Recap / Superman: The Animated Series S2 E1-E2 "Blasts from the Past"

After serving her twenty-year sentence at the Phantom Zone, a Kryptonian woman named Mala is released into Earth. Will she follow Superman's example, or will Lex Luthor be proven right about her?

Tropes:

• All There in the Manual: How Superman was able to make a working, non-evil version of Brainiac with the data orb on Krypton is explained in an issue of The Superman Adventures, in which the version of Brainiac that appeared in "Stolen Memories" returns and goes on a rampage to try and recover the data orb for Krypton, with Clark forcing him to eject his central consciousness chip and place it in the orb.
• And I'm the Queen of Sheba: Lois, when she meets Mala.
  Lois: Yeah, right. And I'm Wonder Woman.
• Appropriated Appellation: Superman takes a shine to Hamilton's description of his cave as a "Fortress of Solitude".
• Beware the Superman: While Superman uses his powers to help anyone in need, Mala and Jax-Ur are more than happy to use their Kryptonian abilities to subjugate the powerless earthlings.
• Call-Back: The Pilot revealed Jor-El's original plan was to place Krypton's population in the Phantom Zone, use Kal-El's rocket to reach a habitable new world, and then release them. This is why there's a Phantom Zone Projector packed away in Clark's rocket; it was presumably loaded before the Council scuttled the plan and Jor-El didn't have time (or forgot) to remove it during the mad dash to launch Kal-El into space before Krypton blew.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Mala after figuring out Superman's attraction to Lois. Fortunately, he's there to prevent her from killing Lane on the spot.
• Continuity Snarl: Lois quips that she's Wonder Woman in response to Mala saying she's given up her power-hungry nature. However, as Justice League makes clear in its pilot, which chronologically takes place several years after S:TAS, Wonder Woman and the entire island of Themyscira hasn't made contact with the rest of the world for centuries. Slightly justified in that she may have just been using the expression as a general turn-of-phrase.
• Darkest Hour: Mala and Jax-Ur successfully transport Superman into the Phantom Zone and storm the United Nations. It's only through a bunch of Technobabble that Superman is able to get back.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: This is why Superman's efforts to get Mala to fight alongside him were doomed to fail. He's just trying to help people, she thinks they're going to be the planet's Ruling Couple, and a thirst for power colors everything she does.
• Expy: Given their status as Kryptonian criminals trapped inside the Phantom Zone, Jax-Ur and Mala clearly are meant to be the DCAU versions of General Zod and Ursa.
• Eyepatch of Power: Jax-Ur wears an eyepatch and is the leader of the failed coup d'etat Mala was punished for being a part of.
• Foreshadowing: A retroactive one with Lois' Wonder Woman crack. The Justice League Season One finale "The Savage Time" and Diana's time traveling (and thus being part of the historical record) offers a possible in-story explanation for the Wonder Woman references at this point in the DCAU timeline.
• Hero of Another Story: It was Jor-El who foiled Jax-Ur's coup.
• It's Personal: Averted. Jax-Ur bears no animosity towards Superman for what Jor-El did.
• Just Following Orders: While Jax-Ur got a life sentence for trying to take over Krypton, Mala got a smaller punishment because the Council felt she was just following orders. Not that she ever uses this excuse herself, and it's likely Jax-Ur was just protecting her with the hope that she could find a way to free him once her sentence ended.
• Last of His Kind: Averted. Superman learns there are other living Kryptonians.
• Little "No": Mala's anguished reaction to learning Krypton is gone and she and Superman are all that remain of its people.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Hamilton refers to Superman's arctic base as a "Fortress of Solitude." Superman didn't see it that way, but the name ends up appealing to him.
  • Lois Lane's Ruby-Spears counterpart also uses Wonder Woman as a sarcastic response. In that series, it's a response to Lex Luthor saying Clark Kent is Superman. In both series, Wonder Woman is later revealed to be real.
  • Just like in Superman II, Perry's demands for a feature on the evil Kryptonians becomes an Inadvertent Entrance Cue for said Kryptonians to crash the Daily Planet.
• Not Helping Your Case: Mala saying she'll kill every being on Earth before going back to the Phantom Zone when Superman was considering sending her there if she didn't reform probably made the decision a little easier.
• There Was a Door: Unlike Superman, who carefully flies around buildings, Jax-Ur and Mala plow right through them, since they do not care about the humans.
• Villainous Crush: Mala is immediately drawn to Superman, cozying up to and kissing him without hesitation. It's only after he spurns her affections that Mala betrays Supes by releasing Jax-Ur.
• Villain Has a Point: Lex Luthor is afraid Mala will try to enslave the human race and should be sent back to the Phantom Zone. Not only does she find the idea of enslaving humans and breeding Kryptonians with Superman tempting, but in the end, Superman ends up sending her and Jax-Ur back to the Phantom Zone, meaning he probably should have listened to Lex a lot earlier.

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