Recap / Superman: The Animated Series S2 E4 "Speed Demons"

During a charity race, Superman meets the Flash, a speed-demon superhero. When they discover a villain plotting, can the two heroes work together to save the day?

This episode includes examples of the following tropes:

• Adaptational Badass: Sure, Mark isn't the greatest villain here, but he's far more potent than the fool he was in the comics, who didn't seem capable of such widespread destruction.
• Badass Boast: While zapping Superman with lightning, Weather Wizard says, "You should not have come here. Your powers are nothing compared to mine!"
• Book Ends / Brick Joke: During the ceremony, Flash offers Superman a high five, only to trick him with a "too slow" move after Superman accepts, in the end after Weather Wizard gets locked up, Superman does the same thing to Flash.
• Cain and Abel: Weather Wizard tries to kill his younger brother when he backs out of his mass-murdering plan.
• Composite Character: Although it is never stated which Flash is in this episode, he is confirmed to be Wally West in Justice League. His personality has a lot in common with Bart Allen and he has Barry Allen's day job as a forensic scientist.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Weather Wizard has a device that can pretty much grant godlike powers, and he's using it to extort money. Not even Luthor himself was ever that shallow.
• For Science!: Weather Wizard accuses his brother of being willfully blind and naive when he was building the weather control machine, as he always knew that the Wizard planned to use it for crime and did not care, only interested in the science. His brother, however, never believed he would really go this far, and abandons the machine once its threat becomes clear.
• Glass Cannon / Miles Gloriosus: Weather Wizard is a boastful, egotistical villain who lets the power go to his head, right up to the part where Flash clocks him and knocks his baton out of his hand. Then his true colors show.
• Last-Second Showoff: The Flash arrives almost as the charity race is about to start, explaining that he slept late. Given that the wind as he rushes past makes Lois' and Jimmy's hair stand on end, he can afford to do this.
• Light-Hearted Rematch: At the end, Superman and The Flash recognize that they never did determine who was the Fastest Man Alive and close the episode starting a private race. The winner is not revealed in the episode, but signs in the Flash Museum in the sequel series Justice League Unlimited indicate that the Flash was the victor.
• Not What I Signed on For: Weather Wizard's little brother abandons the weather control machine because, even though he always knew his brother would use it for a criminal scheme, he never thought it would involve murder and wholesale destruction.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the original comics, Mark's brother (originally called Clyde) was dead when first seen, either from a heart attack (Mark claimed) or by Mark killing him. Called Ben, here, he's alive in this version.
• Speed Demon: Superman and the Flash compete in a race to see who is the fastest man alive. The race gets derailed when the Weather Wizard starts wreaking havoc by starting storms throughout the world.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: Superman and Flash. While Superman is far from humorless, Flash is more wisecracking and hyperactive.
• Toll Booth Antics: Our heroes speed past a toll house while paying the toll. The toll house operator and the driver next to him look on in awe as the heroes' coins are spinning on the collection plate.

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