When I was growing up. I always had an affection for DC comics. I remember spending many Saturday mornings walking to the comic book store on Flatbush Avenue between Avenues J and K and purchasing Batman, Superman, and Justice League of America comics for twenty-five cents a piece. I spent so many of my Saturdays – and so much of my allowance at the comic book store that by the time my age hit double digits – I had at least three boxes of comics.

In addition to comic books, my other love as a child was cartoons. From the Herculoids to Battle Of The Planets, my eyes were glued to the television when they were not reading a comic book.

One day, I was changing the channels and I came across a cartoon called Challenge Of The Superfriends – starring my favorite DC Comic heroes. The show was about the Super Friends constant battle against the Legion Of Doom – who were, as the show’s introduction stated, “Thirteen of the most sinister villains ever assembled.” Week after week, the Legion of Doom would devise a brilliant evil scheme on how to take over the world – and destroy the Super Friends at the same time. And each week – good would always triumph over evil.

Each time the show was coming on, I would always be right in front of the television. Being a lover of comics so much – I now had the chance to watch my favorite super heroes leap off the pages of my comic books and walk and talk right on to my television screen. For a half hour every Saturday – I was watching a live comic book – and I loved it.

As I got older, the show went off the air and I feared that my favorite cartoon was gone for good – until I went to a science fiction convention and found a hidden treasure that was one of the greatest purchases I ever made.

As I was checking out all of the booths, I came across a man selling videotapes of virtually everything I watched growing up. From Soap, to The Greatest American Hero to V, its as if he had a library of my youth – and among his extensive collection were three tapes labeled Challenge Of The Superfriends.

As soon as I realized that he had videotapes of my favorite show for sale – they were sold. No matter the price, no matter what the money in my pocket was meant for – and no matter how stupid people thought I was for buying them – I bought all three and rushed home to watch the show that I loved as a child – and have missed since I became an adult.

When it came on the screen – I was immediately taken back to my youth. As the episodes came on one by one, I even remembered some of the storylines and plots. I was so excited that I got these tapes that I literally sat in front of my television and watched all three tapes from beginning to end one right after the other.

But besides being in Heaven that I was watching my favorite show, I did notice something else about it. As I was watching a cartoon show for the first time as an adult that I used to watch weekly as a child – I noticed a few things I did not pick up on when I watched this show in the late 1970’s.

I noticed, as I watched it again, that the voices of all the “extras” were identical. I also noticed that during the episode, the characters moved and shifted – but the backgrounds and sets never changed. There were also scenes where some super heroes did not have their logos on their chests, their capes on – and even their wings. And when the super heroes or villains were running – they ran past the same five buildings over and over again.

I guess as a kid, I was just so excited to see my heroes on television that I did not pay attention to the minor details, which is why I probably didn’t notice the flubs as a kid. But seeing the shows now as an adult and noticing all of those flubs sure gave me a different perspective of the show. But the truth is that the flubs – although very funny when I noticed them – didn’t matter. What did matter was that Hanna Barberra brought me and the rest of the world a cartoon that has managed to maintain it’s supremacy as one of the greatest cartoons in television history – and I am sure I that I can speak for the millions of people who remember the times they watched the Super Friends when I say thank you to Hanna Barberra for giving us a weekly dose of good versus evil – and showing us that no matter how evil life can be – it is no match – for the Super Friends!