I probably won’t revisit it for awhile because I have so many other shows on my plate. I will circle back around to it eventually, but it’ll be while before I can.
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Geez. It seems my reply that I posted on Tuesday to this got lost in the mulitverse somewhere. 
Think I’m gonna blame the red skies for that. Seems appropriate at any rate. Guess I’ll have to recreate it somehow but it won’t be as good I fear. Just short and to the point.
Superman #415 was my favorite of those. Seeing Superman and Salkor dealing with the death of Kara was poignant to me as was seeing them both find some closure through her final message. I found it especially so at this time because my father died 15 years ago today and he left me a similar message.
Mostly though I thought these tie-ins were very typical of these types of comics. Some played only lip service to the event they are tying into while others seemed to be a little more directly related to the event.
Absolutely my favorite episode of the Superman: TAS and I tear up every time I watch this one. The praises it garners are all well deserved.
As much as I love the SM:TAS episodes the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic gets my vote and my favorite moment from that was Kara’s last message to Kal and Salkor in SM #415.
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I’d go as far as to say that STAS is better than the Donner films in terms of getting Superman right.
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Right? I’m a fairly stoic, straight faced guy in most respects. Real men can and do cry, but I just typically don’t tear up most of the time when others might.
This episode though? Oh man, it hits the heart at multiple points:
-Dan’s death
-Superman’s unleashed anger
-Dan’s funeral
-Superman saying “Goodbye, old friend. In the end, the world didn’t need a super man. Just a brave one.”
Boy, I teared up just writing that list. 
The scene of Superman standing silent at Dan’s tombstone is also undeniably one of the most beautiful, poignant and touching moments in the entirety of the show and the DCAU. You have the most powerful man in existence standing in silence as he honors a fallen hero at his place of rest. A mortal man who gave his life to stand for others, do what was needed and thought nothing of putting his life on the line so that others would live. THAT is heroism, and for Superman to be in awe of this man says something. This scene is also beautifully drawn, with perfect musical accompaniment.
Thanks for reading and watching @JasonTodd428. 
I agree in some ways. Years and years ago (after STAS had ended and long before it came out on DVD), I was at what would eventually become a regular comic haunt, and STAS was playing on the TV in the back. Two of the employees were watching it, and one said to the other “You know what this got right over the first movie? They spent time on Krypton and showcased it in good detail.” I didn’t disagree with that then, nor do I today.
STAS and Donner’s Superman are really neck and neck for me. They’re both enormously entertaining, ear to ear smile inducing, heart pumping, chill inducing, exhilarating entertainment rides that hit the nail spot on in a ridiculously large number of ways. I’ve watched this stuff since I was kid, through my teens, 20s and into today. As I mature, I find I’m loving it even more than I did all those years ago (and that’s saying something).
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Exactly so. That’s why I love this episode so much. Everything about it was pitch perfect.
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I got chills of joy when the armies of New Genesis showed up at the end of part 2 (another pitch perfect moment). The music and all of the assorted easter egg characters (look closely and you’ll see Metron, Big Barda, Mister Miracle and Forager, among others) were really rad.
The dedication to Kirby at the very end was nice too. Truly a class act for a man who himself was a class act.
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Yeah, that was another great moment.
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I don’t really remember these episodes. I think I watched more Batman and Justice League. It was a very good episode and now I might have to continue Superman animated.
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@hotstufflouieb STAS is good, good stuff, so I say stick with it.
Then again, I’m a wee bit biased towards the show. 
I think for me, honestly part of why I put STAS far above it is because the Reeves movies never really did anything for me. I think I talked about it before when we were doing that BYOD thing, but I never was able to finish any of the movies until I was…16, give or take, I would just fall asleep.
But the animated series, I got WAY into that as a kid. I have good memories of rushing home from school to catch the Batman/Superman Hour on the WB. While admittedly I was mostly in it for Batman at first, that cartoon series is where I got my love for Superman as well.
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Regarding The New Batman/Superman Adventures, I’m in the same boat @Jay_Kay.
It was my favorite thing on Kids WB to watch after school and on the weekends, and that was primarily due to TNBA.
However, I also enjoyed STAS at the time, just to a lesser degree, and that was likely due to the toys, as Kenner had a greater toy focus on TNBA (that line also had more variety than their STAS output).
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Well, I really liked DCP #87 and the introduction of Superboy Prime (back when he wasn’t ruining everyone’s day), but I found all of the other issues to be utterly tedious and almost unreadable. The Superman comics of this era always feel so dated when compared to contemporary comics featuring the other big DC heroes, and they’re utterly boring in comparison to the Golden Age stories we read last time because they’re far too detached from anything resembling a normal human experience or even a relatable power fantasy. The one exception, again, is the one featuring a “Clark Kent” who grows up in a world where Superman is a fictional character, only to discover that he has been that character all along.
As for “Apokolips…Now!”, it’s one of the better episodes of a series that I don’t like. Take that backhanded compliment as you will. 
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@AlexanderKnox If I recall, you like Kenner, so I will take your compliment just fine, good sir.
SN: I saw the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the Batman movie comic came out this week in print. Are you procuring that with your grant, Knox?
I already have the original printing sitting on my shelf right now, so I’m not sure if it’s worth the double-dip just to have it in hardcover and with the black-and-white art.
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I have it in the trade that collected all four adaptations, but I’m thinking it might be worth a Hoopla read next week when it hits digital.
Ah, I never picked up the adaptations of the Schumacher films. Also, I should note that I’ve owned the comic for nearly 3 decades, so I’m being really stingy when I talk about avoiding double-dips! (I still have a fairly worn copy of the novelization, too.)
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Of the Crisis on Infinite Earths tie-ins that constitue this week’s reading selection, what was your favorite, and how do you feel it related to the Crisis itself? Were they worthwhile tie-ins that added to the overall COIE experience, or cash grab tie-ins?
I think I’ll go with Superman and Supergirl’s fight against Blackstarr. Really solid, fun cosmic storytelling that felt in line with the Crisis event.
I will say this for the Supergirl secret marriage story: when I first saw the cover for it I have to admit I kind of rolled my eyes a little. It’s kind of the epitome of hacky Silver Age storytelling, especially with women characters only written like that because, well, they’re girls, what else are you supposed to do with them? But going into it, I was surprised by how well it was handled – sure, their romance was a bit too fast to believe, but I dug the interaction that the husband and Superman had.
It was also cool to see more of Superboy Prime before Geoff Johns would later use him as his avatar for obsessed, crappy fanboys, and, y’know, “I’LL KILL YOU TO DEATH!”
Also, while the connection to Crisis was…strenuous at best, the Creeper story was interesting if only for Keith Giffen’s great experimental art.
“Apokolips…Now!” is regarded as one of the absolute best episodes of Superman: The Animated Series and for damn good reason. Its praises can be heralded and sung high and wide, but what did YOU think of it? It’s okay if you teared up at the end, as I do that every single time I watch this one.
Damn good reason indeed. What I really liked about this when I first went through the entire thing chronologically is how the creators really built up to this moment, with Intergang, Manheim, and even Kalibak showing up previously. You didn’t really see that in animation at this time, as I recall.
And when it did climax, it doesn’t disappoint, with an overall solid story that really did good character work for established characters like Superman and Dan Turbin, and effectively introduced Orion and the New Genesis cast.
But I think what really cements it as a classic is the end, with the death of Dan. That’s just…not something you see done, even now when cartoons are more willing to push envelopes. It’s sudden, it comes out of nowhere, and it really I think cements Darkseid as Superman’s arch-nemesis, even more so than Luthor at this point. And I don’t blame anyone for having a lump in the throat at the end, especially with Superman’s rage, the funeral, and Superman’s final words. “The world really didn’t need a ‘super’ man…just a brave one.”
What was Superman’s greatest crisis, and what’s your favorite moment from that particular crisis?
If you mean do I prefer the stories collected here or Apokolips Now, definitely the animation story. A bunch of decent but not noteworthy books do not beat out this absolute classic. Now, if we were talking Crisis on Infinte Earths in general, that might be a harder question.
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The B&R adaptation was kind of odd in that it opens on the set of the movie with Schumacher saying “Action!”, and it then ends with him saying “Cut!”.
My favorite Batmovie adaptation is Batman Forever. I read it at B. Dalton bookstore when I was a kid (a week or so before BF hit theaters) then eventually bought it later.
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You had the copy for that long and it still reads well? Go you – some of my older comics haven’t been around for nearly as long and have some wear and tear. I need to pick up a new copy of The Long Halloween at some point because pages started falling out on my trade.
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