Posted By Dan Greenfield on Sep 10, 2024 | 12 comments

ANNIVERSARY ALERT: Filmation’s The New Adventures of Superman premiered Sept. 10, 1966 — launching the first franchise of DC superhero cartoons…

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UPDATED 9/10/24: The New Adventures of Superman premiered 58 years ago! So dig this piece, which first ran in 2018, saluting Filmation’s DC superhero cartoons. And if you want more Filmation coverage — and why wouldn’t you — click here. — Dan

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You can keep your Super Friends. I’ll always pick Filmation’s DC superhero cartoons. I’ve written before about my love of these hoary and hokey bits of low-budget animation. But today was Filmation mogul Lou Scheimer’s birthday, so it got me to thinking of my favorite 13 episodes of the cartoon factory’s Silver Age DC output. (I refuse to consider the execrable 1977 Batman show.)

Picking 13 episodes inevitably means leaving out some “gems” but worry not: I assure you, even if specific entries don’t make this list, I really dug the Atom and Hawkman cartoons and have a soft spot for the Superboy installments. Only the Justice League eps kind of bore me on the whole.

The list I came up with is done with all due love and respect. There are some truly fun cartoons on this list — and ones that are fun simply because, well, they’re fun to make fun of.

Lou Scheimer died in 2013, two days before he would have turned 85. I, for one, am glad we can now enjoy the entire Filmation ’60s DC slate on disk or online.

Here are 13 of my favorites:

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1. Superman: The Iron Eater. This short brings down the house on a number of levels, not the least of which is the outlandishly crude way the alien Iron Eater is drawn. He’s a happy, innocent guy, though, and I take exception to Superman’s “solution” of basically putting the alien in solitary confinement by stranding him on a planet made completely of iron ore. Sure, he’s got plenty to eat, but is that exactly humane? Nice one, Supes. Also: I like the dopey cop who, when Superman asks him what the shape-shifting Iron Eater looks like, ponders it and blurts out, “Come to think of it, he looked just like me!”

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2. The Flash: Take a Giant Step. The Scarlet Speedster is practically unhinged in this one, as he barks “Decoy tactics!!” to Kid Flash and yelps that they should attack evil-scientist Kragg and “bowl him over with those ROCKS!” Kragg also entertains us by menacing fair-goers by waggling a giant pole, which looks as prurient as it sounds. Bonus: Flash and Kid Flash rub Kragg’s nose in his failure and taunt him mercilessly while the evil scientist stews behind bars.

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3. Batman: How Many Herrings in a Wheelbarrow? I never realized until I saw the Batman cartoons as an adult that it was the Joker’s and Riddler’s voices I used for my Megos when I was a kid. That doesn’t really have anything to do with anything. I just thought I’d mention it. This episode stands out for having probably the best death trap of the entire Bat-series. It’s worthy of the 1966 Adam West show.

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4. Green Lantern: Sirena, Empress of Evil. This one is most notable for being the episode that most influenced the Ambiguously Gay Duo, from Kairo riding Green Lantern’s back to the appearance of Sirena herself. Great unintentionally funny gags, including Kairo adopting an alien bird named Pee-Pee — and uttering the immortal line “You can squeeze through, Pee-Pee!”

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5. Aquaman: All of them. I know I’m cheating but I really do find all the Aquaman episodes to be pretty interchangeable. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. Having Aquaman on TV in the background is like the low, warm hum of a fish tank with little men fighting each other inside it. There is that episode where Aquaman and Aqualad ride away on their sea horses and make Mera swim home. That is so uncool.

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6. Batman: From Catwoman With Love. Man, I dislike the Filmation Catwoman (at least the ’60s one). That voice is so screechy is runs completely counter to the idea of Catwoman’s appeal. But maybe they just figured it was easy to make her witchy for a kids’ show. Whatever. This one has a great opening with Batman and Robin disposing of a bunch of booby-trapped Valentine’s “gifts” linked to their various villains. Eventually, they adopt a cat — but it turns out the kitty was irradiated so that Catwoman could keep tabs on them. Even though the cat freaked me out as a kid — especially in that tunnel, when it was all glowy — I dug the whole Catmobile/Batmobile showdown.

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7. Teen Titans: Operation Rescue. The Teen Titans are great because of all the DC superhero cartoons, these probably most closely approximate what the comics were like at the time, down to the “hip” lingo and patter. The three are more or less the same, but I’m picking Operation Rescue because it’s a rip-off/homage/satire of Jonny Quest.

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8. The Flash: To Catch a Blue Bolt. This one’s just good superheroing all the way around. I love opposite-number villains and having the Flash and (the woefully off-model) Kid Flash pursue Blue Bolt all over the world is a classic Silver Age scenario. Still, I can’t help but wish Blue Bolt were the Reverse-Flash…

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9. Superman: The Neolithic Nightmare. This is probably the best of all the Superman episodes, in no small part because there’s a guest-starring turn by Beanie Martin, the lost “other best friend” of Superman lore. I’m a sucker for a subterranean adventure (see Mermen of Emor) and this one feels like proto-Ralph Bakshi Spidey. Oh, and wait for Jimmy to find himself unwittingly on top of a giant frog, where he blurts out “A hawned toad!!”

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10. Green Lantern: Evil is as Evil Does. Simply because we get an actual comics villain in one of the cartoons not featuring Batman, Superman or Aquaman.

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11. Batman: The Jigsaw Jeopardy. This one just defies logic at every turn. Batgirl dresses herself as Robin for no apparent reason. Robin’s fingers sprout extra joints so he can “walk” with them and escape a death trap. A suspicious Batgirl figures out that the Drilred puzzle factory is a Riddler front and claims she “always wondered about that name.” Worst of all? The episode has more false endings than The Return of the King.

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12. Superman: The Tree Man of Arbora. A similar conceit as The Iron Eater, or half the episodes of Star Trek: Misunderstood alien wreaks havoc until Superman sets it right by returning it home where it can drink all the water it wants. At least this time, Supes lets the Tree Man have some company. Best part? When the Tree Man empties the water tower down his throat and tosses it away in disgust when it’s empty.

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13. Superman: The Mermen of Emor. Clark and Jimmy go on vacation together in Rome (!) but Jimmy ignores Clark’s safety warnings and ends up in the undersea world of Emor. (That’s Rome, backwards, get it?) Superman rescues everyone but not without getting in Jimmy’s grill about “failing to heed a warning.” There was probably some awkward gelato eating after that.

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MORE

— The FILMATION BATMAN Index of Reviews and Features. Click here.

— The Wonderfully Cheesy World of Filmation’s JUSTICE LEAGUE. Click here.