Superman: The Animated Series
Episode 10
The Main Man Part 2
The follow-up episode is far superior to the origin episode. Superman and Lobo are held captive by the Preserver since they are the last of their kind. Superman tries to talk his way out but the Preserver refuses. Superman is weak from the simulated red sun but uses his wits to break out of his cage. Lobo begs for his help, Superman refuses but eventually agrees as long as Lobo doesn’t attack Earth ever again. Lobo agrees to the terms.
While navigating the ship they come across different perils and come up with creative ways to overcome them. Lobo is late on his initial bounty so a posse shows up to kill Lobo. The Preserver lets them on the ship thinking it will work to his advantage.
Superman bust into an enclosure which houses the dodo from Earth, get’s his strength back and beats up everyone. As Lobo and Superman enter the ship hanger, the Preserver flips out and tries to kill them. He’s insulted because they don’t want to live as captives on his ship forever. The Preserver transforms into a huge monster, Superman and Lobo defeat him and go their separate ways.
Twist(ish) ending, Superman takes all the creatures the Preserver had and keeps them in the Fortress of Solitude. It’s supposed to be a sweet ending but there are a lot of undiscussed darker story elements that are glossed over.
The Preserver has good intentions by taking creatures who are the last of their kind and keeping them safe on his ship. As his name indicates, it seems like he preserves them, doesn’t collect them. He wants to keep them safe. He absolutely crosses a line by taking sentient beings. When he’s killed by being thrown into the cold vacuum of space the creatures are left with no caretaker. Lobo wants to abandon them. Superman agrees to care for them. Most likely guilt for his part in the Preserver’s death.
Unfortunately by taking on these creatures, Superman doesn’t know their diets or habitat requirements. It’s doubtful he can translate the Preserver’s language and get the data needed from the ship. Where would Superman get the money for the food these animals eat? This is assuming he can find Earth food that can work as a dietary supplement. He also has to fly to The Fortress of Solitude everyday to feed these creatures. Some might not need to eat every day but that certainly doesn’t apply to all of them. How does he cleanup their alien poop? What does he do if one of them gets sick? He’s brought foreign contaminants onto the planet Earth. If they get free it could be catastrophic to the planet. Which actually happens with Starro.
This episode is the first appearance of Starro who goes on to becomes a villain in an episode of Batman Beyond. As we will see, StAS certainly had a lot more seeds planted in the bigger DCAU than BtAS, even though it had more episodes. This is likely to Superman’s larger than life persona. The creators had to use larger more galactic level villains to fight him.
Also, what happened to the Preserver’s ship? Where is it? We never see it again. Superman may have salvaged some of the parts for his fortress and enclosures for the animals. He also likely stripped its food supply to continue to feed the animals but that only works for the short-term. He didn’t strip the entire ship and food would run out eventually. The logistics of keeping these animals isn’t realistic. Therefore, we’re left to believe a lot of these animals died under the care of Superman. Superman never had an Alfred or any type of helper which could allow him to manage this. It’s a poorly hashed out plot point to give people a happy ending. BtAS had no problem with grim endings but Superman was supposed to be a lighter show and thus needed happy endings, which don’t really work when closely examined.
Even with the DCAU plot issue, the episode is great. We see Lobo, the Fortress of Solitude gets a deeper purpose, Perserver was a solid villain. It had great action and solid characters.
Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com
