Superman is a 1988 American animated Saturday morning television series produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises for Warner Bros. Television that aired on CBS from September 17 to December 10, 1988, featuring the DC Comics superhero of the same name (coinciding with the character's 50th anniversary, along with the live-action Superboy TV series that year). Veteran comic book writer Marv Wolfman was the head story editor, and comic book artist Gil Kane provided character designs.
The series was the second animated Superman television series (after the Filmation-produced The New Adventures of Superman). While its characterization was in keeping with previous licensed incarnations of Superman characters (e.g. Superman had powers from infancy, Superman had an indestructible cape, and Lex Luthor referred to himself as a "criminal scientist") the series was notable for introducing Marv Wolfman's conception of Lex Luthor into animation. In the first episode, Luthor was portrayed as a billionaire possessing a ring fashioned with a kryptonite stone, which he used to keep Superman from apprehending him. Wolfman blended characteristics of his recent comic-book revamp of Luthor with Gene Hackman's portrayal of the character in live-action films.
Other characters included Cybron (a time traveling conqueror composed of energy) and an appearance by Wonder Woman, in her first non-print appearance since the of Super Friends. The Prankster, General Zod and Shadow Thief also makes appearances.
Classic characters included Jimmy Olsen, bow-tied in appearance, and Perry White. Lois Lane maintained her identity as an assertive woman with initiative, both in style and business attitude, although her dress and hairstyle were more reflective of the 1980s. A new character to the series was Jessica Morganberry, inspired by Miss Tessmacher of the live-action Superman film from 1978, who appeared to be the ditzy blonde live-in girlfriend of Lex Luthor with whom he fully confided his schemes.
Superman/Clark Kent was voiced by Beau Weaver, who would later go on to voice Mister Fantastic in the 1994 Marvel animated series Fantastic Four.
The final four minutes of each Superman episode were devoted to a brief snapshot from the "Superman Family Album". In addition to "super-baby" misadventures in the early episodes, the segments featured rites of passage such as Clark Kent's first day at school, an overnight scouting campout, getting a driver's license, his first date, graduation from high school, and ultimately his premiere as Superman. The initial idea for the segments was proposed by Judy Price, then head of the CBS Kids division.
During the approach of Superman's 50th anniversary, CBS teamed with Ruby-Spears to produce a new animated series hoping to tap into the zeitgeist having already produced the television special Superman's 50th Anniversary. Marv Wolfman was hired as story editor for the series as CBS had responded favorably to a Superman parody he'd written for the Garbage Pail Kids animated series and were unaware that Wolfman had written for the actual Superman comics. Wolfman had no problem adhering to the expectations of DC Comics and Warner Bros. due to his experience writing the character, but would often receive notes from CBS executives that proved challenging to work with. Producer Joe Ruby stated that when it came to Superman's character, the show took inspiration from Christopher Reeve's portrayal from the film series as they liked the combination of a sense of humor while still being Superman. Lex Luthor was written as a mixture of Gene Hackman's take on the character from the Reeve films as Wolfman found him fun to write, but did incorporate the Post Crisis take on the character making him a wealthy business magnate rather than a mad scientist criminal mastermind as he was in the film series and Silver Age of Comic Books. As Wolfman was not a fan of the Post Crisis Lois Lane on Superman's relationship, he also reintroduced the classic love triangle aspect where Clark Kent loves Lois while she loves Superman unaware that the klutzy Kent is in fact him.
Wolfman and his staff attempted to build stories incorporating Mister Mxyzptlk and Bizarro, but ultimately scrapped them as they couldn't find a way to make them work. Wolfman stated that the decision to incorporate more original rather than adapted antagonists for the series came from Wolfman feeling that Superman in contrast to Batman didn't have as good of a rogues gallery.
Superman struggled in the ratings as, according to Wolfman, the person in charge of CBS' children's programming had a thinly veiled distaste for superhero shows and put the show early in the morning where it struggled to meet its targeted demographic of 9-13 year olds. Coupled with the high licensing fees the series was canceled by CBS after one season. The series featured the final work of Jack Kirby during his time at Ruby-Spears as he would lose his position in the company following the end of the series.
The series is also of note due to its use of re-orchestrated versions of John Williams' classic themes from 1978's Superman: The Movie, as well as an opening sequence that delivered the same narration as the 1950s Adventures of Superman television series (but by the narrator from Super Friends).
Warner Home Video, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment released the series as a 2-disc set on November 3, 2009.