Before the world was treated to the "no tights, no flights" version of the early years of our favorite man of steel on Smallville. We got a glimpse of the early years of Clark Kent from Ilya and Alexander Salkind. The team that brought us the Christopher Reeve Superman.
After a successful first season of Superboy, season 2 would see significant changes to the cast. The most unbelievable was recasting the lead role. John Haymes Newton was replaced by Gerard Christopher. Scott Wells was also replaced as Lex Luthor by the much older actor Sherman Howard. And finally T.J. White was written out of the series and Andy McCalister, portrayed by Ilan Mitchell-Smith (Weird Science), became Clark's new roommate.
After getting the release of Season 1 from Warner Brothers there was a huge gap of six and a half years. Than Warner Archive came to physical media fans rescue and gave us Season 2 on Made-on-Demand DVD. Let's take a look at the episodes included in this season.
Episode Rating:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend some time.
*=You haven’t missed anything.
Disc One:
1. With This Ring, I Thee Kill: Lex Luthor forces Lana to marry him, then uses a new weapon on Superboy. ***
2. Lex Luthor: Sentenced to Die!: Superboy must rise from his wheelchair to save Lana from Lex Luthor. ***
3. Metallo: An escaped bank robber suffers a heart attack a scientist transforms him into a cyborg with a kryptonite heart! ***
4. Young Dracula: A powerful vampire stalks a cohort seeking a cure. ***
5. Nightmare Island: An alien kidnaps Lana and robs Clark of his powers. ***
6. Bizarro... the Thing of Steel: A professor creates a warped double of Superboy. ***
7. The Battle with Bizarro: Superboy battle Bizarro with white kryptonite. ***
8. Mr. and Mrs. Superboy: Mr. Mxyzptlk wants Superboy and Lana to pose as his parents to save him from a creature (Richard Kiel). ***
9. Programmed for Death: A robot absorbs the city's electricity and attacks Superboy. ***
Disc Two:
10. Superboy’s Deadly Touch: Lex Luthor infuses Superboy with deadly power. ***
11. The Power of Evil: A mystical teacher warns Superboy about a monster. ***
12. Superboy... Rest in Peace: A beautiful woman warns Superboy about an android. ***
13. Super Menace!: Red kryptonite brings out Superboy's evil side. ***
14. Yellow Peri’s Spell of Doom: A doll belonging to a shy waitress comes to life and turns her into a sorceress and then they both work to make Superboy fall in love with her. ***
15. Microboy: A would-be superhero infuses himself with microwave radiation. ***
16. Run, Dracula, Run: Byron Shelly the vampire returns to attacks Lana and Superboy. ***
17. Brimstone: A bounty hunter battles a spirit controlling Superboy. ***
18. Abandon Earth: Two aliens, claiming to be Superboy's birth parents, Jor-El and Lana, come to Earth looking for their son. ****
Disc Three:
19. Escape to Earth: Superboy finds things get complicated when Lana finds out about his secret identity while on the aliens' ship. ****
20. Superstar: Superboy tries to protect a singer that is marked for death. ***
21. Nick Knack: An evil genius (Gilbert Gottfried) seeks revenge on Superboy. ***
22. The Haunting of Andy McAlister: Billy the Kid passes through a time rift and attacks Superboy. ***
23. Revenge from the Deep: Superboy intercedes with two sea creatures in human form. ***
24. Secrets of Superboy: Nick Knack escapes from prison, and wants to learn all of the dirt on Superboy. This episode is basically a clip show. **
25. Johnny Casanova and the Case of the Secret Serum: A serum transforms Lana's dull tennis pro into "Johnny Casanova." **
26. The Woman Called Tiger Eye: An evil woman seeking magic crystals kidnaps Lana. ***
I have to say at first I was unhappy with the change in the lead, but after a few episodes I started to accept and even enjoy Gerard Christopher's portrayal of Clark Kent/Superboy. Also is is cool to see Wyatt Donnelly in the DC Universe. While Stacy Haiduk continues her strong portrayal of Lana Lang.
There is really nothing not to love in this season. The stories were well crafted and told. The acting is great and the special effects are stellar. The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the recasting of an older actor of Lex Luthor.
Now for the DVD release Warner Archive did a great job rescuing this show from limbo. We would never have gotten this release if it wasn't for them. They deserve so much credit for that.
Each episode is presented in it original full screen format. The episodes look really crisp and clear. This is a 3 disc set so there is eight to nine episodes on one DVD. Enough episode for a binge night without changing the disc, yet not enough for the quality to suffer.
So if you are a fan of Superboy and superhero shows as much as I am. I highly suggest picking up Superboy Season 2 from Warner Archive. They are the only provider of this series on physical media. You can get a copy on Amazon.com.
Out of 4 TV Sets (4 being the best) Superboy Season 2 on DVD set receives....
0 Comments