Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
For the history of Superman, check out the post here.
As the DC Comics Universe was nearing
its 50th anniversary, there were some growing pains to contend with;
namely that in that time, the established history of the characters just didn’t
mesh. How could Superman be the last son of Krypton if there was an
assortment of other Kryptonians running around? How is it that Batman served in World War II and yet still looks
to be in his 30s? And just what were they going to do with all those many parallel
Earths they had created as an explanation for some of the more out-there
stories from the Golden and Silver
Age of comics?
A visual representation of the Crisis event.
Marv Wolfman
and Len
Wein
proposed a plan to help clean-up DC’s convoluted continuity with an event
called Crisis on Infinite Earths(named for the
annual Justice
League/Justice Society
crossovers that began with “Crisis on Earth-One”). The story followed a cosmic
being known as the Anti-Monitor
as he began destroying the parallel worlds of the DC Universe, and various
heroes and villains from the five remaining ones banded together to put a stop
to him. Ultimately, the five realities end up merged as one. Crisis on Infinite Earths ran as a
12-issue maxi-series between 1985 and 1986.
The Man of Steel #1, depicting baby Kal-El's escape from Krypton.
A few months after Crisis concluded,
writer/artist John Byrne—fresh off a split
from rival Marvel Comics—was tapped to pen
the official new origin for Superman. His six-issue mini-series, The
Man of Steel, gave a rundown of the
key moments of Superman’s life. The post-Crisis
Superman had a specific set of largely reduced powers (no more towing
entire planets with giant chains); Martha and Jonathan Kent were still alive
(their status changed quite often, with one or both of them being alive or dead
at different points in Superman’s life, as well as being depicted at different ages);
Lex Luthor went from being a mad scientist to a corrupt billionaire
industrialist; Superman no longer had costumed adventures as
Superboy in Smallville and only first
donned the costume when he went to Metropolis; all other
Kryptonians disappeared, with Supergirl becoming an
artificial being created by Lex; and more.
Ruby-Spears' Superman.
In 1988, the year of Superman’s 50th anniversary, Ruby-Spears Productions acquired the rights
to produce the third solo Superman series, and his second on Saturday mornings.
The series was the first representation of the Post-CrisisSuperman outside of comics and closely followed
the mythology established in The Man of
Steel (unlike the live-action Superboyseriesthat
debuted the same year). However, it
was also heavily influenced by the Superman
film franchise starring Christopher
Reeve as evidenced by its portrayal of a bumbling Clark Kent to distinguish
his identity from Superman (Beau Weaver), and the use of a re-orchestrated
version of John Williams’ “Superman March”. It also paid
homage to previous incarnations through the introductory narration from The
Adventures of Superman, which wasspoken by William Woodson from the
just-concluded Super Friendsfranchise, and Superman’s constant utterance of
“Up, up and away!” whenever he took flight.
Superman flying with roboticized Lois and Jimmy.
Wolfman
served as the series’ story editor, as well as writing several of the scripts
himself. Ironically, it wasn’t because he had worked on the Superman
comics—it
was because he was the story editor of the Garbage Pail Kids cartoon
and the network really liked the Superman parody featured in one of the
episodes. Artist Gil Kane
provided the character designs. Other comic creators who worked on the show
were Buzz Dixon, Martin Pasko and
Steve Gerber, as well as regular
television writers Karen Wilson,
Chris Weber, Michael Reaves and Larry DiTillio. Ron Jones was the show’s composer, and the show was animated overseas by Toei Animation and Dae Won
Animation.
Lex Luthor and Jessica Morganberry.
Superman, also known as Ruby-Spears’ Superman, debuted
on CBS on September 17, 1988. Each episode was
broken up into two segments. The primary segment focused on the adventures of
Superman and his battles against evil. The show utilized a variety of new
villains created specifically for the show, but did feature Lex Luthor (Michael
Bell) as a recurring foe, complete with Superman-repelling Kryptonite ring. Lex was a cross
between the ruthless businessman established by Byrne and the eccentric
portrayal of Gene Hackman in
the films.
The
second segment was “The Superman Family Album”. Primarily written by Cherie Wilkerson
with two done by Wolfman and Meg McLaughlin,
respectively, these four-minute segments served as a prequel to the overall
series by focusing on Clark’s childhood. They began with his being discovered
by Jonathan (Alan Oppenheimer) and Martha Kent (Tress MacNeille) up until he
moved to Metropolis where he began working at The
Daily Planetwith
Lois Lane (McSwain), Jimmy Olsen (Mark Taylor) and Perry White (Stanley Ralph
Ross)—not to mention also becoming Superman. While the segments adhered to the Post-Crisiscontinuity of Clark not having any
adventures as Superboy, it deviated a bit by having all of Clark’s powers
present while he was a newborn. Those powers often served as the source of
comic relief and conflict in the stories.
Superman teaming-up with Wonder Woman.
Despite the high quality of the production, the show was plagued by
several problems including budgetary constraints, high licensing fees and poor
scheduling that pitted it against Disney powerhouses The Adventures of the Gummi Bearson NBCand The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on ABC. Wolfman also criticized the
timeslot in which the show aired, as the expected audience at that time skewed
younger than the demographic they needed in the later hours.As a result, the show never went beyond its
single season. It was notable, however, for being the first television
appearance of the Post-CrisisWonder Woman (Marry
McDonald-Lewis) from George Perez’s acclaimed reimaging of the character,
and her last Saturday appearance until 2016’s Justice League Action(although the character would star in 2001’s Justice
League and multiple films). It was also the first appearance of S.T.A.R.
Labs outside of comics, which would come to factor into a variety of future
DC Comics-based programs.
“Destroy the Defendroids / The Adoption” (9/17/88) – After
Lex Luthor’s crime-fighting robots drive Superman away, he uses them to rob a
Fort Knox train. / The Kents take baby Kal-El to the orphanage and end up
adopting him when his powers drive others away.
“Fugitive
From Space / The Supermarket” (9/24/88) – STAR Labs discovers an alien
spaceship and Superman has to figure out which of its occupants is a policeman
and which is a criminal. / Martha tries to conceal Clark’s powers during his first
trip to the market.
“By
the Skin of the Dragon’s Teeth / At the Babysitter’s” (10/1/88) – After Luthor
buys the Great Wall of China, he accidentally brings a Dragon King statue to
life. / Young Clark uses his powers to get away from his babysitter and avoid
bedtime.
“Cybron
Strikes / The First Day of School” (10/8/88) – Lois’ birthday is interrupted by
a hostile cyborg from the future who can turn people into robots. / Clark’s
first to day of school introduces him to Lana Lang and trouble when he’s blamed
for letting the class guinea pig escape.
“The
Big Scoop / Overnight with the Scouts” (10/15/88) – Lex steals a device that
allows him to see the future and discovers Superman’s identity. / Clark goes
camping with the scouts and they share ghost stories around the fire.
“Triple
Play / The Circus” (10/22/88) – Prankster forces Superman to pitch for his
baseball team for the lives of the various people he’s captured. / Clark ends
up joining the circus.
“The
Hunter / Little Runaway” (10/29/88) – General Zod, Ursa and Faora arrive and
create a creature called The Hunter who takes on the properties of Kryptonite.
/ Tired of his home, Clark tries to run away only to discover his life wasn’t
so bad after all.
“Superman
and Wonder Woman vs. the Sorceress of Time / The Birthday Party” (11/5/88) –
Superman stops a meteor and accidentally frees a prisoner on Themyscira as a
result. / Clark gets a surprise at his birthday party.
“Bonechill
/ The Driver’s License” (11/12/88) – A bookstore owner uses a talisman to gain
powers over various monsters. / Clark takes his driving test.
“The
Beast Beneath These Streets / First Date” (11/19/88) – Researchers discover a
sunken part of old Metropolis where mad scientist Dr. Morpheus plans to steal
Superman’s powers. / Clark goes on his first date with Lana.
“Wildsharkk
/ To Play or Not to Play” (11/26/88) – Superman tries to stop Wildsharkk’s ship
hijacking in the Bermuda Triangle. / Clark wants to play football, but his
powers give him an unfair advantage.
“Night
of the Living Shadows / Graduation” (12/3/88) – Lex invents a suit that makes
its wearer become a living shadow and instigates a crime spree. / It’s
graduation day, and Clark’s robe ends up dirty right before the ceremony.
“The
Last Time I Saw Earth / It’s Superman” (12/10/88) – An alien abducts the
shuttle Lois and Jimmy are on in order to steal proteins from their bodies to
become immortal. / Clark moves to Metropolis and begins his life as Superman. Originally posted in 2017. Updated in 2025.
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