The Justice Society of America, precursor to the Justice League, was the first comic book superhero team, first appearing in 1940's All Star Comics #3. As the years went by, DC would introduce the concept of alternate Earths with the JSA belonging to Earth 2 while the JLA was formed on Earth 1. The teams would join forces regularly during epic "Crisis" crossover events. In spite of being first, the JSA has been less favored by onscreen media, owing in part the team's membership of lesser known heroes compared to those on the Justice League.
2010 was a prolific year for superhero shows; and while bigger isn't always better, among this year's output of nuggets there were a fair number of gems. On the other hand some of these nuggets should be tossed aside last last week's left over McDonald's 20 piece. In this part 1, we will revisit shows that arrived during the pre-summer season of 2010.
Human Target
In January, Fox launched the second attempt at a Human Target television series based on the Vertigo (DC) comic book series. Although the series found a big enough audience for a second season, dwindling numbers seem to forecast a dim outlook for the show's future.
Black Panther The Black Panther animated mini-series created in the motion comic style was intended to debut on BET, but ended up hitting airwaves in Australia in January, later arriving online in the US. I am not sure what all the issues were, but the Marvel Disney merger may have had an effect on this release as it did on other animation projects. In any case, its always nice for a new character to headline his own series. Hopefully Daredevil won't be far behind.
Planet Hulk
February's Direct to Video debut of Planet Hulk was one of the year's early surprises. Many fans of Marvel's animated movies may have felt some Hulk saturation after the Jolly Green One appeared in 4 of the first 6 films. But the 5th time was the charm as this interesting variation offered a fresh take on the character while keeping in plenty of "smash!"
Defendor
Woody's realistic take on street vigilante's found its way to the US in February earning $44,000 in its theatrical debut and somehow paving the way for a similar themed project for Dwight in Super.
The Justice Society of America
Even though Smallville has been on for years, the 9th season featured the first onscreen appearance of the classic Justice Society of America team, the first superhero team in comics (debuting in 1940). Although members of the JSA had appeared elsewhere previously either solo or as members of the Justice League, this was the first time the JSA got some well deserved attention. Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and Stargirl got most of the focus along with nemesis Icicle.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
In late February, DC countered with a Direct To Video of its own. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths made use of a long dormant script originally planned for as a movie for the Justice League animated series. The story inspired by the Justice League Earth 2 comic saw the League taking on alternate Earth evil counterparts, known as the Crime Syndicate led by the nefarious Owl Man.
The Spectre
Accompanying the Justice League movie was The Spectre, a fantastic ten minute short ushering in DC's new and possible short lived Showcase line focusing on lesser know heroes.
The Losers
As summer neared, a couple of clunkers hit the big screen starting with The Losers. This A-Team wanna-be team of underdogs failed to capture a mainstream audience. On the other this film gave DC's Vertigo its second live-action adaption of the year.
Kick Ass
Spring ended with the ultra violent adaptation of the Kick-Ass comic which earned decent enough reviews and a fair box office earning total of $48 million. Though there is talk of a sequel, its doubtful that hard R heroes are the next big thing.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths was not the first, nor dare I say will it be the last time that members of the Justice League had run ins with alternate versions of themselves.
Universe of Evil
The first such show depicting such shenanigans occurred in the Universe of Evil episode of The World's Greatest Super Friends. In the adventure Superman traded places with a Super Enemy version of Superman from a parallel world.
While the evil Superman was dealt with by the Super Friends, good Superman had to contend with a pink Batman and mustached Robin,
an eye-patch wearing Aquaman, an ugly mug Wonder Woman,
and even an evil Gleek. The episode was a big hit.
Brave New Metropolis
Though not formally introduced, Superman caught a glimpse of himself that could have been had he ever lost his love Lois Lane. In the episode Brave New Metropolis of Superman: The Animated Series, a parallel world Superman teamed up with Lex Luthor to bring order to chaos. This Superman was essentially the same good-intentioned alien, but maybe a bit dumber for ever trusting Luthor. He did have a talented tailor though.
Legends
The Justice League animated series loved alternate worlds. The first was depicted in the episode Legends in which League members met up with characters very similar to the Justice Society. This team, named the Justice Guild, contained The Streak an analog of the Jay Garrick Flash, the Green Guardsman, patterned after Green Lantern Alan Scott, Catman a blend of Batman and Wildcat, Black Siren an obvious clone of Black Canary, and Tom Turbine who was a bit The Atom Al Pratt with a dash of Superman mixed in.
The Savage Time
In The Savage Time, Vandal Savage altered history by influencing the outcome of World War II. Fortunately, most of the League was shielded from a temporal ripple that rewrote history. Batman was not. Ever the crusader of justice, the revised world Batman still came to be as leader of an underground movement against Savage.
A Better World
Shockingly, the Justice League episode A Better World opened with Superman murdering a corrupt President Lex Luthor. Turns out, this was a parallel world were the League dubbed themselves the Justice Lords and imposed a stricter order on the world. There were Lord versions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern, but their Flash was dead (full disclosure, the image is actually from a different episode, but this was the only picture I could find of the whole team of Lords). Eventually Leaguers and Lords clashed and of course, it was the Batmen that turned the tide.
Deep Cover for Batman!
In the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode Deep Cover for Batman!, Batman and Owlman traded places. In Owlman's world, all of Batman's former allies had evil counterparts. forming the Injustice Syndicate. In the mirror world, The Atom, Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, and Fire were called Dyna-Mite, Rubber Man, Blue Bowman, Silver Cyclone, Scarlet Scarab Barracuda, and Blaze.
In this world, the villains were good guys with Red Hood replacing The Joker as their leader with other heroic villains resembling Gorilla Grodd and Black Manta.
The showdown with Owlman himself would have to wait until the next episode.
Game Over for Owlman!
In order to defeat the team-up of Owlman and scads of other villains, the Season 1.0 finale of Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode Game Over for Owlman! allowed Batman to assemble a team of elseworlds Batmen to even the odds. Among the recruits were the cowboy themed Batrider, hulking Bat Ape, vampiric Bruce Wayne of Earth-43 mechanical War-Bat, swashbuckling Leatherwing, and thoughtful Batbrain.
The Super-Batman of Planet X!
In another episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold titled The Super-Batman of Planet X!, Batman traveled to the world of Zur-En-Arrh where he met a crime fighting Batman with a secret identity as a mild-mannered reported. Though this worlds Batman had no super powers, the original Batman developed Superman like skills.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
In Crisis on Two Earths, the Justice League crossed paths with a Crime Syndicate - hero doppelgangers that formed a mafia like crime family. Ultraman led the pack along with Power Ring, Johnny Quick, Super Woman, Owlman (fun fact: owls hunt bats), and alien J'edd J'arkus.
Like Mary Marvel, Superwoman was a member of a super powered family, evil versions of Captain Marvel, Uncle Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. Other Syndicatees included Hakgirl's analog Angelique, Black Lightnings' Black Power, Vibe's Breakdance, Elongated Man's Extruded Man, Vixen's Vamp, Looker's Model Citizen, Katana's Sai, Gypsy's Gypsy Woman, Halo's Aurora, Wonder Woman's Olympia, Lobo's Warwolf, Black Canary's Scream Queen, Green Arrow's Archer, and even little Jimmy Olsen's Mr. Action (click for more info).
Jester and Alexander Luthor were alterna-worlds good guys and in the parallel Earth the President was Slade Wilson better known in comics as Deathstroke the Terminator; His daughter Rose in other worlds is known as Ravager member of the Teen Titans.
Dr. Fate is pretty much DC comics ultimate magic wielder. Created in the 1940's he has long been a member of the Justice Society of America, but it wasn't until 1997 that he made his onscreen debut as a guest star in Superman: The Animated Series' The Hand of Fate.
Doc F. would return for appearances in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. In the episode The Terror Beyond, Fate teamed with Aquaman and Solomon Grundy paying homage to the Marvel team the Defenders consisting of Dr. Strange, Namor, and Hulk.
In the episode, Wake the Dead, the homage continued with Amazo joining the group (filling in for the role of the Silver Surfer).
Dr. Fate was given a couple of frames in the Justice League: The New Frontier movie's opening credits depicting the rejection of the JSA.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold welcomed Fate back into the mix (though his helmet no longer covered the side of his face).
Most recently, Society member Dr. Fate came out of retirement on Smallville.
Only fate will tell, but this may not be the last we have seen of old bell head.
Just a couple of weeks before they were set to arrive in Smallville, the Justice Society will appear tonight on Batman: The Brave and the Bold's episode, The Golden Age of Justice. Honestly, episodes featuring Wildcat haven't really been great yet, so here is to hoping tonight's breaks the streak.
2010 is upon us and this is your guide for what to expect from:
02 Feb 2010 - Planet Hulk
One of 2010's first treats will be the animated Planet Hulk DtV described as, "When the Hulk becomes too dangerous for the Earth, the Illuminati trick Hulk into a shuttle and launch him into space to a planet where the Hulk can live in peace. Unfortunately, the Hulk's struggle to escape and a malfunction in the shuttle causes Hulk to land on the planet Sakaar where he is sold into slavery and trained as a gladiator. With the aid of fellow gladiators Hiroim, Korg, Miek, and Elloe Kaifi, the Hulk forms the Warbound in a plot to overthrow the Red King." The last Marvel DtV, Hulk Vs was well received and this one will probably be as well. Unfortunately, this will be the solo release from Marvel this year.
05 Feb 2010 - Absolute Justice
Anticipation for the Smallville two-parter featuring the Justice Society was so high, the network decided to build a movie event. Absolute Justice will feature Dr. Fate, Stargirl, Hawkman, and cameos by other Society members including the Green Lantern and Sandman.
23 Feb 2010 - Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
Also in the jam-packed yet tiny month of February will be the release of the Justice League alternate Earth movie. Not sure if this alternate Earth Joker is supposed to be good or bad, but either way, he should be entertaining.
23 Feb 2010 - The Spectre
Packaged with the Crisis movie will be DC's first in a new line of hero shorts featuring lesser knowns like Señor Spectre. Not sure he is going to be the next big thing, but these shorts are pretty nice way to sell a few extra DVDs.
16 Apr 2010 - Kick-Ass
Yet another take on "real" superheroes. I guess this one is supposed to be extra violent. Sounds fun.
07 May 2010 - Iron Man 2
The most anticipated superhero show of 2010 has to be Iron Man 2. I hope this doesn't pull a Spider-Man 3 because its stuffed full of characters. You get not only Iron Man, but War Machine, Black Widow, Whiplash, Justin Hammer, and of course Nick Fury. Either way, its going to make a ton, possibly becoming the biggest movie of 2010.
18 Jun 2010 - Jonah Hex
Rather than releasing a new Superman or Batman movie or even going with the Flash, Wonder Woman, Blue Beetle, Plastic Man, Captain Marvel, Green Arrow, or even Aquaman WB opted for Jonah Hex- basically an old west bounty hunter that looks like Two-Face. This one might get lost in the summer crowd.
Classic Show DVD releases
On January 5, Wendy and Marvin will finally make their DVD debut on the Super Friends Season 1, Volume 1 release. Not really sure how the folks at Warner decided the release order for this show but I guess its finally season 1's moment.
On March 3, its rumored that the final volume of the X-Men animated series will be released including the Captain America / Wolverine team-up. And that's a look at whats coming in the first half of this year, stay tuned for part 2 coming soon.
Because you demanded it, here are more pics of Smallville's Justice Society. Hawkman, Stargirl, and Dr. Fate are the main three Society members who will appear and the looks of all three of them are pretty true to their comic book designs.
It interesting to see the creators coming around with these designs. Could we be seeing some tights and or flights soon? Or maybe at least some more traditional costumes for the Leaguers? Hope so.
Here it is, the preview for the Justice Society on Smallville:
Not only did this little bitty show us our first glimpse of Dr. Fate, but it looks like DC's Sandman is going to be a part of the team as is possibly Alan Scott- the JSA's own Green Lantern. This looks to be a huge event in the making. Absolute Justice airs on February 5th. In the mean time, enjoy some screen grabs below.
The Hand of Fate
Sandman
The Ring of Green
Hawkman as previously revealed.
One more for good measure- The Society (Speculative identies from left to right- Star Spangled Kid, Wildcat, Atom Smasher, Sandman, The Spectre, Flash (Jay Garrick), Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Hourman, Dr. Midnite, Liberty Belle, Mr. Terrific)
