GoFlash

Yeah, that series had a VERY environmentally-conscious Superman, as he could literally see a being's life force (including that of animals). Seeing a creature die would cause him immense emotional pain, so he vowed to protect all life. I always thought that that made little sense, since Clark would probably then consider his parents (who run a FARM) to be murderers. They mentioned it in the story, but it seemed like a very ignored issue. Furthermore, it makes Clark take a moral stand against the Kents, which is essentially blasphemy to the Superman mythos. The problem with that approach - isn't it sort of animal-kingdom-centric as a rationale for vegetarianism? Not to sound too Poison Ivy-ey, but plants are alive, too. They have life force - isn't eating plants murder the same as eating animals? I see the argument for vegetarianism from an environmental perperspective each link up the food chain drops the available energy by about 90%, so it takes a lot more land to feed enough cows to feed a human than it does to feed a human with plants. I understand the health argument - less fat, cholesterol, etc. But it always seemed a bit arbitrary to say "Even though this fish/chicken/cow isn't intelligent, I'm not going to eat it out of respect for life" and then eat plants. If there's no distinction between humans and animals, how do you justify a distinction between animals and plants? Chris

About the court scene in "Blackest Night" I did think it a bit strange that James commented on how weird it was that the setup was similar to Earth courts, and Mike then commented on how there were things happening that weren't allowed in court. Well, alien court, alien rules. Hell, if the rules were anything like ours, John wouldn't be on trial. Kanjar Ro was a) smuggling, b) aiding an insurrection, c) fired upon someone acting in an official capacity. Under Earth (well, American - OK, my bias is showing) law, if a death occurs during the course of a felony, the person committing the felony can be charged with the crime. Kanjar Ro would be the one charged. It did seen that the prosecutor had a beef with the GL Corps. I think that's why he overlooked the fact that Kanjar knew more about the sequence of events than he should have. That's the sort of thing that Nick Charles or Perry Mason would have jumped on to prove there was more going on, but since John wasn't defending himself, it slipped by. In that sense, you can not only accept it, but almost look at it as a hint the writers slipped in to tell us that the hero of the show, in the second story of the series, will not be executed for genocide. In case you were worried. There was another one of those in "Enemy Below" - General Brak is ranting at Aquaman, and Orm cuts him off, citing respect to the king. Brak apologizes - to Orm, not Aquaman. I just caught that on rewatching, but in hindsight, it seems to hint that those two are plotting and that Brak listens to Orm more than to Arthur. Chris

I agree with the main thrust - still, I had thought Batman got out of the shackles himself. Ultrahumanite turned on Lex (which sort of reminded my of the scene in STAS Prototype where Lex fries Iron Man Venom - karma dude), and was the one who made the call on Batman's line to warn the League about the bomb. Chris

I just grooved on the backwards continuity - that chunk gets broken in the S2 Amazo episode (Tabula Rasa), and if I remember right, in that episode we see a shard from the original piece the same shape and size as the one Old Bruce gives Terry in BB "The Call". Chris

Or, you could say that you're Ex-Static. I really am sorry for the pun, but I had no choice. I need a 12-step program or something.

I usually start listening on the way to work - it's becoming a regular event that I don't get through the e-mails before arriving at work (At 41 minutes, pulling into the lot, James is in the middle of the first episode symopsis). I laughed out loud at the Watchmen theme; unfortunately, the blasted song is an ear worm, and got stuck in my head. "Batman Smells" dates back at least to the 70's when I started school - I think it's one of those things that some kid thought up and it just passed down, so no one knows when it actually started. This is part of our oral tradition, my brethren (and sisteren - wait, that sounds like a well or something). As to the JSA/Smallville (I think Daniel Carter is playing Hawkman) - this is the first live action GA GL and Stargirl, but this is not the first live Hawkman. Again, going back to the 70s - "Legends Of The Superheroes" with Adam West, Burt Ward, and Flash, GL (Jordan), Hawkman, Captain Marvel, Huntress, & Black Canary (plus guest appearances by the Atom, Retired Man, and (sigh) Ghetto Man. (I am not making this up)). I think Hawkman was played by Bill Nichols. The one straddler in the Pre/Post Crisis divide is the 1987 Superman Show. It was sort of a mix, but was obviously heavily influenced by John Byrne's "Man Of Steel". Just came out on DVD, and I think is the only DC cartoon between the last season of "Superfriends" and BTAS. Also was Diana's first post-crisis appearance. Oy, and that's just responding to the letters. I haven't even gotten to the meat of the episode yet. Good thing I started doing this on the forums instead of via e-mail. Chris

Always interesting to read things like this. Some of those episode suggestions sound very familiar. Makes you wonder what led to some of the changes - someone just took a character in a different direction? Someone wrote an episode of, say, Mr. Freeze as a crook, and they thought it was too eh? At least the main character wasn't named Starkiller. Chris

When danger reared its ugly head, He bravely turned his tail and fled, Actually, the next day, a friend of hers had a birthday party, so she got to go as Wonder Woman (so technically, she did still dress up as a princess)

Oy. You feel old because you were in high school? Smallville (and Justice League and The Tick - live action) all started after I finished med school. The Simpsons started at the end of high school (and thanks to it's stupid high ratings, The Flash got low ratings and was canceled. Not that I'm bitter). The nice thing about now is everything is available, so I can get my 5 year old daughter to watch Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, Superfriends, and Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends (she likes Firestar because they both have red hair) and actually have her get my references. Although, when she dressed up as a horse for Halloween, she had no idea why Daddy was trailing behind her, banging together two halves of a coconut.... Chris

Of course, they made up for it with, "Your resistance to my charms now ends, As I belt these power chords!" Picture that on a t-shirt. At a bar. On karaoke night. (I wouldn't wear the shirt, but it'd be funny to watch people mock the guy who IS wearing it.) The thing that worked about this episode is that Batman never sang until it was part of his plan. I think that's why this show works. Batman's not making ha ha (with Harley Quinn - sorry, had to complete the line), and only rarely makes a joke; when he does, it's on the wry to sarcastic spectrum. It's the right mix between Batman being serious with the show around him supplying most of the humor. Chris

Unfortunately, in the first season, they gave him way too many opportunities to show that...but they've owned up. Chris

Responding to a couple of questions in the review: As to the 6 month time lag - the dish was designed to detect deep space anomalies. Because of this, the invaders would have to disable it before the Imperium ship starts moving - by the time the Imperium ship gets close to orbit, the dish would have long since picked it up. 6 months for Mars to Earth probably isn't that unreasonable, especially considering they may have been on opposite sides of the sun. About the White Martian/Green Martian war lasting centuries - I would argue that the Whites aren't just attacking a peaceful race. They're attacking a peaceful race of shapeshifting telepaths who are close to Superman's class for strength. A better question is, if you're going up against an entire race with J'onn's capabilities, how the hell do you win in only 500 years? (Yes, I know, they were psychic vampires - maybe that's how they duplicated Superman and Hawkgirl's thought patterns to fool J'onn). Incidentally, Green and White Martians were initially describde in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Warlord of Mars series. The protagonist was John Carter, likely the namesake for J. Allen Carter. (Much as General Wells was named for H.G. Wells). As to the proto-League being trapped in the glop with weapons, I can't explain Hawkgirl's mace. For GL, though, can you even take a Green Lantern ring off involuntarily? Doesn't it come with a bike lock or something? I seem to remember that there's only a certain way it can be done, and that Hal Jordan once told Batman how to do it, just in case. Anyone know if that's true, or just my imagination? Chris

The thought processes may be compatible - I'm skeptical about whether the chemical receptors would be that similar. We're more closely related to other Earth mammals than Kryptonians, Thanagarians, or Martians, but if you give theobromine to a dog, it's poison. If you give theobromine to a woman (especially if it comes from Godiva or Ghirardelli, and in the case of my wife, especially if it's dark rather than milk chocolate), she typically is much happier about the whole thing. My brain's a little ADHD today - now I'm wondering about a business selling empty Godiva boxes for guys to fill with, say, Hersheys. But that would be evil. And would probably get me in trouble.

I was actually just in the middle of talking about those books, actually. To which would you be referring? As far as I'm aware, even the earliest SW novels have villains who believe themselves to be good. (Thrawn, Daala, etc.) Oh, no no no. I'm not talking about the books that started with Tim Zahn's series in the early 90s. I'm talking about books like "The Glove of Darth Vader" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glove_of_Darth_Vader - which actually was written about the same time. I could have sworn, when I picked it up in the discount bin at Barnes & Noble for my younger brothers in the mid 90's, that it was at least 10 years old. (My brothers are 15 and 18 years younger than I, but were still too old for this POS book at 5-7). No, I agree - I liked the way they went in the books, where most Imperials felt they were promoting order and security, with some "understandable" limitations on liberty to balance. You may not agree, but you can understand their motivation. Chris

Maybe they just went the cheesy vampire film way out: "Ummmmm...Sunblock? SPF 300?" "Fine! Go with that!" Have fun with it. During that scene at the beginning when he's walking down the street, play the theme from "Shaft".

"Uh, it's part of the War On Terror." (modern) "Despite having no connection whatsoever with the League, I decided to sponsor them out of the goodness of my heart" (Silver Age) (and I'll secretly join later and romance Black Canary - oh, wait, that's Queen Industries, not Wayne Industries) "They are my personal troubleshooters and bodyguards" - wait, no, that's Stark International...

Honestly, it's not even a question of strength. How similar are the different biochemistries? Will the molecule get absorbed and travel to the brain, cross the blood-brain barrier, and bind to a receptor that will cause sedation-unconsciousness-anesthesia? In 4 different species? I believe Krypton and Thanagar are written as human habitable, but the atmosphere of Mars certainly isn't breathable by humans (I think I made a comment once about wishing that J'onn complained about how bland our air smells at some point). Chris

The way I explained it to myself was in relation to the deep space scanning he was already involved in at the beginning. Wayne Industries was building this satellite to serve as an orbital platform for the same thing, and after the events of Secret Origins, he modified the end of the construction (the lifesystem arrangements, mainly) to serve as the Watchtower. If most of the construction was already completed, this also shortens the time it would take to build something like that and get it launched. Granted, I think my posts and e-mails make it pretty clear that my default position is to try to justify most anything we see in the DCAU (although, I did NOT try to justify "Toys In The Hood" in ANY WAY. I have my limits)...

BTW, with Wonder Woman being formed of clay and given life - wouldn't that technically mean that she's a golem? (Sort of like Grundy from the Xanth series, except without such a big mouth). If I remember the first Crisis correctly, she was actually killed by being turned back into a lump of clay, hence the relaunch in 1987-ish. Does make you wonder what the hell kind of knockout gas the invaders were using, doesn't it? Apparently, they found something that affects: A golem A Kryptonian under yellow sunlight A Thanagarian A Martian A normal human (GL) A metahuman, who probably breathes faster than normal, so will take in more gas, but also has an accelerated metabolism (so should have woken up sooner) Not only did it work on all of them, there were no differences in their reactions (such as, no one went so deeply under that they stopped breathing and died), and they all woke up at the same time. Huh? Granted, I'm not an anesthesiologist, but I'm pretty sure that such a gas would be a pretty tough cookie to make. Chris

I downloaded it last night, and didn't make it through the e-mail segment yet on the way to work (45 minutes! Oy!) As to Hippolyta's hair color - I actually expected her to be blond, after seeing Cloris Leachman (Frau BLUCHER!) and Carolyn Jones (Morticia Addams) play her as dark blondes in the TV show - pre-crisis. (My wife and daughter have a "Steve Trevor has to be saved by Wonder Woman - again!" alert when watching the old show.) Her only post-crisis appearance before Justice League was as a brunette (and I'm curious as to whether anyone other than me remembers where that appearance was). While on the subject of JL alerts, for at least the first season, I think we need a "Flash trips on a rock" alert". I think I remember reading an interview in which the creators said that the characters they felt were most crippled that first season were Flash and Superman. They said Superman's was for dramatic purposes - if the Black Hat can do this to Superman, he/she/it/they must be a serious threat - but the creators admitted that they probably overdid it. The problem with Flash is that the speed gives him so many options that most fights are over before the antagonist realizes what's going on (even by Season 2, he outsmarts Lord Batman and goes toe to toe with Lord Superman, throwing him through a building). They overplayed the cocky goofball aspect and kept making him trip, etc, because they had problems figuring out how to keep him from disarming and tying up all of the bad guys before Batman gets his hand down to his utility belt for his first Batarang. Not that I'm biased towards Flash at all. Nope.

Oy, James. Good thing for you I'm not a big sports fan. Out here, it's all high school sports and UH. If I cared about sports, and heard you calling They Who Don't Deserve To Be Named to Rainbow Warriors, I might have to stand up for the 'Bows honor. Of course, I don't care, but did you know you were putting them on the University of Hawaii team? As to Mike's wish that they run into Bats, the first thing that ran through my head was Terry's self-description from "Return of the Joker". Those two are exactly the kind of punks he wouldn't have wasted a second punch on, back in the day (Always loved that line). While I agree it would have been nice if they brought it up sooner, I liked the fact that Richie using his rocket skates requires his intelligence - I never understood how people like Iron Man could really keep up with everything they needed to do to fight in high-tech gear. Chris

With Speedwarp (or Speedbump, towards the end), Here's how his powers work. He can change the rate of time for himself and apparently can extend that to others. When sped up, his personal time is passing faster than that of the rest of the world. This gives him powers similar to those of a speedster, but with some slight differences. For example, he can speed up things he's trying to affect, so that they don't come apart at superspeed. Around Flash 132, Flash broke both legs (for a week). While in a wheelchair, he mentioned that he'd passed a Porsche that morning...until his rims melted. How do I know? Cause Speedwarp is Zoom. The second Reverse Flash, Hunter Zolomon, was crippled by Grodd and asked Wally West to use the Cosmic Treadmill to go back in time and undo his accident. When Flash refused, Hunter tried to use the Treadmill himself, but it exploded, leaving him with the powers above. He was defeated the first time by...freezing him in slowed time. Add to the fact that Speedbump wore a red suit, with a circular emblam on his chest and a cowl, while moving at superspeed...hmmm. I wonder what comics they were reading that day? Did anyone else catch that Eddie's last name was Felson...as in "Fast Eddie" Felson from The Hustler? I do have to say - first, congrats to Eddie on being the first DCAU villain to actually take off a hero's mask. Second, given the stalking scene at the end, and that he knew Virgil's identity, I think that "I know where you live" might actually have been a more effective, creepier threat than "I'll TELL THE WORLD! BWAH-HA-HA!" Chris

I wish they would have put Impulse in there - if nothing else, watching Flash get exasperated at a more extreme version of himself would have been fun. (and of course, Impulse was considered when they pitched JL to Kids WB) Stylistically, though, he would have fit better in Teen Titans - thinking to early Impulse comics and the non-verbal thought balloons, I can see that working well. As far as Mike's puritanical streak, taking certain comments by themselves, I can see where the impression would come from. Child abuse (See No evil) Domestic abuse (Mad Love) Superhero extra-relationship affairs (Terry & Melanie) Pretty much all of Toyz In THe Hood I wouldn't call Mike puritanical, but there certainly are social issues (sometimes subtle ones) that he picks up on and speaks about, and does so with no small amount of passion. I wouldn't buy a black hat with a buckle on it any time soon, though... Incidentally, the scheme that Professor Menace claimed in the Soul Power episode was actually used in "The Flash" series from 90-91. A black superhero (Nightshade) defeated a technology-based opponent named The Ghost (played, I kid you not, by an actor names Anthony Stark). During the destruction of his lair, the Ghost slipped into a cry0 tube and slept from 1955 until 1990. Nightshade, now about 60, and the Flash teamed up to take him down. Chris

I think the key phrase there might be "let his father figure"... I love the idea of Luthor in clips like Hitler's speeches - that would have been a very strong image. Couple things - as to Superman's funeral, at the time, it was a major news event - plus, this group of guys have covered it twice in the past 6 years. "Hereafter" in 2003 and "Superman: Doomsday" (in this family of movies) in 2006. I think they could argue that this has been brought up enough recently to justify the inclusion. Grodd's mental power is 'force of mind" most of the time, it's portrayed more as the ability to control & influence. He seems to be more of a projecting telepath than a receiving one. I don't know about Captain Marvel taking off his costume, but I know he's manifested as Captain Marvel's body in civilian clothes in the past. As to Batman smashing the computer...Mike. Really. You run a website, and you're not familiar with networked computers? How about off-site backup? The files were probably on a mainframe accessed via the computer in the room where they confronted Luthor. Since that computer was executing the "delete" command, disconnecting it may have preserved the original files, allowing them to be accessed from another computer. My biggest problem with Power Girl was that she wasn't written as Power Girl. She was written as Supergirl. Too nice. Where's that tough girl edge? As to Waller's design, the only thing that comes to mind, looking in silhouette, is, "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" Chris

I don't know how much Alva really changes his character throughout the series. His priorities change, but he's pretty gray throughout- sometimes he helps, sometimes he's an antagonist, but he's always motivated by self-interest. They didn't do nearly as much as they could have with that aspect of him, but I always like gray characters - they make for more interesting stories (and, they're probably more realistic than, say, some of the old Star Wars books where the Imperials gather to toast to evil. "Yeah! Evil!") Chris