Superman: the Animated Series, Season 1, Episode 4: Fun and Games
So this episode is your typical bad guy guest star episode, which was the norm for cartoons of the period. We get the first colourful villain of the series, the iconic villain Toyman. Or rather, the DCAU's absolutely sinister portrayal of the dude. The DCAU has never been a stranger of reinventing characters when it needs to (see: Mr. Freeze, Brainiac, the Question and many others) and its interpretation of the Toyman as a sociopathic manchild dressed up in an always-grinning porcelain doll is horrifyingly eerie. Because, jeez, look at that unblinking, creepy-ass grin.
The plotline is really rather simple. Toyman's rampage is fueled by a hatred of vengeance towards the dirty politician Bruno Mannheim, who dabbles in gangster robberies on the sidelines. Lois's article on the psychiatric analysis of Toyman causes the man to kidnap Lois, and after dressing her up like a doll, Toyman basically wants Lois to write a flattering article about his assassination of Bruno Mannheim. There's the strange suspension of disbelief on how the son of a washed-out toymaker is able to get enough resources to create an unbreakable asphyxiation gel, a super-powerful bouncy ball, automated robot planes and a gigantic robot duck, but it's not something that distracts too much from the admittedly rather simple plot of Superman's fight against the Toyman.
It's a relatively simple yet enjoyable episode, painting Toyman as a sick psychopath that still deserves a sliver of sympathy due to his backstory. Like Batman: TAS, Superman doesn't waste any time in trying to build up a Rogues' Gallery of villains that it can work with, and Toyman is a nice, low-note adventure to start off with. Toyman himself is interesting enough of a gimmick villain to make me entertained. Also loved that final shot of Mannheim being shown the shattered Toyman mask and you can just see the man pissing himself with the thought of Toyman out there hunting for him.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- Toyman is an adaptation of the comic-book villain Toyman, specifically the first, Winslow Schott. However, due to the liberties it takes with Toyman's appearance (the comic-book version of Toyman is just a dude in a suit and glasses) and making him a dude in a porcelain doll suit, this Toyman is identified as Winslow Schott Junior, whereas his father, who died in his backstory, bears a resemblance to the comic book version of the Toyman.
- Bruno Mannheim, a.k.a. "Ugly" Mannheim, is a leader of the Intergang in the comics. Not gonna say much about it here -- he's going to return with more plot significance, is all you need to know.
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