Going Through The DCAU Part Seventy

Jimmy and Tom have been at this DCAU talk for a long time.

But now, they start a new phase.  And that phase is Justice League.

Jimmy and Tom started at the beginning with the three part “Secret Origins,” and then “In Blackest Night,” and “The Enemy Below”.

“Secret Origins”

When a crisis occurs that’s too big for Superman and Batman, it’s time to call in a new League.

jimmy:  Well, now that’s a good show.

tomk:  Really?  How do you figure?

jimmy:  You see, Tom, when someone enjoys something they say that it is “good”. And when they don’t, they say “Krull is a horrible, horrible movie”.

tomk:  Well, that story checks out.

What did you like?

jimmy:  The story was excellent, even if the invaders were cliched and nondescript. Original recipe Batman. The league coming together (I’m a sucker for origin stories.)

tomk:  Ah.

Well, the invaders were probably roughly based off the White Martians from Grant Morrison’s first JLA storyline.

jimmy:  Which I did read, but was so long ago I couldn’t tell you anything about it.

tomk:  Well, there were some Martians of the White Martian variety that tried to take over the Earth and new Justice League stopped them.

jimmy:  Sounds…similar.

tomk:  See?

How you’re probably missing the real J. Alan Carter, a true American hero.

jimmy:  I am?

tomk:  Why wouldn’t you?  Dude died in the cold open.

jimmy:  Poor astronaut guy.

tomk:  Named, as he was, after Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, and Carter Hall.

jimmy:  How do you know that?

tomk:  Because it’s the sort of thing DC does?

jimmy:  DC.  shakes head

tomk:  I think Bruce Timm said as well.

They stuck Snapper Carr in as a newsman.

Why not reference all kinds of DC characters?

jimmy:  It was interesting to see Wonder Woman treated like a complete newbie. Your memory is better than mine, had we seen Green Lantern and Hawkgirl before this?

tomk:  Hawkgirl, no. Probably why Batman specifically asks about her by name. And while we haven’t seen John Stewart before, Superman did do a team up with Kyle Rayner.

jimmy:  It’s an interesting mix, with the Big 3 and the others chosen for diversity. Female version of Hawkman, African American Green Lantern and…the last Martian. (Oh, and that guy who will never star in his own movie.)

tomk:  Michael Rosenbaum?  Tough but true.

jimmy:  So this show started in 2001. I was still reading comics at that point (though mostly trades and stuff like 100 Bullets) , but wasn’t watching much in the way of cartoons outside of things like The Simpsons, so this show was completely off my radar.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of the opening credits.

I do find the animation not quite as good as previous shows, but I think that part of that is that it is a more “cartoon-y” style.

The character designs of Batman and Superman are different as well, and will take some getting used to.

tomk:  The opening credits are early CGI work.  The theme music is, at least, quite good.

jimmy:  It’s no BTAS. Or even STAS or BB for that matter. It’s not bad, just not very memorable. Maybe it will grow on me.

tomk:  And since I’ve seen the whole series, I’ll add that the pilot story is actually only so-so to me. There’s a lot better stuff down the road. Justice League and Justice League Unlimited are why I argue the DCAU rivals the MCU for long form superhero storytelling.

But for openings, nothing beats BTAS. And Superman’s show credits were mostly clips from different episodes.

jimmy:  Yeah, the visuals for Supes was nothing special, but a great score. Agreed about BTAS.

tomk:  The fact that they used what sounds like an old school orchestra is generally impressive in any animated series.

Unlimited will go with a “power guitar” version of this theme.

jimmy:  Batman Beyond style.

tomk:  Something like that.

All I’ll say for now is season one of JL can be a little rough.

I mean, did you believe for a moment they killed off Batman?

jimmy:  No.

tomk:  Something else they probably borrowed from Morrison there:  Batman saves the others from the alien trap.

jimmy:  I feel like I need to revisit the first JLA arc.

tomk:  It holds up pretty well. And Morrison always reads better in trade form.

But hey, Conroy is still Batman.

jimmy:  Yay!  He’s back, baby!

tomk:  He never really left.

But as for Tim Daly…

jimmy:  Yeah, what’s his deal?

tomk:  Daly was too busy with a revival of The Fugitive. Superman was, as a result, recast. And, quite frankly, I think George Newbern does a better job. He and Daly do still voice Superman in various direct-to-DVD animated movies. Conroy costars with both, as does Susan Eisenberg.

jimmy:  New Supes is not bad, just something else to get used to.

tomk:  He gets more to do over time.

Like, there’s a warmth to Newbern’s Superman.

Daly is just the straight arrow hero guy.

jimmy:  Back to Morrison’s JLA, looking at the cover for issue #1, we have pretty much the same team, with Jon Stewart in place of Kyle Rayner. And Hawkgirl filling in for Watson fave Aquaman…who seems like an obvious exclusion here.

tomk:  Aquaman does come in for special appearances.

Morrison’s team was basically the Big Seven classic League. We got John (not Jon) Stewart and Hawkgirl for diversity.

jimmy:  And a lot of the generation that grew up watching this love John Stewart, and have no attachment to Hal Jordan (or Kyle for that matter).

tomk:  Yeah, and for good reason. The first attempt at a live action Justice League movie from Mad Max director George Miller was going to use John as the GL.

jimmy:  Instead we got this:

tomk:  No, we didn’t. Deadpool used time travel to prevent it.

jimmy:  Deadpool is the greatest.

tomk:  But he isn’t on the Justice League.

jimmy:  Also not on the Justice League:  Batman.

tomk:  Batman has his own League.

jimmy:  Well, that’s a new one to me.

tomk:  Batman always does things his own way.

Besides, you learned from Batman Beyond that Batman never formally joined the team.

jimmy:  Yes. I did remember that, so I wasn’t totally shocked at the end when he said “Here’s a secret multi-billion dollar space station I just had kicking around that you guys can use. I’m going back to my cave.”

tomk:  Why go into space when you can have a cave?

jimmy:  That’s exactly why I don’t go.

tomk:  You got a cave of your own?  A mancave?

jimmy:  Indeed.

tomk:  OK, so, you got Superman and Batman. What about the others? Any stand out to you?

jimmy:  J’onn is interesting as he appears to be a cross between Marvel’s Vision and a Skrull. John almost seems like the defacto experienced leader. I mentioned Wonder Woman already and her newbie status. Hawkgirl didn’t do much for me and could (at this point anyway) be any flying character with a big hammer. Flash flirting with Wonder Woman was funny…though they didn’t give him a whole lot else to do.

tomk:  Well, J’onn is sometimes credited as the first Silver Age DC hero. He basically has all of Superman’s powers plus shapeshifting, telepathy, and intangibility. The show cuts him down a bit to mostly his non-Superman powers plus the flight, but sometimes we see the superstrength. Classic comic book J’onn has a weakness to fire and could also turn invisible.

Hawkgirl is supposed to be the team berzerker and she does have a backstory that comes out gradually.

The Flash is comic relief.

And John is an ex-Marine.

We get a lot more on John in the next two-parter.

jimmy:  He definitely has a military feel to him in these opening episodes. Being a space cop probably adds to that as well.

tomk:  He also doesn’t do much in the way of constructs. It’s a concussive blast or a shield most of the time.

jimmy:  That’s all you need really. Making giant hands or bulldozers or whatever is just rubbing it in.

tomk:  That’s so Hal.

One thing I think the series doesn’t do well just yet is the Flash’s speed. Many of the early episodes seem to show him running in slow motion to represent his speed, and it doesn’t always work very well.

jimmy:  If current movies taught us anything it’s that everything besides the speedster should be in super slow motion while they move at normal speed.

tomk:  And yet, sometimes in these early episodes, it’s the Flash who appears to be moving slowly at times.

Flash is also the one most likely to be in need of a rescue from one of the others.

jimmy:  I’ve always found Flash to be a bit of a weak character. He can run fast, but can’t do much else. Like all I remember from these episodes is him taunting the aliens with a “na na can’t hit me” and being unable to escape once captured. (I was thinking he should have been able to vibrate his way out or some such…but, I guess it makes no less sense than keeping Superman restrained.)

tomk:  As far as the Flash goes, I would advise you to be patient.

jimmy:  I don’t mind him, he just seems like he’d be incredibly hard to write.

tomk:  Well, he’s the character given the least backstory to start. I get the impression he’s probably still new at superheroing, or at least doing so outside his home city where the bad guys are all basically guys with gadgets and gimmicks.

jimmy:  He did appear previously in an episode of STAS though right?

tomk:  Yes. Different voice actor, but yes. Probably. They never really said which Flash that was, and haven’t yet said which one this is.

jimmy:  Wally or Barry you mean?

tomk:  Well, not Jay or Bart.

jimmy:  You never know!

I hope it’s Barry. A Barry Allen Flash and no Aquaman? Watson can suck it!

tomk:  I do know Bruce Timm produced this as a promo for the networks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACgZ8kZEMzI

And you may want to remember Barry was dead when this series aired.

jimmy:  Even better!  🙂

Cool video.  I see Robin and Impulse and…a female Cyborg?

tomk:  They thought the Kids WB would take the series, so they saw the League as a training program for younger heroes, so yes, Robin, Impulse, and a gender-switched Cyborg.

jimmy:  And where did the show end up?

tomk:  Cartoon Network, and I think it aired in prime time whenever a new episode premiered.

jimmy:  Well, it seems like we are off to a good start. Anything else to add for these 3 episodes?

tomk:  Not really. I actually think it’s only a so-so story. Not bad for an origin, but I know there are a lot better stuff as the series goes on. Justice League may not be as good as BTAS, but it is a very strong #2.

jimmy:  And now that we’re done with that origin story, time for…another origin story?

tomk:  Well, maybe.  Would you like some backstory on the Green Lantern Corps?

jimmy:  Would I?!?

tomk:  I’m asking you.

jimmy:  Oh, yes, sure.  OK.

tomk:  Then have I got a two-parter for you…

“In Blackest Night”

John Stewart is on trial in an alien tribunal, and even he thinks he’s guilty!  Can his friends in the League clear his name?

jimmy:  I’ve read my share of Green Lantern stories (though mostly Hal, not much John Stewart), and I’d hardly call myself an expert, but GL’s beam hitting a force field, deflecting onto a nearby planet, directly into lava and immediately destroying said planet…was a bit much. I’m surprised the GL Corps et al fell for this ruse.

tomk:  Except…John Stewart is canonically responsible for the destruction of a planet.

jimmy:  In the comics?

tomk:  Yes.

jimmy:  I hope it was more convincing than this.

tomk:  See for yourself.

Read the entry on Book Two.

And if you don’t like it, blame Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola.

jimmy:  Well, that explains why I don’t remember it. I only ever read Book One of Cosmic Odyssey.

tomk:  One more book than I’ve read.

However, the beam is as strong as the will of the user.

jimmy:  Still. Anyway, it just seemed a stretch to me, and probably something I shouldn’t think too much about.

tomk:  Honestly, I don’t think this pair of episodes is anything great. Why did no one other than Superman notice the missing planet still gave off gravity? You’d think the Guardians of the Universe at least would pick up on something like that.

jimmy:  Right?!?

tomk:  Plus, did no one on that planet send out a signal at any time?

jimmy:  Maybe things looked normal to them? And maybe they are a race of non space faring beings? And maybe we shouldn’t think about it?

tomk:  Stop stealing my advice.

This time we should.

jimmy:  It’s not a bad premise to set John up, but the execution might be leaving a few plot holes.

And as you said, no offense to Superman, but someone should have figured this thing out. Even J’onn.

tomk:  J’onn’s Martian senses should have picked them up. His telepathy probably makes him more observant than Superman in certain respects.

Heck, Hawkgirl probably should have noticed something. She tells Flash in part one she’s a detective and she’s been around space quite a bit.

No wonder Batman sat this one out. He would have solved the whole episode in five seconds.

jimmy:  Haha, excellent point.

tomk:  By the by:  Bruce Timm realized pretty quick that they probably couldn’t use all seven for every episode so expect most stories except the really big ones to only have 4 to 6 Leaguers present at any given time.

jimmy:  Yeah, no Bats or WW here and initially no Supes.

tomk:  And this is season one Superman that was powered down a bit to make him more of an equal. Fans complained and he got stronger in season two.

jimmy:  I was wondering about that. He definitely seemed a little less super than normal.

tomk:  That was a deliberate choice given he would normally be able to take three Manhunter robots by himself.

jimmy:  The typical Superman problem. Also followed by the typical fans complain and creators changing to appease fans. Guess we’ll have to see if it circles back and people complain he is too powerful.

tomk:  They don’t.  It’s not much of a problem.

jimmy:  Spoilers, Tom!!!

tomk:  Look, we got power fluctuations just from the Manhunters in this story. Initially we see three hold their own with the League. In the end, our heroes plow through an army of them.

jimmy:  That’s a typical superhero trope, too.

tomk:  How about the Guardians? All powerful cosmic beings who are actually pretty wimpy?

jimmy:  Well, that’s why they sub-contract the Kilowogs and John Stewarts of the universe.

tomk:  Kilowog at least seems on the ball. Not like Big Giant Head, the Wolfman possibly named Marv, or the One-Eyed Worm Guy Watson should not name.

jimmy:  That is definitely true. And also the only one willing to stand up for John.

tomk:  And the one voiced by Dennis Haysbert.

jimmy:  You can always count on Dennis Haysbert.

tomk:  Not like prosecutors voiced by Kurtwood Smith. Even more than I thought so for that Batman Beyond/Zeta character I expected him to call everyone a dumbass.

jimmy:  You can always count on Kurtwood Smith to call someone a dumbass. Except when he doesn’t.

tomk:  Stupid kid show rules against mild profanity…

jimmy:  So I don’t really know much about the Manhunters, is this true to their comic book origins?

tomk:  Oh yeah.

DC has a lot of characters called Manhunter too. Some of them have the robot’s color scheme and staff weapon.

jimmy:  They were definitely familiar, I just don’t know much about them. Like them being the predecessors to the GL Corp.

tomk:  That’s more or less all you need to know. The Earth One direct to stores graphic novel series has the Manhunters as the ultimate baddies in the Green Lantern series, but mostly they show up in large numbers and try to take out the Green Lantern Corps or conquer Oa from time to time.

jimmy:  Probably with less subterfuge.

tomk:  I dunno. Their best known storyline, the Millennium crossover, had them disguised as humans and infiltrating different hero teams if I remember right.

jimmy:  Those jerks.

tomk:  How about how the rest of the universe apparently doesn’t know about the Green Lantern Corps?

jimmy:  Well, they’re easy to miss. All tucked away down there.

tomk:  Like how Kanjar Ro was originally a foe that could take on the entire League (plus Adam Strange) and here he’s just a gun runner with the ability to foil a memory reader?

jimmy:  Oh?  He was completely new to me.

tomk:  In his first appearance in the Silver Age, he was a planetary dictator with a weapon called the Gamma Gong that did stuff to anyone who heard him hit it. It took the entire original Justice League plus guest star Adam Strange to beat him.

jimmy:  Like…this kinda gong?

tomk:  Yup.

The Silver Age, ladies and gentlemen!

jimmy:  Some changes may be for the better.

tomk:  Timm also, originally, wanted to have stories where there’d be a main villain (like the Manhunters) and a lesser villain from DC’s deep catalog (like Kanjar Ro).

jimmy:  But if he’s only Kanjar Ro in name, does it really matter who he is?

tomk:  Eh, it’s closer to what he like today.

jimmy:  Ah. Fair enough. And voiced by the recently departed Rene Auberjonois.

tomk:  Yes, making his triumphant return to a DC cartoon!

Listen to Dessad here from an 80s Superfriends series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTUJiyDXiMc

jimmy:  Oh…Jenny would NOT like that clip.

tomk:  Yeah, well, the 80s.

Also, the only one I could find with Auberjonois’s voice.

jimmy:  It’s very distinctive.

tomk:  Well, was there anything distinctive here? Like how all those Green Lanterns came from DC Comics stories?

Maybe how you shouldn’t get into a barroom brawl with Hawkgirl?

jimmy:  She’s a bit of an ass-kicker for sure.

tomk:  And in this version, the wings are part of her body and not some equipment she wears.

jimmy:  Must make it tough to get into that space suit.

tomk:  Well, somehow she manages to even fit a helmet over her other helmet.

jimmy:  Haha, that’s true.

tomk:  Will Batman’s helmet have space for his cowl’s ears?

And why can’t we have Batman all the time? Everyone loves Batman.

jimmy:  Yes, yes, and yes.

tomk:  Well, you’re being awfully agreeable right now. Is there anything else you care to mention?

jimmy:  Hmm. Well, I thought the animation for the “judges” was…somewhat lacking. I’m sure it was intentional, but it just looked like they ran out of money.

tomk:  Giant computer screens with limited facial ability does nothing for you, I see.

jimmy:  No.  They do not.

tomk:  Well, I guess you’re not being all that agreeable right now. The judges will be seeing to you shortly, and may God have mercy on your soul.

jimmy:  I have The Flash to defend me. I should be good…

tomk:  Do you have Superman checking for evidence outside the courthouse?

jimmy:  C’mon.  Batman.

tomk:  Oh. Why are you even in court? Batman should have gotten you out by now.

jimmy:  Well, he likes to be dramatic.

tomk:  Oh.

That explains a few things, like what he does in the next story.

jimmy:  Sounds like we should check that out.

tomk:  Well, on the plus side, we get Batman back.

On the other hand, we also get Aquaman.

“The Enemy Below”

Aquaman, king of Atlantis, has grown increasingly hostile towards the surface world! But is there something going on in Atlantis that is making things worse?

jimmy:  So I would guess at the time this came out that comic Aquaman was still sporting the hook hand?

tomk:  That would be correct.

And I for one really enjoyed that run.

jimmy:  I can’t say I read much of it besides an issue that tied into some Crisis event or another probably.

tomk:  Well, Peter David on his solo book and Grant Morrison on JLA both remembered he was a king.

jimmy:  He sure started off as a king in this episode. Of the jerks.

tomk:  I think Bruce Timm’s plan was to make him an underwater version of Conan the Barbarian.

jimmy:  Minus the lamentations of their women…maybe.

tomk:  Ok, so, we could argue this was the natural continuation of his appearance on STAS.

jimmy:  Speaking of which, did the Super Friends know the ships at the beginning of the show were Atlanteans?

tomk:  Um, yes?

Batman would know.

jimmy:  Because they didn’t show any mercy on them.

tomk:  Then it’s a good thing those guys have gills.

jimmy:  Exactly.

tomk:  Well, did you like this Aquaman?

jimmy:  Though why is Atlantis encased so that they are not underwater?

He kinda redeems himself near the end. I mean, how can you not like a guy that cuts off his own hand to save his son? 

tomk:  That is a very good scene.

jimmy:  Agreed.

tomk:  It just works so well. The music and the crying baby increase the tension, he gets one arm free, he gets more frantic, and then he gives one loud shout as he brings his blade down for the last time.

Oh, and the unnamed baby fortunately had a red blanket to hide the blood.

jimmy:  Very fortunate. And it’s Arthur Curry Jr. I suppose.

And the loss of the hand must have been pretty shocking for non-comic fans, or at least fans that weren’t up on the current adventures of Aquaman.

tomk:  What?  You mean the guy who talks to fish might be a badass?

But as for the baby, Silver Age comics called him Aquababy because Aquaman was the only member of the League without a secret identity. He was always Aquaman.

jimmy:  Not Arthur Curry?

tomk:  His first Silver Age appearance referenced that name once and then not again for decades.

jimmy:  Was his origin still the same?

tomk:  More or less. The “king of Atlantis” thing came later more or less out of the blue. Atlantis needed a king and they just picked him.

jimmy:  Arthur has sure let his hair (and beard) down since we last saw him on STAS.

tomk:  Lost his shirt at the dog track too from the looks of things.

jimmy:  Well, what does he know from dogs?

tomk:  They do the doggie paddle?

jimmy:  That is true.

tomk:  Did you notice no one in Atlantis addresses Aquaman by name?

jimmy:  I did not. What do they call him? Like “Your highness” or something?

tomk:  Mera calls him “my love”.

Orm (Ocean Master) calls him “brother”.

Other Atlanteans call him “my lord”.

jimmy:  Maybe they all just forgot his name and were trying to be polite.

tomk:  Only the Justice League and other surface people call him Aquaman.

jimmy:  Interesting observation.

tomk:  In the 90s, he sometimes went by the Atlantean name of Orin.

jimmy:  The 90’s. I suppose he had shoulder pads and pouches too…

tomk:  Well, actually, he had a mostly bare chest and some armor on one shoulder if I remember right.

jimmy:  Yes.  And a hook for a hand.

Pretty close to the DCAU version.

tomk:  And no pouches.

jimmy:  Surprising. Now that I think about it though, those 90’s cliches were never big at DC. Mostly Marvel and subsequently Image because of the same artists.

tomk:  Well, DC had a couple. AzBats, but fans were supposed to dislike him. Lobo and Deathstroke has their own books. But DC has never really been the home to violent antiheroes.

jimmy:  AzBats is close. Lobo and Deathstroke existed pretty much as is prior to the 90’s.

But you’re right.

The most 90s DC image:

tomk:  And that was temporary by design.

But you know who didn’t need a faux badass 90s look? The real Batman.

jimmy:  Outside of the whole replacing him with Azreal thing, they’ve never really mucked with his look much outside of the yo-yo-ing of the yellow oval around the symbol. Occasionally they will tweak the colors of his suit from blacks and grays to blues and grays or whatever. But nothing major.

tomk:  And he knows how to make an entrance.

Wounded Atlantean king? Batman has a cure.

Unstoppable Atlantean weapon? Batman can disarm it.

jimmy:  Yeah, he sure knows a lot about the Atlanteans.

tomk:  And he’ll fly ahead of everyone when the North Pole gets hot. Possibly because he’s also Santa.

jimmy:  Batman…is Santa? It would explain a lot. Or nothing. Who knows. The moral of the story is Batman is awesome.

tomk:  He even talks a reluctant Deadshot into confessing.

jimmy:  And we don’t want to know what he said.

tomk:  Eh, what Batman said did come out eventually.

He said, “I know where you live, Floyd.”

That’s according to Kevin Conroy.

jimmy:  I think he said, “Will Smith will play you in a movie.”

tomk:  Not as scary back then.

jimmy:  Oh, “Will Smith WON’T play you in a movie.”

My mistake.

tomk:  I mean, the Deadshot voice is Michael Rosenbaum doing his Kevin Spacey impression. Times change.

jimmy:  No one wants to impersonate Kevin Spacey these days.

tomk:  Not even Spacey.

But the next time Superman and Batman interrogated Deadshot, it went very differently.

https://youtu.be/ZaK3DZ3v-WM

jimmy:  lol. Great show. I haven’t seen that one yet though.

tomk:  I think it’s just a short.

jimmy:  Ah. Well, the episodes in general are rather short. But this is short short. “Why are you showing me your teeth?” lol

tomk:  Would you like a doughnut from Batman?

jimmy:  Is it poison?

tomk:  Chocolate.

jimmy:  I do like chocolate.

tomk:  Who doesn’t?

jimmy:  That guy who tried to take over the world with his nuclear reverse sno-cone maker?

tomk:  Well, someone should drop his ass down a deep hole.

jimmy:  I was wondering about that. The League doesn’t seem to have any qualms with killing or potentially killing these Atlanteans.

tomk:  Well, if they can breathe water, the only one doing any killing is Aquaman the Barbarian.

jimmy:  That’s true. It seemed like an overreaction on his part in the beginning, but looking back on his STAS appearance, he did warn them to stay away or it would lead to war.

tomk:  Very true.  So really, it’s Lex Luthor’s fault.

jimmy:  It usually is.

tomk:  Not that he needed help with that racist John Stewart there.

jimmy:  Well, he wasn’t completely wrong.

tomk:  He should take a page from Wonder Woman’s handbook and try talking to people first.

jimmy:  That’s why she’s part of the Trinity and John Stewart is almost a Forgotten Hero article.

tomk:  These guys?

jimmy:  Yeah, I don’t recognize any of those people.

tomk:  Even one time Aquaman love interest Dolphin?

jimmy:  To be honest, outside of Superman, I only really recognized Animal Man.

tomk:  That’s why they’re Forgotten.

Well, I am getting the feeling you prefer your League heroes to use less lethal force.

jimmy:  It’s not so much a preference as the fact that this is a kids TV show and when people actually die (or appear to die) it can be surprising.

tomk:  I’m not sure it’s still a kids show.

So far, sure. But there’s some pretty heady stuff still to come that suggest an older target audience.

jimmy:  Fair enough.

tomk:  Wait til you hear Superman drop the f-bomb.

jimmy:  Batman: “Clark. Doomsday’s back.”

Superman:  “Oh, fudge.”

tomk:  But he didn’t say fudge…

jimmy:  …he said the queen mother of dirty words.

tomk:  And then Martha washed his mouth out with soap.

jimmy:  Ok. We’re boarding Silly Town. What else can we say about Aquaman? I assume he shows up again occasionally?

tomk:  He does.  Mera does not.

At least she doesn’t have another speaking part.

Actually a student of mine from way back told me his best friend’s dad played Aquaman.

jimmy:  This incarnation?

tomk:  I think so.

jimmy:  That’s cool.

tomk:  But I do want to make a note about Mera.

Actress Kristin Bauer auditioned for Wonder Woman, but they thought her voice sounded too sweet.

You might remember her as Jerry’s Man Hands girlfriend on Seinfeld.

Or, if you watched True Blood, you saw her as sarcastic lesbian vampire Pam.

Here she is with a lot of NSFW dialogue that would never come out of this Mera’s mouth:

https://youtu.be/4l_S8eQaCyU

jimmy:  I did watch True Blood until it got completely stupid.

tomk:  So, episode three?

jimmy:  Lol. I watched a few seasons. 

tomk:  How do you feel about Justice League so far?

jimmy:  I still don’t like the opening sequence, but otherwise have been enjoying it.

tomk:  Well, what if we checked in on the one person most responsible for Aquaman’s attack on the surface world?

jimmy:  Watson?

tomk:  Lex Luthor.

jimmy:  Close enough.

tomk:  And maybe someone else you would love to see again.

NEXT TIME:  Let justice prevail!  Tom and Jimmy will be back soon for more Justice League chat.  Come back next time for “Injustice for All,” “Paradise Lost,” and “War World”.