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Justice
League
A Better World
Original Airdate - 11/01/03
Halloween
weekend is over but I still have enough time left on my rental
of the "Comic Book Guy" costume from The Simpsons to
proclaim "Best Episode Ever!"
A Better
World begins with Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman storming
the oval office. Superman gets there first to find Lex Luthor
clearing out. When confronted, Luthor puts his finger on the
big red button and says Superman doesn't have, and has never
had, the testicular fortitude to do what is really necessary
to stop him. After trading verbal threats, Superman uses his
heat vision to turn Luthor into Luthor Flambé. Batman and
Wonder Woman show up soon after and the lack of horror on
their expressions says it all.
Following
the opening credits, we jump forward two years later. Our
heroes, dressed in different costumes, are hanging out in
the Watch Tower. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl are reminiscing
about how much they miss Flash. Martian Manhunter is in the
monitor room watching over protests and Superman is telling
a President Bush look-a-like that there will be elections
when Superman says so.
A
Better World is a parallel universe story where the Justice
League as we know them have become the Justice Lords. They
have eliminated all crime on Earth and all laws, no matter
how small, are dealt with swiftly and severely. The Justice
Lords are not afraid to kill their foes in the name of peace
and harmony.
Down
in the Batcave, Justice Lord Batman discovers the universe
we know. He calls in the rest of the Justice Lords and together
they watch as the Justice League fights another battle with
power suit Lex Luthor. Together they decide to help the Justice
League's universe the same way they helped their own, killing
in the name of the law.
Soon,
the Justice League is trapped in the Justice Lords' universe,
under the watchful eye of evil Batman, while the Justice Lords
are putting their excessive force to good use in the regular
JL universe.
Then
Doomsday shows up and everything gets kicked into high gear.
Unencumbered
by ethics, the Justice Lords have a knock down, drag out fight
with Doomsday. I was in awe of the shockwaves that rippled
off the punches Lord Superman and Doomsday traded. If there
is any fault to the episode it is that the fight with Doomsday
isn't long enough.
Doomsday
killed Superman in the comics, and yet he is dispatched in
under five minutes by the Justice Lords. It was damn cool
to see, but I would have gladly sat through 60 minutes of
the Justice League just fighting Doomsday.
Of course,
one of Doomsday's strengths is that he can't be beaten the
same way twice. Now that he has been introduced to the Justice
League universe, there is no reason he can't return.
I love
elseworlds/parallel universe stories so I loved A Better
World. It gives the writers more freedom in the type of
tale they can tell and you get you see some awesome things
that might otherwise not be possible. Who would have thought
we'd ever get to see Superman use his heat vision to lobotomize
one of his foes or Wonder Woman in the ultimate cat fight
against herself?
You can
almost understand how the Justice Lords got to the point they
were at. There have been a number of times I've been reading
Batman and thought that it would just be better for everyone
if Batman killed The Joker.
What
I don't understand is why they changed their names to Justice
Lords. At what point do you make the crossover to naming yourselves
Justice Lords and still think that you are fighting on the
side of good. There are not a lot of positive role models
in comics with "Lord" in their title.
Flash
watch: Flash had a good week this week. Yes, he did trip up
again, and he did die in one of the universes, but he was
able to outsmart Batman and even held his own against Lord
Superman for a few minutes.
A
Better World has taken the top spot on my list of favorite
Justice League episodes. No other episode has ever been jam
packed with so many awesome things; Batman vs. Batman. Flash
vs. Superman. Green Lantern vs. Green Lantern, appearances
by Batman's Rogue's gallery, new costumes, Superman robots
and DOOMSDAY!
Derek's
Continuity Corner: In the comics, DC did a similar storyline
with just Superman -- King of the World. Not an Elseworlds,
instead the Man of Steel was under the control of a cosmic
entity seeking to destroy the trust ordinary mortals had in
him. Plus it tried to explore an age-old question: why doesn't
Superman kick everybody's butt? But I have a more pressing
question: Would Justice Lord Superman consider Thor to be
one of the most powerful foes he'd ever faced?
Next
Week: Soldiers unearth a vengeful spirit seeking total
destruction of mankind. (Sylvia Plath?)
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