COMICS-Superman : Can a Luthor Change His Spots?

Intro/What the Heck??!!
A few weeks ago, Cartoon Network began airing late night showings of the old "Superman/Batman Adventures" from the late 60's, under the name "Boomeraction". These things air at 3am MST on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings, which means only two types of people are watching them- the strippers who just got off work and comic book geeks. I've never had a anyone slip a dollar bill into my g-string (umm, at least while I was conscious), so you decide which one I am.

In case you're not familiar, the "Superman/Batman Adventures" feature slightly edited versions of the original 1960's cartoons, along with a few "SuperFriends" episodes mixed in. The 60's cartoons were DC Comics' first venture into daily animation and the "SuperFriends" episodes came a decade later. The 60's episodes were done by Filmation while the "Supefriends" episodes were done by Hanna-Barbera. In 1995, somebody decided to gather up all these bits and pieces and slap them into this format. Every half hour show features either at least one Batman or Superman cartoon, and the other two (or three) slots rotate among "Aquaman", "Superfriends", "Superboy" or even the seldom seen "Hawkman", "Flash", "JLA", "Atom" or "Green Lantern" cartoons. The last six were all backup features that originally ran with "Superman" in the late 60's. If you like cheesy superhero cartoons, this show is terrific. Several plotlines are lifted from actual comics and the variety in animation styles is prevalent.

I'm not sure why these shows are being relabeled as "Boomeraction", but the packaging is kinda cool. Commercial bumpers feature distorted closeups of old action figures and have a modern slant. The actual cartoons still have the cheesy music and "sliding window panes" effect intros that were added in 1995.

Would you Please Shut The Hell Up and Get Things Started?!!

Perry gives Lex a lil' sugar

With that out of the way, we can finally get to "Can a Luthor Change His Spots?" Surprisingly, this episode features... Lex Luthor and his latest dastardly scheme to get one over on Superman. The show opens at the Daily Planet, where Jimmy Olsen craps his pants upon seeing Lex Luthor in the building. He whines to Clark Kent, who quickly runs into his trusty broom closet, lowers his voice and becomes Superman. Superman and Jimmy are shocked when Perry White introuduces Luthor as the "science editor". White believes Luthor's reformed and will now cover all things sciencey for the Planet.

Jimmy is suspicious and tries to catch Luthor in the act of something rotten. Evidently, Luthor's job as "science editor" involves absolutley NO editting, managing, proofing, reporting, or typing. He's given carte blanche to screw around in a lab and make all sorts of corny devices. He creates a lightning rod thingie and a special door opener do-hickey. Superman steals Luthor's lightning rod, which Luthor claims is a new security device. The door opener do-hickey is then put to work at the local bank. Jimmy believes Luthor's robbing the bank and turns on his signal watch to alert Superman. Superman is suddenly called away by Lois Lane- she's in the arctic, trapped on a sinking submarine. Superman flies away to rescue the sub while Jimmy smashes Luthor's door opener doo-hickey.

Luthor reveals that Perry White and the Police Chief are now locked in the bank vault. They agreed to help test Luthor's new doohickey and allowed themselves to be trapped. Superman arrives to save them, and he's informed that Luthor was doing nothing wrong. The boys all return to the Daily Planet, admiring the new water coolers. Everyone goes back to work until Jimmy catches Luthor sabotaging the Planet's printing presses. Jimmy then activates his own superpower - he shits his pants again and signals Superman. Luthor's henchman "Kinky" thumps Jimmy and throws him onto the presses. I thought Luthor's flunky was named "Kiki"... but it's really Kinky. Yes, Kinky. Superman flies in again, but this time Luthor has kryptonite ink waiting for him. Superman is tossed aside and Luthor reveals his master plan- he's planning to send the Daily Planet building into orbit!

Through the use of hidden "teleporters", the Daily Planet building lifts off the ground and flies into the air. Now, I always thought teleporters were supposed to transport something between two places. This was even covered in painstaking detail in the 50's flick "The Fly". Luthor, being a genius and all, tells us that teleporters are used to lift things into the air. Hey, you're bald, a genius and evil... I ain't arguing.

"..more powerful than a Deep Rock water cooler"

"Kinky, assume the position"

Jimmy is able to free Superman and the two notice that those spiffy new water coolers are rather suspicious. Superman knocks one over and they find one of Luthor's "Teleporters". Superman rounds up and destroys the others while Luthor and Kinky escape in a helicopter. Conveinently, Luthor and Kinky land in the old basement of the Daily Planet. Superman frees the building and lowers it right back on top of the two bad guys, trapping them in the basement. Clark Kent returns for his obligatory lame joke and everyone's happy as the show ends.

Overview/Dumb Comments
Yes, comic books and their cartoon adaptations usually have some stupidity attached to them, but DAMN! Everyone in this episode is completely worthless. Lois Lane suddenly appears out of nowhere with an off-the-wall submarine problem. Perry White is a complete imbecile and agrees with Luthor too easily. "Want me in the bank vault? Okay! Want me to rub your nutsack? Okay!" - I hear that was a deleted scene that will be added when this episode finally arrives on DVD.

Luthor's scheme is hilarious. "Teleporters"! Usually he'd hook up with aliens or create a mutant watermelon, but this time his master plan is to lift a building into orbit. Why? I'm assuming because he's EVIL and he hates Superman. But wait, he never knew that Superman worked at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent. Hmm...or maybe he did and this was some inctricate subplot that the writers were to expound upon in future episode?!! Umm... get a life, ES.

Finally, how does Superman, the most powerful superhero EVER save the day? By knocking over a water cooler. Even Superman is worthless. Superman was later replaced by Murray, the Bumbling Office Intern as Metropolis's #1 crimefighter.

Man, this is perhaps the most insane comic book cartoon I've ever taped. It makes episodes of "Superfriends" seem like logarithms. Believe it or not, but I'm pretty sure this story was copped from an actual Superman comic. If you've never seen any of these cartoons, this is a good example of how corny they are. Still, I recommend catching this stuff if you're a comic nerd (or stripper). It's brainless fun and a good reminder of a time when comics weren't "mature" or "adult-themed".

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