The brighter colors already make it look better than Man Of Steel.
Why just the one this time? Well, the next one is four intros and I don’t want to have this one buried by Superboy intros so it stands alone. This gives me a bit more time to talk about it because believe it or not this is my favorite Superman cartoon. While the Bruce Timm series is technically the best there’s a difference between the best made and the one that just makes me happy. The DCAU does a great job with characters and interpretations, continuing the multiversal continuity while finding a way to be completely original. However, the Ruby-Spears produced Superman series is just a joy to watch.
It was Superman’s 50th anniversary. The first two movies had done well, and the 1980s was already the best time to be a Superman fan. Outside of the comics you had reruns of the previous live-action and animated shows we’ve seen in the prior installments. There was even a Superman game on the Atari 2600.
I didn’t say it was good, I said it existed.
Meanwhile the DC Comics universe was undergoing a bit of an upheaval. Deciding they didn’t know how to run a multiverse the higher-ups at DC opted to merge their universes into one and just reboot the darn thing…and sadly this wouldn’t be the last time, but that’s another conversation. So you have to pity Ruby-Spears because they were caught in something of a crossroads between the pre and post Crisis DC Universe while also remembering the Christopher Reeves portrayal had pretty much set Superman’s depiction to the non-comic public. And despite all that I think they pulled it off beautifully.
