This week the Superman 1978-1987 5-Film Collection Box Set ships in the US. Its release was delayed here in the United States but not the rest of the world so we have some answers that we didn’t have the last time I wrote about this box set. But that’s not the only release this month that WB let down Superman fans with.
Let’s start at the beginning with Superman the Movie. The Digital Bits was right. The rumored updated scan did not come to pass. We are stuck with the problematic transfer from 2018 that has actual errors. Warners isn’t content with just letting us down in one area though. The best part of the 2018 release, the 5.1 mix of the original 4 channel theatrical audio, is dropped. This box which fans hoped to be the ultimate collection is already inferior to the previous release. I was convinced to continue buying physical releases by the inclusion of this audio track in 2018. Before that I had planned on getting my 4K releases digitally. This movie convinced me to buy a 4K player. Guess I’ll be hanging on to that disc.
Fast forward to Superman II and the problems worsen. The Digital Bits was correct, we aren’t getting Dolby Vision on anything but the first movie (which we already had in Dolby Vision). Except, these movies on digital services like iTunes do have Dolby Vision! Dolby Vision is superior to HDR 10 in ways regular people can see. The only explanation I can guess for this is cost. They didn’t want to pay Dolby the licensing fees for the discs. Disney does the same thing with their 4K discs. Once again we are far from the definitive release for these movies. But in true Warners fashion; that isn’t the only problem. There are distinct audio issues with the score at the beginning of the film. The pitch waivers several times during the recap of the first installment. This can clearly be observed when Superman is saving the train. It’s a noticeable problem and frankly one I think they should issue replacement discs for. The problem also exists in the iTunes version so they should fix
that too.
Superman II The Richard Donner Cut and Superman III don’t introduce any additional problems just the baffling omission of Dolby Vision. The reviews I’ve read about Superman III say it has an even better transfer than the original two films. Word is a veteran colorist worked on III and IV so they look great. I haven’t seen anyone compare back to back the disc (HDR 10) and the digital (Dolby Vision) versions, but once mine arrives I will attempt to. The brilliant Vincent Teoh does a great comparison with Disney films in the same manner and he has the equipment to do it right. I’ve only got one television in my living room unfortunately.
Finally, Superman IV The Quest for Peace. This might be the biggest disappointment of the whole set. This new release, that is the canonical version of the film moving forward, has the incorrect score. This is an egregious error. There is lots of speculation on why the score is wrong. Could it be a problem with the mix? Could it be an earlier recording from Germany that was redone because of its low quality? We may never know. But if you’re a new fan watching this movie for the first time you are going to see it wrong. This might be the only benefit of them just dumping the old Blu-Rays into this box set. At least that old Blu-Ray includes the correct score. I think Warners should issue replacement discs for this too. Much smaller companies have replaced discs for smaller errors. But those companies seem to care about the movies they release and the people buying them.
The included Blu-Ray discs being nothing but the old discs from 2011 feels lazy. I’m not demanding any new bonus material, the movies are older and the bonus material that exists is pretty good. I get the impression these blu-rays were included to check the “bonus materials” box, but zero additional thought or effort was put into it beyond that. Recycling 12 year old releases with zero effort is exactly the money making move you’d expect from WBD these days. These Blu-Rays should include the latest transfers of the films just in 1080p rather than 4K HDR. Like I said though it’s a small saving grace that they don’t because of the errors on II and IV. Not looking forward to a time when the only versions of these movies that are in print have major errors.
I mentioned last time that it felt insulting to include the Fleischer cartoons on a Blu-Ray in standard definition less than a week before they are released on a new Blu-Ray in HD. But now I’m hearing that Warners has dropped the ball on that release too! Poor quality transfers plagued with issues? Real insult to injury situation here.
If it weren’t for the great Steelbooks in the set I think I’d probably recommend most fans go with the 12 year old Blu-Ray box set. It’s less than $50 right now on Amazon compared to $95 for the non-steel 4K set (which I don’t think anyone should buy). What does this new double the price version get you? A darker Superman The Movie with video glitches, Superman II with audio glitches, and Superman IV with a messed up score! The home video market isn’t the same as it was in 2011. The folks that are still purchasing physical media care about the presentation more than ever. Most consumers are fine with what’s available streaming. It’s that special fan that wants the physical object and pays a premium for a premium product. This release ain’t that.
Why is Warners doing our boy Superman so dirty like this on home video? These legendary and frankly historic films don’t get the treatment they deserve. It’s us fans that pay the price. Hey at least the packaging looks awesome. Well except for the terrible non-Steelbook versions. And the Fleischer Blu-Ray’s lazy reuse of the DVD artwork with the wrong logo and a new background.
Do Better, WB or Why I’m Disappointed in the Superman 1978-1987 5-Film Collection Box Set
Back in October, 2022 the amazing Caped Wonder Jim posted a couple of interesting tweets. The first in response to a @SupermanIV account post about releasing the original Sidney Furie director’s cut of “The Quest for Peace”. This account leads the social media push for getting this directors cut and rarely posts about anything else.
Stay Tuned�!
— CapedWonder Superman Imagery (@CapedWonderJim) October 19, 2022
The second starting to get us hyped for something that included the four original Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve.
— CapedWonder Superman Imagery (@CapedWonderJim) October 19, 2022
It could be assumed from these tweets one right after the other that we should expect an announcement of some kind of reissue including this director’s cut.
Soon afterwards Caped Wonder tweeted that we’d be getting 4K versions Superman II, III, and IV including the Richard Donner cut of Superman II. He linked out to The Digital Bits with the report, but no real details. At this point there is speculation that these will include Dolby Vision HDR.
Jim at Caped Wonder has contacts at Warner Home Video. He worked with them on extras for previous box sets. It’s safe to assume he had some insider information that he was teasing out to fans. He confirms it as such on November 2nd on Caped Wonder
I’ve been aware for quite some time that Warner Bros.’ MPI (Motion Picture Imaging) department has been working on Superman II (theatrical and Donner Cut), Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace remasters in 4K Ultra HD, likely to hit the market in April 2023. Superman II will include both the original theatrical version and the Richard Donner Cut.
Interestingly no mention of the extended or “Furie Cut” of Superman IV. This is the first disappointment. It’s not a major one, Superman IV wasn’t a huge success for Warners. If we ever get an extended cut I’d be surprised if it was a polished 4K edition. It’s more likely to be similar to the Warner Archive Superman Extended Cut. But still, the tease from Jim puts this in the disappointment category.
December 14th Warner Brothers released their centennial celebration press release. This is the first mention we get about the “Superman 5-film collection”. So now we know box set. But of what? Caped Wonder confirms in response to someone’s question that it will be five movies I-IV and the Donner Cut.
The upcoming 4K is a five disc collection. Superman I-IV and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. There�s been no mention of Superman Returns.
Off the bat we weren’t expecting Superman Returns since that wasn’t part of the initial rumor anyway. I’d still put this in the disappointment category. The Donner Cut is more of an alternative version than a separate film altogether. Like the Furie Cut this is minor. Superman Returns doesn’t exist in 4K. It was shot digitally unlike the Reeve films and at best exists in 2K. A UHD version would be an upgrade from the Blu-Ray, but it wouldn’t be 4K.
On December 24th on the Caped Wonder podcast Jim breaks the big news. “Superman the Movie 4K from 2018 is being completely redone.” This is the most exciting part of the box set so far. The version we got in 2018 has major issues; some fans even prefer the Blu-Ray version. If we are going to be forced to buy this movie again a new version would dull that pain.
Fast forward to February 13, 2023. A user posts a low-res image of the purported box set onto a Blu-Ray forum.
This image doesn’t light anyone’s fire, but it’s the movies that are important. This starts the real news though. This also enforces what we’ve heard about Superman Returns. The picture starts to come together fast.
Six Days later Zavvi posts their Steelbook version of the box set. With no official announcement from Warners this is the biggest drop of news so far. Despite it being UK only it bodes well for folks in the US. Annoyingly, it’s riddled with inaccuracies and light on technical details. A big problem that stands out for me: “Theatrical Cut - On Disc Special Features: Introduction by Director Richard Donner, Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz”. These are obviously for the Donner cut, not the theatrical cut and are repeated in the next section. When Superman Homepage picked up the news they didn’t bother to correct this error. All of the extras are ported over exactly from the last Blu-Ray box set. The assumption is these aren’t on the UHD discs and
neither the Fleischer cartoons nor Superman and the Mole Men are getting remastered. Safe to say the Blu-Ray discs will be identical to what we already have. Another small disappointment, but the focus here is really on the films in 4K.
The box looks excellent though. Rather than any weird photoshop jobs we are treated to original theatrical movie posters as the art on high quality cases. It even comes with a comic. We’ve had some ups and downs in this saga but this is a win (as long as it’s available in the US).
Two days later the US news starts to come in.Amazon lists the Steelbook version as their exclusive. Perfect, available in the US in a great format. It’s later offered on the DC Shop so not exactly Amazon exclusive, but all other retailers get a more standard box with plastic cases.
Over the next few days it pops up on other retailers without the steelbooks and more art starts to circulate. Namely this picture of the back:
Notice something on the bottom right corner? Superman: The Movie Only Dolby Vision. This is my first major disappointment. In most living room movie watching scenarios the difference between 1080p and 4K isn’t significant. But the difference between Standard Dynamic Range and High Dynamic Range is. Without Dolby Vision the assumption is the sequels will only have HDR10 which is a downgrade. It is starting to feel like this expensive boxset is becoming less worth the money. Curiously later images of the box set omit this text (side note: these photoshop jobs are ugly).
Inexplicably we still wait until March 1st before Warners gives us a press release. Like the initial Zavvi listing the press release has no technical details and is rife with mistakes. Like the all caps SYNOPSIS right after the synopsis of Superman The Movie. Or the weird bullet indentation errors (these could be a Superman Homepage and Caped Wonder error since they are corrected elsewhere). The press release does confirm that these are the previously released Blu-Ray extras like assumed and fixes the Donner and Mankiewicz extras on the theatrical II. We get an official date of April 18th (also assumed).
Later that day though we get the bad news from The Digital Bits. Not only was that first box shot correct and we are only getting HDR10 for the sequels, but now we are no longer getting a new video master for the original. They try to make up for it by saying the original now includes the theatrical audio mix but we had that on the previous 4K disc just in lossy quality.
WBHE has replied with the following answers to the questions we posed for clarification: 1) Superman: The Movie 4K utilizes the same video master as the 2018 UHD but now includes the original theatrial audio mix (Comment: We believe this is in DTS-HD MA format now, where as the 2018 4K offered it in lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital. �BH). 2) Superman: The Movie includes Dolby Vision HDR while the sequels include only HDR10. All have Dolby Atmos. 3) No single-film 4K SKUs are currently planned in the US.]
This is hugely disappointing. We are left without a definitive home video version of this iconic film since the 4K is the only place you can get the theatrical audio, but is marred by a strangely dark transfer making it in many ways inferior to the Blu-Ray release from more than a decade ago. Want the sequels in 4K? You’ll need to rebuy an essentially identical version of the original to get them. Add to that it feels like they cut corners for cost purposes on the HDR. The earlier disappointments can be overlooked, but these are harder to ignore. Especially coming days after preorders go live.
But wait, that’s not all. Today Warners decides to give us another little kick while we are down. Remember those Fleischer cartoons that got included with the old Blu-Rays in the set? Bummer that they aren’t remastered. Especially because they’ve been released many many times over the years. Want them remastered? Cool because they are coming soon to Blu-Ray. Yup, this nice fancy boxset with steel cases will already have out of date versions of the original cartoons one month later. At least it looks like this Blu-Ray has a new featurette: “Max Fleischer’s Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow”. More than we can say for this box set supposedly celebrating 100 years of Warner Brothers and 85 years of Superman. I wonder if it will look as good as some of the AI 4K upscales floating around the internet.
As you can tell, I love these movies and the cartoons. Thousands of other people feel the same way. It feels insulting to fans to get these half-assed versions. I get that preparing these new editions is a big expense for Warner Discovery, but giving us versions that are let downs isn’t a great way to make back that investment. Cutting corners isn’t going to make this a must purchase for Superman fans. It just becomes another version in a long line of versions that we’ve paid for. I can forgive the missing extended versions and Superman Returns (who needs that Luthor anyway). I’m fine with recycled special features, the movies are old. But to cut corners on the actual films is a slap in the face. Do better, WB.
This week’s Action Comics Annual was a highlight in an already awesome run of Action Comics issues. I think the conventional wisdom in dealing with bullies is to stand up to them. I’ve never liked this sentiment. A world where this is the only option is a world with only bullies. The idea that Clark would find a way to be better with the guidance of his mother is so powerful and really touched me. I loved it. Martha dealing with cancer was a shocking reveal handled so well on the page. This half of the story was so great, I didn’t even need the excellent Mongul origin to contrast it with. It’s easy enough to just contrast it with real life. Thanks, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Si Spurrier, Dale Eaglesham, and Ian Churchill.
Yeah, haven’t posted anything here in a bit. Combination of the world being terrible and me just being super busy. Really good busy though with lots of rewarding personal projects. Heading out to the Superman Celebration next week which I think should get me motivated to work on this. Got some ideas to write about Bizarro seeing as I’ve been watching the last Superboy season, season seven of Smallville, and the latest season of Superman and Lois at the same time. Stay tuned, dear reader!
I watched a video essay about Die Hard the other day. Part of the video’s thesis was the character of John McClane can’t grow because we as an audience need him to be the same so we can get our Die Hard movies. He can never actually fix his marriage. Batman can never get over the death of his parents. “Human growth stagnates a franchise.” It reminds me of what writers and producers blamed the end of Lois & Clark on. From the sadly offline Lois & Clark reference site:
Brad Kern, former writer for Lois and Clark (the final season only) and currently a writer/producer under fire from fans of Charmed, defended splitting up a married couple by stating, “In one season-finale episode Lois found out Clark’s secret, and he asked her to marry him. The fans wanted that, they got it. But suddenly they’re married, she knows the secret and the fans went away. I think that cost us one whole season on ‘Lois & Clark.’ So I learned a lot from that, and have applied it to ‘Charmed.’”
I disagree with this statement strongly. There were many reasons Lois & Clark got cancelled, but finally getting them together was not one of them. In fact there are many status quo changes in the history of Superman that have stuck around and become the new status quo.
As a longtime comics reader I roll my eyes every time a big name character dies. Because we know it won’t last. Creators and readers want to see these characters again! These multinational corporations would never throw away a property like Superman. I wonder what Death of the Justice League has in store for us this week. It’s the same with other large status quo changes. As mentioned in the video Batman has to punch people in the face because of his unresolved trauma, that won’t change. But sometimes a big one comes that sticks.
Supergirl
I think the first big status quo change for the Man of Tomorrow is the introduction of Supergirl. Clark is no longer the last survivor of Krypton. It gave Superman a family member close by and leaned into the paternal Clark. It allowed Clark’s character to grow and change. Different than a new power or weakness or villain, stories that were common through the gold and silver ages. Bringing back Kara Zor-El after Bryne said no more Kryptonians shows how impactful this change was.
The Wedding
The next big status quo change that comes to mind—especially after talking about Lois & Clark—is the wedding. Gone was the 50 year love triangle. Clark and Lois actually got married. She learned his secret. It didn’t ruin Superman comics, but actually gave a new dimension and growth to them over the years. This change proved so popular that even after they tried to undo it with the New 52, it came back! It’s been more than 30 years since Lois found out his secret and they were engaged. It’s become such an ingrained part of the mythos that the newest Superman television show is based around it. Maybe the biggest and most lasting changes are ones that writers try to jettison, but come back?
Jon Kent
The other big change that has spilled into the television world is the son of Superman, Jon Kent. Superman & Lois takes it a step further with him having two sons, but the basic premise is there. For a character that was an eternal bachelor for his first 50 years now having children is a major status quo shift.
We can go a step further with Jon Kent too. Bendis gave Jon’s status quo a push when he decided to age him up. It let him do Legion stories and has led to Jon being Superman and not just Superboy. This isn’t “a give him electric powers” for six months; the character has grown! He’s matured!
Superboy
The Adventures of Superman when he was a boy didn’t have much of a change on Superman at first. They were self contained. Until they started introducing new ideas into Superboy (like Bizarro) that worked their way into Superman stories. But then like a planet exploding Byrne said “no more Superboy.” Superboy has come and gone and changed quite a bit over the decades. The idea is too go to fully go away, although Clark as Superboy might be a thing of the past.
Secret Identity
All status quo changes are controversial until they become the status quo. I think some readers miss young Jon Kent and his Super Sons adventures with Damien Wayne (which we can still get more of). Another Bendis change in the comics is Clark revealing his identity to the world. It’s tough to say how long this will last. It hasn’t rolled over into any other media—although the Supergirl television show did end with this. Clark has had his identity revealed in the past and it’s always been rolled back. It seems like the current team isn’t in any hurry to undo this one though.
That’s a big part of what it all comes down to though. Creators want to tell stories about “their” Superman. Often times that means the status quo version they are most familiar with. The current World’s Finest title has a “classic” Superman without Jon, with a secret identity. But it definitely has aspects that were added after 1938.
With 80 years of continuous comic publication not to mention television, radio, and film it would be tough to point to an aspect of the character of Superman that hasn’t changed. The one thing that can’t? His never-ending battle.
We live in a time when so much of the world’s media is available to us with just a few clicks. The days of needing to buy bootleg VHS tapes to find an episode of your favorite television show are long gone. Despite this abundance—and the decision paralysis that comes with it—there are some Superman things that remain unavailable and out of print. For this list I’m going to ignore the golden & bronze age comics that are long out of print and not available digitally (the showcase trades reprinted basically all of the Silver Age in black and white).
Superboy Filmation cartoons
When Warners released the Superman Filmation cartoons they passed over the Superboy ones. When the DC Universe app streamed these cartoons seasons two & three included the Superboy shorts. But once that service ended they haven’t been added to HBO Max or any other streaming services. In fact season one of the Superman show is available for digital download on services like iTunes, but the other two seasons are only available on DVD. I assume they’ll get around to adding the show to HBO Max, but I’m doubtful the Superboy episodes will be included with season one. I hope these cartoons aren’t lost to time.
Furie cut of Superman IV
We’ve had the Donner Cut. We got the Snyder Cut. Now we want the Furie cut. Legend has it Superman IV was cut significantly after a poor showing at a test screening. The original 134 minute cut has never been released in it’s entirety. We’ve had deleted scenes included on DVDs, but never the whole thing. There is even an excellent twitter account campaining for the release. Come on Warner Archive!
Fleischer in HD (or even 4K)
While these are technically available and easy to come by they aren’t available like they should be. Being in the public doman we’ve seen many releases of thes 1940s theatrical cartoons. Warner’s official release was a really nicely packaged DVD. We’ve had various episodes released on Blu-Ray packaged with the movie, but these theatrical shorts deserve their own high quality release in the best video quality possible. The digital download version from iTunes are in standard definition. There are some versions on YouTube upscaled and you can really see the potential of this.
A complete collection of the radio shows
Lots of these were made available on vinyl and there is an old CD box set that is long out of print. In these days of podcasts and new original audio shows this seems like a no brainer. Put them on HBO Max like the new Batman ones. Put them in iTunes to download. Either way I’d love to hear them all.
Animated Series Soundtrack
A few years back La La Land Records put out a 4 CD Limited Edition soundtrack for Superman: The Animated Series. I missed it at the time and it quickly went out of print. Currently selling for over $130 on the second hand market this soundtrack is out of reach for most fans. Mondo released a vinyl with just the theme song and that’s way easier to come by and a very cool collectible. This soundtrack isn’t available streaming or in any other format. I think I might just have to drop the cash for this one.
Over the weekend I finished watching Superboy season three. It’s definitely the best season of the show so far and there are some legitimately good episodes. I had really written the show off as being bad and was only watching it for completionist’s sake. I understand for many fans the bad effects and mostly bad guest stars make this a tough watch. But when the show takes itself and the premise seriously it can really shine! There are even episodes that may have inspired Smallville; Mine Games has a pretty similar premise as Nemesis. I especially loved the season finale with an older Superman living in a utopia. I wish they could’ve gotten Kirk Alyn for it, but Tarzan/Doc Savage works too. One of the first things that came to mind after I finished was that I can understand why someone would focus their Superman fandom on this show and make a website dedicated to it (the excellent Superboy Legacy).
This lead my mind to Caped Wonder. Another excellent site and podcast dedicated to another very specific portion of Superman’s 84 year multimedia history. This plus thinking about my gaps in fandom made we wonder why some people go really deep and others go really broad.
My quest to watch everything, read every comic, and know every artist makes it really hard to have encyclopedic knowledge in one area. I can tell you a lot about Smallville. Characters, actors, guest stars, seasons, story arcs; but if you give me a plot point could I tell you the name and number of the episode? Probably not, but Zach Moore from Always Hold On To Smallville can. I can recite lines of dialogue from Superman The Movie, but could I tell you the day a scene was filmed? Probably not, but Jim Bowers from Caped Wonder can.
I don’t have a Superman origin story like many other folks. Superman was always present in my life as long as I can remember. The Filmation and Fleischer cartoons were constantly in rotation in my toddler years. My grandmother’s taped from HBO Superman The Movie was the first thing I went for at her house. My dad’s comics and action figures just out of my reach. Adam Talking Superman tweeted about the Superman IV comic adaptation and it reminded me it was probably the first Superman comic I ever owned—although I know my collection started with Action Comics #663: Time and Time Again Phase II.
One of the first comics I ever remember reading! Before my dad trusted me with my own collection.
I think I went so wide because there was never one Superman in my mind. I knew the original was from comics, but they were out of reach for the four year old me who was watching The Quest for Peace. So I wanted it all. Collecting comics at 8, Lois & Clark at 10, Smallville at 18, Superman Returns at 23, Man of Steel at 30.
Whereas some folks have that moment they became a fan. Jim Bowers talks about taking his brother to see Superman the Movie when he was 17 on a recent podcast. You can hear similar stories from everyone I’ve mentioned and there are tons like it out there. Steve Younis has a good one.
Last year when I was doing trivia at the Superman CelebrationJeopardy game someone asked me how I knew about so much. I think I’ve got a memory that is good for trivia, but I’ve steeped so much of my life into such a wide variety of Superman media. I love it all and will continue to engage with as much as I can on a wide scope.
I wanted to dig deeper on one particular episode of Smallville’s sixth season“Justice”. Widely regarded as a high point of the show it’s an episode that still holds up today. But I think today’s audience and even us going back to watch it forget the context in which this episode aired. Let’s travel back in time, shall we?
“Justice” aired on The CW January 18, 2007. At this point The CW was a brand new network made up of the combined WB and UPN. The network had only started the previous fall. Previously Smallville had aired on The WB. In January of 2007 the first MCU movie was still being cast! We couldn’t even conceive of the Avengers Initiative tease at this point. Post credits scenes were still surprises. Spider-Man 3 was a few months from being released. X-Men 3 had crashed and burned seven months prior. Superman Returns was released in June of 2006, while a hit with this fan, didn’t light a fire under WB to make a sequel. Even Justice League Unlimited had finished. This was a dark time for superhero media outside of the comics. Interestingly enough Action Comics at the time was co-written by Richard Donner of Superman The Movie fame.
The idea of a “shared universe” of super heroes was something we had in comics and animation, but hadn’t made it’s way into live action. Smallville pulling these heroes, not only as guest stars or freak-of-the-weeks, but into one episode together was revolutionary. The X-Men characters have always worked together as a team, but pulling solo heroes together just wasn’t something we were seeing in live action at this point. The amount of hoops the team behind the show needed to jump through to make this happen for our benefit is staggering.
The first was the nature of the show. Being episodic television, Smallville rarely brought back guest stars. For every Alicia we’ve got a Lucas Luthor, never to be heard from again. Television of the time wasn’t designed for binge watching. They didn’t count on you watching every episode. Lost had begun to change that a few years earlier, but this didn’t catch on to shows on The CW for a while.
Warners put up obstacles Smallville needed to leap over in a single bound to make this happen. Kryptonsite.com reported that DC couldn’t call Bart The Flash “because of a DC note.” They couldn’t use Wonder Woman because of development on a Wonder Woman movie. Green Arrow was their Batman replacement. Legal issues prevented any use of the word “Superboy”. They were so limited in what characters they could use and what they could even call them.
The final hurdle we needed to get past? “No flights, no tights”. Smallville had avoided being a Superman show for five years. As we got further and further away from the high school years it leaned into the super heroics more and more. But the influence of the X-Men movies was still strong. The characters couldn’t wear tights, but could wear cool leather jackets. The thinking was leather jackets wouldn’t alienate a broader general audience. Fifteen years later this influence is still being felt, but Hollywood has learned the general audience’s taste for superheroes isn’t so fickle. Smallville dressed our heroes in their colors and some of them got cool sunglasses and hoods instead of masks.
Despite all these limitations we still got 43 minutes of television that was dynamic and exciting. There was a huge surge in viewers for the episode. This is what we wanted from Smallville! Even Neil Bailey (from my beloved Superman Homepage) who was really down on the show, gave the episode 4.5 out of 5! They pulled it off and it’s an episode we can now revisit over and over as one of the highest heights this show ever hit.
I’ve just been blowing through my rewatches lately and have finished Smallville season six! I’ve never held these middle seasons in high regard. Zach Moore from the Always Hold On To Smallville podcast refers to this time period as the “College Dropout Years”.
In my memories seasons three and four were peak Smallville. This rewatch has added some new perspective though. Season four was stuck with the awful Lana’s a witch, Kryptonian magic crystal, Genevieve story arc. This wasn’t just freak-of-the-week stuff. This was the main arc of the season. Real lackluster. Season three doesn’t have a strong over-arching plot, it’s just Clark dealing with Jor-El. But it does have some of the worst one and done episodes. Like Pete racing Kryptonite fueled cars.
So are these middle years really that much worse?
I wrote a bit about season five recently when talking about guns in Smallville. It was as much a complaint about how they ignored continuity in the show as much as they ignore the very real danger of firearms. Season five has some of the lowest moments. Jor-El’s reasoning for removing Clark’s powers at the beginning are asinine. “Thirst” is possibly the worst episode the show ever does. “Tomb”, “Void”, “Exposed” and “Mercy” are also really bad. Brainiac was a weak adversary as well, posing almost no threat all year.
Season five does give us Cyborg and Aquaman though. Plus Chloe being brought in on Clark’s secret is excellent. Despite the fact that it continues to put her in the Lois role leaving actual Lois with nothing to do. “Lexmas” is a series highlight for me and episode 100 “Reckoning” has a major character death. Even if the bait and switch with Lana bothers me as much now as it did in 2006. Seems like season five is probably just below seasons three and four. Worthy of my feelings for it. Season five makes more sense with the knowledge they went into it assuming it would be the last season, but then needed to scramble when it got renewed.
Season six on the other hand? There are no terrible moments like there have been in the last few seasons. Sure there are some episodes that aren’t great. “Subterranean” is bad and should be skipped, but it’s not “Thirst”. They tried to do something, but failed. Almost all the episodes that have to deal with the season’s big problem—Phantom Zone escapees—are below average. The exception being “Labyrinth” which I remembered very clearly and still holds up as a good episode. The final episode of the season “Phantom” is also mostly good, and I love Bizarro. But this is not a good Bizarro. We also get an all time great episode “Justice”. Justin Hartley’s Oliver Queen is in much less of the season than I remembered (The CW’s focus on Green Arrow in Smallville made me skip Arrow when it first debuted years later). Even the Tori Spelling episode “Hydro” has some really great moments when Clark helps Oliver keep his secret identity by posing as Green Arrow. We also get the first
hints of a Lois & Clark relationship even though it’s in a red kryptonite episode.
Face it Lana you’re perfect
I’m not a Lana fan. She holds Clark back so much throughout the show. Which makes a lot of her story this season good! I actually liked her descent into darkness alongside Lex. She was a true Luthor on many occasions. Even though she did continue to keep Clark on the hook which drove me nuts. I know we are almost done with her though.
The Jimmy Olsen of it all
Introducing Jimmy drove me nuts back then and it still feels pointless on a rewatch. He’s nothing but comic relief. He adds very little to my enjoyment of the show and knowing that they eventually just kill him off and say he was never actually Jimmy in the first place makes it worse.
Girl reporter
Lois starts to actually be Lois this season which I enjoyed. It’s tough with Chloe fulfilling the Lois investigative partner role to find stuff for her to do, so she’s mostly out on her own investigating. Her relationship with Oliver was better than her relationship with Arthur Curry. I, of course, love her chemistry with Clark when they finally let that happen. She gets in goofy costumes this season like last, but it felt way less t&a than “Exposed”. Erica’s PSA at the end of “Progeny” as tribute to Dana Reeve was also really well done.
Wonder Woman
Speaking of “Progeny”, Smallville did a great job with guest stars. Lynda Carter rules and it was awesome having her on Smallville. This is the kind of freak-of-the-week I wish we got more of.
So yeah, Smallville season six is better than I remember. The quality didn’t dip as low as I thought. The bad is just skippable and the good is really good. We’ll see what season seven has in store next.
On a side note, the aforementioned Always Hold On To Smallville has been a great addition to my rewatch. I’ll sometimes blow through these episodes barely noticing them, but listening to them talk about each on in detail has really helped my memory.
Continuing my watch through of these New Adventures of Superman I recently finished Season Two and wanted to get out some thoughts. In no particular order:
Season one is absolutely superior
When I was writing about season one I found a website that had an excellent history of the show. Sadly, the website is no longer online. The site had a detailed account of the struggles in the production of the second season. After Deborah Joy LeVine was ousted as showrunner the network couldn’t decide if the show was a romance or a superhero action show (hint: it’s both and LeVine understood that). The show turned into the worst freak-of-the-week Smallville for the first 12 episodes. With very little connective thread.
A huge strength of the first season was Luthor pulling the strings. They tried to do the same thing with Intergang, but it was very loosely put together. Especially when Bruce Campbell shows up as Bill Church Jr.
When Luthor makes a return in episode 13’s The Phoenix the show finally catches it’s footing. The latter portion of the season really pushes the Lois & Clark relationship forward. It worked really well to have Clark need to run off and be Superman every time they tried to talk about their relationship. Works much better than Lana dancing around Clark’s “secret” in Smallville for years. By the time we get to season six of Smallville and Lana discovers he has powers it had become dumb. By the last episode I was yelling at the TV for Clark to just tell her!
A cast member who will not be named should really watch the first episode
The first episode consists of a grifter spreading lies and misinformation about Superman. Gave me strong right-wing misinformation vibes and I liked watching Lois & Clark combat that. Truth & Justice! It got a little silly with subliminal messages at the end, but they were leaning into the sci-fi superhero side of the show. Episode 19 on the other hand he can skip. There is a government medical conspiracy that comes off weird in 2022. While there have been legitimate government medical conspiracies like MKUltra, this one hit me as a way someone like that could legitimize Q anon.
Despite the goofy plots Lois & Clark are a great investigative team
The have amazing chemistry and legitimately solve mysteries, better than Bats does in the new Batman movie IMO. A funny thing that hit me was all of the social engineering Lois does to get information. I recently went through security training at work that teaches to you to be on the lookout for all the stuff Lois does here. She’s good.
The Legion, Tempus, and the Legacy of Superman
The highlight of this season and possibly the entire show is episode 18: Tempus Fugitive. Surprising that such a popular episode and by extension character hasn’t been brought back into the comics. I love the idea Superman is such an inspiring force on mankind; Earth becomes a true utopia. This idea isn’t unique to the show, it’s something the Legion of Super Heroes hints at a bit. The inspiration of Superman and the age of heroes carries forward a thousand years into a better tomorrow. Superman #400 does this too with the Living Legends of Superman. It’s such a powerful idea that he can inspire us all to be better and by extension make the world we want. Almost the opposite of how Star Trek envisions us getting there (nuclear World War III). It also answers the question of why Lois doesn’t see Clark for who he really is. Blinded by love. I don’t know about you, but that’s such a satisfying answer. Especially in this show where Superman is played no differently than Clark.
On a final note, Teri Hatcher is perfect 100% of the time.
Two weeks ago host of the Superman podcast Digging for Kryptonite posted on twitter asking what are people’s biggest gaps in Superman fandom. I love Superman trivia (especially with other fans at the Superman Celebration) and am always looking to fill these gaps. My response was:
📺 Superfriends 📺 Filmation (even though I own the DVD) 📺 Never finished the last season of Superboy when the DC streaming went away 🗯 Newspaper strips (have the books just need to read them!) 🗯 The Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen comics (except for the Kirby stuff) https://t.co/xWY5wkNA4E
That second entry there, Filmation, might not be the most obvious piece of Superman media for most fans. It’s always had a special place in my heart because of the Super Powers video series in the mid-1980s. I had the VHS tape and watched those “7 exciting episodes” all the time. It was right up there with the Fleischer cartoons for me.
When the DVD was released in June 2007, Superman fans were on the tail end of a huge helping of reissues. Starting in 2005 and coinciding with Superman Returns we got releases of the theatrical serials, the Adventures of Superman boxsets, the four Lois & Clark seasons, Superboy Season 1, the three TAS box sets, and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. Plus Smallville was still on the air. An embarrassment of riches if you will. So I will forgive myself for putting the DVD on the shelf and focusing on the other releases of the time.
After posting that tweet I figured it was time to finally watch these cartoons from top to bottom and use the opportunity to break my streak of no posts—I had posts planned but terrible Superman fans on the internet talking about Jon Kent really took the wind out of my sails. Here are my top 10 take aways:
The bonus documentary does not present the show as being anything special
Mark Waid accurately describes the show as a spin off of the radio show as much as anything. Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander reprising their roles helps, but it’s really the narration that’s the kicker. As Waid accurately notes the narration and the characters tell you everything that’s happening on screen. You barely need to watch to know what is going on. This kinda works for our modern distracted viewing. I watched season one while bagging and boarding 100 old issues of Superman volume 2.
There is a great story in the documentary about the creation of the show which reminded me in part of the urban legend around the creation of the Fleischer cartoons. As legend has it, Fleischer didn’t want to do the Superman cartoons so they came up with a huge price of $1 million per episode thinking it would get rejected. But then it wasn’t. The story for Filmation was almost the opposite. Producer Lou Scheimer said they desperately wanted to get the show. So he brought in friends and family to fill the office and make it look like they were a real studio producing work.
Curt Swan’s style was a major influence
The show was really “on model” to the Superman comics of the time. Lois is always in purple as the amazing Elizabeth Tulloch knows.
It’s a classic maybe even timeless look. I certainly didn’t know the cartoons were already more than 20 years old when I watched them as a kid. Even the villains lined up with their comics counterparts. Except for some of the weirder one-off monsters like this guy:
There were moments when they didn’t get the “S” quite right. Maybe they were focused on the negative space. Maybe they knew it was an “S” and also that it needs to connect to the side so they just drew an extra line?
The art for the season one box set looks like it was taken straight from animation cells touched up a bit, but the seasons two & three box is unique. The cover art doesn’t ring any bells for me. I get a Bogdanove doing a Swan tribute vibe from it, but that’s just speculation. It might have been created just for this set, but considering all the corners they cut I’d be surprised. The second box gets a standard plastic case and has no extra features. The second set also gets some José Luis García-López Superman which is a nice call back to that Super Powers VHS. On the discs they look cheap though, with no color. A nice touch is they both use the older Superman logo with the squared off U, which was the standard until it was redone in 1983.
My memory is pretty good
I remembered every single episode that was on my VHS from childhood. I made notes of them while watching and then when I found the VHS on eBay I was able to confirm I was right. I knew I remembered the Titano episode (TAS with it’s longer run time handles Titano a bit better), but the second Brainiac, the Parasite, the Toy Man, the Luminians, and The Prankster all stuck with me through the decades. Though considering how weird the voices are for the Luminians I’m not surprised I didn’t forget them.
Mr. Mxyzptlk
For a cartoon that was definitely made for kids I wish we got more than one Mxyzptlk episode. He’s well known enough to be on the art for disc one, but he only gets one appearance over three seasons (interestingly enough not on disc one). I was glad he didn’t pronounce his name like they do on Super Friends which just sounds wrong to my ears. When they said his name backwards it sounds like they actually played the tape backwards rather than saying Kltpzyxm. It was very strange. I loved Superman’s “Mix Pickle” nickname for him though.
The music
I love theme (it’s even on my running playlist), but rest of the music is so 1960s. I think they were trying to do James Bond/Danger Man type spy guitar music, but it just made my millennial brain think of Austin Powers. Interesting to think historically that The Beatles released Rubber Soul and Sgt. Peppers when this show was new on CBS.
Truth & Justice
The show’s intro was of course inspired by the radio show, the Fleischers, and the original Adventures of Superman, but this time it’s a never-ending battle for “truth, justice, and freedom with super powers!”. Really clicked that the VHS set (along with the famous toy line) was called Super Powers. I wonder if there was any reactionary response to freedom instead of the American Way back in the 60s or is the right better at fake moral panic, culture war stuff nowadays than ever?
Season Three changes up the format
The first two seasons have two stories in each episode (with a Superboy cartoon in the middle that I’ll get to in a minute). For the final season each episode has one Superman story split in two. The first half ends with a Rock and Bullwinkle style cliffhanger that is resolved within seconds of part two. In one episode Clark, Lois, and Jimmy are in danger and the narrator says Superman can’t save them without revealing his identity. Part two hits and he just jumps into a bush. It’s so silly. You’d think the extended run times would give the stories more room to breathe, but they spend precious run time with things like recaps so very few of the stories benefit.
Beanie, Dr. Heckla, & Warlock
The one original recurring villain we get is Warlock (described by Superman many times as a male witch). Very much inline with cartoon villainy of the time with a top hat. Basically Snidely Whiplash with a magic ruby. No surprise he isn’t a member of the Legion of Doom.
Brainiac may have his classic look here, but he’s just an Android controlled by Dr. Heckla. A bit of a pointless addition, but it does allow Superman to destroy the Brainiac drones, something he would not have been able to do otherwise. This was a bit I didn’t remember from the “Superman Meets Brainiac” episode on VHS. I don’t really consider Dr. Heckla a recurring villain on the same level as Warlock because he’s in consequential to Brainiac except for one moment. A puzzling decision.
During the later episodes we are introduced to a new Daily Planet employee Beanie and I cannot understand why. In some episodes he’s just a stand-in for Jimmy. In other episodes he talks to Jimmy, but he adds nothing to show. I think I’m most bothered by the strange voice the actor does to differentiate him. I assume the actor was trying to sound younger, but it’s grating. No wonder he didn’t make the transition to a full Superman Family member.
Racism
There are so many interchangeable aliens in the first season that are coded as asian it was jarring. From the eyes to the facial hair to the voices it was asian stereotypes top to bottom. Really gross. But the worst example is from the final episode “The Japanese Sandman”. Just stereotype after stereotype and it was tough to watch even for twenty minutes. Growing up with cartoons like this it’s no wonder Boomers are terrible. Almost all the original villains are various one-dimensional monsters or asian coded aliens.
Who are you winking at?
I’m a sucker for the wink at the camera. It’s a huge part of what makes George Reeves so charming in the role. The audience is in on it with Superman. Maybe it wouldn’t work in today’s super serious media landscape, but every episode ending with a wink and a pun had me winking right back. The best wink though was in the final episode when Jimmy straight up asks Clark “Who are you winking at?” Great touch to finish off the series.
Those Superboy cartoons I mentioned? According to Wikipedia they were left off the first box set due to a legal dispute over the Superboy character. There is no mention as to why they aren’t in the second collection which was released in 2014; well after any copyright issues were cleared up and Superboy seasons 2-4 arrived from Warner Archives. Interestingly, the seasons two and three Superboy cartoons were briefly available paired with the Superman episodes when they were streaming on the DC Universe. Since the demise of that service they have not been added to HBO Max. I hope we one day get access to these episodes even if just for the nostalgia. Seasons two and three of this show are only available on DVD so it’s a big oversight in streaming and digital downloads.
Upcoming: Post-Crisis Curt Swan; Superman media currently unavailable
I finished my rewatch of Lois & Clark season one in HD and wanted to jot down some thoughts. I had watched the first three episodes back when I wrote about the costumes and watched the rest over the last two weeks. The one big thing they get right is the chemistry between our titular couple. Every step of the way I believed them together and even when they were forced into silly situations they played off each other really well. I love Teri Hatcher as Lois. She’s real and she’s spectacular.
The show follows a similar format to the Adventures of Superman from 40 years prior—plus a big focus on the main relationship. There is some mystery or crime that needs to be solved. Lois, Clark, and Jimmy investigate. They get direction and leadership from Perry White—Lane Smith is so good in this. At the end Superman comes to save the day with some miraculous feat. There are some cleverly solved mysteries and even the more over-the-top scenarios have believable detective work. I wasn’t really rolling my eyes at the plots like I do for some of those early Superboy episodes. We get several cold opens with a silly sports scene showing Clark use his powers, including a very 90s Bo Jackson cameo for a basketball game. Focusing less on Superman and more on Lois & Clark helps them work with the 90s effects and television budget. Also a benefit considering the decisions they made for this HD master.
The Remaster
The show typically looks great in HD, but there is one major issue. Any scene where special effects are used stays in standard definition. Since the show was shot on film I assume the effects were done on video and therefore there is no way to show them in higher quality without redoing them. When the Star Trek shows were remastered in HD they redid the effects, but I don’t think this show has an audience big enough for Warners to want to spend that money. It’s disappointing and at times distracting. Since it’s the entire shot that doesn’t get remastered you know Clark is about to do something with his powers the minute we switch to standard def. One thing that really stood out was the waving cape in the credits. In the intro credits it’s in standard def along with the rest of the super-feats. But in the end credits it’s in HD. There is an interesting texture there that I could never notice on television, VHS, or DVD before. It still bothers me that the shield isn’t all yellow, but
the texture is kinda neat.
Lex Luthor
John Shea’s performance is filled with over-the-top gravitas that I really enjoyed. The show does a great job keeping him involved with everything in the background. He’s a real threat to Clark and Superman. His characterization is heavily based on the post-crisis DJT-style Lex Luthor running in the comics at the time. I loved him always being around. He’s more than just the bad guy of the week, he’s a major supporting character.
Panic in the Sky
Back when the Adventures of Superman DVDs came out in 2006 I remember watching “Panic in the Sky” and realizing the Lois & Clark episode “All Shook Up” was based on it. I also loved the early 90s comics storyline that borrowed the title. Would someone without their memories make similar decisions is an interesting question to be explored. Would Clark still be Superman and want to save people if he couldn’t remember anything? I rewatched the original after watching this episode and it was surprising how much they had in common. In 26 minutes Adventures has Superman flying to stop the meteor, returning to earth without his memory, regaining his memory, and flying back to completely destroy the meteor. The extra run time Lois & Clark gets allows for an advancement of the romance. Without knowing Clark has to hide his identity and not knowing what his relationship is with Lois lets him make decisions he may not have otherwise made. Another fun AoS connection: this is the first
episode to feature Inspector Henderson who was a major character in the old show.
Next day addendum—I completely forgot that Superboy did this as well. “Superboy-Lost” from season three has him deflecting a comet, losing his memory, spending sometime in the everglades, and then deflecting the comet fully saving the day. I watched this episode for the first time last year so you’d think I’d have it fresh in my head. Apologies for the error.
Bizarro
Another thing these shows like to do is allow their characters to play against type. “Pheromone, My Lovely” is a riff on Star Trek’s “The Naked Time” where characters lose their inhibitions. Great chance to let Teri Hatcher go wild and the same as “Panic in the Sky” push along the relationship. We also get the silly characters playing prohibition era gangsters in black and white in the Die Hard inspired “Fly Hard”.
A big opportunity Superman shows get to play with this is with a Bizarro (and post Smallville Red Kryptonite). Lois & Clark gets their Bizarro in “Vatman”. He’s not called Bizarro and he doesn’t get the white skin or backwards speech, but he has the same origin as the post-crisis Bizarro. Created by Lex to have his own Superman he is ultimately a failed copy that helps Superman. They do say his behavior is bizarre at one point. I was surprised at how similar the episode of the animated series “Identity Crisis” was to this. You feel bad for Bizarro and our Vatman dupe. Despite being raised by Luthor they want to do the right thing. The episode also has a small throw back to Superman IV with the duplicate being created with a lock of Clark’s hair stolen by Luthor. The bar scene also reminded me of the bar in Superman III, but that could just be my head looking to make connections.
Speaking of connections the doctor that helps Luthor create the clone is played by Michael McKean who later returned to Superman playing Perry White on Smallville.
Guest stars
Speaking of guest stars, Lois & Clark has a ton of them. Not all of them are David St. Hubbins. Almost every episode had me jumping to IMDb to see what else the guest star had done. Character actors that were all decently well known at the time. When watching “Panic at the Sky” with the commentary track Jimmy Olsen actor Jack Larson mentions the guest stars in that episode were well known television and film actors of the time as well. I feel like the current TV shows don’t do this as much. Not many great character actors around getting cool roles. Many of the guest stars on Smallville ended up doing other CW shows (Jensen Ackles), becoming bigger movie stars (Amy Adams), or were Superman alumn (too many to mention). We even get James Earl Jones in the final episode! Of course I would be remiss if I forgot to mention Phyllis Coates, television’s first Lois Lane, showing up in the finale as Lois’ mother Ellen.
The Kents
Ellen isn’t the only parent to show up. We also get a radically different version of Sam Lane. Rather than the general Lane we are used to this Sam Lane is a sports doctor working with boxers. The real parental stars of the show are the Kents. One of my favorite post-crisis changes is the adult Clark having the Kents around. Clark doesn’t need to be inspired by the death of his father to be a hero, his living parents inspire him plenty! K. Callan and Eddie Jones are great in their roles. This Martha was a huge inspiration on the Birthright comics released years later. Very hip and modern. The loving family also continues on to Smallville even though we do lose Jonathan in episode 100.
Sexism
It wouldn’t be a 90s television show without some sexism, although I’m legitimately surprised at how much better it holds up in this department than Smallville. Both season five of Smallville and this season of Lois & Clark feature an episode where Lois goes under cover at a gentleman’s club. Erica and Teri both get a chance to kick some ass, but the Smallville episode is all about the T&A. Not a huge surprise from The CW (technically the final season on The WB) considering the pitch for their Riverdale show is “Archie, but with sex.” Cat Grant’s character is generally treated terribly by everyone—except Clark notably. Lois is mostly really well written, with very few instances where she devolves into stereotypes. Maybe because the showrunner for this season was a woman: Deborah Joy LeVine.
Finale
Couple of quick notes on the two-part finale.
The staff at the Planet talk about organizing their labor. Wonder what our right-wing nut thought about that at the time. It’s all about billionaires shutting down the free press.
Clark’s scream in the arctic after losing Lois was kind of weak. This guy is no Christopher Reeve I think we’ll all agree.
The first scene of the final episode with Lex in VR pretending to be Superman, complete with a LEX emblem was hilarious. Truly how he saw himself at that moment. Brings it right around to Zuckerberg’s metaverse nonsense. Where is Jesse Eisenberg when you need him?
Clark gets a nice heat vision shave, also inspired by the post-crisis comics of the time and later referenced in the animated series.
The finale ends with what might be my least favorite moment of the season. Clark lies to Lois and tells her he doesn’t have feelings for her. It seems like he is doing this because he thinks she doesn’t feel the same way about him and he wants to be able to continue to work with her, but it’s a bad decision. I really get the vibe that the producers wanted to milk the “will they, won’t they” as long as they could so to answer that would upset their status quo too much. They had come so far in their relationship and were so close only to have it snatched away from us at the last second.
For season two we lose the Deborah Joy LeVine as the showrunner and Michael Landes as Jimmy, plus the characters of Cat Grant and Jack. I haven’t watched this show since the DVD release in 2006. It’s been great to revisit. I still remember watching the pilot that first Sunday night all the way back in 1993.
I’m currently rewatching Season 5 of Smallville—need to be fresh for trivia at the Celebration this year. A problem stood out to me this time. I know this is a problem in television and movies all the time, but the way Smallville handles being shot in season 5 is wildly inconsistent.
Action movies have a tendency to show getting shot as a wound that may slow you down. You get hit in the leg or your shoulder, you’re fine to continue being the action hero. I think it’s part of why our culture views guns in a positive light; when in reality they are killing machines. Even the least lethal gunshot wound can have debilitating effects on your entire life. I had surgery a year ago where they went in with a scope and some very small tools to remove my gallbladder. Simple basic surgery, very small wounds. I couldn’t sit up without pulling myself for more than a week. I certainly wasn’t able to run around!
In episode three “Hidden” Clark gets shot by our villain-of-the-week Gabriel Duncan. Clark had lost his powers in the first episode of the season on a silly technicality that we knew wouldn’t last—but would set up a chain of events leading to Pa Kent’s death in the 100th episode. Clark is shot in his lower midsection and dies. Space daddy Jor-El brings him back to life deus ex machina style. I think this is a pretty accurate depiction of gun violence. You get shot, you’re probably dead. They even make a show of covering up where his wound would be the next week on “Aqua” when he’s at the beach.
Fastforward to episode nine “Lexmas”. Lex is shot and his life is in major danger. While unconscious he dreams of what his perfect life could be. Lionel uses his power and influence to get Lex medical care that he could only get as one of the richest men in the world. In contrast to how Lana dies in his dream without access to those resources. I feel like this is another accurate depiction. Lex’s life and ability are in serious jeopardy after getting shot and it’s implied that his recovery will be long.
Of course a few weeks later in episode ten “Fanatic” Lex is fine and back on the campaign trail. Just a miraculous recovery with no mention of it when two episodes later “Lockdown” he gets shot again. He doesn’t even show that he was shot at first! This time he’s left bleeding out for a long time, but after a quick trip to the hospital he’s fine and ready to finish the campaign the next week. No mention that just a month ago he was in serious jeopardy of never being able to walk again. Imagine being shot two months in a row? No way! It’s inconsistent and they treat major things like this as frivolous.
I wouldn’t say the way they handle guns is the biggest problem Smallville has. I love Smallville despite it flaws. I think Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum are excellent in their roles (not to mention John Glover, John Schneider, and Annette O’Toole). The effects are mostly passable and forgivable for being on television in the early 2000s. The show really hit it’s stride in the middle years moving away from cheesy freaks-of-the-week to the serial narrative.
Next week: Lois & Clark Season One yes I know I posted this on Tuesday not on Monday.
Clearly the biggest and most impactful thing of the year was wide availability of vaccination. Much of human history has been defined by our battle with infectious diseases. Our society as we know it is possible largely due to advances in medicine, specifically vaccines. I got my jab as soon as I could and got boostered as well.
To prepare for the Multiversity Comics Year in Review I had to make some lists. I didn’t do a great job keeping track or remembering all the comics I bought this year so my lists should be taken with a grain of salt. Probably lots of recency bias here, but my favorite ongoing books were:
Action Comics
Fire Power
Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters
Crossover
Black Hammer Reborn
Black Widow
Batman/Superman
Serial
and my favorite new books were:
Not All Robots
Human Target
Mazebook
Frontiersman
Superman ’78
Superman
What an interesting year for Superman fans. It brought the end of the Supergirl CW show, but the start of Superman & Lois. We got Lois & Clark and the Animated Series in HD on HBO Max (and later blu-ray), but also Zach Snyder’s Justice League. We are ending the year with Clark as the main star of the fewest in-continuity ongoing books in more than 80 years, but also got the Red & Blue anthologies, the ’78 mini, Superman/Authority, Jon Kent in his own book, and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The end of the Bendis run, but the start of the Phillip K Johnson run. No news of any further theatrical Superman movies, but we got our first glimpse at Supergirl from The Flash. We had a Superman Celebration and despite it being low key it was still a highlight of my year.
Let’s see what 2022 brings us. Superman & Lois Season 2, the 30th anniversary of The Death of Superman, more Jon Kent, and reportedly a bigger Celebration.
Movies
It was great going back to the theaters this year (25 times personally). The theater experience just can’t be beat for me. I recognize it’s not for everyone, but it is for me. Letterboxd makes top movies lists much easier than my comics lists. I log every movie I see and give it a spur of the moment star rating. Inevitably I miss movies or they come out after the year is over in my area so I wouldn’t consider this list definitive. I plan to see Drive My Car this weekend (Omicron permitting).
Music
Lots of great music this year, plus like the theaters live music has somewhat returned. My band Glacier was able to play a couple shows and I got to see Stephen Brodsky play in Quicksand, Old Man Gloom, and twice with Cave In. Plus lots of local shows like Circus Trees at The Sinclair.
My favorite new releases of the year in alphabetical order:
Hello dear readers. I’ve had so many things to write about, but no time to write about them. The end of Supergirl, the Injustice animated movie, the ongoing campaign for an extended cut of Superman IV, living legend George Perez, all things that deserve some words on this blog. All of them in the drafts folder of my brain.
What have I been up to you ask? I did some contributions for the excellent comic site Multiversity Comics as part of their 2021 Year in Review. It starts today with breakout writer, but keep an eye out for my contributions throughout the week on a few Superman related items.
For National Coming Out Day, DC has announced that Jon Kent, the titular Son of Kal-El, is bisexual. This is a clearly good thing. It expands and adds depth to a newer character that could use some new depth and differentiation. What else is there to say about it? Representation matters. Give us more like this.
I’m travelling the next few weeks, but mentally preparing for an actual piece when I get back.
I don’t quite have the energy for a full post this week so I will leave you with a YouTube page that I came across today. Elsa Charretier’s YouTube channel focuses on storytelling craft in comic books and from the first minute I was instantly hooked. The way she was able to break down Mazzucchelli’s page in the below video not only makes it easy to understand, but it puts into words what is genius about his art. Probably worth subscribing to her Patreon as well.
Long time comic readers will know publishers release their list of books that are shipping three months in the future. These solicitations will typically include creator credits, a short description, and a preview of the cover. Here are some that stood out to me this week.
Justice League 2021 Annual
Written by current Justice League scribe Brian Michael Bendis, the piece here that really excites me is the art and cover by Sanford Greene. Sanford Greene is amazing, I first saw his art on Power Man and Iron Fist and have been a big fan ever since.
World of Krypton #1
Written by Robert Venditti who recently wrote some of the Superman Man of Tomorrow digital first books and is currently writing Superman ’78. With art by Michael Avon Oeming who most recently has been doing the Midnighter backups in Action Comics. The World of Krypton title has been used for a couple books in the past and I love it. I enjoy different takes on Krypton. It’s something that lends itself to many very different interpretations. Plus Venditti gets Superman and has done cool things with Hawkman in the recent past. I’ve got an Oeming Superman sketch on my wall, he rules. Other details: cover by Mico Suayan, variants by A. D’Amico and Francesco Francavilla.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #6 & #7
I’ve been enjoying this series, especially because of Bilquis Evely’s art and Mat Lopes’ colors. Add on Nicola Scott and Steve Rude variant covers plus getting to see two covers at once makes this standout this month.
Superman ’78 #5
Written by the aforementioned Robert Venditti and art by Wilfredo Torres. We’re only one issue into this book and I already adore it. It just hits a great sweet spot for me. I’m very happy with multiple Superman books following different continuities every month. It’s my dream state. Plus I dug the covers. Standard by Francis Manapul and the variant (which is my current iPhone wallpaper) by Jamal Campbell.
Bonus
Lately the thing I’m most excited about in these solicitations has been J. Totino Tedesco’s variant Action Comics covers. This month’s gladiator Superman is no exception.
Over the weekend I found a copy of the Superman III comic book adaptation that DC released back in 1983. I had never seen it in person so I grabbed it right away. I’ve had the Superman IV adaptation (and its awesome Jerry Ordway cover) since I was a kid. I loved it back then and remember reading it while watching the movie on VHS in my grandmother’s living room. The last two Christopher Reeve films aren’t fondly regarded by most fans, but I’ve always enjoyed their charm. I try and watch them at least once a year.
I’ve recently read the Batman and Batman Returns comic adaptations to coincide with the release of Batman ’89. Something that stood out in those adaptations is they don’t have any of the internal monologue; no thought balloons. It made sense since they were adapting from a screenplay which wouldn’t include narration. The books move fast to squeeze everything into their page counts. Multiple scenes are sometimes put all on one page! On the other hand this Superman III adaptation reads like it’s straight out of the Superman comics at the time. Superman narrates everything he does just like readers in 1983 came to expect. Bates paces the issue similarly to a bronze age Superman book and of course has the classic Curt Swan art. He isn’t afraid to cut moments out of the story to work better in the medium. The characters aren’t drawn quite “on model”. Robert Vaughn’s Ross Webster looks like him, but Gus Gorman doesn’t look anything like Richard Pryor. It’s also disappointing to see how
poorly the coloring of the time handles skin colors that aren’t just white. While the book doesn’t totally redeem the sillier aspects of Superman III, it’s somehow more enjoyable in comic form. The cuts they make for pacing streamline the story and it’s an enjoyable read. Really happy to have it in the collection.
Afterwards, I revisited the Superman IV adaptation. Being post Superman 385 it uses the modern Superman logo with the rounded “U” and not the shiny movie style with the square “U”. Prices also seem to have doubled in the four years between them from $1 to $2. Along with the aforementioned Ordway cover we are treated with some rare post-crisis Curt Swan. Again, the characters aren’t drawn to resemble their movie counterparts with Swan opting for pre-crisis styles for Luthor, Perry, and even Jor-El. Most interestingly since the book is based on the script for the movie and not what was shown in theaters we get both incarnations of Nuclear Man. A real what if scenario. In 1987 Superman fans could get the crystals of the movie’s Krypton, this pre-crisis style Jor-El, and be introduced to Byrne’s take on Superman’s origin. With all the
talk of multiple versions of characters in movies and television I wonder if this was a concern for fans at the time. Byrne’s take on Krypton would be inspired thematically by the movie, if not visually. Later Superman comics would take more from the theatrical Krypton like crystals and a white haired, older Jor-El. The original comic source material being inspired by the adaptations it inspired.
It’s fascinating to see the choices made by these creators that are adapting a movie that was adapted from a comic book. Choosing the quintessential Superman artist of the time makes sense even if he’s not going to go through the trouble of making Clark look like Christopher Reeve. That wouldn’t fit with Swan’s style. Unlike the Batman adaptations that do have Ordway make Batman a bit more like Keaton. Especially with the movie costume. Swan doesn’t even bother to adjust the S to make it more movie like. Almost the opposite approach that artist Wilfredo Torres is taking with the current Superman ’78 book. Although Torres does make his S closer the comics than to the costume Reeve wore. The new books doing what Batman ’66 did before them to take that on-screen continuity and move it forward rather than take new additions from the screen and add them to the current continuity.
This brings me to my final thought and a dark secret: Superman Adventures, the Superman comic based on Superman: The Animated Series. Closer in idea to Superman ’78 as being a continuation of an adaptation in the original medium rather than an adaptation of an adaptation. I own about half of this run (actually only missing issues 47-65 except for 58), but have never read it. As I mentioned last week I like TAS, but there are some problems with it that keep it from being a favorite for me. Maybe my opinion will change after reading these books? A favorite twitter account of mine had the following to say on the subject:
I don’t often feel the need to compare things but Adventures of Superman comic >>>>>>>>>>STAS pic.twitter.com/KfYIBdyrFT
Looks like my homework for the week is to read some Superman Adventures.
Extra reading: check out this article on Gone and Not Forgotten about Superman’s origins on the radio. Good tie in to what I ruminate on here about inspiration from adaptations which makes it back into the regular comics and what things do not.
Today we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Superman: The Animated Series. Debuting on Kids’ WB all the way back in the fall of 1996. Batman: The Animated Series was a huge hit; it was natural to do Big Blue afterwards.
While BTAS stands as a definitive version of Batman, I don’t think Superman’s show does the same. Yes, there many people who grew up on this show and it was their introduction to the character. But this isn’t the version of the character that other incarnations are compared to like Batman TAS is. Tim Daly was great in the role, but he’s not sought after to do the character 20+ years later like Conroy is with Bats. You can’t swing a stick at a comic convention without hitting a Harley, but I’ve yet to see a Livewire in person. Batman TAS succeeded in being a synthesis of all the best parts of the character with iconic takes on his rogue’s gallery. Superman TAS is one of many enjoyable television adaptations of the character, just not the definitive one.
When the show was new I didn’t faithfully watch every new episode. It didn’t hook me despite being a weekly reader of Superman comics. I purchased the DVD sets as soon as they were released and experienced the show in full for the first time that way. Despite enjoying almost all the episodes, I wasn’t hooked. It didn’t become an iteration of Superman I would revisit over and over. When it came to HBO Max in HD I watched it again to try and come to terms with what is great about the show, and what I don’t love. Here are my thoughts.
What I don’t love
My first complaint is the show feels made to sell action figures. Superman gets several costumes all tailor made to sell toys. I get this was a kids show and selling toys was an important part of financing it, but in hindsight it makes the show feel cheap. We already have a Supermobile. Yes, I know it’s ironic for someone with a lot of these toys to complain the show was made for toys.
The second major thing that bothers me are the way so many female characters are designed with the male gaze in mind. I’m not trying to be prude, but there is literally an episode in which Toyman creates his perfect robot woman to control. This dates the show for me and takes away from my enjoyment of it. It doesn’t add anything. I know Bruce Timm is famous for his “good girl” art, which is great. A Superman show isn’t the right place for it in my mind.
My third issue is the reliance on fights. It’s an action show I know so surface level this complaint sounds dumb, but many episodes have their runtime padded out with a giant robot fight. They try to make these interesting with a less-powerful Superman, but they end up repetitive. It leaves less room for story. The best episodes of the show rely less on the giant robot fights and more on story. I feel the Justice League cartoon also relies on this; both of them more than my recollections of Batman TAS.
Finally, Jimmy Olsen is wasted in this show. This is more of a missed opportunity than anything. Jimmy gets little to do until almost the end of the series. This might sound nit picky, but the supporting cast is an important part of Superman. They don’t make this mistake with Lois, thankfully.
What is great
Speaking of Lois Lane, this version (and Dana Delany’s performance) is iconic. They nail the look, the voice, and the attitude. I’m glad Superman & Lois took inspiration from her. Brave New Metropolis is a standout episode for her character. It turns the evil Superman trope on it’s head and is one of my favorites. Her “Smallville” nickname for Clark was so true to the character it stuck.
Shirley Walker’s main theme is fantastic. It’s one of my favorite Superman themes and is an awesome example of the music saying the name“Superman” without any words like John William’s theme. Mondo even put out a die-cut vinyl version a few years back. All of the music is excellent and if I ever find the CD they put out a few years back for a reasonable price I’ll need to grab it.
One of the elements invented for the show that has found it’s way into other Superman media was the take on Brainiac. The simplified three dots iconography and the idea of Brainiac on Krypton were inspired ideas. Corey Burton’s cold, calculating performance is still creepy.
There are other villains that get great versions. The Mr. Mxyzptlk episodes are some of my favorites. I assume Gilbert Gottfried is a Superman fan since he not only appeared in the Superboy television show but he also wrote an issue of the comic. Bizarro is sympathetic and a major standout. It’s heartbreaking what Luthor does to him and his connection with Lois is sweet. The second episode with Metallo (Action Figures) gives him a moment to be sympathetic as well. It doesn’t last, but still stands out. Livewire is the best addition to the mythos from the show. It was a clever idea and would hold up today with some of the crappy podcasters we’ve got on Spotify.
Out of all the supporting cast, Turpin stands out the most for me. He gets a large amount of screen time and the tribute to Jack Kirby after his death was a beautiful touch. Kirby is king after all.
I can’t talk about STAS without mentioning Superman’s design. I adore this version. I had several statues and a life-sized cardboard cutout of this Supes. Like they did with the aforementioned Batman this design gets to the core essence of the character. Simple & classic, I have no notes.
