"Flights of Fancy" ("Superman Returns")
Few can remember but back in the late 1980's, there was a short-lived Superman cartoon which aired on CBS early Saturday mornings and produced by Ruby-Spears. I say short-lived because the animation was atrocious, the stories were weak, and the voice acting was beyond cheesy. I don't even think it lasted a full season before the program was yanked off the air. Compared to "Super Friends" and the excellent Bruce Timm produced version a decade later, there was nothing of value about the series whatsoever aside from the opening credits. Man, those opening credits.
Envision John Williams iconic theme from "Superman: The Movie" along with the entire monologue from the 1950's live-action television series.
"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!" while Williams' score triumphantly played in the background.
I remember this because every time the opening came on, I was overwhelmed with awe. While the animation was lousy, it conjured other images of the Man of Steel in my mind like Christopher Reeve flying around the Earth with a smile on his face and George Reeves making a mad dash to a storage closet and leaping out of a window. That dialogue mixed with Williams' memorable film score projected a sense of awe to me at such a youthful age.
So, when it came to this illustration, I knew I couldn't parody the Man of Steel. If I dared to call myself an artist, the right picture would convey the same feeling twelve-year-old me had when a mild-manner reporter from the Daily Planet ripped open his dress shirt to reveal the symbol of the House of El beneath it. Awe. Pure awe.
Kudos to Tony who, after I expressed the kind of mood I was aiming for, recommended I homage the famous Superman and Lois flying scene. And because he also shared my feelings of being respectful to the Richard Donner film by not going for a joke, he suggested I staged it so Kari was dreaming of her and Erik flying.
Could I have done a different Superman illustration? Absolutely. But I genuinely believe I couldn't have done a better one. - Jake