Saturday Serial: Superman #1

Among aficionados of vintage superheroes, the Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons are the stuff of legend. Produced from 1941 onwards, these short theatrical animations are considered classics, beautifully made and surprisingly influential on the history of the original comic book. Prior to these, Superman super-jumped from place to place, hence 'leaps tall buildings in a single bound'. The Fleischer people thought that looked ridiculous, asked if maybe he could fly or something? And that turned out to be a great idea that was written into the comic continuity as well.

They're also all in the public domain, which is why the transfers are unfortunately so rubbish you can tell even on YouTube. Lots of blotches and scratches on the film. Sad, as they're also a wonderful mix of vintage stretch-and-squash animation and human movements done by trained figure-drawing artists.


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