RUBY-SPEARS SUPERMAN - DVD review

In 1988, Superman turned fifty and for a guy half a century old, he still looked pretty good. To celebrate the Man of Steel's fiftieth anniversary, Warner Brothers produced a live-action "Superboy" show as well as an animated series in conjunction with Ruby-Spears Productions. Airing Saturday mornings on CBS, this incarnation of Superman isn't as well known as others. I'm a huge comic book geek, but I have to admit I had no idea "Superman" even existed. It came two years after "Super Friends" went off the air, but eight years before "Superman: The Animated Series."

"Superman" definitely has a strong pedigree behind it. Ruby-Spears produced other animated series such as "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Thundarr the Barbarian," "The Centurions," and Plastic Man. Legendary comic book artist Gil Kane was hired to do character designs while veteran comic writer Marv Wolfman was the show runner. In 1986, DC Comics celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with Crisis on Infinite Earths, a mega-event written by Wolfman that rebooted the company's continuity. Surprisingly, Wolfman wasn't hired because of his extensive comic book work, but rather because of a Superman parody he wrote for "The Garbage Pail Kids."

One of the biggest reboots DC did was for its most iconic character, Superman. Written and drawn by John Byrne, DC's The Man of Steel mini-series made several major changes to the Superman mythos. The Big Blue Boy Scout didn't gain his full powers until he turned eighteen which meant he was never Superboy. Superman was now the sole survivor of Krypton which meant characters like Supergirl, General Zod, and Krypto the Superdog no longer existed. They would eventually return in one form or another. Superman's archenemy, Lex Luthor, wasn't immune to the changes either. Previously, he grew up in Smallville and was a staunch ally and friend to Superboy. That is, until he blamed Superboy for a lab accident that caused all his hair to fall out. Post-Crisis, the new Luthor was changed from mad scientist to ruthless businessman. He lorded over Metropolis in his penthouse while keeping Superman at bay due to a ring he always wore made of Kryptonite.

This is the version of Lex Luthor seen here in "Superman." He's ditched the purple and green leotards from "Super Friends" for a well-tailored three-piece suit. He also has the same fast-talking huckster qualities that Gene Hackman brought to the character in Richard Donner's "Superman." He's even given a ditzy blond girlfriend named Miss Morgenberry, an obvious nod to Miss Teschmacher.

John Williams' theme from those films definitely inspired the cartoon's theme song. The opening credits as well take inspiration from the Donner films as well as the "The Adventures of Superman" starring George Reeves. Supes himself is the classic version we've come to know and love with the square jaw and spit curl. As Clark Kent, he plays up the nerdy klutz act as reporter for the Daily Planet along with the bow-tie wearing Jimmy Olsen, gruff editor Perry White ("Great Caesar's Ghost!") and, of course, Lois Lane. While she still plays the damsel in distress from time to time, Lois is played a lot tougher and sharper than previous versions.

For me, the biggest surprise with "Superman" is the animation quality. Toei Animation (who also did "G.I. Joe" and "Dungeons & Dragons") was one of the studios who worked on the show. The animation is fluid and detailed, a step up from what was seen on "Super Friends" and a lot of other cartoons on at the time. The voice acting may have been fine for the time, but the actors can come off as pretty cheesy. Superman is played by Beau Weaver (who would later voice Mr. Fantastic on the 90's "Fantastic Four") while Michael Bell (Duke on "G.I. Joe," Plastic Man) provided the vocal talents for Lex Luthor.

This 2-disc set contains all 13 episodes of "Superman." Each episode featured an 18-minute adventure with the Last Son of Krypton followed by a "Superman Family Album" short. These quickie cartoons focused on Kal-El growing up in Smallville from the time Ma & Pa Kent discovered his rocket ship to his debut in Metropolis.

The episodes included in this DVD set are:

-Disc 1-
"Destroy the Defendroids/The Adoption" – Lex Luthor creates a squadron of robotic protectors to show up Superman, but secretly plans to use them to rob Metropolis.

‘Fugitive From Space/The Supermarket" – Scientists at STAR Labs discover a downed spacecrafts with two alien beings in stasis. One is an intergalactic peacekeeper and the other is a wanted criminal, but which one?

"By the Skin of the Dragon's Teeth/At the Babysitter's" – Lex Luthor somehow manages to buy the Great Wall of China in order to excavate an ancient treasure buried underground.

"Cybron Strikes/The First Day of School" – A cybernetic conqueror from the future travels back in time in order to transform the world into his own image.

"The Big Scoop/Overnight with the Scouts" – Clark Kent returns to Smallville when a noted scientist invents a machine to see into the future.

"Triple-Play/The Circus" – The Prankster kidnaps the World Series teams, forcing them and Superman to play against his robots with the lives of Lois and Jimmy at stake.

"The Hunter/Little Runaway" – Trapped in the Phantom Zone, General Zod and his followers manage to create a creature to kill Superman. Calling himself the Hunter, he can absorb any substance he touches including Kryptonite.

-Disc 2-
"Superman and Wonder Woman vs. The Sorceress of Time/The Birthday Party" – Superman and Wonder Woman join forces to battle a sorceress with the power to summon mythical creatures from the past.

"Bonechill/The Driver's License" – A disgraced scholar plots to use a magical talisman to take over Metropolis and gain revenge against those who mocked him.

"The Beast Beneath These Streets/First Date" – When an old section of Metropolis is unearthed, it releases a mad scientist who has turned himself into a monstrous creature.

"Wildsharkk/To Play or Not to Play" – An ocean liner carrying Perry White and his wife is hijacked in the Bermuda Triangle by a high-tech pirate.

"Night of the Living Shadows/Graduation" – Lex Luthor hires a gang of thugs to rob Metropolis using special suits that turn them into living shadows.

"The Last Time I Saw Earth/It's Superman" – Lois, Jimmy, and the crew of a space station are captured by an alien who plans to harvest their proteins to make his people virtually immortal.

VIDEO:
The video is presented in its original fullscreen aspect ratio. Colors are faded and there's some grain and specks to deal with.

AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. The sound quality is solid if not very spectacular.

EXTRAS:
Disc 1 contains the only substantial bonus feature in this set. Corporation of the Corrupt: The Rise of LexCorp (13:32) is a look at the recreation of Lex Luthor and the prominence of greed in 1980's culture. Disc 1 also includes a trailer for "Green Lantern: First Flight" while Disc 2 contains trailers for "Harry Potter's Wizardry World" and "Secret Saturdays."

FILM VALUE:
Ruby-Spears' "Superman" may be a largely forgotten affair, but it is a strong attempt at adapting the Man of Steel. I'd rank it behind "Superman: TAS" and the Max Fleischer cartoons. The stories are stronger than your standard "Super Friends" episode, but aren't too sophisticated. My biggest nitpick has to be the lack of recognizable DC villains. Aside from Luthor and a pair of one-time appearances from Zod and The Prankster, Superman's rogues gallery remains largely untapped. A few of the villains appear to be blatant knock-offs of established supervillains such as Brainiac, Felix Faust and Circe. I did enjoy Wonder Woman's guest appearance and it's a shame the show didn't last longer so Superman could team up with other heroes like The Flash or Batman.