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Show:		7.0
Picture:		9.0
Sound:		9.0
Extras:		7.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	Curt Geda • Dan Riba
Writer(s):	Joe Shuster & Jerry Siegel, Hilary Bader, Paul Dini
Starring:	Clancy Brown • Corey Burton • David Kaufman • Frank Welker • Lauren Tom • Michael Ironside • Tim Daly • Dana Delany • Lisa Edelstein • Brad Garrett
Genre:	Action • Adventure • Animation • Comic Book • Sci-Fi
Website:	http://batman-superman.com/superman/cmp/index.html
Release Date:	November 24, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $36.99
Amazon:

When Superman: The Animated Series debuted that bright childhood day, the first thing I remember thinking was “It’s not as cool as Batman.” Dropping the black paper background of Batman: The Animated Series in favor of a brighter and more traditional white, Superman was a cheerier series right from the outset. Whereas Batman only gave passing glances to the dark origin of Bruce Wayne’s caped crusader, Superman’s is embroiled in many of the plots for each episode. When it comes to DC iconography, the difference between the significance of the emblems on each hero’s chest becomes even more apparent in the animated series. Batman’s yellow and black bat logo became an instrument, a tool; Superman’s logo, however, the sign of his lineage, works its way into many of the show’s storylines. Whether it’s a villain looking for the last Kryptonian, a princess thinking she’s found a suitable mate in the sole survivor of his species or an information-crazed computer from his home planet, the show is centered in every way on the character’s origin.

In a way this obsession with Superman’s birthright is required for the stories to make Superman a compelling character. Far too often comic book fans bemoan Superman for being too “goody two-shoes” and “simple”; even the man of steel’s borderline invincibility becomes a source of criticism, but rightfully so. What kind of suspenseful story can you tell about a hero who has a Rocky Balboa-esque quality of taking hit after hit and never seeming to tire. When every villain seems to have a piece of Kryptonite on hand, the proceedings of a Superman cartoon could get old very quickly – but that’s rarely the case. Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and their storytelling crew use many classic and fan-favorite Superman tales as the source for their creation. With so many years of content to draw from, Superman: The Animated Series finds different ways to imperil the man in blue in ways that make each episode a unique 22 minutes of fun.

The biggest drawback of the Superman series is the lack of character development. Compared to Batman, the average episode in this set consists of a few choice encounters between Superman and the villain wherein Superman is either trapped and must escape or engages in a slamfest with the villain. The three villains which escape from the formula (and this will come as little surprise to Superman fans) are Darkseid (Michael Ironside), Brainiac (Corey Burton) and Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown). Of the three Lex Luthor may be the most interesting because besides being the most developed villain, he may in fact be the most developed character in the series as a whole. Luthor’s independent efforts against Superman or those in cahoots with Brainiac allow for plenty of growth.

In contrast, Clark Kent (Tim Daly) never receives any developmental twists. If he’s not zipping away leaving Jimmy (David Kaufman) or Lois (Dana Delany) to say something like “Clark we should go- Clark? Where’d he go?”, then he’s making small appearances here and there as a build-up for the former option. It’s Kent’s lack of depth that makes the stories pale in comparison to Batman. On the bright side, saying that Superman: The Animated Series is the least of Bruce Timm’s triumphant animated triumvirate still puts it miles above any similar efforts. Measured against the Superman cartoons of old, Timm’s style adds a bold splash of color and new life to a hero whose glory days would otherwise have seemed long gone.

As with all of Timm’s DC creations, the voice cast soars heads and tails above most cartoons with Lauren Tom, Frank Welker, Lisa Edelstein, Brad Garrett, Malcolm McDowell, Edward Asner, Mark Hamill & Kevin Conroy (for the Bat/Supes crossover sequence), Ron Perlman, Peri Gilpin and Dennis Haysbert amongst the guests who lend their voices. The animation and sound are always top-notch with these series and, while I consider the brighter backdrop of Metropolis to be less visually interesting than that created for Batman’s Gotham, it marks the passage of time when Timm and company’s abilities matured to just the right degree to make Justice League what it was. It’s hard to tell great Superman stories, but this series did it better than any Superman series had before or since.

DVD Bonus Features

Besides one featurette, the rest on the side are those found on the original separate releases of the Superman volumes. The newcomer is a piece on Darkseid titled “The Despot Darkseid: A Villain Worthy of Superman”. Now, straight off the bat you should know this about me: I’ve always thought Darkseid was an especially stupid villain for Superman. Darkseid’s hellish planet and his very basic quest of universal domination always seemed quite vanilla in comparison to the Brainiac story which at least had an intimate tie back to Superman’s origins. To make matters worse, Darkseid has always been a poorly defined character with an even weaker supporting cast of underlings. What are Darkseid’s abilities? He always seems to just be able to do what the plot requires him to do to get Superman to his newly established breaking point before making some tactical error or relying too much on an inept cohort. DC fanatics may balk at my next statement, but I’ve always put Darkseid and Marvel’s Apocalypse in the same boat: simplistic quests, seemingly invincible and all-powerful (until they’re suddenly not) and oddly similar in appearance. The documentary discusses the cartoon’s take on this important character from the Superman mythos, but gives him far more credibility than I think he deserves. Is the Darkseid documentary worth chucking your old multi-set copies? Not really. But for the fan who’s held out buying it this long, the new documentary might just be the push needed to send you over the edge.

I said it with Justice League: The Complete Series and I’ll say it again, “Where’s the Blu-ray release?” Come on Warner Brothers – we’d buy it!