The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

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The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians
[1]
The title card for The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians series.
Also known as Super Friends VIII
Genre Adventure / Animation / Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Written by Alan Burnett, John Loy and Antoni Zalewski
Directed by Larry Latham and Ray Patterson
Presented by Hanna-Barbera
DC Comics
Voices of Jack Angel
Rene Auberjonois
Bill Callaway
Peter Cullen
Danny Dark
Jerry Houser
Ernie Hudson
Casey Kasem
Stanley Ralph Ross
Michael Rye
Ken Sansom
Robert Morse
Mark L. Taylor
B.J. Ward
Frank Welker
Adam West
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 10 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
Producer(s) Larry Latham
Story editor(s) Alan Burnett
Editor(s) Roy Braverman (sound effects editor) and Paul Vitello (sound editor)
Running time 30 minutes (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run September 7, 1985 – September 6, 1986
Chronology
Preceded by Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1985[2] to 1986. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and is based on the Justice League and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.

Contents

[edit] Summary

In the fall of 1985, the final version of Hanna-Barbera's Super Friends[3] premiered. This show returned to a more conventional, consistent, and authentic line-up for the Justice League of America, with a strong focus on Cyborg and Firestorm. The Super Friends (now called the Super Powers Team) were once again headquartered at the Hall of Justice (which had been redesigned for this series to appear more dome-like and seemingly, larger) in Metropolis, and battled such familiar foes as Darkseid, Lex Luthor, and Scarecrow.

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians is considered one of the most faithful[4] TV adaptations of DC Comic superheroes.[5] Except where noted as a short, each episode was 30 minutes long. The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians lasted only one season on ABC until the end of the Hanna-Barbera's 12-year run of the Super Friends on September 6, 1986.

[edit] Characters

[edit] The Super Powers Team

 

The Flash appeared only in "The Death of Superman" episode, and never used his powers. El Dorado also made an appearance in that episode, and never used his powers.

[edit] Darkseid villains

[edit] Individual villains

Both The Joker and The Penguin made their first (and only) Super Friends appearances in two different episodes. While Batman appeared in Joker's debut episode, he was not present in Penguin's.

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] Notable firsts

In the episode titled "The Fear", Batman's origin is told for the first time outside of the actual comics. The episode was written by Alan Burnett, later a story editor on Batman: The Animated Series.

This series also marked the first ever appearance of Cyborg in an animated television series.

[edit] Episodes

  1. The Seeds of Doom[7]
  2. The Ghost Ship[8]/The Bizarro Super Powers Team[9] (two short episodes)
  3. The Darkseid Deception[10]
  4. The Fear[11]
  5. The Wild Cards
  6. Brainchild[12]/The Case of the Stolen Powers[13] (two short episodes)
  7. Escape from Space City[14]
  8. The Death of Superman[15]

[edit] DVD release

  • Warner Home Video released The Complete Series of The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians on DVD[16] on October 23, 2007.
DVD Name Ep # Release Date
The Complete Series 10 Oct 23, 2007

[edit] References

  1. ^ Almost everybody who appears in the group photo in the intro gets a chance to appear and use their powers with the exception of one. Surprisingly, the Flash only appeared in one episode and he didn't get to use his super speed and even more strange, he's featured quite prominently on the Super Powers Team DVD boxset. Meanwhile, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Samurai were lucky to appear in one episode each and use their powers in major roles but for the most part, were background characters. The only continuity the Super Powers Team had to the old Super Friends show were their continuous battles with Darkseid, who is determined to conquer Earth and make Wonder Woman his bride. Our heroes also continue to battle their arch foes as well.
  2. ^ TV Party - Saturday Mornings 1985
  3. ^ This was not only the second season of Super Powers cartoons but it was also the last and final version of the Super Friends as well or as it was called in the series DVD extra feature, the graduation series for the SuperFriends. In a technical sense, the Super Powers Team is not really the Super Friends and could be considered a series by itself because of the changes Hanna Barbera implemented into this new series. Gone were the simplistic character designs by Alex Toth we knew so well and in their place were beefed up designs of the heroes and villains designed by DC Comics artist Jose Garcia-Lopez, who also designed the characters for the Super Powers toyline and products. Also, Hanna Barbera eliminated most of the token characters they created for the Super Friends (except Samurai, who stayed on as a supportive player). The Super Powers Team would primarily consist of Super Heroes who were all in the DC Universe. Once again, Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Firestorm were the leads along with their newest member, Cyborg who in the comics is a member of the New Teen Titans along with Robin. Oddly enough, before the Super Powers toyline was cancelled, the third wave of figures inlcuded Cyborg, whose the hardest to find and Samurai, the only "SuperFriends" character that has remained on the show.
  4. ^ Second to Challenge of the Super Friends, the Super Powers Team has got to be the next best installment since it is close to the comic books and there are no teen tag alongs or cutsey cartoon comic reliefs. Plus the animation is high tech and there is more characterization in the storylines. The new character designs were really good, though I always wondered why Superman's hair was colored dark blue.
  5. ^ Superman Homepage
  6. ^ The biggest change was recasting the voice of Wonder Woman with veteran voice actress BJ Ward, who replaces Connie Cawlfield as Wonder Woman. BJ Ward was a logical choice since she's played everything from Jana of the Jungle, Elektra on the Teen Force, Princess Allura on Voltron, Scarlett on G.I.JOE, and Velma Dinkly in some of the Scooby Doo animated DVD movies. BJ Ward reprises the Wonder Woman voice when she guest appeared in the 1988 Superman series by Ruby Spears.
  7. ^ The Seeds of Doom
  8. ^ The Ghost Ship
  9. ^ The Bizarro Super-Powers Team
  10. ^ The Darkseid Deception
  11. ^ The Fear
  12. ^ Brainchild
  13. ^ The Case of the Stolen Super Powers
  14. ^ Escape from Space City
  15. ^ The Death of Superman
  16. ^ The Sweatbox Review
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