GoFlash
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Just to clarify my e-mail - the "Grrrr" after talking about Flash and Wonder Woman clotheslining Metallo was not about that scene, but about my Metallo issues in general. I really liked the clothesline scene - it seemed so Flash. I do have to say, though, that that fight would have been one time where I would have liked to see Metallo defeated by removing his power source - if the creators wanted to poke a little fun at themselves for using that tactic so much, they could have had Flash or GL very matter of factlypop up and take out the Kryptonite about 2 seconds into the fight, just to make fun of how often it happens.
The problem is, with Corbin's mind and mercenary experience in Metallo's body, he poses a real threat to Superman, and there aren't many villains that can do that - it just frustrates me that he always gets beaten the same way. Too many of the Metallo fights blend together, and I think it does him an injustice.
Oh, and I was saying this out loud while listening, so I have to post it - when James talked about the ways in which parademons were killed in "Destroyer", I immediately shouted out "AND RUN OVER WITH A SEDAN!" Heh. I just had to bring that up - I still laugh every time I see that scene. Even though he had no lines, you could still hear Question loud and clear there.
Chris
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...Oh yeah, Mike. Lucius in this episode is a different voice. His voice was originally done by Brock Peters, but in TNBA it was done by Mel Winkler....
No offense, Mxy, I just wanted to add something to this one point, so I didn't copy your whole post. Mike had commented that the original Lucius (Brock Peters) had a more resonant voice - the other media I own with Brock Peters as a voice actor is the NPR full cast dramatizations of Episodes IV-VI of Star Wars, where Mr. Peters viced Darth Vader. No wonder he's got a deep bottom to his voice.
Chris
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I was just planning ahead to WFP episode 873, when Mike and James finally get through the DCAU. I had made a joking comment about reviewing DCAU parodies. Then I started thinking - it might be kind of fun to do the parodies and bits & pieces when they're done. Anyone else have suggestion for non-episode DCAU bits or of DCAU parodies that would be fun to include (Of course, Mike and James may not want to do this - this also gives me a chance to hunt down any of these I might not have). I would start with:
Justice League: The First Mission - both the version with the lineup they ended using and the one on JL Season 2, with Impulse, Robin, and a female Cyborg. (Ah, poor Bart Allen. Of course, they said there wasn't any point in using Flash if they used impulse, yet this didn't stop them from using both Batman and Robin. I think I'm detecting a little Bat-bias here, old chum)
Duck Dodgers: The Green Loontern (Dodgers gets Hal Jordan's ring by mistake).
Kim Possible: The Fearless Ferret (Not only did Wil Friedle's character spoof Terry McGinnis, but Adam West spoofed himself - sort of like in "The Grey Ghost", but they went in a very different direction)
I'm assuming that the 12 minute Titans "The Lost Episode" will be covered in the regular lineup of events.
Those are the first ones I think of - I can list some fan films that use characters from the DCAU ("Lex Luthor For President", Blinky Production's "The World's Finest" with Power Girl and Catwoman, but they're not really DCAU specific. I suppose you could argue that "Batman Forever" is a DCAU homage - the Riddler's origin seemed like they ripped it off directly from "Mad As A Hatter", but I don't think I'd include that, either. What other parodies or homages - or rarities - are out there that people can think of?
Chris
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I'm not quite through, but though I'd post my thoughts, as I usually listen on the way to work, and I'll forget all this by Monday morning. I may have a few more things to add later - or not.
In relation to the e-mail about Superman going to Lex rather than Wayne, Mike, you're right that Wayne is aware of what goes in in Wayne Enterprises and worked hard to develop his company. However, I think the point was that his image is of a guy who lucked into money, whatever the reality, and based on that image, Superman wouldn't have gone to him.
Episode 1
As far as the terrorists on Air Force 1, I agree it's a stretch - both the Air Force and the Secret Service take a dim view of that. However, they made an entire movie around the premise with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman at about this time, so the DCAU team's not alone in using the premise.
As far as stuff flying out, like James said, the seats were bolted down and the passengers were strapped in. Plus, unlike "Superman Returns", they actually kept the airplane in the atmosphere. It's not like we're talking about the type of explosive decompression you'd see on a spaceship.
Flash survived Superman's straight-arm in "Speed Demons" for 3 reasons - first, he has an aura to give him some protection. Second, with his reflexes, he was able to slow slightly to not hit full force. Third, Superman lives in a world of cardboard, remember? Why does he never get credit for pulling his punches, so he did not kill the terrorist?
In a classic movie/TV show cliche, Bruce tells Lois he's pick her up at 8. Doesn't get her address, phone number, anything. How does he know where to pick her up? Sure, he's Batman, but if someone I just met tells me they'll be at my house at 8, then shows up without me telling them where I live, I'm going to be a bit creeped out.
The scene in the restaurant had a funny bit on the taco - I speak Japanese like I do Spanish - that is, I can order at either Taco Bell or at a sushi restaurant (and if you think that's odd, I live in Hawaii - there are a LOT more sushi places than Mexican places here). Apparently they had some problems with the animation studio because of confusion between "taco" and "tako" which is Japanese for octopus (I don't know if that's just for octopus to eat, or if it means the animal as well - like "beef" and "cow". Like I said, I only speak sushi Japanese.)
Episode 2
Ah, the nightclub. Another movie cliche - every police investigation (at least in 80's movies) has to involve a scene at a strip club.
Another problem with throwing the cage girl at the mobsters - even without the guns, it seems like it'd be awfully easy for her to get hurt, possibly seriously, that way. I agree, Mike I think that was out of character for Bats.
I'm going to take a stand on the side of Superman saving Lois, not Batman. There were 3 threats: Joker Toxin, the explosion, and Kryptonite. Superman got them away from the toxin and the explosion, and Batman dealt with the Kryptonite - the one threat that did not directly affect Lois. (I suppose in 20 years, when she has a normal mammogram, she could send him a card saying "Thanks for saving me from possible cancer" - although by that point, she'll have been exposed to kryptonite so often, it probably won't matter) Batman saved Superman. Superman would not have been able to save Lois without this, but Superman actually defended Lois against the things that were a threat to her life - and Batman could not have done so.
About the toxin - I'll propose the theory that as a complex chemical, it's heavier than air, so sinks quickly and fills the bottom of the room first. Since Lois was hanging in the air, she was exposed to it later than either Superman or Batman.
I lost track of the episode change, so the catfight between Mercy and Harley may have been Episode 3, but that was the last thing I heard. It's actually scary how many parallels they found. Batman and Superman - that's a given. Luthor and Joker - the two greatest foes, but complete opposites. Still, the premise they used here worked well to explain why they'd work together - certainly better than some ("I'm evil!" "Me too!" "Let's team up!" "Yeah!"). But Mercy and Harley - they both have exactly the same relationship. I'm sure Luthor isn't physically abusive to Mercy (no one in their right mind would be; she'd feed you your arm), but he cares for her about as much as Joker does for Harley, and I'm sure he knows how she feels, and manipulates that to keep her loyal. Almost makes you wonder if they made the character because they liked exploring the dynamic between Harley and Joker (hope not, it's a pretty depressing dynamic, when you peel away the jokes).
Anyways, there's my thoughts. Looking back, I can't help but be glad I've become a member of our merry forum...because God help us if I try to make poor Mike and James read a behemoth like this on air. They'd probably lose their voices before they got to the actual episode. Oh well, we could have a podcast that just consists of them reading my e-mails.
Chris
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Personally, long before we counted "Brainiac Attacks The Belief That Animated Movies Are Quality Entertainment" as part of the DCAU (and I know that you guys won't), I'd rather you did an episode for the DCAU spoofs out there. Like "The Green Loontern" in which Duck Dodgers gets his dry cleaning switched with Hal Jordan's by mistake (which is probably the closest thing Mike's ever going to get to his GL Corps series, plus was hilarious). Or "The Fearless Ferret", where Wil Friedle's character on Kim Possible went to the manor of a reclusive elderly man (voiced by Adam West) only to find a crime-fighting costume from 40 years ago in a cave in the basement, and became the new Fearless Ferret (they did not, however, refer to him as Fearless Ferret Beyond).
Chris
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Well, no surprise with how much I yap, but looks like I've been upgraded from "The New Guy" to "Junior Member". Maybe I can make it to "Mouseketeer" soon.
Brave New Metropolis
I suppose you could argue that in "Brave New Metropolis", since we're dealing with alternate universes, Lois may have skipped over a whole sheaf of universes in which Superman got over it, Superman married Lana, went to Wayne for help, gave up and started renting himself out for children's parties, was a normal guy working in the cubicle next to Boston Dan, etc., before we got to one where he started working with Luthor. (Of course, you can argue just about any combination you like in an alternate universe story, which is why they can get old fast). As to his inability to realize what was going on, it may be that he is different from "our" Superman; may also just be that the tendency to only see what you want to see is a Kryptonian as well as human trait (actually, Last Son Of Krypton, Part 1 pretty well showed that Kryptonians can see only what they want to see as well as us). Plus, it was established later in continuity that "for a guy with, like, fifty kinds of vision, [he is] so blind."
Mike, that was a great point about the look of the city. I think the production team immediately shifted into Gotham City mode. The best match probably would have been in "Savage Time, Part 1" when the JL landed in the shining, futuristic city (before they went back in time) that was covered in banners of Vandal Savage and were immediately accosted by stormtroopers. That's what "Brave New Metropolis" should have looked like.
Anyone read an Elseworlds tale called "Speeding Bullets"? Given Timm & Co's penchant for "Superman Gone Too Far" stories (this is what? the first of 4? 5? Brave New Metropolis, Legacy, A Better World, the unproduced JL Earth-2 story, and Superman: Doomsday), I could see them trying to do that as a DC Animated Film. The rocket is found by Thomas and Martha Wayne. Young Bruce's survivor's guilt is heightened by the fact that a) Joe Chill shot him and the bullets bounced off, and b) he instinctively killed Chill with heat vision. Fast forward to the "present". Bruce Wayne (Kal El) has been sitting around brooding for the last 12 years. No training, so no self discipline. He starts off as Batman, with all of Superman's power, all of Batman's rage, none of Superman's moral compass, and none of Batman's self-discipline or self-control. Sounds like something that would be right up Bruce Timm's alley.
Monkey Fun
So...granted that the iTunes store wasn't around, but is there really a reason they couldn't have calmed Titano with some other recording of "Pop Goes The Weasel"? Ah, well, at least they decided to forego giving him Kryptonite vision, like in the comics. Although they could have had Jimmy turn into Turtle Boy and try to take him down...
Incidentally, the bacteria weren't the cause of Titano's growth - they were affected by the same gas that made Titano grow. They were just normal bacteria that grew. As to how the gas caused things to grow...well, it was space gas, after all. Maybe that was a Silver Age homage.
Anyone else raise an eyebrow at Lois commenting that she had a small apartment when she was protesting taking Titano home? Seems pretty spacious to me.
Ghost In The Machine
Great characterization of Clark, Mercy, Lex, and both Luthor and Brainiac as believable villains - screw continuity significance, this is a great episode by itself. Incidentally, I hold that Mercy was whispering instruction on how to operate the Sky Sentry and Superman heard her with super-hearing.
One moronic thing that I rechecked - Lex really did fire Sidewinder missiles at his building. Maybe the problem wasn't Brainiac. Maybe the problem is that he's using a magnetic gun to defend a ground-based target against an AIR TO AIR HEAT-SEEKING MISSILE! It tracks jet exhaust! It does not lock onto a freaking building! My military experience consists of reading Tom Clancy books and I know this! I suppose as President, Luthor's first act would be to relocate COMSUBPAC (Commander, Submarine Forces, Pacific Fleet) from Pearl Harbor to Topeka, Kansas. Or maybe Phoenix.
Father's Day
Considering that Darkseid didn't appear much in this episode, someone who has never heard of him could watch this episode and know exactly who he is and what he's about. Between the writing and delivery, he was on in this episode.
Incidentally, Rene Auberjonois returns - yes, returns - as DeSaad. I'm not sure, but I think he's the only actor to play the same role in the DCAU and in Superfriends. (If you're curious, Frank Welker did both Darkseid and Kalibak in Superfriends: Galactic Guardians, the last Superfriends show). I actually like Michael Dorn's rougher voice here - he nails that brutish thug, while at the same time making him sound very dangerous precisely because he is a brutish thug.
In Pa Kent's defense, if Martha hadn't said "Clark, look out!", I don't think Lois or any of us would have batted an eye at him saying "Neither do I" in response to seeing Superman fly away.
James mentioned that Darkseid and the Joker should both inspire abject terror in anyone who sees them. The team did nail that at the beginning of Joker's Favor, when Joker was following Charlie. Oh, and there have been a couple of comments about where Central City is - as of now, Central City is in Missouri, and it's sister city, Keystone (home of Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash) is in Kansas, making them parallel to Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas (at least in the comics - never addressed in "Brave & The Bold" or "Flash & Substance").
heeeee...world's finest, master....heeee.
Chris
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Though we won't be covering it for WFP, maybe we'll discuss Brainiac Attacks during an episode of Earth-2.net: The Show. Maybe.
For your sanity's sake, I'd suggest that if you do review Brainiac Attacks, do it as a commentary. And when I say commentary, I mean full Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. Just mock the bejeesus out of it. "Switch sarcasm shields to double front, boys, we're going in." It's the only way to make it through that.
Unfortunately, Grandpa got my daughter another copy of BA, so I got suprised by it the other day. She's 3, so doesn't yet know better. (The munchkin has actually split videos into 2 groups - there's "Daddy's Wonder Woman", which is DCAU, particularly Justice League, and "Mommy's Wonder Woman", which is the Lynda Carter show - after my daughter spins around til she falls down to turn into WW, she and Mommy have fun counting how many times Wonder Woman has to save Steve Trevor.)
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The producer said it's not in continuity. Which means we're not covering it.
Sorry if this sounds rude, but I'm tired of arguing about what James and I are going to discuss on WFP.
Can't we just agree that the answer to any disagreement about whether James and Mike are covering the appropriate continuity is "Start doing your own damn podcast, and cover what you want!"?
That being said, if you tried to claim Brainiac Attacks was in continuity, I'd have to hurt you both. There are limits, after all.
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You have to remember in "Solar Power" Superman had never experienced the power of the Red Sun, besides the fact that it was powered by Lightner, so he could have changed the intensity of the Sun's power and than decrease it and than increase it, causing Superman to hurt more when he weakens. In "Hereafter" it's a real Red Sun, not being controlled by anything, so his body is able to adjust.
See, that's one of the inconsistencies. What does red sunlight do to him? Yellow sunlight fuels his powers, so the longer he's in yellow sunlight, the stronger he gets (which raises the very real question of why Mala and Jax-Ur were able, within the space of a few days, to catch up to 30 years of Kansas sunlight). So does red sunlight actually leech the accumulated yellow sunlight out of his cells and actively reduce his powers, or is it just that the red sunlight means that there's no yellow sunlight, and therefore no recharge available? It seems that the red sun actively reduces his powers, otherwise red sunlight would put him in about the same position as he's in every night.
Plus, a "red sun" is still going to put some light out in the yellow spectrum, whereas Lightner's filter is going to remove all of the yellow. So, the sun in "Hereafter" is going to give him more strength than the filtered sunlight in "Solar Power". Very good point about the difference between filtered and natural red sunlight - this explains it even without giving Lightner more time to tinker with the intensity of the light (and giving more ammunition for criticizing the episode). Of course, I'm just defending this point, not the episode - I think both of the Luminus episodes are doubly disappointing because the framework could have been so solid, and they just fell flat.
Chris
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Except that in "Hereafter" in JL, Superman manages to survive for God knows how many days and nights in a post-cataclysmic Earth under a red sun, AND fashion a blade out of a shank of metal, AND become the leader of a pack of whatever the hell those wolf things were, AND find the destroyed Watchtower, AND defeat those gigantic roach creatures with Vandal Savage without any of the melodramatic whimpering he did in "Solar Power".
Good point that I completely failed to think of. I still maintain, though, that because of his, shall we say, privileged upbringing, Superman under a red sun is a lot weaker than a Kryptonian of similar build who grew up on Krypton, because he hasn't had to push himself. I'll go for the No-Prize here - through the course of the rest of STAS (where the feats just get bigger) and the first 2 seasons of Justice League, Superman had to push himself to the limits of een his yellow-sunlight-enhanced abilities, so by the time "Hereafter" rolls around, he's in much better shape than in "Solar Power" and he's not as winded. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. Any day now, I expect to get that No-Prize envelope from Stan Lee, I'll open it up, and read, "Greetings, True Believer! No-Prizes are for Marvel - Superman is DC. Excelsior!" (I don't really know what Excelsior means, but it's one of those things Stan Lee always says, so I had to include it.)
Chris
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In "Action Figures", James and Mike talked about how Metallo shreds the lead suit, while Ma Kent's sewing stands up to lava. Good old midwestern stitchery, folks. Plus, Superman's powers extend out about a millimeter from his skin, according to the comics - that's why Martha made it snug, because she noticed that tight clothes never tore on Clark when he was growing up. The lead suit, being bulkier, extends beyond that radius, and is on its own.
My other question for "Action Figures" has to do with the inconsistencies of power supply (although I made a comment about a back-up battery in an e-mail a couple episodes back). Metallo is a cyborg, right? I know we refer to him in the Robot Count , but there is still a human brain in there, isn't there? He's not some recording of John Corbin on digital media or something? Because if he's just a recording, hey, slag 'em. If he still has a brain, then isn't Superman risking killing him every time he rips out that hunk of kryptonite? If life support goes down, the brain will only have a few minutes to go...
I did like the loss of memory - even though they didn't say so, I assumed it was due to the sensory deprivation.
In "Double Dose", Mike griped about how Rudy keeps forgetting Superman's identity (presumably without a nudge from Zatanna) and James complained about his personality flip-flops. The irony is, if they didn't keep wiping Rudy's memory, they could even explain his personality changes. He keeps absorbing people's memories, and they fade, but he still has residuals. Over time, those echoes build up, gradually altering his personality both directly and indirectly (from the stress of dealing with all of these other personalities), which could lead to more unbalanced, irrational behavior. And before you ask, yes, I've been reading old Essential X-Men when Rogue was dealing with Carol Danvers' memories.
Finally, in "Solar Power", I want to point out that the tram was identified as the Truman Island tram, Metropolis's answer to the famous Roosevelt Island tram in NYC (My godparents used to live on Roosevelt Island, so I feel a bit possessive about it) - just a neat bit of parallelism.
Also, Mike, I have to contest a point you made about Superman getting excessively weak under red sunlight. You pointed out that it should just set him to baseline (true) and that Jor-El was a bad-ass under red sunlight (also true), so Superman shouldn't be acting weak and out of shape under red sunlight - except that Superman never grew up under red sunlight, so he never had to work to run, jump, lift, any of that. He's not weak so much as he is deconditioned - he hasn't trained in red sunlight, so he's out of shape for those conditions, just like an Nepalese athlete who trains all his life at sea level, then gets short of breath when trying to do the marathon in the Himalayas.
Chris
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We didn't mention it because there was no subtext. Lytener outright states that he wanted Lois to notice him. It was very clear what he meant.
Oops. Been a bit since I've watched the episode - I thought it was more subtextual than that. The overtness explains why I noticed it, then - I tend to the "A big smoking hole. Could be a clue." approach to things sometimes. Kind of goes with my point though. He liked Lois, blew the whistle and lost his job to get her to notice him and nothing. That sounds like a slam dunk for these guys to run with (so I'm mixing my sports metaphors) to make a believable, complex villain. Great framework, but just not executed like it should have been.
Chris
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Actually, Justice League got me into Whedon's work - I was looking up JLU voice actors, and found 4 people from this show "Firefly" that I had vaguely remembered hearing about, read about it on Wiki, and it sounded interesting, got it for 20 bucks at Target, and watched most of it on a flight to a job interview out here in the Aloha state - hooked immediately. I liked it so much that when I saw Buffy Season 1 on sale, I picked that up as well - I really like Buffy, but agree, there's more of a suspension of disbelief. Whedon really does a good job of getting you involved with the characters, though, so it's easy to do, especially is seasons 2-3 when Buffy hits its stride. I still like Firefly better, though - I think the show hit its stride right off (of course, if it didn't, we'll never know, will we?). Plus, as a lifelong hard SF fan (Heinlein, Asimov, Niven, Pournelle) - I would say that Firefly is probably the most realistic sci-fi show ever made. I'd love to see how many Robert Heinlein books are on Joss Whedon's shelves - Firefly really hits a lot of classic Heinlein themes (frontiers in space, self-reliance, libertariationism).
Chris
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I could have sworn I heard mention of commentary on Cat and the claw and others, but I might have been mistaken. You may have been refering to wiki pages opr interviews...Okay new question, any good fan commentaries on the episodes that maybe I could download somewhere?
I think the guy's name is Trevor Ballera. Go to iTunes and type in "DC animation commentaries". He has a podcast - mostly JL, but a few BTAS, and I think "The Call, Part 1-2" from Beyond. He's got probably 20+ up - I'm not sure how often updated, though.
Chris
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Well, there was an accident on H-1, so I ended up listening to over an hour of the episode instead of 35 minutes on my way in to work (I live on an island less than a hundred miles around, yet still have about 2 hours in the car a day - go figure). And...I made it through 1.5 STAS episodes. I think I'll start putting my comments up here rather than e-mailing to keep down the length - especially since brevity isn't my strong suit.
"Target" is a bit conflicting. I think the framework is great - there's multiple suspects, we focus more on the investigative side of Clark's skill set, a chance to develop Lois' character, and A SLING! It's just that the execution seems so disappointing...kind of blah. With Lytener, is it just me, or did anyone else think that he was hoping Lois would develop some romantic interest in him after he blew the whistle? I always kind of read things that way, and was a bit suprised that neither James nor Mike commented (although that may have been due to apathy about the episode), as they have frequently seen subtext that I didn't pick up on.
Mike, I was so glad to hear you comment on "Thinker" being hollow, like a cheap Easter bunny - that's bothered me since I first saw the episode, because bronzes are supposed to be cast in a single piece - aren't they?
Also, while we're on the subject of the many homages in this episode, I'll spout out about the shaving scene. Mike & James commented on the razor in the bathroom, while Clark shaves with his heat vision. This was actually an explicit scene in the Man Of Steel series by Byrne, when Clark turned on an electric razor for sound effects to fool Lois while he used heat vision to shave. He probably picked up a disposable razor years ago and just has it set out to look the part. He probably has an old pair of oven mitts for the same reason. (After all, not like he needs them - I still like the idea of a Javelin with the bumper sticker "INVULNERABILITY MEANS NEVER HAVING TO BUY BAND-AIDS.")
Chris
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Hey, all, this is actually my first post (although Mike and James have been putting up with my e-mails over at WFP for about 15 episodes now - and I mean every episode). I just wanted to make a couple comments. First, did anyone else look at the voice actors and wonder whether someone was casting voice or live action? There's some exceptions, but I could see Boreanez playing Jordan (at least a mid 30s Jordan). I can see Harris playing Barry Allen. And Lucy Lawless as an Amazon princess? Could work.
One great piece of writing (and I don't know if this was the script or the comic) was in the Vegas scene. There's a band called Jim's Big Ego that has a song called "The Ballad Of Barry Allen" where it looks at him, not as someone who's really fast, but as someone living in a world that's really slow (incidentally, the frontman from the band, I believe, is Carmine Infantino's nephew). I loved the bit in Vegas that captured this, when Barry said, that he rewired the cold gun "on the way down." when they fell for less than 2 seconds - with the same tone of voice that I'd use to say that I read the paper on the bus on the way to work. That writing and delivery (plus an almost limitless obsession with all things Flash) really gives you an insight into the character in just a few words - smart writing.
Chris (the same one who has time to send all the e-mails to WFP, yet just now got off his butt to register at the forums)
Episode 31
in World's Finest Podcast
Posted
Just a couple thoughts - more my opinions than anything else, so I thought I'd post here rather than in an e-mail...
Little Girl Lost seems to fall into the same category as "Speed Demons" or a lot of the Joker episodes. They have a big guest star, and seem to think that that will carry the episode. I liked seeing Supergirl introduced, just like I was excited to see the Flash introduced and enjoyed Hamill as the Joker, but peel back that guest star excitement, and some of these stories were kind of blah.
As to the language, Superman has been portrayed as knowing many many languages, suggesting that his yellow sun mojo lets him learn languages quickly. Plus, in general, I'll quote the old Impulse comic - the beauty of super-speed is that you can learn anything by trial and error. So I'm OK with Kara speaking English, missing an occasional idiom - especially since we have no idea how much time passed between her discovery and when we see her in Smallville. A word or two of explanation would have been nice, but I can give them the benefit of the doubt. The problem I had was that she's written as a spunky, bored teenager who could have been raised on Earth.
Clark sometimes has issues with knowing that he came from a world that was destroyed, that he's the last survivor. He knows this intellectually. Kara lived through it. She saw her world crumble (literally) around her. She went to sleep with her family, and when she woke up, they had been dead for years. Plus, she's living in a completely different world, culture, level of technology. How did she adjust to this? I don't think any of this was even mentioned until "Far From Home" which was her last DCAU appearance. If the first episode had focused more on those sort of things like Mike suggested, I think this would have had a lot more impact, and they wouldn't have had to bring in Darkseid to up the emotional ante (I really like the idea of Granny by herself in this - Darkseid would be perfectly willing to play the plausibly deniability card, even to the point of torturing Granny as "punishment" for attacking Earth so that he could keep Highfather off-balance enough to prevent an actual resumption of hostilities.)
Love is A Croc, Knight Time, and Torch Song - I just don't have much to say.
Knight Time - this was just neat. Most of it is that I just love mixing up characters some - 2 of the funniest issues of "Impulse" were when the Riddler came to Manchester, and when Impulse went to Gotham and ended up teaming up with Batman against the Joker. (Impulse 50. I am not making this up.) Still, Mike, I can't believe that you're griping about Supes stopping Brainiac from leaving. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounded like you were saying "Hey, Brainiac's running away from Earth. He'll leave Earth alone, and we won't have to deal with him, so just let him go." Now if this was Lobo: The Animated Series, and Brainiac had been running Czarnia (is that the planet name), maybe, but Superman doesn't think like that! (Granted, they could have given him a 5 minute head start, but Bats had clearly been hit on the head harder than usual when he suggested that in "Destroyer")
1) Brainiac is Kryptonian - Superman feels a special responsibility to deal with him.
2) Superman saw (in Stolen Memories) what it's like when Brainiac destroys other worlds. No way he's going to sit back and let that happen. After all, technically, he's already defending an alien world.
3) What's to keep Brainiac from coming back to Earth later? Of course, by that time, he wouldn't be made of Earth components - he'd be updated with alien tech and be that much harder to beat, so better to defeat him now while he's less formidable.
I don't know if the fact that Superman refused to let Brainiac go cost this episode a point or not - if so, few things to think about when you revisit scores.
Chris