COMICS-(JUSTICE LEAGUE DEBUT)
When I was in my senior year of college, there were days when I would skip
entire classes, so I could run home and catch "SuperFriends" re-runs on
Cartoon Network. No, this wasn't the 70's...it was only five years ago.
I was on a superhero cartoon binge that year, and burned up
about 40 hours of video tapes, while trying to tape every comic book show
that was on TV at the time. For me, it was kinda like comic book
collecting with the VCR. The perfect hobby for a dork with no life.
I still have no life, but sometime over the past five years I stopped
following superhero cartoon adaptations. I stopped frequenting
comic shops, reading the Wizard fan-zine, and while I still read several
comics a month, I didn't seem to care much, anymore. Somewhere along the Internet, I
heard about the new "Justice League" cartoon that was debutting on
Cartoon Network. Sounded intriguing, but last time I dropped by
Cartoon Network, they were either showing a Scooby Doo marathon or
crunching out awful "IN YOUR FACE AND WACKY" shows like Powerpuff Broads
or Dexter's Lavoratory. Besides, I was over my DC/Marvel cartoon binge.
On Sunday, I happened to catch the 9:30 pm showing of the new Justice League, and
I was impressed. Done in the familiar, clean style of Warner Bros' "Batman" and "Superman", it
held the pattern of not insulting my intelligence and providing little connections to
the comics. Cartoon Network seems to have degenerated into a total kids network, but this
show seems out of place on the channel. That's a compliment. It was enough of a lure to get
a crotchety old-school comic dork like myself, excited again. I found out that the regular
time slot is 9:30 MST, every Monday night. Shit, with the Broncos' MNF games over, I can
find enough free time to plop my ass down to catch this show, every week.
While "Justice League" is brand spanking new, the concept of a Justice League
cartoon goes back to the 60's. Furthermore, the concept of the
Justice League COMIC goes all the way back to the 1930's, with the
Justice Scoiety. In short, "Justice League" is a big part of comic
lore.
DC produced three animated shorts as part of their
"Superman/Aquaman Adventure Hour" in the late 60's, entitled "Justice League of America".
With Superman, Hawkman, the Atom, Green Lantern and the Flash, these three shows only
hinted at the organization of the actual Justice League. It was just five guys who teamed up.
No HQ, organization or official charter, like their comic counterparts. In the 70's,
"SuperFriends" hit. It was closer to the actual JLA, but had several cheesy cartoon-ish
elements added. Up through the 80's, when the show evolved into "The Super Powers Team",
it was still the closest thing to a true TV adaptation of the JLA. Along the way,
Adam West spearheaded a short-lived ive-action show based on the JLA. DC even pitched
(and supposedly filmed) a live-action pilot adaptation of the 80's JLA.
In 2000, Warner Bros' had two episodes of "Batman Beyond", where they introduced
a future "League of Justice". But all these shows had
their quirks and were not representative of the "real" JLA.
This new version is the closest thing, yet. In the cartoon world of DC comics, Superman and
Batman have had the most exposure to TV audiences, due to their respective cartoons. These two
familiar characters are used to bring the viewers in and introduce them to the "new" heroes.
The Flash was first seen in the Superman cartoon, and he makes an early appearance in this show.
The rest of the team is fleshed out to include Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart),
Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onnz and Hawkgirl. Green Lantern, Flash and Hawkgirl suddenly appear,
matter-of-factly, while the storyline develops the inclusion of Wonder Woman and J'onn.
The story revolves around an alien invasion, slightly reminiscent of the White Martian invasion
faced by the "real" JLA in their monthly title. Superman and Batman get taken out by the invaders,
relatively quickly. The story then centers around J'onn J'onnz and the others- a pattern
that was followed, religiously, in the 1960's JLA comics. Superman and Batman had their own
books, so they were pushed to the background to let the other characters shine. At one point, all seven heroes break off
into separate groups to target alien installations around the globe. Another pattern
that was created by Gardner Fox, longtime Justice League/Justice Society writer. At the conclusion
of the show, the heroes agree to stick together- in an orbiting satellite dubbed "The Watchtower".
The name is a salute to the current JLA HQ, while the orbiting aspect is alluding to the
80's JLA HQ. Nice touches. Furthermore, Batman mentions that he's not a people person, and
will help out the team "only when they need help". Another homage to the JLA comic.
The team fills out nicely and has lots of room for exploration and development.
Wonder Woman is just now entering the "World of Man" and is the rookie of the team.
Flash is the smart-ass, and acts as the voice of the regular joe. When Superman mentions
that they should come together as a team, Flash gets the best line of the show: "What? you mean like
a buncha...super-friends?!" Supes: "No...more like a ...Justice League". Flash:
"Do you have any idea how corny that sounds??!" Flash also wants to nail
Wonder Woman....badly.
A few modifications were added, however. Batman's ears have grown quite a bit. He now
looks like "Llama Man", but I'm sure the shows' creators were trying to tie him to the
recent "Batman Beyond", who has insanely huge bat-ears. Batman's also wearing
dark blue tights, not the black ones. Green Lantern appeared on the
"Superman" cartoon....as Kyle Rayner. Here, he's John Stewart, the black GL. I suppose that
issue will be cleared up in the future. I'm stumped on Hawkgirl. She hasn't even been in
the JLA since the late 80's and Hawkman/Hawkgirl continuity has been a mess.
This Hawkgirl mentioned that she's from Thanagar, so I'm hoping she'll
be close to the correct version of Hawkgirl. I'm
guessing that the producers are trying to develop another female character. One NOT
named "Batgirl", "Wonder Woman" or "Supergirl". The Hawks were pretty damn useless in the
old Superfriends shows, but here Hawkgirl scores high on the Destructive Aptitude Test
by smashing all kinds of shit with her mace. The Hawks have always used
medieval weaponry, but their cartoon counterparts have simply....umm, flown.
Martian Manhunter's origin and exile to Earth has changed just a bit... but
it's only noticeable to the hardcore nerd (umm....not that _I_ would notice that or
anything...)
With enough comic connections, I feel like something has finally worked out correctly
for the TV JLA. The long-awaited TV debut of the Martian Manhunter is
worth seeing, alone. Even the blaring commercials for "The Grinch" and "Kids Xmas game du Jour"
don't bother me.....too much. Commercial breaks tease the eventual debut of
Lex Luthor and Solomon Grundy- either an Injustice Gang, or an updated
Legion of Doom. Any plotline that could bring back Gorilla Grodd or Black Manta
is okay with me. With HawkGIRL around, it wouldn't surprise me to see HawkMAN show up.
Other DC/JLA-related characters have already been established in either "Batman" or
"Superman". If I'm not mistaken, these could include Zatanna, Dr. Fate and
Aquaman.
Yeah, I was into this show. I was even feeling nostalgic and taped it. It's one of those
shows I've fantasized about since I was a wee lad...right up there with an "Avengers"
cartoon. Unlike "Avengers", this one actually delivered and was faithful to
alll the different versions of comics' premier superhero team. It looks lke they're
off to a running start, as tonight's show (11/19) is set to feature John Stewart
and the Manhunters. Enough similarities to "real" JLA to staisfy a longtime fan,
and enough panache to entice an "uneducated" fan. Man, I'm hooked again. I may even
do weekly updates on it.....too bad I don't have any classes to skip.
Back to Comics index
