DVD review: Super Friends: Season One, Vol. 1

Vol. 1 contains the first eight episodes of the 16-episode season. After these 16 episodes, the show was canceled and retooled for the 1977 “All-New Superfriends Hour.” “Super Friends” ran in one form or another until 1986. But these earlier cartoons lack any sense of menace or even action. Way too much attention is focused on the teen characters and their dog, which aren’t particularly clever or funny. Viewers won’t be sure why exactly Superman and Batman are putting up with these kids, and won’t want to do so for long themselves.

Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog lumber along in plotlines that were probably rejected as “Scooby-Doo” episodes. The lack of any classic DC Comics villains is glaring, though guest-starring heroes Flash, Green Arrow and Plastic Man do appear.

The animation is bad, especially by modern standards, with mistakes and off-model characters. Batman’s logo will disappear for minutes at a time, and colors don’t always match from scene to scene. The DVD transfer isn’t particularly crisp, either. The discs’ only bonus feature is a Super Friends Trivia Challenge.

Ultimately, “Super Friends: Season One, Vol. 1” is for completists only. For those who want a nostalgic thrill, the previously released “Challenge of the Super Friends” is the way to go.

— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman