A 30th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!
By CHRIS FRANKLIN
Superman: The Animated Series (or just Superman as it was often called) debuted 30 years ago — Sept. 6, 1996 — on the now defunct WB network, four years after Batman: The Animated Series forever changed the animated landscape for comic book adaptations.
Much of the creative crew that made BTAS a success returned to launch the Man of Steel’s adventures in the same shared universe. Producers Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett were on hand to reinterpret the Last Son of Krypton for a new audience with a streamlined visual style, blending nearly every version that had come before with new innovations of their own. Voice casting director Andrea Romano assembled a galaxy of live-action stars to breathe life into Clark Kent and his cast of friends and foes. And Shirley Walker composed a score that could sit nicely next to John Williams’ iconic theatrical theme for the Metropolis Marvel.
Sketch by Bruce Timm
While STAS may never be held in quite the same regard as it’s Gotham predecessor, it is an important series in the development of the Superman mythos and laid the groundwork for Timm’s Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Much of the continuity and lore of the DC Animated Universe, or DCAU, was established in the series, and it’s always worth another look. Here are just 13 REASONS to love this excellent animated series.
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Metropolis. Whereas BTAS’ Gotham City was rendered in shadows with deep earth tones, Metropolis was bright, light and futuristic. As if the 1964 World’s Fair had spawned a city. Both locales sprang from early 20th century Art Deco designs, but Metropolis reflected Superman’s optimism as Gotham mirrored Batman’s pessimism. The look was even adapted into the comics shortly thereafter, making Metropolis truly a “city of the future.” (Clip from“The Last Son of Krypton, Part III.”)
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Supporting Cast. Of course, you can’t have a Superman show without the Daily Planet staff. In addition to Lois Lane, you have solid versions of both Perry White and Jimmy Olsen (although the mullet hasn’t aged well). Metropolis Special Crime Unit leaders Maggie Sawyer and Inspector Dan Turpin ported over from the post-Crisis Superman comics and helped flesh out the city while having interesting arcs of their own. Sawyer was one of, if not the first, gay characters seen on a US animated series.
Lana Lang, looking VERY MUCH like John Romita’s Mary Jane Watson from the Spider-Man comics knew Clark’s secret, and helped him safeguard it several times. Unlike her post-Crisis iteration, she had her own life as a wealthy fashion designer. Ma and Pa Kent were the rock Clark leaned on when he needed support and guidance, and real-life couple Mike Farrell and (the late) Shelley Fabares brought warmth and humor to each one of their appearances on the series and follow-up media. (Clip from “The Late Mr. Kent.”)
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Guest Stars. Timm, Dini and Burnett pitched the series as a Superman team-up show, but DC Publisher and President Jenette Kahn felt the Man of Steel deserved a series of his own, just as Batman had gotten. This didn’t stop the creators from sneaking in a few guests over the seasons. Superman met the Flash, new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, Aquaman, Doctor Fate, and Lobo, characters who would eventually appear in the follow-up Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series.
In “New Kids in Town” a young, pre-Superman Clark Kent dodges Brainiac’s attempts to murder him with the help of the Legion of Super-Heroes in a fun reinterpretation of the characters’ first appearance. (Clip from “Speed Demons.”)
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World’s Finest. The moment a Superman animated series was announced, fans were waiting with bated breath for a team-up with Batman. Season 2 was bundled with a revived animated Batman series as The New Batman/Superman Adventures, and a month after its debut, the creators delivered with the three-part “World’s Finest” story.
The icons cross paths when the Joker sells Lex Luthor a large statue composed entirely of Kryptonite. But these two heroes are no ”Super Friends,” picking up on the frosty post-Crisis relationship established by John Byrne in his Man of Steel miniseries. They deduce each other’s secret identities, and Bruce Wayne (voiced of course by Kevin Conroy) begins a whirlwind romance with Lois Lane!
The crossovers continued through the run of the two series, with the relationship eventually thawing to one of mutual respect, laying the foundation for the friendship we’d see in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. A highlight of the team-ups is “Knight Time” where Superman disguises himself as a missing Batman and teams with Robin, homaging the classic World’s Finest comic stories where the heroes would swap roles. (Clip from “World’s Finest, Part I.”)
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Supergirl. The creators found a clever way to bring in Supergirl and not take away from Superman’s status as the last survivor of Krypton. Using a story angle also briefly explored in the 1995 Superman vs. Aliens mini-series, Kara (voiced by Nicholle Tom) is the last daughter of Krypton’s neighboring sister planet Argo. Superman takes her to live with the Kents (sure beats the orphanage), but Kara disobeys his orders to not take up crimefighting.
With her homemade costume of midriff-baring Superman t-shirt, Gwen Stacy headband, blue skirt and red combat boots, Supergirl helps Jimmy Olsen expose an Earth teen-recruitment program run by Granny Goodness. This spunky version of Kara would catch on and inspire not only a costume change for the concurrent comic version of Supergirl, but the return of the classic Kryptonian Girl of Steel a few years later. (Clip from “Little Girl Lost, Part I.”)
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New Villains. Fans often lament that many of Superman’s classic rogues are not in his league, so the showrunners set out to give him some new adversaries worthy of his mettle. Livewire was no doubt intended to be this show’s breakout star, a la Harley Quinn — a sassy, humorous but deadly female foe. Lori Petty gives the character a lot of attitude, and while she never caught on like Harley, she has reappeared in the comics and other media.
The pyrokinetic Volcana was another female villain added to spice things up a bit. Luminus was a former Lexcorp scientist who used light-based powers to bedevil the Man of Steel, including sapping his yellow solar energies. But perhaps the one with the most legs (that she was fond of showing off) was Mercy Graves, Lex Luthor’s chauffer and bodyguard. Not your father’s Miss Tessmacher, Mercy was more like Kato to Lex’s evil Green Hornet. Their toxic relationship was a surprising subplot for a show airing on “the Kids WB.” Mercy would enter the comics, and return in Justice League, now running Lexcorp far better than Luthor ever did. (Clip from “Livewire.”)
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Old Foes. New Paint. But where the creators really excelled was dusting off the old super-villains and reinventing them, giving them new life, just like they had on BTAS. The Toyman was perhaps the most divergent from his classic comics interpretation. The background of disgruntled toymaker Winslow Schott was there, but the fiend who emerged was a diminutive, doll-like figure, and the show never explained exactly WHAT he was. But he was certainly creepy, voiced with a chilling sing-song quality by Bud Cort.
Bizarro was a wonderful combination of the post-Crisis decaying clone and the goofy backwards-thinking Silver Age version. Parasite’s deadly potential to drain the life and power from the Man of Steel was fully realized, despite his luddite mind. Metallo took on a more sinister edge thanks to the malevolent tones of Malcolm McDowell. Another standout voice performance is comedian Gilbert Gottfried as the manic imp Mr. Mxyzptlk, his voice just as intentionally annoying as his antics that perplexed the Metropolis Marvel. (Clip from “Mxyzpixilated.”)
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Brainiac. But here’s one villain who deserves his own entry, and that is Superman’s No. 2 foe, Brainiac. By reinventing him as Krypton’s central operating artificial intelligence, culpable in its destruction, the creators made his rivalry with Superman more personal than just bottling up one of Krypton’s cities. But his need to “collect” was still there, downloading data from planets, and then destroying them, with Earth as his next target.
Voiced with cold superiority by Cory Burton, Brainiac represented Superman’s closest link to his unknown past, and one of the biggest threats he ever faced. His “team-up” with Lex Luthor in “Ghost in the Machine” sowed seeds that were paid off in spectacular fashion in the Season 2 arc of Justice League Unlimited, that show’s finest story hour. Here’s hoping the upcoming Man of Tomorrow film featuring the big-screen debut of Brainiac takes a page from STAS. (Clip from Stolen Memories.”)
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The Kirby Konnection. Kirby is Here! The King of Comics only had a brief time in Metropolis, taking over Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen for roughly a year and a half, starting in 1970, and making it part of his “Fourth World” series of titles. The elements he introduced went relatively ignored in the Superman titles until the late ’80s when they were revisited across the franchise. STAS took the ball and ran with it, not only making Intergang an ongoing threat, but establishing Darkseid (voiced with steely command by Michael Ironside) and his minions primary antagonists of the Man of Steel, responsible for some of the most memorable and heart-wrenching episodes — none more shocking than the two-part “Apokolips Now” when Darkseid fully invades Earth, starting with Metropolis.
Police Inspector Dan Turpin leads the resistance, freeing a captured Superman and turning the tide before the forces of New Genesis can intervene. But Darkseid still has his victory, murdering Turpin with his Omega Beams as he departs. Turpin was voiced with gruff Brooklyn gusto by actor Joseph Bologna, but designed to look exactly like his creator, none other than Jack Kirby! This concludes with a poignant funeral scene, of which there are two versions. The original aired version included a few discreet cameos by Kirby’s Marvel creations in civilian guise. This was later re-edited to exclude them, although the original version is currently available on HBO Max. To top it off, there is a loving tribute to comics’ greatest creator at episode’s end. (Clip from “Apokolips … Now!, Part II.”)
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The Finale. “Legacy,” the two-part series finale, is perhaps the most shocking ending an American animated series partially aimed at children ever had. Brainwashed and manipulated by Darkseid, Superman attacks Earth. Longtime allies turn against him, even after he’s come to his senses, and Supergirl is nearly killed. It culminates in a final brutal confrontation, as Superman takes the fight directly to Darkseid’s palace.
After a pitched battle, the despot tries to use his Omega Beams on the angry Action Ace, but Superman grabs the villain’s head and places his hands over his eyes. Darkseid’s head is charred by the blast, but he tries to strangle Superman before collapsing. Superman stands atop the palace and throws the defeated Darkseid to his oppressed people below. They rush to his aid and take him away to heal. His victory hollow, Superman returns to Earth to find a planet that no longer trusts him. It seems all he has is Lois.
The creators intended to produce more episodes with Superman slowly earning the planet’s trust back. Instead, they shifted to production on Justice League, where the seeds of this episode would bear fruit. (Clip from “Legacy, Part II.”)
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Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor. For ’80s kids, he’ll probably always be the Kurgan, the unforgettable evil force of nature in Highlander. For kids of the ’90s and beyond, he’s the greedy Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants. But Clancy Brown also made for a great Lex Luthor. The actor’s deep baritone revealed the malevolence bubbling under the surface of the city’s billionaire benefactor. He was often cool and smug, but no less threatening and merciless in his pursuit of power, and his determination to maintain it. The moments when his anger got the better of him just increased the threat level.
Brown continued Lex’s incredible journey from unscrupulous one-percenter to criminal mad scientist, and even would-be god, across Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. (Clip from “The Last Son of Krypton, Part III.”)
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Dana Delany as Lois Lane. No stranger to the DCU, thanks to her memorable performance as Bruce Wayne’s lost love Andrea Beaumont in the feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, former China Beach star Dan Delany made an even bigger impression as Lois Lane. This Lois was a brassy, fearless, intrepid reporter first, and a Superman fangirl second. While there was definitely an attraction, Lois didn’t pine for the Man of Steel like in some versions. Her barbing, semi-adversarial relationship with Clark Kent (whom she called Smallville) came alive thanks to Delany’s snarky yet sultry delivery. Lois was the co-lead of the series in many ways, and Delany was the perfect leading lady to pull it off. Her take on the character influenced the iterations that have come after her. (Clip is a compilation of moments.)
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Tim Daly as Superman/Clark Kent. But a Superman series is only as good as its Man of Tomorrow, and Tim Daly proved he was more than up to the task. The former Wings star brought a quiet humanity to Superman, much like Christopher Reeve before him. There was no put-on baritone voice. The power came through in Daly’s sincere delivery. His Superman did have a bit of a temper at times, showing just how human this Kryptonian was. And he wasn’t above a little smack talk to his foes, abetted by Daly’s flair for comedy.
The actor was unavailable when production on Justice League began, but he would return to the character in several direct-to-home media movies, often reuniting with Kevin Conroy’s Batman. (Clip is a compilation of moments.)
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MORE
— The Top 13 SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES Episodes — RANKED. Click here.
— DES TAYLOR’s Fab SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES Tribute. Click here.
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Regular 13th Dimension contributor CHRIS FRANKLIN is a graphic designer, illustrator, writer, and podcaster, who co-hosts and produces several shows on the Fire and Water Podcast Network, including Batman: Knightcast and JLUCast.
