Heck, Even Wonder Dog is Useful!

 

cover art by Ernie Chan

In the first issue of Super Friends, it appeared that the heroes had foiled the villains' plan to steal components for building a super robot.

But Super Friends #2 (December 1976) shows us that the villains aren't giving up that easily. E. Nelson Bridwell's script and Ric Estrada's fun art continue to bring this silly but entertaining story to life. 

Two of the villain kid sidekicks had been captured, but one of them (Penquin's sidekick Chick) has a radio hidden in his umbrella. Why a sidekick to the Penguin is even allowed to keep an umbrella is not brought up.

Wonder Dog spots the radio, but by the time the frustrated canine is finally able to alert Wendy and Marvin to the situation (eventually using Charades to do so), the villains have arrived. Wendy and Marvin are captured, but Wonder Dog makes a break for it, cleverly ducking into a dog show to foil Cheetah's attempt to catch him.

Wonder Dog sneaks back into the Hall of Justice (using a secret door that opens to the sound of his barks) and uses a teleporter to beam up to the JLA satellite. Flash is on duty there and he summons the Super Friends. Superman brings Krypto, who uses Dog Language to find out what's going on from Wonder Dog, then communicates this to Superman via a barking code they'd developed. Because this is so much easier than Superman taking a second to scan the Hall of Justice with his X-Ray vision.

It sounds like I'm making fun of the story and I suppose I am. But I hope it doesn't sound mean-spirited. The silly progression of the story is just right for the Super Friends and this issue (like the last one) is a lot of fun. The idea of Krypto interpreting for Wonder Dog via a barking code is absurd in just the right way to make it delightful. The universe would be a poorer place without such things.

Wendy and Marvin are rescued, but the villains have used this distraction to steal the robot components they couldn't get hold of in the last issue. BUT the Super Friends have attached tracking devices to those components. BUT Toyman's toys are causing disasters in different locations, forcing most of the heroes to deal with that. BUT Batman and Robin are still available to track the robot parts. BUT, though the Dynamic Duo is easily taking out the main villains, it turns out they are no match for junior sidekicks! They are, in fact, knocked out with embarrassing ease. 

Penguin wants the juniors to have the honor of killing Batman and Robin, but the youngsters shy away from the idea of murder. Wendy and Marvin jump in at this point--they had stowed away in the Batmobile. This convinces the juniors to switch sides and knock out the villains.

Penguin manages to activate the robot. It's supposed to be more powerful than even Superman, but the Man of Steel arrives to take it out without too much trouble. It was, after all, an untested prototype.

So that's it. Nobody with superpowers uses those powers effectively and the non-powered but highly trained characters are beaten up by barely trained teenagers. And, in the Super Friends universe, this is exactly as things should be. 

Next week, we'll look in on Prince Valiant. 

Wendy and Marvin CAN be Useful, part 1

 

cover art by Ernie Chan

The first season of the Saturday morning Super Friends cartoon featured the sidekicks Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog. I suppose they were there because of an attitude that the young audience needed someone close to their own age with whom to identify. I'm not sure I go along with that theory. I was more likely to imagine myself as Batman or Superman rather than a couple of bumbling teenagers.

The in-universe reason for their being around super-heroes and taking an active part in their cases was... well, actually, I'm not sure the cartoon ever gave a reason.

The comic book does, though. When Super Friends #1 (November 1976; interior art by Ric Estrada) was released, writer E. Nelson Bridwell explained that the Justice League's main headquarters was still in the JLA satellite. The Hall of Justice, where the Justice League was referred to as the Super Friends, existed to help train young people who were training to be crime fighters. 

So that's why Wendy and Marvin are around. And, since we have animal crimefighters such as Ace the Bat Hound already active, I suppose it explains Wonder Dog's presence as well.

Not that Marvin seems likely to be a successful crime fighter, as his bumbling nature transfers over from the cartoon. But what the hey. At least he's trying.

And he'll get a chance to try harder. A group of villains are also training young protegees. And its here that we see that Super Friends is deliberately going for a silly and (hopefully) fun vibe that I think it largely managed to hit. The reference to the JLA satellite might have left an impression that the series was taking place in the usual DC Universe (Earth-1). But by the time we get to that reference, we've already seen a fair amount of silliness. It was eventually established that the Super Friends live in Earth-32.

The villains and their protegees are Penguin & Chick; Toyman and Toyboy; the Human Flying Fish (a villain so obscure that only someone with the encylopedic knowledge of the DC Universe would remember) & Sardine; Cheetah & Kitten; Poison Ivy & Honeysuckle. 

The villains have learned of a secret project to build a super-intelligent robot that would enforce world-wide peace--because that's a plan that never ends badly. The components are being built at three separate locations, so all three locations need to be raided to steal everything needed to build the robot. 

The Super Friends are warned about this. Superman and Robin intercept Toyman and Poison Ivy at one location and it appears they will capture the villains rather easily. But Toyboy slaps a lead mask over Superman's face, giving the bad guys a chance to escape. They do not manage to steal the robot component, though.

One would be justified in asking how Toyboy managed to sneak up on a man who can hear an ant walking across the grass on the other side of the world. AND has faster-than-light reflexes. AND has faster-than-light speed and super vision, meaning Toyman and the other villains shouldn't have gotten away with just a few seconds head start.

On Earth-1, this would be poor writing. But in the easy-going and inherently silly Super Friends universe, it's perfectly okay. The comic book is emulating the logic of the cartoon. Of course, you then get into the arguement about whether the cartoon was itself weakened by lazy writing. Is a comic book adaptation of a cartoon series obligated to adapt all aspects of that cartoon faithfully, even if some of those aspects exist purely because of bad writing?

But I can't force myself to be that philosophical about the Super Friends. A reader either accepts it or rejects it for what it is. Between Bridwell's straightforward storytelling skills and Estrada's charming art, I'm willing to accept it.

The Human Flying Fish raids an undersea lab. There's a nice moment when the scientists there discuss sacrificing themselves rather than allow mankind to be endangered by giving up the component. Aquaman arrives and it soon looks like he'll quickly capture H.F.F. But Salmon squirts the King of the Seas with squid ink and again the bad guys get away.

Penquin and Cheetah raid the third lab. Batman and Wonder Woman have allowed Wendy, Marvin and the dog to tag along and THIS is where the young crime fighters prove themselves to actually be useful. Once again, the villain sidekicks help the villains get away, but Wendy and Marvin manage to tackle Chick and Kitten, capturing them.

The two prisoners are taken to the Hall of Justice, where Wendy and Marvin are put in charge of watching them. And, well, perhaps they still have some crime-fighting stuff to learn. Such as--just perhaps--NOT LETTING A PROTEGE OF PENQUIN KEEP HIS UMBRELLA!

The issue ends with Chick using a radio hidden in the umbrella to send out a message. Marvin and Wendy are oblivious. Wonder Dog notices, but he can't speak. Where's Scooby Doo when you need him?

So Wendy and Marvin swing back and forth between being legitimately useful to being bumbling or kind of dumb. Well, dumb might be harsh, since it's only fair to note that they are still in training. But not allowing your prisoner to hold onto a potential weapon really should be covered on Day One. 

But I shouldn't make fun. This is the Super Friends, where silly decisions are made and superpowers are left unused without anyone ever pointing this out. Perhaps it's something in the air on Earth-32. In any case, the story and art are fun. As I said, you take the Super Friends as they are or you simply walk away without worrying about it. 

We'll find out how this story ends in two weeks. Next week, we get to Part 5 of The Great Darkness Saga.