Plot summary: Superman has no choice but to team up with Lobo if either stands a chance of making it off The Preserver’s ship in a weakened state.

1. Notes and Trivia
2. Recap
3. Best Performance
4. Episode Ranking
5. Rogues Roundup

Notes and Trivia

Episode: 10 (S1.E10)

Original Air Date: November 16^th, 1996

Directed: Dan Riba (5)

Written: Paul Dini (5)

Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD & Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD. (7)

Music: Harvey R. Cohen (3)

This is the first episode of the show to have no footage in the opening titles. We’re flying blind now!

Lobo briefly wields a chain with a metal hook on the end near the end of the episode. This is generally his signature weapon in the comics but was deemed a smidge too violent for the cartoon, so is saved for this one non-violent usage.

This marks the official debut of the Fortress of Solitude after Superman stashed the Kryptonian memory orb in the arctic back in ‘Stolen Memories.’

Recap

Emperor Spooj, who hired Lobo to capture the little critter, Sqweek, in the first place is furious to learn he’s abandoned the bounty. Sqweek’s brother, Gnaww is tasked with capturing Lobo, dead or alive.

Superman demands Preserver release him as he’s a sentient being, but the eccentric collector will have none of it. Lobo is gets some robotic alien babes to keep him company… but they also act as security to pacify his escape attempts.

Superman is able to reflect some light into the eye of a triceratops-like creature, angering it enough to spring its captivity and smash his container too. Seems… a security issue.

His powers restored, Supes reluctantly frees Lobo in return for him leaving earth alone. The unlikely alliance battle security bots, but it’s not exactly smooth sailing between the two.

They fend off an attack from a giant alien snake but The Preserver welcomed the team of bounty hunters pursuing Lobo aboard, and they give chase through the faux jungles of the ship.

Supes forms a plan, tricking the group into throwing him into a Dodo exhibit… which happens to feature a perfect recreation of earth’s yellow sunlight, restoring him to full strength.

Lobo makes a break for the hanger, but Preserver intercepts and reveals within his harmless egg-like shell lies an enormous red monster that proves too much for Superman, but Lobo opens the hanger doors and sucks the behemoth out into space.

Lobo claims his original bounty and position of favour, while Superman transfers all of Preserver’s captive creatures to his newly-built Fortress of Solitude.

Best Performance

Oh hey, Richard Moll, it’s been a while! Forcing a speech impediment when you don’t have one isn’t the easiest thing, especially when also pushing your voice to its gravely limits. He makes Emperor Spooj more fun than he has any right to be, in my opinion.

It’s VERY difficult not to pick Frank Welker, who is incredible as both the alien snake and the Dodo, as he always is when he’s taking on the task of animals.

But I think I want to shout out Sherman Howard for slightly shifting The Preserver’s tone as his patience grows thin and his eerily calm persona from Part I gives way to an entirely more violent creature… and that’s before he turns into a literal monster.

Brad Garrett was fine as Lobo, but it was a step down from Part I in my opinion. I actually think Tim Daly was much better here, growing more annoyed with his ‘odd couple’ partner, but there were too many odd ducks here to not recognise one of them.

Episode Ranking

Part I relied entirely on trying to charm audiences with a zany new character, and while I found Lobo less annoying than usual then, the effect has mostly worn off here. Relegating Lobo to a sidekick after serving as a surprising match for the Man of Steel, it’s instead an extended prison break sequence that’s fun in theory, but a little lacking in execution. It’s an episode full of niggling little issues that begin to mount up to the point it hurts the overall quality.

The smallest of these is that I’m unclear why the Preserver would give Superman his costume back after taking the trouble to change him into traditional Kryptonian garb. Like it lasts less than 60 seconds between the two episodes. Seems an unnecessary flourish, when they could have not bothered or kept him in the alternate outfit until the end. Secondly, I’m not entirely convinced they needed to bring the rival bounty hunters aboard when Preserver’s security measures and wacky monsters would have sufficed. I know I’ve sung the praises of the writing staff for creating triangles with two rival factions of bad guys and Superman having to pick a side, but it wasn’t quite the same here. Lobo wiped the floor with Gnaww’s gang in Part I and they didn’t really have enough personality to justify a return. I get the impulse with his original employer being angry at him for ostensibly welching on their deal (due to being taken prisoner), and I guess the payoff is funny with Lobo showered in praise, and the hunters showered in gross bathwater from their disgusting Emperor.

My biggest gripe is the weakening of Superman and Lobo. Not that they did it at all, but rather how it was all conveyed to the audience. They never clarified what was weakening Lobo, likely because he doesn’t really have any weaknesses like with Superman and a red sun and Kryptonite. Maybe the knockout gas? There also wasn’t much consistency in terms of how weak they were supposed to be; I can get behind their powers needing time to fully recharge, but both exhibit super-strength during their bid for freedom, including Superman shattering the unbreakable glass that kept them enclosed, and Lobo fucking skinning a colossal alien snake. I was actually a little taken aback by that moment, even knowing censors were more relaxed with non-human characters. He still ripped all its skin off while it screamed in pain. They may not have been at 100%, but they were clearly more than a match for these 3 bozos with guns.

That being said the resolution of this slightly contrived problem was a lot of fun, with Kal using his big sexy brain to figure out The Preserver would have replicated earth’s sun for the Dodo as he did the red sun in his own exhibit, and Clark adopting all the animals and building The Fortress was really cute. I just would have preferred they kept the two powerhouses in a far weaker state where they’re having to solve everything with clever ideas using the environment rather than this inconsistent half measure.

I don’t think Part II is a total disaster by any means, and there’s still a lot of fun to be had with the varied creature designs, from Emperor Spooj, to the giant alien snake, to The Preserver’s true form and everything in between. But it is a step down from Part I, and the collective of both pieces is lucky to maintain its ranking.

1. Fun and Games
2. The Last Son of Krypton
3. Stolen Memories
4. The Main Man (-)
5. The Way of All Flesh
6. A Little Piece of Home
7. Feeding Time

Rogues Roundup

Lobo (Brad Garrett) (second appearance)

This second appearance offers very little compared to the first other than him briefly getting hold of his iconic hook & chain. If you enjoy him kicking his feet up in a hammock then they’ve got you covered with TWO instances of it, first relaxing in his glass cage with robo-babes to keep him company, and then at the end as his basks in his restored glory. It’s whatever IMO.

Their best mileage this time is him being a shitty teammate to Superman during their escape. He clocks Kal in the face to start it, tosses him to the security robots, has to be explicitly asked to assist with the snake, and happily runs off on his own near the end. Oh, and he nearly spaces our hero near the end.

It’s all perfectly fine comedy sidekick stuff, but as a featured villain character? He’s lucky everyone below him so far kinda sucks.

Preserver (Sherman Howard) (second appearance)

Conversely this is a nice little turnaround for Preserver, showing a more nuanced personality as he bickers with Superman, gets increasingly pissed off with their ongoing escape and lets bounty hunters aboard to try and help the situation.

He then gets a massive visual makeover to become a rampaging monster that still has time to talk shit about Lobo being worthless after all. Nice.

1. Toyman
2. Lex Luthor
3. Brainiac
4. Metallo
5. Lobo (–)
6. Parasite
7. The Preserver (↑)
8. Mercy Graves
9. Bruno Mannheim