Best Superman Cartoon?

[The Frog Bros]

I know the question is a bit of a loaded one because everyone has their own favorite(s), but what would people have to say is the best Superman cartoon?

The only one I've ever seen is the back half of All-Star but have always wanted to check them out. I've read reviews and all, but the opinions of the boards are key, as we all know.

[Kuwagaton]

I'd have to separate the animated movies as it's not really fair. I mean one thing is clear: STAS was enormous. There's no way for any one story to compare even if it's largely verbatim to what many consider the best single comic arc.

Elite actually made some improvements, and that was neat. But I know the animation style is a turn off for some. The Death and Return two parter was cool but kind of a dead horse.

New Frontier technically wasn't just Superman, but I thought it was fantastic and used him the best. Would've been Two Earths in my spot for favorite otherwise.

All Star is probably the best of the single stories, not sure the other source materials can really compete

[superduperman]

It depends on what your criteria is. If we're talking animation, it would be the Fleischer cartoons. If we're talking stories, and we're counting movies, I would say the Death and Return storyline. Not that they tend to do anything else with him.

[K7P5V]

For animation, Fleischer Studios is always best (XD)

[The Frog Bros]

Cool, thanks for the feedback! Should have clarified in initial post that it goes without saying that Fleischer is top of the mountain. Was curious about the other stuff. Helpful for making holiday wish lists.

[Kuwagaton]

It depends on what your criteria is. If we're talking animation, it would be the Fleischer cartoons. If we're talking stories, and we're counting movies, I would say the Death and Return storyline. Not that they tend to do anything else with him.

I do understand the redo funny enough. That 2007 version just felt so off

[magha_regulus]

I'm partial to the Ruby Spears Superman Cartoon from the late 80s.

[Android 17]

Those Fleischer cartoons still hold up nicely.

[DochaDocha]

I'm partial to the Ruby Spears Superman Cartoon from the late 80s.

Those character models!

Those Fleischer cartoons still hold up nicely.

Agreed.

I do understand the redo funny enough. That 2007 version just felt so off

I hate the redo in principle, but the redo was good and it opened the door for the Reign sequel which unfortunately fell kind of short. I half expect WB to try to cash in one more time with DoS.

Sorry to be such a nagging hater, but STAS will always go down as the most misguided Superman series, i.e. let's contextual Superman around Batman, including making his personality more of a foil to grumpy Batman.

EDIT: "Misguided" is perhaps too harsh, so let's just call it "missed opportunity."

[godisawesome]

I'd still argue that STAS handled the villains better than anyone else, and that The Late Mr. Kent is an all-time great Superman story... but I'd agree that the Fleischer cartoons were generally more reliable when it came to quality and handling Lois and Clark.

[superduperman]

I'm partial to the Ruby Spears Superman Cartoon from the late 80s.

This is my favorite but I was largely going off animation quality.

[K7P5V]

I'd still argue that STAS handled the villains better than anyone else, and that The Late Mr. Kent is an all-time great Superman story... but I'd agree that the Fleischer cartoons were generally more reliable when it came to quality and handling Lois and Clark.

Same here. Truly beyond compare (IMHO):

[Kuwagaton]

Both Fleischer and STAS were amazing at playing up what made the comic eras fun while enhancing the stories with sound and motion. Although you can say the simplicity in both also tended to play up the cons as well.

The Fleischer cartoon can be binged twice over in a sitting which is nice. No idea which would be the best format for watching.

STAS will always go down as the most misguided Superman series, i.e. let's contextual Superman around Batman, including making his personality more of a foil to grumpy Batman.

I'd love to see if I can finally track down World's Finest. There's a lot I don't remember all these years later and some stuff I actually didn't see.

[DochaDocha]

Same here. Truly beyond compare (IMHO):

Incidentally, there are only two aspects of "The Late Mr. Kent" that I didn't like, and the helicopter action climax was one of them. Just in general, I don't think the action sequences for STAS is one of the show's strengths, with few exceptions like the final Darkseid fight.

[Laser_Man]

Those character models!



Agreed.



I hate the redo in principle, but the redo was good and it opened the door for the Reign sequel which unfortunately fell kind of short. I half expect WB to try to cash in one more time with DoS.

Sorry to be such a nagging hater, but STAS will always go down as the most misguided Superman series, i.e. let's contextual Superman around Batman, including making his personality more of a foil to grumpy Batman.

EDIT: "Misguided" is perhaps too harsh, so let's just call it "missed opportunity."

I agree about STAS. It was clearly a Superman show written by Batman fans and made for Batman fans. It is funny when people consider it their definitive Superman when he is barely a character in his own show, and his supporting cast and villains are never really fleshed out.

I think Mark Waid also mentioned that when he visited the writers' room of STAS, he saw that everyone was a Batman fan and they considered writing Superman akin to "homework". Bruce Timm also expressed his dislike of Superman's villians and considered Superman himself "intrinsically dull". Basically everyone working on the show was just wishing they were doing a Batman show instead, which shows in how Superman is treated.

Considering the writers themselves didn't have much love for the character, I suppose the cartoon was decent by those standards. The best thing to come out of the show was the Superman Adventures tie-in comics because it actually had writers who enjoyed working on Superman.