In 1992, when the Batman: animated series aired, the world changed. This may sound exaggerated, but I assure you that it is not. Not satisfied with being a children's cartoon—on the surface—Batman: The animation series helped revolutionize the dialogue in Western animation about how to use the media to tell mature stories suitable for audiences of all ages. When it proved to be a huge success, this inevitably led to the emergence of merchandise, movies, comics and other TV shows, and the humble Batman cartoon produced no less than eight derivative series.

The first of these is the Superman: Animated series, which premiered in 1996 and tried to do what Batman had done before. That is: to be widely regarded as the final view of the character, his supporting role and the whole world.

Although Superman is a very good series, it has never fully reached the level of Batman, but you can not say that it did not try. As I said, this is an excellent series, and it has just been released on Blu-ray, and it is amazing, even after watching it two and a half years later. As this iconic series was once again purchased more widely on physical media, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, I watched every episode to understand how the series performed. When watching the entire series again, some plots are as good as the ones in the memory (if not better), others are surprising, and some are disappointing. However, one thing I want to say is that this series is consistent. Yes, Batman is the better show overall, but there are also some lows in its incredible highs. On the other hand, Superman really only has one episode I think is terrible, and the rest are from average to top-notch.

Although the series has 54 episodes, I combined the multi-part collections into a single item to bring the total to 45. So, dear readers, here is a list of every Superman set, from smallest to largest, all for your pleasure in reading.

Written by Paul Dini and Rich Fogel

This episode almost—almost—successfully paid tribute to the B-rated film shlock, but it failed in the end. Despite a promising introduction and some in-game vocal performances, this story about the parasitic alien cult that enslaved the citizens of Smallville would not work. It appeared too late in the running of the series and was surrounded by other better episodes, which caused the episode to be almost forgotten, which was of no avail. "Unity" is the real loser of the series, although you almost have to see it with your own eyes to believe it.

Written by Hilary J. Bader

Considering Dana Delaney's unique mark in her role as Lois Lane, it is shocking that she did not appear in the spotlight until the second season. To be commendable is Delaney, which just shows how she has such a huge impact on Loyce's role, even if she is not at the forefront.

It's a pity that this episode is not better, because Delaney is great. The "target" itself is good and has some interesting ideas: Lois won an award for her journalistic skills and became the target of an anonymous, vengeful attacker. There are some red herrings around, and some beautiful scenes show how great Loyce really is as an investigative reporter, but the whole incident boils down to a jealous, petty person who feels spurned because of Loyce's lack of interest. At this time, this is an outdated metaphor, and as a child, this episode did not interest me, making it a perfect example of a missed opportunity.

Director Yano Yuichiro

Try my best, I just don't like this episode. I'm not sure what it is, because an episode dedicated to the friendship between Clark and Lana Lang should be an explosion. Instead, it's just... well.

Joely Fisher provided Lana with courage and attitude, and she has some good lines here and there. Getting her to establish a relationship with Lex, which in turn triggers an unintentional love triangle, has some interesting potential, especially when she conveys some illegal information about the Luthor transaction to Superman. All this has to do with arms trading, but it's a bit bland, and the main conflict feels uninspired. However, there is a cool rescue scene at the end, Superman must trek through some liquid metal, and the final scene is nice and sweet. I just hope this episode can get more than we get.

Written by Andre Donkin, Ron Fogelman and Paul Dini

What a strange episode. When I saw the name "Paul Dini", I thought I would definitely like this because I hardly remembered anything about it when I went in. However, I'm really not sure what I think, because it's just... so weird.

Metropolis was fascinated by the hottest new model on the scene, Darci Mason. She is perfect for anyone who sees her walking on the runway.

so perfect. Toy man Winslow Schott (Winslow Schott) turned his attention to her.

The idea of ​​a "wrapped beauty" that made the headlines is a bit unrealistic. Although once Darci's secret is revealed, there will be some interesting physical horror-type images, but I think there are too many derivatives of other dramas here. In particular, I am reminded of a lot of the "average season" and "chemistry" of the new Batman Adventures, and explored similar themes in this series' own episode with metal elements as the protagonist. Nevertheless, I still appreciate how strange Bud Cort's performance as a Toyman is, even though he is not as disturbing as his first appearance in "Fun and Games". The pleasant ironic ending actually saved the episode, even though it is still one of the weakest parts of the entire series.

Written by Hilary J. Bader

My man Kyle Rainer finally got what he deserved.

Too bad, it's just kind of... there. To be sure, it's cool to see Green Lantern, Sinestro, Guardian, and other aspects of the myth. Kyle also had some interesting heroic moments, as he became more and more satisfied with the power ring, and Ted Levine as a roaring performance of Sinestro rock. However, it feels strange to mix Kyle's personality with Hal Jordan's origins, and even more so to associate it with Superman. It's almost seen as an obligation, as if the creators felt they needed an episode of Green Lantern, even if they didn't have a story. I understand the intention, but this episode is less than the sum of its parts, and the other DC heroes in the entire series have better performances.

Written by Hilary J. Bader and Stan Berkowitz

This is a very good episode with a cool guest star, unfortunately, when you watch the series in order, he will get lost in the more powerful episodes surrounding it. Doctor Destiny is always cool and I like to see him on the show because it opens the world of animation to the magical aspects of the DC universe. Although the evil monster Kakur has a strange Lovecraft design, there is really nothing particularly memorable about this episode. Even Superman—he doesn't like magic—seems to be troubled by magical threats more than anything, even though his inspiration ultimately leads to the intervention of fate to be a beautiful Superman moment. It's okay, but nothing great.

Fighting Superman with evil Kryptonians has never been my thing, because I found it to be an overused and uninspired metaphor. Of course, telling a fascinating story can still be done very well, but if I tell the story in my own way, the story will be sealed for a long, long time.

"Explosion from the past" is an example of this story...very good. This is largely due to Ron Perlman, especially Leslie Easterbrook, as the Krypton warriors Jax-Ur and Mala respectively. The two put the Phantom Zone back into use after the introduction of the first few episodes, laying the foundation for the two to break free and wreak havoc on the earth. This story was the most interesting in the early days, when Mara seemed to have reformed and tried to follow the example of Superman. When Jax-Ur was liberated from the Phantom Zone in the second half, things started to become more formulaic, although Professor Hamilton tried to build a new Phantom Zone projector which was a bit interesting.

Perlman and Easterbrook had a lot of fun as evil "power couples", and it was fun to see Superman when Superman was able to relax more than other villains (and his "parole revoked" action film single line was enjoyable). This is a beautiful set of dramas, and attractive enough, but not the best that the series can provide.

Written by Hilary J. Bader

The content of this episode is more noteworthy than the execution. As an introduction to kryptonite, it is certainly a milestone item not to be missed, but as a whole story, it is a bit lacking.

I mean, no Superman series would be complete without that little green stone. Together with magic, this is the only physical weakness of tomorrow's man. As an introduction to the elements, "A Little Piece of Home" works well: we have a strange new rock, Superman’s uncertainty about why he suddenly became vulnerable, and the hero and his opponents are trying to use this knowledge for They get it themselves. During the execution, the script of the great Hilary Bader was a bit scattered, because it felt more like several interrelated scenes than a direct, consistent narrative.

However, there are many benefits. The jazz score when chasing the metropolitan skyline is in good contrast with some of its visual effects, which are almost farce nature and the rules of battle between Superman and robot dinosaurs. This episode is also the first appearance of Lex Luthor's assistants Mercy Graves and Professor Emil Hamilton. As the episode progresses, each of them will play a more important role.

All in all, this is an episode that you think you should like, but in the end you still liked it a bit, despite its flaws.

Written by Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg

After determining the appearance and tone of the excellent three-part pilot episode of the series, what will you do? Which enemy of Superman poses a sufficient threat to maintain high energy and provide a powerful threat?

To say the least, this is an interesting choice. Although this may seem like an unorthodox choice as the first "regular" episode after the premiere of the series, it has many benefits. It introduces Bruno Mannheim and Intergang, giving us a taste of all the advantages of Jack Kirby that will be provided in the entire series.

This interpretation of Toyman is also very interesting, reimagined from "unpleasant medium-sized guy" to "super creepy living doll". Considering that this is a cartoon on Saturday morning, the disturbing character design and the weird, whimsical soundtrack make this episode very disturbing. In view of the limitations of this type of program, its content and themes are far from enough, not just superficially weird, but I think the creators’ attempts are commendable.

After so many years, one thing that really impressed me in this episode is that the parasite asked to help Superman in return: cable television. Not a reduction of sentence. There are no more pleasant living conditions. Sweet, sweet TV.

The story is not bad: the terrorist Earl Garver placed a bomb somewhere in the metropolis, but it was blown up before he revealed the location of the bomb. As the bomb will explode in just a few hours, but Garver is not expected to recover within a few days, Professor Hamilton, Maggie Sawyer and Superman asked Rudy "Parasite" Jones to help find the bomb. When Rudy absorbed some of Garver's memories, the parasite was overtaken by the lunatic's stronger personality, causing two dangerous men to live in the same body. This adds another wrinkle to the "clock ticking" threat of the bomb, which slightly increases the stakes.

The legendary Brian Cox is pleasantly slimy and evil in his role as Garver, and after his first appearance in "Feeding Time", this episode does a good job of enhancing the abilities of the parasites. What delays this episode a bit is that the internal struggle between Jones and Garver has not reached its full potential, and Superman is wearing a diving suit with an S-shaped shield on his chest, which is a bit stupid. I like camp and stupid as much as the next person, and still like this, but it feels a little inappropriate in other rather intense plots.

Lois Lane's rival and potential admirer Edward Lytener returned to the scene, and this episode surprised me a bit. Looking at the description (Leitner escaped from prison and used "solar technology" to become the new villain Luminus), I remember that this is a very ordinary series, which was rotated regularly when I was a child, so my expectations were not high. Although it started slowly, but with Over time, it actually becomes very interesting.

Lytener's revenge plan is very model, standard super villain and the like, his costume is very similar to Metron in the fourth world, but there are a lot of very cool visual skills and lighting throughout the episode. A series of satellites filter sunlight and emit red star-like radiation, which significantly weakens Superman's power, while Luminus uses holographic double and disappearance strategies to stay ahead of Iron Man. I especially like Lytener's invisible base (discovered by Jimmy Olsen and Lois, the latter made a great point about locking invisible doors), and the illusion of strong light projected inside allows for some very interesting scenes. It's better than I remember, and it's always an advantage.