The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure facts for kids

The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure was an animated TV show from Filmation. It aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. This hour-long program started on September 9, 1967. It featured six-minute adventures with many different DC Comics superheroes.

About the Show: Heroes and Stories

This TV show brought together new cartoons from other series. These included The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy. It also had new adventures for Aquaman and his young helper, Aqualad. Many Superman fans consider this the second season of The New Adventures.

Voice Acting and Special Guests

A special part of this show was that it featured some of the last work by Bud Collyer. He was the original voice for Superman and Clark Kent on radio shows. The series also included cartoons with other popular heroes. These "guest stars" were the Atom, the Flash and Kid Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman.

The show also featured team-up adventures. The Justice League of America appeared, with members like Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Aquaman, and Superman. The Teen Titans also had their own adventures. This team included Speedy, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, and Aqualad.

Writers from the Comics

Many of the short stories for the show were written by people who worked for DC Comics. Bob Haney and George Kashdan wrote most of the "guest star" cartoons. They were also writing the Teen Titans comic book at the time. Mort Weisinger, who edited all the Superman comics in the 1960s, helped edit the Superman stories for TV. Because comic book writers worked on the show, the cartoons were very true to the comic book stories.

First Animated Appearances

This series was the first time many of these heroes and teams were animated. Before this, only Superman and his friends had been animated in the famous 1940s Superman shorts. The Superboy characters had also appeared in the previous season of The Adventures of Superboy.

Show's Impact: What Came Next

Because the show was so popular, Filmation planned to make more cartoons. They created a pilot episode for Metamorpho. They also planned pilots for Plastic Man and Wonder Woman. There were even ideas for a whole hour of DC Comics cartoons. This hour would have featured heroes like Metamorpho, Plastic Man, The Flash, The Blackhawks, the Doom Patrol, B'wana Beast, and the Metal Men.

However, these plans changed. The TV network CBS bought the rights to animate Batman. This happened after the success of ABC's live-action Batman TV show.

Changes to the Series

In 1968, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure changed its name. It became The Batman/Superman Hour. This new show included fresh Superman and Superboy stories, plus new Batman cartoons. The older Aquaman cartoons were then put into their own 30-minute show called Aquaman. This show also included the guest star segments from The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.

Years later, the show's style was used again by Warner Bros. Animation. They created The New Batman/Superman Adventures. This show combined episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series. It aired from 1997 to 2000.

Narrators: The Voice of the Heroes

The show continued a storytelling style that began with the original Superman radio show. It used a narrator to help tell the story and make it more exciting. The first season of The New Adventures of Superman had Jackson Beck as the narrator. But The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure was the first to feature actor Ted Knight. He had started as the narrator for the Adventures of Superboy segments. Ted Knight became the main voice for DC cartoons for over ten years. He was known as the unofficial "voice of DC" even when other companies made the cartoons.

Aquaman Episodes: Undersea Adventures

Aquaman in The Superman/ Aquaman Hour of Adventure

Thirty-six Aquaman stories were made for the show. Here are some of them:

• "Menace of the Black Manta" - Aquaman and Aqualad try to stop Black Manta from sinking a luxury ship.
• "The Rampaging Reptile-Men" - Reptile creatures attack a power station for Atlantis.
• "The Return of Nepto" - A Viking from the past tries to take over Atlantis.
• "The Fiery Invaders" - Beings from the sun try to dry up Earth's oceans.
• "Sea Raiders" - Alien hunters come to the ocean to hunt.
• "War of the Water Worlds" - Mera is captured by a plant creature in an undersea world.
• "The Volcanic Monster" - A giant made of lava battles Aquaman.
• "The Crimson Monster From The Pink Pool" - A monster that sprays acid moves towards Atlantis.
• "The Ice Dragon" - A dragon that can freeze things fights Aquaman.
• "The Deadly Drillers" - Mole men use drilling submarines to attack Atlantis.
• "Vassa, Queen of the Mermen" - An evil sea queen attacks Atlantis with whale-shaped submarines.
• "The Microscopic Monsters" - Black Manta steals Aquaman's enlarging ray.
• "The Onslaught of the Octomen" - Eight-armed beings capture Aquaman.
• "Treacherous is the Torpedo Man" - The Torpedo Man, a super-fast swimmer, traps the Aqua team.
• "The Satanic Saturnians" - Alien fish from Saturn attack Earth.
• "The Brain, The Brave and the Bold" - A smart mutant scientist called The Brain fights Aquaman.
• "Where Lurks the Fisherman!" - A sea pirate named the Fisherman sets a trap for Aquaman.
• "Mephisto's Marine Marauders" - A marauder and his men attack an oxygen plant and then Atlantis.
• "Trio of Terror" - Aqualad learns Black Manta, The Brain, and Queen Vassa are working together.
• "The Torp, The Magneto and the Claw" - The Torpedo Man teams up with Magneto and The Claw to destroy Aquaman.
• "Goliaths of the Deep-Sea Gorge" - A mermaid city is attacked by a giant sea creature.
• "The Sinister Sea Scamp" - A raider uses a special beam to turn a rock into a sea giant.
• "The Devil Fish" - Aquaman helps the Navy test a ship that Black Manta captures.
• "The Sea Scavengers" - Pirates use a giant submarine robot.
• "In Captain Cuda's Clutches" - A pirate with a giant starfish raids a crystal bed.
• "The Mirror-Man From Planet Imago" - The Brain gets a perfect copy of Aquaman to take over Atlantis.
• "The Sea Sorcerer" - Aquaman must deal with an evil warlock.
• "The Sea-Snares of Captain Sly" - A sky pirate fights the Aqua team.
• "The Undersea Trojan Horse" - Mera accidentally opens a fake seahorse that attacks Atlantis.
• "The Vicious Villainy Of Vassa" - Vassa attacks Atlantis again with laser-drill ships.
• "Programmed For Destruction" - The Brain uses a computer to make a ray that makes sea creatures float.
• "The War of the Quatix and the Bimphars" - Aquaman and Aqualad explore an ocean planet where two races are fighting.
• "The Stickmen of Stygia" - A prank by Mera and Aqualad helps them defeat cyclopian beings.
• "Three Wishes to Trouble" - A sea genie grants Aqualad three wishes that cause problems.
• "The Silver Sphere" - A metal ball that creates plant growth causes conflict between two sea races.
• "To Catch a Fisherman" - The Fisherman sets a trap for Aquaman that doesn't work out.

Voice Actors: The People Behind the Heroes

Many talented actors gave voices to the characters in the show.

Main Voice Actors

• Bud Collyer - Clark Kent / Superman (for Superman and Justice League stories)
• Bob Hastings - Young Clark Kent / Superboy (for Superboy stories)
• Jackson Beck - Narrator (for Superman stories), Perry White (Superman's boss), Lex Luthor (Superman's enemy)
• Ted Knight - Narrator (for Superboy, Aquaman, Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Justice League, and Teen Titans stories), Krypto (Superboy's dog), Black Manta (Aquaman's enemy), Torpedo Man
• Joan Alexander - Lois Lane (a reporter and Superman's friend)
• Cliff Owens - Brainiac (Superman's enemy), Barry Allen / The Flash (the super-speed hero)
• Jack Grimes - Jimmy Olsen (Superman's young friend)
• Julie Bennett - Donna Troy / Wonder Girl (a Teen Titan)
• Janet Waldo - Lana Lang (Superboy's friend)
• Marvin Miller - Aquaman (the king of Atlantis)
• Jerry Dexter - Garth / Aqualad (Aquaman's sidekick and a Teen Titan)
• Diana Maddox - Mera (Aquaman's wife), Queen Vassa

Other Voice Actors

The Teen Titans in The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.

Some actors were not listed in the credits but were still important to the show:

• Tommy Cook - Kid Flash (a super-speed hero and a Teen Titan)
• Paul Frees - Guardians of the Universe (Green Lantern's bosses), Evil Star (Green Lantern's enemy)
• Pat Harrington, Jr. - Atom (the hero who can shrink), Speedy (a Teen Titan)
• Gerald Mohr - Green Lantern (the hero with a power ring)
• Vic Perrin - Hawkman (the winged hero)