This post covers two items I just got for Christmas. The first, Superman: Welcome to Metropolis by David Lewman (who doesn’t even get his name on the cover) was released in 2025 as the only tie-in book to the tentpole movie for DC Studios. It’s a “Junior Novel” which the publisher says is for ages 6-9. As such, only a geek like me would want it to see what it says. Turns out it’s a fun bit of backstory (not canon to the film universe) about Clark Kent coming to the big city for his reporter job. It’s absolutely appropriate for your kids or grandkids! The only quibble I had with the book is that, even at this age they are no longer “superheroes” but “metahumans”, even those like Green Lantern who just has a cool ring.
As I lamented when I read & posted about the Wonder Woman ’84 ‘junior novel’ it’s a shame that there is no perceived market for more adult tellings of superhero/metahuman stories.
That brings me to the collection of the Max Fleischer Studio collection of theatrical shorts. This collection is from 2023 and represents a new remastering of the 17 cartoons. It is an amazing transfer in both sight and sound. I owned a previous edition on DVD which is now obsolete, as this gift from my son means this is the go-to edition to watch.
These cartoons are of their time so you get “Japoteurs” produced in the middle of World War II. This is Superman before all of the elements of his origin story and universe are all there, as it was only four years after his first story in the comics!
I wish they had embedded a “skip” function for the introductions as they are basically all the same–and his theme music is reused a lot.
This cartoons are held up as some of the finest cartoon art ever done. Even if you’re not a huge Superman fan it’s worth watching a few of them. You can find them on YouTube but they won’t look or sound as good.
