Superman: The Animated Series (TV Series) The Last Son of Krypton: Part I (1996) User Reviews

Among the Best Versions of the Origin of Superman.

[David_del_Real_Reviews_in_IMDb · 9/10 · 5 November 2017]

----AMONG THE BEST VERSIONS OF THE ORIGIN OF SUPERMAN---

Superman, the most iconic of all the superheroes and to many, also the first one properly said, was a character created by two young men named Jerome (Jerry) Siegel and Joe Shuster almost 80 years ago. Since that first adventure of the Man of Steel released by DC Comics in the first issue of their "Action Comics" publication, we have seen a lot of different versions of the origin of Kal-El, with some small, and not so small differences between them. We had a very quick glance at the story in the "Challenge of the Superfriends" animated series. We also saw a very elegant approach of this story in Superman, the 1978's live action movie with Marlon Brando as his father, Jor-El and Susanna York as his mother, Lara. An interesting difference between all screen versions (actually all modern versions) and the original Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster's story is that Superman does not come from a planet of people with normal strength who became super strong because of our yellow Sun, but from a planet where everyone had those levels of strength and ability.

The interesting point of this episode is that we can see all the efforts of Jor-El long before he realized and decided he had to send Kal-El alone to planet Earth. Starting from episodes 2 and 3 Kal-El is the hero, but in this first episode Jor-El is the heroic one who could have prevented the destruction of Krypton if he hadn't been ignored by the authorities.

An interesting point of the plot in this episode is that one of the things that Krypton had done wrong was losing its privacy, allowing Brainiac to literally spy in the activities of all the citizens.

Thanks for reading.

IMDb Review written by David del Real. Mexico City, Mexico. November 5th,2017

The very first episode

[goodsephiroth · 10/10 · 24 June 2006]

This episode is a character presentation because you learn about the superman past, parents, enemies and Kripton. Superman history is amazing and this episode is great. The father of Superman Jorel begins to investigate about Kripton destruction but the people of Kripton don't believe because Braniac (the main computer of Kripton and one of the superman enemies) contradicts Jorel predictions. The reason is because Braniac wants to escape the planet and nobody survive the planet destruction. In this episodes you will see baby Superman (Kael), Jorel ( Superman's dad), Lara (superman's mother) and Braniac. You will learn more about Superman past and Kripton history. I recommend this episode.

Redefines Superman's Origin Story.

[Johnny-the-Film-Sentinel-2187 · 10/10 · 10 April 2020]

Superman: The Animated Series showed it's worth from the opening three episodes alone, and this show was indeed a worthy sequel to Batman: The Animated Series in every way. It has the same smartly thought-out writing style of Paul Dini at the helm, and it's got the same gorgeous dark-deco and Jack Kirby-like aesthetic to the show's art design and animation. This show truly began with an absolute banger of a pilot: and on top of that it's a TRILOGY of episodes opening this show! And I reckon they're all equally potent, but part one really humanises the planet of Krypton in a way the Superman movies never could, and it's because we get to spend a whole episode there wanting to know more about the world before inevitable desolation strikes the planet.

This is a truly great pilot episode that could have been the basis of a movie exploring Krypton ending with Kal El sent hurtling out to space on the life-saving rocket of his. And that's part of what makes Paul Dini a great writer: he lets the viewer KNOW he's taking things dead seriously by never letting the characters pull back from showing their wits on screen, and in turn showing Dini's undying respect that he has for the characters he writes.

The Last Son of Krypton is one of the strongest pilot episodes (or arcs) I've seen, and just because it's animated doesn't mean it's less impactful than regular television; it's just as strong and pure as any good television show out there: live action or animated.

A New Look At Superman

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 12 June 2007]

This is my first look - on DVD - of this animated series, so I was interested to see (1) how it looked visually and (2) how the story differed from the one I knew. (All the TV shows from the 1950s and all the movies.)

The artwork isn't detailed or "super," but it is certainly colorful. The planet Krypton was full of purples, reds and some the landscapes were very futuristic looking. Jor-El and Lara, Superman's parents had American and British accents, respectively. The baby who was sent off in a rocket ship looked more like a two-year than a baby.

Storywise, the new thing to me was "Brainiac," a huge computer which apparently ran the planet. The mega-computer had the trust of all its citizens so when Jor-El predicted disaster and the computer disagreed, the people backed the computer. We find out the computer isn't to be trusted but youngster makes it out safely, thus ending this first-of-a-three part season opener.

Solid first episode

[xhwrzcybj · 6/10 · 5 May 2023]

Never been a fan of the "Krypton storyline," and "destruction of Krypton." Even though it is a key part of Superman's character.

But I must admit, this was quite well done. Not as exciting as Man Of Steel(2013). But a solid adaptation of Krypton.

As for the technical aspects, the art style is quite nice, though not as good as Batman: TAS.

The voice acting is good, the characters are well done and likeable.

Overall this is a well told, and Redefining of Superman's origin. The reason I've given it a 6 is mainly because of my own personal dislikes of Krypton's destruction. This is a thumbs up, and I'd definitely recommend watching!