Another Saturday night and I ain't got no...no, wait. Another Saturday night, and another episode of Justice League Unlimited for our viewing pleasure. This one even made up for me having to miss the Hawk & Dove appearance of two weeks ago by giving us another of Sturdy Steve Ditko's idiosyncratic post-Spidey creations, The Question.
Joining him were Dini/Timm fave Supergirl and Green Arrow, who went over so well in the premiere episode. Apparently SG's having nightmares, in which she sees herself doing terrible things, and enlists the JLA to help her get to the bottom of it. Eventually the odd trio wind up tangling with armed troops and her clone, who looks suspiciously like DCU supergirl Power Girl (complete with (modest compared to the comic version) cleavage-baring cutout) and discover that she was created to combat Superman in case he should go renegade again someday, as he did in the last year (I think it was) of Superman Adventures. SG has a mental link with her clone, which explains the nightmares, and they discover that the government has been experimenting with metahuman DNA.
I liked how they handled the Question, for the most part, making him a conspiracy theory buff (pretty consistent with previous incarnations) and giving him a sense of humor to boot, as demonstrated by his impromptu singing as he broke into the building where the SG/PG battle was going on. I detect a trend- after Batman's karaoke interlude last week, we now have singing superheroes in two consecutive episodes! Just wait- we're gonna get a Buffy-style musical one of these days. Anyway, as voiced by none other than Dr. Herbert West-the Re-Animator himself, Jeffery Combs, he was the most interesting character in the episode- despite the fact that he really didn't fit in what was essentially a superpowered spandex throwdown. I really hope they bring him back- I'd like to see him interact more with GA and perhaps Batman. I also liked the continuation of storylines and characters from the late, lamented Superman Adventures show, including Professor Hamilton and Lex Luthor.
Something I didn't like, however, was the revelation about Prof Hamilton at the end. And HERE BE SPOILERS- Hamilton was, to the best of my recollection, a benign figure and a friend of Superman and co. in the Adventures show, but here, he's revealed to be the one who's assisting Lexcorp and the government in creating a clone to protect the Earth from another evil Superman incident...and while it makes sense, I liked him better as an ally instead of a deceitful potential foe. It's a small thing, I guess, but it bugged me.
Another thing that bugs me is, oddly enough, the thing that makes JLU as much fun as it is- by showing small groups of superheroes, sometimes they sacrifice logic. You'd think that Superman would be interested in what was going on with his cousin...but he's AWOL in this episode, as is another you'd think would be interested, Batman. Of course, the Question is the Batman substitute this time out, but this situation would seem to command the attention of more than the trio we get plus J'onn J'onzz, once again consigned to monitor duty in the Watchtower. It is, without a doubt, fun to see characters like the Question animated...but it just seems odd not to have other members of the League involved.
All things considered, though, I still like what they're doing so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment