Reviews WesternAnimation / My Adventures With Superman

Okay, Try to Imagine a Show with Superman, Where - Get This - he is NOT Evil!

We've had so many edgy deconstructions of Superheroes these days that the notion of a kind, uncomplicated, straight-laced Superman who isn't a psychopath or a fascist feels fresh again. My Adventures with Superman, offers something that - for the most part - feels like it taps straight into the spirit of the comic book Silver Age.

In place of the cynicism and blood baths, we get an abundance of cute. The comics have been re-imagined in an animé style, presented with a twinkling romantic piano score, a bright and comedic tone, and where every character is now either a twink or a tomboy. The most self-serious fans of DC might not appreciate some of the show's redesigns, but I don't think the Tumblr community will ever be able to put this thing down.

Adventures with Superman is a loose retelling of the main beats of the comic mythos, picking up at the point where a humble Clark Kent has just joined the Daily Planet as an intern. Alongside him is Jimmy Olson (a wannabe photographer of alien conspiracies) and Lois Lane (a wannabe journalist). We still get all the parts with Superman biffing giant robots and cackling villains, but the joy of the series comes through watching its three heroes bounce off one another, racing to uncover the conspiracies and monsters-of-the-week with the gusto of Scooby Doo's Mystery Inc. Superman is yet another one of those monsters that the gang is trying to unmask, and although Lois and Clark instantly develop an mutual, adorable crush on one another, Clark is torn about having to lie about his true identity to a woman whose entire life is committed to uncovering dirty secrets.

As of me writing this, we are most of the way through the season, and the will-she/won't-she-find-out has given way to an arc involving a proto-suicide squad that might actually prove a genuine threat to the Son of Krypton. There has so far only been one element in this season that I've disliked, and that's where the show takes some time out do the metafictional, multiverse thing in the exact same way every damn cartoon franchise has done in the last five years. Fortunately it so far seems to have been restricted to the one episode. Maybe others don't care so much, but I could really do with no more shows trying to be the Spiderverse for another decade or so.

Adventures with Superman has been fabulous so far. If you need a break from the constant and tiring slew of self-referential, wise-arsed, and miserable side of superhero entertainment, you could do a lot worse than giving this a try.