Although I purchased all the Fleischer Superman cartoons on VHS long ago, I recently got them on DVD as a present and last night I was watching them again.
They really are quite an achievement; very nicely drawn and animated; good scripts; good characterization of Lois and Clark.
The one that impresses me most is “Terror on the Midway”, in which Lois is covering a circus for the Planet when a giant gorilla breaks loose. One little clip, in which Lois turns her head and sees the gorilla, her expression changing to horror, is beautifully done, wonderful fluid animation.
And the animators used light and shadows marvelously. As Superman fights his way past fleeing crowds to enter the big top, he and the crowd are shown in silhouette against a canvas wall. The roustabouts trying to subdue the gorilla are shown in silhouette, their bodies thrown here and there in slow-motion by the rampaging beast. The feeling is surreal, like a nightmare.
And Superman’s fight with the gorilla is almost abstract–dark shapes moving, only Supe’s red shorts visible; a flash of the gorilla’s white teeth; Supe’s (almost) frightened eyes shown for an instant. Wow.
Out of the 17 cartoons, there are only a couple of clinkers. Two have stereotypical Japanese portrayals (but these cartoons were made during WWII); one has Superman fight a goofy-looking dinosaur; one doesn’t have Lois in it, just some anonymous blonde secret agent–Superman films should always have Lois. 
So anyway, Rocketeer sez two thumbs up. They’re public-domain and cheap; buy 'em and enjoy 'em!
I recommend them as well. Much fun. Mostly I want to point out that since they are public domain, they are all available on the Internet Archive for free. Download 'em and enjoy 'em.
I got these on VHS (really good quality dupes) quite a long time ago. “Terror on the Midway” is interesting in that the normal-sized gorilla is depicted in later shots as freakin’ huge. It’s the King Kong syndrome – he made giant gorillas trendy, to the point where the Sinclair Dino-Land at the 1939 World’s Fair had to include a giant gorilla, even though that made no sense in an exhibit full of dinosaurs. (By the time the 1964-5 World’s Fair rolled around, this had passed. There were no gorillas in the dinoland of my youth) This cartoon came out only a few years later, from an animation crew that had until shortly before been in New York City, so it’s not surprising that they’d have a huge and fierce gorilla under the twin influences of the movie and the fair.
the other cartoons are a hoot, too. They all tend to be dark and dramatic, with the city portrayed at night. As someone mentioned recently, the Superman cartoon Mechanical Monsters obviously influenced the movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I personally suspect the cave of The Bulleteers influenced the Batcave in the comics.
and take a look at the first one in the series – it’s the only one with a cartoony animal, the Mad Scientist’s parrot. After that they tried to stay serious. (And it’s always bothered me that the Mad Scientist has almost exactly one of the voices of Popeye)
Speaking of King kong, the Arctic Giant was one of the early “monster-on-the-loose” films, depicting a giant creature running amok through a modern city. as far as I know, its only predecessors in that were King Kong, the brontosaur in The Lost World, and Winsor McKay’s 1921 cartoon the Giant Pet. the trope wouldn’t surface again until the film Mighty Joe Young in 1949, and then break out big time in the 1950s.
I bought my mp3 gizmo with an oversized screen so I could watch cartoons on my lunch break. These Superman ones are the ones that have stayed on the gadget since the beginning.
I would pay good money for a first-rate DVD (Criterion, are you listening?). My DVD set’s picture quality is exactly the same as my VHS set; that is, a bit fuzzy and dark. It was a bit of a disappointment.