Superman on Television
Superman: The Animated Series - Episode Reviews
Season 1 - Episode 3: "The Last Son of Krypton - Part 3 of 3"
Original Air Date: September 6, 1996Reviewed by: Jeffrey Taylor
"He's the Nietzschean fantasy ideal all wrapped up in a red cape."
Rating - 5 (out of 5): This third installment of the 90 minute pilot completes the origin story as set out by Superman: The Animated Series. There have been many divergent origins for the Man of Steel since his debut in June, 1938. This one followed the 1986 John Byrne "Man of Steel" miniseries closely, including characterizations of Lex Luthor as the Billionaire instead of the mad scientist, Superman's world debut involving a large plane and Clark's powers manifesting themselves in his late teens/early adulthood. Audiences were briefly introduced to most of Superman's main supporting cast late in the previous episode, including Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor and the city of Metropolis itself. This third part completes their preambles and fleshes them out as complete characters for the series to come.
The review for the previous episode detailed the opening them music for Superman: The Animated Series. Let's take a look at the visuals of the opening credits. The creators of the show spent a great deal of time and money completing the first thirteen episodes and ran out of time when it came to inventing a visual sequence for the start of each show. Instead of presenting an original piece, they put together clips from the pilot that told the story of Superman's origin, followed by a selection of action-oriented pieces from the episodes that had been completed by the time the pilot aired. It works for a casual viewer, but for those of us who buy the DVDs and watch several episodes in a sitting, it gets old and becomes something to fast forward on nearly every viewing. This mini clip-show of an opening is forgivable for the first season, but why couldn't they create a real opening for the second and third seasons (unless you count the alternate opening for the "New Batman/Superman Adventures" in 1998)?
When watching the three individual episodes that make up the full pilot, the second two installments begin with short recaps of the previous episodes to bring the viewer up to date. While the second part could have started without explanation, the third really needed it and allows this episode to feel complete. The second and third parts must be watched together, even if without the first episode. Plus the bulk of the action for all three parts takes place here.
Episode two ended on a cliffhanger where Superman had just dodged an explosive rocket shot at him by the thieves of the Lexo-Suit, but the rocket continued on its path and collided with a passenger jet. This episode opens with Superman's attempt to catch the plane before it crashes into the buildings of Metropolis below. After a considerable struggle, Superman manages to avoid the various buildings and gently crash the plane into a park. It's unclear whether the couple in the boat on the pond could have survived, but I think we all wish that mime had been hit. Watch this part carefully because the nose of the plane is black, but it briefly appears white for one shot.
Rather than creating an "S" symbol to match his "Superman" persona, The Animated Series changes John Byrne's "Man of Steel" idea by explaining that the symbol is Kryptonian and simply looks similar to the letter "S" on Earth. Superman is a person of great humility, which is what allows him, despite his incredible power, to be a hero and a personification of justice instead of an unstoppable despot, as many real-life humans would most likely become with similar power. The very name "Superman" is an attack against his humility, humanity and sense of self. Therefore, he cannot name himself, or reveal himself to the world for the first time saying, "My name is Superman." So Lois (with her "Nice S" comment) effectively names him after Nietzsche's superman concept. This is the only way the story can go and make sense. Superman cannot name himself, and given Lois's status among the journalistic world, it only makes sense that she would give him his super-nomenclature.
I have to take a moment to mention Ma Kent's comparison of her son with "That nut in Gotham." It's a nice reference to Batman: The Animated Series which was done by the same creative team.
Superman sought out Lois as a reporter to explain himself to the world, as opposed to writing the story himself as he did in the comics to land his job at the Daily Planet. Lois in The Animated Series is not head-over-heels in love with Superman like most incarnations represent her. This is more a product of time (1996) than place (a Superman story). Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the classic Man of Steel tale told in the form of a modern live action romantic comedy, was available just a few channels away. The love story will only be briefly mentioned during the progression of this whole series. This Lois doesn't fill the shoes of the stereotypical damsel in distress, but actually manages to save Superman from a hi-tech bazooka blast during the climax of this episode. It's clear that she can get herself out of most jams, but could probably use an invulnerable hand from time to time.
The episode also introduces Bibbo Bibbowski played by Brad Garret (TV's Everybody Loves Raymond, Finding Nemo), a dock worker with a heart of gold, but a mind of mashed potatoes. The writers used him to set up a humorous spin on an old standby plot device. Lois was about to knowingly put herself in danger by boarding a Kaznian ship, but gave Bibbo some change to call Clark at the Daily Planet so he would know where she was. Instead Bibbo used the change to buy himself a "soder," mumbling "ah, she'll be all right." Clark is left to find out where she is on his own. We also briefly met Angela Chen in the previous episode, played by Lauren Tom (Bad Santa, TV's Futurama).
John Corben, voiced by Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Star Trek: Generations, just look him up if you don't know him) made a brief appearance at the end of the last episode, but comes to the forefront in this one. Eventually he will become Metallo, the cyborg with a kryptonite heart, but here he's just a human. Ironically the machine, which will soon be on his insides, is on his outsides this time when he dons the Lexo-Suit for the climactic battle with Superman. That shot where he ejected the grenade shell into the windshield of the police car was just awesome. He also showed viewers Superman's new weakness in the series: electricity. Not all villains can have kryptonite and magic on their side. So this Superman has a weakness to electricity, which will remain constant in this and other series made by the same team of creators.
Superman beats the robot, saves Lois and shows the world he's there to protect it. At the end, he threatens Luthor in his penthouse office, which comes off similarly to the end of the pilot episode to Lois & Clark. I love Superman's silence while Luthor talks himself into a corner and even offers him a job. His simple "I'll be watching you, Luthor," is priceless.
Epilogue: Brainiac from the first episode begins to assimilate other civilizations, offering a glimpse of the future for this villain. This scene had to have taken place long before the end of this third episode, but probably while Kal-El was traveling to Earth or starting to grow up. By the time he's shown again, he's been to thousands of populated worlds. Despite the timeline issues, the scene still belongs here.
Superman's powers are not nearly as advanced as in the comics. It appears that this Man of Steel could probably be killed by severe trauma without the aid of kryptonite or magic. Just look at how much difficulty he has catching the passenger jet or that the Lexo-Suit can hurt him so badly in the end fight. You need to have threatening villains that are somehow credible so they can at least appear to stand a chance against the hero. In the 1950s Superman became so powerful in the comics that he could hear a pin drop on the other side of the universe and fly there under his own power within minutes. He could even blow out a star with his super-breath. Cutting so much of that power away allows for more tension simply because the protagonist can be physically hurt. Remember though, that when Superman was first introduced in Action Comics #1 back in 1938, he could jump only an eighth of a mile. Flying, additional powers and so on came over time as one writer tried to top another making him stronger and stronger. Does anyone remember when he had the power to shoot rainbows out of his fingers and form a miniature version of himself? This series suffers a similar fate where Superman will also become more and more powerful as the show progresses, but always just weak enough to be hurt by whatever villain is attacking the city that week.
Lex Luthor is Superman's ultimate villain. Superman is very bright, but his power is primarily represented through his strength, speed and invulnerability. Luthor on the other hand has no special abilities but uses his brain and the power that money can buy. Fortunately for Lex, he's one of the smartest and richest characters in all of comics, and probably all of fiction. Gene Hackman's Loo-thor said it best with "Mind over muscle." As most fans know, the biggest differences between the two characters are in fact that Luthor uses his mind, fueled by his ego, while Superman leads with his heart, fueled by a sense of hope in himself and others. Yet in both instances, the old adage "Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness" applies.
The Metropolis of Superman: The Animated Series appears bright and optimistic, but tries not to look overly familiar, like New York did when it stood in for the movies. Most of the show takes place during the daytime, which is a sharp transition considering the creators were adapting a style of animation originally designed to complement a certain Dark Knight. The buildings are art-deco with a lot of smooth curves instead of sharp edges and they're often much taller than real-life. Even the cars appear to be quasi-futuristic.
The most striking design aspect of the characters in the show is that they have two kinds of eyes. Some have white surrounding their pupils and others just have pupils against flesh colored eyes. What kind of eyes they have is determined by the overall look of the character and both work just fine as long as the rest of the design matches. It's a great way to differentiate the looks of characters and it only becomes off putting if you really take the time to notice it.
Here's a quick few extra tidbits about design: The yellow "S" traditionally placed on the back of Superman's cape is never there in this show. The animators decided it would be far too difficult to animate it on a flapping cape for every episode. Lex Luthor was designed to specifically resemble Telly Savalas (TV's Kojak). The "S" on Superman's chest sometimes appears a bit deformed. Keep in mind that it's on a lot of chest muscles and has to move in time with the character and the animation was always on a deadline. They did the best they could with the time and money they had, but one has to wonder why that one major part of the character had to be compromised almost every week.
The Main Cast
Superman/Clark Kent - Tim Daly (TV's Wings, The Sopranos) Tim performs the character well and lowers the pitch in his voice slightly once he has changed into the tights and cape. It's not as drastic as Bud Collyer's portrayal in the radio series and Fleischer cartoons, but it's still more pronounced that Dean Cain of Lois & Clark. He always sounds calm and collected, but his cries of pain are priceless.
Lois Lane - Dana Delany (Tombstone, TV's China Beach) Dana brings forth much of what fans love of Lois. She voices the character similarly to Noel Neill and almost comes off like a female Humphrey Bogart at times (which is kinda hot). She's a 90s version of the 40s character that essentially pays no attention to the incarnations between then and now.
Lex Luthor - Clancy Brown (Highlander, Shawshank Redemption) What can one say about Clancy Brown. He's just the best. This man can do anything but look good in a tutu. He can be suave, debonair, murderous and thoughtful, all in a single word. It seems that any Superman show or film can find a way to stand tall if its Lex Luthor is brilliant, and this series is no different. No wonder Lois used to date him.
Jimmy Olsen - David Kaufman (Pearl Harbor, TV's Danny Phantom) The creators abandoned the bowtie suit for Jimmy in favor of a hip 90s look. He's a kid in his early 20s and Kaufman pulls off the cracking voice well.
Perry White - George Dzundza (Crimson Tide, TV's Grey's Anatomy) Perry's a tough character to play and should have a lot of dimension to him beyond being the hard-nosed editor. Unfortunately George Dzundza never gets a lot to work with in this series, but does his best in spite of it.
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