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Aquaman: The Interview

Aquaman Interview (slideshow)
© Robert Trate/Mania

The All-New Superfriends Hour: Season One, Vol. 2 has just recently been released on DVD. Over thirty years have passed since their original broadcast and with their passing also goes a simpler kind of Superhero tale. The Challenge of the Super Friends was their next incarnation and the Superfriends would come to battle the Legion of Doom on a weekly basis.

When one watches the Superfriends you cannot but help notice their simplicity and good nature. No one is ever punched or shot. No one ever dies and each wrong is always set right. In the second volume of The All-New Superfriends Hour, as it was in the first, the Superfriends solve crimes, stop evil geniuses, provide safety tips, ask mind teasers and of course perform magic tricks. Again it was a simpler time.

At the heart of this series was one Superfriend who has never been forgotten. As a founding member of the Superfriends, he has battled the likes of Lex Luthor, Black Manta and was even turned into a Scarecrow once. He has agreed to speak with Mania about his memories on the Superfriends TV show.

Mania: Thanks for talking with us.

Aquaman: It’s a pleasure. So what do you want to know about the show?

Mania: Well, do you mind a blunt question right away?

Aquaman: Go ahead.

Mania: The magic tricks. Each of you had to do them on the show. Why is it that people remember you doing them more than anyone else?

Aquaman on set from his original Filmation Series

© Filmation/Warner Bros.

Aquaman: For me, I am not tied to anything else more, outside of the comic, than the Superfriends cartoon show. Bats has his TV show, movies and other cartoons just like Wonder Woman and Superman. When you think about them there is this whole other business behind them. Me, it’s just the cartoon.

Mania: In this volume you actually fight your arch nemesis. Something none of the other characters got to do at this point. How did that come about?

Aquaman: I had my own show back in the Sixties and it ran for while. When I agreed to do the Superfriends I thought I was going to have a more prominent role. When they introduced Wendy, Marvin and then the Wonder Twins I saw my screen time going down. See, it happened right after the episode “Attack of the Giant Squid”, that’s the one where Dr. Pieces is making giant sea creatures to feed the world. Superman and I stop him and that episode proved that when there was a good balance between the two featured heroes the show could work. I thought then the writers knew what they were doing. When they brought Black Manta [then called just Manta] to the show in the episode “The Water Beast” I was told it was going to be my own story. No sooner than five pages into the episode I am taken captive. The whole episode is about the other Superfriends coming to save me. Talk about having the chair pulled right out from under you. I wanted to walk away from the series but I couldn’t.

The Superfriends in 1977

© From the personal Aquaman Archives

Mania: On the show there was the Invisible Jet and Batman seemed to have a gadget or vehicle for anything…

Aquaman: (sarcastic) How about that?

Mania: If you were the King of the Sea why did you have that little jet ski?

Aquaman: I never understood that one either. When you would see those shots of me and Superman on the water, rushing to save the day, he would actually have to slow down so the camera could keep us both in the shot. Nowadays that would have been my vehicle for my action figure. I think it was just the writers coming up with new ways to mess with me.

Mania: What else did the writers do to you?

Aquaman: Not only the writers but the directors too. If you look at any group scene I am always placed in the back. In a lot of the publicity photos Superman usually has his arm around me. He was trying to help. Clar… Superman is great guy, that’s not just some act. He tried to push the writers and directors to give me a better spot on the show. Unfortunately even the man of steel can’t fight Hollywood. He did get them to team us up a lot which was great fun. As for the writers, their PSAs (Public Service Announcements) kept getting worse and worse. I’m Aquaman. Put me in the water or on the beach. Where do they put me? In a race car! Yeah, that’s going to drive the message home. I even insisted on doing one of the magic tricks under water. The disappearing coin just kept floating up and ruining the bit. Held up production for two days! Not my finest hour but it’s the little victories.

Mania: Apache Chief, Samurai and Black Vulcan all made their first appearances on this show. Do you feel as they cut into your screen time as well?

The All-New Superfriends Hour: Season One, Vol. 2

© Warner Bros. Ent. Inc.

Aquaman: Those guys were great and started out as bit players only to become regulars on the Challenge of the Superfriends. Did they cut into my screen time? No. Do you think I wanted to team up with Batman and going after the Abominable Snowman? Apache who? Apache you go and do it. When I teamed up with the Samurai in “Attack of the Killer Bees” I was the star and he was the guest hero. If anything it really gave me a time to shine and bring this great hero to the kids. Black Vulcan on the other hand, man that guy was an odd duck. I’ll tell you a little story, I shouldn’t but, you have probably noticed that he didn’t wear pants in Challenge of the Superfriends. Well, he wore them when he was on All-New Superfriends Hour. I can’t remember who did it to him but he got pantsed right after the last shot in “The Day of the Rats”. Well Wonder Woman ended up turning the corner and getting the whole show. After that he decided to accentuate his… well… he thought a one piece leotard would help out. That, and he thought he’ll never get pantsed again. Wedgies on the other hand, well that’s a whole other story.

The All-New Superfriends Hour: Season One, Vol. 2 is a two disc set with eight episodes and 32 different segments starring Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, the Wonder Twins and, of course, Aquaman.