The little things.

Sometimes it's the little things that count.

A clever panel, an arch expression, an unforgettable line...it doesn't make a comic book great by itself, but it's a highlight, a treat, a "way cool" moment that shows off the care and love the creators have for the story and the characters. The comic would work just fine without it...but it just wouldn't be "the same." It's a beautiful little moment that we remember and cherish.

It's not solely restricted to comic books, of course. I've been watching my Superman: The Animated Series DVDs recently, and Bruce Timm and Paul Dini's bright and bombastic follow-up to Batman: The Animated Series will probably never get the same praise and respect the Dark Knight's revolutionary cartoon did, but it's still one of the finest portrayals of the Man of Steel on screen, cartoon or live, and the love and respect the creators have for the character and his tropes shines through in episode after episode...including those fun little moments.

Case in point: the episode "Tools of the Trade" in the first season, one of the "Terrible" Turpin episodes. There's a delightful bit of character portrayal in making Dan Turpin look like Jack Kirby, but that's only one example. My favorite one in the episode—maybe one of my favorites in the whole series—is the smart and cool twist on the usual "Clark becomes Superman" scene we've all watched a million times in movies and on TV. You can usually expect that when there's trouble Clark will dash to a storeroom and, silhouetted against the window, change into his big blue-and-red alter-ego, or maybe the camera will zoom in on that impressively broad chest as he pops open his Arrow shirt to reveal his Kryptonian Underoos.

"Tools of the Trade" does the Superman reveal a little differently.


Clark Kent, chiseled nose buried in today's Daily Planet, strolls through the lobby of the impressively art-deco Planet offices...


...noticing in surprise one of the elevators is out of order.


Lois Lane rushes past, barks out the news of a big train wreck, darts into an open elevator, stabbing repeatedly at the door close button. Dana Delany has a wondering voice-acting moment here, channeling both The Front Page and Margot Kidder as she rapid-fires the news at Clark, her voice raising to a rant against "the guy who built this stupid elevator!" until the door closes behind her.


Clark backs up against the out-of-order open shaft of the central elevator...


...smiles slightly as he removes his glasses...


...steps, without looking back, into the open shaft...


...and disappears falling down the shaft.


Cut to the ground lobby of the Planet, where a blue-and-red streak, too fast to be distinguished, shoots out of the elevator...


...only noticed by passers-by through the cause-and-effect wind it leaves in its wake...


...before continuing, in the blink of an eye, out the revolving doors...


..sending the door spinning and papers whipping through the air.

Superman's on his way, and nobody even saw the quick-change act. Heck, we didn't even see Clark change: the entire sequence, including the funny Lois bit, takes 25 seconds, but even more impressive, the time from Clark dropping down the shaft to the revolving doors spinning is about three seconds. Now that's a little moment.

The beauty of the scene is that it's not necessary. The creators could have used the usual shirt-ripping reveal, or even completely lose the transition sequence and just have Superman showing up at the scene. But the beauty is in the details, and this little moment makes us all coo "Way cool!" Listen to the creator commentary on the DVD and you'll even hear Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett and company turn into fanboys at their own work at this sequence. "That was a cool bit!" "Ah, that's a good transition!" "Really nice."

There's moments a-plenty like that throughout Superman: The Animated Series. Sure, Batman gets the acclaim as the pioneer, and Justice League Unlimited appeals to the inner fanboy in us all by tossing every DC Universe hero we can think into the mix, but for this little stuffed Super-fan, well, I like Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh just fine, thank you, but there's no Superman like the nineties animated Superman. And it's not just because he can bend ink-and-painted steel girders and change the course of mighty animated rivers, oh no siree bob. The big moments are fun. But it's the little moments that make a man a Superman.