Up until a few weeks ago - I had never, ever heard of such cartoon superheroes as Birdman and The Galaxy Trio (featuring Vapor Man, Meteor Man, and Gravity Girl) even though their actual incarnation goes all the way back to 1967.I guess my unfamiliarity with these particular crime-fighting crusaders has to do with the fact that they are not a part of the snobbishly elite "Marvel Comics" set and, so, they have not been given their due attention and much-deserved respect.Anyway - Birdman and his fellow superheroes were originally created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (who are also credited for the creation of The Flintstones and The Jetsons).Now, I would never say that these Birdman cartoons were fantastic - But - IMO - (Considering that they are now 50+ years old) - These pre-CG, animated shorts are just as entertaining and exciting as are any Marvel cartoons that were being aired back in those days. Yep. They sure are.

Back in 1966, Hanna-Barbera Productions began its superhero cartoon cycle with the launch of SPACE GHOST & DINO BOY. By September 1967, they had superhero series on all three major networks. And BIRDMAN AND THE GALAXY TRIO (to use the series full title) which aired on NBC was one of the most popular and memorable of those series.Like another Hanna-Barbera series that aired on NBC, YOUNG SAMSON & GOLIATH (which I have reviewed earlier), BIRDMAN was an good example of Golden Age styled comic book plotting used in an animated cartoon context. In the first of the two segments of the series, the winged wonder known as Birdman (voiced over by Keith Andes) was summoned into action by Falcon 7 (John Stephenson) to take on the latest threat to national or international security. With his pet eagle Avenger at his side, the winged wonder flew off from Bird Lair (an extinct volcano) to challenge the threat. In a few episodes, he would aided by a teen-aged sidekick Birdboy (Dick Beals) who had similar powers.For the record, Birdman's super-powers were flight (Thanks to his wings naturally!), super strength, and the ability to file blasts of solar energy from his hands (not to mention the ability to create "solar shields"). His powers come from exposure to the rays of the sun (which could explain why his headquarters is located in the crater of an extinct volcano), but also gives him an easily exploitable weakness which the writers liked to use throughout the run of the series. He loses his powers if he is out of the sun for too long and has to recharge by exposure to sunlight (but then again, he's lucky to have Avenger to help bail him out of those situations).For the most part, Birdman fought villains that were associated with the organization FEAR (his most frequent foe being its leader, Number One). Among them included such baddies as Dr. Freezoids, Nitron, the Ringmaster, and Vulturo among others. He managed to fight against foes that weren't allied with FEAR including Morto the Marauder, the Constrictor, Medusa, and Dr. Millennium among others. All in the space of 40 seven minute cartoons.The second segment was The Galaxy Trio which consisted of a trio of superheroes who patrolled space in their spaceship Condor One in the fight against evil. The three heroes were Vapor Man (Don Messick) who could into vapor at will and fire blasts of different vapors; Meteor Man (Ted Cassidy) who had the power expand his size at will; and Gravity Girl (Virginia Eiler) who had the power to control gravity. And they were to need those powers to fight the worst menaces the universe has to offer in 20 seven minute cartoons that were sandwiched between the two Birdman cartoons in each half hour episode.All in all, BIRDMAN AND THE GALAXY TRIO was one of Hanna-Barbera's most popular series and was only dropped by NBC in late 1968 mainly due to the backlash against TV violence during that period. Fortunately the show was brought back in 1979 as part of the syndicated series HANNA-BARBERA'S WORLD OF SUPER ADVENTURE (which brought back most of Hanna-Barbera's superhero series) and current pops up now and then on the Boomerang Network. It is also available on DVD via Warner Home Video.

To all the people who gave a bad review, let me remind you that this is a a cartoon for kids, for God's sake! That's why I enjoyed it when I was a kid. It never was one of my favorites, but you must know at that time there were many kids' fantasies, that were so different from today's, that you get them out of the context, which is what I want you to keep in mind. I mean I advise you to see these episodes not with your adult mind, but with a kid's heart!That said, I must confess that I was kind of expecting every Thursday afternoon when Birdman was scheduled. Specially when BirdBoy appeared. As a matter of fact, even when kid, I knew this was not a special cartoon, but nevertheless, I was expecting it!

Have to warn of possible spoilers, need to focus on best words to get the job done. Need to use all my concentration on the keyboard to strike the right letters or else! Thus was the world of Birdman. A man in a bird costume with sun powers, who recharged with the sun. He was a solar powered hero, it seems. Why not Sun Man? Looks too much like Superman I guess.So we use a bird? Avenger the purple eagle is a truly strange sidekick. He behaves like a dog. In watching the shows, I half expect him to bark once or twice. When Birdman is in a cage, Avenger actually tries to bend the bars apart."No, no, trusty Avenger. It's no use." Galaxy Trio always reminded me of the Fantastic Four, minus the Human Torch. They are aliens of some sorts. In one episode, we learn Gravity Gal is a princess and her father is a king on Gravitas. Apparently Meteor Man didn't know that either.There would be Bird Boy (voiced by the remarkable Dick Beal, who was 40 when he did this voice, he also did Buzz Conroy in Frankenstein Jr, Davey in Davey & Goliath, Alka Seltzer kid and Ralphie Phillips the daydreaming kid in WB cartoons) and one episode has Bird Girl.The setups are so limiting and puzzling. Why is Falcon's Lair in a a volcano? I used to wonder the same thing about Space Ghost. Villains would contact Space Ghost and tell him what crime they were going to commit and challenge him to stop them! I thought, why did you contact him in the first place? Birdman actually gets a recurring bad group called F.E.A.R.Now they don't call this group FEAR. Birdman and others, including the group themselves!, will say the letters out. F.......E......A.....R Birdman has at least two appearances on Space Ghost: Coast To Coast, subbing for SG (initially there had been plans for Birdman to get the talk show, but eventually this was given over to the more popular Space Ghost) where we learn he is separated from Gravity Girl and he is devastated by it.But the Harvey Birdman, Atty At Law cartoons are a great extension and understanding of this truly puzzling cartoon.I've watched Space Ghost with SG:C2C, Sealab 2020 with 2021 and they really are great additions to the original shows.Birdman and Harvey Birdman are pretty much the same.