Crisis of Infinite Episodes - One Small Step For Superman

This was a messed up episode! After inadvertently playing fetch with a grizzly bear, a kid knocked his head and inexplicably became paraplegic. Turns out, his body was fine, but the loss of the use of his legs could be blamed on the guilt he felt over his dog running away- or something like that. Despite a near tragic wheelchair escape sequence, the boy was able to eventually will himself to walk again. Thanks for the free psychology lesson Super Friends. This episode is somewhat notable for the inclusion of a sort of proto-Metallo, kryptonite powered robot - or it would have been if the whole thing hadn't been a ruse by the Friends to make the boy overcome his depression. As for the dog, I think he got eaten by the bear because he never came back.

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Episode Count: 0460
Series Count: (62 of 66)

Super History of Superman: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)

In 2009, the first arc of the recent Superman / Batman comic series titled Public Enemies received a fairly strict adaptation for the direct to video project. Taking the lead from the comic art, this Superman's design was all about presenting Supes as the paragon of physicality. Along with battling Power Suit wearing President Luthor and Metallo, with Batman by his side Superman also faced off against hordes of villains hoping to collect a bounty on his head.

Super History of Superman: The Batman (2007)

 
Even though it was titles The Batman, the series' 5th and final season might well have been called The Justice League. Throughout the season, the Caped Crusader teamed with other heroes of the DC universe beginning with the one, the only Man of Steel.

Super History of Superman: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-7)

While Superboy technically featured a man, none of the classic Superman supporting cast were present. So, once this series debuted it was the first time in my life that Superman had a regular rotation on TV. And while not every episode is great, the series has its own charm. As implied by the title, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman took the spotlight somewhat off the Man of Steel in favor of the relationship between Daily Planet Co-workers Lois and CK.

Onscreen History of Metallo

While Richard Gere is more likely to fall prey to the "hooker with a heart of gold" Superman's bane is the cyborg with a heart of kryptonite known as Metallo. Although a couple of characters with the name Metallo appeared earlier, the modern Metallo first appeared in 1959 in Action Comics #252. It is this version of the character that has been inducted into the lineup of the upcoming JL:Doom's Legion.

Smallville is Doomed When a Certain Legion Comes to Town

Thanks to Kryptonsite for this nice screen capture from the final two episodes of Smallville. The picture shows members of the Legion of Doom plotting around a table including Solomon Grundy, Dark Archer, Roulette, Black Manta, Captain Cold, and Metallo. Its awesome to see Black Manta in particular in live action. The dude deserves his own spin-off. Oh, and of course thats Toyman on the monitor.

Who Will Be Passing Through Smallville

After 8 seasons, Smallville has served more as a hub of super-tourist activity than a rural getaway. During the first 8 season, 14 superheroes, 20 supervillains, and 17 other supporting characters from the DC universe have sauntered through Smallville or neighboring Metropolis. Highlights include Lex Luthor and Superman (of course), Brainiac, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Supergirl, and Doomsday (Most of whom have dated Lois Lane, have spent the night in the local coffee shop's upstairs apartment, or both). The graph lists the number of visits by heroes, villains, and supporting DC characters by season. Only the initial visit is counted, recurring visits are not tracked.

Many more have their travel plans in order to stop by for season 9 (Major Zod - an alternate time line younger version of General Zod, Metallo, Roulette, The Wonder Twins - no word yet on Gleek, The Justice Society, and Speedy are all booked for the first half of the season), making it a contender for the busiest season to date. We will save a discussion of Smallville stunt casting (Wonder Women, Supermen, etc) for another day. For more detailed information about who has come and gone, see the table below.

SEASON	CHARACTER	EPISODE TITLE	ROLE
1	Superman	Pilot	Superhero
1	Lex Luthor	Pilot	Supervillain
1	Jonathan Kent	Pilot	Supporting Character
1	Lana Lang	Pilot	Supporting Character
1	Martha Kent	Pilot	Supporting Character
1	Pete Ross	Pilot	Supporting Character
2	Jor-El	Calling	Supporting Character
2	Maggie Sawyer	Insurgence	Supporting Character
3	Morgan Edge	Exile	Supervillain
3	Claire Foster	Perry	Supporting Character
3	Perry White	Perry	Supporting Character
4	Impulse	Run	Superhero
4	Krypto	Krypto	Superhero
4	Mister Mxyzptlk	Jinx	Supervillain
4	Bridgette Crosby	Crusade	Supporting Character
4	Lois Lane	Crusade	Supporting Character
4	Lucy Lane	Lucy	Supporting Character
4	Sam Lane	Gone	Supporting Character
5	Acrata AKA Andrea Rojas	Vengeance	Superhero
5	Aquaman	Aqua	Superhero
5	Cyborg	Cyborg	Superhero
5	Aethyr	Arrival	Supervillain
5	Milton Fine / Brainiac	Arrival	Supervillain
5	General Zod	Vessel	Supervillain
5	Nam-Ek	Arrival	Supervillain
6	Martian Manhunter	Labyrinth	Superhero
6	Green Arrow	Sneeze	Superhero
6	Bizarro	Phantom	Supervillain
6	Jimmy Olsen	Zod	Supporting Character
7	Black Canary	Siren	Superhero
7	Supergirl	Bizarro	Superhero
7	Vandal Savage	Cure	Supervillain
7	Zorl-El	Lara	Supervillain
7	Lara-El	Lara	Supporting Character
8	Lightning Lad	Legion	Superhero
8	Saturn Girl	Legion	Superhero
8	Cosmic Boy	Legion	Superhero
8	Zatanna	Hex	Superhero
8	Plastique	Plastique	Supervillain
8	Bruno Mannheim	Stilletto	Supervillain
8	Doomsday	Plastique	Supervillain
8	Faora	Bloodline	Supervillain
8	Livewire	Injustice	Supervillain
8	Maxima	Instinct	Supervillain
8	Neutron	Injustice	Supervillain
8	Parasite	Injustice	Supervillain
8	Persuader	Legion	Supervillain
8	Toyman	Requiem	Supervillain
8	Dan Turpin	Bulletproof	Supporting Character
8	Emil Hamilton	Bulletproof	Supporting Character
8	Mercy Graves / Tessmacher	Odyssey	Supporting Character
9	Zan	Idol	Superhero
9	Jayna	Idol	Superhero
9	Speedy	Crossfire	Superhero
9	JSA	Society	Superhero
9	Major Zod	Savior	Supervillain
9	Metallo	Metallo	Supervillain
9	Roulette	Roulette	Supervillain

Quit Playing Games With My Kryptonite Heart

Here is the first look at Metallo from Smallville season 9. For the uninitiated, Metallo is a cyborg powered by a kryptonite heart. Aside from Darkseid and Mongul, Metallo had been one of the last major Superman villains to be unleashed in Smallville. Not even Superman yet, and Clark Kent has nearly defeated his entire rogue's gallery. Impressive.

Smallville Goes Green

Brain Austin Green (the "cool" Vanilla Ice looking guy from 90210) is coming to Smallville to play (you probably didn't guess it) Metallo - the cyborg with a heart of gold kryptonite. Sure, why not. I certainly see the resemblance. If anyone is going to beat the living snot out of Superman, this guy seems like the one to do it.

BAG joins fellow Hillbilly Tori Spelling as columnist for the Daily Planet. Spelling had portrayed gossip columnist turned water-based Krypto freak Linda Lake on two previous episodes.

To be fair, most of the comic book based villains appearing on Smallville have been presented favorably and either way, Metallo has been one of the main Superman baddies yet unused. Basically all that is left now is uberthreat Darkseid. Below is a list of Superman villains previously used in the series (though some of them simply inhabited the bodies of regular characters) and ranked from best to worst.

1. Lex Luthor
2. Brainiac
3. Bizarro
4. Doomsday
5. Morgan Edge
6. General Zod
7. Vandal Savage
8. Toyman
9. Faora AKA Mrs. Zod
10. Maxima
11. Mr. Mxyzptlk
12. Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim

Feel free to make requests for future installments of the spotlight feature if you are unfamiliar with any of these folk.