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Justice
League Unlimited
The Cat and the Canary
Original Airdate - 02/05/05
Deep
in the heart of a thriving metropolis (but presumably not
the Metropolis) Black Canary is busy busting up a
ring of thieves all by herself after her mentor and trainer
Wildcat stands her up. She later discovers that Wildcat
has been participating in a fight club like competition
called Meta Brawl.
Believing
that Wildcat needs her help, Canary enlists the help of
frequent flirter Green Arrow. After much innuendo, the two
infiltrate Meta Brawl to rescue Wildcat. Unfortunately for
them, he doesn't want to be rescued. He feels shunned by
the JLU because of his age and lack of super powers. Fighting
is what he does best and it's what he's going to do if Black
Canary likes it or not.
Unfortunately
for him, she doesn't like it.
Canary
makes a wager for Wildcat's soul with the owner and operator
of Meta Brawl, Roulette. If Canary wins, Wildcat is banned
from ever fighting at Meta Brawl again. If she loses, she'll
never bother Wildcat again. House keeps all the profits.
This week JLU
seemed more like The Green Arrow Show. The plot was
nice, but nothing special. With a cast of dozens of heroes,
it seems like small potatoes to focus on just Cat, Canary
and Arrow. I'll chalk it up to a character building episode
and call my investment of time even money.
There
were a host of cameos from minor DCU characters this week.
I admit I cheated and looked at another website for this,
but some of the other fighters included Sportsmaster (first
appearance: All-American Comics #85 - May 1947), Atomic
Skull (first appearance: Superman #323 - Oct. 1991), Bloodsport
(first appearance: Superman Vol. 2 #4 - April 1987), Electrocutioner
(first appearance: Batman #331 - Jan. 1981), Hellgrammite
(first appearance: The Brave & The Bold #80 - Oct.-Nov.
1968), Tracer (first appearance: Justice League Europe #15
- June 1990) and Evil Star (first appearance: All-Star Comics
#45 - Jan. 1949). Black Canary seemed younger than she should
have, but I'm basing that on how she is in current comic
continuity. In JLU continuity, Green Arrow has
only recently sold his company which I seem to recall happening
during the 1980s so there is an obvious time lag.
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Oscar
nominee Virginia Madsen played Roulette, which seems out
of place for her. Dennis Farina gave voice to Wildcat and
it fit. All in all, everything was spot on in terms of Bruce
Timm quality. My only real problem with the show is that
if I hadn't known it beforehand, I never would have guessed
that this was the launch episode of the fourth season of
JLU.
On
the plus side, this show has a history of starting the season
with the weakest episode and building towards a bigger finish.
Derek's
Continuity Corner
The
idea of superheroes in a "Fight Club" situation
has been knocking around comics for quite a while. If you
can find it, Wildcat found himself in a similar situation
in the events of a mini-series, Batman/Wildcat
-- which I can't find on Amazon, but is likely available
in the back issue bins of your local comics shop. Obviously
from that title, it was Batman that had to knock down with
Wildcat and not Black Canary.
Either
one would have worked, because Ted Grant, aka Wildcat,
has been established as having trained both younger heroes.
Himself a prizefighter in the late 1930's, Ted Grant was
framed for the murder of his mentor (and chief opponent
in the ring) by the mob. Escaping from the law, Grant encountered
a kid crying because somebody stole his comic book. Inspired
by the boy's stories of costumed crimefighters -- specifically
Green Lantern, Grant assumed the unlikely identity of Wildcat
and found that fighting for justice was far more satisfying
than fighting for chump change. (See Sensation Comics
#1)
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Wildcat
has been retroactively made a member of the Justice Society
of America, a group that may or may not exist in JLU
continuity. At any rate, he definitely served as a member
of the All-Star Squadron and was present at several of the
events concocted by writers to explain how a guy that has
to be at least 80 could still be fighting crime. Most recently,
writer Geoff Johns has implied that somewhere along the
way Wildcat picked up some mystical ability, as he now possesses
nine lives. No explanation has actually been offered.
Johns
also created this episode's villain, Roulette, who has picked
up the superhero Fight Club gauntlet. (Marvel also took
a stab at this concept with an unpopular revamp of Thunderbolts.)
Roulette runs a club somewhere in the Nevada desert, where
supervillains watch and wager on hypnotized heroes fighting
to the death. First Roulette targeted the JSA, then appeared
in Formerly Known as the Justice League, in which
Mary Marvel beat Captain Atom into a coma. (Somehow, this
was actually a little funny at the time.)
Currently
in the pages of JSA, Roulette's origin as a descendant
of the first Mr. Terrific is being explored in a mind-blowing
time-traveling epic.
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