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Mild Mannered Reviews - Super Friends

Super Friends #20

Scheduled to arrive in stores: October 14, 2009

Cover date: December 2009

"A Hair-Raising Tale"

Writer: Sholly Fisch
Penciller: Dario Brizuela
Inker: Dario Brizuela
Cover: J. Bone

Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel

Click to enlarge

Roll Call: Superman, Aquaman, Green Lantern: John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Flash, The Batman

Chapter One:

Tommy and his friends are trading scary stories during a trick or treat night...

The Super Friends arrive to answer a distress call and find themselves right in the middle of a Halloween parade! The man that called them asking for help points out his reason - a giant hairy man terrorizing the city. When they try to fight it, Wonder Woman is hurled miles away with Green Lantern hot on her heals in a rescue. Superman's freeze breath isn't strong enough to imprison the hairy man and Flash uses his speed to catch all the ice shards.

Batman and Aquaman attempt to use knockout gas to stop the hairy man but nothing works!

Activity: Trick or Treat Match Up Puzzle

Chapter Two:

Green Lantern has successfully rescued Wonder Woman and they race to help their friends who meanwhile are trying to find out about the hairy man's origins... the man that called them was Professor Leo Zagarian. The Professor was trying to help people with lost limbs with a new kind of plastic that can grow to imitate missing limbs. During a full body test something went wrong and the hairy beast was the result!

He's so strong because he's made of plastic, even Superman can't hold him!

He's not really alive so he doesn't need to breath, especially not when Batman is hurling pellets around!

In a rage the 'Shaggy man' damages electric cables but Superman is quick to grab them while Flash repairs the damage. During the excitement however Shaggy man escapes and walks directly into an open air cinema!

Activity: Costume Cut Up Kit

Chapter Three:

The movie spooks Shaggy and growling at the screen he frightens off the moviegoers too!

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern arrive and are disappointed with their friends. Diana asks the team - did they try to be nice to him?

Diana points out that if he's a newborn perhaps being friendly rather than fighting, or screaming might help.

Making Shaggy an honorary Super Friend they show the locals that Shaggy is a nice guy really and everything turns out okay. Back at Tommy's the children wonder what happened to Shaggy. They are interrupted by Tommy's uncle Leo - the very same creator of Shaggy!

He reveals that Shaggy is living happily in a nature reserve but everyone has learned a valuable lesson - not to judge anyone!

SECRET CODE: XOLI DBXIN, INO PEVOY CYSOXRP CKMO CBZU IKZOP MBDO IB ZSCO!

Story - 2: Nice to have a challenge for the Super Friends but this wasn't a scary story at all which is a shame - for a Halloween story.

Art - 4: Some really nice pacing art-wise, a fun looking story and some of the visual gags were very cute.

Cover Art - 4: Another cool cover, that actually looks very spooky! Shaggy man looks deadly and menacing here and I love the heroes taking time out to eat marshmallows. A shame the story didn't push for this style inside...