The Magnetic Telescope

"The Magnetic Telescope" is one of the better cartoons from the Superman series that the Fleischer Brothers made. The plot is very exciting and is has a neat scene at the end where Clark gets to smooch Lois! It begins with a stupid and very irresponsible scientist testing out his insane telescopic device. It uses magnetics to bring objects closer to the Earth! And, not surprisingly, when he brings a meteor near the planet, it causes some serious damage. However, he's determined to try this again--but on a much larger object!! When a comet is brought near, folks rush the observatory and smash the device--but the comet STILL comes hurtling towards the Earth. Now here is the kicker--Superman tries repeatedly to stop the comet but it's too big and powerful. So, he must do something fast to fix that darned device and hope that it can be used to reverse the path of the object.

As I noticed in several of these cartoons, Superman is NOT all-powerful. He gets knocked down, hurt and overwhelmed from time to time. I actually like this as it added to the suspense. I also loved when the day was saved and Lois THOUGHT she was kissing Superman and it turned out to be Clark (well, at least it was Clark dressed as his alter ego, Clark Kent). Well done.

A mad scientist has developed a contraption capable of pulling celestial bodies out of the heavens. When he succeeds in bringing a highly destructive comet upon Metropolis, and with intrepid reporter Lois Lane in harm's way, only Superman can stop the chaos caused by THE MAGNETIC TELESCOPE.

This was another in the series of excellent cartoons Max Fleischer produced for Paramount Studio. They feature great animation and taut, fast-moving plots. Meant to be shown in movie theaters, they are miles ahead of their Saturday Morning counterparts. Bud Collyer is the voice of Superman; Joan Alexander does the honors for Lois Lane.

There is a scientist but not a mad one. Just a misguided one who uses his magnetic telescope that draws meteors to Earth.

The police think this is a dangerous idea and decide to tamper with the machine. Only to send it out of control.

A meteor hits Metropolis, luckily Superman is there to save the day.

It looks like Superman used two electrical wires to absorb energy. Never mind the daft science, he used the dark to fool Lois Lane to kiss Clark Kent.

A misguided (not mad) scientist has developed a telescope which is basically a giant magnet (!!!). With it he proposes to draw comets to the Earth (for some reason) and then send them back into space. The police warn him not to do it. He ignores them and immediately starts bringing in a comet. The police destroy his equipment...but it's too late. The comet is hurtling towards Earth spitting out huge fireballs causing destruction. The scientist can't send it back because his equipment has been destroyed. Superman tries to smash the comet but it's too strong for him! What will happen?

One of the lesser Superman cartoons but still fun. This is the first where Clark Kent does NOT say "This is a job for Superman" before changing. And there's a sweet little kiss between him and Lois at the end. Worth catching but just OK.

Magnetic Telescope, The (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A scientist, trying to do good, creates a large magnet, which goes out of control after police mess with it. Soon the magnet is bringing meteors crashing to Earth of course only Superman can save the day. Middle-ground animation isn't a classic but it is mildly entertaining even though we're following the same story structure from the previous films. I've heard a few people say that Lois' character was wonderfully written in this series but I have to disagree as she's really coming off as a narrow-minded fool who just constantly does dumb things to get herself in trouble to where Superman must save her. The animation is fairly impressive this time out with the meteor shower being the highlight. I still haven't been overly impressed with this series even though this is only the sixth one.