Real
Name: Ray Randall
Birdman
Real
Name: Ray Randall
Identity/Class: Supernaturally altered human
Occupation: (formerly) Secret agent (later) Superhero; (most recently) defense attorney
Affiliations: Avenger, Birdboy, Falcon 7, Birdgirl, the Galaxy Trio
Enemies: Dr.Mentaur, Number One, Dr.Millennium, Vulturo, Morto, Set (the Egyptian God); Dr.Toxic
Known Relatives: None known
Aliases: Harvey Birdman
Base of Operations: (formerly) Hidden base within a volcano on a tropical island; (currently) court rooms in an unspecified US city
First Appearance: Birdman and the Galaxy Trio - Birdman Episode #1 "The Menace Of Dr. Millennium" (Hanna-Barbera for NBC, 9th September 1967)
Other Appearances: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
Powers/Abilities: Birdman could fly, fire powerful "solar ray" blasts from his hands, and project a "solar shield" to deflect attacks. He has to recharge his powers regularly with sunlight, or he loses them.
History: (Birdman and the Galaxy Trio) Ray Randall was a secret agent chosen by the high priests of the Egyptian sun god Ra to be their god's emissary on Earth and battle evil in his name. Imbuing Ray with a selection of superpowers, they transformed him into Birdman so that he could shine "the light of justice" on evil-doers the world over. Ray could activate these powers by shouting out his name (which he did this lot..."Biiiiiirdman!"). Returning to America, he set up shop in a hidden volcano base, taking missions from his agency contact, the mysterious, eye-patch wearing Falcon 7, who would contact him over a video link to give him mission briefings. His most common stomping grounds away from his base was Central City.
He was accompanied by his eagle Avenger and often by his sidekick Birdboy, whom he first met when the young lad was near death from exposure, having been stuck in a raft in the open sea for a considerable length of time. He gave the boy a portion of his powers to save the lad's life (although the lad used mechanical wings to fly). There was also a Birdgirl, created by his enemy Dr. Mentaur to destroy the hero, but who realised she was being manipulated by a villain and became one of the good guys instead.
Comments: The show was created by Alex Toth, with Birdman voiced by Keith Andes, and Birdboy being handled by Dick Beals. Falcon 7 was handled by Don Messick. The character is copyright to Hanna-Barbera.
Birdman shared his airtime with the Galaxy Trio. Birdman's adventures would bookend the show, with a segment of the Galaxy Trip fitted in between. Although the ratings were good, the show was cancelled because of pressure to reduce violence on Saturday morning TV. The last episode aired on 28th December 1968 There were forty episodes in total.
Birdman has also made a handful of comic appearances, in Gold Key's Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes # 1-5 (1968-69) and Cartoon Network Presents #5 and #9 (1997 and 1998). In Hanna-Barbera STVH #2 he finally got to team up with fellow heroes The Galaxy Trio, with whom he shared a TV time slot, in order to battle Dr.Toxic.
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Avenger
Identity/Class: Eagle Occupation: Sidekick to Birdman Affiliations: Birdman, Birdboy Enemies: same as Birdman Known Relatives: None Aliases: None known Base of Operations: same as Birdman First Appearance: Birdman Episode #1 "The Menace Of Dr. Millennium" (Hanna-Barbera for NBC, 9th September 1967) Powers/Abilities: Extremely strong (able to carry a full grown man). Able to fly at incredible speeds. History: Avenger is Birdman's loyal partner. How the two came to be together isn't explained in the cartoon - he's with Birdman from the first adventure. Birdman keeps in contact with Avenger via a communication device the eagle wears on its neck. He is often called in to rescue Birdman when the hero's solar powers run out. Comments: None |
Falcon 7
Identity/Class: Normal human Occupation: Government operative Affiliations: Birdman, Birdboy, Avenger Enemies: same as Birdman Known Relatives: None known Aliases: Phil Ken Sebben, The Boss Base of Operations: Unknown First Appearance: Birdman Episode #1 "The Menace Of Dr. Millennium" (Hanna-Barbera for NBC, 9th September 1967) Powers/Abilities: None known. History: Falcon-7 is Birdman's contact with the agency he works for. He generally calls up Birdman on a remote television link to give him mission briefings at the start of adventures. Comments: Falcon 7 was voiced by Don Messick. In Harvey Birdman, the hero-turned-lawyer works for a man with an eye-patch and tuxedo, whom he calls "The Boss". This man, clearly based on Falcon-7, is also sometimes called Phil Ken Sebben. |
Birdboy
Identity/Class: Mutated human Occupation: Sidekick to Birdman Affiliations: Birdman, Birdboy Enemies: same as Birdman Known Relatives: None known Aliases: Peanut Base of Operations: same as Birdman First Appearance: Birdman "Revenge of Dr. Millennium" Powers/Abilities: Birdboy has similar powers to those of Birdman. He lacks the natural wings sported by his mentor, and uses mechanical ones instead. History: When an unidentified pirate destroys a ship using an armoured vessel which looks like an island, the only survivor is a young boy. Birdman rescues him from a raft floating in shark infested waters, but finds the lad near to death from exposure. In order to save his life, the hero transferred some of his own energies to the victim, reviving him, and also giving him powers similar to those of Birdman. This proves fortunate when Birdman himself becomes a captive of the villain, and the newly created Birdboy has to come to his rescue. Thereafter he helps Birdman and Avenger on several of their missions Comments: Birdboy was voiced by Dick Beals. While his first appearance was in "Revenge of Dr.Millennium", we didn't learn the character's origin until several episodes later, in "Birdman meets Birdboy". Like Birdman, Birdboy has reappeared in the Harvey Birdman cartoon, as Harvey's clerk, Peanut (the name he was also called by in his very first episode of Birdman). |
Birdgirl
Identity/Class: Mutated human Occupation: Aerialist Affiliations: (former) Dr.Mentaur; (current) Birdman, Birdboy, Avenger Enemies: Dr.Mentaur Known Relatives: None Aliases: None known Base of Operations: Unknown First Appearance: Birdman "Birdman meets Birdgirl" Powers/Abilities: Flight (through mechanical wings), energy powers and increased strength History: Birdgirl used to be an aerialist until one of Birdman's foes, Dr Mentaur, kidnapped and hypnotised her to use as a pawn against his heroic enemy. He transformed the young woman into Birdgirl, a heroine deliberately based on Birdman, and convinced her that the hero was evil. He then sent her out to claim credit for Birdman's heroic deeds. Using his unwitting dupe as a lure, he had Birdgirl steal a hydrogen bomb, and Birdman, already curious, pursued her straight into a trap. Cut off from sunlight and drained of his powers, Birdman managed to reach through Birdgirl's hypnotic conditioning and convinced her to release him. With his strength renewed, the hero and his new ally then went after Mentaur, who appeared to die in an explosion caused by a deflected shell. Comments: Like her counterparts in the original cartoon, Birdgirl has now shown up in Harvey Birdman. Cody Michel explains..."Last week's episode of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law included the first appearance of Bird Girl (they spelled it with a space between "Bird & "Girl". It was the name of the episode.) Her name was Judy and she was Phil Ken Sebben's daughter. She was brought to work because it was "Take Phil's Daughter to Work Day". She showed aggressive interest in Harvey, ran out of the room, came back unrecognized as Bird Girl and imposed on Harvey the name of "Bird Team". He was reluctant and sent her away, but in the end she proved herself and she became his "trusty legal sidekick". To me, it was reminiscent of Batman, in how Batgirl was Commissioner Gordon's daughter in several incarnations of the character." |
CLARIFICATIONS: Birdman should not be confused with
Birdman, a Golden Age hero
Birdman, a British comedy superhero, partner of Chicken
Birdman from Baratoga, a flying hero from the pages of the British comic Smash!
Avenger should not be confused with
The Avenger, bike-riding vigilante hero from the 1980's Eagle Comic
The Avenger, leader of Justice, Inc, one of the seminal pulp heroes
Avenger, anti-Communist hero
Falcon-7 should not be confused with
The Falcon, a hero from British comic Radio Fun, who also briefly worked as a spy
The Falcon, Archie Comics hero once known as the Press Guardian
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
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Recently Birdman
returned in the new cartoon "Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law", which premiered
on the Cartoon Network on December 30, 2000 and began airing as a regular
series on September 23, 2001. Birdman is now an attorney, defending other
cartoon characters (such as the episode where he defends the Tony Soprano-like
Fred Flintstone). The creators of Harvey Birdman are Michael Ouweelen and
Erik Richter, and Birdman is now voiced by Gary Cole. Other characters in
his law firm include both Birdboy and Falcon-7 (see their entries), plus
Blue Falcon and Dynomutt (whom Birdman is later accused of murdering).
