DC Comics’ Hawkman was subject to the sincerest form of flattery in 1967 when the Hanna-Barbera animation studio premiered Birdman and the Galaxy Trio.
This other Winged Wonder was really Ray Randall, although his secret identity was rarely mentioned in the two Saturday morning seasons during which his cartoons aired on NBC.
“Deriving his powers from the Egyptian sun god Ra, Birdman can store them and transform this energy into super might, destructive sun bolts or an invisible force field — both of which he generates from his hands,” noted comics historian Jeff Rovin.
“Another thing warded off by this power was protest from parent groups, which were starting to object to all the hitting that went on in shows of this type,” noted comics historian Don Markstein. “When they gave a hero a super power that didn’t involve hitting, critics didn’t fuss too much, figuring the kids weren’t likely to imitate their heroes by bombarding one another with deadly radiation.”
Birdman spoke with the deeply resonant voice of actor Keith Andes, and was apparently proud of the fact. He had the odd habit of shouting his own name when he soared off on his missions against Vulturo, Reducto, the Constrictor, the storm king Cumulus, or the brain thief Ransom. Or maybe his shout was meant to serve as a rallying cry for his eagle companion, Avenger.
“Birdman can call Avenger for assistance via communicator on his neck, the bird being powerful enough to carry Birdman on those occasions when he is cut off from the sun’s rays — as in a dark room or cavern — and goes limp, or is stunned by artillery fire,” Rovin wrote. “When not airborne, Birdman relaxes in his volcano headquarters, where he can only be contacted by secret operative Falcon 7.”
The superhero did manage to make it into Gold Key comics. “Hanna-Barbera’s TV Super Heroes 1 (April 1968) was … devoted to Saturday morning TV’s explosion of action heroes,” noted John Wells in American Comic Book Chronicles. “Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, the Herculoids, the Mighty Mightor, Moby Dick, Shazzan, Space Ghost, and Young Samson and Goliath all took turns appearing in the new series, typically in stories that were no more than five or six pages apiece. The title replaced the Disney hero parody Super Goof, which went on a 15-month hiatus with issue 10 (March 1968).”
Hawkman himself also appeared on Saturday morning TV in the 1960s. Filmation’s The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure included three seven-minute cartoons featuring Hawkman, and others in which he fought alongside the Justice League. Hawkgirl was nowhere to be seen.
Birdman was a logical follow-up to Hanna-Barbera’s Saturday morning success with Space Ghost on CBS the year before. And both Space Ghost and Birdman would have second lives as satiric figures in Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.
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