A brief overview of DC's Super Powers v1, v2 and v3 mini-series' from DC comics [1984 - 1986]

House ad for 1984 Super Powers mini-series

In 1984, DC comics published a 5 issue mini-series to accompany the Super Powers Collection toy line released by Kenner that same year. Written by Joey Cavalieri and illustrated by Adrian Gonzales (with inks from Pablo Marcos), the characters featured in this mini-series are coincidentally the 12 action figures released for the 1st wave of the toy line -- which leads me to believe that the main goal of this mini-series was to act as a cross-promotional strategy. [This makes sense since both G.I. Joe and Transformers were each tied in with a Marvel Comics title and their toy lines were both quite successful.]

DC comics ad for 1st wave of Super Powers Collection action figures.

This mini-series manages to tie a few pieces of silver-age DCU history into the storyline leading the reader to wonder if it's part of DC continuity (pre-Crisis). For example, several characters held onto their silver age origins, yet Lex Luthor and Brainiac were completely redesigned by George Pérez and Ed Hannigan for the toy line (as they appear in this mini-series). Additionally, certain elements of the Super Powers universe were "borrowed" from the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends cartoon that ran from 1973 to 1982 [ex: the Hall of Justice, which started off as the main HQ for the Super Friends, makes an appearance]. The whole story has a "Silver Age" feel to it and comes complete with a big reveal at the end in regards to who the mysterious antagonist is.

A second six-issue mini-series is published in 1985 and is set after the Hunger Dogs graphic novel. The second mini-series was written by Paul Kupperberg and illustrated by Jack Kirby (inked by Greg Theakston). Like its predecessor, this mini-series takes special attention to spotlight the new characters (and a few vehicles) being released in the wave 2 of the toy line. This second wave of the toy line was notable for including re-designed versions of Kirby’s Fourth World characters (Darkseid, Desaad, Mantis, Parademon, Kalibak, Steppenwolf) and Kirby manages to stay faithful to their toy line appearance throughout the mini-series*. Each issue ends with a bio of the characters who appeared in the issue, so once again I’m going to assume that this series was heavily marketed towards consumers who would be buying the toys. If you have no other reason to check out this second mini-series, do so because it's a Kirby-illustrated Justice League of America story (really, the Super Powers team IS the JLA, just under a different name).

Super Powers v2 #3 (1985) - Kirby's Mantis gets a redesign 

A final Super Powers mini-series was published in 1986, and takes place sometime after the second mini-series. By this point, it's safe to say that the comics were separate from the rest of DC continuity. The 3rd mini-series was (again) written by Paul Kupperberg and has a bit more 'depth' to it. Kirby did not pencil this mini-series, but Carmine Infantino did. The Fourth World characters are once again faithfully drawn as they appear in the toy line (note: Orion looks ridiculous) and the series features gratuitous appearances of the vehicles from the toy line (look up the justice jogger if you ever get a chance -- totally worth it). By this point, new characters specifically created by Kenner for this toy line are beginning to appear -- including one named 'Janus’ who is never released as a figure. Rumor has it that by this time the toy line was struggling and a Darkseid-themed playset was also in the works but was never released, so there’s a good chance an extra character may have met this fate as well. Kenner ceased the Super Powers Collection toy line after 1986 and no fourth mini-series was ever published. You can read more about the history and final days of Kenner's Super Power Collection at: http://kennersuperpowers.com/.

Super Power v3 #2 (1986) - Golden Pharaoh and Shazam with a gratuitous shot of the toyline vehicles in the background

*Jack Kirby received royalties for his redesigned Fourth World characters. This is notable because Kirby never received royalties on all of the other Marvel Comics characters he co-created (Fantastic Four, Hulk, original X-Men, original Avengers, etc…).

-Justin

[This article originally posted on our tumblr in July 2013.]

Review of 1985's Red Tornado mini-series

 

In 1983, Kurt Busiek was still relatively new to writing for the comic book industry when Dick Giordano (editor in chief at DC comics) offered him a chance to write the Red Tornado mini-series. Prior to this, Busiek had written an issue of Green Lantern, a few issues of Marvel’s Power Man/Iron Fist and a few Green Lantern Corps back-up tales. Giordano’s big plan was to have lesser-know JLA characters featured in their own distinct mini-series (most likely with the hopes of raising reader interest in the JLA). When Giordano asked Busiek if he had any ideas on how to handle the Red Tornado, Busiek jumped at the opportunity (once citing Red Tornado as one of his favorite DC characters). Busiek sought to alter Red Tornado for the better - attempting to make the character more in touch with his human side - hence adding to the Red Tornado mythos and giving future writers something more to explore. Thus, the creation of this four issue mini-series.

One of the biggest challenges for Busiek was making the Red Tornado interesting. Popular opinion in DC fandom (at the time) was that the Red Tornado was one of the more boring characters out there. As a matter of fact, since being introduced by Gardner Fox and Dick Dillin in 1968, the Red Tornado had already been killed off and resurrected twice in JLA history before appearing in this mini-series. The problem with the Red Tornado was that he’s always been a passive character in a comic series (JLA) that focused on big drama - Red Tornado was either the first character quickly destroyed/disabled by the villain to demonstrate how powerful the villain was or Red Tornado hung out in the back and did some busy work while all the other more popular characters had all of the action. This isn’t really surprising considering the Red Tornado was originally created as a revamp of a Golden Age DC character (Ma Hunkel) and was never intended to be more than an annual guest-star.

The plans for this mini-series were hatched in 1983 and it took about 2 years before they finally saw completion. Something else was happening during 1983 and 1985, and that something else was the plotting of the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline by Marv Wolfman and other DC editors. It was decided by the powers that be at DC comics that Red Tornado would be destroyed once again in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (2 months after the mini-series came out!). Busiek wrote this mini-series with the intention of it leading into a regular series, but by the time it had been launched Busiek was made aware of DC’s plans for the Red Tornado - thus rendering his story somewhat useless - an exercise in futility.

Kurt Busiek really hit his stride when he wrote 1993’s Marvels for Marvel Comics. He then went on to create Marvel’s Thunderbolts (1997), write Marvel’s Avengers from 1998 - 2002, and create Astro City. In his post-1992 career, Busiek has won a ridiculous amount of awards for either being the year’s best or favorite writer.

I was enticed by this very house ad when I was youth, always making a mental note of checking it out someday. I always liked the Red Tornado and was eager to learn more about him. I mean, really, this character was just made to appeal to young comic book fans. Gaudy red outfit with an arrow on the head? Awesome. Big cape with a really high collar? Awesome. An android? Awesome. I remember being very enthralled by the Super Powers Collection Red Tornado action figure and his ‘tornado action’ legs. When I did finally pick up this mini-series many many years ago, I felt it was added bonus that it was written by Busiek and illustrated by Carmine Infantino. I remember being a little disappointed with the mini-series, however, as I was hoping for more appearances/involvement from other JLA members. I guess that just goes to reinforce the sentiment of Red Tornado being a dull character when he’s not part of a group.

This article originally published in November 2013.