Media Essays: My Relationship With MAWS

Written by The Wandering Fox

Teddy: Do you think people will get it?

Freddy: Well knowing the Media Man he’ll stick a poster of My Adventures with Superman on there so it will help.

Teddy: Yeah, otherwise it’s a long title, My Relationship with My Adventures with Superman is a bit much to say or read.

Freddy: Still, it’ll be interesting to see what our wandering friend has to say.

That it will be! As a fan of Superman I have got quite the oddest relationship with MAWS. Yes, really. You see, as a fan of Superman, it’s been a bit hard getting invested on anything to do with him. The comics lost me when Bendis came in and buggered up everything with the family dynamic and Jon being aged up into a divisive and, IMO, boring character, the movies hasn’t helped either with how Henry Cavill got stabbed in the back multiple times and my interest in superhero films has dwindled so I didn’t get that excited for Superman’s new solo movie last year. But this stood out to me. A new animated series starring Superman got me hooked. To me it was about time Superman got another animated series after such a long time. He’s got a great universe within DC with a lovely supporting cast and really cool super villains I thought such a thing was a welcomed return for him. The animated series is My Adventures with Superman and as soon as I saw the first image I knew I was gonna be in for quite a journey with it.

Yeah, as soon as I saw this I just knew this was gonna be a really interesting time with the series.

Here we are then, with only a couple of episodes of season three left, what do I think of the series?

Teddy: Do you hate it?

Freddy: Do you love it?

Neither.

I don’t hate it. I don’t love it either. I’m in the middle. For me I feel there’s stuff in here I do like but there’s stuff I don’t like either. I suppose being in the middle is better than hating it, but I wish there was more to it to love. Hence I thought I’d write this essay as a way of expressing my thoughts on the series, specifically what I liked and disliked about it.

What did I like?

I’m gonna start with the positives because I feel they need to be talked about first.

Lois’s Background With Her Father

I was REALLY happy with this because this is often greatly overlooked with Lois. For those of you who don’t know Lois well, she really is the daughter of an army general called Sam Lane. In the comics Lois had a very strained relationship with her dad who was a very outspoken army general who did not trust Superman or the Kryptonians. Sam wanted a son and he treated Lois more like a boy and trained her like a soldier which really damaged their relationship, but it certainly helped show Lois could keep calm under pressure be it as a hostage or as a combatant and why she got in on the fighting. That helped Lois step away from being a damsel and gave her more to her character. I haven’t seen the Superman movie of last year so I can’t comment if they did that with Lois, but I know the DCEU Lois didn’t have this, Sam isn’t mentioned at all which is annoying.

I’m glad they brought this back because it not only helps the audience see a side to Lois that wasn’t explored but it adds more depth to her character and family while giving Sam his own character arc of realising he was wrong to treat his daughter this way and chooses to be a better father, as well as realising Superman isn’t evil, since in the comics Sam caused a lot of trouble for New Krypton by destroying it, would’ve killed Lois and then committed suicide rather than face a trial. That and the flashback of Sam training Lois honestly captures the utter pain of it all between both characters. You can see well why Lois has an issue with deception and her own sensitive state as she fears of being a disappointment in life.

I Like This Lex Luthor

If there was a really bad casting that was in the DCEU, none is more obvious than Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. The guy was just miscast as Lex, he lacked the charming, cold and calculating essence the character is supposed to be. He was more like a giddy, over the top performer who is so clearly evil that Superman and Batman should’ve just tossed in jail as soon as they got enough evidence to get him arrested.

In MAWS, interestingly, this character was not really meant to be Lex, he was just gonna be Ivo’s assistant Alex, but there was a lot of confusion in production of whether he was meant to be Lex or not. As we know now, he is Lex and I think he’s Jesse’s Lex done right. He still has the hair, he looks younger and is more openly contentious or Superman, but he’s got the calm, intellectual and cold aura the character is meant to have, while giving out a friendly enough demeanour to fool people into buying into what he’s doing, and is smart enough to work beyond Waller to get what he wants and is strong enough in terms of influence to get John Henry Irons to back away and buy up property for him to focus on inventing tech to counter Superman. Heck he took a flipping punch from Lois and kept his cool.

The fact Jon’s future is now split from a Hank Henshaw ruled Earth to a Lex Luthor ruled Earth makes this Lex quite the interesting character to watch as you wonder what exactly he will do to get his ideal world. He may have suffered some losses in the series but this Lex doesn’t quit, which is really good for the character as well as seeing Lex becoming more and more like the Lex we know is a really good character arc for the character. Those of you who really wanted Jesse’s Lex to be more like a proper Lex then this is where you’ll get it!

I Like This Supergirl

Yeah, I like this version of the character. Is she a bit different from her main self? Yeah, but I’ll take her over THAT Supergirl we just had. I mean who would you rather? A drunk woman who eats the same food as Krypto and sticks the same fork he had his tongue over in her mouth, kills the bad guy when the comic the story is based on didn’t have her do that, and acts so unlike Kara that you’re just left with a flat out unlikeable character? Or a tragically influenced, but endearingly charming woman who loves her cousin and comes to respect Earth and had a full on character arc of overcoming Brainiac and being awkwardly out of place on Earth but still a kind character? Yeah, I’ll take this Supergirl.

What I like about this Supergirl is that her story is really tragic but she moves forward to not let her past define her. She was tricked by Brainiac into thinking she was helping the Kryptonian empire and that she believed she was saving Clark from Earth. But meeting Jimmy and Clark had her starting to realise that not only was she wrong in thinking strength was all that mattered, but that she started to question everything Brainiac was doing. Kara’s battle to regain her free will from Brainiac and protecting Earth from him was really good and seeing her now living on Earth and getting things wrong with Jimmy, to the point where Jimmy gets jealous of a gay man chatting to her, is really funny XD that and the fact we know in the future she raised Jon and died to protect him shows she’s a dedicated woman who is proud to be part of Earth and of Clark’s family.

So yeah, there’s this Supergirl I really like.

The Animation

The animation on this series is really good. It’s got a great colourful pallet that reminds you of the golden age of comics that blends well with the darker themes the series explores without losing too much of its identity, and the way the animation gets a good pick up on its speed and fluidity once the action kicks in is just great to see. I mean look at this here with Superman defeating Hank Henshaw Superman defeats Cyborg Superman - My Adventures with ...www.youtube.com › watch

The colour lighting also affects the mood of the series really well such as how the crimson hue of Kandor really gives you this dark and claustrophobic atmosphere that Brainiac creates and how the bright sunny days of Metropolis help us feel the light hearted nature of the comedic episodes. The whole thing is really well done and the animators should be really proud of themselves on this.

The Acting

I think the actors all do a superb job on the series. Jack Quaid comes across really well as a younger Clark Kent/Superman without sounding too young and has that slight deepness to him that you recognise with the character’s previous voice actors. He lines well with the character design of a young looking kind man. Jack did really well as him and it’s nice he gets to continue as the character, hopefully he will return in other adaptations.

Alice Lee works nicely as Lois, even if I feel her voice sounds far too similar to Sarah Nicole Robles which makes the Luz comparisons all he more harder to avoid, she nails her greatly in the more quieter and mature scenes of Lois be it her struggling against her own confidence or being open about her feelings with Jon and Clark. It helps as well Lois’s more energetic persona from the start ends up gradually fading away to a more mature character.

Ishmel Sahid does a pretty good job as Jimmy, pretty much getting him good with the comedic scenes though he has his moments of depth with Jimmy that the character does need.

Kiana Maderia is suitably sweet as Supergirl, her voice just perfect for this take on the character from her moments of being out of place among humanity to her resilience to Brainiac. Seriously she’s really good.

I will give a special mention to Max Mittleman as Hank Henshaw. The guy who plays Plagg in Miraculous Ladybug is hard to recognise as Hank, he does an utterly great take on the character with his voice ever calm even in battle. Just go and watch the episodes Hank is in, Max is bloody good as him.

The rest of the actors all do a good job as well so I’ve got nothing bad to say about any of them.

Superman As A Loner Works Here

Okay, this is coming from somebody who likes Man of Steel and I see the film’s flaws, and I love Cavill’s Superman, but I can say that they handled his character’s story badly and we all know how bad that got. Among them was how they tried to explore Clark as this lonely individual who didn’t know if he belonged on Earth and while it worked in some areas they made it a bit too dark in certain places, that and Pa Kent there could have been better in what he was trying to talk Clark about keeping his powers a secret. The sequel only really amped up Superman’s loneliness and focussed massively on the negative reception to the poor bloke be it people are scared of him or worship him as a god, getting little positives here and there. That was not Cavill’s fault.

For how they do it here, they keep a good light hearted tone to balance Clark’s anxiety of who he is and where he belongs, giving him a supporting cast of funny but also kind characters who really appreciate him, combining that with him finding out the truth of Krypton as he gets older and sees that while Krypton did have its own darkness it also had good people that Clark chooses to follow their standards and do right by. The negative side to how people view Superman is there but it’s balanced by those who like him. We have Luthor, Waller and Deathstroke trying to ruin his good work, to Hank even calling him vermin. But we get good people like Lois, Jimmy, Lombard, Irons and many others who come to help Superman and stand up for him. You add that with Superman getting more confident in himself as the series goes on and isn’t afraid to stand up for himself you get s far stronger story of him being a loner.

Lastly, Batman Hasn’t Appeared

Usually if Superman has something going on you will expect Batman to show up and steal his thunder which really annoys the shit out of me. So I’m pretty happy he didn’t stick his pointy head in MAWS, the only thing we got with him was Vicki Vale appearing and Amanda Waller. Now, could Batman still make an appearance what with the wider DC Universe more to see in the show? Yes. But I would like it if it was a cameo, like say that Vicki says to Superman “There’s a vigilante in Gotham who wants to meet you! Will you go to him?” Then it ends with Superman flying above Batman who’s back is to the screen. I’m just fine with that.

Freddy: That’s a fair bunch of positives right there.

Teddy: What about the negatives?

Well yeah, here we are then. It’s a shame because when this series is good, it’s really good. But when it’s bad, it’s just gutting. So let me start with my biggest peeve.

The Villains

A big chunk of these villains who aren’t Luthor or Hank are either In Name Only villains or are non Superman villains. And a lot of the villains rely on technology which just makes them boring and they lack a vast amount of diversity in that regard, Superman’s villains are great because of how different they are. Seriously, look at Silver Banshee! She’s meant to be a tragic magical villain, but instead she’s a thief who uses technology to get the job done!

This is Silver Banshee!

Not this!

Like where’s her backstory as part of an old Gaelic clan she was going to take charge of and she got possessed by an evil spirit? You could’ve had it that Kyle is instead her brother in the comics and is trying to get her free of the curse. That would’ve made a more interesting story for Silver Banshee than being a thief working for Intergang.

Livewire is hardly anything like Leslie in terms of character. She’s no longer the radio DJ who hated Superman and tried to ruin his reputation, she’s now a generic bounty hunter or mercenary with tech helping her out. Like c’mon, your main theme of Superman here is him being a loner, with some people trying to alienate him, you had Leslie right there as a person who could’ve worked like that. But no, instead of being electrocuted and using her newfound powers to fight Superman she is just a generic muscle with tech.

Heat Wave could’ve easily had been replaced by Volcana who is a Superman villain.

Brainiac as well. I know in some takes on the character he was a robot before but people were expecting the Coluan not a robot. He should’ve been Zod instead, I mean the outfit Supergirl was wearing was very reminiscent of Zod and he’d work better in a Kryptonian Empire setting than Brainiac.

Deathstroke shouldn’t be here, nor Waller. Deathstroke could’ve easily been replaced by Robert Dubois Bloodsport, John Corbin or even more minor Superman villains. Sam Lane could easily have taken Waller’s place. Like seriously you could’ve looked at the Superman villains list and made an entire roster of them here. I mean there’s Equss, Elias Orr, Jailer, classic Black Zero!

Why is Dr Ivo tied to Parasite when he’s more to do with Amazo?

And why does Mr Myxzplkt look like a DnD elf?

Another problem with the other villains that do appear are instead turned into good guys and some of them were very much evil bastards in other works like the Brain and Monsieur Mallah or Queen Bee who here is helping run a dating website. That woman is an evil ruler of Bialya, brainwashed others into doing what she wants, why have you turned her into a good guy?

It just baffles me as to why they did this with the villains? You have a entire shelf worth of villains up there to choose and what you do go with you shatter them of everything they are and turned them into something they’re not. I wanted those characters close enough to how they were in the comics, at least in terms of backstory and powers and motive. If you wanted to try something different with them that’s okay but you stretch them too far and you don’t have those characters anymore.

While he’s not a villain the same applies to Jon Kent here. The character is a composite character of himself, his evil self and Conner Kent. If you are gonna go with Jon and have him a bit older then at least make him look like Jon with a costume that’s more him, like you could’ve let him have a cape, keep the design that was similar to his jacket and give him the boots he wore in DCeased to really give him that look of a Superman character in a dystopian future. I don’t get why they didn’t just stick with one character and go with it. Heck they could’ve gone with Cir-El and I would’ve been fine with it. If you want a character, then can you please try and be true to that character? I mean, Kara’s costume still makes me see it as a Supergirl costume, why can’t they do that with Jon?

The Story Gets A Bit Repetitive

This kinda went away in season 3 but there’s still pieces here and there that annoys me. You see, the first couple of seasons have this recurring theme in which things first look up for Superman, then there’s a drama with Lois that could affect their relationship, there’s a big moment where it looks like the status quo is gone, then it’s all okay, and it’s Lois’s story that is annoying because they repeat this with her every time.

First season it was about her trust issues with Clark. It’s okay, it’s a;l resolved and Lois has to figure things out.

Second season was her issues with her dad and doubting her relationship with Clark. Lois has to figure it out.

Third season, Lois is nervous about the future and becoming a mum. Lois gets to know Jon and figures it out.

Throw in some crazy comedic adventures with Jimmy and you get a bit of a stale formulae.

I get in every story the hero has to have a good start and a struggle but it gets incredibly boring quickly with how they did it here with Superman. Thankfully season 3 managed to avert this with Superman being much more optimistic and the only struggle he’s got is fighting Hank and what came at the end of Death of Superman.

I will say though I am a bit confused with season 3. I don’t know if the season has been split or if this is the last season and they’re speed running through certain stories to get it done with, but I think they could’ve done a better job than doing almost nothing with Bizarro or giving Lois and Supergirl a musical number. I mean what was the point of showing us the new Fortress of Solitude and we don’t go back to it until I guess the next episode? Did we need a few episodes of Jimmy trying to get a date? I mean they even named an episode after Toyman and he doesn’t get have a fight scene with Superman he just gets his arse handed to him by Hank!

Don’t get me wrong, some of the comedic stuff is really good such as Cat Grant asking the audience “Who’s gonna be the first ask Supergirl a question? ME! CAT GRANT!” but when you’re wasting what time you have left on the series by doing comedic scenes of Jimmy getting bodily mutated or going on dates it’s not really coming across as a series with a plan but more of a team desperately having fun before they have to wrap things up. If the series is continuing then I don’t get why they did this season like this.

The other problem I have is...

Lack of Plot

I’m more specifically referring to how the characters aren’t actually reacting to the stories that’s being shown to them, that being in season 3 where you have a couple of things overlooked by Superman.

Bizarro

Hank Henshaw

The first episode of season 3 has Superman, Supergirl, Lois and Jimmy looking into what’s left of Project Cadmus and find Bizarro and an alien animal with them finding out they were creating Kryptonian clones, Lex trying to kill Bizarro and failing which only has Bizarro escape. What do the heroes do knowing that Bizarro is out there? SOD ALL! They go to a convention in the next episode and at no point does Superman or Supergirl see Bizarro, you’d think with their hearing and super vision they’d see him and try to get him to come with them. But no, Bizarro wanders around in a Superman costume, has a picture with cosplayers of the Titans, aaaaaaaaand. That’s it. I’m sure he’ll be back. But the fact we don’t see Clark or Kara trying to find Bizarro and keep him somewhere to help him is just frustrating because they wouldn’t just do get on with their lives, they’d be trying to find him.

Hank Henshaw gets to come in and we don’t get Clark trying to uncover the truth about how Lex did this and if Hank is mentally sound enough for the job, nor is Lois trying to reach out to Hank as a friend. With Hank being used as Lex’s Superman you’d think Clark would be wanting to try and see if Lex truly wants to help or it’s for his own desires. Or Lois and her father trying to stop Lex from continuing his work since he did work with Waller they’d try to get him bankrupt.

The other issue I have is that in season 3 we aren’t at the Daily Planet much, aside from Jon going there to see Lois at work the characters just don’t seem to work there anymore, it’s quite annoying because the first couple of seasons had them trying to work their jobs and saving the planet. That’s just gone here and it’s really gutting.

Other things I’m not particularly happy with is the multiverse being used and once I saw there was an evil Superman I was like this https://share.google/QzLvrboXdjWVX9jcE

While they haven’t done that with Superman, or at least they briefly did it with Brainiac possessing him, I hate that trope. It’s boring and insulting to both him and Lois. Not only is it just dried up now but it’s terrible seeing Superman being turned evil. Quit it! It’s insulting to Lois as well because once again she’s turned into “the only person stopping him from snapping” trope. Like what, does Ma and Pa not count? Does Jimmy or Kara not count? What about the friends Clark has made? You mean to tell me that it’s just Lois? And that almost robs Lois of her role as a character with her own story. Guys just stop it, please. Evil Superman is rubbish!

The multiverse as well, that’s been done to death now.

As A Whole

I’m in a mixed opinion with My Adventures with Superman. There’s so much there that I like but there’s also things in there that irk me. They gives us a nice story with Lois and her dad, but then they give us villains who are just not really the guys we thought they’d be. To those who want to give it a try, go into it with an open mind as I did and who knows, you might have a different opinion to me. If you do then that’s nice, you found more to like than I did. If you end up hating it, then it’s a shame because there’s stuff in there that is good IMO.

Freddy: Well?

Uh?

Teddy: You know what we’re gonna ask.

Oh yes. Will I do a rewrite? Yes. But I’m gonna wait until the last bunch of episodes are out.

Hope you liked this read everybody. If you check this series out or you already have, leave a comment, be respectful.

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