Superman was first animated in 1940 by the Fleisher Studio. This series of 17 theatrical cartoons has had a lasting impact on both animation and the way superheroes are treated. The pilot cartoon was one of the most expensive at the time, and was one of the first to deal with realistic human figures. Many of the Superman conventions known throughout the years were born in these cartoons, such as flight, the phone booth changes, and the phrase "Look! Up in the Sky! It's a bird! A plane! No, it's Superman!" You can find out more details of this ground breaking series in The Superman Homepage's episode synopsis page. Or better yet, go buy the DVD!

One acknowledged homage was the treatment of Superman in Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" (he even made this connection more concrete in the 2002 follow-up series "The Dark Knight Strikes Again"). Another was the preceding series from WB Animation which also drew from Miller's work, Batman: The Animated Series. This show was revolutionary in dispelling the superficial depiction of animated superheroes that had dominated the tube since the 60's.

Debuting in September 1996 on the fledgling WB network, Superman: The Animated Series followed in the footsteps of the highly successful Batman cartoon, and in fact was made largely by the same creative team. While the ratings were slow at first, once it was paired up with the revised Batman show it took off and lasted for another season.

Unfortunately, this came too late to save the fledgling toy line. After being test marketed in a few areas, and then having spotty distribution for the rest of the year, the toy line suffered from WB's frequent rescheduling and low support for the series. Not to mention the controversy surronding the problem of the heads. By the time the show had picked up, the toys were already selling poor enough for buyers to order low or not at all for the second series. This led to a cancellation of the line before all the product made had been released. Plans were made by Kenner to distribute the remaining pieces overseas, but the fan outcry was enough that Diamond Distributers picked up the fourth wave for US release. Later on, Toys R Us released a series of slight repaints in 4 packs, including some of the harder to find villains, and one new figure in Lois Lane. 2002 saw the much anticipated release of the Wave Three European figures.

While it is highly doubtful that there will ever be a relaunch of the line, it at least brought about a number of characters that had never been made before, and gave Superman one more brief shining moment in the sun. While fans had hoped that some of these figure might be rereleased after the Justice League cartoon debuted, those hopes were dashed when it was revealed that mattel had won the WB licenses away from Hasbro starting in January 2003. The Mattel toys will most likely not follow the style or scale of the existing line, so this is now considered a complete toy line. If you have any questions or comments about the line, please e-mail me, Jason Geyer.

The page divides the various figures into "waves" or series. The classifications are set by me, so if you disagree with a designation, write me. However, I do not have anything on these pages for sale, nor do I know where you can find them. If you E-Mail me asking for toys I will just delete your message, so don't do it! And now, here are the waves.