Late 30’s, early 40’s. Max Fleischer studios. Terrific animation, imaginative stories (mild mannered, huh! Clark Kent was a smartass in this one! As he also was in the live-action Adventures of Superman). “The Magnetic Telescope” was probably my favorite episode.
Filmation Studios. This is the one I grew up with. Loved the rock and roll theme song (one of my all time cartoon favorites). Animation not as good, but on the plus side, it also had Superboy and Krypto. I still get a chill when I hear, “This is a job…For Superman!”
1973-198? Hanna-Barbera Studios. Probably the nadir of Superman. As part of the Superfriends, he was horribly drawn and the stories wewr mediocre at best. Got a little better late in the run with Darksied and the Legion of Doom (Cheetah, Schmeetah, what happened to Catwoman?).
Late 80’s. Ruby-Spears. A big improvement. Used the post-reboot Superman (Luthor as an Evil Billionaire instead of an Evil Scientist.) Movie theme song. Only lasted one season, but I liked it.
1990’s. Warner Brothers Animation. Bingo. If Supes could get any more perfect, I couldn’t see how. Used the Kirby - inspired animation style of Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. Loved Luthor, Lobo, and Darkseid.
In all my favorite version is the WB Superman, followed by Filmation, Ruby-Spears, Fleischer, and if I’m really desperate for a Superman fix, H-B.
Can’t really comment on the Ruby-Spears Supes, as I’ve never seen it. Though I should also add that, as good as the WB Superman is, IMO the WB Batman is even better.
I agree that, in retrospect, the H-B Superman is an unfortunate representation of The Big Guy; however, that was the one I grew up on, and when I was seven years old By God He Was My Hero. I loved it when he used his X-Ray vision to assist Plastic Man in some long-forgotten heroic endeavor.
The WB cartoon is by far the “truest” presentation of Superman that I have witnessed. By this I mean that he is shown with conflicts and weaknesses, and not as some sort of unbelievably invulnerable “J. Edgar Hoover G-Man Boy Scout”.
WB. Great scripts, great artwork, great voicework, and the single best representation of Mxyzptlk ever. The first time I saw Mxyzptlk’s episode, I nearly cried from laughing so hard. The WB version also wins due to it’s great companion pieces, Batman and Batman Beyond. Hey, any series that has Mark Hamill laughing maniacally is great right there.
Another vote for Warner Brothers as #1. The proof? When characters from the animated series are good enough to be adopted into the DC canon. Harley Quinn from Batman and Mercy (Luthor’s chaffeur/bodyguard/assassin) from Superman.
