Here's one of Marvel UK's less-successful efforts, although it should be of great interest to collectors and animation fans, ADVENTURES OF THE GALAXY RANGERS.
It was based on the 65-episode animated series of the same name: a Western-in-space with shades of BRAVESTAR and even FIREFLY/ SERENITY. The show, now available on R1 DVD, is actually jolly good thanks to superior animation, high production standards and some good (for the genre) writing. Unfortunately, the syndicated show didn't make much of an impression in the heavily-satuated US animation market, crowded-out by toy-based rivals.
Marvel UK clearly had high hopes for this comic. The majority of the contents were UK-originated (collectors take note) but it was scuppered, I suspect, by some unsympathetic scheduling of the TV show. As I recall, it appeared daily on Children's ITV in a holiday morning slot with little promotion. That meant a deluge of episodes... and then nothing.
Marvel UK pulled the plug on this fortnightly after a mere 9 issues. They presumably started making arrangements to roll it into the pages of THUNDERCATS as soon as the sales figures for issue one arrived. The original strips (possibly on-the-shelf inventory already commissioned for the fortnightly) continued there for a while longer.
It's back-to-the-FUTURE (magazine) yet again (I'm really getting my monies worth out of these sometimes hard-to-find back issues) for this great behind-the-scenes feature on the Filmation FLASH GORDON animated series.
The show, part of the post STAR WARS rush to get SF projects on-screen, premiered on NBC in 1979 as THE NEW ADVENTURES OF FLASH GORDON (not to be confused with the later DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH).
The show ran for (an unusually high) 32 episodes, split into two 16-episode seasons. Surprisingly, the second run didn't appear until 1982.
The show remained faithful to Alex Reymond's original creation, even retaining the movie serial-style continuing adventure formula for season one (abandoned, in favour of self-contained episodes, for Year Two), and boasted animation several notches above Filmation's usual standards.
The show, apparently, didn't reach the UK until the BBC aired it from 17 October 1983.
Confusingly, there is a also a feature film version which is much more elusive than the TV series (which has been released on both sides of the Atlantic, although both sets now seem to be deleted). The film (FLASH GORDON: THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF THEM ALL) was, apparently, produced before the series but mothballed (possibly at the behest of Dino De Laurentisis to avoid any competition/ confusion with his own spangly Flash Gordon extravaganza) until 1982 (and pretty-much unseen since). The principle difference between the two animated incarnations is that the movie is set on WWII era Earth.
Unlike the series, it's not been released on DVD but has definitely aired on British TV at some point (possibly a Saturday morning) as I've seen it!
Here's the title sequence of the Fall 1979 SPIDER-WOMAN animated series. The show belatedly reached the UK in January 1983. Better late than never I guess.
The show was produced by animation old hands DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, shortly before their purchase by Cadence Industries and their metamorphosis into Marvel Productions.
Marvel UK capitalised on the show's UK debut by adding Spider-Woman reprints, as a back-up feature, to SPIDER-MAN weekly (from issue 517, cover-dated 2 February 1983). The comic had previously featured the character, again as a supporting feature, in its SPIDER-MAN AND HULK WEEKLY incarnation, from issue 376 (cover-dated 22 May 1980) alongside Spider-man, Hulk and She-Hulk strips. Jessica never did get her own British comic but she did earn an (inexplicably timed) Winter Special one-shot in 1989.
In the US, Spider-Woman's own comic ran from (cover dates) April 1978 to June 1983 following a one-issue copyright-nabbing debut in MARVEL SPOTLIGHT 32 (February 1977). Her solo adventures clocked-up 50 issues (collected in two MARVEL ESSENTIALS volumes).
The complete Spider-Woman animated series (16 episodes) is available on DVD in the UK.
Another space craft launched. Another mysterious disappearance. Yet more astronauts deposited on a world where man once ruled supreme. Yup, it's time (ahem) to RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES.
RPOTA was the last gasp of the original Apes screen franchise. The movie series had expired in disappointing style with BATTLE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES in 1973 and the 1974 POTA live-action TV show (a masterclass in reusing warehoused masks, costumes, props and sets stockpiled by the five film movie series) couldn't even make it into 1975. Running out of options, and pandering to the Apes saga's younger audience, Fox rolled the hairy dice again and came up with this short-lived Saturday morning TV co-production with animation house DePatie-Freleng (later to become Marvel Productions) which aired in the States from September 1975. Ironically, Saturday morning masters Joe Ruby and Ken Spears had been drafted-in by CBS in an attempt to kick-start the scripts on the floundering live-ation show.
RPOTA revolved around (yet another) three astronauts dumped onto 'Ape Earth'. Except this was a more technically advanced ape civilisations than the price-sensitive ones seen in the film series. Throwing continuity further into confusion, this version also includes regular apes named Cornelius, Zia, Urko and Zaius. Such muddles of time haven't stopped fans pondering the cartoon's place into the overall saga.
The animation was stylish, making a virtue of the fact that there's frequently no animation at all. The camera pans lovingly across static images or, if movement is required, its kept to the barest minimum. Watchers of more than one episode will also spot the familiar Saturday morning shortcut of recycling certain movements, shots or locations multiple times across multiple episodes.
That said, the show does have visual appeal and the writing is generally solid and of a fairly high standard considering its target audience and the restrictions of the Saturday morning censor.
Unusually for Saturday mornings, the NBC series told a continuing story across its thirteen instalments. However (just like its live-action predecessor), the network axed the show before the final fate of the time travellers could be revealed. Somewhere, in the distant future, elderly astronauts are still dodging dragons and apes driving jeeps.
In the UK, the show (like its predecessor) aired on ITV. Its been seldom-seen on TV since but has resurfaced on DVD allowing a whole new generation of Apes fans to marvel at this oddity of crude animation.
Marvel's comics license didn't extend to either of the small-screen incarnations.
Here is the full first episode, Flames of Doom. Follow the usual links for subsequent shows:
To promote the launch of the syndicated MARVEL ACTION HOUR animated series (consisting of separate FANTASTIC FOUR and IRON MAN segments) Marvel gave away this 16-page supplement, and mock animation cell printed on acetate, with selected US titles cover-dated November 1994.
These scans come from the copy given away with FORCE WORKS issue 3. Presumably the supplements were included with the various IRON MAN/ AVENGERS/ FANTASTIC FOUR titles most relevant to the TV series.
The booklet, bagged with the comic, was presented in a flip book format with an Iron Man cover and Fantastic Four cover on the reverse. For ease of reading Slow Robot has dispensed with that conceit here.
It's possible that different animation cells were produced, as it seems a little surprising that none of the principle characters were featured.
Throughout the 1980s, Marvel's West Coast animation off-shoot MARVEL PRODUCTIONS was responsible for many familiar animated series (and several long-forgotten). The studio was previously DePatie-Freleng (of PINK PANTHER fame) and was acquired by Marvel in 1980 to spearhead their expansion into areas seen as being more 'future-proof' than the core comics business.
Stan Lee, of course, departed Marvel's New York offices to relocate to California to become MP's creative director, chief pitch-man and sometime TV show narrator.
Principally created to exploit Marvel's own creations (the company's remit always included live-action film, TV and theatre but it never seemed to expand out of animation), it enjoyed its greatest success in partnership with Hasbro's marketing agency Sunbow as a producer of toy-based animation.
Former Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter (dismissed from Marvel mid-decade. More on that from Slow Robot in future) has claimed in his excellent blog that Marvel Productions only appeared profitable because the accountants budgeted the shows on the assumption that Marvel would enjoy a regular revenue stream from reruns and, eventually, go into profit once the initial costs of making the shows was covered. But, according to Shooter, Marvel's deals were on a work-for-hire basis and the company had no profit participation. So, if Marvel didn't cover all its costs up-front (and Shooter claims they didn't), they had no further income to push them into profit.
With no apologies for running a second Marvel-themed COMICS FEATURE article so soon, Slow Robot presents this excellent article from early 1985 (which would have been penned sometime in 1984). Some notes follow.
SLOW ROBOT NOTES:
SPIDER FRIENDS (which sounds awfully like DC's rival, and more successful SUPER FRIENDS) was the working title for SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. Heatwave, obviously, became Firestar.
MEATBALL AND SPAGHETTI really did exist although it appears to have never run in the UK. Here's the title sequence:
THE TRANSFORMERS. According to Jim Shooter's blog (here again), Marvel Productions had a very different plan for how to realise the Robots in Disguise. Hasbro opted to use the ideas concocted by the comics creatives across all media. The pitch artwork shown below the box artwork presumably reflected MP's thinking (with kids as 'pilots').
PANDOMONIUM appears to have never gone into production.
MUFFY IN CAR AND CABLE. The Transformer-a-like Bumblebee-wannabe, which has something of the GOBOTS about it, never happened.
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. The artwork contains a few differences in design and colouring compared to the finished series, which ran on CBS and BBC ONE. And never had an official first or last episode.
The pitch artwork for IRON MAN, ANT MAN and (new creations) THE MONSTRESS and THE ALIENS didn't sell.
HOWARD THE DUCK never became an animated hero but did become an infamous George Lucas live-action mis-fire.
HULK HOUND and TEEN HULK, unsurprisingly, went nowhere.
DAREDEVIL AND LIGHTNING THE SUPERDOG did sell to ABC after Mark Evanier wrote a series bible and pilot script. But according to his account, an executive at Marvel Productions pissed-off someone at ABC and the project was swiftly dumped.
And, finally, here is the memorable MARVEL PRODUCTIONS logo that appeared (unless the BBC faded it too soon or cut it off) at the end of their shows after Marvel were acquired by New World Entertainment in 1985. It contains similar design elements to New World's own logo.
