If there’s any singular post I want you guys to see that opens like this– I want it to be this one. Because this series is- from all the iterations that I’ve seen- a really cool way to handle Superman. I usually start posts off talking about how often I try to do other posts like this; posts that aren’t just a bunch of chapter reviews or whatever- posts about animation in general and not just anime. This is another of those posts; one that I hope I’m not the only one who sees it, yeah? And I really DO plan to put out this post, no matter how long it takes. Because I want this show to continue for as long as it naturally should. At some point, this series will Inevitably become a DC Universe show proper, full of Time Travel to when this version of Clark becomes THE Superman we know him to be- De-facto leader of the Justice League and all. But that’s years down the line, yeah? For right now- for the next 3/4/5 seasons- let’s keep it to just Superman. Though koi references are Inevitable.
I feel like I’m getting ahead of myself here, yeah? Let’s start with what this show is at the core of its being: An Origin Story. Of the 3 most popular superheroes in the world, I’d definitely say that Superman’s is the one that’s been retold the least. Or, no, I’m lying; it would probably be Spiderman, with it only feeling like we’ve seen it a thousand times over because of how close the different variations are to each other- some new Spiderman property coming not long after the other between the movies and the tv shows and all of that. But Superman definitely has the 2nd least. How many times have we seen the Wayne’s get shot by now? In whatever case; this series is a new rendition of the Superman origin story, showing us a version of Clark who didn’t grow up knowing the full story. WE know what’s going on- Clark does not. And- considering where the season is getting ready to end- I don’t think he’ll figure everything out this season. I’m writing this post Monday, August 28, 2023, 3:18 pm; the season Finale comes out Thursday at Midnight- it could tell him everything or nothing more; I don’t know yet.
For me, though; seeing Clark try to catch up with the audiences knowledge of his backstory- kind of fun. Although they probably shouldn’t take too long telling him who he is. That would get annoying. Vs if he figures towards the end of Season 2 while she show’s still golden. Because this show- is pretty good. It’s vibrant; it’s fun; the voice cast is pretty wicked; all the characters are entertaining; it doesn’t take too long getting from point A to Point B but also doesn’t suffocate me with how fast it’s going; it’s……… great. And here are some of the reasons why.
Series Design: Animation, Art, Voice Acting And The Like
The series is animated by South Korean Animation studio, Studio Mir- know for their work on series such as Avatar: The Legend Of Korra, Black Dynamite, The Boondocks, Young Justice: Outsiders, Kipo And The Age of Wonderbeasts, the Harley Quinn series on Max, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Though all of this- including this series- all of their work have been co-productions with other studios. This one is with Warner Bros Animation. And I gotta say: This series looks BEAUTIFUL. It’s super Anime-esque when it comes to character reactions, and even the classic “Power Up” moments for Clark. That’s another thing: Superman his this power where his eyes start glowing, and he, like- “taps into more power” or something, and he starts moving faster and- well– like Superman. I don’t what made them choose to portray them like that, but…….. pretty cool idea. That and the artwork for the series is pretty.
It’s become a bit of meme that Lois in this iteration looks a lot like Luz Noceda from Disney’sThe Owl House- especially looking at the original concept art. But I think they actually toned that down in the series. Though I’ll admit that the voice actresses for both– Sarah-Nicole Robles(Luz Noceda) and Alice Lee(Lois Lane)- sound remarkably similar. Though of course, Lois being older means her voice is a little more………. what’s the word? Not “low” I don’t think, but more……… “based,” I guess? Something like that. Speaking of which: Hughie from The Boys voices SUPERMAN?! I didn’t know that!! He does a pretty good job portraying this younger version of Clark Kent- he really nails the “Mild-Mannered-ness” of Superman’s alter ego. The Nerdy type; probably bullied a few times in High School but stood up for himself once or twice and they never came back, giving him a little bit of a backbone. Though still struggles to speak up at certain moments. That’s the impression I get from Clark Kent, which is the intent- you’d never know this guy was Superman just looking at him.
And then there’s Superman’s voice. This iteration is a very young, “New” Superman- one that’s still figuring out what literally EVERY OTHER Superman figured out when they were younger. And for that reason, I think Quaid does a pretty Good job with his Superman. An older, more seasoned Superman– yeah, I don’t think that “smaller” voice he does would fit. And sense we already have some multiverse shenanigans going on, we’ll likely be seeing some contrast here and there come next season or the season after. In a day and age where even a season 2 isn’t guaranteed- throw in as much as you can. ‘Tis the motto of most media today– for better or worse. Then of course there’s Ishmel Sahid as Jimmy Olsen. Not familiar with his work, but he did good. Kind of sounded like Zeno Robinson’s voice for Remmy in Disney’s “Big City Greens.”
THE VILLAINS- some of the BEST PARTS of any DC Animated series. They just have such an Iconic cast of Villains to use. And I’m not even just talking about Batman and Superman’s rogues; the Flash has characters like Cpt Cold, Heat Wave(who has a new rendition in this series), Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Reverse Flash/ Eobard Thawne, Zoom, Gorilla Grodd; Green Lantern brings with him characters like Sinestro and Atrocitus; Ocean Master, Black Manta, Vandal Savage, and more and more that they could pull from. But the STAND OUT Villain this time around– thanks to Jake Green’s portrayal and the Imposing Design- is definitely Dr Ivo/ Parasite. Seriously, he looks like a f*ckin’ Monster from the offset– as opposed to his rendition in the Original DC Animated Universe in which he………. just kind of look like he had on a skin suit, and his Young Justice look in which he looks like a Giant Purple Nut Sack Growth. THIS Parasite right here- was a MONSTER. And it was such a neat subversion for people like me who look at the kind of thing to see information on the episode.
I remember setting the episode to record on the TV and read the episode description and seeing Dr Ivo’s mentioned, and my immediate thought was “Oh- AMAZO.” Because he’s most known for his Power Copying Android “Amazo.” Then we actually watch the episode, and what my brother’s and I thought was Amazo was instead purple and an armor– completely different from any version we’d seen before. Because it wasn’t Amazo– it was a new version of Parasite, who’s powers are now closer to Goku Black or Mad Monk Urouge from One Piece: He gets stronger when he’s hit. Which I actually like more in the long run with how the series portrays it; the more power he absorbs, the stronger his weapons and the more the suit mutates until it becomes this……….. KAIJU CENTIPEDE MONSTER THING. Such a cool design; words don’t do it justice. And Jake Green’s portrayal is one of its highlights.
The voice he uses- that……… Psychotic “Rich Boy” voice that I’ve enjoyed this far– he comes off like some rich @$$hole who just lost everything and is taking it out on someone just to feel like he still has some semblance of control. And that’s who Dr Ivo is in this series; he’s kind of a precursor to what Lex Luthor will be in the future(though Lex seems to always come out still making money while Ivo’s life is pretty much over).
I also like this series approach towards the way we find out who some of these Villains are; some become more obvious than others, such as the debut of Livewire in this series. But then you have characters like Silver Banshee; this Universe has Silver Banshee and Scream Queen- I didn’t know which one Siobhan McDougal was without looking it up. Though the color of the hair might have been an indicator as well. I didn’t know who the character Albert was supposed to be; I had to look him just to see what villain he was supposed to be. And I sh!t you not: This character is a DEEEEEEEEEEEEP Cut. Like; the character “Rough House” doesn’t even have his own wikipedia page- clicking the link on the wikipedia page for “My Adventures With Superman” just takes you to a list of ALL of DC’s Villains- from well known A Listers to………… Rough House. Which is just………….. really funny to me; he’s such a No Name Nobody that he doesn’t even have his own page. Truly “Bottom Of The Barrell.”
Characters
One of my favorite shots in this show comes towards the end of the opening theme, in which we see a roster of the series Villains loaming over the Daily Planet Trio as they stand over Clark’s ship. This series has some Stellar Villain renditions. I just talked about how Jake Green killed it as Parasite and how cool his design was so I’ll leave that be. The OTHER stand out Villain this time around: One Mr Mxyzptlk- as portrayed by David Errigo Jr(Ferb Fletcher as he appeared in “Milo Murphy’s Law;” Hampton J Pig in the new “Tiny Toons Looniversity”). He isn’t even a fraction as powerful as any other version of Mxyz you can think of– really only using his full powers amount to something Rick Sanchez could do(and likely has done) drunk. It’s sad that that’s the comparison I choose to make. But true. Though ironically; this is the only version I’ve seen that refers to himself as a “Chaos God-” something the other’s could call themselves.
He sticks out to me because he’s a trickster- but not a particularly powerful one. He likes messing with people, but that’s done less with slapstick like say the one from Superman The Animated Series portrayed by Gilbert Gottfried(May He Rest In Peace) and more just through teasing Lois and Clark with knowledge he has about Clark’s origins. That’s goes back to what I said earlier: We’re the ones “in the know” about it, but Clark is still learning the story. Which is probably WHY Mxyz came to THIS ONE over any other version of Clark in the Multiverse; he could easily stall him by teasing what HE knows about other versions of Superman. This Mxyz CAN’T send Superman to another Dimension with a mere thought- ESPECIALLY not without his precious hat- but he CAN prevent him from kicking his @$$, which any other rendition of Clark would once they saw through the ruse. Which this one doesn’t.
And that brings me to our central character: One Mr Clark Joseph Kent. What can I say? He’s younger than many other iterations– less “mature and wisened” than the others. He has the same core values, and he’ll speak up and fight back when the time comes. But not at first; he’ll hold his tongue most of the time and let whatever happens- happens. So the story becomes not only about him figuring out his origins on Krypton, but also his becoming- well; Superman. And it works; this series has a solid start with Season 1. It’s on season 2 to show us what this show can do when it starts “running.” Is this gonna be a “Universe Starter” that thrives on these Mostly Known “Deep Cuts” that fans of DC would get? I was honestly expecting to hear a mention of the Wayne’s or even Batman himself when I saw on the Guide that Vicky Vale was gonna be coming to Metropolis. But we didn’t. Not even a hint. And I kind of liked that about Season 1; you don’t need to start building a whole interconnected Universe from the offset. You see how doing that worked out for the movies, right?
Now they could stuff like that in season 2, but maybe not Batman– at least; don’t say there are other Heroes out there………… just yet. If you want to introduce us to a younger Bruce Wayne or Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, or several other characters BEFORE they put on their spandex, then by all means- Do It. But keep Superman as the only Hero for a while. Let him learn. Then he can teach the others how to handle the job. Or something.
Then of course there’s Lois. She hates lies, which is why she wanted to be a Journalist. Though that character quirk plus an “Active” personality equals……….. I wouldn’t call her “Unlikeable,” but I also wouldn’t say I particularly like her. At least; as a………. well, THAT would be messed up to say. Um……… This hatred of lies drives her to do some………. some kind of insensitive things; something that forces Clark to hide his secret from her out of fear for his privacy. Then again, they were becoming so close that she might not have put it all out there knowing what would happen to Clark. Thus making it a “Misunderstanding Plot.” Though I can see Clark’s point more. While Lois just comes off as a reporter trying to get the Biggest scoop of the century. And yet I can also see how someone you care about hiding such a large part of their lives FROM you can be………. painful; like they don’t trust you enough to let you in, while you trust them with your life.
Though something interesting is how he writers behind the show split up what made Amber so bad in the Season 1 Finale of Invincible. The problem with her was that she knew Mark was a Superhero and was still upset with him from ditching her like that; this show splits that into Lois being upset that Clark wouldn’t tell her the truth and Jimmy knowing he’s Superman. And it manages to work. 1)Jimmy’s REALLY GOOD at keeping secrets to have known this the WHOLE TIME and neve even alludes to knowing it; 2)How does Amber now seem worse looking back?; and 3)I understand Lois, but she also needs to understand how she came off to Clark talking about “exposing all of Superman’s secrets.” If this show didn’t need something like this to happen for the next episode, then she could have pulled Clark aside and asked and had her promise not to reveal the secret because she knows it would hurt Clark. Then there’s no problem. But that’s not what happened.
Story And Season 2 Content
The story was pretty good; I liked how the Suicide Squad was building up in the background with each Bad Guy Superman defeated. And I liked seeing them team up against Superman in the end like that. Though I don’t know where the General Lane/ Krypton Invasion plot is building towards. I mean, they cast Michael Emerson(Lost; the Alpha Nanites in “Generator Rex;” Law And Order: SVU and Criminal Intent Guest Star; Saw) as BRAINIAC for the Season Finale, so clearly he had something to do with Krypton’s Ultimate Fate and the Original Invasion that seems to have brought Clark to Earth. I imagine that Braniac was an AI created by Jor El who took over Krypton and used their tech to make a fleet of Robot soldiers to invade a number of planets- Earth being one of them. Jor El had enough and found this planet suitable for his son, so- he blew up the d@mn planet and used that gateway to send Clark to safety. There’s that.
But then you also have the Multiverse part with the League Of Lois Lanes, showing us the Evil versions of Superman. And AS a Multiverse plot, we’re likely going to be meeting some of those at some point. Which might give Clark some idea of what happened with HIS version of Krypton. And then of course you’re going to have Mxyz coming in and out to cause as many problems for the Daily Planet trio and the League of Lois Lanes as possible- trying to get his power back and get back at them for their hands in him being weakened. Both are good stories; one’s just about this version of Superman and what he has going on personally, and then that in relation to the others that we all know from Superman’s vast catalog of stories from the last 85 years.
If you were to ask me what storyline I’m most excited for, then I’d probably tell you Clark’s own story as opposed to the Multiverse plot. It’s getting kind of “burned out” right now with all the Multiverse media we’re getting back to back, but also I just wanna see THIS Universe and how it develops. We KNOW what’s waiting up ahead for Superman; you can retell the same story a hundred thousand times but it’s gonna end the same way. It’s the “road” to it that’s always more interesting. We know that there will be a Batman and a Flash and a Wonder Woman and a thousand others who come out now that Superman exists; I just want to see that- not watch Clark wonder if he’s measuring up to a version of himself that’s been doing this for 20 somethin’ years. Though they’d probably be the one’s to tell him the backbones of the origin story, though.
Then there’s Jimmy being RICH- him selling Flame Bird to the Daily Planet for MILLIONS of dollars. But he ALSO outed himself as “Superman’s Best Friend.” Parasite and Livewire would like to know your location. Don’t know how he’s gonna get that watch, but I get the feeling he’s going to need it. Then there’s Kryptonite, Brainiac, Task Force X, and likely other villains coming from Intergang. Though that might prove beneficial to the overall story when it comes time to face Brainiac. It may not be a Justice League, but it’s SOMETHING. And then there’s Dr Ivo’s assistant “Alex.” Yeah. Probably a season 2 ender and then we cross our fingers for a Season 3 and 4. There’s a lot this show can do if they’re given the time and preparation, so I hope it gets the ideal length it would need to tell its full story. Be that a 3 Act story a la Amphibia, or something longer like say………. Rick And Morty. They got a 70 episode order after season 3. Maybe not THAT many episodes, but something akin to that.
Closing Thoughts
That’s all I had to say. Yeah, that’s pretty much everything; anything more would have just been me talking about Parasite and Mxyz. And at that point, that’s just………. an R Rated Term. I had to stop in the middle of the last segment to let my computer charge, and in the middle of that; I started thinking that I might need to redo it. Then I looked at it again, and rewriting it just kind of felt like I was forcing myself to say everything more “Eloquently-” like I somehow said something somewhere wrong or like I had been “rushing” myself. So I didn’t. And because of that, I can say that this post is complete. That’s 1; now if only I could get to the Black Clover and One Piece posts I have waiting in the wings. I don’t know which one I should be more excited for.
Let me know what you guys thought of Season 1 of “My Adventures With Superman.” MY thoughts: Excellent Start to what I hope is a Wonderful show; an interesting way to reinvent Superman for a new Generation of fans; Don’t go overboard with the “Universe;” and take your time and make a Really Good Season 2!! That’s all I got for you guys today. Til the next post, duckies; Laters!!
