Superman

Although not as good as the movies, it is undoubtedly better than the old series, the stories are very good and have a great fidelity to the comics. Highly recommend.

If you're looking for a deep, expertly crafted, cutting-edge cartoon that's destined to be appreciated by many adults as well as kids, you won't find it here - that's not what this show is, nor what it's trying to be. Honestly, it's cheesy and doesn't exactly try to have super-tight writing. But if you look at this show for what it is - a 1980s kids cartoon about Superman - well, it actually does its job well. If you don't set your expectations too high, you might, like me, end up enjoying yourself quite a bit.

This show's take on Superman and his mythology feels really reminiscent of the Christopher Reeve movies to me - the creators even admit in an interview that they directly took inspiration from them for Superman's character. There are even several direct allusions to the movies, such as Superman flying with Lois in a similar manner and calling himself a "friend" upon first meeting her as Superman. Despite not being as big a fan of that interpretation of Superman as most, it definitely has its charm and I think this cartoon captures it well, making Superman a somewhat unreal and cheesy yet immensely likable character, so if you actually ARE a fan of the movies, I have to recommend this cartoon all the more! Apart from the movies, this show also takes some cues from the post-Crisis Superman comics, such as making Lex Luthor an evil businessman - but he has a humorous personality like his movie counterpart, complete with a ditzy female sidekick. While the serious Luthor is cool too, I have to admit this version is really entertaining. Clark Kent is definitely NOT influenced much by the new take on him in the comics, as he's clearly based on the more traditional cowardly and clumsy Kent as opposed to the more assertive one the comics were "rolling out" at the time. He's certainly not as amazingly humorous, adorable, and generally well-done as Christopher Reeve's (not many are!), but he's still fun and endearing. His journalistic skills do come into play occasionally, which is always a treat.

I REALLY appreciate this show having a pretty heavy emphasis on Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen (especially in contrast to the later and obviously better-known Superman: The Animated Series). They figure prominently in almost every episode and even do some helpful stuff sometimes, in addition to their regularly-scheduled rescue-needing. Their portrayals are pretty rockin' overall, nothing ground-breaking or special, but solid and true to the characters. Lois even gets some romantic scenes with Superman, nothing serious or emotional, just some cute fun you can't help but smile at. Perry White doesn't really do much, which is too bad, but I guess you can't cram everything into such a short run time.

The artwork and animation in this show is pretty good. I'm not going to say it's mind-blowing, but it certainly has a reasonable level of quality, especially for the time. There are a few too many errors and inconsistencies for my liking, such as multiple instances where they reverse the colors on Superman's S-shield for a few frames (seriously, that should be pretty easy to catch!), but overall it's not that big a deal. The main characters are all quite well-drawn, especially Lois and Jimmy. Unfortunately, non-recurring characters frequently have pretty bad character designs, and that's kinda too bad, but oh well.

The stories in this show aren't amazingly well-written, but they're usually inventive, entertaining and charming on some level. Overall, they're definitely geared towards kids, but there's still effort put into them. Some may be disappointed at the general lack of iconic supervillains, but I'm not sure I can share the sentiments - we do get a few of them at least (the Prankster and General Zod & co. get one episode each and Lex Luthor appears in a few), and honestly, I really feel like this keeps the show fresh and always doing something different, unique, and all its own. Superman: TAS felt a bit samey after a while, just having supervillain after supervillain. So, in all honesty, I prefer this style - unique plots with new characters most of the time with occasional appearances by iconic, comic-derived villains. The stories are usually very science-fictiony (with a few exceptions) and may be a bit goofy, but not depths-of-the-Silver-Age goofy. There's honestly a good deal to love, as long as you're the sort that can enjoy kiddy stuff like this that doesn't take itself very seriously.

Another interesting and fun trait of the show is the "Superman's Family Album" sections, each only a couple of minutes long, detailing an episode from Clark's past - over the course of the series, we're taken from his adoption by the Kents all the way to him assuming the Superman mantle. These can be extremely endearing sometimes, and I LOVE the way younger Clark is drawn (aside from when he's a baby) - he has such a powerfully "Supermanny" look with a really pronounced spit-curl, and is just adorable! They're a little dull sometimes, and there's not much you can do in such a limited time-frame, but every now and again they'll just make me feel so happy.

Needless to say, this show isn't going to appeal to everyone. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this show to most - most people don't watch random 1980s kids cartoons for fun, after all. But if you happen to be a fan of Superman, I'd happily suggest you give it a go. I mean, at the end of the day, it does really succeed in, well, being a show about Superman. It's got Superman being Superman, it's got Clark being Clark, it's got Lois being Lois, it's got Jimmy being Jimmy, it's got Lex being Lex, it has Superman saving the day. If that sounds good to you like it does to me, chances are you might just find something to like here!

Nobody really remembers this animated Superman series because it only lasted for about 2 months. It was a twenty minute episode followed by a five minute "Smallville Journal" that told something about Superman's youth. This was the only time any series has even remotely attempted to remain close to the comic book.

In my mind, this remains one of the very best depictions of Superman on TV, as well as one of the most faithful to a particular comics period.

This series paid homage to both the Superman films of the '70s/'80s and the Superman comics series "reboot" of 1986-onward ("Man of Steel," "Superman Vol 2," "Action Comics," "Adventures of Superman," etc). The opening score and titles were stirring, based on the John Williams score from the films, updated for a Saturday morning action series. Marv Wolfman, one of the main contributors to the comics reboot (writer of "Adventures of Superman") was a perfect choice to be involved in this animated series. Overall, the series had a more mature feel while continuing to be very kid-friendly.

Superman was presented as believable, strong, and iconic. His recurring nemesis was Lex Luthor in his megalomaniac/CEO incarnation. The Daily Planet characters Lois, Jimmy, and Perry were portrayed well. One of my favorite appearances was by Wonder Woman, and the story revolved around her home island of Themyscira ("Paradise Island"). Both her design and that of her mother Hippolyte were in keeping with the similarly rebooted Wonder Woman comic book series of the era, and it seemed like an equally well-done animated series could have been developed for her if handled the same.

The one thing that is hard to believe is that this has not been released on DVD/Blu-ray! It deserves to be.

This is another entry in the "Under the Radar" series and it's another of "DC Comics" forgotten animated gems, if you can believe that as it's with the main man himself. I was a kid from the 80s' and believe it or not this cartoon show is what helped introduce me to "Superman" himself, though also DC comics as at the time I never read a single comic of "Superman" or any from DC. This show caught my eye because I was into "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and of course "Superman" reminded me of him, after seeing the show I was blown away; watching this show led to the movies, and the rest as they say is history.

This show was unique for it's time, it came out during the popularity of the "Superman" movie franchise and John Byrne's run on "Superman" during the Bronze age of comics; the franchise no doubt was more popular than ever before.

This show also was probably the only or one of the only animated shows based on a DC comics property in the 80's decade. Which I know seems almost unbelievable as these days each decade isn't without a show based on a DC and Marvel animated or live action. But you must realize it was a different time when comic book market in the visual medium in the 80's was still relatively small, yes there were a share of live action movies, tv shows, even animated shows based on a comic property, but they only happened occasionally. Though at times I can't help but think that made them even more special because of just the anticipation on what could be next.

The animation is solid it's sort of in some of the same style as most shows from Ruby Spears though a little more up to the latter 80's standards. There is also a bit of a throwback feel to the animation as it's more in tuned with the silver age of the "Superman" comic series. Like the action which is well choreographed superhero action.

Voice acting is solid, everyone I felt fit and did well in their roles in this version, some done by some voice acting alumi. From Beau Weaver as Clark Kent/Superman which is ironic as he got to play another superhero Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in the 90's "Fantastic Four" cartoon (one I reviewed), so that's cool two superheroes in a row. Michael Bell as Lex Luthor, whom you remember voiced Duke from "G. I. Joe" which is part of why he's one of my favorite Lex Luthor voices. Townsend Coleman whom you remember as Leo in the 80's "TMNT" (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) cartoon, he plays the Teenage Clark Kent which is fitting as he's always good with teen voices. Mary McDonald Lewis as "Wonder Woman", yeah another "G. I. Joe" alumi again coolness.

Even like some of the writing which is done by a few comic book writer alumi which shows this show was done with care as if they really understood "Superman" and the DC verse.

Each episode are mini episodes as their divided from the present-day Superman to the Superman's past. This was one of the unique of the show as it not just made it feel almost like having two shows at the same time, which was cool, because it also meant there was room for more stories and more opportunities on where the show can go. But the real highlight of this was in seeing the stories on Clark Kent/Superman's past. Those segments predated the TV show "Smallville" but also "Superboy" which came two years after this show (and another the radar gem which is a story for another time) and other shows like "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" because back then prequels and origin stories were a rarity at the time we never really had much or any stories on hero/superheroes pasts. The stories here I feel are done well and are rather touching which I feel show how human Clark/Superman truly is, it's even more touching for the veteran fans because it feels like looking at a journal passage of our own past.

Another thing this show did was it tried to expand on it's mythology by bringing in characters from the DC verse, or at least it was about to before the ax on the show was swung. You can say this also predates the whole shared/expanded universe concept that you see from the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Arrow verse, and others out there. As we see there was on episode with both "Superman" and "Wonder Woman", I remember seeing that as a kid it blew me away. Ok, for some that wouldn't be surprising now, but the thing was I never saw the show "Superfriends" (another review for another time) at the time.

Also having a popular superhero guest staring in a show based on one other superhero was a rarity at the time, so you can easily imagine how fans and non-fans were blown away by this. Of course, the episode doesn't disappoint as the voice actress and personality of Wonder Woman was on point and it was just cool seeing both working together and hope there will be more episodes with those two, though sadly we didn't.

It's a real shame this show flown under the radar as it also felt like a bit of a big, missed opportunity as it seemed like as I said before the start of something big, like maybe there was going to be other DC comics animated block from Ruby Spears. When you think about it, it could have been awesome like a "Wonder Woman" animated show which we still don't have and sorely could use; or even their version of "Justice League" that would have been something. Sadly these things didn't happen from this showing coming out in the twilight years of the 80's which is always an area where a lot of things get overlooked, the live action "Batman" film on its way, this show unfortunately didn't stand enough of a chance.

If you're a fan of "Superman" or even a fan of DC comics and collect or even have a craving for other visual media entries, this is an entry worth a test flight.

Rating: 3 stars.