Superman on Television
My Adventures With Superman: Episode Reviews
Season 1 - Episode 1 and 2: "Adventures of a Normal Man"
Reviewed by: Steve Younis
Originally Aired: July 6, 2023Part 1:
Written by Josie Campbell, Brendan Clogher, and Jake Wyatt
Directed by Jen Bennett
Part 2:
Written by Cynthia Furey
Directed by Diana Huh
VOICE CAST:
Jack Quaid as Clark Kent/Superman
Alice Lee as Lois Lane
Ishmel Sahid as Jimmy Olsen
Darrell Brown as Perry White, Badger
Zehra Fazal as Leslie Willis/Livewire, Driver
Azuri Hardy-Jones as Flip
Jason Marnocha as Jor-El
Chris Parnell as Agent Slade Wilson
Reid Scott as Pa Kent
Kari Wahlgren as Ma Kent, Young Clark, Elderly Shop-Keep
"My Adventures with Superman" is a serialized coming-of-age story catching up with twenty-somethings Clark Kent (voiced by Jack Quaid), the bright and driven Lois Lane (voiced by Alice Lee), and their best friend Jimmy Olsen (voiced by Ishmel Sahid) as they begin to discover who they are and everything they can accomplish together as an investigative reporting team at the Daily Planet. The story follows Clark as he builds his secret identity as Superman and explores his own mysterious origins. Lois, on her way to becoming a star reporter, teams up with photographer Jimmy Olsen to break the stories that matter. All the while, Clark and Lois are falling in love... as Lois gets closer and closer to uncovering his secret identity! Our trio share adventures, take down bad guys, stumble over secrets, and discover what it means to be heroes in their own right.
Sam Register ("Teen Titans Go!") serves as executive producer. Jake Wyatt ("Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus") and Brendan Clogher ("Voltron: Legendary Defender") are on board as co-executive producers and Josie Campbell ("She-Ra and the Princesses of Power") as co-producer.
Season one consists of ten 22-minute episodes. The first two episodes premiere Thursday, July 6. One new episode will release every Thursday on Adult Swim, next day on Max.
The Superman Homepage was given an advanced preview of the first two episodes of the new animated series.
Titled "Adventures of a Normal Man" Parts 1 and 2, the double-episode premiere of the new animated series "My Adventures With Superman," starts off with a young Clark Kent discovering his latent abilities when he witnesses an impending car crash while playing in the front yard of his home in Smallville. Clark wonders who he really is...
After the opening title we flash forward quite a few years later, where Clark is now a young man living in Metropolis. He and his roommate Jimmy Olsen are starting as new interns at the Daily Planet newspaper. Even though he's trying really hard to be just a normal man, Clark still doesn't have true control over his powers, accidentally breaking his alarm clock, ripping his shoe in half, and snapping off a door handle to his local grocery store.
At the store Clark meets a young woman. The two are immediately attracted to one another, but their first meeting doesn't go too well and Clark leaves embarrassed.
As Jimmy and Clark walk to the Daily Planet building, Jimmy discusses his thoughts on aliens, monsters and a whole slew of conspiracy theories he believes in, as he snaps random photos with his trusty camera.
Inside the Daily Planet, in Perry White's office, Lois Lane is propositioning editor Perry White with a story about giant robots. Perry is less than interested, as Lois is just an intern. He introduces her to fellow interns, Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen. Clark realizes Lois is the young woman he met in the store earlier.
Even though Perry has told Lois to drop the story, she is adamant that Clark and Jimmy should help her follow her lead, and chase down the story.
We then meet a young woman by the name of Leslie Willis. She has a warehouse filled with stolen advanced tech, however her plans to sell the tech is proving difficult.
Lois meets with her informants, young kids from the News Kid Legion, local kids who know the city better than anyone else. They tell Lois, Clark and Jimmy about some of the stange trucks they've seen driving through Metropolis. The trio follow the lead and come across the warehouse... but it's empty. When Clark gets a call from Perry, he realizes Lois had lied to him about getting approval from their editor to follow the story. He confronts Lois and angrily walks away.
As Lois laments the situation with Clark, she and Jimmy stumble upon Lesley Willis and her crew, but when Leslie sets loose one of the high tech robots on them, one of the News Kid Legion chases down Clark. Clark, wearing a hooded jacket, is forced to use his super powers to save Lois and Jimmy from the giant robot.
Seeing her robot destroyed, Leslie unleashes more giant robots on Clark. When Lois is about to be killed, Clark's abilities kick up a gear, making him even more super. Clark once again wonders who he really is.
Lois goes looking for Clark, who emerges from behind a container. Jimmy has a photo of the flying man... but it's blurry. Lois comes up with the name "Superman". Perry isn't impressed though and doesn't believe them. That doesn't lessen Lois' enthusiasm though, as she vows the three of them will get the exclusive story on Superman.
Part 2 of "Adventures of a Normal Man" starts with Jonathan and Martha Kent digging a hole in their field, as they try to explain to Clark about where he came from. The metallic object under the dirt comes to life when Clark steps on it, and a holographic Jor-El appears speaking in Kryptonian. Unable to understand what the projection is saying, young Clark is frightened, and covers the artifact over with dirt, saying he doesn't want to look at it again. As he struggles with the revelation, Clark once again wonders who he is.
Back at the Daily Planet, Lois introduces Clark and Jimmy to their new office, the boiler room. Lois has put together a "murder board" in an attempt to uncover who Superman is. Jimmy thinks he's an alien. Lois wants to follow hard evidence, and wants to know who Superman really is. Clark (internally) agrees, wanting to know more about who he really is. As Clark excuses himself, Lois and Jimmy head out to follow a lead.
Leslie Willis sets up a meeting with whoever is hunting her down.
Clark heads back to Smallville, revealing to his parents that he needs to know more about who he really is. As he digs back up the Kryptonian tech under the corn fields Clark and Martha realize the object has grown since he last saw it. As the artifact comes to life Martha worries about losing her son. Clark once again meets the Jor-El AI, but he still can't understand anything he's saying. Jor-El touches Clark's head, showing him a vision of Krypton's last moments. Clark realizes the holographic man is his real father. The experience triggers a surge in Clark... and he is outfitted in red and blue Kryptonian garb.
Jimmy realizes Lois likes Clark as Jimmy takes them to the salvage docks looking for the boat the stolen tech came in on. The two follow an underground tunnel... but they don't realize the tunnel is rigged with explosives.
As Clark emerges, he embraces Martha, who thinks Clark's new outfit needs a belt and shorts.
Lois and Jimmy notice the explosives, as above them, at a cafe, Leslie Willis meets with the "black ops" man who has been hunting her. As Lois and Jimmy emerge from a nearby manhole, Leslie thinks they were sent by the "black ops" man, and attacks him. Leslie drops the detonator as they fight.
Clark gets a call from Jimmy's phone, and flies off back to Metropolis.
As Leslie continues to fight the man, Lois grabs the detonator. Superman arrives just in time to save Lois and Jimmy from a falling truck. Leslie starts attacking Superman, blaming him for her current predicament, thinking he's with the "black ops" people. When the tech Leslie is wearing malfunctions, she's transformed, with electricity and power coursing through her body. Superman tries to tell her he's not her enemy, and has a strange vision when he removes the technology from her body.
Leslie's body goes missing when Superman turns to check on Lois and Jimmy. Seeing the mess the fight has caused, Superman cleans everything up at super-speed.
When Jimmy and Lois drop a photo of Superman on Perry White's desk, the editor immediately calls to stop the presses as they have a new front page story.
Clark returns to his apartment still dressed as Superman, when Lois arrives at his front door, he quickly changes and lets her in. The two share a moment... before Jimmy interrupts. Their story is on the front page of tomorrow's Daily Planet newspaper... but the byline reads Cat Grant, Ron Troupe and Steve Lombard.
Leslie Willis wakes up, strapped to a gurney. The "black ops" man questions her from behind a window. He thinks she knows more than she really does. As he asks her what she knows about Superman, behind him stands Amanda Waller...
Rating - 4 (out of 5): Titled "Adventures of a Normal Man" Parts 1 and 2, the double-episode premiere of the new animated series "My Adventures With Superman," is a pure delight!It's been way too long since we've enjoyed a Superman animated series. "My Adventures With Superman" looks like it will be a great addition to the Superman mythos, introducing us to a new take on the characters, but not diverging too far from what we know and love about these characters.
Clark feels right. He's unsure of himself, as anybody would be in similar circumstances, but he's no pushover. He jumps into action when needed, says the right things and is a good friend. He's instantly likeable, and you really want the best for him from the word go.
Lois is Lois. She's feisty, head-strong, stubborn, yet adorable. She doesn't have a bad bone in her body, but she leaps into action without really thinking things through.
I love this version of Jimmy. He's a little goofy, but his heart is in the right place. He's the kind of friend we all wish we had growing up. The conspiracy theory angle to his personality is awesome! It just fits and feels right.
The three together make a great team. The writing is really strong in regards to the trio's dynamic. They each shine in their own way.
Perry is gruff, as expected, and the dynamic between him and the three Daily Planet interns is hilarious. I look forward to seeing how their relationship grows over the season.
This version of Leslie Willis was different. I'm not sold on her character yet, but I am interested to see how she'll develop into Livewire moving forward.
I'm also interested to learn more about this "black ops" organisation to see how big a role Amanda Waller and her cohorts will play in the story this season.
The News Kid Legion is also a fun addition, and an obvious adaptation of the Newsboy Legion from the comic books. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of them in upcoming episodes.
Although Martha and Jonathan Kent have a small role, I'm glad they're both still alive in this version of the story. It will be great to see Clark go back and forth from Metropolis to Smallville to seek their help and guidance.
Jor-El, with an eye-patch, is formidable looking. I hope we get to see more from him... and hopefully Clark will get a translator or something to be able to connect with his biological father.
At 22 minutes per episode, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the episodes were paced. While it's obvious there's a concerted attempt to keep things upbeat and entertaining, there's still plenty of space for character development and interpersonal relationships.
The animation style, while obviously anime inspired, works here. The character designs are cute but not overly so. I love the fact Lois has short hair, while Clark's towering size makes him look like a protective figure when he's standing alongside skinny Jimmy and petite Lois.
The score also deserves a special mention, as the music adds a lot to the enjoyment. There have been some iconic animated scores in the past when it comes to Superman, and while I'm uncertain how memorable this show's score will become, it definitely has a Superman feel about it.
All in all, there was a lot to love about this opening two-part introduction to this new animated series. Moving forward, I have a feeling it won't be long until Lois and Jimmy learn Clark's secret. Will the series introduce Kryptonite? What other villains will we see? In his attempt to learn more about his Kryptonian heritage, will Superman meet any other Kryptonians? Will they be friend or foe? There's so much to look forward to!
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