Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's 122nd installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, in honor of Father's Day, we're revisiting one of the very few holiday-themed stories honoring this occasion. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.

Airing several months after the actual date, October 3, 1997, brought us the debut of "Father's Day," a Superman: The Animated Series episode written by Mark Evanier and Steve Gerber and directed by Dan Riba. The episode marks a few "firsts" for the series -- the first meeting of Lois Lane and the Kents, the first full appearance of Darkseid and Superman's first (albeit brief) confrontation with the legendary villain. The story opens with Darkseid and his minions spying on Earth, where Desaad has sent his "scream machine,"  a metallic sphere with multiple blade-arms. The Kirby Crackle radiating within is a clear nod to Jack Kirby, one of the earliest we'll see in the DC Animated Universe (and far from the last.)

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As this is a Superman story, the person who bumps into it happens to be Lois Lane, out for a jog. Meanwhile, at the Daily Planet, there's a conversation between Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent. We discover today's Father's Day (which, even though it's always a Sunday, appears to be a regular working day with a fully-staffed Daily Planet) and Clark's parents are coming to visit.

Overhearing Lois' call for help, Clark arrives as Superman and disables Desaad's device. Darkseid orders it to be destroyed, and for none of his minions to act again without his permission. Desaad, however, manipulates Darkseid's brutish son Kalibak into coming to Earth, where he'll "prove himself" worthy of his father's legacy. Kalibak will do this by killing Superman in battle.

Kalibak arrives just as Lois has joins the Kents for lunch at a nearby restaurant. While the show typically avoided the Lois and Clark romance, this episode leans into the idea that Clark has a crush on Lois, and his parents know about it. Clark is naturally busy as Superman, protecting the city from Kalibak. And -- again, because this is a Superman story -- the chaotic fight soon reaches the restaurant, where Superman must also save his loved ones and hope Lois doesn't think too deeply on why Clark's mother is calling out his name to Superman during the fight.

As this is the Father's Day episode, Superman's rescue of his father is given a little attention, before Superman flies off to find Kalibak and finish the battle. However, Darkseid arrives, blasting Kalibak with his Omega Beams and teleporting him away. Superman confronts Darkseid, but is weakened by another Omega Beam blast. Darkseid returns to Apokolips, vowing more punishment for his disobedient so and an inevitable conquest of Superman and the Earth.

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"Father's Day," in spite of its continuity significance, tends to be viewed as a mediocre installment of the show. There's an obvious theme at play here -- the influence of fathers on sons, contrasting Jonathan Kent's loving influence on Superman against Darkseid's abusive treatment of Kalibak -- but the story does almost nothing with the idea. There's literally one line that indicates Jonathan's influence on Clark (his reaction to Kalibak, "Somebody should take that bruiser down a peg!") and nothing else. Jonathan could disappear from the episode and essentially nothing would be different about the story.

The animation is also as mediocre as the series got. Again, not honestly bad, but disappointing when compared to the numerous episodes animated by Japan's TMS, which had a knack for making even the most pedestrian of scripts look cool. The score of the episode also feels off, with a camp feel that feels more appropriate for a Batman '66 fight scene than the DCAU. It's attributed to Shirley Walker, one of the true television composing greats, so it's difficult to discern what happened here.

Continuing the concept of fatherhood, we have Superman Adventures #45 (July 2000) from writer Jeff Grubb and penciler Aluir Amancio. The concept has three girls, living without a father, who discover a magazine page their mother has saved. It's a listing of Metropolis' hottest bachelors -- reporter Clark Kent, business mogul Lex Luthor, and a firefighter named Scott. Assuming one of these men must be their next stepfather, the girls travel to Metropolis to find their mother's perfect mate.

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The issue follows the run written by Mark Millar, which was to be honest, the only real time the title received any attention from the fan press. Following Millar's departure, the average issue was compiled by fill-in teams who'd usually work on only one issue, killing any potential momentum for the series. Writer Jeff Grubb comes the world of roleplaying games, having written numerous novels in the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance series. Aluir Amancio, meanwhile, penciled numerous issues of Millar's run, and is close to exiting the title at this point. He's joined by Terry Austin, a legendary inker, but perhaps not the best match for the "animated" style of the book.

"Mateless in Metropolis" sounds like harmless filler material, although to be fair, the issue does have some amusing moments. Grubb introduces some action by establishing that Luthor has inadvertently created a series of rolling blackouts, thanks to his secret efforts to recreate the villain Livewire's powers. So, while Superman appears periodically to save the girls from things like out-of-control traffic, most of the attention is on the girls investigating both Clark and Luthor, determining who best suits their mother.

Traveling to the Daily Planet, the girls observe the seemingly meek Clark in action, and they aren't impressed.

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They then visit Luthor's headquarters (even though one of the girls is convinced Luthor is a criminal, something that isn't common knowledge at all at this point in the canon), and are quickly brushed aside by Luthor's bodyguard, Mercy.

Dejected, they enter the subway, hoping to once again the man their mother really should marry, Superman. And they once again need Superman's help, after the subway's electronics systems also fail. Superman acts as a super-powered brake, stopping the train. But it's a firefighter named Scott who enters the car, pulling the girls out of the wreckage. This is, shockingly, the Scott from the magazine.

And after returning the girls to their mother, he asks her out for a cup of coffee. Interestingly, this comic was published over a year before 9-11, but it reads as one of the numerous "first responders are heroes, too" stories published after the event.

DESIGN-Y

The producers have apparently recycled a design from Batman: The Animated Series, as the restaurant's maître d' is a dead ringer for bureaucrat G. Carl Francis from "The Laughing Fish." Both characters were even voiced by George Dzundza, likely playing utility, as he also voices Clark's boss Perry White.

 HEY, I KNOW THAT VOICE

This episode marks character actor Michael Ironside's debut as Darkseid. The producers have added an electronic effect to his voice, which only appears in this episode. It appears they wanted to make his voice sound unnaturally deep, perhaps mimicking Frank Welker's initial Darkseid voice on Super Powers. Other notable actors debuting in their roles this episode include Michael Dorn portraying Kalibak, and Robert Morse (later Bertram Cooper on Mad Men) as Desaad.

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I LOVE THE '90s

The Kents are considering buying a computer to use on their farm, though Jonathan suspects Martha is just "aching to surf the net," though he isn't sure what this means.

"A TECHNICALITY OF HIS BIRTH"

"Father's Day" typifies perhaps the weakest aspect of Superman: The Animated Series. It's hard to argue it's truly bad, but it's also difficult to discern why you should care as a viewer. Kalibak isn't made sympathetic in any way, so it's not as if you'll relate to his desperation to please Darkseid. And if you're interested in a story about Superman and his adoptive father, or a narrative that has any real insights into fatherhood, there's little here to offer. In spite of its premise, which appears conceived specifically to call upon these ideas, the episode is an extended fight scene and little else.

Even though DC might've gotten cold feet in recent years, there is something to the idea of Superman as a father figure. "Mateless in Metropolis" leans into this, as we see Superman through the eyes of three girls eager to have him as a stepfather. It would appear to be an obvious direction to take Superman, but presumably, DC fears this will make him appear "too old." Already sensitive to the Man of Steel's image as a stodgy representative of authority, best to present him as an angsty young man in the latest reboot, presumably.

Perhaps this seems like common sense from a marketing perspective, but it fights hard against the public's decades-long perception of the character. If any hero fits the image of the ideal father, it has to be Superman.

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