Superman: The Animated Series, Season 2, Episodes 25-26: Apokolips... Now!
So, Superman: The Animated Series is the first entry in the DCAU that really tries for a semi-serialized storyline. While proper serialization wouldn't really come up until Justice League Unlimited, here we get the little plotlines and foreshadowing about Darkseid's grand arrival finally come to a head. From Kanto and Bruno Mannheim's sub-plot in late season one, to the Kalibak episode in season two, to references about Intergang in previous episodes, the buildup is perhaps not as ideal as I would've liked if I was running the show. But at the same time, the DCAU shows are meant to be episodic stories first and foremost, and despite Darkseid not actually doing anything but stand around and look mean, the two-parter does give a pretty epic sense of scale to what Darkseid is doing. Again, none of Superman's adversaries in the past ever came close to doing this, with big threats like Mxyzptlk, Bizarro and Brainiac being relatively self-contained before they can get too far. Darkseid straight-up starts a gigantic invasion of Metropolis, sending hordes of Parademons and his generals to rampage in town.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The episode, despite its foreboding title, doesn't just introduce Jack Kirby's New Gods and the Fourth World and some of the most important pieces of DC mythology into the DCAU. It doesn't just feature the introduction of Orion, or the invasion of Darkseid, or the deaths of major recurring character -- including a recurring 'main' supporting one, something that to my best knowledge, may hasn't been done in B:TAS before. Let's just focus on the fact that this is still a pretty dang good Superman two-parter at the top of it all. (And, yes, I know we still have 'Little Girl Lost' after this, but as far as I'm concerned this is basically a season finale. Some episode listings put 'Little Girl Lost' as the season 3 premiere anyway)
The plotline starts off with more foreshadowing as Superman and the S.C.U. take down an Intergang operation, and while the two-parter might be guilty for giving officer Dan Turpin and his massive eyebrows some 'death in limelight' tropes, in the second half of season two, officers Turpin and Sawyer do have a larger presence than they ever had in the first season. Perhaps never to the extent of Commissioner Gordon in the Batman cartoon, but the two of them have been getting more and more lines, and this episode certainly gave Dan Turpin a fair bit more screentime while not taking away from all the important Superman and New God stuff.
There are, of course, a few filler battles, like the Intergang flying tentacle-tank things that only serves to put Maggie in a hospital so she sits out the crisis, but we then quickly cut back to Bruno Mannheim, who's now working as a herald of Darkseid on Earth. Darkseid, on the other hand, doesn't really have time for Mannheim's squandering of the Apokoliptan weapons for mere money, and omega-beams the money and tells Mannheim to finally proceed with the next part of their plan. And while Intergang's troops distract Superman, Darkseid dispatches Mannheim to a nuclear power plant, and cause a gigantic chain reaction that will start causing hellfire-pit things on Earth and turn it into Apokolips. And as the first part of the two-parter ends, the nuclear plant erupts, with Darkseid leaving Mannheim behind, a pawn he discards because he can't be bothered to bring Mannheim back to Apokolips (the two parademons survive, though!). The death scene was never made explicit, but it's pretty clear that Mannheim buy the farm.
And, boy, what an awesome death scene that was! Mannheim is all pontificating about his success, but it appears his continued snivelling has caused Darkseid to deem him useless (though Mannheim's success rate has been insanely spotty anyway), leaving him behind with the title "King of Fools". It's a hopeless bit as Mannheim tries to start up his motorboat and get away from the island, but while he gets the motor going, the explosion does spread wide enough to claim him, a pretty striking and surprising death scene in a series where no named character ever really dies.
Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, a mysterious man with a steel helmet shows up through a teleporter, and reveals himself to be Orion, a messenger from New Genesis, the opposite number of Darkseid's planet Apokolips. They are super-advanced aliens that have fought a war against each other, good against evil and all that jazz, and while a peace bargain was struck due to an exchange of sons, Darkseid still goes around conquering planets in search for something he calls the 'Anti-Life Equation'. All the backstory bit is cool and all, but what's really relevant to Superman is, well, Earth is next on the line, and Superman needs to stop Darkseid. It's a bit blah as far as exposition goes, but it's functional. Even if I still find it super-weird that somehow exchanging sons causes the eternal war of the New Gods to be put at a truce.
Orion acts as a guest star for the first part of the finale, taking out yet another pair of Intergang hover-tanks, but it's all a distraction for Mannheim to do his deal. Orion also reveals that he's the son of Darkseid, now working against him, and as the second part begins, Orion leaves to fly back to New Genesis and marshal forces. There's a very poorly-done bit of coincidence that the communicator Orion gives Superman happens to break due to the radiation, but it works, I guess.
With Mannheim dead, Darkseid sends another one of his minions, Steppenwolf the hunter, after Superman. (Kalibak, meanwhile, who survives 'Father's Day', ends up only being brushed off in every single conversation) Steppenwolf leads an army of Parademons in battle against Superman, whicch is pretty cool -- we see weird-looking sky-sleds and energy nets and the like, a huge break after the constant battles against flying hovertanks, but Steppenwolf is merely there to handle Superman, while boom tubes rip apart in the skies above Metropolis and Parademons pour out.
It's an all-out brawl, as the SCU and Superman scramble to prevent the Parademons from attacking as many people as possible. Turpin and a bazooka helps to sucker-punch Steppenwolf and send him flying into the ocean, while Superman goes off to shut down the burning reactor core. However, as two threats are alleviated, Superman is immediately confronted with Darkseid, who gives him an ultimatum. The planet will die anyway, but if Superman will become his minion, he will show some leniency. It's an amazingly confident and arrogant ultimatum, but it's one that Darkseid can afford to make, because Darkseid quickly one-shots Superman with his powerful Omega Beams, defeating the defiant Superman and stringing the wounded Superman up to demoralize the humans. It's a bit of a disappointment that the super-convoluted 'no, Superman is instrumental to my plans' storyline all amounts to simply wanting Superman as a minion, but at least it makes sense.
What doesn't really make sense is that apparently no one in Metropolis died from the parademon invasion, but you can kinda sorta brush it off as cartoon rules? Darkseid did want to subjugate and conquer, not destroy. I did find the sudden surprise that Darkseid has that no one is willing to just bend the knee at the sight of a defeated Superman, and maybe that sequence of scenes could've been done a bit better (I did love the brief montage showing the likes of Luthor and Hamilton seeing the news on the screens), but damn if Turpin speaking up and challenging Darkseid isn't badass. Darkseid's attempt to try and pull a 'bend the knee at my show of power' ends up failing as Turpin launches a Parademon's weapon, freeing Superman (who immediately one-punches poor, long-suffering Kalibak) but before Darkseid can make good his claims of being able to swat aside Superman like a fly, the invasion is interrupted by Orion, arriving with an armada of New Genesis battleships.
Darkseid has a brief line of dialogue, noting that he doesn't really care what happens on Earth and it's not worth the hassle, while acknowledging Orion's strength as his son (poor, poor Kalibak!). Of course, Turpin takes this moment to take one last jab at Darkseid, and Darkseid's final line, that "victory comes... at a price", as his omega beam shoots out and just fucking vaporizes Turpin on the spot, is horrifyingly sudden, and a huge game changer. An argument could be made for this being a simple death for shock value, and perhaps it's right, but at the same time if the battle simply ended with no named fatalities other than Mannheim, it would really make Darkseid look shit. Turpin's death was sudden, striking, no final inspiring words or whatever, and perhaps more than a little stupid, but also shows the sheer pettiness of Darkseid.
Superman's roar of grief as Darkseid teleports out of his reach, and then his roaring as he just slams down on Darkseid's abandoned tank, slamming again and again as it echoes throughout the city, everyone else silent... that was well done. This was something utterly unexpected, this was the price of defiance to a foe that Superman didn't even manage to defeat (Superman barely even got Steppenwolf!) and while Earth is saved, it is done so at a cost. The final shot of the season is a very moving funeral as a Rabbi sings for Turpin, attended by the entire supporting cast of Superman: The Animated Series (including Luthor!), and as Superman holds the gravestone, the camera pans out to show that the inscription reads "Earth's greatest hero" as Superman stands alone, looking at the grave stone.
Also perhaps slightly understated is the role of Maggie. While the episode tries to frame it as Maggie pining for Turpin as a love-interest (while the show sneaks in Maggie's comic-book lesbian lover into the show) the two's relationship as good friends and partners have been established very well throughout the two seasons, and Maggie's commentary during the invasion when he sees Turpin muck around being a hero even if he's no Superman, and the eventual cry of grief when Turpin dies are all amazingly done.
Again, the episode was flawed, but in its last scenes and the portrayal of Dan Turpin's death, it showed that Superman: TAS was willing to shake up the formula, was willing to tell darker (but not grim-dark, a different thing altogether) stories. And with Darkseid hardly being defeated, this promises for a larger confrontation, for season three to change the formula. And, boy, will it. I'm definitely going to cover Superman's third season, for sure -- I may know the broad strokes of what will happen there because I've seen Justice League, but seeing it happen will be interesting in and of itself.
And, boy, what an awesome death scene that was! Mannheim is all pontificating about his success, but it appears his continued snivelling has caused Darkseid to deem him useless (though Mannheim's success rate has been insanely spotty anyway), leaving him behind with the title "King of Fools". It's a hopeless bit as Mannheim tries to start up his motorboat and get away from the island, but while he gets the motor going, the explosion does spread wide enough to claim him, a pretty striking and surprising death scene in a series where no named character ever really dies.
Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, a mysterious man with a steel helmet shows up through a teleporter, and reveals himself to be Orion, a messenger from New Genesis, the opposite number of Darkseid's planet Apokolips. They are super-advanced aliens that have fought a war against each other, good against evil and all that jazz, and while a peace bargain was struck due to an exchange of sons, Darkseid still goes around conquering planets in search for something he calls the 'Anti-Life Equation'. All the backstory bit is cool and all, but what's really relevant to Superman is, well, Earth is next on the line, and Superman needs to stop Darkseid. It's a bit blah as far as exposition goes, but it's functional. Even if I still find it super-weird that somehow exchanging sons causes the eternal war of the New Gods to be put at a truce.Orion acts as a guest star for the first part of the finale, taking out yet another pair of Intergang hover-tanks, but it's all a distraction for Mannheim to do his deal. Orion also reveals that he's the son of Darkseid, now working against him, and as the second part begins, Orion leaves to fly back to New Genesis and marshal forces. There's a very poorly-done bit of coincidence that the communicator Orion gives Superman happens to break due to the radiation, but it works, I guess.
With Mannheim dead, Darkseid sends another one of his minions, Steppenwolf the hunter, after Superman. (Kalibak, meanwhile, who survives 'Father's Day', ends up only being brushed off in every single conversation) Steppenwolf leads an army of Parademons in battle against Superman, whicch is pretty cool -- we see weird-looking sky-sleds and energy nets and the like, a huge break after the constant battles against flying hovertanks, but Steppenwolf is merely there to handle Superman, while boom tubes rip apart in the skies above Metropolis and Parademons pour out.
It's an all-out brawl, as the SCU and Superman scramble to prevent the Parademons from attacking as many people as possible. Turpin and a bazooka helps to sucker-punch Steppenwolf and send him flying into the ocean, while Superman goes off to shut down the burning reactor core. However, as two threats are alleviated, Superman is immediately confronted with Darkseid, who gives him an ultimatum. The planet will die anyway, but if Superman will become his minion, he will show some leniency. It's an amazingly confident and arrogant ultimatum, but it's one that Darkseid can afford to make, because Darkseid quickly one-shots Superman with his powerful Omega Beams, defeating the defiant Superman and stringing the wounded Superman up to demoralize the humans. It's a bit of a disappointment that the super-convoluted 'no, Superman is instrumental to my plans' storyline all amounts to simply wanting Superman as a minion, but at least it makes sense.
What doesn't really make sense is that apparently no one in Metropolis died from the parademon invasion, but you can kinda sorta brush it off as cartoon rules? Darkseid did want to subjugate and conquer, not destroy. I did find the sudden surprise that Darkseid has that no one is willing to just bend the knee at the sight of a defeated Superman, and maybe that sequence of scenes could've been done a bit better (I did love the brief montage showing the likes of Luthor and Hamilton seeing the news on the screens), but damn if Turpin speaking up and challenging Darkseid isn't badass. Darkseid's attempt to try and pull a 'bend the knee at my show of power' ends up failing as Turpin launches a Parademon's weapon, freeing Superman (who immediately one-punches poor, long-suffering Kalibak) but before Darkseid can make good his claims of being able to swat aside Superman like a fly, the invasion is interrupted by Orion, arriving with an armada of New Genesis battleships.
Darkseid has a brief line of dialogue, noting that he doesn't really care what happens on Earth and it's not worth the hassle, while acknowledging Orion's strength as his son (poor, poor Kalibak!). Of course, Turpin takes this moment to take one last jab at Darkseid, and Darkseid's final line, that "victory comes... at a price", as his omega beam shoots out and just fucking vaporizes Turpin on the spot, is horrifyingly sudden, and a huge game changer. An argument could be made for this being a simple death for shock value, and perhaps it's right, but at the same time if the battle simply ended with no named fatalities other than Mannheim, it would really make Darkseid look shit. Turpin's death was sudden, striking, no final inspiring words or whatever, and perhaps more than a little stupid, but also shows the sheer pettiness of Darkseid.Superman's roar of grief as Darkseid teleports out of his reach, and then his roaring as he just slams down on Darkseid's abandoned tank, slamming again and again as it echoes throughout the city, everyone else silent... that was well done. This was something utterly unexpected, this was the price of defiance to a foe that Superman didn't even manage to defeat (Superman barely even got Steppenwolf!) and while Earth is saved, it is done so at a cost. The final shot of the season is a very moving funeral as a Rabbi sings for Turpin, attended by the entire supporting cast of Superman: The Animated Series (including Luthor!), and as Superman holds the gravestone, the camera pans out to show that the inscription reads "Earth's greatest hero" as Superman stands alone, looking at the grave stone.
Also perhaps slightly understated is the role of Maggie. While the episode tries to frame it as Maggie pining for Turpin as a love-interest (while the show sneaks in Maggie's comic-book lesbian lover into the show) the two's relationship as good friends and partners have been established very well throughout the two seasons, and Maggie's commentary during the invasion when he sees Turpin muck around being a hero even if he's no Superman, and the eventual cry of grief when Turpin dies are all amazingly done.
Again, the episode was flawed, but in its last scenes and the portrayal of Dan Turpin's death, it showed that Superman: TAS was willing to shake up the formula, was willing to tell darker (but not grim-dark, a different thing altogether) stories. And with Darkseid hardly being defeated, this promises for a larger confrontation, for season three to change the formula. And, boy, will it. I'm definitely going to cover Superman's third season, for sure -- I may know the broad strokes of what will happen there because I've seen Justice League, but seeing it happen will be interesting in and of itself.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- The backstory given for New Genesis and Apokolips by Orion is a very truncated version of the backstory that Jack Kirby wrote for the 'New Gods', initially meant to be a one-off storyline, but proved so popular that it ended up being the backbone of DC's cosmic mythology and implanted Darkseid and his evil minions as Superman's biggest foes.
- Orion, son of Darkseid, is the war-like son of Darkseid that was exchanged to Highfather for Highfather's son, the boy who would become the superhero Mr. Miracle. Despite Darkseid's blood flowing in his veins, Orion is a fierce warrior who is instilled with the values of New Genesis.
- Steppenwolf, uncle of Darkseid, and his greatest hunter (and also the starring villain in this year's Justice League live-action movie) is one of the greatest warriors that serve Darkseid even though he dresses up like a garden gnome. He was actually the person responsible (via Darkseid's manipulation) to cause the war between New Genesis and Apokolips.
- Granny Goodness, one of the creepier stooges working for Darkseid, has a brief cameo during the flashback where Highfather and Darkseid exchange babies. Granny would later be the star of a show in season three.
- The New Genesis forces that show up alongside Orion include the New Gods Lightray, Big Barda, Forager and the Black Racer. Forager would be a bit of a continuity error, considering the Justice League episode "Twilight of the Gods" would give Forager a proper backstory.
- Darkseid's plan is said to be the Anti-Life Equation, an equation that would allow Darkseid rule over life itself, something that would spark the genesis of the Final Crisis storyline that ended the original DC comics continuity. Orion also mentions the Source, which, while never really playing a huge part in the DCAU, is a huge part of the New Gods' mythology.
- Superman, Darkseid, Mannheim and Kalibak all make references to the events of "Tools of the Trade" and "Father's Day", where previous encounters with the forces of Apokolips happened.
- The police officers name-dropped by Dan Turpin in the episode, namely Giacoia, Royer and Colletta, are all references to Jack Kirby's inkers. The locations Ayers Island and Sinnott Air Base are also references to Kirby's inkers. Also, something that I don't think I've mentioned before, Dan Turpin's DCAU appearance is based on Jack Kirby's appearance.
- Red skies! Red skies are a common thread in DC's stories, an indication of a big multi-title-spanning Crisis.
- While the episode never made the connection explicit, throughout Maggie's hospital scenes she is always accompanied by a woman, Toby Raynes, who in the comics is her lover. While censorship at that time frowns on gay relationships, the writers managed to sneak this one in anyway.
- Apparently, in the episode's original broadcast, Turpin's funeral, in addition to including a huge chunk of the Superman: TAS cast had various cameos of the production crew, as well as Marvel comics characters such as the Fantastic Four and even Stan Lee himself. In most subsequent re-releases, including all DVDs, all the cameos are removed and replaced with generics.
- In original drafts of the finale, it was actually Ma and Pa Kent that were supposed to be killed off, but DC comics told the showmakers that they would have to be brought back in the next season, so they opted for a more permanent death with Dan Turpin.
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