Episode 92

[RSS]

Supergirl crosses paths with her government-controlled clone, setting up the epic Cadmus storyline ("Fearful Symmetry"). Booster Gold saves the world, but no one knows it ("The Greatest Story Never Told"). Amazo returns to Earth to face Lex Luthor, and seemingly destroys Oa in the process ("The Return"). A group of young heroes learn a deep, dark truth about themselves ("Ultimatum"). And alien technology threatens the planet, prompting the League to reveal their secret weapon ("Dark Heart"). Oh, and Mike rants about Brett Favre and the sports media. [ 1:59:21 || 54.7 MB ]

The above is from: http://www.worldsfinestpodcast.com/episodes/wfp_092.mp3

[Missy]

Because I know a lot of people will be heading out of town tomorrow, I wanted to post this one a day early.

[Delete]

Not even in a podcast about superhero cartoons can you avoid Brett Favre

[Jake]

Not even in a podcast about superhero cartoons can you avoid Brett Favre

I live in Minnesota so there's no escape for me anywhere. But believe me, I am so very sorry for the rest of you who have to suffer. My deepest, deepest condolences!

[KnightWing]

"The Greatest Story Never Told" is one of my favorite DCAU stories EVER. Science and common sense be damned; this episode is just fun.

[Molly]

So pumped for Fearful Symmetry.

[Koete]

Jeffery Combs' Shran was one of the best parts of Star Trek: Enterprise.

Also, for those interested in the Question's creative origins, here's a post I made a while back:

At the time The Question was created, Ditko was fully into the Objectivist philosophy developed by Ayn Rand. This where the "A is A" and "there is black and there is white, and there is nothing in between" associated with Ditko comes from. Ditko believes that heroes are without flaw and that there is absolute good and absolute evil, with no gray area (an example of the difference between the original and the DC series would be that The Question would never have been beaten at the end). In the original Question stories, it was more about spreading the principles of Objectivist philosophy to Ditko than telling super-hero stories, as Ditko was both writer and artist. They're much deeper than the typical hero and villain punch each other stories. Like the 80's Question series, Vic was a TV reporter. In the original stories, he was always portrayed as taking a stand that was against the belief of the public, and he always proved to be correct in the end. His assistants were 100% loyal to him, while the higher ups at the studio were always enraged the Vic presented opinions unpopular with the public. Vic always got his man and showed no remorse if the criminal he was after died. There's a famous scene where two criminals are being swept away by a current in a sewer and, in the original script, the Question mentions something along the lines of the criminals deserving to die. In the final version, the Question mentions that they deserve their fate, but the police will probably pick them up. While Charlton was very hands off in terms of editing, the original line was a bit too far. After the Question's run ended, Ditko focused on his creator owned character Mr. A, who was created at the same time as The Question. The two were very similar, but Mr. A was free from the restrictions of the Comics Code and as a result, much more intense. While the stories can get pretty heavy handed at times with the Objectivist message, they are still fascinating reads that are unlike any other stories published during the Silver Age.

[Guest TFG1Mike]

I cracked up when I saw The Greatest Story Never Told in the scene where Bats Wonder Woman and Superman are all one being. That is the only good thing about that episode. I agree with James that episode really sucks.

[SteveJRogers]

Hey guys, couple of podcast things

1) So Mike, are you actually competing with Kevin Smith's Smodcast Network now? Kevin now has a pod for every day of the week, including some every now and then shows.

2) There is a podcast that seems to be around for a while though they mark their episodes by "seasons" and it looks like they've taken long hiatuses and such, that, well right now they are going through the current season of Smallville, but is dedicated to DC Comic book characters in other mediums called World's Finest Podcast.

Probably moot to do anything at this point since Earth-2's WFP will be closing up shop early in 2011, but since Mike mentioned how it is a good idea for people to search and see what's out there before going forth with their ideas. But the only reason I've heard about it is because the SupermanHomepage.com features it, and one of their contributors seems to now be a regular on that podcast.

And plus this stuff is free on the net, so even if they have the same name there isn't real reason to do any ceasing and desisting, unless they were fostering Mike's and James' opinions as their own which I doubt is happening.

[Molly]

How can you hate on "Greatest Story"? Booster and Skeets are AMAZING. And I think that comparing Booster to Stifler is... fucked up. Stifler is a pig, Michael Jon Carter, like him or not, has put his life on the line to save the world, time and time and time-travel again. Sure, Booster does want to make some money, but at his heart, he is a really, really good person. Booster has often acted like a money hungry idiot, but when the chips are really down, he always comes through. Sure, he's greedier than he ought to be, but it's never at the expense of the innocent.

[Koete]

How can you hate on "Greatest Story"? Booster and Skeets are AMAZING. And I think that comparing Booster to Stifler is... fucked up. Stifler is a pig, Michael Jon Carter, like him or not, has put his life on the line to save the world, time and time and time-travel again. Sure, Booster does want to make some money, but at his heart, he is a really, really good person. Booster has often acted like a money hungry idiot, but when the chips are really down, he always comes through. Sure, he's greedier than he ought to be, but it's never at the expense of the innocent.

I concur.

[KnightWing]

Damn right!

[Molly]

The preceding posts are Booster-iffic.

[Molly]

Also, fuck Brett Favre in the eye.

Also, also, you sadly neglected to mention the awesomeness that is John C. McGinley as the Atom. Good lord, I love him.

[James D.]

Also, also, you sadly neglected to mention the awesomeness that is John C. McGinley as the Atom. Good lord, I love him.

Shit!! I totally meant to mention that because he is, indeed, a bringer of awesome constantly.

[You Know Who]

I'm with James on this one; even though do like Booster Gold somewhat, "The Greatest Story Never Told" is a rather dull, forgettable episode

[Guest TFG1Mike]

I'm with James on this one; even though do like Booster Gold somewhat, "The Greatest Story Never Told" is a rather dull, forgettable episode

I think Booster is probably good to the fans that have kept up with him in comics. For someone like me who has only really seen him in Greatest Story....He is an ass of a character and I just feel that the ep was a filler. One that I'll never watch again. I will say that Skeets is awesome though.

[KnightWing]

I think Booster is probably good to the fans that have kept up with him in comics. For someone like me who has only really seen him in Greatest Story....He is an ass of a character and I just feel that the ep was a filler. One that I'll never watch again.

Nope. I didn't know a thing about Booster when I saw that episode, and I had the complete opposite reaction. I thought he was a lovably comical narcissist, with plenty of heart underneath. Sorta like Tony Stark, I guess.

Also, that episode completely sold me on the idea of standalone episodes. It might not have contributed to the Cadmus arc, but it was still a wonderful short story in its own right.

[Stavros]

I like that Booster ep, but then I'm a big fan of the old Blue and Gold combination. It's fun to see some JLI banter with Booster and Ralph in there.

The whole episode mirrors Buffy ep "The Zeppo", the least of the members of the group saves the world but no-one else realises it. It's a nice way of making the central character realise his own genuine worth in both cases.

[Guest TFG1Mike]

I like that Booster ep, but then I'm a big fan of the old Blue and Gold combination. It's fun to see some JLI banter with Booster and Ralph in there.

The whole episode mirrors Buffy ep "The Zeppo", the least of the members of the group saves the world but no-one else realises it. It's a nice way of making the central character realise his own genuine worth in both cases.

I can see that Stav... I think my issue is when I watched it I kept thinking isn't this over yet? The episode seemed to just drag on at least for me. Whereas other JL/JLU eps seem to go by in the blink of an eye.

[slothian]

Booster Gold is awesome - James will pay for his insults in episode 99.....

[James D.]

[GoFlash]

Spent yesterday cooking, so just starting listening this morning on the way to work.

Reading the posts, I always liked "Greatest Story". It would have been even more fun if they'd brought in Chunk, from the early Wally West Flash days, but I always though it was a fun episode while at the same time, by the end, Booster really had developed. Billy West and Tom Everett Scott do a great job, and play off each other well, no doubt why they're still doing the roles on Brave & The Bold (Not to say that anyone who was recast WASN'T doing a great job, of course). I also though it was funny that the one Star Trek reference in the JLU (When Booster says "Energize!" and the technician just mutters "Doofus" actually used the term they used in Star Trek, and not just "Beam me up, Scotty."

As to Initiation, there were 3 moments of character stupidity I noticed. One is explainable in terms of plot; two are used to advance the plot.

1. Hamilton talks about how, being invulnerable, surgery must have seemed terribly invasive to Supergirl, so she invented this fantasy to explain it. Problem was, at the time of "Legacy" she'd been invulnerable for what, a year? And vulnerable all her life before that. Still, I don't think Hamilton ever met her before Legacy, so he may well not have know how long she was on Earth at that point.

2. Hardcastle holds off Supergirl with his Kryptonite gun. She's superfast, and has allies with her - and he tells her that he's only got a single shot. Sure, this let GA and Question neutralize it, but really, who's that stupid? Guess it's a good thing generals spend more time with strategy than with tactics.

3. At the end, GA asks why anyone would want to clone Supergirl, which set things up for Question to tie in Legacy and further suggest a conspiracy. Great, but really? GA can't figure out why someone would want that kind of power at their disposal?

The other thing I noted character-wise was that in "Initiation" Green Arrow was the outside, in (pardon the pun) left field compared to the more conventional heroes like Lantern and Captain Atom. Here, in comparision, he's the conventional one, which just emphasizes how kooky Question is.

Chris

[KnightWing]

2. Hardcastle holds off Supergirl with his Kryptonite gun. She's superfast, and has allies with her - and he tells her that he's only got a single shot. Sure, this let GA and Question neutralize it, but really, who's that stupid? Guess it's a good thing generals spend more time with strategy than with tactics.

In the comics, it's established that guns with kryptonite bullets can't easily be dodged by Kryptonians at close range, likely because the tiny amount of K-radiation from the the bullets just sitting inside the gun messes with either their coordination and/or super-speed. Normally that wouldn't matter, but it makes the tiniest fraction of a difference, which, at close range, is enough for the bullet to hit its target.

[GoFlash]

In the comics, it's established that guns with kryptonite bullets can't easily be dodged by Kryptonians at close range, likely because the tiny amount of K-radiation from the the bullets just sitting inside the gun messes with either their coordination and/or super-speed. Normally that wouldn't matter, but it makes the tiniest fraction of a difference, which, at close range, is enough for the bullet to hit its target.

Granted, but there's a big difference between "can't be easily dodged" and "impossible to miss". If I'm trying to intimidate 3 people with a gun, I'm probably not going to clue them in to the fact that I only have one bullet. Maybe his incredible stupidity is the real reason Hardcastle was retired. (I'd make a joke about him working with McCormick, but none of you young'uns would be likely to get it.)

Chris