Superman on Television

Justice League Action: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episodes 35: "Superman's Pal, Sid Sharp"

Originally Aired: September 9, 2017 (U.S.)

Written by Brian Ford Sullivan
Directed by Jake Castorena

CAST:
Kevin Conroy as Batman (voice)
Jason J Lewis as Superman/Desaad (voice)
John Lovitz as Sid Sharp (voice)
Max Mittelman as Jimmy Olsen (voice)
Jonathan Adams as Darkseid (voice)
Piotr Michael as Kalibak/Perry White (voice)
Troy Baker as Kanto (voice)
Cloris Leachman as Granny Goodness (voice)

Rating - 4 (out of 5): Bank robbers using high tech weaponry attack Metropolis. On his way to get the big story Sid Sharp, Daily Planet reporter, getting stuck in traffic, stiffs his cabby and runs to the scene... only to realize he's been scooped by Clark Kent. Again! After having some choice words for Clark who doesn't take Sid's insults too kindly, Sid returns to the Planet. Ranting to Jimmy Olsen about getting scooped By Kent. Again! Sid comes up with an idea. If Clark being friends with Superman helps get him the story, maybe Sid should come up with a super hero identity of his own. Enter Dr Scoop! Dressed in a similar costume to Superman's, Sid tries to convince Perry White to use his Dr Scoop identity to get more stories. Perry is less than enthused. Meanwhile at the Watchtower Batman confirms that the robber's weaponry was from Apokolips. When Darkseid finds out the humans who were given weaponry used it to rob a bank he decides to turn the plan to get the Man of Steel over to his dedicated minions. With a warning from Batman that Apokolips was involved with the robbery Clark runs to the storeroom to change to Superman, only to discover Sid pulling on his Dr Scoop costume. With a flash a Boom Tube opens and a score of rather inept Parademons converge on the Planet. In their ineptitude they mistake Sid for Superman and take him back to Apokolips. When Clark finds out that Sid was taken he (somewhat) reluctantly heads to Apokolips to rescue him. Will he get there in time to save Sid?

I really had a lot of fun with this one. The Fourth World characters created by the great Jack Kirby have always been favorites and I enjoyed their evil but amusing interplay. True, aside from Darkseid they also seem a bit inept and gullible, but they're still very enjoyable. These characters have always been at each other's throats and it's no different here. Superman arrives on Apokolips and after some insults from Sid about being late is attacked on all sides with what appear to be kryptonite blasters to take him out. Superman collapses and tells Sid he needs some time to regroup so Sid decides he'll stall by trying to pit each villain against the other. Sid Sharp is an obnoxious oaf played wonderfully by John Lovitz. The animators even went so far as to draw the character to look like him. Which may be a little too much but does work. His insults against our evil villains are amusing and even gets a shot in at Darkseid about sounding like he has phlegm in his throat. But when Superman is down he comes to the rescue. By pitting the villains against each other he gives Superman time to recover. Darkseid appears and Superman gets in one good shot throwing him back. Then using his Omega beams Darkseid tries to take out Superman who seems to be one step ahead. He grabs Sid and heads out but not before leading the Omega beams around to take out Darkseid's citadel. The leader of Apokolips is not impressed and blames Desaad. But all Darkseid's son Kalibak is worried about is if his father will give him a hug.

We end this episode with Sid bragging how he saved Superman and how he may get the Pulitzer for this story. When he enters Perry's office he finds he's been scooped by Clark. Again! But with a wink Clark hands him his story. Next day headline reports how Sid Sharp saved Superman's life. All around a good episode and very Superman centric. While this series has used Superman well, it's nice to see him get the spotlight. Wish we can get a solo series out of this but that's probably wishful thinking.

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