Superman: The Animated Series, Season 4, Episode 1: The Demon Reborn
The fourth season of Superman: TAS is super-short, and I honestly consider it an extension of the third season more than anything. Not entirely sure why they bothered having this three-episode season count as its own, but eh. The first episode of the fourth season is yet another Batman/Superman crossover, and one that caught me entirely by surprise because I didn't know this was coming.
So while the last Batman/Superman team-up features them fighting a Superman enemy, Brainiac (well, Bane and Riddler were there, too, but they were more obstacles than actual villains), this one has Superman face off against the Demon's Head, Ra's al Ghul, one of Batman's mightiest enemies. As a young child reading Batman comics and watching Batman: TAS for the first time, I have always been fascinated with Ra's al Ghul. He's just so different from the other enemies that Batman has, from the themed lunatics that revolve their plans around riddles, birds, fear or hats. He's a leader of a timeless cult of assassins, and he doesn't just want wealth or power or kill people for the hell of it. He wants a revolution, to wipe out the large portion of humanity that have corrupted the world, and to rebuild it. Oh, he's also immortal, bathing himself in the waters of the mystical Lazarus Pit that will rejuvenate him with the side-effect of temporary insanity. Ra's also wants Batman to be his successor. Ra's is such a strange beast of a villain, that I was fascinated.
And facing off against Superman? There's a neat little comparison due to the unique nature of Ra's al Ghul as a villain. Ra's is a terrorist, for sure, but at the same time his mission statement is to save the world -- and isn't that what Superman is all about? Ra's is also one of the few Batman enemies to actually be super-human in nature, to wield his power with something that isn't just a high-tech toy.
Of course, the episode doesn't quite get that metaphysical, since it's ultimately an episode for kids, but we do get Superman being a wee bit flabbergasted when Talia and her agents arrive to steal a shaman's staff (magic hurts Superman, remember?), and forces Superman to stop a runaway train. Batman arrives with his Batmobile to help Superman stop the train, and after a thankfully brief pissing contest, they quickly work together. I absolutely love how, just like Bane in "Knight Time", the League of Assassins are absolutely woefully prepared to deal with the man of steel. Some dude wraps a chain around Superman's neck and it snaps. Shurikens bounce off his hands, and their strikes hurt themselves more than they do their opponent.
The actual investigation marries Batman's detecctive and investigation skills with Superman's brute force pretty well. Superman honestly single-handedly wins the battle even while he's incapacitated so that the aged Ra's al Ghul can draw his strength with the shaman's staff, and Batman's biggest goal for a good chunk of the episode is just to free Superman and get him to fight the magically-empowered Ra's. There's a bit of a cold-hearted bit from both heroes at the end where Superman tells Ra's to either 'stop us, or save your daughter', the only real black mark against the heroes -- save the goddamn villains, man!
Talia's seeming death in this episode is clearly tragic, due to just how sympathetic she is portrayed here. More than ever, she's portrayed as just a scared girl who's afraid of losing her father, and she is far more proactive than she used to be, leading the mission personally while leaving Ubu to just guard Ra's.
Still, despite my misgivings with an admittedly short part of the episode, I did love the episode in no small part due to just how well done Tim Daly's Superman and Kevin Conroy's Batman play off each other. From their dickery contest, to their unquestioning loyalty to each other, this is what Superman and Batman should be. There were some really great moments here, too, between Lois and Batman's brief meeting in her apartment which is a neat callback to 'World's Finest', as well as Ra's picking Talia over his vengeance (to those watching Batman: TAS, it would speak volumes considering Ra's abandoned Talia in a previous episode) even under the haze of unlimited power... Yeah. Not a bad episode at all.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- This is actually Ra's al Ghul and Talia's final appearances in the DC Animated Universe, since neither made appearances in Justice League or Justice League Unlimited. They would appear in a fashion in Batman Beyond, though, surviving the events of this episode in one way or another.
- This is Alfred's first and only appearance in Superman: The Animated Series! Oh, how I missed the butler.
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