The Call: Part 2

Plot summary: Superman is revealed as the Justice League Unlimited’s traitor, but the conspiracy ends up being far bigger than anticipated…

(Originally published on The Reel World March 12th, 2022)

  1. Notes and Trivia
  2. Recap
  3. Best Performance
  4. Episode Ranking
  5. Rogues Roundup

Notes and Trivia

Original Air Date: November 18th, 2000

Directed: Butch Lukic (15)

Written: Paul Dini (5) (story) & Alan Burnett (10) (story), and Stan Berkowitz (17) (teleplay)

Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD (51) & Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD. (51)

Music: Kristopher Carter (14)

This is another episode to potentially revisit after The Big Thing is revealed was down the line…

Big Barda states Bruce was a part-timer in the original league, which ended up holding true in the two Justice League cartoons, with Bruce at first noncommittal, partly by creative choice and partly due to DC mandate to limit his appearances.

Superman battled The Preserver and came to adopt his wacky cavalcade of alien creatures in the Superman: The Animated Series episode ‘The Main Man’.

While never explicitly named in the episode, the starfish creatures are Starro, the Justice League’s very first enemy. Its appearance in the background of ‘The Main Man’ was only written as a cameo.

The exploits of the JLU continued in Justice League Unlimited two-part episode ‘The Once and Future Thing’, as well as ‘Epilogue’. They’re also mentioned in an episode of Static Shock (set in the same era as Beyond). Finally, there were two attempts at a comic book in the 2010s, but both ended quickly.

Terry appears to have a rough time with teleportation. In the later-produced episode of Justice League, ‘Twilight’, Bruce exhibits the same aversion.

Recap

Terry shows the rest of the JLU the video footage of Superman’s act of betrayal, but Barda doesn’t believe it’s legit. Warhawk himself strolls in unharmed and confirms Superman’s guilt.

The group confront Supes just as he’s fiddling with Micron’s healing tank. He accuses all of them of being traitors, and they witness a weird eyeball creature moving around below his suit.

It takes the team’s combined might – including a temporarily revived Micron – to drive him off. They agree he likely retreated to the Fortress of Solitude, and while none of them know its location, Bruce does.

Travelling there via Boom Tube, they discover there is a missing exhibit from Superman’s private collection of alien creatures.

Superman arrives to fight them again, but Terry uses the Kryptonite to knock him out. They remove his costume to reveal a starfish-like creature attached to his chest.

Aquagirl uses her powers to read its mind, learning it was kidnapped from its planet by Preserver and later freed and adopted by Superman. It bided its time and then attached itself in order to control him.

Not content with merely controlling Superman, the creature forced him to help care for hundreds if not thousands of offspring in the Fortress, planning to assimilate the whole planet.

The creatures enslave the League, with only Terry able to resist thanks to his Batsuit’s defences. Barda smashes his Kryptonite, forcing him to flee.

Superman gives chase and brings the Batmobile out of the sky, but Terry is able to hit him directly in the chest with an electrical charge that allows Supes to break free.

They team up to free The League and return the creatures to their home planet. The JLU offer Terry full-time membership, but he opts to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps and remain a part-timer.

Best Performance

There’s a weird trend where the voice cast tend to be worse in the second instalment of a two-parter that continues here. I guess that’s because the first tends to be quieter, with more time for talk, while the second has to be all plot/action, which gives the actors less to work with.

For lack of an alternative, I would give it to Jodi Benson as Aquagirl. It’s a cute casting given her most famous role was Ariel in The Little Mermaid, and she’s entrusted with delivering all of the exposition in this second part, as well as continuing her blossoming friendship with Terry. It’s nothing too memorable, but she stands out the most here.

I’m glad they let Lauren Tom speak more, given her incredibly under-utilised series regular role as Dana. Kai-Ro is a fun Green Lantern, very different to the others, and even if he is the least prominent of the JLU members, Tom is a good actor.

Episode Ranking

I actually think this was one of the best Part 2’s they’ve done in the DCAU, as they’re able to hit the ground running, keep building on what was established in Part 1, and provide a big finish. Moving from Evil Superman in the first act, to the reveal of Starro in the second, culminating in a big fight at the end worked pretty well structurally, and the expected permanent invite to the JLU is the cherry on the top.

Unfortunately, there was some messiness, which Bruce Timm conceded. Firstly, undoing Warhawk’s shocking death in Part 1 without offering anything close to a satisfying explanation is weak. He claims he was remotely piloting his suit, even though we saw him take off and how little time he had to make a switch, which you’d think Superman would have immediately noticed. Secondly, Micron waking up to mutely fight Superman for a minute and then getting put straight back in his tank because the episode doesn’t have enough room for him. Thirdly, a lot of time had to be devoted to Starro exposition, which hurt the pacing a little.

It’s also entirely unclear to what degree Starro is a hive-mind; as that seems to be the case at times when they attack, but then surely they’d recognise Superman had been freed, and wouldn’t need to use the JLU’s bodies to speak out loud? Finally, it seems uncharacteristic of Superman to have so little regard for Terry’s safety near the end, with even Barda, his staunchest critic, seeming more concerned.

That brings it down below Part 1, but it is still a lot of fun, with three rounds of the classic hero vs hero trope, and the terrifying numbers advantage Starro enjoys. The art design on its home world is solid, and setting most of the episode in the snowy environment of the Fortress of Solitude made for a nice change from any version of Gotham or Metropolis.

I hoped for more character moments from the JLU, and mostly got them. Superman and Aquagirl stay about the same, while Kai-Ro enjoys an expanded presence to demonstrate his thoughtfulness. Barda and Warhawk come to accept Terry after being so prickly to him, with Warhawk’s turn in particular being a highlight, as he respects Terry disobeying orders to do the right thing. I wish the show had continued to delve into all of their relationships some more.

  1. Eyewitness
  2. The Call: Part 1
  3. Out of the Past
  4. Meltdown
  5. Babel
  6. Shriek
  7. Disappearing Inque
  8. Inqueling
  9. Rebirth: Part 1
  10. The Call: Part 2 (NEW ENTRY)
  11. King’s Ransom
  12. A Touch of Curaré
  13. Spellbound
  14. Lost Soul
  15. Sneak Peek
  16. Zeta
  17. Bloodsport
  18. Black Out
  19. Unmasked
  20. Earth Mover
  21. Rebirth: Part 2
  22. Dead Man’s Hand
  23. Armory
  24. Final Cut
  25. Once Burned
  26. Untouchable
  27. Splicers
  28. Where’s Terry?
  29. Curse of the Kobra: Part 1
  30. Hidden Agendas
  31. Golem
  32. Ascension
  33. The Eggbaby
  34. Big Time
  35. Heroes
  36. Revenant
  37. Terry’s Friend Dates a Robot
  38. Sentries to the Last Comos
  39. Mind Games
  40. Hooked Up
  41. Joyride
  42. Ace in the Hole
  43. April Moon
  44. The Winning Edge
  45. The Last Resort
  46. Payback
  47. Plague
  48. Rats
  49. Speak No Evil
  50. Curse of the Kobra: Part 2
  51. Betrayal

Rogues Roundup

Starro (first appearance)

I guess you could quibble that Starro is acting through Superman in Part 1, but whatever. It was a cute touch to use the original Justice League’s first adversary as the villain of the first DCAU incarnation of the team here, particularly the hive-mind version.

By the nature of the creature, it’s almost entirely telling not showing, with Aquagirl communicating its backstory and imparting motivations on its behalf. She is reading everything direct from Starro’s mind, but still.

They’re mute, face-hugging starfish that take control of the JLU. That’s sort of cool, but nothing to get too excited over. It facilitates some creepy little moments like Terry getting absolutely covered in them, but they end up being pretty easy to deal with once Superman is freed. Hey, such is Superman, am I right?

  1. Inque
  2. Curaré
  3. Mr. Freeze
  4. Shriek
  5. Derek Powers/Blight
  6. Spellbinder
  7. The Royal Flush Gang
  8. Talia/Ra’s al Ghul
  9. The Jokerz
  10. Earthmover
  11. Ian Peek
  12. Dr. Cuvier (and pals!)
  13. Mad Stan
  14. Willie Watt
  15. Robert Vance
  16. Repeller
  17. Armory
  18. Stalker
  19. Deanna Clay
  20. The Mayhem Family
  21. The Terrific Trio
  22. Agent Bennet
  23. Kobra
  24. Starro (NEW ENTRY)
  25. Bullwhip’s Gang
  26. The Brain Trust
  27. Cynthia
  28. Simon Harper (and the Sentries!)
  29. Karros
  30. Paxton Powers
  31. Charlie ‘Big Time’ Bigelow
  32. Dr. Stephanie Lake
  33. Howard Hodges & General Norman
  34. Jackson Chappell
  35. Payback
  36. Falseface
  37. Mr. Fixx
  38. Winchell
  39. The T’s
  40. Ratboy
  41. James Van Dyle
  42. Ronny Boxer
  43. Dr. Wheeler
  44. Major

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