Superman: The Last Son of Krypton

This is the three-part premiere of the Superman animated series from the '90s. The first episode only features Superman as a baby, dealing mostly with the events on Krypton leading up to its destruction and baby Kal-El being sent to Earth. Love the way they incorporated Brainiac into that. The second part deals with young Clark Kent in Smallville learning to deal with his powers and origins. This leads into his going to work for the Daily Planet in Metropolis and making his debut as Superman. The third part is about Superman's first clash with Lex Luthor and setting up that dynamic for the future.

I enjoyed the '90s Superman series a lot. Along with Batman: The Animated Series, it was a great time for DC animation. The voices are terrific. Tim Daly and Dana Delany have become so synonymous with Clark and Lois, every new voice actor they try to use these days is automatically compared to them. And Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor? Forget about beating that! The rousing music score is fantastic, just what a Superman score should be.

It's great to look back on this series and see a proper representation of Superman and his world. It's all gone now, in the comics and in the movies. The lighter, more colorful tone has given way to "realism" and bleakness. Superman's a shell of his former self. But this cartoon got it right. It's great fun for kids and adults. If you have never seen the series, this is the place to start.

I enjoyed this start to the Animated Series. It gave Superman an origin that seemed to simplify the destruction of Krypton, yet tied in the comics a great deal. What I liked about this incarnation the most was how Superman wasn't overly powerful like in some incarnations. The animation is very crisp, and Tim Daily is PERFECT as the voice for Kal El. I got such a kick out of seeing Lex getting annoyed by the quiet, hovering Superman near the DVD's ending. I never caught all of the series' premier, so this $10 DVD was worth every penny. I only wished that the show lasted longer, too bad the WB nixed it. Its my fave DC animated series bar none so far, including Batman.

This feature length video release is actually a re-cutting of the three part pilot for the new superman series produced by Warner Bros. using mostly Japanese animation talent. The pilot re-tells the familiar origin story of the Last Son of Krypton, while introducing two classic DC villains (Brainiac and Lex Luthor) and giving us a feisty new Lois Lane.

The look very 50s comic bookish and kind of sci-fi retro. Metropolis looks like what TV and the movies were predicting for the year 2000: an urban landscape of huge buildings, elevated highways, high speed commuter trains, all very ultra-modern and glossy, and yet clean, efficient and familiar. The color palette is very bright and full of primary colors, giving the cartoon a Sunday supplement feel. My biggest complaint relates to a slightly clumsy look to the character animation, and even this is really minor. It's a big step up from Superfriends.

The show has a good look, great stories and lots of superhero action, and Clark Kent himself (as voiced by Tim Daly) is wryly amusing and stubbornly heroic in the face of occasionally tough choices. I watched this pilot and signed on for the run of the show. Recommended.

Superman: The Last Son of Krypton is a movie that serves as the three-part series premiere to Superman: The Animated Series. In this, Jor-El sends his infant son when Krypton is destroyed, the knowledge kept from the planet's people by Brainiac, who also escapes. The baby grows up under the name of Clark Kent, and after learning of his heritage after saving a little girl from an exploding RV, he moves on to Metropolis as an adult and becomes Superman. And at a good time, as Lex Luthor is plotting to give a battlesuit to terrorists from Kaznia.

A show released four years after Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Last Son of Krypton has the same great storytelling as its predecessor, despite being set in a lighter tone. The action sequences are great, and there is even a reference to Batman (since his cartoon came first). This is a good start to one of the greatest animated shows of the 1990's.

What I most enjoyed about "The Last Son of Krypton" was that it made a good effort to stay true to the comic book series. I liked how they worked in that Brainiac was actually responsible for Krypton's demise, though that was not the case in the comics. We also got to see a little bit of what exactly made Clark Kent become Superman.