What if the Ruby Spears Superman show lasted longer?

[superduperman]

I think most cartoons of the eighties looked more or less the same because they were made for kids to sell cereal and toys. I think part of the reason it wasn't more popular was twofold. 1) It was on at a lousy time. I lived in the midwestern United States at the time and it aired at 7:00am there. 2) Things like action figures and toy cartoons were in decline by 1988. TMNT being the exception at that time. There was also the oversaturation issue. It's hard to explain to someone who didn't live through it at the time, especially if you weren't a kid, how many cartoons and toy lines there were at the time. Yet another Superman show by that point was probably just another cartoon to most kids. Only two years after SF went off the air. And only one year after Superman 4 bombed. There also wasn't really any tie in toy lines with it necessarily. The Super Powers line had been discontinued two years earlier and the Batman movie was a year out that re-released a Superman figure with it. This is as close as we got. I think people were just sort of burned out on Superman by then.

[marhawkman]

Ruby-Spears was in an odd position. They did good work, but... not the best at the time.... Stills of their works look great. But as mentioned it's not very fluid in motion shots.

[bat39]

I don't know if anyone remembers the Ruby Spears Superman, it was one of two DC cartoon between Super Friends and Batman the Animated Series, released in 1988. Here is a review of it:


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uzR4CE...c3VwZXJtYW4%3D



It's an interesting, it's like a combo of Post Crisis Superman, the Silver Age and the Reeves movies. It's the first animated appear of corporate Lex Luthor, but his personality seems to be based on the Gene Hackman Lex and the plots are out there.


It's not as edgy as the DCAU, but not as toothless as the Super Friends, villains can attempt to kill people in this show.


It only lasted one season, but what if lasted longer? Do you think it would have been successful if it was given another season? Would have been more remembered? Would have been swept away when Batman the Animated Series was first released? It came out 4 years before Batman the Animated Series.

Sounds interesting! Seems a lot like a distillation of my idea of the 'classic Superman'.

Been meaning to check this one out for a while. Maybe I will soon.

[phonogram12]

The concept and the animation and character designs were pretty good for it's time, but actually sitting through an episode I find cringe-worthy. They're just...not good.

[superduperman]

The concept and the animation and character designs were pretty good for it's time, but actually sitting through an episode I find cringe-worthy. They're just...not good.

All the elements of a good Superman were there, it just was hampered by it's era.

[phonogram12]

I think my main issue with it was their Lex. It looked like businessman Lex, but cackled worse than Super Friends Lex. He was really off putting, imho. Just like, pick a lane.

[DABellWrites]

I echo what a few have said. The show would've been forgotten about in time. I watched it to see what they were doing in the Wonder Woman appearance, which was not bad like I thought it was going to be. Maybe it could've lasted longer if they had other superheroes appear.