Superman on Television
Superman: The Animated Series - Episode Reviews
Season 2 - Episode 23: "Heavy Metal"
Original Air Date: November 8, 1997Reviewed by: Nathan Wozniak
"Call me... Steel!"
Before I start the review I just wanted to introduce myself a little bit, my love for Superman is limitless and has been in effect since my early youth in Britain, a 6 or 7 year old watching Lois & Clark. I loved that show and I've loved Superman ever since. I am a practicing artist, working to break into professional illustration, specifically Comic Book art and it would be a dream come true to one day work on the greatest Superhero ever!
However I should make it clear that my knowledge of Superman's history and the various media, is nowhere near as extensive as Jeffrey Taylor's encyclopedic knowledge of the Man of Steel. In fact I never saw The Animated Series in full until about 2 years ago when I downloaded the entire Series on iTunes. Watching that series in retrospect was amazing, the voice acting, the action scenes and the drama. This series is clearly more than just a children's cartoon and that's why I am thrilled to be completing the amazing work Jeffrey has been doing with these reviews. I will attempt to get these reviews out on a monthly basis but sometimes life may interfere.
As luck would have it my first episode review is of one of my favorite episodes, highlighting one of my favorite Superman characters. The origin of the self made (or forged) hero Steel! Steel is by far one of the best things to come out of the Death of Superman, I haven't yet got round to reading his own series but whenever he has appeared I've found the character fun, engaging and exciting. His reintroduction into the New 52 has been well done and I'm practically praying for a solo series written by Sholly Fisch. So onto the review:
Rating - 4 (out of 5): As I said this is one of my favorite episodes, the only reason it's a four is as a reviewer I was forcing myself to be critical (a difficult thing with one of your favorite interpretations of a beloved character).
The opening scene with John Henry Irons and his niece Natasha was a good set up, the opening image is now reminiscent of the Iron Man movie (though I'm certainly not saying the movie stole it from this). With some natural dialogue between John Henry (voiced by Michael Dorn) and Natasha (voiced by Cree Summer) we get an explanation of John Henry's plan and a reference to Superman's blessing.
Michael Dorn is most famous in the nerd circles for his role as Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation, he is also Kalibak, last seen in Father's Day. When looking up his record as an actor there was one extra role that surprised me - Kate Beckett's therapist Dr Carter Burke. His role as Steel is definitely one I prefer over Kalibak, it's so different which is refreshing considering Kalibak sounds exactly like Worf (not a real complaint just less interesting than a variety of voices).
Natasha Irons is played by Cree Summer who has a strong history of voice acting from the Rugrats, Wild Thornberries, Young Justice and most awesomely as She Hulk in the Hulk animated series. Her role in this episode is minimal but Summer and Dorn play off each other well and you get a real sense of a family bond.
The news item is well crafted to present the set up of this story, and all out of the mouth of the beloved Bibbo, played by Brad Garrett. My favorite (or should that be fav'rit?) part is when Bibbo jumps from explaining what he's seen to bragging that he's met Superman
"I remember this one time we was fighting this big monkey."
I can just imagine him bringing that up in every conversation no matter how inappropriate.
We get a pretty spectacular action scene of a random strong Intergang member tearing up the police cars, and then we get John Henry Irons Action Hero! This in turn leads to Superman turning up making easy work out of the thugs, until the Strong Man turns up and lands a blow on the Man of Steel. We get a dramatic reveal and Metallo (played by Malcolm McDowell), complete with the Metallo theme, an excellent scary dramatic theme. Malcolm McDowell is one of my favorite voice actors from this series, he has a strong voice that's both charming and scary, perfect for a villain. McDowell has also played Daniel Linderman from Heroes and the man responsible for Captain Kirk's death, Dr Soran in Star Trek: Generations.
McDowell gives Metallo a commanding presence that he rarely has as a character. As a concept Metallo is brilliant, a cyborg almost as strong as Superman powered by Kryptonite! But as a character he's always seemed a bit lacking to me, his animosity towards Superman has always been a bit one dimensional and I've always felt his appearances in most stories haven't lived up to his potential as a villain. This series does a good job of establishing a character arc for Metallo, but mostly it is McDowell's voice that elevates him in this series to one of Superman's greatest enemies.
One nitpick I have is when Metallo shoots the Kryptonite lasers out of his eyes, he states that Intergang made some improvements, yet in Metallo's first appearance (not Corben's as obviously he was here from the beginning) The Way of All Flesh, he's able to focus the Kryptonite as a laser through his chest. It's just a slip in continuity that I feel could have been easily avoided.
The fight is good, we see Superman fighting smart, keeping his distance until the lasers knock him to the ground. We then get an appearance from Metallo's second greatest enemy: A Car! Rescued by Natasha and John Henry Superman is taken back to the Steelworks! I like how in awe the community is in that Superman is here. My next minor annoyance comes when Metallo turns up looking for Superman, one of the kids gives him lip and then recoils when Metallo turns round. My annoyance here comes from the fact that Metallo is a half man, half terminator. Why the hell did the kid only act scared when Metallo looks at him? The Dude should have been scared straight away.
Chaos ensues as the neighborhood refuse to tell "robobutt" anything and then we get Steel! "The Meeting of the Metals" as Metallo puts it. The thing I like best about the Steel/Metallo fight is that despite Steel being tough it's clear that Metallo is much more powerful which makes sense, if Metallo is supposed to be strong enough to tackle Superman that should give him a major advantage over Steel! The fight is well coordinated and only comes to a close when Superman, still weak, returns to the fray leading to my favorite quote from this episode.
Natasha: "He's got Superman! He's gonna kill him!"
Steel: "Not on my watch he's not!"
BOOM! We get a spectacular scene where Steel's hammer shatters Metallo's kryptonite power source and the dramatic imagery of Metallo smashing through the wall, (that scene would make a fantastic splash page in a comic).
We then get the Heroes' handshake, although there's a strange attempt to make the viewers think Superman has a problem with Steel that just seems like unnatural dialogue.
And that's the episode, in total fantastic. The only reason it's a four is the few gripes I made and the fact that Superman, the title character, is barely in it (but that's not a huge complaint as Superman's incapacitation is essential to this story). Another gripe I have is that Steel isn't used again in the series, it would have been good to see him at least once more, even if it had to be voiceless, for example he could have been involved in the background in the Apokolips story coming up soon.
Steel would show up again in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Phil LaMarr and while I definitely prefer Michael Dorn in the role, LaMarr did a very good job. Especially in the episode Panic In the Sky where Steel reaffirmed Supergirl that her cousin and the rest of the League would be okay "because they're special."
That speech capture's exactly what I love most about the Steel character, that at his heart he's like us, a Hero Worshipper. He's a man inspired by Superman who took that inspiration to build himself up and live up to his potential. That's a message I think is very poignant to every Superman fan.
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