Cartoons: The Fleischer cartoons

Comics: JB's version

Movies: Christopher Reeve

TV: Dean Cain

Basically, any live-action version before Dean Cain--and any comics version before "The Death of Superman"--is a-okay in my book.

There are very few versions of the character which do not enjoy at all. Almost every take on Superman has something to recommend it, in some form or fashion.

For me, the most primal, basic vision of Superman in my mind's eye is the Curt Swan version. That is and will always be my default version of the character, and not simply from nostalgia. Swan's gifts for characterization, acting, and depth of feeling are unmatched in the field of comics as far as I can see. His "cast" was absolutely perfect, and his gift for getting the most from his "players" never dimished.

The Golden Age with artwork by Shuster, Sikela, Burnley, and others was a magical, enchanted world to me as a child. Superman, in his ORIGINAL form, (okay, his multiple "original" forms) was a revelation of which I could not get enough.

The Fleischer cartoons stand head and shoulders above all other animated attempts with the character, as well as better than almost all other screen versions of any superhero character. They are done straight-on, eyes-open as fantastic action-adventure stories, rather than as reflections of the "super-hero myth" or as commentary on what the character has come to mean in today's society. They are not watered down children's programming or ultra-ironic meta-takes on Superman for those-in-the-know. They're just... Superman! Done with enormous talent, imagination, and heart.

Although not representative of a different era or medium, I was very happy whenever I could lay hands on a Superman story done by Jim Aparo, Jose Garcia Lopez, or John Severin (these were mainly parodies of Superman found in Cracked Magazine...) Those were some good-looking takes on the character.