Stylish and charming

son_of_cheese_messiah

This, even more than the previous Batman animated series, is strongly influenced by the 1940s Max Fleischer cartoons. It is noticeably sunnier than the Batman, which might lead some to underrate it. It is perhaps more child friendly than the Batman series, with for example, Lois Lane constantly depicted wearing the same clothes, but the makers clearly understand the difference between the two superheroes, Batman is a punisher of the guilty while Superman is a defender of the innocent.

The writing, while not so daring as the Justice League series of the same time, is not without innovation. Interesting readings of the Parasite, Luthor and in particular Brainiac mean that this is no slavish copy of the comicbook. The one dud of the first series is "the Main man" an ill-considered story which unfortunately straddles two episodes. Lobo is a crude (in many senses of the word) and his presence (with badly drawn disproportioned body) jars with the aesthetic of the cartoon just as the cliché ridden electric guitar which accompanies him jars with the stylish orchestral score of the rest of the series. I can only imagine he was a 'hot' character at the time so that's why he was included? Otherwise it is a mystery. In any case a very weak story (even for a single episode, but this is a tow parter!) involving an insipid DC version of Marvel's The Collector called The Preserver fails to convince. And this is further weakened by the fact that Brainiac is himself presented as something of a Preserver in far better episodes.

Other than that this is a great and charming (isn't it great to use the word 'charming' to describe a product of the 1990s? show that is worth watching.

score 9/10

son_of_cheese_messiah 17 March 2014

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2981593/