Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Challenge of the Super Friends: The World's Deadliest Game (1978)

 



A wonderful episode. 


In this episode Brainiac uses a device to make it seem like the Earth has vanished. When Wonder Woman, Hawkman and Black Vulcan try to investigate, Toyman tricks them into falling into a black hole and landing in a planet full of toy-based traps.  The rest of the Super Friends set out to save their friends. However the Riddler is sending the other Super Friends on a wild goose chase with his riddles. 

This episode already sets itself up as a great episode from the very start. The opening shots of the swamp where the Legion of Doom has their headquarters is simply wonderful and features some truly great and atmospheric artwork. The design of the various toy traps are also wonderful, especially the design of the giant pinball machine. Many of these traps are also very clever and the pure imagination put into them is a lot of fun. I also love how this episode does a great job of making non-superpowered villains like Toyman and The Riddler feel like believable threats to the Super Friends. This is quite impressive and certainly no easy feat from a writing standpoint. This is especially a joy for me as The Riddler is my favorite Batman villain. Many of the action scenes here are quite fun and exciting. This episode also features a lot of the great dialogue that is simply very charming in its corniness. I especially love a lot of the Toyman's quips and The Riddler's puzzles. Speaking of the Riddler's puzzles the places they lead our heroes to are also very atmospheric and well designed. 

This is a really fun episode and a pure delight to anyone who enjoys old fashioned superhero fun. 

  

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