Superman on Television

Superman: The Animated Series - Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episode 1: "The Last Son of Krypton - Part 1 of 3"

Original Air Date: September 6, 1996

Reviewed by: Jeffrey Taylor

"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine"

5Rating - 5 (out of 5): The 90 minute pilot to Superman: The Animated Series aired in Primetime on a Friday night, and regular 30 minute episodes ran on The WB's Saturday morning line up starting the next day. The construction of the full 90 minute pilot is remarkably similar to Superman: The Movie in that it's broken into three parts: Krypton's destruction, Smallville and Metropolis, which is close to another historical/mythological figure who was only written about during birth, teen years and adulthood before dying on a cross. While this first 30 minutes does tell a complete story, most people would never accept a pilot (or second episode) that didn't feature The Man of Steel in flight with a blazing red, pentagonal shaped "S" on his chest, which is why all three parts ran together. For this installment we only see Kal-El as a babbling baby along with what appears to be a puppy Krypto.

Part 1 is an all new retelling of the final days of Krypton before its explosion. It's also an action-packed starting point for the subsequent 53 episodes complete with mystery, chase sequences and science fiction, but it features mainly Kal-El's father Jor-El played by Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore, Requiem for a Dream) and his nemesis, the supercomputer Brainiac played by Corey Burton (voice actor for way too many cartoons and video games to mention). It also stars soap opera actress Fiona Hughes (Don't knock soap opera actors, it's how Christopher Reeve got his start) as Superman's birth mother Lara, and Tony Jay (The sycophantic Nigel St. John from Lois & Clark) as Lara's father Sul-Van. Lara and Sul-Van are clearly from the England district of Krypton because they're the only ones who speak with that accent.

While the overall style feels much closer to the classic Fleischer cartoons of the early 1940s, this interpretation of Superman's origin (as well as the rest of the show) draws from the 1986 John Byrne reboot of the comics. A few alterations from the Byrne version include: Krypton is not as sterile as in the comics, Kryptonians have hair, and it's relatively safe to assume that Kal-El was conceived and born not from a birthing matrix, but through traditional methods.

The episode opens with a quick shot of the satellite in space around Krypton that Brainiac, unbeknownst to the citizens below, is uploading his data to and it will be seen again near the end. Producer Alan Burnett came up with the concept that Brainiac was a creation of Krytonians, and he should be given a medal. In the comic book, Brainiac was from the planet Colu and could invade people's minds, but Burnett suggested he be placed on Krypton as a self righteous AI computer who decides to save itself as the repository of all Kryptonian knowledge rather than save at least some of the Kryptonian life... All I can say is "Wow! Give that writer a gold star!" Brainiac will always be seen with those three green orbs, so get used to it. As far as this show is concerned, that's as much his symbol as the "S" is Superman's. Other than Lex Luthor, he's probably the most often revisited villain in the series and that'll be his symbol every time.

The planet Krypton is being plagued by earthquakes (or temblors since this isn't Earth) and other natural disasters, but only Jor-El is convinced that the planet itself is in danger. Lara's father, Sul-Van and the Kryptonian council side with Brainiac's conclusions that Krypton is perfectly safe rather than supporting Jor-El's theories proclaiming imminent planetary destruction. It's the classic man vs. machine story we're all familiar with from "I, Robot," "Terminator," or "The Matrix." It feels safer to side with a machine's perfect calculations than a human's gut instinct, but it still leads to the apocalypse. Even Jor-El's wife Lara questions the validity of his findings. This also approaches the concept of absolute power. As an AI, Brainiac essentially runs the entire planet, revealing the impotence of the ruling government who, like the rest of the populace, put their faith in a computer who betrays them. No single entity should wield too much power, which is why most major governments put in place checks and balances.

We also hear about the Phantom Zone, a plot device taken from the comics which will appear in later installments. Listen closely during the chase sequence for a few familiar Star Wars sound effects.

And of course the episode ends with baby Kal-El asleep in his space ship rocketing away from Krypton as it explodes while several pieces of Kryptonite (or Krytonoids as they'd be right now) follow the ship through the wormhole headed for Earth.

Production-wise, the animation of this episode (as well as subsequent installments) was relatively simple, but most of the design for this episode would never be used again. At least while designing Metropolis the creators would know much of their work might see the light of day again, but Krypton explodes in 30 minutes. They needed to create sets, costumes, weapons, et al. that would appear to be of non-earth origin and they succeed for the most part. Could you imagine creating a set for Superman's Fortress of Solitude and never having a use for it. Oh wait, I'm thinking of Smallville.



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