Superman TAS S04E02-03 Review: The Death of Superman

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 4, Episode 2-3: Legacy

"Legacy" is the series finale to Superman: The Animated Series, and it's... a weird one. On one hand, it's suitably epic, absoltuely demolishing the status quo and delivering that big Darkseid episode that I really wanted. It's no 'Destroyer', of course, but it's still a pretty dark and well-done finale. It's a shame that the series itself doesn't actually get the chance to try and explore the ramifications of a world that hates Superman -- a fact that was mostly glossed over for a good chunk of Justice League. Still, it was a bold move and a very ballsy finale, especially when they weren't sure if they were getting another season. I'm not entirely sure if the finale for Superman: TAS was made with the knowledge that they were going to be able to wrap up Superman's character arc in Justice League or not, but  it is definitely an interesting place to take Superman.

We get to see Apokolips descend on a race of bug people, led by some dude in black-and-red armour with a spiky Boba Fett helmet, brutally massacring beating into submission the native bug-men. Is this Darkseid's newest champion, better than Kalibak, Steppenwolf and the Furies? Is this going to be Superman's new challenger? Oh, no, wait, it's Superman himself! What? We then get to see Superman address Darkseid as 'father', and apparently go offscreen for an orgy with the Female Furies (that was some rather... suggestive dialogue for sure -- with the subsequent scene showing a half-dressed Superman waking up and greeted by the very sensual Lashina, who calls him 'boy-toy') and at one point Granny Goodness goes to 'fix' his brain to purge it of weird memories of a life on Earth. Granny Goodness tells Superman of his 'origin story', where he was sent from the dying planet of Krypton... not to Kansas, but to Apokolips, and is adopted by Darkseid as his greatest champion, bringing order to a lawless universe.

It's a pretty brutal plan, as Darkseid soon puts to motion his plan to use Superman as the destroyer of mankind, sending the Man of Steel down to spearhead his own armies to siege earth, breaking Earth's hope as its greatest champion goes around waving the flag of Superman and fighting against them instead of for them. It's wonderfully petty for Darkseid, and he knows that this is apparently a way to get around his treaty to Highfather.

All throughout it, only Supergirl, the Kents, Lois and Jimmy are even still supportive of Superman, as Darkseid's plan ends up victorious. And we barely see Jimmy or the Kents this episode. Lois abandons humanity for the hope that Superman is still under there somewhere, even as Lex Luthor joins forces with General Hardcastle to take down Superman once and for all. Supergirl tries to cover for Superman by piloting the Superman robots (surely there's a more practical way? Like, having Supergirl herself actually fly around Metropolis while giving Clark an excuse that he's sick or some shit?) and later confronts the mind-controlled Superman himself. 

Luthor builds a Kryptonite cannon, and uses it against Superman during the invasion, all his fears about the alien being validated in a single day, taking out both Superman and Supergirl. Lois, still faithful to Superman, manages to break into the military facility, save Superman and Supergirl, and essentially help Superman regain his memory. However, the damage has been done. Superman telling everyone that "guys, I was mind controlled" doesn't do jack shit when he's running around blowing up tanks and jets a day ago. Hardcastle and Luthor are far more than willing to euthanize Superman.

I really loved how Luthor actually thought that "this isn't possible" in a private conversation with Mercy, because, as he tells Supergirl earlier in the episode -- he knows his enemy well. I do love how Luthor, despite being a relative second-stringer in this episode, manages to be a big presence in influencing human politics and menacing Superman, being the spearhead in the smear campaign against the Man of Steel. 

And most damning among the changes in Superman's allies would be Professor Emil Hamilton. We haven't seen Hamilton in a while, and while he's talking about how helping Superman or the wounded Supergirl would be treason, Superman loses his temper and lifts Hamilton up by his neck... something that he immediately regrets, but the damage is done. Hamilton fears him now, and anyone who watches Justice League Unlimited would know just what this would lead to. "Did you see the look on Hamilton's face? He'll never trust me again." Superman tells Lois. And that's the worst thing that Darkseid could've done to Superman. Not kill him, not kill his allies or loved ones... but absolutely destroy the trust and the status as a beacon of hope that he's became. 

And while Superman goes on a truly epic one-man rampage across Apokolips, ripping a Mother Box from the STAR Labs vault and in quick succession -- vaporizing an army of parademons with heat vision, shoving Granny Goodness into the same memory-wiping machine, beating up the Female Furies and dropping them from the sky, punching Kalibak aside before finally facing on the one-on-one fight with Darkseid. (Only the absent Steppenwolf and the non-combatant Desaad doesn't get trounced by Superman here) It's definitely epic, but it's also terrifying because moments ago Superman used that same strength to conquer Earth. 

And in the end? Sure, Superman beats Darkseid pretty bad, and shoving his hand in front of Darkseid's eye beams and having the omega beams explode in Darkseid's face, ripping his castle apart and sending the broken Darkseid down onto the slums of Apokolips isn't even enough to defeat him. Unlike Darkseid, Superman didn't even manage to assassinate Darkseid's character as an indestructible god-tyrant, because even the slaves that toiled for Darkseid, instead of beating the felled tyrant, goes to nurse Darkseid and bring him to safety. "Do with him as you will", Superman says, thinking that they would do what slaves tend to do and revolt... and even the sight of a broken Darkseid isn't enough to incite the slaves to do so. Darkseid's cult of persona remains intact, while Superman's long-crafted status as a beacon of hope is completely shattered. 

Yes, Superman is still nice. He still has allies -- Supergirl shows up and asks him to go home. Among the montage of people who are interviewed, Jimmy demands that Superman is still a good guy. Lois kisses Superman as the final scene in the series, saying that he can win back people's hearts 'one at a time'. Yet arguably both Luthor and Darkseid, despite the pummelling they received, still won. It's a ballsy move to end Superman: TAS, ending it at this episode that truly feels like the end of an era, a bittersweet ending that actually feels more like a backdoor pilot to a Metropolis where Superman has became a controversial character.

Over it all, we've got so much amazing scenes in this two-parter. Supergirl is an absolute delight, Luthor is well-portrayed, action hero Lois is amazing, Lashina is sultry, Darkseid's monologues are great, Granny Goodness is horrifying... and through it all, Tim Daly gives the best Superman monologues that I've ever heard. We don't have a lot of chance for Superman to be anything but heroic and that icon of justice we all know and love... but a frustrated and vulnerable Superman? It's certainly amazing to behold.

It marks the end of Superman: TAS, which thankfully isn't the end of this world -- we'll continue on with Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, two series that I have completely reviewed in the previous years and is archived well in the blog. We'll see where I go from here. I'd love to go do Batman Beyond, actually, because it's another series that I haven't watched in its entirety.

Now excuse me as I boot up 'Destroyer' again and see Superman lay waste to Darkseid in a proper one-on-one. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Among many other unrealized concepts, apparently this episode was meant to be the pilot to a new season of Superman where he'd have to win back the people's trust. It ended up being shelved as the creators were asked to continue work on Batman Beyond instead, and the plotlines for this episode would be recycled for the Cadmus and Darkseid storylines in Justice League Unlimited.
• If it's not obvious enough that Superman totally had sex with at least Lashina, a scrapped episode for Batman Beyond involves Batman Beyond and future Superman discovering Superman's son from that affair having deposed Darkseid as the ruler of Apokolips.
• The Mother Box at STAR Labs was the one recovered by Superman in "Little Girl Lost". 
• Various referencces to "Apokolips... Now" are mentioned, among them Turpin's death, the treaty with New Genesis, as well as Darkseid's promise to use Superman as a pawn if he would not be Darkseid's champion.
• Hamilton's fear of Superman, as well as his brief role as Supergirl's doctor, would be revisited in Justice League Unlimited. Superman's rampage as Darkseid's herald would be referenced in multiple Justice League and Justice League Unlimited episodes.
• The idea that Superman is raised by Darkseid as a champion of Apokolips was explored in the Elseworlds story "Superman: The Dark Side", printed several years before this episode was created. Superman landing elsewhere other than Kansas and raised by the Kents has been a popular Elsewords story, with several famous ones among them being "Red Son", "The Nail" and the version in Flashpoint.

Superman TAS S04E01 Review: Superman Begins

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. 

Superman TAS S03E10 Review: The Shadow Over Smallville

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 10: Unity

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

"Unity" is a bit of a strange beast. Or, rather, the handling of Supergirl throughout Superman: The Animated Series is a bit strange. After introducing Supergirl at the end of the second season, the third season promptly forgot about her apart from a single cameo in Mxyzptlk's fake TV show that he showed Bizarro... only for her to show up in the last episode of the third season, and later in the last episode of the fourth season. I'm sensing a pattern. Considering all the hoopla we went to introduce her as a supporting cast, the fact that her appearances in Superman: TAS could be counted on one hand is a bit unfortunate (especially compared to Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl from Batman:  TAS), and I'm glad that we actually have her role expanded as one of the main characters in Justice League Unlimited. 

And, well, we did get some Supergirl-centric episodes such as Unity, where Supergirl goes on a bit of a trip from Smallville to Metropolis (after milking some cows at superspeed... poor cows) and beat up Volcana a bit, she returns to Smallville to find out that the entire city has fallen under an Elder Thing from beyond the stars, an eldritch abomination called Unity, who sends out tentacles to assimilate everyone and everything under its hive-mind, led by the very creepy Reverend Howell. 

And then it goes from 'fun Supergirl adventures' to some genuinely creepy scenes, because among the afflicted are Pa and Ma Kent, and seeing X-rays of Ma Kent's brain wrapped by a tentacle tendril, or Pa Kent acting like a zombie is pretty dang disturbing. Also disturbing is just the noises they make, and the tentacles that shoot out of their mouths. Supergirl ends up calling Superman for help, and together they destroy Cthulhu's crazy cousins. It's a level of weird creepiness that I don't expect from Superman: TAS, and that scene where Supergirl gets wrapped up by mouth tentacles while struggling and moaning sounds like it came out of a PG-rated hentai. 

The Unity stuff is creepy and all, but while I didn't really think much of the episode beyond 'hey, Lovecraftian horrors!', sitting down to type a review made me realize how well-done it is in showcasing Supergirl's frustrations at being cooped up in a small town and not really allowed to do much. Sure, she blames herself for not realizing that Reverend Howell is creepy as all hell when she boarded the train, but the show makes her frustrations at being cooped up in Smallville while her cousin goes around whacking Luthors and Brainiacs and Metallos and Darkseids in the head very well, especially that conversation in the bus. The episode doesn't really go much with it because status quo needs to be maintained, but I did think that it's actually a neat episode that balances the exploration of Supergirl's story with an unbelievably creepy villain. 

DC  Easter Eggs Corner:

• Supergirl makes a reference to 'Barbara', referencing Batgirl and their team-up that they had in the TNBA episode "Girl's Night Out".  
• Volcana was last seen reformed in "Where There's Smoke", but shows up here as a villain, and her subsequent appearances would have her as a simple villain. 
• Pa and Ma Kent mentions that the Langs own the farm next to theirs.

Superman TAS S03E09 Review: So I Heard You Talk To Fish

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 9: A Fish Story

Death will rise! From the tides!

I didn't realize (or forgot) that Aquaman had an episode in Superman: TAS before his debut in Justice League. I rgew up during the 2000's era of comics, so Aquaman for me has always been the shirtless, bearded, long-haired viking-Poseidon warrior holding a trident with a hook arm (and am immensely pleased that they actually went with that vesrion of Aquaman for the live-action movies). Meanwhile, Challenge of the Super Friends have kind of turned the orange-and-green suited Golden Age portrayal of Aquaman as kind of a dunce and not a viking badass.  

But, you see, Aquaman was always a badass, Viking getup or not. It's just that Cartoon Network's Challenge of the Super Friends (which I probably have to get to reviewing sometime) ends up portraying Aquaman's sole feature as someone who can only talk to fish as his superpower, and since they aren't allowed to throw punches... it makes Aquaman easily the most stupid and useless member of the Super Friends. Add that to his honestly quite unflattering name, and poor Aquaman just can't catch a break. 

Come Superman: TAS, and it attempts to bring Aquaman back in all his comic-book glory. He's not just some dude in an orange shirt that can talk to fish. He's the goddamn king of Atlantis, ruler of the seven seas, able to summon killer whales and great white sharks alongside literal armies of underwater warriors.

Which gets me back to this episode. It debuts Aquaman, and while it's definitely unfortunate that he shows up as a hero in distress, being stuck by Luthor's minions into a little test tube for experimentation, we quickly learn -- via the eyes of Lois Lane -- that Aquaman's a certified badass. Like the Green Lantern episode a while back, it's not an exact science as we try to balance introdump with actually telling an interesting standalone story, and thankfully, Lex Luthor is happy to return as a villain this time around to menace Superman and Aquaman, acting as an eco-terrorist who just can't be bothered to bother about the urban legend that is Aquaman or Atlantis, because profit and science are far more important. I did like how Aquaman is quickly introduced as an urban legend so we don't have to waste time dealing with an origin story -- later episodes in the DCAU would alternate between introducing already-established superheroes or devoting entire episodes for an origin story. 

I did like how the episode acts a bit like a throwback to the older Golden Age stories, and indeed, Aquaman spends a good chunk of the episode just talking to fish, being friendly, being an ecological hero, and all that jazz... up until the finale, where he summons Atlantean battlecruiser, which neatly bridges together the older and newer versions of Aquaman. Suddenly he's not just an environment-friendly hero. He's a king of the ocean, with enough army to actually tell both Superman and Luthor to piss off. It's a neat way to still make Aquaman sympathetic, while still portraying his 'staunch defender of the ocean' trope very well. 

Of course, sadly, I also felt that this robbed a good chunk of the earlier parts of the episode from the badassery that Aquaman can and should be, since we're so concerned with trying to depict and/or deconstruct the Golden Age era Aquaman, and the action scenes that Superman and Aquaman get into -- or the interactions between the two heroes, for that matter -- ended up being sidelined. Overall I feel that this is an episode that tried to do too much than it pprobably should. Still, not a bad one in my opinion. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Aquaman, a.k.a. King Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Orin, is the son of a human lighthouse keeper and an Atlantanean princess, and is one of the longest-running superheroes in the DC comics as well as a founding member of the Justice League (and even led it for a while). The Aquaman seen here is him in his Golden Age (and post-New-52) appearance, with the orange-and-green suit. We'll meet Aquaman in a subsequent DCAU episode, where he would use the post-revamped Viking underwater king Aquaman look. 

Superman TAS S03E08 Review: Worst Episode?

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 8: Superman's Pal

Okay, I'm definitely not a big fan of this episode. I'm not opposed to giving Jimmy Olsen some spotlight. In fact, watching Superman: The Animated Series I'm honestly a bit sad how little the supporting cast like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Lana Lang actually have any sort of spotlight given to them. Jimmy is probably the worst of it, with very few spotlight episodes beyond Supergirl's debut at the end of the second season. So giving Jimmy Olsen an entire episode to himself is definitely a welcome prospect.

Except, well, he gets kind of a shitty one in 'Superman's Pal'. Bruce Timm, one of the great minds behind the DCAU, has even gone to saying that this particular episode, more than anything else in his long tenure, is the lowest point... and it's no real coinidence. The episode tries to tell a fable about fame, about how Jimmy Olsen, by claiming that he's Superman's best pal, ends up being hounded by the media and other random citizens of Metropolis trying to curry favour out of Jimmy and by virtue of that, Superman. Because, um, people are all dumb sheep, I guess. All the while this random hot intern Tina basically goes from dismissive to wanting to get into Jimmy's pants.

Except Tina is working for Metallo all along! And is his lover. Poor Metallo, always gets himself stuck with the shittiest episodes in this series. Tina apparently is a "sucker for metal",  which, now that I'm older, brings... a lot of uncomfortable implications as to their relationship. Metallo is, by the way, if we forgot, completely incapable of emotion or actually feeling senses, so... yeah. The fight between Metallo and Superman is not horrible but far from Superman: TAS's best, but Jimmy ends up being useful by... throwing battery acid on Metallo's body, causing the kryptonite to fall off and deactgivating Metallo.

Remember how metallo-the-metal is supposed to be this indestructible alloy that can even withstand Superman's punches, the pressures of the deep sea and lava? Yeah, apparently its weakness is humble old battery acid found in a junkyard. God damn this episode is dumb. 

Tina is also a very, very unlikable character. Remember how I was m'eh with Darci from the Toyman episode and didn't even remember the names of the alien freedom fighters from the Jax-Ur/Mala episode? At least they were inoffensive. Tina is given the most annoying, vapid voice and lines ever, and that doesn't do the episode any favours.

My favourite moment has to be the fact that this episode gives Angela Chen, the background reporter that has been on the literal background for a majority of the series, is finally given a personality as a news hound -- causing an accident when she's overzealous with chasing down the story (with a helicopter!), and later editing Jimmy Olsen's interview to frame it so that she's just interviewed Superman's best pal. Angela's probably the sole redeeming factor of this episode, but she shows up for like all of fifteen seconds. 

I dunno. This episode is so haphazard -- it's clearly meant to be a more light-hearted and zanier adventure, but even then the TAS series have always managed to tell stories that are both zany and still good. So yeah. This episode, if anything, made poor Jimmy Olsen more annoying in my eyes (the voice acting is still excellent, thankfully), did a gigantic disservice to Metallo, and probably deserves its title as the worst episode of the DCAU.

DC Easter Eggs Corner: 

• At the end of the episode, Jimmy gets his famous signal watch from Superman, given to him just like his pre-Crisis comic book counterpart. Jimmy having the signal watch was one of the trademarks of Superman stories in the Silver Age.
• 'Superman's Pal', the title of the episode and oft-repeated catchphrase, is actually Jimmy Olsen's Golden Age and Silver Age title, and the title of his solo comic book series during the Silver Age.

Superman TAS S03E07 Review: No Evil Shall Escape My Sight

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 7: In Brightest Day

"In Brightest Day" is one of the few episodes in Superman's third season that tries to introduce other big-name superheroes as guest stars, and this one in particular acts as an origin story to Green Lantern. And it's a pretty neat backdoor pilot, had it been meant to be one -- Green Lantern would become a major player in the DCAU, but that'd be John Stewart instead of Kyle Rayner. Regardless, the episode does a pretty decent job of introducing the concept of the Green Lantern Corps, a group of intergalactic space policemen who fight with jewelry that can create whatever their mind can imagine. A weapon powered by imagination, which is absolutely perfect for fledgling newspaper artist Kyle Rayner. 

We get to briefly see Kyle in action before he gets the ring, helping to beat up a thug and recover Jimmy Olsen's stolen camera, as well as see him make some neat wisecracks with Jimmy (small wonder the two get along quite well). We then get to see Superman encounter the crash-landed ship of the fallen Green Lantern Abin Sur, who sent out his ring to select a new champion... all familiar story beats to anyone who's the least bit familiar with the emerald knight's backstory. 

Sinestro shows up without much explanation beyond being a hunter of Lanterns, while Superman gets pulled into Oa for some exposition. It is a bit strange just why Sinestro ended up being somewhat incompetent and unable to straight-up kill Kyle (who isn't even aware how to use his ring for the first couple of minutes of the fight) one-on-one when the Guardians have built up just how dangerous Sinestro is in combat. But eh. We do get some really neat visual flair between the two -- nothing too impressive compared to what Sinestro would do in Justice League Unlimited, but compared to just how dry and mechanical John Stewart's lantern ring constructs tend to be, it's a pretty cool bit to actually see the ring be used creatively.

Overall the episode's just okay, I think. It's not a huge, huge bombastic debut or anything, but it's certainly watcheable and fun enough. I'm not sure what else to say about it... it's a decent origin story episode, it's got a neatly-told story for Kyle and Sinestro both, and Superman... sort of... hangs around? It's kind of like Steel (and, honestly, up until the last three episodes of Superman: TAS, Supergirl) earlier in the series where they get elaborate origin stories but never actually end up doing much for the rest of the series.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Kyle Rayner is the fifth person on Earth to have taken up the mantle of Green Lantern in the comics, after Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner and John Stewart. In the comics, his day job as a freelance artist is accurately represented here, but being selected by a dying Abin Sur to get the ring is the backstory of the most famous Green Lantern of all, Hal Jordan. 
• Thaal Sinestro's backstory isn't really delved to here, but he is a disgraced Green Lantern who once trained Hal Jordan and many others, but his usage of the ring ended up turning him into a despotic ruler of his home planet, causing the Guardians to strip him of his power. In his anger, he crafted a yellow ring powered by fear instead of willpower, and would prove one of the Green Lanterns' mightiest foes.
• Kyle's rejection letter in this episode came from DC comics. 
• Hal Jordan's name is briefly seen written on the plane that Sinestro throws Kyle into during the final battle. Hal, of course, was a pilot.
• The restaurant that Kyle and Jimmy were eating at is called 'Gil's Ristorante', whereas the air base that the final battle takes place in is called 'Broome Lake', which are references to the creator of the Silver Age Green Lantern mythos, Gil Kane and John Broome.
• The unspeaking army of Green Lanterns that are shown by the Guardians to Superman include Arisia, Katma Tui, Kilowog, Salakk, Tomar Re, Xax, Arkkis Chummuck and Larvox.

Superman TAS S03E06 Review: Fake Utopia

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 6: Absolute Power

Not one of my favourite episodes. It's an episode that's honestly comparable to several others in the DCAU's history, but Jax-Ur and Mala's return, having apparently reformed and taken over a planet as a pair of benevolent rulers... doesn't actually get presented right. Despite Jax-Ur's long PR speech, I never really buy for any second that the villains have reformed at all, or that the planet they've taken over are in any sort of an utopia. Whatever ethical conflict that Superman has for 'interfering' in the 'rightful' rule of Jax-Ur and Mala is absolutely banal, and the alien side-characters that end up taking Superman's side is likewise under-developed and one-dimensional. There could be an interesting story being told of Superman having to confront the fact that Jax-Ur's Marxist rule might actually be to the planet's benefit... but the show opted for the easy (and more child-friendly) out of having Jax-Ur and Mala be super-duper evil invaders all along. There's absolutely no choice that Superman has to make, because the two villains are evil, and it's smashy-smash time.

That said, the episode features a relatively unique Superman monologue at the beginning and end of the episode ("evil triumphs when good men do nothing"), and a pretty neat black hole battle and spaceships blowing up which is cool-looking if it doesn't completely salvage the episode. I really wished that if the moral of the episode was meant to be a critique on Superman standing still while empires rise, then they would actually show that, instead of the conflict presented by this episode.

Jax-Ur and Mala straight-up die this episode, though, being sucked into the black hole, which is surprising considering the relatively tame and deathless series this has been.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Jax-Ur and Mala, of course, are homages to the Superman II versions of General Zod and Ursa, so we get several references there. Jax-Ur gets a ''kneel before me", and the Phantom Zone being torn apart by an energy explosion is a reference to how Team Zod were released in the movie.
• Sarah Douglas, the actual actress that played Ursa in Superman II, voices Mala for this episode. 

Superman TAS S03E05 Review: Life am Good

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 5: Little Big Head Man

Mr. Mxyzptlk is a character whose concept and status as a Superman enemy is just so ludicrous that I've never failed to enjoy him. In particular, I've always loved TAS's voice for him, even if it's not what I would pick as a first choice... but Gilbert Gottfried certainly does sound like a crazy conman genie from the fifth dimension who has way too many free time on his hands. So this episode pairs him with another kooky character -- Bizarro. I do really wished that the episode didn't spend half its runtime just having Bizarro and Superman throw down, and actually explore more of the strange stipulation given to Mxyzptlk halfway through the episode -- that his powers are suspended by the godlike council that governs the fifth dimension. 

Instead, we just establish what Bizarro's been up to, have Mxyzptlk fool him into attacking Superman... and then just a whole lot of confused BIzarro and laughing Mxy until that scene which IMO should've happened a lot earlier. And then it's just shake-hands and all is forgiven, with Mxy being forced to atone for his community service by helping Bizarro set up all the fake-humans that he saves in Bizzaro World

It's a pretty fantastic and a fun riot of an episode, from the sheer silliness of seeing how Bizarro spends his spare time, how Mxy interacts with Bizarro (complete with a fake news that features a rare appearance of Supergirl in season 3) and Bizarro's general dundering around. I just wished that they actually do more with the Bizarro-vs-Superman rematch. Overall, it's a pretty fun episode, just relatively poorly paced and I really think that we could've done more with the concept of a powerless Mxy other than just rushing it through the episode's last act. 

Not really much to talk about here beyond the fact that it's pretty damn fun. Lois gets some neat lines here as she tries her best to not freak out in front of Bizarro, too. And the remix of the opening theme as we see Bizarro-World? It's amazing. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• The fifth dimension's name is revealed to be Zrff, as it is in the comics. I'm not 100% sure that the Council exists in the comics, but I kinda wanna say they do? Don't quote me on that, though there certainly are rules as to how fifth-dimensional imps are allowed to act. 
• Action Comics #80, a comic that features Mr. Mxyzptlk, is seen as one of the pieces of evidence that Gspy presents to the tribunal. 
• Among Bizarro's items in his planet, one is a cube-shaped model of Earth, which was how Htrae/Bizarro-World looks in the comics. 
• The episode marks Mr. Mxyzptlk and Krypto's last appearances in the DCAU. Bizarro himself will reappear in Justice League Unlimited, and there were apparently plans for Mxy to wreak havoc in the JLU era, his episode ended up never getting written.

Superman TAS S03E04 Review: Barbie Doll

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 4: Obsession

Definitely not a big fan of this particular episode. I definitely approve of the increased Lana Lang screentime in this one. She's sassy and her role as someone keenly aware of Superman's double life makes her an amazing foil to the Man of Steel, and while the show has one of the most well-written adaptations of Lois Lane ever, Lana is just so charming that it's honestly criminal that episodes like this that star Lana are few and far between. 

Sadly, I'm just not that big of a fan of the episode. I'm not sure if it's just the sheer creepiness that Toyman built a life-like doll of a fake-Barbie doll, gave her a personality and essentially life, all to become his 'companion'. There's a veneer of sexual assault and abusive relationships over it all, only disguised by the fact that Toyman keeps referring to Darci as a 'playmate', while the episode itself really likes to focus on fanservice-y shots that really like to highlight Darci's figure. I suppose being creepy is the whole point of Toyman, but his prior (and subsequent) iterations would tend to revolve more around the fact that he's a grown man obsessed with toys and childhood as opposed to being a creepy pervert.

Darci herself isn't the most likable of characters, either, even counting the fact that her allegiance isn't super-clear and her motivations are muddied. I'm not quite sure why she attacks Lana and tried to burn the entire building down, in one case, although I guess one could make the argument for the fact that she's just really confused about life in general? I dunno. I just plain don't like Darci.

What this episode does well in spades, though, is the visual flair. One of the most memorable and amazing scenes in this episode is Superman showing up in Lana's office while everything's burning, and he just claps his hand. Between the animation and the impressive sound mixing, it just really sells the fantasy of Superman being so goddamn strong that a single clap manages to emit enough force to put out the fire. 

We also get a couple of cool action scenes, with Superman fighting the robot cowboy and the robot spaceman being a fun one, as well as the weirdly awesome giant kangaroo that tries to bop Superman in the face. What this episode lacks in being not-creepy it certainly more than makes up with visual flair. 

Superman TAS S03E03 Review: Smallville

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 3: New Kids in Town

So a good chunk of season three is just having episodes that co-star another DC superhero. In this case, it's a group of superheroes that's very near and dear to Superman lore... the Legion of SUper-Heroes. Which, I must honestly say, is a group that I didn't really care much about despite being a big DC fan. I'm not sure what it is about them that I don't particularly find exciting. It could be their rather insipid names (which isn't exactly fair, but the Legion has the biggest ratio of X-boy and Y-girl names ever) or their relative detachment from most present-day DC material considering they're set in the 30th Century, but I dunno. I see the Legion every now and then when DC does a crossover issue or whatever, but I've never personally sought out Legion stories.

And this episode really doesn't increase any desire to see the Legion in action, I'm sorry to say. The episode itself is fantastic, but if anything it increased my desire to watch Smallville, or read any Superman stories set in that era. A period where Clark Kent is not Superman yet, where he's still struggling with his personal issues of school and prom and puberty and superpowers and how he should use them. Here, we see a young Clark Kent use his powers to show off at a basketball game at school to show up the resident jock, have a fun relationship with Lana Lang, and is absolutely confused when an alien robot from the future shows up to murder him, and young Clark doesn't actually understand what's going on but knows that he has to fight the evil robot terrorizing Smallville.

The Legion themselves isn't uninteresting, but they're very bland, and other than some snide snarking on Chameleon Boy's part, they are more of a set of powers than actual characters. Coming from the same team that would eventually go and build the rich cast of Justice League Unlimited which juggled an impressive cast far more than just introducing three new characters, it's a bit surprising. I genuinely cannot pinpoint any personality for Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy beyond "heroic". Saturn Girl in particular is more plot device to give everyone amnesia than an actual character.

I lied about last episode being Brainiac's final appearance in Superman: TAS before Justice League, by the way... but this episode doesn't exactly count, considering it takes place in the past, in a memory that Superman himself forgot. Brainiac is always a fun villain, even if this episode does feature him having an extending fist-punch which I found more hilarious than threatening.

Lana, Pa and Ma Kent get the best lines in this episode, Lana in particular. She's just so sassy and I'm kinda sad we don't actually see a lot of Lana in the show proper. Pa and Ma Kent get to shoot Brainiac with shotguns!

Overall, it's actually a pretty fun episode after I got over the fact that it works better as a 'young Superman' story than a Legion of Super-Heroes story. The fight scenes are fantastic, especially with Clark fighting against the tractors, and we do get a fair look at the Legion's powers which at least is visually impressive. Cosmic Boy launching steel rods to stab Brainiac is amazing. Brainiac being sent into the sun and melting is also an unexpectedly gruesome yet awesome sight. I did feel that the episode dragged on a little with Brainiac assaulting Clark's bully, but it's otherwise a pretty enjoyable episode, bland Legion guest stars aside.


DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• We talked about the Legion of Super-Heroes here back when I was reviewing Justice League Unlimited. I don't think I know enough (or care enough) about Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy to google their origin stories, although I do know that Saturn Girl's one of the Legion founders. 
• One of the Legion's most famous members, of course, is a time-travelling Superboy, a young Clark Kent.
• During the brief flashback to the Legion's headquarters, we get to see Legionnaires Lightning Lad, Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, Andromeda, Dream Girl, Kid Quantum, Light Lass, Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy and Triplicate Girl.
• Chameleon Boy stands in for Lightning Lad as one of the three founding Legion members that first met Superboy. 
• Kenny Braverman, the resident bully, is based on the real name of Superman villain Conduit, who had a rivalry with Clark Kent ever since being his classmate in his Smallville years.
• Chameleon Boy's line "up, up and away!" is a reference to Superman's catchphrase in his old radio shows. 
• Brainiac's line "the Son of Jor-El kneels before me" is apparently a reference to the "kneel before me" line uttered by General Zod in Superman II.

Superman TAS S03E02 Review: When the Bat's Away

Superman, the Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 2: Knight Time

Dynamic duo!

I didn't actually know this episode exists, or that it's coming up in the episode list, so how fucking pleased I am when a Superman/Batman crossover episode happened again? Pretty fucking pleased, I must say. Except, well, Batman himself doesn't actually show up a lot until the end. In fact, where Batman has disappeared off to is one of the biggest questions. The episode starts with Superman chasing down Roxy Rocket, who's clearly outmatched but is having the day of her life making dick puns and weaseling them through the sensors. (Roxy Rocket and her orgasm/sex double entrendes is one of the things I absolutely didn't get when I was a kid). Superman then realizes that Gotham City is overrun by crooks, and we quickly get the TNBA Tim Drake Robin beating up crooks. 

And what follows is a Superman/Robin team-up! Except because Batman's presence is required in Gotham City, Superman has to dress up as Batman, and having Kevin Conroy play the 'Superman-pretending-to-be-Batman' with all the hilarious awkwardness that that entails is just amazing. I just have such a big love for Kevin Conroy and seeing him actually voice this unsure Superman trying to be tough and aloof while not having much of Batman's detective or dickery skills is just amazing. That scene with Gordon on the rooftop, with SuperBatman being too nice at one point then overcompensating in dickery in the next is a sight to behold. 

(We also get the quick handwave that Nightwing and Batgirl are chasing "Ghul something" in Romania, which is a neat way to handwave their absence.)

Of course, Bruce has been mysteriously missing, and with Superman's microscopic visions he realizes that there are nanites and mind control involved, meaning that Bruce is abducted by someone. And then comes my absolute favourite scene, where SuperBatman and Robin interrogate Penguin with all his glorious sesquipedalian verbage. Seeing these instantly-recognizable B:TAS/TNBA voices just brings a smile to my face. And seeing Robin have to whisper to Superman to "pssst, kick the table!" to intimidate Penguin and he just overdoes it is just amazing. I just like the Penguin, okay?

And then we have SuperBatman and Robin fight against Bane, Riddler and Mad Hatter. I'm reserving my opinion of the B:TAS versions of them until I get a chance to rewatch B:TAS, but I certainly like them now! I've never had that high of an opinion for the revamped version of Riddler, but maybe that's because I'm not a big fan of the weird one-suit costume design and the bald head as opposed to the more traditional domino mask and suit-and-tie getup, and his sheer obsession with traps here actually makes him not that impressive. SuperBatman gets to a neat fight with Bane, who, of course, is the only villain in Batman's rogues' gallery that really can afford to give Superman a fighting chance. And then Mad Hatter doesn't even try. He just gets spooked by Batman's newfound boogeyman super-speed, and cooperates. Mad Hatter's dialogue is amazing, by the way.  

Sadly, I felt like the final stretch of the episode is a bit... out of nowhere. It's totally sensible for Brainiac to take over Bruce Wayne's brain and have him build his new body and the ship, and having Brainiac be confused that Batman is actually Kal-El is hilarious. And that scene where Superman fights Brainiac on the station is pretty well done, but how they actually deal with Brainiac isn't super-satisfying. He just flies up, and essentially blows up in a rather anti-climactic way. Poor Brainiac always gets really great buildup episodes that end with rather poor climaxes, yeah? Especially since IIRC this is actually Brainiac's last present-day appearance in Superman: The Animated Series. Good thing we have Justice League. 

So yeah. It's a fun romp, and actually taking Batman out of the picture and having Superman and Robin hang out is such a fun little formula that I don't actually mind at all. I may be biased due to my unashamed fanboying for animated Batman, but eh, there are worse things to be fanboying about.

DC Easter Eggs Corner: [Y'know, beyond the fact that the cast of Batman: TAS showed up...]

• Bane's talk about how he wants to feel Batman's spine crumble in his hands is a reference to the famous comic arc that debuted Bane, Knightfall, where it climaxed with Bane breaking Batman's back over his knee, a scene that has essentially became synonymous with the villain. As far as I remember, Bane never quite had an obsession with breaking Batman in their home series.
• Brainiac was last seen in 'Ghost in the Machine', and it can be presumed that the partnership between LexCorp and WayneTech in 'World's Finest' was what allowed him to jump ship into the WayneTech systems. The next chronological appearance of Brainiac would be the Justice League episode 'Twilight of the Gods'. 
• Superman's super-ventriloquism, the ability to imitate any voice he's ever heard with precise control of his vocal chords, is actually a power he had in the Golden Age. 
• This episode technically takes place after The New Batman Adventures, and it therefore marks the last chronological appearances of Roxy Rocket, Ridler and Mad Hatter. Mad Hatter's voice actor passed away before this episode was aired. 

Superman TAS S03E01 Review: Evil Government Agencies

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 3, Episode 1: Where There's Smoke

Been some time since we did one of these cartoon reviews. This time around we'll be completing season three (and the very short season four) of Superman: The Animated Series. The third season starts with "Where There's Smoke", which features a villain original to the animated series, Volcana. As much as Volcana can be called a villain, anyway. I didn't think much of this episode when I watched it as a kid (it's one of the few episodes from seasons two and three I caught on Cartoon Network) because Volcana was just a human with fire abilities, what's to make her different from the near-godlike alien overlords like Darkseid, Brainiac or Mxyzptlk?

Now watching it, though, I realize just how actually sympathetic Volcana was. Sure, she was destructive and robs things, but between her motive rant as she throws fireball after fireball after Superman saying how "I'm here to help" or "trust me" are things that her parents, the facility and the military all told her before they sell her out. Between Volcana's rather pathetic attempt at trying to sell her things to the fence (why not just rob the fence?) or when she gets re-captured by Kurt, the military jackass with the eyepatch, poor Volcana alternates well between being a villain and being a sympathetic character. It would've been too easy to simply make Volcana go straight to the side of good and team up with Superman when the man of steel shows up to save her from being dissected, but she doesn't. As soon as she's free, she spends most of her time hunting down Kurt and actually fireballs Superman a couple of times. 

While the institute of paranormal abilities or whatever it's called doesn't really come up later, there's also a significant attempt to broaden the DCAU world. We've already had episodes like this before, where Batman: TAS and Superman: TAS had moments where they cross over, as well as having guest stars like Dr. Fate show up earlier, but this is some neat buildup of mythology that'll eventually lay the seeds for the more serialized storyline of Justice League. The fact that the military has been stealing the battle-capable metahumans from the institute is pretty dark, and the director's obvious fear and helplessness even with his own telekinetic powers is pretty well-displayed, too, even if I felt that the particular plot thread was left hanging. 

Kurt and his evil eyepatch isn't particularly interesting, but he does play the role of evil soulless power-hungry government man very well, playing on the confident but still outnumbered Volcana. I wouldn't say that Volcana is weak or not confident, but there are moments where she is portrayed like an actual scared girl. (Also, who undressed Volcana from her initial jacket-and-form-fitting-dress into a BDSM bikini? Kurt's a pervert) 

So yeah. I liked this episode a lot more than I did because it's not actually black-and-white. Well, Kurt's pretty evil, but Volcana herself is actually a pretty interesting character, and the solution -- putting her on a personal island where she's free and wouldn't bother anyone isn't super original (we did that with the giant monkey) but at least Volcana gets to sunbathe a lot. Thankfully Volcana gets some subsequent screentime too after this. 

Superman TAS S02E27-28 Review: Maid of Might

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 2, Episode 27-28: Little Girl Lost

I completely forgot about this episode, because it's kind of ingrained in my mind that season two of Superman: TAS ended with the Darkseid invasion. The DVD boxset that I have had the last five episodes of season two lumped with season three, and I kind of just assumed that season two ended with 'Apokolips Now'. Whoops! I could edit the Apokolips Now review to reflect this, but eh. Whatever.

Anyway, 'Little Girl Lost', acting as the season finale, also bizarrely acts as an introduction to Supergirl, as well as featuring a weird little coda to the whole Darkseid plotline by having his minion, the appropriately-slimy Granny Goodness (awesomely voiced by Ed Asner) revive Intergang and terrorize Metropolis with a master plan that's supposed to bring a comet down to Earth to destroy it with a natural disaster, keeping Darkseid's hands clean of the treaty. We don't actually find the full extent of the plan until very late in the second episode, though, so for the large majority of the two-parter it just seems that Granny Goodness, a member of Darkseid's Apokoliptan force, just decided to revive Intergang for shits and giggles. Hell, for a majority of my watching through this episode,  I genuinely am confused if it's supposed to happen before or after Darkseid's invasion. But oh well, I digress.

One of the biggest problem I do have with this two-parter is just how much padding is in it, and yet it still doesn't have time to properly introduce Supergirl and establish her relationship with Superman. Comparing it to how Robin was introduced in Batman: The Animated Series, how they bonded and Bruce eventually adopts Dick after bonding over their shared tragedy, Superman and Kara... just happens to apparently bond offscreen.

More egregious is that Supergirl's origins here is completely original and made up by the show's team to keep Superman's status as the last Kryptonian unique, so Supergirl isn't even related to Superman -- she's from Krypton's sister planet, Argo, and the opening of the episode is chillingly well-done, extremely somber as Superman flies through the ruins of his dead world, and then through another, finding another sole survivor. Even if the show wants to get on with the action, having Superman find Kara's pod, and quite literally flash-forward to Kara already in farmgirl clothes and apparently unofficially adopted as Superman's cousin, skipping forward all of that felt like a bit of a missed move.

Especially considering what we got for a majority of Supergirl's focus in the first episode felt relatively weak. Sure, Supergirl not being allowed to fight and having to stay down thanks to Superman's overprotectiveness is okay enough, but having her snoop around with Jimmy Olsen (who himself gets a larger proportion of screentime in wanting to be a journalist) to investigate as reporters is honestly very bland and drags on forever. Also, the two-parter puts an ungodly amount of screentime on Trouble and Amy, a pair of Intergang mooks that fights Superman with an ice gun and a fire gun, and Amy later tags along with Supergirl and Jimmy in investigating Granny's operation. And honestly? Amy doesn't really contribute much to the story that Supergirl and Jimmy aren't already contributing.

They then fight the Female Furies, an iconic group of colourful characters from the comics (only three of them show up in the DCAU, though) which is all fun and good, but honestly the fights are a little repetitive considering we have 'Supergirl vs Furies!' followed immediately by 'Supergirl and Superman vs Furies!' and then again by 'Supergirl and Superman vs Furies... IN SPACE!' The Furies are all one-trick ponies. Stompa stomps, Lashina lashes her weird tape-whip, and Mad Harriet keeps trying to stab someone with her needle-gauntlets, but always, always gets the brunt of someone else's attacks. Poor Harriet.

And even when Superman is abducted by the Apokoliptans and brought before Darkseid, the threat that Darkseid exudes honestly doesn't feel to be as menacing as he does in all his previous appearances. It really just feels like Darkseid is having an off day, and I dunno, he just looks so disinterested outside of that one actually well-done speech about how he'll destroy what he can't conquer. His omega beams fails to do jack-all this episode, though.

The episode ends with Supergirl standing triumphant, having saved the city from the falling comet, but I dunno. Maybe if the episode wasn't a two-parter -- and it easily could've been, cutting out Jimmy and Amy's subplot, and trimming some of the fights and comet scenes -- it would've been paced better? Or simply giving Supergirl more to do beyond her inadequate feelings of not being allowed to help out Superman? I dunno. It's not terrible, but there are so many parts of this two-parter that I feel could've been done better.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Supergirl: Supergirl of the cartoon is Kara In-Ze, a resident of Krypton's sister planet Argo. The Superman: TAS incarnation of Supergirl is the very first incarnation after the original Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, is retconned out of existence in the mainstream comics during the Crisis of Infinite Earths, due to a mandate from DC comics that Superman's status as the last son of Krypton be kept unique. Thus the TAS team created a brand-new backstory that still had Supergirl retain her status as Superman's "cousin", but is adopted from another planet. Her white-top blue-skirt costume, as well as her wearing a wig, would be adapted to the first post-Crisis Supergirl in the comics, Linda Danvers. 
• Granny Goodness: Granny Goodness is the sadistic torturer of Apokolips, who rose from the lowlies -- the lower slave class -- and trained to be one of Darkseid's merciless elite soldiers, and in this training, she specialized in indoctrinating children and potential warriors to be fanatical soldiers that obeyed Darkseid and Darkseid alone. She created the fanatical force, the Female Furies, but the only child she cannot break is Highfather's son, Scott Free, the child who, after escaping Apokolips, would become the superhero Mr. Miracle. 
• Female Furies: The Female Furies are fanatical woman soldiers trained by Granny Goodness and loyal to Darkseid, and while their members are far more in the comics (notable omissions from the original lineup include Bernadeth and Gilotina, as well as Big Barda, who would defect), and basically act as Darkseid's personal hit squad.

Superman TAS S02E25-26 Review: Hell on Earth

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. 

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. 

Superman TAS S02E24 Review: Bend the Knee

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 2, Episode 24: Warrior Queen

Some people cite "Heavy Metal", the previous episode, to be the worst episode of the season, to which I'll point at this episode and disagree. Maxima is a character dear to my heart, being one of the villains (well, anti-heroes, really) to feature in some of the earliest Superman comic books I had as a kid. She's a rather difficult character to adapt into modern day due to her more... misogynistic modus operandi. She wants a man that can defeat her in combat to be the only man she can marry. But there are ways to get around that, of course.

"Warrior Queen" keeps the whole find-a-husband deal as Maxima's main goal, while at the same time focusing more on her immaturity and her woman-child tendencies. Basically a less psychotic Jeoffrey Baratheon. Yet both the episode and Maxima herself move around so erratically that none of her character grown felt earned. Maxima is initially presented to us as an immature queen who cares more about finding a mate, is horrible to her subjects, and generally, well, an air-headed asshole. She kidnaps Superman to find out that her previous competitor, De'Cine, has taken over because, shit, everyone hates her. Oh, and for... some reason, De'Cine decides to exile Maxima's majordomo, Sazu, despite initially forming an alliance with her.

Maxima is angry and is about to kill Sazu, which Superman says "no!" And while, yes, there's a point to not killing everyone without a trial, and three's a point to not kidnapping other men and dragging them home to marry, Sazu did betray Maxima, and honestly the weird "no, forgive her" stance they took with Sazu felt odd. Likewise, while Superman and Maxima beat the hell out of De'Cine and the treacherous guards, did Maxima having a change of heart suddenly cause everyone to become good again? All of these felt rather oddly done, and there really isn't much that makes me believe that a brief jaunt through the dungeons of Almerac would cause such a drastic change in Maxima's personality. It's just a character change that doesn't seem earned at all, in my opinion.

Add that to the honestly rather unimpressive battle scenes, both against De'Cine's court or against the giant tentacle beast, and the episode ended up being a bit of a slog. Though honestly, Maxima's squee and her kissy-faced pose when Lobo crashes into her court is just so freaking hilarious that I'll forgive that. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Apart from wearing a completely different outfit, Maxima, the warrior-queen of Almerac, is a supporting anti-hero/villain of Superman, with more or less an identical backstory as she does here. 

Superman TAS S02E23 Review: The OTHER Man of Steel

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 2, Episode 23: Heavy Metal

I really like Steel. But the episode that he properly debuts as Steel is... not that spectacular, I'm afraid. There are many, many attempts to tie this in to the big Darkseid finale, but it's not a very well-done episode. Sure, Metallo's surprise return, and the fact that he's working alongside Intergang, is a neat twist, and I really love how Metallo's just bantering with Steel with metal puns throughout the episode... but the fight scenes are protracted and honestly not very interesting, and there's the constant focus on the random citizens just to emphasize that hey, Steel is an ethnic hero. Which I didn't really feel necessary, and while the African-American characters are generally portrayed positively, there's still shades of stereotypes there. Not going to talk a lot about that, though, because I'm not as qualified, but still, it feels relatively blah.

Despite every single previous episode showing that kryptonite only weakens Superman for a brief moment of time, for whatever reason the upgrade that allows Metallo to shoot Kryptonite beams disables Superman for the entirety of the episode, even though John and Natasha shoves Superman under a yellow sun bed. It's fine if you kind of want the entire episode to be Steel's day to shine, but the one that beats Metallo in the end is Superman, who wakes up for ten whole seconds to whack Metallo out. Although Steel does get the last blow, whacking Metallo in the chest with his hammer, it feels a bit weird that the episode wants to spend so much time on Steel yet doesn't let him properly shine. I dunno. It just kind of feels unpolished compared to other DCAU episodes, though not exactly bad. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• In addition to the obvious references to 'Prototype', Metallo refers and calls out Superman for leaving him under molten lava in 'Action Figures'. Intergang was last seen in 'Tools of the Trade'. Bibbo Bibbowski references the fight between Superman and Titano in 'Monkey Fun'. 
• Natasha Irons, John's niece, is a supporting character of Steel and Superman, and would later take up the mantle of Steel after John's apparent death. (In the New 52 reboot, Natasha would gain actual superpowers and fight crime under the codename Starlight)

Superman TAS S02E22 Review: Clark Kent's Day Out

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 2, Episode 22: The Late Mr. Kent

This was one episode that I wasn't super-crazy about as a kid, but pleasantly loved when I rewatched it as an adult. It featured more detective work than what is normal for a Superman episode, and featured a lot of Superman rumination as opposed to Superman fighting the Metallos and Livewires and Kalibaks of the world. But it's a very great episode that feels different, in a good way. It gives Superman a much-needed personality moment, as he stands back and narrates how it came to this. Obviously Superman's not really going to die -- but Clark Kent did, and we learn the reason as to why Superman is forced to allow Clark Kent to die. Stumbling upon a conspiracy to frame a thief to be the fall man for a murder, Clark finds himself trying to solve and absolve the man's sins not as Superman, but as Clark. There are some very well-done choice words as Clark muses about how part of why he was so intent on proving it as Clark and not as Superman is his own ego, something that makes the Man of Steel so much more human than his usual square-jawed peerless beacon of hope hero of mankind deal.

Clark talking to his parents about how he'll go crazy if he was forced to be Superman all the time is all very human as well, a stark contrast to the hero of Superman: TAS's sister show, Batman, who, unlike Superman, uses Bruce Wayne not to live a second life, but as a tool to gather information and help the people. To Superman, both Superman and Clark Kent are equally important, and as Superman himself helps a very distraught Lois investigate, we also get to see a very human side of Lois. She's never really liked Clark Kent the way she did Superman (or Bruce Wayne), yet Clark's death causes her to become increasingly miserable and very much intent to finish what Clark started. Again, as I keep saying in the past few episodes, the show has been giving Lois Lane a lot more things to do, and I appreciate it so much. A lot of the earlier Superman: TAS episodes reduce Superman and Lois Lane to just caricatures of themselves instead of proper characters, and it's clear that they're trying to fix that. 

There's also copious amounts of neat continuity nods. Sure, it's obvious that creepy officer Bowman is the real killer, simply because there really isn't anyone else who fits the bill as the villain, but Bowman is a corrupt cop who played a small role in a previous episode, "Targets", as a red herring, and seeing him reused here is a neat bit of "ooooh that dude, I kinda remember him!" moment. The inclusion of Lana Lang, as well as Ma and Pa Kent (who are in the show a lot less than I remembered being) are also great continuity nods. 

The ending of the episode, ending with Officer Bowman's execution as he sees the gigantic insult that the article that exposed him is written by Clark Kent, and he's dragged to the gas chamber that he meant for his fall guy to take, and right before the executioner pulls the lever, Bowman shouts a revelation as his crazed eyes go bloodshot -- "HE'S SUPERMAN!" It's a chilling, well-done ending that I really loved to an episode with an unusually darker tone than normal. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Detective Bowman, and his prior history as a corrupt cop, was introduced in the episode "Target". Lana Lang appeared last in "My Girl".

Superman TAS S02E21 Review: Robocop

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 2, Episode 21: Prototype

"Prototype" is the first part of Steel's origin story in the DCAU, and it's actually a pretty smart and well-done storyline that introduces John Henry Irons as a supporting character an episode before he dons the Steel armour. But even without the knowledge that the episode is there to introduce a supporting character, it's still a pretty great episode of its own merits.

There is the rather questionable business practice of Lex Luthor allowing the resident tragic villain Corey Mils to keep the super-important, super-advanced police armour without any supervision, but once you get past that particular logic hiccup, it's a pretty solid story as Superman and the genuinely well-meaning Sergeant Corey Mills team up to save Metropolis from a gigantic building fire and whatnot. But the episode gives Sergeant Mills a fairly unexpected large amount of screentime even though he's what amounts to be a throwaway character. We get to see his increasing obsession with the suit, his increasingly distant relationship with his wife, and his increasing aggression as he becomes more and more psychotic. It's a really creepy and well-done scene as Mills uses the same equipment that he used several minutes ago to save people alongside Superman to bury car thieves under a mountain of cars. 

John Irons don't actually do that much in this episode, to be honest, but he's prominent enough and has a memorable enough voice and design in order to make him stick in your mind. I did like him, and we establish that he refuses to compromise on his morals and way more akin to Superman as compared to Luthor, and at the end of the episode he starts building the Steel suit, free to improve his work into something that can be used to truly protect and not a lethal weapon.

The actual confrontation between Mills and Luthor is actually a pretty cool thing, with Luthor lording over his contingency plan against Mills ending up not panning out, and Mills about to feed Luthor to a shark (hahaha!). The actual battle between Mills and Superman is... okay, as is Superman's constant attempts to try and get Corey Mills to return back to the hero he originally was. It's not the best episode out there, with some rough hiccups, but still pretty neat. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• John Henry Irons (borrowing his name from the real-life American folk hero John Henry) in the comic books is the superhero known as Steel, appearing in the 90's as one of the four replacements of Superman after his death, claiming Superman's "Man of Steel" epithet as his own. His backstory there is relatively similar to the one given here, someone who's disgusted at the practices of the company he's working (Amertek instead of Lexcorp in the comics), and is inspired by Superman to be a superhero, donning a suit of armour and becoming one of the superheroes of Metropolis. 
• While Corey Mills is an original character to the DCAU, the concept of a police force donned in super-advanced robotic suits subservient to Luthor resembles Team Luthor, a group of powered-armour-donning policemen that is loyal to Luthor. 

Superman TAS S02E20 Review: Me No Am Stoopid

Superman: The Animated Series, Season 2, Episode 20: Bizarro's World

I've always found Bizarro to be an interesting character in both the comics and the cartoon. He's a clone of Superman, yet his twisted logic means that he acts opposite to how Superman would. He's created to be a destroyer, to be the anti-Superman, yet thrust into a world where his logic doesn't work right, it's a very interesting situation indeed. Without trying to have any obvious parallels to real-life autism or mental diseases, Bizarro's an interesting character in his own right. 

So while Lois is still trying to follow up on finding out if Bizarro truly perished at the end of "Identity Crisis", the man in question ends up running around, scaring everyone in his path, until by happenstance he ends up finding his way to the Fortress of Solitude, where the Brainiac Orb shows Bizarro the life on Krypton that Kal-El had, causing Bizarro to go on a rampage as he wrecks Metropolis in an attempt to rebuild Krypton and, later, as we find out, re-enact Krypton's destruction. It's a bit light-hearted as the long-suffering SCU officers Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer completely fail at containing the situation, as Lois tries to hang around with Bizarro to pacify him... and, well, Bizarro's remodelling efforts are quite funny, complete with stealing a random usher or whatever that he thinks is "da-da" Jor-El.

Superman's lighter side is shown here, where I've criticized him in some previous episodes (notably the second Metallo episode) for being written as a callous hero, and he tries his best to talk to Bizarro, to understand him while at the same time subduing him before he can hurt people. Hence, the kryptonite and the lead suit. Things go south, however, but Superman still gives Bizarro a chance to redeem himself -- if he 'destroys' Krypton... of which this is not, he will kill Lois as well, something that Bizarro refuses to let happen.

Superman saves the day, and yet Bizarro is a bit too much of a menace to keep around considering his destructiveness. Perhaps it is slightly uneasy that Superman just kicks Bizarro into his own world with Krypto to protect, but at the same time there's really not much in lieu of options considering rehabilitating Bizarro would probably end badly for Earth. 

DC Easter Egg Corner:

• Bizarro last appeared earlier this season in "Identity Crisis".
• Bizarro World (a.k.a. thraE) in the comics is introduced around the 1960's, a cube-shaped world that hosted Bizarro-versions of Earth's superheroes, and was subsequently destroyed by Mxyzptlk prior to the Crisis of Infinite Earths maxi-event. Various versions of Bizarro World would appear later on.
• As with the comics, Bizarro is immune to normal green Kryptonite. Instead, he possesses a weakness to the blue variant of kryptonite, though we don't get to see that here. 
• Krypto, in the comics, is the name of Superman's pet dog, otherwise known as Super-Dog. While the traditional Krypto had a brief cameo in the pilot, Bizarro's alien Krypto is the main owner of the name in the DCAU.