] type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Splash Page Saturday: Super Friends #27

sg
Like in the cartoon series, Aquaman tended to get very, very little to do in the Super Friends comic. I bought the book religiously anyway, so you can imagine how excited I was to see this book's splash page, with Aquaman leading his pals to Atlantis, which means the whole story was going to be Sea King-centric! 

Super Friends was drawn by the incomparable Ramona Fradon, who of course had a long history with the character. Her frequent inker on the book was Bob Smith, who always did a solid job with her pencils, making for a great opening image.



15 comments:

Russell said...

I was JUST thinking about this story yesterday! Weird.

One of my favorites. I especially liked the part in the action when Aquaman tells the others, "I am taking charge here; this is MY city!" Great stuff!

(Google wants me to prove I'm not a robot but I keep failing their tests.)

Anonymous said...

Yeah Russell, apparently robots are smarter than I am.

Rob, I know that the Superfriends has a special place in your heart, but I still feel like it did the most damage to Aquaman's viability as a character of all the influences during his existence. That's a lovely splash, though.

derek said...

wheres the justice league review i was hoping to see not some kids book from 40 years ago? the site is really falling behind these days

rob! said...

Russell--Yeah I love this one.

Benton--I take your point, and I think re: Aquaman Super Friends took away as much as it gave. But I still love this splash page regardless. :)

Derek--Considering that Aquaman appeared in three panels in the entire book, did and said nothing, I didn't feel the need to cover it.

Sorry this site is disappointing to you. Feel free to stop reading and when you start your own Aquaman blog be sure to cover only the things you want to talk about, which I assume will not include lame kids comics from 40 years ago.

Anthony said...

"Super Friends" was my initial exposure to Aquaman, though I never thought he was "lame"---I thought his telepathy as a kid was cool (the sound effects, etc.). I never heard of him being "lame" until years later in the 90s when I saw people making jokes about such. Suspect the same Gen-X/-Y era "musings"/jokes that gave us people pondering how "hot" Betty Rubble is or why "Superman's a d*ck" or somesuch that "stuck". :-/

Anthony said...

Another theory re: "Aqumana is lame": people don't care about the oceans (or outdoors in general) as much as they did decades ago. Aquaman's popularity in the 50s/60s (his own headlining TV show, ongoing comic, etc.) coincides with the general public both being outdoors more decades ago (vs parked in front of some TV/computer/etc. of some sort like today) and the developments in such (the invention of SCUBA gear, Jacques Cousteau, etc.). Entertainment in general also reflected such: "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "Sea Hunt"... even cartoons usually were set or involved outdoors activities (Looney Tunes, Yogi Bear, etc.).

Since then, despite the rise of the modern ecology/environmentalism movement, there's also the rise in cynicism, and desire for more cynical grim superheroes. People moving more and more indoors and enjoying the outdoors much less these days (unless a barbecue or fireworks show is involved) also can't help. There's also the vocal minority of people criticizing environmentalism ("climate change is a tree-hugger myth!"). Thus, can see people not caring about "some hero who saves stuff in the oceans" (which "nobody cares about") and preferring more cynical, grim/"realistic" heroes who'd probably fail against the average Girl Scout for outdoors know-how. :-p

Derek said...

im confused then .is this a site about how aquaman used to be? becuase i cant find anything on here aboht trinity war, the flashpoint movie hes in, foverver evil, tides of war, scribblenaut, or the young justice legacy movie either. And u never cover his upcoming appearances and solicits anymore. so if this site is dedicated to the past then thats fine ill stick with ign or bcr.

rob! said...

Derek-

While I agree we've fallen behind on covering all the new stuff, we still cover each and every new issue of Aquaman and Justice League (when Aquaman does something more than stand around for two panels). Last month we ran an interview with Paul Pelletier who is, of course, the current Aquaman artist.

While I do have people helping me generate content, for the most part everything you see on this blog comes from me. I have provided daily content for almost seven years, with many days featuring multiple posts. Since the New 52, Aquaman is in a whole lot more stuff than he ever used to be, and its just extremely difficult keeping up with it all, especially since DC does not help the Shrine out at all--AT ALL. They send us no preview images, no heads up to what's coming, nothing.

I do this all for free, and while I wish I had time to do nothing but Aquaman Shrine stuff, I do need to, you know, feed my family and pay the bills. So while I do agree we don't cover as much new stuff as we used to, it maybe would have been helpful to drop the entitled attitude and maybe be a bit more polite. Is that really too much to ask?

If it is, then by all means just visit IGN or wherever. Their mission is not my mission, and vice versa.

BlUsKrEEm said...

Dude, Rob posts EVERYDAY, usually more then one post. Most news sites don't have this man's dedication. The man is a machine.
You really can't demand more of one man.

Also one of the big draws of the blog is that it covers Aquaman on the whole. Rob doesn't just focus on the recent events because there is decades of material. It's not the "Aquaman Now" blog, it's a shrine to the character past present and future.

Also; EVERYDAY!

(I now feel guilty for asking about the Beyond universe coverage in an email a few months ago.)

rob! said...

No need to feel guilty BlUsKrEEm :), I do mean to get to the Beyond stuff. Its just that, frankly, when my schedule is overstuffed (as it is this year, working on both ACE KILROY and HEY KIDS, COMICS!, not to mention my illustration work and a FT job), its just a lot easier to do a "Splash Page Saturday" post sometimes.

Derek said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Slab said...

Ok so what I was going to say before my commenting privileges were usurped (You know who you are...)is that rob's no slacker. However he has yet to cover Mera's solo story in Ame-Comi (which was quite good) as well as the Aquaman issue of Batman lil' Gotham last week ;) So lets all support his work, subscribe to the Shrine if you dont and let him go about the great work he does.

Joe Slab

Anonymous said...

C'mon, guys...this is a nice site and we all enjoy it. When I'm flippin' around on the internet I usually make a point to stop by. Even if the material shown is of no interest to me, no harm no foul. But often I do enjoy it, so thanks to the guys in charge.

Earth 2 Chris said...

This is Rob's blog. If he wants to cover his house in contact paper, it's his business.

The internet's over-developed sense of entitlement strikes again.

Anyway, I have fond memories of this SF issue. I think it's the first time I remember seeing super heroes in alternate costumes. In the day before Lighting Day-Glow Street Luge Batman action figures, the idea that they may have different suits for different environments was quite striking to me. I especially liked Robin's long sleeves and pants!

Chris

Anonymous said...

Hey Rob, don't listen to the naysayer, you do a fantastic job with the Shrine, and we all appreciate everything you do!