Superman: The Ruby-Speers Series (1988)

A Single Bound

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Superman: The Ruby-Speers Series on DVD

This Saturday morning TV series, which was produced for Superman's 50th anniversary and lasted only one season, is notable for incorporating the "reboot" of the character, which made him slightly more vulnerable. Also in this version, Lex Luthor is an evil corporate billionaire. Comic book veteran Marv Wolfman supervised the writing of this show, which is above average, but the Ruby-Spears production house ("Thundarr the Barbarian," etc.) gave the show a cheap, quickie look that detracts somewhat from the show's qualities. (It was an improvement over some of the 1970s shows, but not as good as the animation that would come in the 1990s.) Each half-hour episode was devoted to a 20-minute adventure, and included a cute, 4-minute "Superman Family" short, mostly about Superman's life as a child in Smallville. In 2009, Warner Home Video released the entire series (13 episodes) on a two-disc DVD set. There's an bonus featurette about the rise of Lexcorp.

With: (voices) Beau Weaver, Ginny McSwain, Michael Bell, Mark L. Taylor, Stanley Ralph Ross, Lynne Marie Stewart, Tress MacNeille, Alan Oppenheimer
Written by: Marv Wolfman, Cherie Wilkerson, Martin Pasko, etc.
Directed by: Cosmo Anzilotti, Bill Hutten, Tony Love
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 309 minutes
Date: November 3, 2009