COMICS/TV STUFF-(JUSTICE LEAGUE: "A Better World")
Suddenly it's cool to stay home on Saturday nights. After two years of constant re-runs,
the "Justice League" cartoon has finally made it to a second season. In November 2001, Cartoon Network
dished out the first few episodes and would occassionally premiere a new one every so often
until about April 2002 (by "episodes" I mean each one hour, two-part
story). They held back three more episodes and a special three-part "movie" for a half-assed
"second season" in September 2002. Even though Cartoon Network milked the first batch of
episodes into two seasons, it wasn't until July 2003 when the REAL second season arrived
from Warner Bros.
The new Justice League episodes have been airing at 11pm and 2am, MST every Saturday night.
The only difference is that the 2am block has the widescreen effect. They've been showing
some GREAT stuff, too. So far, we've seen top-notch stories involving the New Gods (yes,
you read that right... the phrase "top-notch" describing the New frickin' Gods), Dr. Destiny,
Amazo, Despero and now the always reliable "evil alternate dimension guys".
This particular story moves fairly quick and may be confusing to non-comic geeks.
The opening sequence involves the Justice League confronting Lex Luthor inside his office..
which, oh by the way, just happens to be the White House. Gasp! Archvillain Lex Luthor is
the US President?! We quickly see that this is a just a preview to an "alternate dimension",
one where the Justice League has developed darker personas.
This alternate League is one part Crime Syndicate and one part Squadron Supreme.
The Crime Syndicate influence can be seen in their costumes- Superman has a
cape similar to the Syndicate's Ultraman, and Wonder Woman looks a bit like
the Syndicate's Superwoman. But this is not a straight Crime Syndicate
TV adaptation- these "heroes" go by the name of the Justice Lords and
had heroic intentions. Intentions which led them to basically take over their
world and institute a global lock-down. Very similar to Marvel's
1986 Squadron Supreme limited series. We see that they've even behavior modified
villains like the Joker, Two-Face and Poison Ivy. It's not spelled out, but
it's hinted that they were led down this path by the death of their Flash and
Luthor's ascension into the White House.
Anyways, one day the Justice Lords are called into Batman's Batcave. He's
discovered an alternate dimension- that of the "real" Justice League. The Lords
see the "real" world as horribly disordered bucket o' crud and aim to force their
own methods of order on it...the people will thank them later.
The real League is busy whupping up on Lex Luthor. The Lords' version of Martian Manhunter
crosses over and requests the League's help. The League quickly argees to crossover. They do
so, and cross right into a trap set by the Lords. Hawkgirl
nearly manages to foil the trap, but receives almost fatal injuries as a result.
With the real League incapacitated, the Lords
enter the real world and start to dish out "Justice".
The Lords modify the JL Watchtower and then, surprisingly, Doomsday arrvies! Doomsday, the
famous villain from the 1992 "Death of Superman" story. It was only covered by
virtually every media outlet of the time, but yep, this is the guy who killed
Superman (or, more accurately, "killed" him for all of roughly six months).
Doomsday gets into a huge knockdown drag-out fight with the Lords, that ends with
another surprise- Superman uses his heat-vision to lobotomize the big guy! Reporters are
there to film the whole thing and everyone around the globe sees the "new"
attitude of the Justice League. But where's the Flash? Luthor is watching in his cell
and quickly discovers "..it's not them".
Meanwhile, the "real" League has managed to escape from their cells. The
Lords' Batman was left behind to act as warden and he gets into a fairly
emotional stand-off with his counterpart. The Leaguers set out to find the injured
Hawkgirl, who is recovering at a modified Arkham Asylum. Quick cameos by
a reformed Joker, Two-Face, Ventriloquist and Poison Ivy are dropped in. All of the
"reformed" villains have two dots about their eyes... identical to the dots
on Doomsday's head!
The Batmen come to a truce and the Leaguers make it back to their world.
The Leaguers and the Lords all square off, but Superman is suspiciously absent.
Supes eventually arrives with the cavalry, in the form of Lex Luthor! Lex has developed
a "power disruptor" ray and uses it to defeat the Justice Lords. The Lords' Superman
tells his League counterpart that letting Luthor free will cause terrible consequences.
Superman is
told by Flash: "guess yer' not such a Boy Scout after all". He replies "I never even made
my first merit badge". Lex's payment for
helping the League? He was given a full pardon and a cure for his cancerous
condition. Final scene has Lex giving a news conference. He doubts that he will
return to LexCorp... because he's always had an interest in politics.
Alternate realities usually make you roll your eyes, but this came off fine.
Thus far, the Justice Lords are a "TV-only" group of baddies, and a definite
improvement over the Crime Syndicate. The costumes of
Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter are gigantic upgrades.
Batman's costume has a touch of the Batman Beyond outfit. For some reason,
Wonder Woman is without her tiara and looks like a bull dyke.
Her costume resembles the old 1980's Wonder Girl outfit, but her
hair looks like a man-goblin Bonnie Warner job. Superman's looks
a little too regal, but the blue-white color scheme
may be a nod to the short-lived "Electro-Superman, man of energy"
from 1997.
This episode drops in some cool subplots, too. The developing relationship between
Green Lantern and Hawkgirl is hinted at. Flash's role as the goofball is even touched upon as
being significant. For once in the show, Flash uses his superspeed to perform some amazing tricks.
Superman's attitude is slowly changing.
Most importantly, Luthor
is removed from his "mad scientist" role and is headed toward closely resembling his comic-book
counterpart-- who happens to be the President of the US. Luthor's come
off as the League's whipping boy so far in the series, so his eventual role as President
should be fun. In the Superman Animated Series, the interesting part of Luthor's character
was how he was a behind the scenes manipulator, who the public adored, and a villain Superman
couldn't slug or put away. But this episode went a long way towards establishing him as
the League's arch-enemy (Legion of Doom/Challenge of the Super-Friends fans
be happy).
Doomsday's sudden inclusion was unexpected. A Superman-Doomsday fight sequence is
even lifted from the comics, almost blow-by-blow. Fans may complain that Doomsday
deserves his own episode...and that he shouldn't TALK. But considering that all
Doomsday does is punch and beat people up...he's really not THAT great of a
character.
New episodes are arriving weekly...and the 2am timeslot is perfect for weekend
revelers. I was at a Halloween party on Saturday, but actually used
Justice League as an excuse to leave. (Well, not those words exactly...
I just said "I have to leave, my show's on soon"). If not for Justice League, I may have
stuck around to 4am, getting shnickered and hitting on broads in
cheap witch costumes. Thanks to Justice League I didn't get drunk. Sobriety through
animation.
Taking a peak at the schedule, it looks like subsequent episodes will
feature Eclipso and the Secret Society of Supervillains. Looks like another
Aquaman episode is due, as well. Since the writers seem to be diving into
the old League villain standbys (Amazo, Vandal Savage, Felix Faust, Kanjar Ro, Dr. Destiny, Despero),
I wouldn't
be surprised if Starro or the Royal Flush Gang pop up soon. Hawkman and a trip to Thanagar seem like
a shoo-in, too. I'd like to see the return of some old Batman plots-- especially Ra's Al Ghul (although
they DID have a follow-up to the Batman/Demon stories, last year).
Also, in what may be a first for an animated superteam, it'd be fun to see a new hero join, or
an old one leave. "Superfriends" had a fluctuating roster, but aside from
Cyborg, issues of membership were never addressed. New heroes like Green Lantern
or Black Vulcan just appeared...and then disappeared without any explanation. Although I wouldn't tinker
with the membership until next season, at the earliest. I'd just like to see
the Atom or Green Arrow as a regular team member.
If you like comics, then Justice League is arguably one of the more enjoyable hours on
TV for you. The show continues to impress, with stuff as widespanning as
the Blackhawks, Deadshot, Firefly, Luminus, Gorilla City, Professor Ivo and even Sgt. frickin' Rock, this
is DC Comics' ultimate "jam session". I'm half-expecting
Congo Bill and Congorilla to show up (or hey-- B'wana Beast!). Of course, you
KNOW I'd be up for an ACE the Bat-hound appearance! Even if you don't like comics,
it may be entertaining. The plotlines are nothing you wouldn't see in your typical
big-screen blockbuster...and they don't insult your intelligence too much. Flash gets some
hilarious dialogue that actually makes you chuckle (His past comments about Arisia/Fury
and his scenes with Kilowog were a riot). But if you're
over 14, I'd recommend hitting the MUTE button during the commercials.
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