Episode 1: “Man of Tomorrow”

Season 1, Episode 1: “Man of Tomorrow”
Written by Amy Wolfram
Directed by Heather Maxwell (Ben Jones)
Original release: September 23^rd, 2006
Running time: 22 minutes
Air time: Saturday morning

After dedicating way too much time on the Season 1 intro, let’s get into the first episode.

Amy Wolfram will write only two episodes for the show, this one and Episode 11.
She should be familiar to fans of the Teen Titans cartoon, having written a total of 15 episodes (including most Terra appearance except one).
Director Heather Maxwell (who went by Ben Jones at the time, if the name is unfamiliar from credits) was also on Teen Titans, having directed 13 episodes (including fan-favorites like X, Haunted and Lightspeed).

We begin in the future, in a scene that is actually set in the middle of the episode, with a good shot of the Legion Headquarters.

In fact we begin with the Legion having been defeated by the Fatal Five! Not a great first impression, guys.

We then jump back into the 21st century to see Clark Kent in the bathroom, practicing his heat vision.

This is set the night before Clark is supposed to leave Smallville for an internship in Metropolis.
Ma Kent has a tiny role in this.
She’s voiced by voice acting legend Jennifer Hale, best known for voicing badass action girls in both animation and games. She will also voice a completely different character later in the episode.
I would never have expected Ma Kent to share a voice with Mass Effect’s Commander Shepard, but there you go.

There is no reference whatsoever of Pa Kent. I think it’s fair to assume that he’s dead at this point.

This is probably the least supportive version of Ma Kent we ever had… once her son comments that he’s going to spend some time at the Smallville fair, she drops a comment that I don’t think most versions would make.
It’s definitely meant to be a “just be careful not to hurt anyone”, but it can come across as insensitive.

Then a Time Bubble™ materializes right next to the Smallville sign.

I find it interesting that all the Legion adaptations we have seen so far have different Legionnaires going back in time to recruit Clark.
Saturn Girl is the only constant: The Animated Series had Cosmic Boy and Chameleon Boy with her, Smallville had Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad, and now we have Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy.
As mentioned in the intro, this version of Brainiac 5 is completely robotic.

He might look completely different, but he’s Brainiac 5 alright.

Neither Bouncing Boy or Saturn Girl were aware that they were going to Smallville: they both assumed they were going to Metropolis to recruit the adult Superman.

At the fair, Clark Kent is channeling his inner Peter Parker by enduring being made fun of by the school bully.

He has to sprint into action when the ferris wheel starts breaking apart…

…which somehow doesn’t get the attention of anyone else at the fair.
They’re probably enjoying primitive food.

The reason why Saturn Girl is a constant in the recruitment phase is that she’s REALLY helpful to let the rest of the team blend in… but it’s not necessary in a state fair that includes circus performers.

Brainiac 5 spots Clark with his robot vision. While I’m fine with him being a robot and I like his characterization, I think the show went a bit too far giving him so many abilities since it distracts from his super-intelligence.

Out of all the Legionnaires to make the first contact with Superman, I would never have imagined Bouncing Boy.

On one hand, he’s the most normal Legionnaire so he could make him at ease.
On the other hand…. Bouncing Boy is really weird if you think about it!

I really like how the show depicts Bouncing Boy’s power. He looks a bit less ridiculous if he can get this big instead of just being a fat guy.

This gets TOO much attention, so Saturn Girl still has to mind-wipe the crowd.

Once Clark repairs the ferris wheel, Brainiac 5 tries his best to impress him.
He definitely has a colossal case of hero worship in this season.

It is important to note that at this point not only Clark has not taken the Superman mantle, he’s keeping his powers a secret.

Bouncing Boy comes THIS close to call him Superman, with Brainiac 5 having to jump in to protect history. Uhm, I think we’re WAY past avoiding changing the past, Brainy!

Despite the fact that these are the first people with superpowers he has ever met… one of which is a robot… Clark is skeptical about them being from the future.

He just ditches them to go home, but unfortunately for him the future knows where he lives.

So the team makes the sales pitch.

I wonder if this continuity had a Golden Age, or if superheroes are completely fictional to Clark right now.

Bouncing Boy lists all his powers as qualifications, but this is SO early that Clark can’t even fly yet.

Saturn Girl is the one to make the winning argument for joining the team.

Clark is tempted but doesn’t want to disappear before taking his Metropolis job… but this is one of the surprisingly rare occasions where a Legion story remembers THEY HAVE A TIME MACHINE.

And he’s absolutely right, because the last episode of Season 1 will see Clark return to the 21st century to eat this exact dish!

And so Clark accepts the offer, leaving the 21st century.

And that concludes first act; we won’t see the 21st century until the very end of the season.
The 31st is eagerly awaiting Superman’s arrival.

In a departure from most incarnations, this Legion doesn’t simply recruit Superman for the team: it’s a last-ditch effort to gather some muscle.
Specifically, to help them fight the Fatal Five.

The girls are excited to finally meet Superman…

…so they’re not as impressed by Clark Kent.

Lightning Lad will play the role of the resident jackass for the episode. Fortunately the following ones will REALLY tone it down.

He decides to test Clark’s strength with a press used to compress Tyrillum, the “hardest substance in the Galaxy”. So I guess there is no Inertron in this universe.

We even get some Interlac!!!
I believe the display says “2543 tons” on the display, but the 5 is mirrored.

Clark can’t hold the weight once Lightning Lad sets up the press to its maximum setting, and his attitude makes Clark run away.

Despite the fact that Lightning Lad didn’t bother to check the scale.

Where exactly were you planning to run, Clark?

He ended up in the Superman Museum, of all places…

…where we get a cameo by a janitor who is clearly Booster Gold.
This will be picked up by the comic spinoff.

It would have been easy for the museum to just have images of the grown-up Superman with same art style of the series.
Instead there are panels that more closely resemble much older comics, most notably in the styles of Wayne Boring and Curt Swan.
This both a nice callback and a good way to make this feel like a museum dedicated to a very old historical figure.

“A lot to handle” is a massive understatement, Saturn Girl.
In a single day… in a few hours, even… Clark has met other people with powers, some of which are aliens and robots, and he has learned that he will grow into a hero worshipped for a thousand years!

She offers to take him back to the 21st century, even erasing his memories of the future.

But Clark, being him, is more focused on the fact that the Legion is in trouble.

She tells him who these guys are. First up is Validus, who besides being less humanoid than usual isn’t a big departure from the classic version.
He only speaks in uncredited growls.

Mano will also be completely silent. There’s no indication that he can’t speak, they just never give him any lines; he’s straight up the Silver Age version, with just a bit less humanoid frame.

Tharok, on the other hand, gets a COMPLETE redesign: his organic side is now alien, and his robot side doesn’t have humanoid proportions.
To be honest I kind of prefer this one to the original, which always looked a bit too goofy.
He’s voiced by David Lodge, who has extensive voice acting credits in animation and games.

Persuader is another wildly different design from the comics. I’m not a huge fan of any of Persuader’s looks so I’m not picky about him.

He’s voiced by David Sobolov who ironically kind of looks like the comics version of Persuader!

And finally we have Emerald Empress, who in a significant departure from the classics is the leader of the team. Considering how often she went into a power struggle with Tharok, I’m not surprised and I don’t have a problem with this.

Remember when I said Jennifer Hale would voice a second character?
Yeah, she voices both Ma Kent and Emerald Empress. You wouldn’t be able to tell without looking at the credits, she gives them COMPLETELY different voices.

This episode is really hyping the Fatal Five, something a bit lost when they will be significantly overused in this season.

That’s enough of a reason for Clark to join the fight.

The arrival of the Fatal Five warrants a request for ALL the Legionnaires to return to base.
As I mentioned on the review of the intro I will count as members only the people who are shown or explicitly mentioned, NOT whether their symbols are shown in the Mission Monitor.

We get mentions of three additional members who are not regulars; they will get proper roles in future episodes.
I like the idea of having the team be so large that a bunch of them are not regulars, but I think the first season limits the cast too much. I understand not having everyone around… 22 minutes is hard for a huge team… but maybe some occasional rotating members would have been fine.

This is the setup for my favorite line of the episode. It comes after Clark offers to help…

…and it is, specifically, the way Lightning Lad replies to Clark here.
He doesn’t outright say “using powers in a superhero fight is something else entirely”, but it’s all right there in the voice acting.

The Fatal Five arrive in Metropolis, and we have my favorite sight gag of the episode with the bird woman carrying her egg around. Her race pops up frequently in Green Lantern comics; in fact, the same scene has a different Green Lantern alien… and clearly Zoidberg from Futurama.

Emerald Empress is not impressed by the current Legion lineup.

Bouncing Boy tries to hype up Clark… who immediately panics and runs away before the fight even starts!!!

I think it was the thought of fighting a monster the size of a house.

Despite their firepower, Emerald Empress is clearly the biggest threat.

The fight doesn’t go well. Validus smushes Triplicate Girl back into one body, and he’s completely unbothered by Bouncing Boy.

I mentioned Brainiac 5 having a bunch of robot abilities. Despite having a force field I think he uses it like twice in the series; his main power, after his intelligence, seems to be his ability to extend his limbs. It works fine in animation, but I think it’s a bit too Mister Fantastic.

Emerald Empress uses the Emerald Eye to control the minds of the Legionnaires…

…and this is, in fact, the flash-forward at the beginning of the episode.

So we finally have the question: where’s Superman when you need him?
Shopping for clothes apparently.

Good thing that his clothes magically fix themselves to match his younger physique. Since he took it from the museum, that thing has been in storage for a thousand years!
Also, this is the first time he attempts to fly.

He has a bit of a problem steering.

He flies back to help the Legion, where the Empress makes fun of him for wearing a cape.
Despite the fact that multiple 31st century people will be shown to wear capes.

He survives a blast from Tharok and dodges Persuader’s axe, but Mano has it the worst.
Brainiac 5 was barely damaged when Mano touched him, now Superman is fine too… his hand used to be able to destroy worlds, but he’s never a big threat in this show.

As Emerald Empress uses the eye to control Clark, Saturn Girl recovers and telepathically asks the Legionnaires to be inspired by his courage.

Bad news for the Empress: she’s not the only one with dangerous eyes, as Clark unleashes heat vision at maximum.

This only knocks the Fatal Five for a moment, but the Legionnaires are back on their feet and on the offensive with the last action scene of the episode.

Which includes the only aspect of this version of Brainiac 5 that I don’t like… the fact that he has the ability to transform into a giant robot full of weapons. It’s even in the intro.
I get why they do this… robots are cool… but it really harms what makes Brainy unique.
Also, Saturn Girl described Tharok as “as smart as Brainiac 5 and armed to the teeth”… which doesn’t sound that unique when Brainy is ALSO fully armed!!!

We are so inspired by the Reboot that we get the closest thing possible to a Moy Tongue.

Triplicate Girl easily dodges Persuader’s axe, which is then taken by Phantom Girl; a single (triple?) kick is enough to defeat him.
Why did you guys struggle that much before!?

Saturn Girl takes care of two targets by mind controlling Validus into knocking out Mano, because even in this reality she’s just the best.

That just leaves Emerald Empress, which is too much even for Clark until Lightning Lad tells him how to use a power he didn’t know he had.

And that’s how the Fatal Five are defeated.

You girls are having way too much fun with this.

Unfortunately the series wanted recurring villains, so the Emerald Eye teleports the villains away and the Fatal Five will appear what felt like fifty times in a 13 episode season.

This just about sums up the Legion dynamic and the attitude of this version of Phantom Girl.

So at this point, what’s the rush?

Making it official, Clark joins the Legion of Super-Heroes.

There’s only one problem.

This is when Clark decides to be called Superman. I feel like this is a potential re-write from a previous version where he decides to be called Superboy for now.

And so we close with Brainiac 5 teaching Superman how to fly like Superman…

…and Lightning Lad being jealous of not being the big hero of the team anymore.
While this suggests that they were going for a formula of LL being the eternally jealous teammate, that’s not really going to be a thing.

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Animated significance: 10/10
Obviously the rest of the season cannot happen without this one.

Does any of this show up in regular continuity?
This is the first incarnation where the Legion only goes back in time to recruit a member well after having achieved a sizeable membership. It won’t be the last.

 Silver Age-ness: 3/10
Not that much, but there’s still casual time travel and villains doing their best not to really harm anyone despite having zero reason for doing that.

Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
A decent introduction to the Legion for a newcomer; perhaps a bit too focused on Superman to the detriment of others, but it works here.
It has a youthful and optimistic approach to the future, but it also presents it as a bit overwhelming and potentially scary. If the goal was to create interest to explore an exciting new world, I think it nails it.
Clark is a more modern interpretation of the old Superboy ideas: instead of being nearly perfect at everything he does, he has to learn on the job and overcome his doubts while still being Superman at the core.
The rest of the regular cast doesn’t get the chance to shine: Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl and Bouncing Boy do their job just fine, while Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl get barely anything to do.
Lightning Lad is a bit too much the resident jerk, but at least he shows his serious side when the situation calls for it. And as mentioned, they will tone down this aspect pretty quickly.
I don’t know much about animation but I didn’t have trouble with it; the character design takes a while to be used to, going for an even more stylistic approach than Teen Titans, but I love how alien everything looks. It’s not always a given for an incarnation of the Legion to FEEL like it’s set a thousand years in the future, but to me this is one of the best results in that regard.
The voice acting was good, although nothing to really blow you away like several previous DC animated series.
One aspect that I found lacking were the action scenes, which were quite underwhelming. For all the hype the writing is trying to accomplish, the Fatal Five don’t come across as the terrifying force they are supposed to be and the way they are ultimately defeated is lackluster.
Still, out of all the adaptations I have covered so far, this one is the one that feels like the Legion the most by a colossal margin.

We are Legion
10 active members (that we know of)
Brainiac 5
Saturn Girl
Bouncing Boy
Triplicate Girl
Phantom Girl
Lightning Lad
Shrinking Violet
Colossal Boy
Cosmic Boy
Superman