Written by Hombre Divertido
Debuting in September of 1985, Galactic Guardians was the last incarnation of The Super Friends and surprisingly one of the best.
The Super Friends had premiered twelve years earlier, and had been through some changes that resulted in some sad efforts, but Galactic Guardians was an attempt to allow the show to grow up with the viewers that had invested their time over the past twelve years, and for the most part it succeeds. It clearly laid the groundwork for some of the more cutting-edge shows featuring DC superheroes that would follow.
Sadly the show lasted for only one season. All 10 episodes are available on this new DVD release, and as in any series, there are some gems here, with a few clunkers. What may have hurt this show is that the first episode that aired “The Seeds of Doom” was pretty rough. Though it contains the origin of Cyborg, and origin stories are always a huge hit with fans, the episode is not as visually appealing as the rest, the sound quality is poor, and the storytelling is awkward.
Investing in all ten episodes is well worth the time, as there are some wonderfully crafted episodes here such as “The Wild Cards,” which has the nostalgic feel of an original Super Friends story to it, or episodes with more depth such as “The Fear” that deals with the origin of Batman, and “The Death of Superman” that deals with…well, you probably figured it out. It is episodes like this that may have been too violent for the Saturday morning crowd. Though appealing to the viewers that had grown up with The Super Friends, said viewers had probably moved on from Saturday morning cartoons. Had this show aired in an era where it could have appeared on The Cartoon Network in the evening hours, it quite possibly would have lasted longer. Though not up to the level of the current Justice League animated series from a storytelling perspective, it does posses superior qualities.
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