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Description
MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN.
Produced by: Jake Wyatt, Brendan Clougher and Josie Campbell.
Starring: Jack Quaid, Alice Lee and Ishmel Sahid.
Based on the Superman character created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Genre: Action–adventure, Romantic comedy, Science fiction and Superhero.
Rated: PG (May contain content not suited for small children).

I don't normally do this, but this review is dedicated to a very good friend of mine. I've known him for quite a many years and he’s probably a bigger comic book nerd than I am. If he's reading this, thanks for being a fan, Bradley. This one is just for you. I also believe this is the first time I'm actually reviewing something where Superman’s the main focus.

My relationship with the Man of Steel is complicated. I don't hate the character in any particular way; nor do I find him “boring” or the usual clichés people throw at him, but he doesn't quite do it for me, if that makes sense. I was always more of a Spider-Man kid growing up back in the 90s. I did see a few episodes of the Superman animated series, but I was more interested in the X-Men and Batman cartoons at the time.

Having said all that, I usually find myself defending the character from accusations of being overpowered, overrated, and a boring Gary Stu of sorts. This accusation tends to come from normies who don't read comic books or just watch movies and moan: “Urgh, he's too strong! Oh and he’s Jesus for some reason!” That last bit always bugged me; considering the character’s inspirations were Moses, Doc Savage and the Übermensch. Oh well, symbolisms gotta symbolism I suppose.

From what I've seen from various cartoons and comic books I've been recommended by friends over the years, Superman is a highly complex and often relatable character because, when you strip away all the powers and God like abilities, he's just a simple, polite and friendly farm boy from Kansas. You could say I’m a fan of the MAN in Superman. The only thing I find unbelievable about the character is that -despite all those powers and the fact he makes Goku his bitch on a regular basis- he somehow loses to Batman all the time. How come we don't call Batman an overrated Gary Stu?

In a similar way to characters like Deadpool or Captain Marvel, I find Superman works best in a team or a supporting role. He's not somebody I would actively go out to read the solo adventures of (despite the fact I have a copy of the Death of Superman which I should review one day). I like him more when he was part of the Justice League cartoon series, or whenever he did a team up animated movie with Batman.

However, My Adventures with Superman (getting us on topic) is the first Superman related series I have watched from start to finish. I realise I'm about 10,000 years late to covering this topic, but it's been a pretty busy year for me so cut me some slack. Mind you, it's been a very busy and difficult year for everyone hasn't it? With the death of physical media, cinemas on the decline, were all being replaced by A.I. bots and World War 3 is just around the corner (fingers crossed).

As we've established, I'm not exactly a Superman fan or familiar with characters outside of the ones seen in the films or cartoons. I don't really have an opinion on any of these radical redesigns and reimaginings, though I'm not surprised that Jimmy Olsen has been given the predictable makeover. Serious question: what is it with Western media and their hatred for redheads? Curious if there is an explanation to that.

The series is a 10 episode feature that’s a mixture of Western and Japanese animation designs that surprisingly worked quite well. The characters were well designed, the writing was pretty solid, the characterization was adorable and I honestly enjoyed the more Clark Kent aspect of the series, whereas Superman himself was something of a bonus. I appreciate this series took the time to give us a more down to Earth/slice of life approach to Superman's adventures, we're not every single thing has to be a big muscle man punching a goon because he robbed a bank. Now granted it's always nice when that happens, but some downtime never hurts. This might be a weird thing to reference, but the main thing that was running through my mind while watching this series was Power Rangers. Think about it for a second: Episode opens with a moral dilemma that the characters are involved in, a big bad shows up, Superman beats up the big bad and we go back to the resolution of the moral dilemma. Kind of like your average episode of the early seasons of Power Rangers. It's probably just me, but once I noticed it was kind of hard to unsee it.

The series sort of gives us the origin story for Superman, but it's in the background and never becomes an intrusive part of the story - Probably because the writers are aware EVERYONE knows the origin at this point so why waste time on it? Clark’s adorableness and his cutesy interactions with Lois Lane feel very inspired by the Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve movies, whereas the “Superman is a menace from another world and we need military action to stop him” plot feels like it borrows a bit too much from the Zack Snyder films. I've never liked the idea that Superman -world's biggest boy scout and ultimate goody two shoes- could somehow be this tyrannical despot from beyond the stars who's out to destroy us all. Oh yeah, the big smiling boy scout in a red cape who rescues cats out of trees is clearly Space-Saddam.

Honestly, Batman makes more sense as the tyrannical despot, but bias exists for a reason.

If I had to compare the series to something else, then it would probably be the 2003 animated series, The Batman. We have a younger, more inexperienced Clark Kent coming to terms with his powers and abilities and meeting some of his big villains for the first time. The anime inspired artstyle plays into this, but there's a higher degree of polish, shading and not-so jagged edges approach to the design of the series.

I'm honestly shocked and surprised by literally no physical appearance of Lex Luthor in this entire show. However, that ended up working well in the show's favour as it gave some of the lesser known Superman villains a time in the spotlight. I was never familiar with Parasite before, but I really dig the concept and his powers are intriguing. The series could have done without Deathstroke however; even if he looks like Astarian from Baldur's Gate 3.

Now it's time to get my Nitpick-Axe out. While I’m happy characters like Lex Luthor and Darksied are not present in this series, can we seriously stop trying to make the Suicide Squad a thing please? The only reason Warner Brothers keep shuffling them out on screen is because they saw Marvel's success with Guardians of the Galaxy and said: “I want that one!” I love Amanda Waller, but this story didn't need her or any of this shit. Save it for that dead on arrival game in 2024.

And because it's a series in 2023, it didn't take long for the multiverse to get introduced. Godammit, My Adventures with Superman, you were doing so well. While I love multiverse theory and the concept's infinite potential, I generally roll my eyes whenever mainstream media uses it because it's always the same two boring ideas.

#1: Villains from different universes team up to take on their respective nemesis.
#2: Council//League of one particular character.

Stupid, predictable shit like the Council of Reed Richards, the Council of Rick’s, the Spider-Society and all this other hogwash is overdone. Did you ever see that episode of Red Dwarf, where Rimmer had to live with himself? That shows you how the idea instantly falls apart, because not even we want to hang out with ourselves for that long! It felt like they introduced the League of Lois Lanes just to set up the "SUPERMAN IS EVIL!!!" plot device, yet just having Clark learn more about his past from his dad's hologram would have gotten the job done better, if you ask me.

Lastly - I think I finally have a version of Lois Lane I actually like. I’ve always found her character to be kinda boring and I get why they paired up Clark with Wonder Woman. THIS Lois is funny, down to Earth, relatable and highly entertaining. This more tomboy approach works surprisingly well, with a sharp design and Alice Lee’s voice are fantastic.

... Okay, fine. I’ll say it. “Dat ass.”

(Conclusion).
I can see why everyone was raving about this show. The vibrant animation, slice of life storytelling and more down to Earth approach feels like a nice breath of fresh air when compared to the more dour aspects from DC Comics these days. A second season is reportedly on the way and I hope nothing gets in the way of it being released.

... What’s that? A WB/Paramount merger?

... Oh.

Description
MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN.
Produced by: Jake Wyatt, Brendan Clougher and Josie Campbell.
Starring: Jack Quaid, Alice Lee and Ishmel Sahid.
Based on the Superman character created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Genre: Action–adventure, Romantic comedy, Science fiction and Superhero.
Rated: PG (May contain content not suited for small children).

I don't normally do this, but this review is dedicated to a very good friend of mine. I've known him for quite a many years and he’s probably a bigger comic book nerd than I am. If he's reading this, thanks for being a fan, Bradley. This one is just for you. I also believe this is the first time I'm actually reviewing something where Superman’s the main focus.

My relationship with the Man of Steel is complicated. I don't hate the character in any particular way; nor do I find him “boring” or the usual clichés people throw at him, but he doesn't quite do it for me, if that makes sense. I was always more of a Spider-Man kid growing up back in the 90s. I did see a few episodes of the Superman animated series, but I was more interested in the X-Men and Batman cartoons at the time.

Having said all that, I usually find myself defending the character from accusations of being overpowered, overrated, and a boring Gary Stu of sorts. This accusation tends to come from normies who don't read comic books or just watch movies and moan: “Urgh, he's too strong! Oh and he’s Jesus for some reason!” That last bit always bugged me; considering the character’s inspirations were Moses, Doc Savage and the Übermensch. Oh well, symbolisms gotta symbolism I suppose.

From what I've seen from various cartoons and comic books I've been recommended by friends over the years, Superman is a highly complex and often relatable character because, when you strip away all the powers and God like abilities, he's just a simple, polite and friendly farm boy from Kansas. You could say I’m a fan of the MAN in Superman. The only thing I find unbelievable about the character is that -despite all those powers and the fact he makes Goku his bitch on a regular basis- he somehow loses to Batman all the time. How come we don't call Batman an overrated Gary Stu?

In a similar way to characters like Deadpool or Captain Marvel, I find Superman works best in a team or a supporting role. He's not somebody I would actively go out to read the solo adventures of (despite the fact I have a copy of the Death of Superman which I should review one day). I like him more when he was part of the Justice League cartoon series, or whenever he did a team up animated movie with Batman.

However, My Adventures with Superman (getting us on topic) is the first Superman related series I have watched from start to finish. I realise I'm about 10,000 years late to covering this topic, but it's been a pretty busy year for me so cut me some slack. Mind you, it's been a very busy and difficult year for everyone hasn't it? With the death of physical media, cinemas on the decline, were all being replaced by A.I. bots and World War 3 is just around the corner (fingers crossed).

As we've established, I'm not exactly a Superman fan or familiar with characters outside of the ones seen in the films or cartoons. I don't really have an opinion on any of these radical redesigns and reimaginings, though I'm not surprised that Jimmy Olsen has been given the predictable makeover. Serious question: what is it with Western media and their hatred for redheads? Curious if there is an explanation to that.

The series is a 10 episode feature that’s a mixture of Western and Japanese animation designs that surprisingly worked quite well. The characters were well designed, the writing was pretty solid, the characterization was adorable and I honestly enjoyed the more Clark Kent aspect of the series, whereas Superman himself was something of a bonus. I appreciate this series took the time to give us a more down to Earth/slice of life approach to Superman's adventures, we're not every single thing has to be a big muscle man punching a goon because he robbed a bank. Now granted it's always nice when that happens, but some downtime never hurts. This might be a weird thing to reference, but the main thing that was running through my mind while watching this series was Power Rangers. Think about it for a second: Episode opens with a moral dilemma that the characters are involved in, a big bad shows up, Superman beats up the big bad and we go back to the resolution of the moral dilemma. Kind of like your average episode of the early seasons of Power Rangers. It's probably just me, but once I noticed it was kind of hard to unsee it.

The series sort of gives us the origin story for Superman, but it's in the background and never becomes an intrusive part of the story - Probably because the writers are aware EVERYONE knows the origin at this point so why waste time on it? Clark’s adorableness and his cutesy interactions with Lois Lane feel very inspired by the Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve movies, whereas the “Superman is a menace from another world and we need military action to stop him” plot feels like it borrows a bit too much from the Zack Snyder films. I've never liked the idea that Superman -world's biggest boy scout and ultimate goody two shoes- could somehow be this tyrannical despot from beyond the stars who's out to destroy us all. Oh yeah, the big smiling boy scout in a red cape who rescues cats out of trees is clearly Space-Saddam.

Honestly, Batman makes more sense as the tyrannical despot, but bias exists for a reason.

If I had to compare the series to something else, then it would probably be the 2003 animated series, The Batman. We have a younger, more inexperienced Clark Kent coming to terms with his powers and abilities and meeting some of his big villains for the first time. The anime inspired artstyle plays into this, but there's a higher degree of polish, shading and not-so jagged edges approach to the design of the series.

I'm honestly shocked and surprised by literally no physical appearance of Lex Luthor in this entire show. However, that ended up working well in the show's favour as it gave some of the lesser known Superman villains a time in the spotlight. I was never familiar with Parasite before, but I really dig the concept and his powers are intriguing. The series could have done without Deathstroke however; even if he looks like Astarian from Baldur's Gate 3.

Now it's time to get my Nitpick-Axe out. While I’m happy characters like Lex Luthor and Darksied are not present in this series, can we seriously stop trying to make the Suicide Squad a thing please? The only reason Warner Brothers keep shuffling them out on screen is because they saw Marvel's success with Guardians of the Galaxy and said: “I want that one!” I love Amanda Waller, but this story didn't need her or any of this shit. Save it for that dead on arrival game in 2024.

And because it's a series in 2023, it didn't take long for the multiverse to get introduced. Godammit, My Adventures with Superman, you were doing so well. While I love multiverse theory and the concept's infinite potential, I generally roll my eyes whenever mainstream media uses it because it's always the same two boring ideas.

#1: Villains from different universes team up to take on their respective nemesis.
#2: Council//League of one particular character.

Stupid, predictable shit like the Council of Reed Richards, the Council of Rick’s, the Spider-Society and all this other hogwash is overdone. Did you ever see that episode of Red Dwarf, where Rimmer had to live with himself? That shows you how the idea instantly falls apart, because not even we want to hang out with ourselves for that long! It felt like they introduced the League of Lois Lanes just to set up the "SUPERMAN IS EVIL!!!" plot device, yet just having Clark learn more about his past from his dad's hologram would have gotten the job done better, if you ask me.

Lastly - I think I finally have a version of Lois Lane I actually like. I’ve always found her character to be kinda boring and I get why they paired up Clark with Wonder Woman. THIS Lois is funny, down to Earth, relatable and highly entertaining. This more tomboy approach works surprisingly well, with a sharp design and Alice Lee’s voice are fantastic.

... Okay, fine. I’ll say it. “Dat ass.”

(Conclusion).
I can see why everyone was raving about this show. The vibrant animation, slice of life storytelling and more down to Earth approach feels like a nice breath of fresh air when compared to the more dour aspects from DC Comics these days. A second season is reportedly on the way and I hope nothing gets in the way of it being released.

... What’s that? A WB/Paramount merger?

... Oh.