DCAU #217: It's a Super Life!

IN THIS ONE... Can Clark Kent do his job when Superman keeps getting in the way?

CREDITS: Written by Devin K. Grayson; art by Aluir Amancio and Terry Austin.

REVIEW: A story about what it means to be Superman AND Clark Kent, this little gem doesn't need a villain-of-the-month to show an overworked Clark trying to juggle work, family and superheroics. Put on the most boring assignment ever, Clark keeps screwing up his interviews because people need saving, and he wonders how long he can keep it up. The issue shows him "always on", even secretly preventing accidents around the office, things he could easily let slide, but can't help himself. And Grayson has some fun showing how difficult living these two lives would be, from the varied excuses needed to take a Superman moment, to the evolution of phone booths away from the public changing rooms they used to be.

The article Clark is righting, about competing subway and monorail systems in Metropolis keeping the exact same timetable is a thinly-veiled metaphor for Clark's two lives, and the fact the trains come together dangerously on the same bridge is much like his own dilemma. Of course, he turns it into a win by integrating his two lives. Clark Kent actually solves this one and saves lives. And just when he was starting to think he should quit his day job...

IN THE MAINSTREAM COMICS: Perry hates to be scooped by the Metropolis Star, which is the paper Lois and Clark originally worked at during the Golden Age. A secondary headline "Superman Foils Bank Robbers" features a classic shot of Superman hoisting a car over his head, in a pose evoking Action Comics #1 (repeated from the splash above).

REREADABILITY: High - The kind of "episode" the Batman show allowed itself to do, but Superman's all too rarely.