Download Superman On Trial (Special Extended Edition) (BBC Audio) fb2

I was looking forward to this, but when I got it I was so disappointed. The story didn't make scene because the fictional and non- fictional characters were mixed into the story. The story was horrible and the plot was chaotic. If they stuck with the main presumes it would have been fine. When they brought in comic book writers and actors that have played the superheros,the story really fell apart. I can bring myself to listen to this one again. Save your money, this one is a wash.

Lex Luthor finally has the Man of Steel right where he wants him. Using all the power and influence money can buy, Luthor has managed to drag Superman into a court of law, charging him with crimes against humanity, and set himself up to be the chief prosecutor. Normally, Lex is no match for Superman, but for some reason the Last Son of Krypton is oddly speechless, and seemingly too weak even to defend himself. What nobody knows is that the manacles Luthor bound Superman in are laced with traces of Kryptonite, a radioactive substance that is deadly to Superman. So it's Lois Lane, feisty, hotheaded Daily Planet reporter, to the rescue. It will be up to Lois to defend Superman from Luthor's trumped-up charges, but is she up to the task?

I hate to admit it, but I think Lex Luthor has a valid point here, that point being that maybe Metropolis would be better off without Superman. I mean, let's face it, 90% of the super-villains that come around Metropolis, are only there because they want to destroy Superman. He's like a magnet to them. And property damage? Supes can't even flex his muscles without knocking down a skyscraper or two.

Okay, okay, I'm being a little too hard on the guy, and to tell you the truth, I collected quite a few Superman comics in my day. If we start over-analyzing comic books, where will it end? Next thing you know we'll be criticizing a judicial system that allows power-hungry tyrants to drag superheroes into court, and sets up newspaper reporters as defense attorneys.

Superman: On Trial was written to celebrate Superman's 50th anniversary, which would put it somewhere around 1988. The story is, admittedly, short on plot, but it's still an entertaining recap of the life and times of one of our planet's greatest superheroes. Through the various witnesses called to testify in the trial, we are treated to glimpses of Superman's life: how he came to earth, his upbringing, the first time he met Lex Luthor in person, and the origins of his complex relationship with Lois Lane.

My favorite part of this audiobook actually came at the very end, when Luthor's evil plot is revealed and he is arrested. At the police station, Luthor demands his phone call, and he uses it to call his legal staff. Here, Lex begins to rant and rave, beginning with "I want you to sue...", and then he proceeds to read off the list of actors who lent their voices to the production. This was William Hootkins shining moment. I really got a kick out of that scene, and I thought it was a pretty clever way to read the credits.

Along with Hootkins' convincing portrayal of Lex Luthor, I thought all of the voice actors did a decent job in their roles, with the possible exception of the guy who voiced Jimmy Olson. He didn't do a bad job necessarily, he just sounded too old for the part.

Superman: On Trial is not a display of brilliant story telling, but I think you might get a kick out of it, especially if you enjoy radio dramas.

Superman on Trial is a BBC Radio dramatic presentation created in honor of the Man of Steel's 50th Anniversary.

A few quick thoughts about this 1-hour programme (I spell program in the British way since this is a BBC production):

If you aren't very familiar with the comics, some of the stuff in this show is a little weird. Mostly, they don't do a very good job of explaining who Ganthet is. He just rumbles and sounds ominous, as if Michael Clarke Duncan were the judge.
Maggs' decision to put Supe on trial by using testimony from creators of comic books demands a suspension of suspension of disbelief. In the world of the story, the Superman tales were created as promotional/ documentary material about Superman, but the show conveniently takes the Umberto Eco "Myth of Superman" approach, forgetting that if the comics were documenting real events, Lois and Lex would both be elderly. Once you're willing to forgive that convenient collapsing of time, it's an amusing development.
I particularly like the sections in which Batman appears, testifying both as Adam West and as the Batman himself. In the case of the latter, Lex brings up the uncomfortable idea that Batman's own worries about Superman's potential as a world-changing force spawned the Superman/Batman fight in The Dark Knight Returns. Oddly, despite the fact that Lex calls Dave Gibbons to testify, he doesn't bring up Gibbons' own exploration of this very subject through the character of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen.
William Hootkins does an excellent job chewing the scenery as Lex Luthor. Most amusing, for my money, is his angry rant to the Luthercorp legal department at the end, in which he delivers the credits by threatening to sue all the people involved in the radio play, especially William Hootkins.
The end wasn't all that satisfying to me, as it returns to the overall message of Superman itself: nurture beats nature.

An amusing audio play, worth the time if you aren't expecting a conventional story. I'm not sure it's worth the money though.