Superman the Animated Series
News Anchor: "Daily Planet media news reporter, Angela Chen, has just located a witness to today's multi-million dollar diamond district robbery. We go to her now live. Angela?"
Angela Chen: "This is non-fat decaf, right? I don't want to be up half the night again."
News Anchor: [whispering] "Angela, you're on."
After his work with Lex Luthor, John Henry Irons has been working hard on improving and testing his suit of armor with the help of his niece, Natasha. He's forced to move up his timetable when Metallo and a band of bank robbers end up on his doorstep. After Metallo incapacitates Superman, it's up to John Henry to become Steel and save the day.
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| Steel power. |
We are getting a double dose of John Henry Irons in both the Superman series I'm covering on the blog. The appearance of John Henry Irons in "Prototype" was just the appetizer and this episode feels like a direct sequel to that one. I kind of wish that they had put this episode right after "Prototype" instead of having "The Late Mr. Kent" between them.
I think John Henry Irons is a great character and there is a reason he has remained a steadfast part of the Superman mythos since he was introduced. I am happy that he is becoming a presence on "Superman: The Animated Series." We even get his niece, Natasha, in this episode as well. She's helping her uncle with the armor and she is ready for him to actually put the suit on and use it. I get why John Henry is being cautious but I like that Nat really exudes that youthful exuberance. One thing, what is wrong with her face? The animators do Natasha a little dirty here. Her face is weirdly shaped. I don't love it.
Metallo is back, back, back again in this episode. I feel like I spent a lot of the last episode ragging on Metallo and guess what? I'm going to be doing it a lot here too. Sorry bout it. Listen, I get why they chose Metallo to be the main villain in this episode. They needed a villain that could realistically incapacitate Superman so John Henry could be the hero. What better villain than one that has a Kryptonite heart. Superman can only make ranged attacks against Metallo before he has to get in close. And, Metallo has gotten some Intergang upgrades including Kryptonite laser vision which takes out the Man of Steel pretty quickly.
The downside to having a villain like Metallo is that he really knocks the hell out of Steel. Now, I understand that you don't want a villain that Steel handily beats but Metallo is a super strong cyborg that took Superman down without breaking a sweat. So, it's a little unrealistic that he would be able to take down Metallo especially since we've seen Metallo beat the hell out of him. Though, I will say it is pretty cool when Steel hits Metallo in the chest with his hammer, shattering his Kryptonite heart and pinning him to the ground. It's a very Thor moment and I can get behind that.
It's a weird coincidence that we are talking about this episode so soon after talking about the "Cowboy Bebop" episode, "Mushroom Samba." In case you didn't read that review, I talked about the African American stereotypes that were pedaled in that episode and they are present and maybe worse in this episode. I don't want to speak ill of the dead (RIP episode writer Hilary Bader) but maybe we shouldn't have white writers writing African American characters in a heavily PoC neighborhood. We get some seriously cringe-y dialogue here. Metallo saying that he has more business in "the 'hood" and calling Steel "Superfly." Oy. It's real bad.
All in all, this is an OK episode. I kind of wish that Steel had gotten a stronger introduction. The episode ends on a nice note with Superman welcoming Steel as a fellow hero and I hope we see more of him as the series progresses.
Grade: B-
[watches Superman and Maxima fighting]
Lucille: "Harry, there's a man and woman fighting."
Harry: "Stop spying on the neighbors, Lucille."
[Superman ties a steel girder around Maxima]
Lucille: "Now he's got her tied up."
On the planet Almerac, Maxima is fighting De'Cine. If he can match her or defeat her in battle then he will be her betrothed. He fails and a frustrated Maxima storms off. She is alerted to Superman and travels to Earth to tell him they are to be married. She ends up getting Superman back to Almerac but finds that her advisor Suza is in love with De'Cine and they plan to overthrow her. But De'Cine betrays Suza. Will Superman be able to help Maxima to reclaim her crown?
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| This bitch. |
This episode y'all. This episode really reminds me of "The New Batman Adventures" Roxy Rocket episode. If you read that review, or watched the episode, you know that is not a good thing. Maxima is a relatively obscure "Superman" character that was introduced back in the late '80's and this episode plays out pretty faithfully to her first comics appearance. She can't get a mate. She wants Superman to be her mate. She gets real mad when Superman won't be her mate. And I promise I won't say mate any more after this. Her advisor Suza also betrays her. I am usually a fan of how faithfully these animated series adapt the comics the stories pull from, but here they could maybe have taken some liberties. When DC rebooted their comics universe with the New 52, they reintroduced Maxima in the "Supergirl" solo series. It was revealed that she left her planet because she was a lesbian. It was a great twist and freshened up a kind of out of date character. I get that in 1997 they weren't going to make her gay, but they could have done something.
Maxima is legit the worst. I don't think there is really anything redeemable about her. She's annoying. She's clearly a terrible ruler. She embodies all the worst stereotypes that people throw out when they talk about women political leaders. I think that's the thing that rubs me the wrongest way about this episode. The way that it plays on every cliché of a female led society. Sazu is quick to trust De'Cine because they love each other but De'Cine turns on her as soon as she has betrayed Maxima. It's so lame.
I don't care about the plot of this episode at all because its just so minimal. Even the action is bad. The battle between Superman, Maxima in the Carnorite is not epic. It's not even engaging. And didn't the Carnorite kind of look like a kindergartner drew it? The battle between Superman, Maxima and De'Cine's forces is even worse. It's a total joke. This whole episode is a joke and not like a funny one. To really put the period on the end of that sentence, the episode ends with Lobo showing up and Maxima having the hots for him. I'm done. I'm not wasting any more time on this nonsense.
Grade: F
Next up, remember Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips? Well, they're finally making their move against the Man of Steel.
What do you all think of these episodes? Am I too harsh on "Warrior Queen?" Please, give me some reasons why this isn't maybe the worst episode of the series so far in the comments.
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