MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological, sociological*
Until I rescreeened Season 2's episodes back-to-back, I'd never noticed how heavily the stories referenced two previous animated storylines.
One was the plot-thread with which the 1996-2000 SUPERMAN cartoon concluded. In my review I asserted that I didn't think the serial's writers came up with a compelling characterization of the title hero, and it didn't particularly help that the last arc of the series dealt with Superman being brainwashed by "false father" Darkseid. Superman inevitably breaks free, but the events of the arc turn some of his former allies-- particularly Professor Hamilton-- and possibly cost the hero some of his sunny disposition. We don't see much of the traumatized Man of Steel in the two seasons of JUSTICE LEAGUE, but I think that in JLU the writers wanted to portray Superman as more obsessive and morally conflicted because of his trauma.
The second storyline appeared in "A Better World," a second-season episode of JUSTICE LEAGUE. In an alternate world, the Justice League became corrupted after Flash died at the hands of Luthor and Superman summarily killed the evildoer. This led the heroes to become an oppressive world government, an idea the writers probably derived from the successful 1990s series THE AUTHORITY. I thought, and still think, that the emphasis on "things falling apart" when Superman was compromised in some way also descended from Mark Waid's mediocre 1996 series KINGDOM COME. However, I admit that the JLU writers were going for a more sociopolitical angle, critiquing the show's own heroes in terms of a "who watches the watchmen" ethic. (The familiar phrase appears in the season's last episode.)
THE CAT AND THE CANARY (F)-- The first season teased the fan-fave DC romance of Green Arrow and Black Canary, but the second season builds "Greenary" up big-time. In this iteration, Wildcat, originally a tough boxer in a costume, trained Black Canary in the fighting-arts, and she talks Arrow into helping her when her old mentor becomes obsessed with illegal cage-fighting. The Canary plans to fight Wildcat to make him see reason, but Arrow, perhaps out of misplaced gallantry, takes her place in the cage. Half-killing Arrow in the ring is enough to make the aging boxer-hero realize that he's almost crossed a line-- which speaks to the second season's critique of power, albeit in a purely personal manner.
THE TIES THAT BIND (F)-- Mister Miracle and Big Barda, Earth-dwelling refugees from Apokolips, are drawn into an internecine war on that world of evil, when their buddy Oberon is kidnapped by Granny Goodness. The two heroes reach out to the Justice League, but J'onn doesn't want the group involved with Darkseid's former flunkies fighting for power. This is pretty cold even for the Martian hero, and the script, partly by luminary Jim Steranko, isn't even consistent on this point. In any event, only the Flash volunteers to help Miracle and Barda in their mission to rescue Darkseid's brutal son Kalibak from Granny's rival, Virman Vundabar. The episode is mostly an excuse to celebrate the richness of Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" concepts, and as such a showcase, it's a decent enough outing.
THE DOOMSDAY SCENARIO (P)-- Both the aforementioned Emil Hamilton and Doomsday return from the SUPERMAN series, and this time Hamilton is allied to a bunch of movers and shakers: Amanda Waller, General Eiling, the sorceress Tala, Professor Milo and Professor Hugo Strange (both from the BATMAN series). Strange doesn't do anything in the entire season, but Milo turns loose Doomsday when Waller fires him. Superman fights Doomsday, and that's about it.
TASK FORCE X (P)-- This is an odd episode, in which ramrod-stiff military man Rick Flag leads three felons-- Plastique, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang-- to invade the League's Watchtower in order to unleash the menace of the robot Annihilator. (Also, another old Bat-TV foe, The Clock King, serves to coordinate the operation.) I suppose the whole thing serves Cadmus' purpose to erode the security of the League, but the episode has little if any future impact on the season's developments, and seems like little more than an excuse to spotlight Task Force X, aka The Suicide Squad.
THE BALANCE (F)-- This is certainly a more "balanced" episode than the JUSTICE LEAGUE tale from which it descends, "Paradise Lost." Felix Faust possesses the armor-shell of the Annihilator, returns to Tartarus, and kicks out Hades. The god Hermes persuades Wonder Woman that this state of affairs compromises a cosmic balance, so she must enter Hell to thwart Faust. Hawkgirl goes along for the ride, and the two heroines are able to overcome their acrimony by stomping Faust and returning Hades to his throne. The death-god strongly implies that he's Diana's true father, though nothing ever comes of this implication.
CLASH (F)-- Lex Luthor appears to be miraculously cured of his Kryptonite cancer, and he runs for US President. Superman is torqued by this state of affairs, so much so that he's annoyed at anyone who doesn't take Luthor's villainy seriously-- including new member Captain Marvel. Luthor mousetraps Superman into looking like an officious fool, not to mention ending up fighting the Captain. The Captain doesn't continue with the League, and Batman reveals that this was all a big frameup by both Luthor and his Cadmus allies.
HUNTER'S MOON (F)-- The League responds to a distress signal from outer space, and the team assigned to investigate is made up of Hawkgirl, Vixen, and Vigilante. This is the first speaking role for golden-oldie hero Vigilante, who reveals that he resents Hawkgirl for having betrayed the Earth to her Thanagarian people. In addition, Vixen is somewhat leery of the winged heroine, since HG had a thing with Vixen's current heartthrob, the John Stewart Green Lantern. The source of the signal turns out to be a contingent of Hawkgirl's people, who hate her for betraying them, which weakened their struggle against their Gordanian opponents. As in "The Balance," the heroes are able to overcome their animosities through their League "esprit de corps," though "Moon" is better since it's involving cultural loyalties.
QUESTION AUTHORITY (G)-- This is the first of a four-part arc dealing with Cadmus seeking to take out the League for good, partly in response to the Question hacking the Cadmus system and learning their secrets. The Question, however, is deeply distressed when he accesses info about the confidential "Justice Lords" incident. The somewhat addled hero instantly believes that the history of the alternate world will be duplicated in this one, so he attempts to kill Luthor so that Superman will not do so and so become corrupted. However, Luthor, manifesting a mysterious super-strength, defeats Question and turns him over to Cadmus. Question is tortured for information, but Huntress talks Superman into invading the Cadmus facility to rescue her boyfriend. However, one Cadmus conspirator, General Eiling, has called upon League-member Captain Atom, still a member of the Air Force, to serve as a Cadmus watchdog.
FLASHPOINT (G)-- Though Huntress escapes with Question and Superman defeats Captain Atom, Luthor launches a new counter-offensive against the orbiting Watchtower. Luthor hacks the JL computer and causes a cannon to fire down at Earth, destroying an uninhabited Cadmus site. Though no one is killed, the villains succeed in making the nearby civilians think that the superheroes caused chaos trying to strike back at their enemies (though I don't know how much the citizenry knows about the secret Cadmus project). The government becomes highly suspicious of the League despite the heroes' attempts to defend themselves. Amanda Waller is also deceived by Luthor's chicanery and orders a direct attack on the satellite, consisting of dozens of mindless Ultimen clones, all under the control of the vengeful Supergirl-clone, Galatea.
PANIC IN THE SKY (G)-- Six of the League's seven founding members surrender themselves to US authorities to allay society's fears. Batman alone scorns the gesture ("he took it better than I thought he would," says Superman). While the founders are elsewhere, the Watchtower is attacked by Galatea and the Ultimen, so that most of the defending heroes are more in the nature of bit-players. Supergirl takes center-stage as she squares off against her clone, who tries to beat the Girl of Steel to death so that Galatea can be the only Supergirl. Despite a lack of blood or bruises, the SG-G is one of the show's best hand-to-hand fights. However, arguably despite Supergirl's triumph Batman makes the biggest contribution, for he shows Waller evidence of the Luthor hack. However, when Batman and Waller seek to arrest the evil scientist, he bests them as he did Question and reveals that he's become a cyborg thanks to an invasion by Brainiac, an invasion of which Luthor wasn't consciously aware.
DIVIDED WE FALL (G)-- The Luthor-Brainiac cyborg escapes, and unleashes robotic doubles of the Justice Lords, as if to task the heroes with their negative images. The Flash, rather than being the sacrificial lamb whose death brings about the world's corruption, uses his super-speed powers to separate Luthor from his cyborg parts. This excess of speed almost does cost Flash's life, as he enters the domain of "the speed force," but a chain of his League friends pulls him back. Superman is mightily tempted to take vengeance on Luthor anyway but is able to keep from going the way of the "Justice Lord" Superman. In fact, in a public address the Man of Steel proposes disbanding the League, which action would make a good deal of sense given what seems to be the season's critique of unified power. However, Green Arrow, the one most skeptical of the League's oversight, persuades the group not to call it quits. The League does survive for another season, though in line with Superman's decision not to be continue an "army" of superheroes, far fewer DC stalwarts appear in Season Three, even in cameo roles. I guess that's the main significance of the title, but the League is only diminished, not "divided," and it doesn't really "fall." The "army"-like nature of the League didn't even appreciably affect the plots; it just allowed the writers to revisit a lot of favored, if under-rated, DC characters.
EPILOGUE (F)-- Before JLU was granted one last season of 13 more episodes, the producers expected "Epilogue" to be not only the final LEAGUE episode, but the conclusion of the DCAU as well, bringing things back full circle to 1992's BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES. The main story takes place fifteen years after the conclusion of the BATMAN BEYOND series and begins with Future-Batman Terry McGinnis paying a visit to an aged Amanda Waller. McGinnis believes that his mentor, the equally aged Bruce Wayne, tampered with McGinnis's genes in utero, so that McGinnis was born not with the genes of his mother's husband, but with those of Wayne. The big reveal-- which is now 20 years old-- is that Wayne didn't do the deed, but Waller did, for she was a late convert to the belief that "there must always be a Batman." There's just one flashback scene involving the 21st-century members of the League, including a younger Wayne-Batman, so technically it's not a JLU adventure. Still, the scenes between McGinnis and crotchety old Wayne are rewarding, if not especially profound.
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