The Ultimate Guide to the Cartoons of the 1980s – Chapter 11: The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

Chapter 11: The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

Total Episodes: 8 episodes
Total Segments: 10 segments
Episode Length: 22 minutes (11 minutes each Segment)

First Air Date: September 7th, 1985
Final Air Date: October 26th, 1985
Day(s) Aired: Saturdays
Channel: ABC
Reboot/Spin-Off Data: Spin-off/Continuation of the 1973 series, Super Friends
Based On: DC Comics Justice League by Gardner Fox

Creator: Gardner Fox
Developed By: Alex Toth
Producer: Larry Latham
Casting Director: Andrea Romano
Director(s):
Rudy Zamora
Bill Hutten
Tony Love
Voice Director: Gordon Hunt
Writer(s):
Alan Burnett (6)
Antoni Zalewski (2)
Glenn Leopold
Rich Fogel
John Loy
Don Glut
Mark Young

Music: Hoyt Curtin

Production Companies: Hanna-Barbera & DC Comics

Component or Standalone: Component, Aired along side 1 half hour repeat from one of the previous series to make up an hour of programming in total.

Episode List: (Click HERE for Episode Guide)

Season 1:
Episode 1: The Seeds of Doom
Episode 2: The Ghost Ship / The Bizarro Super Powers Team
Episode 3: The Darkseid Deception
Episode 4: The Fear
Episode 5: The Wild Cards
Episode 6: Brainchild / The Case of the Stolen Powers
Episode 7: The Death of Superman
Episode 8: Escape from Space City

Main Cast:

Superman: Danny Dark

Wonder Woman: B.J. Ward

Batman: Adam West

Cyborg: Ernie Hudson

Firestorm: Mark L. Taylor

Darkseid & Kalibak: Frank Walker

Recurring Roles:

DeSaad: Rene Auberjonois:

Robin: Casey Kasem

Green Lantern: Michael Rye

Ronald Raymond: Mark L. Taylor

Professor Martin Stein: Ken Sansom

Aquaman: Bill Callaway

Samurai & Hawkman: Jack Angel

Guest Roles:

Frank Welker: Mr. Mxyzptlk, The Joker, Mr. Kltpzyxm, Parademons

B.J. Ward: Bizarra, Young Bruce Wayne, Nicholas

Andre Stojka: Scarecrow, Guard, Alfred

Stan Jones: Lex Luthor, Reporter

Mark L. Taylor: Security Guard, Firezarro

Jack Angel: Flash, Office Manager

Arlene Golonka: Sarah Simms, Queen (Royal Flush Gang)

Haunani Minn: Princess Aliana, Kiri Moko

Steve Bulen: Teen Bruce Wayne, Dr. Moko

Stanley Ralph Ross: Brainiac

Danny Dark: Bizarro

Robert Morse: The Penguin

Peter Cullen: Felix Faust

Darryl Hickman: Col. Steve Trevor

Paul Kirby: Thomas Wayne

Lucy Lee: Martha Wayne

Michael Rye: Joe Chill

Sidney Miller: Comissioner Gordon

Lynne Moody: Ten (Royal Flush Gang)

Jerry Houser: Jack (Royal Flush Gang)

Eugene Williams: King (Royal Flush Gang

Joe Baker: Warden Johnson

Robert DoQui: Robotic Cyborg

Ernie Hudson: Cyzarro

Strawman: Various strawmen characters speak in this episode. Voices are said to be done by Michael Rye, Andre Stojka, Robert DoQui and Sidney Miller

Guard: This character is either voiced by Sidney Miller or Robert DoQui

Patty Glick: Reporter

There were a number of other speaking roles which I have not been able to identify the voice actors for. These roles include: Grimm Brother, Mayor of Metropolis, Alien Delegate, Three Citizens, A Police Officer and a Museum Guard.

The Demons Three appear in one episode. It is claimed by some sources that Peter Cullen voices Ghast, the only one of the three that speak in the episode.
   

Synopsis:

Galactic Guardians is the final chapter in the overaching Super Friends World created by Hanna-Barbera from 1973-1985. This series like the previous one differs quite dramatically from the series we got in the early eighties. In the early eighties we had a sprinkling of classic DC villains with the majority of episodes featuring a generic villain or antagonist of the week. In The Legendary Super Powers Show we moved toward stories centered around established villains but still saw a few segments in which none of them appeared. Now, in Galactic Guardians we see a familiar baddie in all ten segments. Although the Wonder Twins were clearly beginning to be phased out in the previous iteration, in this series we see them gone completely, fully replaced by the returning Firestorm and the debuting Cyborg. Whereas, the previous series provided two episodes in which the story was told over the entire 30-minute episode, this time six of the eight episodes are afforded that total run time. From a voice cast standpoint, we saw the elimination of the narrator from each episode, the debut of B.J. Ward as Wonder Woman, a switch from Olan Soule to Ken Sansom as the voice of Professor Stein and the absence of Michael Bell for the first time in a long time.  The Super Powers Team was headquartered once again at the Hall of Justice in the center of Metropolis, although this time the Hall of Justice had quite the different appearance from previous series.

Overall Breakdown:

This series is heads and shoulders above any of the other Super Friends properties that we got in the eighties. For one, the series greatly benefitted from moving away from the Wonder Twins to solely relying on Firestorm and Cyborg as the ‘viewer identifcation’ figures. The Wonder Twins inherently brought a more comedic influence to the series. Another thing that was scaled back in this series was the repitious nature that we saw in the previous incarnations. The dozens and dozens of Wonder Twins transformations were obviously eliminated with the departure of the characters overall. Also, reducing the repetitive nature of the series was the intentional benching of Robin along with his multitide of ‘Holy” exclamations. Even the number of bat gadgets was virtually eliminated from the series altogether. Without being hamstrung with trying to get all of these catchphases and actions jammed into the episodes, as well as having general longer run times for each segment, the writers were able to compose actual stories, with beginnings, middles and endings that didn’t feel rushed or predicatble like we saw so many times in the past. This in turn, opened the door for some overall great stories to be told throughout the run. In, ‘Fear’, for example, we get the first ever telling of the Batman origins story outside of the comics. We get to see Bruce Wayne struggle with his past and try to come to terms with the death of his parents, a sequence that was expertly plaid out in a way that didn’t alert the crazed parental censoring groups that ran wild in the animation world of that era. In, ‘Death of Superman’, we see an episode that actually tackles the grief and mourning attributed to the loss of one of our beloved superheroes.

This series also greatly benefitted from finding a way to insert one of the classic DC Villains into EVERY segment. We see the recurring appearances of Darkseid, Kalibak and DeSaad throughout the series but also get to enjoy appearances from, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Braniac, Bizarro, The Scarecrow, The Joker, The Penguin, Lex Luthor and Felix Faust. At one point, the heroes even scroll through all the villains currently at large.

We even got to see some of the villains team up together from time to time

This series often times is credited for being darker and more mature in tone. That is probably true, but in my viewing it made it that much more fun and enjoyable as well. This series definitely plays in my mind as a bridge between the cheesey, humor filled depictions we got in the previous animated installments and the much more mature and exciting productions we would get throughout the nineties in shows such as, Batman: The Animated Series. It’s no surprise that Alan Burnett, who was instrumental in at least 6 of the 10 segments here would go on to be so heavily involved in many of the DC projects that came in the decades ahead. If you can only watch ONE of the eighties, Super Friends series, Galactic Guardians is DEFINITELY the one you should watch. I’m, so happy the 12 year journey with this series by Hanna-Barbera ended on such a positive note.

Overall Show Score: 3.75 / 5
Average Episode Rating on our Episode Guide: 3.7

Behind the Scenes/Fun Trivia:

• This series was the final one within the SuperFriends collection marking the end of a 12 year run by Hanna-Barbera with the DC property.
• Many of the episodes in this series were written by Alan Burnett who would go on to be a writer and producer for Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, and Static Shock among others.
• This series marked the first ever animated appearance of the character, Cyborg.
• El Dorado appears on screen in this series but never uses his powers or has any spoken lines.
• The Joker and the Penguin, makes their appearance in this series, marking the first and only time they appeared in the 12 year run. Oddly, neither Batman or Robin appear in the episode alongside The Penguin.
• This series includes the first telling of the Batman Origin story in any media outside of the comics.
• A number of Superheroes and villains appear outside of their normal personas, including Robin as Dick Grayson, Batman as Bruce Wayne, Wonder Woman as Diana Prince, and Scarecrow as Jonathan Crane.

Related Media/Merchandise – Toys – Comics:

For all of the topics above we saw a continuation of the products explained in the previous chapter which you can reference here

Title Screen and End Credit Shots: