The Marvel Super Heroes: Super Heroes in Full Color
Case(s) in point: the blockbuster film being released this week is “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” followed in May by “Captain America: Civil War.” In the first movie, the title says it all: the film features Batman fighting Superman, a dark vigilante fighting an unstoppable one-man judge of what is right and wrong. In Marvel’s third Captain America film, a similar dynamic is presented, as Captain America battles Iron Man, and all other heroes must pick a side. These plots reflect the narrative realism the comics developed as the readers grew older. Such tales are a long way from the zany fun of earlier Superman and Batman team ups in World’s Finest Comics. Even in the early days of Marvel, when the superheroes had real life problems and disagreements, they always had a villain present to show them what was really wrong.
I have my own bias. I don’t think Hollywood does itself
justice. Sure, the audience seems to want to see darkness and more reality
based stories, but that’s too easy. They take away the colorful madness that
was comic books, put all the actors in black leather or mesh, i.e., more
believable real costumes, and put
these dark egos up on screen. In a real world in which it is hard to tell who a
hero is, they show us heroes fighting each other. But it already seems
cookie-cutter. I thought we might have had a move forward in what was possible
with Marvel’s recent “Guardians of the Galaxy” comic book sci-fi extravaganza.
This film featured a wider-ranging color palette, if not always necessarily brighter,
and featured some exciting daylight action scenes. When Hollywood can make
heroes in bright colors seem believable, I for one will finally think they got
the comic book superhero right. Till then…
There is always “The Marvel Super Heroes” (1966). Or many other
early animated superhero cartoon shows - whichever you like is fine. Me? As a
kid, this 1966 series – one of the cheesiest ever made with an obvious (even to
a kid) cheap budget allowed only very limited, ah, suggestions, of animation – introduced me to my favorite
superheroes on a screen. I saw the Batman TV series, but you see, I was a
Marvel reader. Where were my heroes?
In this poorly done but fondly remembered series.
These shorts were licensed for production from Marvel by
Grantray-Lawrence Animation, and there were five series produced: Captain
America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, and the Sub-Mariner.
Each had thirteen whole episodes made up of seven-minute segments for a full half
hour show. The animation style is sublimely ridiculous, taking actual comic
book art and moving the drawings around, or animating a limb or mouth here or
there, to create an “animated” cartoon. When I first discovered the show at an
early age, I loved this style anyway: it was the actual comic art I already enjoyed
(such as the classic work of Jack “King” Kirby, among others) and it was now on
my television screen. Ah, to be that young and uncritical again! My guess is
they probably used the words Stan Lee wrote in the comics as well. So it looked
cheap. But it was the best thing going. And it was somehow purely Marvel Comics!
Strangely, whoever put the show on for my afternoon viewings
neglected to air “The Sub-Mariner” shorts, so I’ve never seen one. But the
others seemed to run constantly and… they had theme songs. For each hero. Which
were silly. And fun. And are the kinds of songs that lodge into your brain and
don’t want to leave. I can recall them all. Except for The Sub-Mariner’s. Even
now. And as a kid, I didn’t think these songs were weird. I embraced everything
about this series because, well, because superheroes at that point were fun and
were also models for how to view justice in the world. In today’s media saturated
world, it might be hard to understand that this was an exciting series, even
with bad animation and tons of commercial breaks.
Which brings us back to today. Though well-hyped now, I
suspect interest will severely wane in the series DC is trying to jumpstart by
having The Dark Knight fight the Man of Steel. And Marvel. Their formulaic
scripts are just starting to run dry of excitement, so my hope is that they try
to overturn the darkness of today’s comic book universes and give us some
heroes. There should be less ambiguity about who is a hero. And there should be
more color. And how about a closing theme to get people excited and hopeful,
maybe something like this, the theme song of The Merry Marvel Marching Society, from the same era:
The Merry Marvel Marching Society Theme Song
Stand a
little straighter. Walk a little prouder.
Be an innovator.
Clap a little louder.
Grow forever
greater. We can show you how to.
Where will you be
then?
You belong, you
belong, you belong, you’ll belong
To the Merry
Marvel Marching Society.
March along, march
along, march along to the song
Of the Merry
Marvel Marching Society.
I you growl, if
you grown with a dour sour outlook,
If you howl, if
you moan, you can lose your sour grout
By keeping trim
and in step with the vim and the pep
Of the Merry
Marvel Marching Society.
Be an early riser.
Strive to be ambitious.
Speak a little
wiser. Try to be judicious.
Be a good advisor,
never ever vicious.
Where will you be
then?
Face front…
Lift your head…
You’re on the
winning team…
NUFF SAID!
You belong, you
belong, you belong, you belong,
To the Merry
Marvel Marching Society.
March along, march
along, march along to the song
Of the Merry
Marvel Marching Society.
I you growl, if
you grown
And your star is
nearly zero,
Do not howl, do
not moan,
You can be a
superhero,
Marching right
along to the fighting song
Of the Merry
Marvel Marching Society.
Stand a little
straighter. Walk a little prouder.
Be an innovator.
Clap a little louder.
Grow forever
greater. We can show you how to.
Where will you be then?
Can you imagine anything so positive in any movie today, let
alone a superhero blockbuster? Come on Hollywood. I dare you. Where will you be
then? Maybe making some really fun comic book films. Maybe
it’s time for a Legion of Superheroes franchise.
*** The Marvel Super Heroes show is not currently available.
