Hershey's Heroes

When it comes to qualifying Super Hero Food, I tend to stick to my arbitrary rules ("Iron Man Cereal" vs. Cap'n Crunch with a picture of Iron Man on the box) but just as often I break my arbitrary rules when something catches my eye.  And the new Hershey's DC Super Hero Bars did just that.

They're being marketing along with the "Back to School" products which you can see by Superman and Wonder Woman chaperoning the school bus.  They're obviously keeping an eye on any potential trouble makers trying to hide out in the back.  As you can probably guess, these a Hershey bars that are branded with DC Comics characters.

They're miniature size and, as such, would fit just fine in a lunch box.  I guess that's why they're in with the "Back to School" themed stuff.  Although I think they would have done just fine if they were released a month later for Halloween.  I know a few little superheroes who would love to get these in their Tricks-Or-Treats plastic pumpkin.  Let's crack open that bag:

No big surprises in the lineup.  We've got Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and, once again, Cyborg has kicked Martian Manhunter right out of the picture.  I'm starting to think this replacement Leaguer is gonna stick around.  I hold out hope that maybe it will lead to some Doom Patrol candy or whatnot. 

With the wrapper off, we see the traditional, sectioned-off Hershey's bar with each section containing a character's logo.  But there's more than just the Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman and Batman symbols that you see here.  So far, I've only opened a few but I've also seen the Batmobile, a "BAM!" sound effect, and some stars that have a Wonder Woman vibe.

Not sure if these are mostly going to end up in lunchboxes, Halloween bags or just in a lot of folk's quarantine candy pile but it's always good to see the League make a prominant appearance in the grocery aisles.

Crack Team

There are two types of Super Hero Food: one type that ties in with a movie or TV show and another that doesn't.  The first kind is a dime a dozen whereas the second is a little more rare.  This type seems to be an effort to keep the characters in the public eye and, of course, make a little money.

These are always more fun because they just "are."  Justice League Crackers are Justice League Crackers for the sake of being Justice League Crackers.  Which brings us to today's entry: Justice League Crackers!

Nabisco Justice League Mini Cheese Nips are the most recent item to make its way into my shopping cart.  They are your standard cheese cracker but with the theme of never-ending justice.  The usual gang is involved and, wisely, Nabisco decided to go with logos instead of faces.  Let's see how the cracker crumbles:

No Green Lantern and, of course, the ongoing Martian Manhunter snub is still in full effect.  Also, apparently Cyborg has a logo now and it's not bad.  Looks like a "C" with a gear in the middle which is a pretty clean design and translates well into the cracker medium.

The rest of the usual line up get their own crackers, as per their Justice League contracts.  All the logos look pretty good and are easily more recognizable than they tend to be in gummie format which makes me wonder why we don't get more character cracker stuff on a regular basis. 

There's a group shot on the back along with a nice little quiz.  As with most "back of the box" fare, this feels less like homework and more like a little light snack time fun.  You can see that the cracker-less Green Lantern makes an appearance at the back of the group shot and even gets his own trivia question.

The twelve packs of these beauties will fit very nicely in your Justice League lunch box with your Doom Patrol Tuna Salad sandwich.  Enjoy!

Fruit Troop

Previously:

DC Superhero Girls Fruit Snacks  - -  Batman v Superman Fruit Snacks

Amazing Spider-Man 2 Fruit Snacks  - -  Iron Man 3 Fruit Snacks

Captain America Fruit Snacks  - -  Superman Fruit Snacks  - -  Super Hero Squad Fruit Snacks

Amazing Spider-Man Fruit Snacks  - - Batman Fruit Snacks  - -  Avengers Fruit Snacks

Remember when summer was when the big super hero movies flooded the cinemas?  I guess that still happens but now the fall is a contender too.  While the Hulk and Thor are bro-ing out in the MCU, the DCEU is still gasping along with their latest "this is a movie" movie: Justice League!

While the reviews aren't great, the film does have one thing that Thor: Ragnarok doesn't have:  Fruit Snacks!

Spoiler Warning: Superman is in the movie...but we all pretty much knew that already so this isn't a case of Kellogg's going "broken arrow" on the candy loving movie audience.  In a way, you have to admire the lack of any effort to conceal the Man of Steel's presence in the the film because even when you crack the box open, guess who's front and center:

I also can't help but notice who's not there.  It looks like Cyborg has taken over for Martian Manhunter in every way since J'onn usually got shafted on these type of endeavors as well.  But at least he gets his own gummy.  Let's see the chewy goodness:

Seven for seven, not bad.  They went the symbol route with everybody which is probably for the best.  I also appreciate that they didn't include a "Batman head" shape along with a "Batman symbol" shape at the expense of another character.  Very balanced...just the way a breakfast should be.

So when things look dark, overly bleak and with excessive amounts of CGI, just remember you can always find sweet relief in the grocery aisles. 

Commercial Break: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese DC Superheroes

Previously: X-Men Pasta

Word on the street is that today is National Macaroni Day.  So let's celebrate with this commercial from the 90's featuring Kraft Macaroni & Cheese DC Superheroes Dinner!

Cotton Club

I like to make my rounds to grocery stores, drug stores, dollar stores and the like to keep an eye on what's happening in the Super Hero Food world.  You never know what you'll find and you never know where you'll find it.  To that end, I like to swing by Toys 'R' Us every now and then.  They have a small little candy section that delivers from time to time.  In fact, it's where I found our latest bag of super hero cotton candy:

Among the team's other accomplishments, the Justice League has now successfully broken into the world of spun sugar.  Justice League Cotton Candy is here and we're going to have to get used to it.

It looks like we're also going to have to get used to Martian Manhunter being scrubbed from JL history.  While it was rare for him to show up on various food products from the beginning, it is now a given that Cyborg will be in his place for now and...forever?  At least Aquaman made the cut.

Looks like the flavor breakdown includes pink vanilla and blue raspberry.  While blue raspberries don't occur in nature, they have been a part of kids kids' candy and drinks for many years now.  So there's no surprise there.  Pink Vanilla, though?  That seems to be something that only happens in the Cotton Candy World.  Which is weird because "cotton candy" has been a flavor in and of itself for a good long while.  So it's weird that vanilla got an invitation to this party.

And it looks like this.  It's fairly similar to the Batman Cotton Candy from awhile back.  Two flavors for the price of one!  So if you want to add a little carnival flair to your day-to-day life you need only to head to Toys 'R' Us (while supplies last).

Pop Stars

Your new breakfast of champions comes in the form of Justice League Pop Tarts.  While there is currently a deluge of Batman v Superman stuff out there right now, these guys are specifically branded as "Justice League."

Sure it has the "Big 3" plastered on the front, who happen to also share screen time in the movie but plenty of their team mates also show up to tell you the good news about this year's most exciting breakfast treat:

        

 And the entire roster shows up on the back of the box doing their patented "Justice League Lineup Pose" including some First Appearance info, and of course secret identity info:

 And everybody gets a short bio underneath the posing.  Except for Cyborg for some reason.  I'm not too inclined to play the race card but this certainly raises few eyebrows (at least two).  While they may be stingy with the bios, they definitely went all out when it comes to the actual food:

 If you want to get technical, then sure, Catwoman was technically a part of the Justice League line up during the Grant Morrison years but I've never bought into the idea of Robin being in the League.  Sure, maybe Batman let him tag along to one or two of the meetings but he never got his membership card.

To put this into a historical perspective (which I know you were begging for), superheroes are no stranger to the toaster pastry genre.  Back in the Spider-Man movie heyday we got two different versions: