Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities NEW GODS (etc)

It looks like I never did even quickie reviews of the rest of this series, so why don't I just get it out of the way now...

SUPER POWERS #3 (Sep'84)
"AMAZONS AT WAR"
Synopsis:
Brainiac uses his new powers to alter the minds of the Amazons, making them attack Earth. When the super heroes arrive Brainiac releases his hold on the Amazons and uses his power to de-evolve Superman into a Super-Barbarian.

SUPER POWERS #4 (Oct'84)
"EARTH'S LAST STAND"
Synopsis:
The villains join with the heroes to try to defeat the Emissaries of Doom, who lure them all to Apokolips, where they are stranded while Darkseid and his armies have landed on Earth.

SUPER POWERS #5 (Nov'84)
"SPACESHIP EARTH"
Synopsis:
Metron and the Worlogog, with the help of the heroes and villains, defeats Darkseid and his armies.

Reading the last post, I think I was surprised that someone with the status of Kirby was doing something like Super Powers.

Sort of like the first rolling stones video I saw had them dressed as sailors in foam. "Really? This is the rolling stones?"

My understanding is, Jeanette Kahn & Paul Levitz worked out a deal for Kirby to do designs for Kenner, which would allow him to get royalites on. This was many years before Levitz became publisher, and set up a rule where by anyone who created a character, if used in outside media (TV, etc.) could collect royalties on it. They don't get paid for the books, but they do get paid for other stuff.

I've heard, for example, that Steve Ditko got paid for his (and Levitz') STARMAN when the character appeared on THE BRAVE & THE BOLD tv cartoons. And Ditko got ZERO for all the SPIDER-MAN tv shows and feature films. ZERO. Sick business, ain't it?

I guess the SUPER POWERS comic was a spin-off of the work on the toy line. I've seen drawings, and it seems in addition to modified designs for some of his Fourth World figures, like Mantis & Orion, he also designed vehicles and whole playsets, NONE of which, as far as I know, were ever manufactured. Damn shame.

In a further tie-in, Kirby's Fourth World characters appeared on Hanna-Barbera's SUPER-FRIENDS during its last 2 seasons, the final year of which was renamed THE SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS to tie in with the toy line. There was, in my view, such a quantum leap improvement in quality over those last 2 seasons, that I have the same reaction to watching them as I do to watching the last 2 seasons of DOCTOR WHO with Sylvester McCoy...

"THIS was no time to cancel the show!!!"