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Justice
League
The Terror Beyond
Original Airdate - 11/15/03
(Editor's
Note: Yes, we're missing a review of Eclipsed. We're trying
to get a copy to watch and review, but it may be a while.
Anybody have any solutions?)
Somewhere
in the dark of night, the military is hunting Grundy, Solomon
Grundy. After much smashing and blasting, they finally knock
Grundy down for the three count. Suddenly, on the back of
a giant purple sea serpent, Aquaman comes to Grundy's rescue.
Aquaman swoops Grundy up into his arms and they ride off into
the sea.
It was
so romantic.
Down
in Atlantis, Aquaman introduces Grundy to Dr. Fate and his
wife, Inza. They have plans for Grundy, but first they need
to learn about Grundy's origin.
Cyrus
Gold was a bank robber killed by his fellow mobsters. His
body was buried in a mystical swamp after being cursed by
voodoo. The two magicks did not mix and the swamp gave birth
to Grundy, a soulless creature always seeking something but
never knowing why.
Meanwhile
Hawkgirl, Superman and Wonder Woman get the scoop on Aquaman
and decide they need to go pay Fish Boy a visit. Along the
way they stop another enormous sea creature from attacking
an ocean liner full of people. To Superman's surprise, the
creature is able to wound him, which means it is magical in
origin.
Not enough
writers exploit Superman's weakness to magic. Is it because
the realm of magic and what is and is not possible is so vaguely
defined or do people just not like magic stories? If I pull
a rabbit out of a hat, can that rabbit bite Superman? Can
I choke him with a scarf I pulled out of my mouth? Enquiring
fanboys want to know.
Eventually
the Justice League trio breaks into Dr. Fate's house and start
demanding explanations for Aquaman's actions and Grundy's
involvement. Grundy, Aquaman and Dr. Fate are involved in
some sort of incantation and rather than say "hey, give us
a sec, we're trying to save the world," they demand the Justice
League make like a tree and get lost. Soon, the ritual is
interrupted by fighting! We'll break this down Chairshots
style:
Wonder
Woman vs. Aquaman on Easter Island
There was no doubt going into this match that Wonder Woman
was going to beat The Chicken of the Sea. She's way better
looking, a better fighter, has terrain on her side and doesn't
smell like kelp. Unfortunately for her, the fight happened
to take place near a body of water and Aquaman cheated by
nearly drowning her. You just can't trust people with gills.
Superman
vs. Grundy in Egypt
We've seen this match more times than Triple H vs. Mick Foley
but these two can still mix it up. Both guys looked weaker
than they have in previous bouts. Grundy was using Hulk's
move set in his last appearance, but those gamma claps and
power punches have been replaced with a more Rock 'em Sock
'em robot style. Superman's punches caused shock waves
when he fought Lord Superman in A Better World but
they barely cause a ripple here. Superman wins with little
effort, as predicted.
Dr.
Fate vs. Hawkgirl in the spirit world
Who knew that mace of Hawkgirl's had so many uses? It smashes,
bashes, deflects magic blasts, soaks up electricity and can
still pulverize a tomato. It really is a little overpowered,
but I'll chalk it up to being made out of Nth metal and leave
it at that. Hawkgirl, who refers to herself as Shayera Hol,
holds her own against Dr. Fate until a run in from The
Terror Beyond.
Okay,
The Terror Beyond looks like H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu,
has a name that rhymes with Cthulhu and has minions similar
to Cthulhu. That said, I'm calling him Cthulhu.
Anyway,
Dr. Fate, Aquaman and Grundy explain to the Justice League
trio that they were trying to prevent Cthulhu from unleashing
hell on Earth and thanks to them, everything is screwed.
If this
episode has a major fault, it's that the main plot could have
been entirely avoided if anyone had just taken two seconds
to explain to the Justice League why they needed Grundy and
what their goal was. Sure, Hawkgirl has a short temper and
Superman can be gung ho for a fight now and then, but Wonder
Woman is a diplomat. Wouldn't it have been in her nature to
try and talk things over before bashing heads?
Regardless,
The Terror Beyond was an enjoyable episode. It was
jam packed full of locations but none that the plot didn't
justify. Atlantis, Dr. Fate's House, the spirit world, the
deep sea, Metropolis and Cthulhu's brain were all pretty cool.
The episode also gave us Solomon's Grundy's back-story, a
history of Atlantis and some Thanagarian history.
Dwayne
McDuffy scripts are usually the most consistently enjoyable.
Only three of the Justice League members were used this week,
but it was for the best as most of them would have been out
of place. Even Superman and Wonder Woman were just standing
around with little to do at times. The fight scenes were good
and the dialogue was snappy. Both Hawkgirl and Grundy's characters
evolved over the course of the hour and that's the key to
good story telling.
Derek's
Continuity Corner:
Solomon Grundy started out as an enemy of Alan Scott --
a super deadly one, as being basically a body made out of
wood, Grundy can resist the golden age Green Lantern's ring.
It took a few decades before somebody (Alan Moore) noticed
that he has a similar origin to the Swamp Thing, and thus
it was decreed that Grundy was meant to be an earth elemental,
but then it all went wrong somehow.
Later,
James Robinson added that everytime Grundy gets destroyed,
he reforms somewhere else with a different personality --
usually evil, but in rare instances noble.
Since
the Dr. Fate used here has a wife named Inza, this must be
the original, Kent Nelson. The current Dr. Fate in comics
is Hector Hall, the son of Hawkman and (the original) Hawkgirl,
Shiera Hall. He has also had the costumed identities of The
Silver Scarab and The Sandman.
A tip
of the hat to Carr D'Angelo for pointing out that this week's
guest-stars are actually a super-secret cameo of the greatest
non-team ever: The Defenders. Dr. Fate = Dr. Strange, Aquaman
= Namor, and Solomon Grundy = The Hulk, even without the gamma
clap.
Next
Week
"Secret Society" Gorilla Grodd forms a group of villains to
destroy the Justice League. RUN! MONKEYS!
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