Customer Reviews

Ruby-Spears Superman

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Premiering on CBS in 1988 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Superman, this Joseph Ruby and Kenneth Spears (Ruby-Spears) produced cartoon series marked the first time that elements of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies and the post-Crisis Superman were combined onscreen. Veteran comic book writer Marv Wolfman acted as the lead story editor for the series and helped transform Lex Luthor from the mad scientist featured in the Superfriends cartoons to the billionaire industrialist found in the 1986 John Byrne penned Man of Steel revamp. Each episode consisted of a lead 18-minute Superman story, followed by a 4-minute flashback story that was part of the 'Superman's Family Album' segment, which chronicled Superman's life from his adoption by the Kents to his first appearance in costume. With character designs by the legendary artist Gil Kane, this series featured some of the finest animation that Superman had seen in decades, despite having lasted for only one season. The tone of the stories were also slightly more mature than what had been previously seen of Superman on the Saturday morning landscape, save for the underrated Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians cartoon series. The title sequence for each episode started off with the music cue from the John Williams Superman theme and quickly transitioned into the series' original theme music by Ron Jones, accompanied by the familiar "faster than a speeding bullet" narration made famous by the Fleischer Superman cartoons and the George Reeves Adventures of Superman TV series. Here are the episodes on this set;

1. DESTROY THE DEFENDROIDS- Superman must stop Lex Luthor's super-police force, the Defendroids.
THE ADOPTION- Baby Kal-El causes trouble at the adoption agency until the Kents finally decide to adopt him.
2. FUGITIVE FROM SPACE- An alien cop is hunting an escaped fugitive and Superman is caught in the middle.
THE SUPERMARKET- Little Clark makes a trip to the supermarket into an adventure for Ma Kent.
3. BY THE SKIN OF THE DRAGON'S TEETH- Superman unwittingly aids Luthor find a treasure in China.
AT THE BABYSITTER'S- The babysitter has her hands full with young Clark's super powered mischievous behavior.
4. CYBRON STRIKES- Superman does battle with a seemingly unstoppable cyborg from the future.
THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL- Clark tries to fit in at school while keeping his powers a secret.
5. THE BIG SCOOP- Lex Luthor learns that Clark is really Superman via a futuristic machine.
OVERNIGHT WITH THE SCOUTS- Clark's camping trip turns into a search for a legendary monster.
6. TRIPLE PLAY- The Prankster forces Superman to play in a rigged game of baseball for the lives of his friends.
THE CIRCUS- Clark no longer feels like an outsider when he accidentally joins a traveling circus.
7. THE HUNTER- Superman battles Phantom Zone villains including Zod and a shapeshifter called the Hunter.
LITTLE RUNAWAY- Clark runs away from home only to realize things were not that bad at home.
8. SUPERMAN & WONDER WOMAN VS. THE SORCERESS OF TIME- Our heroes must stop a threat to Paradise Island.
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY- Young Clark's birthday party is filled with surprises for Ma and Pa Kent.
9. BONECHILL- Superman battles a sorcerer with a magic talisman that can create monsters.
THE DRIVER'S LICENSE- Clark is nervous about passing his driving test with an instructor.
10. THE BEAST BENEATH THESE STREETS- Lois is kidnapped by a scientist turned monster.
FIRST DATE- Teenage Clark's first date with Lana Lang leads to several unforeseen problems.
11. WILDSHARK- Superman confronts an overzealous villain deep in the Bermuda Triangle.
TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY- Clark discovers that he cannot use his powers to play football.
12. NIGHT OF THE LIVING SHADOWS- Luthor develops a suit that can turn the wearer into a shadow.
GRADUATION- A series of catastrophes threatens to keep Clark from going to his highschool graduation.
13. THE LAST TIME I SAW EARTH- An alien seizes a space shuttle with Lois and Jimmy onboard.
IT'S SUPERMAN- Clark arrives in Metropolis and makes his first appearance as Superman.

The sole bonus feature for this set is the 'Corruption of the Corrupt: The Rise of Lexcorp' featurette, which examines Luthor's transition into the head of a greedy, corporate conglomerate. While the inclusion of series-specific extras would have been a welcome addition, most fans are probably just grateful to finally have this long overlooked series on DVD. With many of Superman's screen adaptations now available to own commercially, one can only hope that it is simply a matter of time before WB revisits the remaining Superboy seasons, as well. As for the exceptionally well-crafted Ruby-Spears series, it served as the perfect bridge between the kid-friendly cartoons of the 80s and the animated series phenomena of the 90s. Now, over two decades later, fans can once again enjoy these lesser-seen adventures in Superman's never ending battle!

Ruby-Spears Superman series finally gets the DVD treatment that is deserves. This show for a superman fan such as myself was classic animation at its best. Superman is an american icon and this short lived series was a great tribute to The Man of Steel. This series along with both of the Super Powers series will remain classics forever. This would make for a perfect christmas gift for any superman fan that you may have in your family. Ruby-Spears Superman series is fun for the whole family.

I have been waiting a long time for this set. So when it came out, I purchased multiple copies. Superman has never been drawn as well as this series. Like many cartoons from the 80's (ie. Pryde of the X-men, Inhumanoids, JEM, Visionaries, Super Powers: Galactic Guardians etc.), the character designs were very well done and this series was no acception. Superman has a hyper real, larger than life, comic book look, that most, if not all contemporary Super-Hero shows lack today.

Ruby-Spears did an incredible job on this series. Although the full series aired only once on network television in 1988, to celebrate Superman's 50th Anniversay, it left a lasting impression on many who were lucky enough to see it. I highly recommend this DVD set to any fan!!

This was always a tough Superman series to track down, even on the bootleg market. With only one season, it was never re-run anywhere that I know of and kind of forgotten.

The quality of the series was standard for its time. While the stories are a little more mature than the previous animated Superman incarnation in "Super Friends," it wasn't quite as groundbreaking "Batman: The Animated Series" (and later it's own Superman spin-off) which premiered a few years later.

The "Superman Family Album" segments are something that really makes this series stand apart. As a kid, these were my favorite aspects of the series and it makes you think that it could have been a series all its own. It's also pretty interesting how the last few segments showing Clark Kent's teenage years share aspects of the show "Smallville."

But, like I said, this is a collection worth having for it's rareness alone. The one featurette, about the transformation of Lex Luthor as a mad scientist to a corporate villian, is also extremely well done.

This is a hard to see series that was never shown after it's initial run. It was done when Saturday morning cartoons were still the tradition many years ago. It does not have the flash and can come across stiff compared with todays shows but the fun is still there. My Grandsons love it and watch it everytime they are down. It is only 13 episodes long and the stories are not like todays they are more innocent which can be a good thing when the child is onlt 3 or 6 years of age. I also like the animation as they were done by Ruby-Spears who also did Thundarr the Barbarian a favorite of mine. I recommend that anyone into the Man of Steel get this to complete your set and you will also probably enjoy it for the fun that it has.

I have followed Superman Character since the George Reeve days, where Superman stood for "Truth,Justice, and the AMERICAN WAY." It was these high ideas that help me form my own code of honor, to stand for truth, and deal with people justly. To know right from wrong and to strive each day to do right each day, just like Superman. To me this is the American way, something I believe is missing in the writting of Superman today. This series was a little hokey in some places, but I am glad that I have it in my Superman Collection. I hope that one day, fans of Superman will let the people at DC know that Superman still fights for Truth, Justice and the American way (the way Americans used to treat one another and that our Country stood as "light of truth and hope for those lost in the darkness of evil around the world.)

To celebrate Superman's 50th birthday in 1988, Ruby Spears produced this Superman cartoon and it was very good! However, after only 13 episodes, CBS pulled the plug on this Saturday morning cartoon show! It was unceremoniously cancelled! Thanks to DVD, we have a second chance to see it again. Its sweet "Superman spirit" is there! Musician Ron Jones(Star Trek The Next Generation) borrows a few music cues from John Williams' music score for Superman The Movie(1978). This Superman cartoon tries to emulate the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace(1987) was the last time that Reeve played Superman. This show isn't perfect. The plots are paper thin and each episode only runs 20-25 minutes. The WB Superman cartoon had better scripts. Each episode has a short adventure(Superman Family Album) where we see Clark Kent as a child. Clark Kent's blonde, female babysitter was pure eye candy! The opening credits are adrenaline-pumping! We see Superman flying through space and 30 seconds of John Williams' Superman theme music plays on the soundtrack! A short clip from this cartoon can be seen in the documentary Look Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman(2006) when Superman stops a train from flying off a train track. This animated series is a forgotten gem from Superman's past.

I remember watching this series when I was 3 years old, and it's even better than I remember...then again, I was three after all.
Anyway, the script writing is pretty good, especially coming out of the 80's, the animation ROCKS and I just can't get enough of this series. The only con with this is that it is only thirteen episodes long; the series should have lasted longer. Overall...good product.

The Ruby/Spears' version of Superman is a Saturday morning animated series that aired on CBS in 1988 and was created by the same team responsible for bringing the hit cartoon "Thundarr the Barbarian" to TV. Ruby/Spears' version of Superman was an animated reboot of the character, following a similar format used in the successful motion picture series. It even used the re-orchestrated versions of John Williams' classic themes from the movies, which was really cool. The stories were a little grittier with more action and seemed to be aimed at attracting older viewers that were fans of the Christopher Reeve movies. It was a welcomed and refreshing change after years of only seeing Superman featured as a part of the Superfriends, which was created for a much younger audience. The animation also matured in comparsion to the Superfriends predecessor, adding more artistic detail to the characters and fluidity to the action. Many of the episodes featured Superman facing off with his #1 arch-enemy, Lex Luthor; who was re-invented from being an evil scientist to a corrupt billionaire industrialist. Other than Lex Luthor, the only other familiar character from the DC Universe that appeared in this series was Wonder Woman - who, for the first time in her animated history, was given the power of flight like Superman. Although there weren't hardly any stories based on the Superman comic book timeline, Ruby/Spears' Superman managed to crank out entertaining sci-fi adventures, while still remaining faithful to his origins and the mythos that all of us are familiar with. If you're a Superman fan, Ruby/Spears Superman would be a great addition to your DVD collection!

My first memory of what would become a life-long love of Superman is from watching episodes of this brief series on Saturday mornings when I was five years-old. I've thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with these cartoons through these newly released DVDs. Each episode, while classically cheesy, is a kid- (and adult) accessible adventure with Clark, Lois, Jimmy, Luthor, and Supes. Based on the John Byrne relaunch of the Superman universe in 1986, each episode also features a "Superman Family Album" segment at the end that gives insight into Superman as a child and teenager in Smallville with Ma & Pa Kent. These parts are super-campy, but enjoyable nonetheless. I'm so happy that the Ruby-Spears series has finally seen the light of day. For true Superman fans young and old, this is a fun addition to your DVD collection.