Superman: The Animated Series - Episodes 29-32 Reviews

With this batch of episodes, there's a delightful three part crossover event while a certain Doctor also makes the rounds in Metropolis.

Episode 29: World's Finest, Part 1

Let's be honest, we all wanted to see both the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight share some screen time together and now we're at the latter half of the former's second season, the timing seemed perfect. The episode opened with the Joker and Harley Quinn breaking into an antiques place and stealing a dragon made of Kryptonite. They soon traded Gotham City for Metropolis and didn't waste time in striking a deal with Lex Luthor in order to kill Superman. It also didn't take long for Batman and Superman to initially butt heads over dealing with the Joker while figuring out each other's identities. There's also a romantic subplot with Bruce and Lois that I'm less keen on but overall doesn't spoil the enjoyment of this trilogy. 8/10

Episode 30: World's Finest, Part 2

The middle part of the trilogy sees Lois and Bruce's date getting interrupted as the Joker and Harley actually make a move, kidnap Lois and use her as bait to lure in Superman. Yep, the Joker has fun taunting the Man of Steel and even gets to weaken him with Kryptonite before he realises that Batman has actually followed him to Metropolis. There's a delightful fight in the background between Harley and Mercy (their rivalry in this trilogy is pretty amusing) as both Lex and the Joker try to deal with their superhero problems as the ending of this one puts both our heroes in various predicaments. 8/10

Episode 31: World's Finest, Part 3

The final part of the trilogy had both Batman and Superman's team up/rivalry strengthened as the two banded together to save Metropolis from being destroyed by the dissolved Joker/Lex partnership. It wasn't too shocking to see the two baddies turn on one another and while this episode ended with the Joker lost to the waters, Lex under hot water with Bruce Wayne and the media, at least Mercy got to have the last laugh with Harley being sent back to Arkham Asylum. I did like that Lois actually figured out that Bruce and Batman were the same as well as being content with her and Bruce calling it quits too. Now, does this mean she's not far off from learning the truth about Clark and Superman? 8/10

Episode 32: The Hand Of Fate

After a trilogy with the Dark Knight and his Clown Prince nemesis, I'm actually surprised the next episode featured another famous hero to be paired with Superman. This time around it's Doctor Fate (George Del Hoyo) who needed a bit of motivating from his wife, Inza in order to help Superman save the city from a demon named Karkull. It's a solid enough set piece as both Superman and Fate work well enough together but I think after the big trilogy we had just gotten, this episode feels a little underwhelming by comparison. 7/10

Next blog I'll delve into Bizarro's World, Prototype, The Late Mr Kent and Heavy Metal.