DVD : Superman - The Animated Series, Volume One (DC Comics Classic Collection)

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Bad DVD design
We bought this for our kids, because it has a french language track. My kids all love the DVDs, but I have to admit that the double-sided DVD is a very bad idea. There is no way to protect one side or the other. I just "repaired" side B, and hopefully it will work again. Of course, my oldests favorite episode was the one that was scratched & damaged. I think they could have splurged a little on the cost and given us 3 DVDs.

Rating:

- Worth a place in your DVD collection
This was a really enjoyable collection. This series has a certain style and a good mixture of drama and humor. The voice actors really make this series work. Tim Daly gives us a Clark Kent with a nod to the past but a modern outlook. He also manages to bring out a vulnerability in Superman who despite his great power is in a sense just as isolated from Earth as he is from Krypton. Dana Delany portrays Lois Lane as a strong no nonsense lady with equal parts sass and sarcasm, and I can't imagine anyone else bringing the amoral, power hungry Lex Luthor to life as well as Clancy Brown does. Yes this is something of a reworking of the Superman mythos, but it really doesn't detract any from what came before.

For the most part these episodes are fun and entertaining but I have to say that I found the three part opener "The Last Son of Krypton" to be a very dull way to start the series. I just don't think it worked well as an introduction to the character. That's not to say it didn't have its moments such as Ma Kent's reference to "that nut in Gotham City", and Lois asking if the new reporter Perry White hired is cute without knowing he was in the room.

But whatever that three parter was lacking is more than made up for by the rest of the episodes. Some the highlights for me were the episodes "Fun and Games" focusing on the sad yet disturbing Toyman, the two parter "The Main Man" with Brad Garrett as the outrageously destructive bounty hunter Lobo, "The Prometheon", and of course "Speed Demons" where Superman races The Flash.

Little did Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster know just what an impact the character would come to have on the public consciousness when he debuted in Action Comics #1 way back in 1938. In Superman they created a character with universal appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds. Superman is many things to many people but he has always been an idealized reflection of all that is good in mankind. Superman is meant to inspire the world to become a better place and the creators of this series kept that feeling of optimism alive in this version of Superman.

Rating:

- A Little Dated
Worse than being just a little dated in terms of animation quality and, to a lesser extent, its writing, terrible artifacts began to appear on the screen (little scratches, squiggly lines, "white outs", etc.) and, during the viewing of the "My Girl" episode on Disc Two, the DVD essentially became unwatchable: three-to-five second pauses, frame jumps, and various other video transfer annoyances that had me packing up the DVD (fresh from out of its box) to be returned to the store from whence it had come.

For aficionados of the animated superhero sub-genre, it is a worthwhile addition to any collection (baring in mind that you'll find better writing and animation in some of the other licensed DC material), that is if you can find a copy that actually works the way it is supposed to!

Be forewarned.

Rating:

- Jor El sent our World his Only Son
For 67 years his legendary story of his journey from Krypton to Earth, growing up as Clark Kent and saving Metropolis as SUPERMAN has become world wide bed time story and it is retold in his first animated series from 1996-1999. An entertaining action packed blast, an TV animation masterpiece, better than "BATMAN" one amazing heroic after another and featuring all the characters you know and love, Lois Lane; unforgetable love of Superman's life, Lex Luthor, Superman's # 1 archenemy, Jimmy Olson, young photographer, Perry White, Editor in Cheif of the Daily Planet and Jor El, the kryptonian scientist who gave our world his only son. If your a Superman fan or a TV animation see the super adventures of the Man of Steel in this DC Comics Classic Collection of SUPERMAN: the Animated Series. Truth, Justice and the American way.

Rating:

- I love this series
I was major comic book maniac as a kid, and collected just about everything from Marvel and DC between the years of 1971 and 1980. My interests changed as I grew older, so I sort of left the comics behind. I was vaguely aware of this series back in the day when it was current. I recalled seeing "The Main Man" back in 1996 when it was released. However, I never really got into the series until this year when I subscribed to satalight TV for the first time and began watching the series on Boom. Now I am utterly hooked. I bought this DVD collection and I am about 2/3rds through it. I'm loving every minute of it.

This is one of several great series with which Warner Brothers laid the ground work for the awesome "Justice League Unlimited" series currently running on Cartoon Network. This series is very accurate. Fidelity to the comic book is pretty high. They made some changes with Braniac which are quite fundimental to the Superman story, but these were good strong changes which drastically enhance this villain.

This cartoon constitutes a huge blast from the past for me, and it reminded me of why I idolized Superman as a youth. For all of you out there who hate the schlocky Christopher Reeve Superman and the weak-arse Lois and Clark series, this is the cartoon you want to watch. I just wish they would release volume 2 and give us the origins of Supergirl.

Hey Amazon: How soon will we be able to order Vol.2?

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