| Derek's
Continuity Corner:
"The Great Brain
Robbery"
After an episode
so chock full of characters, it's hard to know where to
focus when it comes to its debt to comics. Start with the
plot. Though as Goodson's punning indicates, the old brain
switcheroo plot device is an old one, it does play pretty
heavily into current DC continuity. Once again, JLU
runs parallel and possibly more family friendly than the
comics.
For
it was a brain switch that inadvertently set the dominoes
falling into Infinite Crisis. It also involved a
Secret Society of Super-Villains.
The
Wizard found an artifact that caused the Justice League's
minds to switch with their arch-enemies. Not having the
story on hand, I have no idea how that also meant that they
all found out their secret identities. While it's possible
that Bruce Wayne might be recognizable if the Joker looked
in the mirror, it's doubtful that anyone would have recognized
Barry Allen or Hal Jordan.
"The
Great Brain Robbery" plays that element out more realistically.
Wally West is just too low profile a person for Lex Luthor
to recognize, an idea also originally floated in Sam Hamm's
first draft of Tim Burton's Batman and recently used
in Spider-Man
2.
At any rate,
once the villains were rounded up and started taunting the
heroes that they could make their private lives tragic (no,
not by triggering an impotence ray), the League knew something
had to be done. That something remained hidden for over
thirty years, until Brad Meltzer decided that they'd used
Zatanna's magic to wipe away that knowledge.
From there,
it's a slippery slope to general mind modification at the
drop of a hat.
Perhaps the
most egregious use of Zatanna (and this will lead back into
the episode) was in effectively lobotomizing the villainous
Dr. Light. Once upon a time he could pose a serious threat
to the League, hatching a plan to (here it is again) switch
minds of the Leaguers with each other and kill them in their
confusion. After Zatanna got through with him, he could
barely hold his own against Little Boy Blue and the Blue
Boys.
It's true.
That
Dr. Light, however, lives over in the continuity of Teen
Titans. Granted, last week we saw Speedy cross over
and de-chibi himself for JLU,
but this episode features a different Dr. Light, and never
the two shall meet.
Literally
a doctor (unlike that poser Fate), solar physicist Kimiyo
Hoshi got struck by a errant beam from the Monitor in Crisis
on Infinite Earths. Suddenly able to control energy
(for convenience's sake, call it "starlight"), the mother
of two donned a costume similar to the American villain's
and called herself Dr. Light. Hoshi, however, fought on
the side of right, but was ultimately more interested in
her studies.
A trifle arrogant
at times, she has lent her power to the Titans, the Justice
League (leading its European branch for a short time) and
the Doom Patrol. In recent months, she has had her power
drained by the evil Dr. Light in the pages of Green Arrow,
only to show up again this month in Infinite Crisis #5
none the worse for wear. She may not have time for crime,
but she always lends a hand when unnatural disasters strike.
Speaking of
unnatural disasters, I've finally tracked down Tala. Burdened
with a Russian femme fatale voice in the cartoon, she likely
has no discernible accent in the comics, for she's not a
human at all. Unlikely as it seems, she's one of the Phantom
Stranger's arch-enemies, designed by the late great Jim
Aparo in early issues of the Stranger's series.
In the comics,
the sorcerous succubus wants nothing more than chaos, occasionally
sowing it herself or, as has been the case in JLU,
throwing in with whoever may cause the most. Though she
definitely taunts the Stranger sexually, she's nowhere near
the kitten in heat that Juliet Landau portrays on the show.
For
the record, the Phantom Stranger has a second arch-enemy,
but Tanorak has not shown his face in animated form. It's
just as well; do you notice how pedestrian they've made
Sinestro?
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