Superman: The Animated Series is the unofficial title given to Warner Bros.' animated television series of the late 1990s. The official title of the series was simply Superman, and (as the title suggests) it starred the fictional character of Superman. Warner Bros. applied the same "more modern, more serious" animated treatment to DC Comics' flagship character in the same way they had successfully produced Batman: The Animated Series. The result was a cartoon praised by comic book and animation fans, and seen by some as one of the best adaptations of Superman ever.

Airing more than ten years after the 1985 "reboot" of the Superman comic book character, the animated series paid tribute to both the classic Superman of old and the newer "modern" Superman. Elements of Superman from all eras of his history were included in the series, especially in a potrayal of the planet Krypton that fans praised as a "modernization" of Superman's origin that contrasted John Byrne's total remake, and some fans felt was superior to the "newer" comic book version. Most notable was the addition of the evil computer Brainiac as being originally from Krypton (like Superman himself).

The "new" Lex Luthor featured prominently in the series as well, menacingly voiced by actor Clancy Brown. Superman himself was voiced by Tim Daly .

While the series featured fresh re-creations of much of Superman's rogues gallery, the series' writers supplemented the limited supply of enemies by paying tribute to Jack Kirby's Fourth World creations which also introduced the villain Darkseid to the series as one of Superman's greatest enemies. Darkseid had actually been portrayed as a villain in the final two seasons of the Super Friends series of the 1980s, but in the new Superman series he truly became an enormously powerful, evil cosmic emperor. The tribute event extends to the supporting character, Dan "Terrible" Turpin, who is visually modelled on Jack Kirby himself.

After the series reached episode number 65 and began syndication, it was combined with repeats of the Batman animated series to become The Batman/Superman Adventures. The characters of Superman and Batman were then spun off into a new animated series, Justice League, which featured other popular DC characters as well.

Episode list

Season 1 (Sept 1996 - Feb 1997)

1. The Last Son Of Krypton - part 1 of 3
2. The Last Son Of Krypton - part 2 of 3
3. The Last Son Of Krypton - part 3 of 3
4. Fun and Games
5. A Little Piece Of Home
6. Feeding Time
7. The Way Of All Flesh
8. Stolen Memories
9. The Main Man - part 1 of 2
10. The Main Man - part 2 of 2
11. My Girl
12. Tools Of The Trade
13. Two's A Crowd

Season 2 (Sept 1997 - May 1998)

1. Blasts From The Past - part 1 of 2
2. Blasts From The Past - part 2 of 2
3. The Prometheon
4. Speed Demons
5. Livewire
6. Identity Crisis
7. Target
8. Mxyzpixilated
9. Action Figures
10. Double Dose
11. Solar Power
12. Monkey Fun
13. Brave New Metropolis
14. Ghost In The Machine
15. Father's Day
16. World's Finest - part 1 of 3
17. World's Finest - part 2 of 3
18. World's Finest - part 3 of 3
19. The Hand Of Fate
20. Bizarro's World
21. Prototype
22. The Late Mr. Kent
23. Heavy Metal
24. Warrior Queen
25. Apokolips...Now - part 1 of 2
26. Apokolips...Now - part 2 of 2
27. Little Girl Lost - part 1 of 2
28. Little Girl Lost - part 2 of 2

Season 3 (Sept 1998 - May 1999)

1. Where There's Smoke
2. Knight Time
3. New Kids In Town
4. Obsession
5. Little Big Head Man
6. Absolute Power
7. In Brightest Day
8. Superman's Pal
9. A Fish Story
10. Unity

Season 4 (Sept 1999 - Feb 2000)

1. The Demon Reborn
2. Legacy - part 1 of 2
3. Legacy - part 2 of 2

External links

• Superman: The Animated Series on toonzone.net