Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Deep Freeze

 From the return of the cold and calculating Mr. Freeze to the interesting Easter eggs and homages peppered throughout, this was a massively entertaining episode.Who would have thought that anyone would crave Mr. Freeze's curse? But I suppose some would rather live forever than enjoy the life they have. Kind of funny given urban legends that it was a Walt Disney look-alike who wanted to cryogenically freeze himself. The portrayal of Freeze was once again solid. Yes, he is a villain, but only so far as his actions would help save his wife.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Superman 75th Anniversary

Best short ever? Hard to argue against it. The brilliant tribute to the Man of Steel captures 75 years worth of Superman's biggest moments, not only onscreen but in pop culture, in under 2 minutes. Yes, even at break neck speed so many moments were left out, but the spirit of Superman was captured. This little piece of animation is really something special. Rather than me trying to explain why, just watch it. 

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Bizarro Super-Powers Team

Back to Bazarowurld.And while the Bizarro episodes have been decent, I wasn't that excited to see old cube face at first, that is until Mr. Mxyzptlk appeared. That villainous combo, along with bizarified Guardians  training for duty in Metropolis turned out to be a fair enough formula. This one may not be a classic, but it was a bit of harmless fun. The real highlight was the Bizarro Mxyzptlk AKA Kltpzyxm - kind of a clever idea. I mean its no Zibarro, but for 1985 it will do. 

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Uncle Mxyzptlk

After red kryptonite exposure turned Superman into "Superbrat," the Friends had to babysit when who would you know showed up? Uncle Mxy. Overall this was pretty unremarkable except I got quite angry that Jayna chose to turn into a giant T-Rex. How many times in the past would that have come in handy and yet she always turned into an octopus or eagle. This time, she played her T-Rex card to capture a runaway giraffe? If I were in charge, that along would earn her expulsion from the team. Nevermind the fact that the Twins were the ones that brought the red K to Supes in the first place. Bring back Marvin and Wendy.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Magic Lamp

And the cruel Mixed Pickle returned to tease a thief by pretending to be a genie. Mxy stayed hidden from the Super Friends making Mr. Crook get pretty cocky about his "magic lamp." Finally the Friends figured out the imp factor and once again the dummy didn't realize he was saying his name backwards. Mxy is always good for a couple laughs, and even though this wasn't terrible, it was not quite up to par with the rest of the season. The only thing I can figure - needs more Darkseid. 

Superman 75th Anniversary Short Decoded

Certainly there were some big on and off screen moments omitted (in particular Lois & Clark and Superman Returns), but this 2 minute short was still all kids of awesome. I may have missed a couple references, but I will do my best to point out those I identified starting with the opening homage to Supes' debut in Action Comics #1. Here goes:

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Mxyzptlk's Revenge

And we have official entered "lost" territory. While the first two seasons of Super Friends shorts were aired in the early 80's the third and final season was lost, only to reemerge in syndication years later and ironically eventually on DVD while the two aired season had only seen digital release until this year. While this may not be the best the lost season had to offer, it was at least a memorable outing.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Mxyzptlk's Flick

Mxyzptlk the movie man is back with yet another movie themed caper.  Kudos to Robin for a hilarious line. When a caveman swung out of the movie screen and picked up the Batmobile, he exclaimed that it looked so real. Really Robin? As far as Mixed Pickles movies go, this one had an interesting gimmick of the imp being able to rewind and rewrite the action making the heroes do stupid things. Using the tape recorder to play Mxyzptlk's name backwards did seem a little unsportsmanlike, but it got the job done.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Mxyzptlk Strikes Again

Mr. Mixed Pickle was quite the aspiring film buff. In his previous appearance he took the Friends into the Wizard of Oz and before that he made them act out a script that he had written. This time he was back with a magic typewriter that made his stories come to life. Why he made Aquaman a cowboy I will never know. I admit it was fun seeing "Kid Superman" defeat Sheriff Aquaman. While not great, this was another reasonably fun episode.We are officially on a roll.

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.

Super History of Superman: Superboy (1988-92)

The wacky Superboy series ran for four seasons from 1988-1992 and over the course of those four years it went through two Superboys and two titles, being renamed The Adventures of Superboy in the third year. While the series was still popular after its fourth season, it ran into rights issues leading to its ultimate early demise. And as goofy and random as the stories sometimes were, the show had a certain charm and light-heartedness that was endearing... if you could get past the extremely poor production values and bad writing.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Planet of Oz

I am not sure what I just watched, but I think I liked it. It was either really bad or brilliant - I haven't decided yet.  Not only was there a Wizard of Oz theme, but some interesting subliminal lesson on chemical reactions as Mxy tricked the Friends into making him an invincibility potion. Not sure why an all powerful imp couldn't just do that himself. Snow White's magic mirror, the witch from Hansel and Gretel, and Jawas also made appearances.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Rise And Fall of The Super Friends

After years and years, Mr. Mixed Pickle returned... to make the Super Friends star in his movie which involved marrying mannequins, a junk monster, and Frankenstein's monster. This "captured on film" caper was not nearly as enjoyable as the Collector episode from the previous season. Also, Mr. Mxyzptlk had an incredibly obnoxious voice.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - The Imp-Practical Joker

Uh-oh its Mr. Mxyzptlk making a carnival go crazy and putting Superman's mind to work.