In 1992 Batman: The Animated Series premiered with Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s take on the Dark Knight. The series was leaps and bounds beyond anything fans had ever seen before and it created what’s been affectionately referred to as “the Dini-verse.” The second entry in the Dini-verse premiered four years later in 1996 with Superman: The Animated Series which aired 54 episodes from 1996 to 2000.
This would be the fourth animated series for The Man of Steel and it's arguably the best. Tim Daly (Wings, Private Practice) voices Clark Kent/Superman and does a great job of distinguishing between the two voices. While he has many conflicts throughout the series his most frequent adversary is Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) who he clashes with on numerous occasions with various levels of success. Rounding out the main cast is Dana Delany as Lois Lane who has eyes for Superman while also engaged in a professional rivalry against Clark Kent.
The series had great episodes. Some of the best were the team-up episodes which included Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, and numerous pairings with The Dark Knight, including a team-up that pitted Superman and Batman against Luthor and The Joker. The episodes were lighter in tone than Batman, but as Superman is more of a hero than a vigilante it makes sense. The series included lots of nods to the DC universe and continuity as well as adding to the Superman mythos including getting a Harley Quinn-like character in the form of Mercy Graves which fans loved.
One of my favorite episodes has to be “Mxyzpixilated” from the second season where a being from the fifth dimension named Mr. Mxyzptlk shows up every 90 days or so to annoy Superman and can only be defeated by saying his name backwards. Mxyzptlk is loud, rude, annoying, grating, and a general irritant, so who better to voice the character than Gilbert Gottfried? He nailed the character perfectly and would show up several more times throughout the show.
Other villains and characters that would show up include Brainiac, Lobo, Maxima, Bizarro, Orion, The New Gods, and more. The series took A, B, C and Z level characters and mixed them in throughout the show's run. Since Superman is an icon in the DC universe it makes sense that he has characters of all levels show up and it’s done well.
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