The New Adventures of Superman

Okay, I know that in my last installment I said I would continue my analysis on the "Superman" Ultimate Collector's Edition with a look at the deluxe version of "Superman IV". But today I have to steer off track a bit, because what happened to arrive in my mailbox yesterday but Warner's DVD release of "The New Adventures of Superman" (MSRP $26.99), slated for release June 26!

September 1966 was a pretty good time, if you ask me. The original "Star Trek" premiered on NBC, and toward the end of the month I was born (that's showing my age right there!). The Beatles had just completed its last live concert tour and went into the studio to begin work on an unprecedented project that would come to be known as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". America was caught up in the outrage over the Vietnam War. And on the airwaves America was just getting into the campy but enjoyable new series of the time, "Batman". But in September 1966 there was another new series that hit the air with almost little fanfare, a new half-hour Saturday morning animated series called "The New Adventures of Superman".

After nearly 30 years in the comic book industry, with an equal amount of success in the newspapers with a long-running comic strip, 17 animated installments produced in the 1940's, a successful radio show, two theatrical serials, and a long-running television series in the 1950's, Superman seemed almost passe' during the 1960's. By that time the comic strip was winding down, its most notable portrayer George Reeves had been tragically killed, and Broadway had tried to put its own mark on the character with a musical adaptation. That just left the comic books as the sole domain at the time for the Man of Steel. But Filmation Studios, which would produce many seminal cartoon series of the 60's and 70's with "Scooby Doo", "The Flintstones", "The Jetsons", and "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids", among others, took its own spin on the last son of Krypton and scored a major hit with Superman fans and young viewers everywhere.

What made "The New Adventures of Superman" a success was that producer Lou Scheimer and director Hal Sutherland treated the Superman material with respect, going back to the original comic book source to produce each animated installment, which ran 6-7 minutes apiece, in the style of the Curt Swan look of the character at the time. That's not a lot of room for character development, but for Saturday morning not a lot of depth was needed, just a straightforward simplicity and respect for the comics themselves. Still, they could pack in two segments (along with a Superboy segment) in each half-hour and keep things interesting. Even more so, Scheimer and Sutherland recruited two veteran Superman actors to help bring the series to life - Clayton "Bud" Collyer and Joan Alexander, who voiced the characters of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively, in the Fleischer cartoons and the radio series.

In each of these segments Superman would routinely encounter villains familiar to long-time readers: Lex Luthor, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Brainiac, the Toyman, and the Parasite were among the villains who would give the Man of Steel his fair share of trouble. Another running thread throughout the series was Superman's encounter with gorillas in several installments, as well as battles against time-traveling magicians, an aquatic race of mermen living in the Earth's core, and energy-controlling aliens, among others. In addition, long-time supporting character Jimmy Olsen made his animated debut in this series. To keep the series fresh and running for young viewers, the series would feature two Superman segments and one Superboy segment per each half-hour. In all, a total of 36 animated Superman segments and 18 Superboy segments were produced in 1966. By the fall of 1967, Superman would later be featured as part of Filmaton's "The Superman/Aquaman Hour", which would also bring the Justice League of America to animation for the first time. All of these cartoons, along with a 1960's "Batman" animated series (which has yet to be released on DVD) and the 1970's "The New Adventures of Batman" (releasing on DVD at the same time as the "Superman" set), would later be recycled into daily syndication through the 1980's as part of a DC Comics-themed animated series.

Through it all, "The New Adventures of Superman" continued to thrill fans. I remember routinely catching these segments during the 70's and 80's, always remembering how goofy and fun these cartoons were. Previously Warner Home Video had issued 60-minute compilations of several of the Superman and Superboy segments in respective individual VHS releases in 1988 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Superman character. Last year we got our first hint at a possible DVD release, thanks to clips surfacing in Bryan Singer and Kevin Burns' documentary "Look! Up in the Sky - The Amazing Story of Superman". Now Warner Home Video has brought "The New Adventures of Superman" to DVD in a new two-disc set, and I've got to admit, it's like stepping back in time!

Each of the 36 segments are spread across two discs, 18 episodes per disc, reproduced in their original full frame format and Dolby 2.0 sound, with optional closed captions. For some reason the packaging indicates a 5.1 track for this set, but as simple as this series is, you don't really need to go any further than a 2.0 track. While these segments are arranged in production order, for some reason Superman's first encounter with Brainiac, the 33rd segment "Superman Meets Brainiac" appears after the 12th segment, "The Return of Brainiac". This makes it a little confusing continuity-wise, but aside from this misstep it's nonethless a nice arrangement.

The only extras on this set can be found on Disc 2, limited to just one featurette and a trailer gallery. The sole featurette on the set, "Superman in '66", is a 15-minute look at how the Man of Steel was brought to life in animated form for the first time since the 1940's. Interviews with DC Comics writers and artists look back at the 1960's and how the era influenced the look of this latest Superman series, leading to his debut in animated form from Filmation.

The trailer gallery includes preview trailers for the season sets of "Justice League Unlimited", "Batman Beyond", "Teen Titans", and "The Batman"; and the upcoming DVD releases of 60 vintage "Popeye the Sailor" cartoons produced by the Fleischer Studios in the 1930's (now this ought to be a treat indeed!), as well as the complete DVD collections of "Space Ghost", "Birdman", and Tex Avery's "Droopy" (Now let's not get nosy, bub!) Also on Disc 2, while unadvertised, is a teaser for the upcoming direct-to-DVD release of "Superman: Doomsday", adapted from the phenomenal 1992-93 "Death of Superman" comics trilogy and the first of the new DC Universe-themed original animated film series. Now this I have got to see!

If there is one significant caveat about this new DVD release, it's that all of the Superboy segments have been left off the set, despite the fact that the end credits sequences retain the Superboy voice credit on screen. This loss is due to the continuing legal issues between DC Comics and the heirs of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster over the legal rights to the Superboy character. This continuing legal problem has kept the Superboy segments, the 1961 Superboy pilot with John Rockwell, and (along with poor DVD sales) the remaining seasons of "The Adventures of Superboy" from 1989-92 with Gerard Christopher, from appearing on DVD in an official format. This is really a shame, if you ask me. I hope that one day soon these issues are cleared up and the Superboy character is given the love he rightfully deserves.

Watching "The New Adventures of Superman" on DVD is like stepping into a time capsule back to my youth. And just a few days ago, my daughter, who's 2 1/2, can now identify Superman and Batman by name just by looking at them - what can I say? She takes after Daddy! This is a fun and enjoyable addition to the Superman canon. I hope Warner steps up to the plate and issues the 1988 Ruby-Spears Superman animated series, as well as all of the unreleased Superboy material, on DVD down the road soon.

Okay, as promised, next time I'll be back with my thoughts on "Superman IV". See you then! :)