My Adventures with Superman: My First Date

My Adventures with Superman: “Kiss Kiss Fall In Portal” begins with Superman revealing his origins to Lois and Jimmy, followed by him asking Lois out on a first date. Seeing the man who can do practically anything stressing over a date humanizes Superman in a new and wonderful way. This is juxtaposed by his fear of not being able to live a normal life. These two sources of anxiety really dig deep into the heart of the character, genuinely establishing this narrative to be powerful on levels beyond that of just the superheroes. These concepts are further explored in this episode when it is revealed that Superman is not a hero in the different versions of the multiverse. This not only adds to his insecurities, but it also adds to the insecurities of Lois and Jimmy. Overall this character work really adds so much to the narrative and creates a cohesive story in a great way.

Mxyzptlk’s arrival in this episode has been a point of contention amongst fans online. It is mainly his appearance that people seem to have an issue with.Yes, Mxyzptlk looks different here, but he is also representative of what makes this Superman story different from the rest. This show has been emblematic of how powerful it can be to diversify a cast, as proved evident by race swapping Lois and Jimmy. This is further explored by changing around a lot of characters, even the non-human ones, with Mxyzptlk being no different. At the end of the day Mxyzptlk is a 5th dimensional imp that has taken many different forms in his tenure at DC, so his appearance doesn’t matter as much as capturing the essence of the character, which My Adventures with Superman does.

Lois once again gets the spotlight, this time with the surprise introduction of a whole bunch of multiversal Lois Lanes via, The League of Lois Lanes. Seeing Lois and her counterparts ger so much agency is fanatic, really establishing her as the central point for which audiences can see this narrative through. By the end of the episode, this plotline coalesces in Lois receiving a small piece of Kryptonite. The implications of this are wide, yet at its core, this narratively gives Lois all of the power in relation to her relationship with Superman. Not only has Lois been firmly cast out of the damsel in distress role, but now she holds a point of power that sets her up to be something entirely new.

An excellent aspect of this episode is the full involvement of Lois and Jimmy in the overarching Superman plot. Now that all the secrets are out, everyone can be a part of the same narrative rather than there needing to be a firm barrier between the cast. That being said, this episode does still follow the two narrative plot structure, but here both stories feel equally important, with there not being a definitive A or B specification to either.