I continue to be unexpectedly impressed with and amused by My Adventures with Superman. They are doing some clever things with the Superman mythos, and taking elements from many different eras and incarnations. That trend continues with “My Interview with Superman.”
The opening scenes have some interesting events, as Superman saves a pilot from a crashing blimp and dodges another attempt at an interview from Lois, frustrating the reporter. Elsewhere, criminals with high-tech toys break in to prison to free Siobhan, who was captured earlier. These criminals end up being new spins on a few different Superman foes, with good updates to their more traditional looks and powers.
After Superman enjoys a leisurely flight through Metropolis (and he does actually seem to enjoy it, a nice touch so many Super-shows skip), there’s more awkwardness with Clark and Lois, and more conspiracy theories from Jimmy. Their assorted interplay gets interrupted by a comedic, overblown, villain intro of the “Scoop Troop,” three Daily Planet supporting characters who have been reworked: Cat Grant, Steve Lombard, and Ronnie Troupe. It was an entertaining bit, especially Ronnie’s refusal to participate in it. These three new characters are obnoxious and steal Lois and Clark’s work, saying they’ve been assigned the story by Perry. Needless to say, our heroes aren’t pleased by this.
The news breaks about the villain breakout from the opening, and Clark tries to rally the others into covering the story. Apparently even he has given up on their intern work that they’re supposed to be doing. Bethany Snow, a tv reporter from various versions of the DC Universe, offers some commentary about all the changes with Superman and these new villains. She’s even on Channel 52, a nod to both the ill-conceived reboot from several years ago and the news organization that was a frequent background player in the Arrowverse. The villains in question are trying out some new toys, and that bodes ill for the city.
Our trio of heroes brainstorms about how to get more information about the breakout, and Jimmy keeps obsessing over his blog. He calls it Flamebird, which is a deep cut as back in the Silver Age Jimmy had a masked identity as Flamebird. Lois reveals she can be just as sneaky as the “Scoop Troop,” which Clark isn’t happy about, but goes with for lack of a better option. Under false pretenses, Lois, Clark, and Jimmy interview the warden at Striker’s Island, the prison most villains end up in if they’re caught in Metropolis. The team finds a few things and then narrowly avoids getting caught. Going over what they’ve learned, our heroes figure out where the villains are probably heading next.
The villains show a surprising amount of competency and teamwork as they hit their next target. Lois reveals her own plan, which is a throwback to the days in the comics when Lois would take crazy risks for a shot at talking with Superman. Clark isn’t thrilled with this idea, and then they are dealing with the villains. Once again, Clark gets conveniently separated from the others and has time to change to Superman. The Man of Steel’s fight with the villains has a few surprises, but goes fairly well overall.
In the aftermath, Lois gets her interview, and we also get to see the two of them flying around the city together until they end up, of course, under the huge globe at the Daily Planet building. Superman does his best to answer Lois’ questions honestly, but there are a lot of things he doesn’t actually know at this point. The episode ends with Clark checking in on Lois and getting a major surprise when he learns her reaction to it.
What I Liked: I am continuing to be surprised at the clever twists they give the Superman mythos in this series. The writers have captured the essences of the various characters, but give them their own spins, and do so well. It’s interesting watching Superman discovering his powers, but still being a competent hero. I like that Jimmy has some of his own interests and isn’t just hanging around waiting for the next chance to get a picture.
What I Didn’t: I never liked the “I will risk my life to get Superman’s attention” stories, and this episode has that trope. Perry made a decision that seems out of character as well as just plain wrong, and I don’t get why he did it. I am sure it will come back to bite him.
It was another fun episode of an entertaining series. I’ll give this a 4 out of 5.
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