the first season to feature two villains appearing in the comic books, Black Manta and Gentleman Ghost. Black Manta's costume was not black, and he was only referred to as "Manta"; both he and Gentleman Ghost only appeared in one episode this season, referred to as "Gentleman Jim Craddock".

1978–1979 season: ''All-New Super Friends''/''Challenge of the Super Friends''[link]

The next season of ''Super Friends'' featured two programs in an extended format. There was now a half-hour segment following the format of the previous season and a second half-hour segment, entitled ''Challenge of the Super Friends''.

First segment: ''All-New Super Friends'' episodes[link]

The first half-hour of the program featured the established group of heroes: Superman, Batman and Robin, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, the Wonder Twins and Gleek. These 16 half-hour segments are seldom seen in syndication.

Second segment: ''Challenge of the Super Friends''[link]

The next segment of the show introduced the Legion of Doom, a team of 13 recurring foes who are the Super Friends’ worst enemies. They used a swamp-based mechanical flying headquarters, the Hall of Doom (resembling the helmet of Darth Vader), as a contrast to the Super Friends’ gleaming Hall of Justice.

Additional heroes who had previously appeared as guest stars were added to the roster as well, to make a total of 11. These included the Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Thanagarian lawman Hawkman (Katar Hol) from DC Comics and three Hanna-Barbera creations: Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai. Despite the Riddler showing a set of playing cards with (from left to right) Gleek, Zan, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Batman, and Superman he then burns to ashes in his introduction in "Wanted: The Super Friends", the Wonder Twins and Gleek did not appear in ''Challenge''. Enthusiasts have expressed the view that the storylines for the ''Challenge'' episodes were the ''Super Friends'' era's best portrayal of the DC heroes.

On January 18 and 25, 1979, Hanna-Barbera ran two, one-hour live-action specials under the umbrella title ''Legends of the Superheroes''. The first special, subtitled 'The Challenge,' was loosely based on the Super Friends and the 1960s ''Batman'' series (played for laughs, but this time, including a laugh track) and included several other DC characters who replaced Samurai, Black Vulcan, and Apache Chief: Black Canary, the E-2 Huntress Helena Wayne (a new DC character, gathering her own following in ''All-Star'' and ''Adventure Comics'' JSA runs as a JSA member), and Shazam! (Captain Marvel, who had previously had his own live action series through Filmation studios). The second special, entitled 'The Roast', featured the late Ed McMahon as emcee of the roast, along the lines of ''The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'' specials. Due to Warner Bros.'s contracts on Wonder Woman (already being used in her own live action series) and Superman (in his own live-action movies at the time), they were unable to be featured on the specials.

1979–1980 season: ''The World's Greatest Super Friends''[link]

In the fall of 1979, the ''Super Friends'' returned to their prior format, bringing back the original set of five DC superheroes and Zan, Jayna and Gleek. Eight one-hour episodes were created for this run, with the majority of the season consisting of repeats of ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' from 1977-78. Renamed ''The World's Greatest Super Friends'', this series began on September 22, 1979 and ran until September 27, 1980.

1980–1982 seasons: ''Super Friends''[link]

Renamed ''Super Friends'' in 1980, the series changed formats again, abandoning the production of half-hour episodes and producing seven-minute shorts. Each episode of ''Super Friends'' would feature a rerun from one of the previous six years and three new shorts. These new adventures featured appearances by the core group of five Super Friends and Zan, Jayna & Gleek. There were also guest appearances from members previously depicted in ''Challenge of the Super Friends'' and the Hanna-Barbera-created hero El Dorado, who was added to the show to provide cultural diversity. This would prove to be one of the longer-lived incarnations of the series (three years).

1982–1983 season: ''The Best of the Super Friends'' (reruns)[link]

For the 1982–1983 television season ABC ran half-hour reruns of shows from the previous seven seasons, with none of the seven-minute shorts rebroadcast. ABC called the rerun package ''The Best of the Super Friends''.

1983–1984 season: Cancellation and the "lost episodes"[link]

Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. had created a syndication package of the earlier ''Super Friends'' series (co-distributed by LBS Communications); these were picked up by stations across the United States and typically broadcast on weekday afternoons. Not wishing to compete with the syndication programming, ABC dropped the series from the 1983–1984 Saturday morning television line-up. For the second time, ''Super Friends'' was cancelled.

However, during this time Hanna-Barbera continued to produce new episodes with the Super Friends. In total, 24 "lost episodes" were animated (but not aired) in the United States that season; the series appeared in Australia. Three of these episodes were aired when ''Super Friends'' returned to Saturday-morning ABC television the following year. The remainder aired on the USA network in 1995, as part of the ''Superman/Batman Adventures'' show.

1984–1985 season: ''Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show''[link]

''Super Friends'' returned to ABC Saturday, September 8, 1984 with a new 30-minute program typically featuring two 11-minute stories per episode. This incarnation featured Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, the Wonder Twins and Gleek, this time teamed up with Firestorm (Ronald Raymond). In addition to this core group, episodes during this season also featured cameos by old (and new) Super Friends. The series ended August 31, 1985 and featured comic-book villains such as Brainiac, Lex Luthor, Mirror Master, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Darkseid and his henchmen from Apokolips. This season and the next featured the "Super Powers" tagline, which was part of a marketing tie-in with a toy line of the same name produced by Kenner and designed by Jack Kirby.

1985–1986 season: ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians''[link]

In fall 1985 the next version of Hanna-Barbera's depiction of the DC Comics heroes began, although it no longer carried the ''Super Friends'' name. This series returned to a conventional lineup for the team, with a focus on teen members Cyborg and Firestorm. Once again headquartered at the Hall of Justice in Metropolis, the heroes battled such familiar foes as Lex Luthor, Brainiac, the Scarecrow and recurring villain Darkseid. It also contained the only appearances by The Joker, The Penguin, the Royal Flush Gang and Felix Faust.

The tone of the ''Galactic Guardians'' series was more serious than ''Super Friends'' had been. Additionally, the ''Galactic Guardians'' featured the first televised depiction of Batman's origin in the episode "The Fear". ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians'' lasted one season before being canceled. The final new episode aired was "The Death of Superman" on November 6, 1985. This third cancellation would be the final one, and ''Galactic Guardians'' marked the end of Hanna-Barbera's 13-year run of the series on September 30, 1986. In syndication, this series is listed under the ''Super Friends'' name.

Characters[link]

The Justice League of America[link]

The core group of five heroes made up the "Super Friends": {| |- |valign="top"|

Aquaman

Batman

Robin (Member in the series, but not in the JLA comics)

Superman

Wonder Woman

|}

Additional Justice League members included:

The Atom (1977, 1980–1983)

Firestorm (1984–1985)

The Flash (1973 and 1978–1985)

Green Lantern (1977–1985)

Hawkgirl (1977, 1980 and 1983)

Hawkman (1977–1978 and 1980–1985)

DC Comics characters who were not Justice League members in comics (at the time), only on the series:

Cyborg (1985)

Rima the Jungle Girl (1977 and 1980)

Justice League members created for the series:

Apache Chief (1977–1978 and 1980–1984)

Black Vulcan (1977–1978 and 1980–1984)

El Dorado (1982–1985)

Samurai (1977–1978 and 1980–1985)

One-shot Justice League appearances were made by:

Abin Sur (1978)

Green Arrow (1973–1974)

Plastic Man (1973–1974)

Superboy (1978, 1983)

The teen sidekicks and their pets:

Super Friends characters:

* Gleek (1977–1984)

* Wonder Dog (1973–1975)

Wendy and Marvin:

*Wendy Harris (1973–1975)

* Marvin White (1973–1975)

Wonder Twins:

* Jayna (1977–1984)

* Zan (1977–1984)

In the ''Super Friends'' comic and merchandising related to the series:

Batgirl

Black Canary

Black Orchid

Elongated Man

Green Fury

Golden Pharaoh

Huntress

Captain Marvel

Mary Marvel

Red Tornado

Supergirl

Legion of Doom[link]

Thirteen villains composed the Legion of Doom during the ''Challenge of the Super Friends'' season. They were: {| |- |valign="top"|

Bizarro

Black Manta

Brainiac

Cheetah

Captain Cold

Giganta

Gorilla Grodd

|width="40"|  |valign="top"|

Solomon Grundy

Lex Luthor

The Riddler

The Scarecrow

Sinestro

Toyman

|}

Doctor Natas—a one-time member briefly mentioned in "Superfriends, Rest in Peace" is the inventor of the Noxium crystal, which had the power to kill any Super Friend. He never actually appeared onscreen, not even in a flashback or a photograph. (Natas is Satan spelled backwards.)

Other DC Comics villains[link]

Villains appearing independently from the Legion of Doom: {| |- |valign="top"|

From Apokolips:

* Darkseid

* Desaad

* Kalibak

* The Paradrones

Bizarro's Clones:

* Cyzarro (Cyborg Bizarro)

* Firezarro (Firestorm Bizarro)

* Mr. Kltpzyxm (Mr. Mxyzptlk Bizarro)

* Wondezarro (Wonder Woman Bizarro)

* Alfred Bizarro (Bizarro of Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth, appeared briefly in ''Challenge'')

|width="40"|  |valign="top"|

Felix Faust

Gentleman Ghost

The Joker

Mirror Master

Mr. Mxyzptlk

The Penguin

The Royal Flush Gang

Shark |}

Villains appearing not adapted from the comic books:

Darkon

The Dollmaker

Dracula

Dr. Gulliver

Orville Gump

Medula and her Mind Maidens

Nartan

Ocina

The Phantom Zone Villains (Hul, Logar, Rom-Lok)

The Power Pirate

The Robber Baron and Sleeves

Rock and Roll Space Bandits

Rokan

Vampiress, the Voodoo Vampire

Yuna the Terrible

Zycree

In the animated series ''Justice League Unlimited'', Gorilla Grodd reforms his Secret Society this time an even larger group of villains. While not called "The Legion of Doom", their headquarters is a craft similar to the Hall of Doom, located in a swamp. It is implied it has a name different to the Secret Society, but it is not made clear what the name is.

Other DC Comic characters[link]

These are other characters that appeared on the series:

Global Guardians: Doctor Mist, Icemaiden, Little Mermaid, Seraph, Tasmanian Devil

Commissioner James Gordon

Hippolyta

Lois Lane

Jimmy Olsen

Alfred Pennyworth

Solovar (ruler of Gorilla City)

Steve Trevor

References to the Justice League of America name[link]

Beginning with the original ''Super Friends'' season, the opening narration describes the team's headquarters as "the great hall of the Justice League." The opening credits of ''Challenge of the Super Friends'' names the Super Friends as the Justice League of America. In addition to the appearance of a JLA emblem on a communicator and a reference to a mission to repair the Justice League satellite, the Super Friends are often linked with the JLA. The Justice League satellite under repair is clearly the same design as the Justice League Satellite that appeared in the comics at the time, but was shown to be substantially smaller than its comic book counterpart.

Notable voice actors[link]

The voice of the Narrator was provided by actor Ted Knight during the early hour-long episodes. Bill Woodson took over with the revival of the series in 1977. His signature line was "Later, at the Hall of Justice...". Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog were inspired by the Scooby-Doo gang. The voices of Marvin and Wonder Dog were performed by Frank Welker, who also did the voice of Fred on the ''Scooby-Doo'' series (and Scooby himself in later incarnations). Adam West provided the voice of Batman in ''Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show'' and ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians''. Casey Kasem provided the voice of Robin (and many others in the show).

Reception[link]

In January 2009, IGN listed ''Super Friends'' as the 50th best animated television series.

Region 1 DVD releases[link]

; Challenge of the Super Friends: The First Season (DC Comics Classic Collection) (Release date July 6, 2004)

Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Warner Home Video

Run time: 347 minutes

This two-disc set contains all 16 episodes from the season.

Episodes (in air & production order):

01. 09-Sep-1978 Wanted: The Super Friends

02. 16-Sep-1978 Invasion of The Fearians

03. 23-Sep-1978 The World's Deadliest Game

04. 30-Sep-1978 The Time Trap

05. 07-Oct-1978 Trial of the Super Friends

06. 14-Oct-1978 Monolith of Evil

07. 21-Oct-1978 The Giants of Doom

08. 28-Oct-1978 Secret Origins of the Super Friends

09. 04-Nov-1978 Revenge on Gorilla City

10. 11-Nov-1978 Swamp of the Living Dead

11. 18-Nov-1978 Conquerors of the Future

12. 25-Nov-1978 The Final Challenge

13. 02-Dec-1978 Fairy Tale of Doom

14. 09-Dec-1978 Doomsday

15. 16-Dec-1978 Super Friends, Rest in Peace

16. 23-Dec-1978 History of Doom

; Super Friends, Volume Two (DC Comics Classic Collection) (Release date May 24, 2005):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rating: Not Rated

Run time: 365 minutes

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

Bonus: The Ballad of Zan and Jayna

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 or Alive

14: Battle of the Gods

15: Journey Through Inner Space

16: The Rise and Fall of the Super Friends

Bonus: Pajama-Rama Super Friends Retrospective

; Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (The Complete Series) (DC Comics Classic Collection) (Release date August 7, 2007):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Warner Home Video

Run time: 179 minutes

# The Bride of Darkseid (Part 1) # The Bride of Darkseid (Part 2) # The Wrath of Brainiac # Reflections in Crime # No Honor Among Super Thieves # Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Magic Lamp # Case of the Shrinking Super Friends # The Mask of Mystery # Darkseid's Golden Trap (Part 1) # Darkseid's Golden Trap (Part 2) # Island of the Dinosoids # Uncle Mxyzptlk (Super Brat) # The Case of the Dreadful Dolls # The Royal Ruse # The Village of Lost Souls # The Curator

; Challenge of the Super Friends: Attack of the Legion of Doom (Release date June 1, 2004):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English, Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Finland,

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 1

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Warner Home Video

Run time: 109 minutes

; The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (DC Comics Classic Collection) (Release date October 23, 2007):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Hanna-Barbera Studios

Run time: 170 minutes

# The Seeds of Doom # Ghost ship # The Bizarro Super Powers Team # Darkseid Deception # The Fear # The Wild Cards # Brainchild # Escape From Space City # The Death of Superman

; Challenge of the Super Friends: United They Stand (Release date June 1, 2004):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 1

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Warner Home Video

Run time: 88 minutes

; The All-New Super Friends Hour: Season One, Vol. 1 (Release date January 8, 2008):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Turner Home Ent

Run time: 323 minutes

Included on this set are the following episodes:

# Brain Machine/ Joyride/ Invasion of the Earthors/ The Whirlpool # Invasion of the Hydronoids/ Hitchhike/ City in a Bottle/ Space Emergency # The Marsh Monster/ Runaways/ Will the World Collide?/ Time Rescue # Doctor Fright/ Drag Race/ Day of the Planet Creatures/ Fire # The Monster of Dr. Droid/ Vandals/ Superfriends Vs Superfriends/ Energy Mass # The Secret Four/ Tiger on the Loose/ The Mysterious Time Creatures/ The Antidote # The Enforcer/ Shark/ Planet of the Neanderthals/ Flood of Diamonds

; The All-New Super Friends Hour: Season One, Vol. 2 (Release date January 27, 2009):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Turner Home Ent

Run time: 366 minutes

Included on this set are the following episodes:

# The Invisible Menace/ Initiation/ Coming of the Arthropods/ River of Doom # Attack of the Giant Squid/ Game of Chicken/ The Water Beast/ Volcano # The Collector/ Handicap/ The Mind Maidens/ Alaska Peril # The Fifty Foot Woman/ Cheating/ Exploration Earth/ Attack of the Killer Bees # Forbidden Power/ Pressure Point/ The Lion Men/ The Day of the Rats # The Man Beasts of Xra/ Prejudice/ The Tiny World of Terror/ Tibetan Raiders # Frozen Peril/ Dangerous Prank/ The Mummy of Nazca/ Cable Car Rescue # The Protector/ Stowaways/ The Ghost/ Rampage

; Super Friends: The Lost Episodes (Release date August 11, 2009):

Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rating: Not Rated

Studio: Warner Home Video

Run time: 168 minutes

Included on this set are the following episodes:

# Mxyzptlk's Revenge/ Roller Coaster/ Once Upon a Poltergeist # Warpland/ Two Gleeks Are Deadlier Than One/ Bulgor the Behemoth # The Krypton Syndrome/ Invasion of the Space Dolls/ The Terror on the Titanic # The Revenge of Doom/ A Pint of Life/ The Day of the Dinosaurs # The Return of the Phantoms/ Bully for You/ Superclones # The Prisoners of Sleep/ An Unexpected Treasure/ The Malusian Blob # The Attack of the Cats/ One Small Step for Superman/ The Video Victims # The Playground of Doom/ The Space Racers/ The Recruiter

;Superfriends: The First Season (1973–74):

Two volumes (circa 2010), released on DVD by Warner Video (each volume containing 8 of the 16 episodes originally shown)

Spin-offs[link]

''The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show''[link]

Plastic Man first appeared in the first season of ''Super Friends'', in one episode. Later, Ruby-Spears Productions released a series starring the character in his own solo adventures. The Plastic Man episode "Superstein" is actually directly linked to the ''World's Greatest Super Friends'' episode "The Super Friends Meet Frankenstein." Dr. Frankenstein's sidekick; Gorg, (who was obviously inspired by Igor) appears in both episodes, with the same voice actor and a similar character design.

''Batman''[link]

A Batman animated series was also considered in the mid-1980s, presumably with Adam West reprising his role as the voice of Batman. "The Fear" was written as a pilot episode for the series, but it was instead adapted in to an episode of ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians''.

''The New Teen Titans''[link]

In 1983, a cartoon based upon ''The New Teen Titans'' comics began development. It was created as a companion for the ''Super Friends'', to be set in the same continuity. Robin wasn't going to be featured in the cartoon though, at least not as a regular, since in the ''Super Friends'' universe, he was a member of the Justice League. Like ''Super Friends'', the show was to be developed by Hanna-Barbera for ABC, but since shows like ''The Smurfs'' (airing on NBC) were so popular at the time, this show was never picked up by the network. The show would have featured Wonder Girl as the leader, along with Cyborg, Kid Flash, Changeling, Raven and Starfire. Although the show failed to get picked up, a television commercial with a substance abuse theme did feature the Titans, as they would have appeared in the animated series, along with a new superhero named "The Protector" who would have been the replacement character for Robin. A Teen Titans animated TV program was eventually produced, adding Robin and removing Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and The Protector.

''Superman (1988 TV series)''[link]

In 1988, just two years after the final season of ''Super Friends'', a new series created by Ruby-Spears Productions that featured a solo Superman aired on CBS. In the episode called "Superman and Wonder Woman vs. The Sorceress of Time," Wonder Woman guest stars, and B.J. Ward reprises her role as Wonder Woman.

''DC Super Friends''[link]

Fisher-Price developed a toy line named DC Super Friends featuring DC Comics characters as toys for young children. A comic book series and direct-to-video original animation called ''The Joker's Playhouse'' (2010) was developed to tie-in. The video features the World's Greatest Super Friends theme, allusions to the Legion of Doom, and the Super Friends and their Hall of Justice.

Comic books[link]

''Super Friends''[link]

DC Comics published a comic book version of the ''Super Friends'' from November 1976 to August 1981. The comic book series was launched by writer E. Nelson Bridwell and artist Ric Estrada. Zan and Jayna were given back stories and secret identities as a pair of blond-haired high school kids; they were more competent heroes than their cartoon counterparts.

While the cartoons were not canonical with DC Comics, writer E. Nelson Bridwell made the comic book accord with the canon via footnotes. An example of trying to fit ''Super Friends'' into the DC Universe:

Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog were the only ones active at the Hall of Justice, because the Justice League are in the 30th Century with the Justice Society (as shown in ''Justice League of America'' #147–148). Robin was busy helping the Titans in ''Teen Titans'' #50-52. Bridwell also gave them last names and ties to the other characters' histories; Wendy Harris was the niece of detective Harvey Harris (who helped trained Batman) and Marvin White was the son of Diana Prince (the woman who helped provide Wonder Woman with a secret identity upon her arrival in America). While the show never explained the departure of Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog, the story was found in ''Super Friends'' #6–9.

However, the argument for the comic being canonical with Earth-One continuity included the fact that certain elements of the series impacted other books in the DC line (such as TNT's appearance in Kandor in an issue of ''Superman Family'' that references events exclusively from ''Super Friends'', Sinestro's lack of a power ring in an issue of ''The Brave and The Bold'' after the ring was destroyed in a ''Super Friends'' issue, and Superman already being familiar with Dr. Mist and the international heroes in ''DC Comics Presents'' after meeting them in ''Super Friends'').

In 2008, DC began publishing a new ''Super Friends'' comic book starring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern (John Stewart). Aimed at children, with an art style reminiscent to that of Marvel's ''Super Hero Squad'' and replacing ''Justice League Adventures'' (the tie-in to ''Justice League Unlimited''), the series took a light-hearted tone.

Collected Editions

''Super Friends: For Justice!'' (Collects #1-7)

''Super Friends: Calling All Super Friends'' (Collects #8-14)

''Super Friends: Head of the Class'' (Collects #15-21)

''Super Friends: Mystery In Space'' (Collects #22-28)

''Extreme Justice''[link]

In the comics, the Wonder Twins were members of the short-lived ''JLI'' offshoot, ''Extreme Justice''.

''Young Justice''[link]

''Young Justice'' was a comic series that followed the adventures of a group composed of the latest teen superheroes of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Robin, Superboy, Impulse and Wonder Girl. Towards the end of the run, Young Justice was involved in a mission which required them to invade an island whose population was made up of super-villains. In order to conduct a successful attack, the core team assembled all the then-known teen heroes (including the Wonder Twins). As in ''Extreme Justice'', neither spoke English and both seemed to enjoy eating CDs. Unlike their cartoon counterparts, the Wonder Twins were rude and sarcastic.

''Super Buddies''[link]

The lighthearted nature of the show was spoofed in the 2000s with two DC miniseries, ''Formerly Known as the Justice League'' and ''I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League!'' (although these series were more direct take-offs on the 1980s Blue Beetle/Booster Gold-era Justice League). In these miniseries the group is known as the "Super Buddies", and consists of a team of ex-Justice League members. A television advertisement for the team shows them posing in the postures of the original ''Super Friends'' title card. Writer Keith Giffen stated that his original proposal was titled ''1-800-SUPERFRIENDS''.

''Teen Titans''[link]

As of issue #34 (2006), Wendy and Marvin were part of the DC continuity. They are now fraternal twins (a nod to their ''Super Friends'' successors, the Wonder Twins), engineering geniuses (having graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at age 16), and are employed at Titans Tower as maintenance crew and mechanical troubleshooters. They were responsible for restoring Titans member Cyborg to full functionality after he sustained damage to his artificial body parts during the events of the ''Infinite Crisis'' mini-series. Wonder Dog was also introduced into the series, although (unlike the cartoon) he was not a lovable sidekick but a murderous, shape-shifting demon dog who was sent to Titans Tower to kill the team. Wonder Dog killed Marvin and attacked Wendy, leaving her crippled from the waist down. Wendy is a supporting character in the ''Batgirl'' series, where she receives help accepting her disabilities from former Batgirl Barbara Gordon.

''Justice League of America''[link]

During the events of the 2005 company-wide ''Infinite Crisis'' crossover the Justice League Watchtower was destroyed by Superboy-Prime, leaving the JLA without a base of operations. To that end, the team established the Hall of Justice in Washington, D.C. to act as an embassy for the team and an emergency base of operations if needed. In the continuity of the comics, the Hall was designed by Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. In ''Justice League of America'' #46 (2010) Samurai made his first appearance in the DC Universe, where he was shown as one of the heroes driven temporarily insane by Alan Scott.

''Wizard'' magazine[link]

An issue of ''Wizard'' magazine parodied the Super Friends; the JLA was sent through a dimensional rift and met some of the Super Friends. After Martian Manhunter used his Martian vision to melt the villain and his machine (much to Green Lantern’s dismay: "You have to trick him into leaving, or shutting off his machine, NOT direct physical violence!"), the Super Friends decided to send the Justice Leaguers back to their own dimension. As a jest, the magazine also ran an April Fool's promotion for a Wonder Twins special by painter Alex Ross. The book, entitled ''Wonder Twins: Form of Water'', was to be one of Alex Ross' oversized books chronicling the Justice League. The plot would see Zan and Jayna using their powers to help the Earth's famine- and drought-stricken nations after their monkey, Gleek, contracted super-rabies from severe dehydration.

Alex Ross[link]

Painter Alex Ross is a reported fan of the show and has worked it into his various projects. In ''Kingdom Come'' the United Nations building resembles the Hall of Justice, while the Gulag resembles the Hall of Doom. Marvin can also be spotted in a brief cameo in that book. ''Justice'' is a 12-issue miniseries, in which a new-and-improved Legion of Doom clashes with the JLA.

Bumpers[link]

Cartoon Network produced three bumpers lampooning the Super Friends:

One dealt with the idiosyncratic nature of the Legion of Doom and Brainiac’s odd manner of dress (''Brainiac'': "Look, I just want some pants...a decent pair of pants!" ''Solomon Grundy'': "Solomon Grundy want pants, too!").

The second dealt with the Wonder Twins’ uselessness in battle (''Zan'': "I could get beaten by a sponge! It doesn’t even have to be an evil sponge!")

The third, co-starring The Powerpuff Girls, dealt with Aquaman’s useless powers (''Aquaman'': "My ability to talk to fish is of no use to us, Wonder Woman!") and the level of violence compared with recent cartoons. Wonder Woman and Aquaman look away while the Powerpuff Girls beat up the Legion of Doom, setting the Scarecrow on fire. Notable was Bubbles' double-entendre reply to Wonder Woman's compliment on how they were developing as superheroes: "One day we'll be as developed as you are". Lex Luthor (a villain with a salacious mind) began laughing; his underlings understood the joke and laughed as well. When a piece of the Hall of Doom's ceiling fell on Luthor's head, everyone laughed. When the Powerpuff Girls came crashing in, Luthor mispronounced their collective name as "The Powderpuff Girls", annoying the Powerpuff Girls and causing them to angrily correct him: "It's PowERpuff!" "No D!!"

Adult Swim has also produced bumpers parodying the Super Friends. The first was a clip from the episode "The Time Trap", with bleeping edited in to give the appearance of profanity. They produced similar clips using other Hanna-Barbera cartoons. In another bumper, they lampooned the manner in which the Super Friends described every action before completing it (e.g., "I need to reach my utility belt so that I may free myself!") In this commercial, the heroes went to a movie and struggled to find money for popcorn.

Other DC programs[link]

''Justice League Unlimited''[link]

The Legion of Doom appeared as the primary antagonists of the final season of ''Justice League Unlimited'', complete with the group's trademark skull-shaped lair from ''Super Friends''. Additionally, the Justice League's Metro Tower headquarters in Metropolis strongly resembled the Hall of Justice.

The Ultimen, loosely based on characters created for the Super Friends, were briefly allies and later antagonists to the JLU. The Ultimen consisted of Long Shadow, Juice, Wind Dragon, Downpour and Shifter. The group appeared in the episode "Ultimatum", where it is revealed that they are clones created by Project Cadmus.

''The Batman''[link]

The animated series ''The Batman'' featured a modified version of the ''JLA Watchtower'' which closely resembled the Hall of Justice.

''Batman: The Brave and the Bold''[link]

The Hall of Justice appeared in the ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "Sidekicks Assemble!", with a pastiche of the music played when the Hall appeared in ''Super Friends''.

''Smallville''[link]

The Wonder Twins appeared in the ''Smallville'' episode "Idol", with Zan played by David Gallagher and Jayna played by Allison Scagliotti. Gleek did not appear physically, but a cartoonish image of him was shown on each of the twins' cellphones.

''Young Justice''[link]

The Hall of Justice was featured in ''Young Justice'' as the Justice League's decoy base of operations. Additionally, Wendy and Marvin appear as classmates of Conner Kent and Megan Morse. The members of the Injustice League operate out of a base resembling the Legion's Hall of Doom.

''DC Nation Shorts''[link]

The series of shorts ''Super Best Friends Forever'' from ''DC Nation Shorts'' is a play on the title Super Friends.

Toys[link]

''Super Powers Collection''[link]

The Super Powers toy line (and associated tie-in merchandise) was based on the final two seasons of ''Super Friends''. Samurai, an original character from the show, and the Hall of Justice were both released. Plans for future waves from Super Powers would have also included El Dorado, Black Vulcan, and the Wonder Twins.

''Justice League Unlimited''[link]

The toy line based on ''Justice League Unlimited'' released several figures created for ''Super Friends'', namely Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and Samurai.

''DC Super Friends''[link]

Fisher-Price began to produce DC Comics characters in a kid-friendly toyline named after the ''Super Friends''.

''DC Universe Classics''[link]

Paying homage to Super Powers, DC Universe Classics produced original ''Super Friends'' characters such as Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, El Dorado, Samurai, and the Wonder Twins.

Parodies[link]

''That '70s Show''[link]

''Super Friends'' was spoofed in an episode of ''That '70s Show'' with a dream sequence where the "Super Pals" made fun of Eric's Superman because Donna's Wonder Woman had given him a ring as a gift. "I got it at the mall!" she exclaims. The episode featured Eric Forman as Superman, Donna as Wonder Woman, Kelso as Batman, Fez as Aquaman and Hyde and Jackie as the Wonder Twins. Red was also featured as their nemesis "Dr. Bald", wearing Lex Luthor's green-and-purple costume.

''The Fairly OddParents''[link]

In ''The Fairly OddParents'' episode "Power Pals", Timmy wished for better super-friends. As a result, he got a team of superheroes—the Power Pals—as "friends." The four characters parodied famous characters including Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Aquaman, and came with their own narrator. Aspects of ''Super Friends'' were parodied such as randomly pressing beeping buttons (that flash in an equally random pattern) on any computer module, invisible vehicles (somehow the Power Pals could see a dent in the invisible rocket and could be seen from the outside, since only the rocket is invisible), the perceived uselessness of Aquaman parody Wet Willy’s ability to talk to fish and powerlessness outside of water and near-instantaneous travel to distant galaxies.

MTV's ''The State''[link]

During a transition between two other skits on MTV's ''The State'', there was a brief scene with members of the State dressed as Super Friends. The Flash ran in, informing them of an impending disaster. Superman then began assigning serious tasks to all of the members, finishing by saying "and Aquaman... go talk to some fish". The Super Friends then began laughing hysterically, while a visibly-embarrassed Aquaman just stood there.

''South Park''[link]

The ''South Park'' episode "Super Best Friends" was a spoof of the series, depicting religious figures as a team of superheroes. The only member of the "Super Best Friends" who was not a religious figure is "Seaman", a spoof of Aquaman whose power was to talk to fish. In "200" the parody was revisited. The opening sequence for the Super Best Friends took its cues from the ''Super Friends'' cartoon; each of the religious figures (except for Muhammad, who was portrayed as a censor bar walking down a street) and Seaman's introductions resembled the ''Super Friends'' opening: Jesus was Superman, Buddha was Wonder Woman, Krishna was Batman and Seaman was Aquaman. Joseph Smith and Lao Tzu acted as Wendy and Marvin White.

In "201", Tom Cruise's house was described as the Legion of Doom headquarters (initially it is described as "The Legion of Doom Headquarters [awkward pause] which is Tom Cruise's house"). The episode "Krazy Kripples" featured a Legion of Doom with Christopher Reeve as the leader. The episode "Spookyfish" featured a ''Super Friends''-style scene transition, with images of Barbra Streisand's head superimposed over the trademark lens-flares.

''Family Guy''[link]

In the ''Family Guy'' episode "A Hero Sits Next Door", there was a cutaway joke involving Peter playing a game of strip poker with Wonder Woman. ''Super Friends''-style scene transitions appear twice in the episode. In "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High", Peter flashed back to the time he was a Wonder Twin, taking the form of Jayna's tampon. In "Perfect Castaway", when Lois told Peter how well the family had been doing ever since she married Brian she mentioned that Meg went on a date with the Super Friends' announcer. Then a scene shows Meg and the announcer in a car on a hill where the announcer says, "Meanwhile, underneath Meg Griffin's bra...". In "No Meals on Wheels", Peter made a reference to the Mexican Super Friends; a non sequitur showed Mexican versions of superheroes, including "Mexican Superman" and "Mexican Batman".

In "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One", when Lois ran for mayor she attempted to gain the "stupid vote" by claiming Adolf Hitler was working with the Legion of Doom to plot the assassination of Jesus. Shortly after this, the Legion of Doom's base rose from the lake and Lex Luthor asked the other Legion members how she knew their plans. Solomon Grundy admitted he "kinda dropped the ball on that one". The opening of "Family Goy" parodied the opening sequence of ''Super Friends'' with Peter as Superman, Brian and Stewie as Batman and Robin respectively, Lois as Wonder Woman, Chris as Aquaman and Meg as....Meg. In ''Something, Something, Something Dark Side'', shortly after Chris/Luke and Cleveland/R2-D2 landed on Dagobah, the Legion of Doom fortress rose from the swamp with the same narration and music. Chris/Luke yelled, "Not now!" and the fortress quickly sank.

''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''[link]

The ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' episode "MC Pee Pants" used animation backgrounds taken from the ''Challenge of the Super Friends'' episode "Monolith of Evil" for the location of Hell. It was reused in MC Pee Pants' other appearances ("Super Sirloin", "The Last One", "Little Brittle").

''Dexter's Laboratory''[link]

One of the backup segments in ''Dexter's Laboratory'' was called ''Justice Friends''. The title was derived from the Justice League and ''Super Friends'', and the series made references to the superficial plot lines of the ''Super Friends'' shows. However, the characters were parodies of Marvel Comics' Avengers team (the Marvel equivalent of the Justice League/Super Friends).

Heavy.com[link]

An ongoing animated series, featuring controversial celebrities Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan, and the Olsen Twins in the roles of tasteless superheroes, was created in 2006 by Heavy.com. Both the setting and some of the girls’ superpowers were plays on elements from ''Super Friends''.

''Mad''[link]

In early episodes of the animated series ''Mad'', a few of the PSAs were remade which it was called "Super Villains". There have currently been two of these, one about health and the other about safety. In one sketch, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are convinced to change the name of the Super Friends after a musical appeal by fellow heroes.

References[link]

External links[link]

Will's Ultimate Super Friends Episode Guide!

Super Friends @ BatmanYTB.com

Super Friends at Pazsaz.com

Super Friends at Legions of Gotham

Category:1973 television series debuts Category:1986 American television series endings Category:1970s American animated television series Category:1980s American animated television series Category:Superhero television programs Category:American Broadcasting Company network shows Category:Television programs based on DC Comics Category:Batman television series Category:DC Comics superhero teams Category:DC Comics titles Category:Superman television series Category:DC animation Category:1976 comic debuts Category:Justice League television series Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television

es:Súper amigos it:I Superamici nl:Super Friends pt:Superamigos simple:Super Friends

publisher	DC Comics
debut	''All Star Comics'' #8
debutmo	December
debutyr	1941
creators	William Moulton MarstonHarry G. Peter
alter ego	Princess Diana of Themyscira
alliances	Justice LeagueAmazons of ThemysciraDepartment of Metahuman Affairs
partners	Steve TrevorTrevor BarnesNemesisSupermanBatman
aliases	Diana Prince
species	AmazonDemigod (2011 relaunch)
powers	*Superhuman strength, speed, agility, and endurance Flight (only after 1960) Superior hand-to-hand combatant Empathy Healing factor Resistance to Magic Lasso of Truth Access to Magical Weaponry
cvr image	Wwoman1.jpg
cvr caption	Cover for ''Wonder Woman'' #1 (1942). Art by Harry G. Peter.
schedule	Monthly
ongoing	Y
fantasy	first
superhero	y
multigenre	y
pub series	DC Comics
1stishhead	vol. 1
1stishyr	1942
1stishmo	Summer
endishyr	1986
endishmo	February
1stishhead1	vol. 2
1stishyr1	1987
1stishmo1	February
endishyr1	2006
endishmo1	April
1stishhead2	vol. 3
1stishyr2	2006
1stishmo2	August
endishyr2	2010
endishmo2	July
1stishhead3	vol. 1 cont.
1stishyr3	2010
1stishmo3	August
endishyr3	2011
endishmo3	October
1stishhead4	vol. 4
1stishyr4	2011
1stishmo4	September
endishyr4	Present
issues	(vol. 1): 329(vol. 2): 228 (+ 8 Annuals, 1 Special)(vol. 3): 44 (+ 1 Annual)(vol. 1 cont.): 15(vol. 4):
main char team	Princess Diana of Themyscira
writers	(vol. 1)William Moulton Marston, Mike Sekowsky, Robert Kanigher, Martin Pasko, Gerry Conway, Dan Mishkin(vol. 2)Len Wein, George Pérez, Mindy Newell, William Messner-Loebs, John Byrne, Phil Jimenez, Greg Rucka(vol. 3)Allan Heinberg, Gail Simone(vol. 1 cont.)J. Michael Straczynski(vol. 4)Brian Azzarello
pencillers	(vol. 1)Harry G. Peter, Ross Andru, Mike Sekowsky, Dick Giordano, John Rosenberger, Jose Delbo, Gene Colan(vol. 2)George Pérez, Chris Marrinan, Mike Deodato, John Byrne, Phil Jimenez(vol. 3)Terry Dodson, Aaron Lopresti(vol. 1 cont.)Don Kramer(vol. 4)Cliff Chiang
inkers	(vol. 1)Mike Esposito, Dick Giordano, Vince Colletta(vol. 2)Bruce Patterson, Andy Lanning(vol. 3)Rachel Dodson, Matt Ryan
colorists	(vol. 2)Carl Gafford(vol. 3)Alex Sinclair
cat	super
subcat	DC Comics
hero	y
sortkey	Wonder Woman
sort title	Wonder Woman
addcharcat1	All-American Publications characters }}

Wonder Woman is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston and H. G. Peter. She first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' #8 (December 1941). The ''Wonder Woman'' title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986.

Wonder Woman is a warrior Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and was created by Marston, an American, as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men." Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, her powers include superhuman strength, flight (even though the original Wonder Woman did not have this ability), super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. She is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also possesses animal-like cunning skills and a natural rapport with animals, which has been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She uses her Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane.

Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the Axis military forces, as well as an assortment of supervillains. In later decades, some writers maintained the World War II setting, with many of its themes and story arcs, while others updated the series to reflect the present day. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist icon. She was named the 20th greatest comic book character by ''Empire'' magazine. She was ranked sixth in ''Comics Buyer's Guide's'' "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

In addition to the comics, the character has appeared in other media; most notably, the 1975–1979 ''Wonder Woman'' TV series starring Lynda Carter, as well as animated series such as the ''Super Friends'' and ''Justice League''. Although a number of attempts have been made to adapt the character to live-action film, none has yet emerged from development hell. An animated film was released in 2009, with Keri Russell voicing the title role. In 2011, Adrianne Palicki starred in a failed pilot for a would-be series about the character.

In May 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.

Publication history[link]

Creation[link]

In an October 25, 1940 interview published in ''Family Circle'' titled "Don't Laugh at the Comics", William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books. This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero. ''Family Circle'' published a follow-up article two years later from issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was Marston's wife Elizabeth's idea to create a female superheroine:

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Marston introduced the idea to Gaines, co-founder of All-American Publications. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed ''Wonder Woman'' with Elizabeth, whom Marston believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman. Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship. Both women served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced the character's creation. Wonder Woman debuted in ''All Star Comics'' #8 (December 1941), scripted by Marston and with art by Harry G. Peter.

Marston was the creator of a systolic-blood-pressure-measuring apparatus, which was crucial to the development of the polygraph (lie detector). Marston's experience with polygraphs convinced him that women were more honest and reliable than men and could work more efficiently.

"Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world," Marston wrote. Although Gloria Steinem placed Wonder Woman on the first standalone cover of ''Ms.'' in 1972, Marston, writing in an earlier time, designed Wonder Woman to represent a particular form of female empowerment. Feminism argues that women are equal to men and should be treated as such; Marston's representative of femininity is a 6-foot-tall Amazon wielding a golden lasso that forces obedience on those it encircles. In Marston's mind, women not only held the potential to be as good as men but to be superior to men.

In a 1943 issue of ''The American Scholar'', Marston wrote:

During this period, Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America as the female member, albeit as the group's secretary, since the custom was that characters who had their own comic books would hold only honorary membership.

Evolution of the character[link]

Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevor — a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homeland — to "Man's World" and to fight crime and the evil of the Nazis.

During the Silver Age, Wonder Woman's origin was revamped, along with other characters'. The new origin story increased the character's Hellenic and mythological roots: receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury."

At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrendered her powers in order to remain in Man's World rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. Becoming a mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquired a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learned martial arts and weapons skills and engaged in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology.

Because of the popularity of the ''Wonder Woman'' TV series, the character later returned to her superpowered roots in ''Justice League of America'' and to the World War II era in her own title.

Following the 1985 ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' series, George Pérez, Len Wein, and Greg Potter relaunched the character, writing Wonder Woman as an emissary and ambassador from Themyscira to Patriarch's World, charged with the mission of bringing peace to the outside world.

In August 2010 (issue #600), DC Comics replaced the character's iconic stars-and-stripes singlet with a blue jacket (later discarded), red and gold top and dark pants, retaining only her tiara and lasso.

In 2011, DC Comics relaunched its entire line of publications to attract a new generation of readers. In this new continuity, Wonder Woman wears a costume similar to her original costume. Also, her origin is significantly changed and she is no longer a clay figure brought to life by the magic of the gods. Instead, she is a demigod, the natural-born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus.

Powers and abilities[link]

Pre-Crisis[link]

Originally, Wonder Woman owed her abilities to the goddess Aphrodite creating Amazons superior to men, with Diana being the best of their kind.

The Golden Age Wonder Woman was later updated by Marston to be able to will a tremendous amount of brain energy into her muscles and limbs because of her Amazon training, endowing her with extraordinary strength and speed. According to her first appearance, she is stronger and more agile than a hundred of the best human athletes. In ''Sensation Comics'' #6 (June 1942), she is able to tear a steel door off its hinges. In one of her earliest appearances, she is shown running easily at 60 mph. In the same comic, she jumps from a building and lands on the balls of her feet. She can even type at a rate of over 160 words a minute during a test given to her. It was implied, and ultimately confirmed, that ''any'' woman who underwent Amazon training would gain superhuman strength. The TV series took up this notion, and in the first episode of ''Super Friends'', Diana states to Aquaman, "...the only thing that can surpass super strength is the power of the brain." In early ''Wonder Woman'' stories, Amazon training involves strengthening this ability using pure mental energy.

Her powers would be removed in accordance with "Aphrodite's Law" if she allowed herself to be bound or chained by a male. However the effects of this varied.

In the television series, her magic belt allowed her to retain her powers when she was not on Paradise Island; removing it weakened her. Also, she had no powers when she was her alter ego Diana Prince; there was no given explanation for this.

In the comic books, with the inclusion of Wonder Girl and "Wonder Tot" in Diana's back-story, writers provided new explanations of her powers; the character became capable of feats which her sister Amazons could not equal. ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #105 reveals that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek and Roman gods by Athena — "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules." and Martian.

Depending on the writer, Diana's invulnerability and power varied greatly according to the needs of the story. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Robert Kanigher, for example, portrayed Wonder Woman as being so strong that she, after standing atop her hovering plane and lassoing it with her magic lasso, was able to effortlessly lift Themyscira out of the way of an approaching tsunami using just one hand. She was able to make a coin into a bridge with her strength, or drill through a mountain within seconds, as well as hurl spaceships with enough accuracy she could bowl over a whole fleet. Her fingernails could cut through a steel door. She was even able to flip straight over while nearly paralyzed, and split a tree falling on her with her Amazonian boots. Kanigher showed Wonder Woman as a preteen able to lift whales, push a ship away from a whirlpool, and also as a toddler able to blow so hard on her birthday cake that she sent it into orbit.

In the Silver and Bronze ages of comics, Wonder Woman was able to further increase her strength. She was unable to remove her bracelets without going insane. In times of great need, however, she would do just that, in order to temporarily augment her power tenfold. Since she would become a threat to friend and foe alike, she would use Amazonian berserker rage only as a weapon of last resort.

Before ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' there were two Wonder Women: the first one lived on Earth-Two; the second, on Earth-One. The first canonical appearance of the Earth-One Wonder Woman is ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #80 (February 1956). Their first published meeting is ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 1) #100 (August 1972); however, their earliest meeting within the DC continuity is ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #228 (February 1977), which takes place in 1943, prior to the events of the ''Justice League of America'' story.

Post-Crisis[link]

Wonder Woman's body is a mystical creation made from the clay surrounding Themyscira. Through divine means, her disembodied soul was nurtured in and retrieved from the Cavern of Souls. Once the soul was placed into the body, it immediately came to life and was blessed with metahuman abilities by six Olympian deities.

Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility, blessed Diana with strength drawn from the Earth spirit Gaea, making her one of the physically strongest heroes in the DC Universe. She has been observed assisting in preventing large chunks of the Moon from crashing onto the Earth, supporting the weight of bridges, or hefting entire railroad trains. Although stated as possibly being physically weaker and slower than, for example, Power Girl, Diana's superior warrior training more than makes up for it, along with strength drawn from the earth itself, she is able to overpower either Kara, or her counterpart Supergirl., and hold her own against beings such as Superman and Captain Marvel. Furthermore, unlike most of her contemporaries in Man's World, Diana is willing to use deadly force, which gives her more options to deal with opponents as circumstances dictate.

While not invulnerable, she is capable of withstanding great concussive force, shrugging off high-powered rifle fire with some pain but little injury, being knocked through a building, and even surviving a warp-core explosion. She is durable enough to survive the rigors of space until she runs out of breath. While her superhuman strength affords her great resistance to blunt-force trauma, her skin can be cut by weapons if they are sharp enough. Her muscles do not produce lactic acids, giving her great stamina. This allowed her to once battle a clone of Doomsday.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, blessed Diana with great beauty and a loving heart.

Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, granted Diana great wisdom, intelligence, and military prowess. Athena's gift has enabled Diana to master over a dozen languages (including those of alien origin), multiple complex crafts, sciences and philosophies, as well as leadership, military strategy, and armed and unarmed combat. She can mimic voices, although it is more difficult for her to mimic a man's voice. More recently, Athena bound her own eyesight to Diana's, granting her increased empathy.

Artemis, goddess of the hunt, animals, and the Moon, graced Diana with the Eyes of the Hunter and Unity with Beasts. The Eyes of the Hunter ability gives Diana a full range of enhanced senses, including enhanced sight and hearing. Unity with Beasts grants her the ability to communicate with all forms of animal life and to calm even the most ferocious of beasts.

Hestia, goddess of hearth and home, granted Diana "sisterhood with fire, that it might open men's hearts to her." This power has been shown to control the "Fires of Truth," which Diana wields through her lasso, making anyone bound by it unable to lie. This ability also grants her resistance to both normal and supernatural fire.

Hermes, the messenger god of speed, granted Diana superhuman speed and the ability to fly. By concentrating, Diana can mystically defy the laws of gravity and propel herself through the air to achieve flight. She is capable of flying at speeds approaching half the speed of light. She is swift enough to deflect bullets, lasers, and other projectiles with her virtually impenetrable bracelets. Her brain can process information at an incredibly fast rate.

Diana possesses the ability to relieve her body of physical injury and toxins by becoming one with the Earth's soil and then reforming her body whole again. During John Byrne's run, it was stated that this is a ritual so sacred that it is used only in the most dire of circumstances.

She is able to astrally project herself into various lands of myth. Her physical body reacts to whatever happens to her on the mythical astral plane, leaving her body cut, bruised, or sometimes strengthened once her mind and body are reunited. She can apparently leave the planet through meditation, and did this once to rescue Artemis while she was in hell.

Skills[link]

All versions of Diana depict her as a masterful athlete, acrobat, fighter and strategist, trained and experienced in many ancient and modern forms of armed and unarmed combat, including exclusively Amazonian martial arts. In some versions, her mother trained her, as Wonder Girl, for a future career as Wonder Woman. From the beginning, she is portrayed as highly skilled in using her Amazon bracelets to stop bullets and in wielding her golden lasso. She is a superior warrior who has beaten Batman, Big Barda, and Black Canary in sparring matches. The modern version of the character is known to use lethal force when she deems it necessary.

Weapons[link]

Diana has an arsenal of powerful god-forged weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth.

Her bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven indestructible and able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts. Diana can also slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making Superman's ears bleed.

The Lasso of Truth, or Lariat of Hestia, was forged by Hephaestus from the golden girdle of Gaea. It is virtually indestructible; the only times it has been broken were when truth itself was challenged, such as when she confronted Rama Khan of Jarhanpur, and by Bizarro in Matt Wagner's non-canonical ''Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity''. In ''Sensation Comics'' #6 (June 1942), Hippolyta claims that not even Hercules can break it. The Lasso burns with a magical aura called the Fires of Hestia, forcing anyone within the Lasso's confines to be truthful. It also at one time had the power to force anyone caught to obey any command given them, even overriding other kinds of mind control; this was effective enough to defeat strong-willed beings like Captain Marvel. Diana wields the lasso with great precision and accuracy and can use it as a whip or noose.

As early as the 1950s, Wonder Woman's Golden Tiara has also doubled as a dagger and a throwing weapon, returning to her like a boomerang. Its sharpness and mystical nature proved enough to cut even Superman.

Toys[link]

Wonder Woman has been released in numerous forms by Mattel including Barbie Dolls, Polly Pockets, and DC Universe Classics action figures in Traditional Costume and Blackest Night Star Sapphire Costume.

See also[link]

Alternative versions of Wonder Woman for ''Elseworlds'' and other characters to bear the title

Amazons (DC Comics)

Darna

Diana Prince

List of Wonder Woman enemies

List of Wonder Woman supporting characters

Orana (DC comics)

Portrayal of women in comics

List of female action heroes

Woman warrior

Wonder Woman in literature

References[link]

External links[link]

Wonder Woman Official website at DC Comics.com

Origin story of Wonder Woman at DC Comics.com

Carol A. Strickland's Wonder Woman site

AmazonArchives.com

Wonder of Wonders

Wonder Woman Wiki

Category:All-American Publications characters Category:Atlantis in fiction Category:Characters created by William Moulton Marston Category:Comics characters introduced in 1941 Category:DC Comics Amazons Category:DC Comics characters with accelerated healing Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman strength Category:DC Comics martial artists Category:DC Comics titles Category:Fictional aviators Category:Fictional diplomats Category:Fictional empaths Category:Fictional Greek people Category:Fictional immigrants to the United States Category:Fictional princesses Category:Fictional women soldiers and warriors Category:United States-themed superheroes

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