The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

 Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 37

Warrior Queen

 

Here we are, with another base hit.  Maxima voiced by Sharon Lawrence at the height of her 90s career is looking for a husband.  Her qualifications are the guy has to defeat her in battle.  She’s shown footage of Superman, she heads to Earth, they fight, Superman wins.  She then uses some tech to knock him out and take him to her home planet.  When home she learns a coup has taken place and she’s sent to a dungeon with Superman.  He gives her a ton of lectures about how to be a leader, she agrees to change.  They team up and defeat her enemies.  Superman says he’s not the girl for her, she’s bummed out but moves on.  Lobo shows up at the end for a gag as if the creators were pointing out the similar plot of an alien coming to Earth just to fight Superman.  

 

There’s a timeless joke from an old lady about Superman’s opinion on marriage.  It still resonates in modern times.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Black Circle - Hashpipe

Another Cuculi sponsored show. The sound and lights are bad because the venue was horrible.  Don’t blame the band.

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 36

Heavy Metal

 

It’s not terrible but it’s not spectacular either.  John Henry Irons is working on his super suit after his appearance in Prototype.  Metallo shows up via Intergang resurrecting him and totally messes up Superman so Irons has to step in and stall for time while Superman regains his strength.   Superman appears to have met his match but Steel is able to pitch in and they defeat Metallo together.  It’s a by the numbers episode introducing a new hero to the DCAU.  Irons is a cool character and if you need Superman out of commission to introduce a new hero then you pull in the villain with a kryptonite heart. 

 

There’s an interesting moment during the car chase scene where a garbage truck is blocking the way.  Irons, his niece, and Superman clear the truck but Metallo who is hot on their tail doesn’t.  Metallo is impervious to such a collision but his goons are not.  So he hits the breaks instead of killing them.  Metallo is truly a bad guy and wants to kill Superman but he’s somewhat tempered in his approach.  We saw in the episode Action Figures he had good in him.  The show never really explored it well enough.  

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Black Circle - Heaven

Another Cuculi sponsored show. The sound and lights are bad because the venue was horrible.  Don’t blame the band.

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 35

The Late Mr. Kent

 

One of the best episodes in the series and the DCAU.  It’s the ending that really sells it as spectacular.  The show actually puts a guy to death via the gas chamber.  It starts out with everyone attending Clark Kent’s funeral including his alter ego Superman.  Then it flashes back to Clark Kent trying to save a death row inmate who was framed for murder. During his car ride to the governor to expose the frame and stop the execution, Kent’s car explodes along with the evidence, and he’s presumed dead.  He’s fine but cannot reveal that because of “reasons.”  

 

As Superman tries to find a way to bring Clark Kent back from the dead but also save the innocent man who’s on death row, he teams up with…wait for it…Lois Lane to solve the case.  Superman needs to find more evidence to prove the frame-up and debates revealing his secret identity.  Luckily for him Lois is amazing at her job and figures out Detective Bowman was the original murderer and the person that blew up Clark Kent.  When she confronts him, Bowman tries to kill her but Superman shows up and saves her. 

 

Clark Kent then entrust Lana Lang with helping come up with a decent cover story for how he survived.  Bowman who’s on death row keeps thinking about how Clark survived.  As the gas is released in the chamber he exclaims “he’s Superman.” Cut to black, he’s dead. How that made it into a kid’s show is as baffling as it is amazing.  It’s one of the bleakest endings for any DCAU episode, worthy of BtAS standards.

How Bowman was killed so quickly makes you worry about the DCAU justice system.  Most people sit on death row for thirty years.  Bowman was knocked off far faster.  Meanwhile all of Batman's rogues just get sent to the crazy house whenever they are caught. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Black Circle - Machinehead

Another Cuculi sponsored show. The sound and lights are bad because the venue was horrible.  Don’t blame the band.

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 34

Prototype

 

While we never get the Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen comic stories in the DCAU we do the character John Henry Irons who eventually becomes Steel.  This is his early origin and what makes it so great is how he’s introduced little by little like Batgirl in BtAS.  By the time he’s fully realized in Justice League Unlimited it’s an amazing evolution of the character.  

 

There is a solid joke in the episode where Lois Lane needs a car to a newsworthy event but accidentally talks to a creepy dude instead of Clark Kent who already flew off to save the day.  

 

The origin story involves a cop getting a super suit funded by Lex Luthor and invented by John Henry Irons but eventually the cop goes crazy with power and causes problems.  Superman has to take him down.  Irons regrets his invention but Superman encourages him to keep working on it because he could use the help.  He just needs someone responsible doing it.  It’s a fun episode, and while Corey Mills is never a real threat to Superman, the possibilities of John Henry Irons appearing in Superman: the Animated Series are exponential.  Will we get a Death of Superman story?  No, but it was a nice character edition.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Black Circle - Punk Song

Another Cuculi sponsored show. The sound and lights are bad because the venue was horrible.  Don’t blame the band.

The DC Animated Universe Weekly Review - Superman: The Animated Series

 Superman: The Animated Series

Episode 33

Bizarro's World

 

Bizarro returns and causes problems.  What doesn’t makes sense about this episode is how much time occurred between his first appearance and this episode.  Lois Lane goes though how many near death experiences before she tries to find Bizarro again?  Well Bizarro runs around causing havoc and Superman is around to clean up his mess.  Lois puts herself in danger in this one trying to help Bizarro.  Good intentions but she needs to use her brain.  Superman is able to knock Bizarro out with a gas canister and Superman takes him to an uninhabited planet that he calls krypton.  He also leaves him with a pet to take care of.  

Being able to knock Bizarro out with a gas canister seems like a big weakness which can be exploited to take out Superman.  The only logical difference might be Superman can hold his breath for an absurd amount of time and Bizarro is dumb and doesn't think to do that.

 

Superman basically banishes Bizarro but since he’s mentally challenged, sending him to the phantom zone would be too harsh.  A nice green planet with no life is the best option.  Ultimately it’s really just pushing your problems back another day.  Bizarro is destined bust loose again and cause problems but there is no real answer for someone as strong as Superman but dumb as a rock.

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com

Black Circle - Say It Ain't So

Another Cuculi sponsored show. The sound and lights are bad because the venue was horrible.  Don’t blame the band.