Plot summary: In the Season 2 premiere, Darkseid implores The Justice League for help when Brainiac invades Apokalips.
For background on the creation of Justice League and info about how I’ll be covering it, check out the Series Primer.
Season Two Notes
This doesn’t require its own primer or anything, but just a few quick notes on this second season of the show:
- Cartoon Network began airing all of the multi-parters as one long episode with no beginning/end credits in the middle.
- All episodes are now produced in widescreen.
- Superman’s design is slightly tweaked after complaints he looked too old. That aged-up design was intended to reflect a sense of weariness after spending his time since the end of STAS trying to regain the trust of humanity. He’s also significantly more durable, as Season One frequently saw him taken down by things fans deemed too meagre to best the Man of Steel.
Episode Notes and Trivia
Episode: 27 (S2.E1)
Original Air Date: July 5th, 2003
Directed: Dan Riba (14)
Written: Rich Fogel (6) (teleplay) and Bruce Timm (1) (teleplay & story)
Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD (27)
Music: Kris Carter (12), Michael McCuistion (13) and Lolita Ritmanis (13)
Some cable listings labelled this two-parter as ‘Twilight of the Gods’, which is both a much better name, and was also the name of an issue of Grant Morrison’s JLA book which has already been a big influence on this show.
Bruce Timm claims to have given Darkseid a slight redesign, intending him to more closely resemble Jack Kirby’s original design. Looks identical to me though.
Though this is DeSaad’s final DCAU appearance after Darkseid kills him with the Omega Beams, this is something he’s done many times in the comics, only to later resurrect him.
Hawkgirl at last tells us how she ended up on earth. The story she tells is actually lifted from Martian Manhunter’s original comic origins.
Bruce Wayne does not enjoy using a Boom Tube, his first time doing so chronologically in the DCAU. In the Batman Beyond two-part episode ‘The Call‘, which aired before this but is of course set much later, he tells Terry that he never enjoyed using them.
Batman being eaten by a giant monster on a trip to New Genesis may be a nod to the same happening to him (albeit on Apokalips) in the Superman/Batman comic story ‘The Supergirl of Krypton’. I reviewed of the movie adaptation of that story.
Recap
When Darkseid sends Steppenwolf (remember him?) into New Genesis territory (violating their peace treaty) his ship is not just crippled but launched back at Apokalips, blowing up Darkseid’s castle!
Highfather warns Darkseid not to try again. Shortly after, things go from bad to worse for Apokalips, as a giant ship arrives during their attempts to rebuild…
With no other choice, Darkseid Boom-Tubes directly onto the Watchtower! Superman attacks, but the League restrain him. Darkseid explains that the alien threat to Apokalips… is Brainiac!
Superman initially refuses to help Darkseid, but the rest of the League won’t sit by and allow an entire planet to perish, or for Brainiac to continue its path of cosmic destruction.
At Superman’s insistence, he, Hawkgirl and J’onn head to Apokalips, while Batman and Wonder Woman travel to New Genesis to seek council with Orion.
A huge alien monster, and the ‘playful antagonism’ of the flying speedster Lightray makes this easier said than done, but Orion does eventually present himself, demanding to know what they want…
While Brainiac initially proves too strong, Superman is able to disable the seemingly impenetrable forcefield, allowing the Apokalips military to attack Brainiac’s ship directly. After a brief skirmish, Brainiac retreats.
The League pursue but soon find themselves caught in a tractor beam and pulled inside a giant asteroid, concealing Brainiac’s secret base…
To Be Continued…
Best Performance
I may need to rename this category The Michael Ironside Award for Voice Acting or something because my man is just so fucking good as Darkseid. I know for a stone cold fact he wasn’t even trying in any of these appearances, but even half-awake he’s note perfect throughout. Whether it’s condemning his general (and though they never say it, his uncle!) to die for the cause, or shit-talking his son for asking if he can see the giant invading alien ship, it’s just been wall-to-wall one of my favourite arrogant ‘boss’ type villain performances from his first appearance to now. I think he’s once again comfortably the best in this episode, bolstered by Rich Fogel’s experience writing him. It’s probably just a lot more fun to write the bad guys to be honest, but Ironside elevates the material.
One of the DCAU’s other finest actors, Kevin Conroy, is also great, at first empathising with Clark for his deep hatred of Darkseid… and then telling him to simply get over it. The reason he is the best Batman is because he could do both of these things, showing a compassionate and emotionally intelligent side to offset what on the surface looks like just an overly pragmatic prick. Put another way, the 70% of the time he’s being a bit of an asshole works so well because of the other 30%. Something that also goes uncommented on for the most part, is the type of dialogue he’s saddled with almost everywhere but BTAS is a bit sillier, a lot briefer, and far more utilitarian, such as Bats having to explain Orion’s deal to Wonder Woman. Conroy never shrinks in the face of that, and will give you the best possible version of these kinds of lines.
Rob Paulsen has such a gift for playing annoying cartoon characters, and I mean that entirely as a compliment. I’m not sure why this creative team believe all speedsters should be sex-pests, but Lightray has been depicted as irritating a few times over the decades, so it’s a good fit.
Ron Perlman replaces Steve Sandor as Orion, while Rene Auberjonois replaces Sherman Howard and Robert Morse as Steppenwolf and Desaad respectively. Both re-castings are decent, but not an overwhelming step up.
Episode Ranking
If you’ve read my reviews of Superman: The Animated Series then you know by now that including Darkseid and The New Gods is a sure-fire way to get a good review out of me. What can I say? I likes what I likes.
Beginning the episode with a big space battle and the destruction of the headquarters of the most powerful character depicted in the DCAU to date is a pretty bold dick swing to open the second season. It’s not like they start things off on a high and then calm down though, as we’re treated to a two-part story featuring Superman’s two deadliest enemies at war, with the League having to work with Apokalips. I’ve said numerous times that I think creating a triangle with the heroes and multiple villains is one of the most inherently interesting types of story that can be told, and this episode proves no exception.
Superman flying into such a rage at the mere sight of Darkseid that his attacks make the entire Watchtower shake is cool as hell. It also has a similar effect to when Ra’s al Ghul randomly showed up in the Batcave, as villains being in the heroes’ headquarters violates the ‘rules’ of a show in a good way. The Injustice Gang making their way aboard the base in Season One was similar, but there’s something different about a character appearing while everyone’s going about their business that’s far more unsettling, versus a telegraphed ‘break in’. On top of all of that you have Superman not caring that Apokalips and the millions of random civilians he had no quarrel with would die, which is entirely at odds with his normal behaviour… communicating once again just how much he hates Darkseid, even if he’s bluffing for his nemesis’ benefit. Their reluctant team-up is so emotionally charged, with a simple shot like them standing vaguely near each other while Darkseid formulates a new attack plan feeling weightier than it arguably should. Clark insisting to the end that there’s more to all of this than Darkseid is letting on gives them plenty to work with in Part II.
The general sense of scale of this story is fitting of a season opener as well, as we’re taken to two different alien planets, with the now very familiar but always pleasing aesthetic of Apokalips, as well as New Genesis being depicted in full of the first time. The paradise planet was shown for a few seconds during Orion’s summary of The Fourth World saga, but now we have actual episodes taking place there. They don’t just keep things simple in these two locales though, as we’re treated to big sweeping space battles, a giant alien monster creature, and an aerial chase around the towering architecture of Supertown.
It’s not all Cool Shit and action sequences though; J’onn trying to connect with Hawkgirl about missing her home world was a wonderful piece of character work for both of them. Even those who don’t know where Shayera’s character is going must have some questions about her backstory at this point, as the look of panic on her face when she assumes J’onn has read her mind (rather than simply being empathetic) conveys. When she isn’t immediately forthcoming he adopts his default position of depressed outsider, assuming he’s overstepped once more in his quest to connect with others, only to be rewarded with her finally opening up to somebody. Honestly, it was super weird to me they never gave even a token explanation of each ‘new’ character in Season One, even if Hawkgirl was intentionally shrouded in mystery, so this feels a bit like a mea culpa on the part of the creative team, who acknowledged the first season was a learning curve. Second seasons can be so good for these reasons, as they’ve learned how to make the show they want, can fix things that weren’t quite working, and double-down on stuff people are responding to more than anticipated.
Still, only half a story so far, and it is like 70% action, so I feel like I can’t place it in the Top 3… yet. ‘Injustice for All‘ was let down by its second part, but the writing and decision making on display in Part I was probably stronger than anything we see here.
- The Savage Time
- Legends
- Injustice for All
- Twilight (NEW ENTRY)
- Paradise Lost
- In Blackest Night
- The Enemy Below
- Secret Origins
- A Knight of Shadows
- Fury
- War World
- Metamorphosis
- The Bold and the Brave
Rogues Roundup
Darkseid (Michael Ironside) (first appearance)
While Heavy D takes a bit of an L in the opener by having his shit rocked by Highfather, he also wastes no time making up for it through sheer ruthlessness. Not only does he condemn Steppenwolf to death (while also ordering him to take as many of the enemy down with him as possible, an order that Step actually seems to try to obey!), he also murders DeSaad for making a throwaway comment about the recklessness of his ploy. Plus there’s always something so badass about a leader who calmly observes an intense battle. Not out of cowardice, as he could almost certainly solo Brainiac if he so chose, but rather strategy.
I commented in my Season One review that they’ve been less successful at establishing brand new villains compared to previous series, with Lex Luthor and The Joker easily making their way to the top of the rankings despite not doing anything that would count as particularly noteworthy in BTAS and STAS. The same goes for Darkseid, as the audience already know his deal and they can just concentrate on showcasing his established personality. He does a lot of cool shit that would work in a bubble if you’d not seen his previous appearances though, so he’s not just coasting. It’s more of an indictment of the quality of Justice League villains that this trio of returners are not just at the top of the list, but in my opinion there’s a big gap between them and everybody else.
Darkseid has a slightly stronger showing than The Joker in my opinion, but perhaps not quite as robust as Lex Luthor.
Brainiac (Corey Burton) (first appearance)
I kind of forgot how powerful Brainiac’s ship was during its debut in STAS, as it wasn’t so much defeated as cunningly sabotaged. Here the genocidal automaton gets to hide behind an impenetrable shield while chucking out laser blasts and drones that wreck Darkseid’s military, looking just as smart as his rival for standing back.
Although Brainiac does end up looking pretty dumb for continuing an energy attack against Superman despite the Man of Steel flying through it, reaching the hole in the shield required to launch the attack, and then prying it open. Would you not stop firing and close the gap as soon as it became clear that’s what Clark was doing?
Unlike Darkseid, I don’t think Brainiac’s existing ‘baggage’ helps secure a high ranking. Brainiac was unfortunately disappointing after a strong debut in STAS, and while they do a good job of communicating how dangerous the rampant AI is here (Darkseid ostensibly begging for help from his worst enemy), it’s simply not as engaging of a character due to a limited amount personality. Only so much you can do with a stoic ‘robot’ character. Plenty strong though, so that buys a certain ranking.
- Lex Luthor
- Darkseid (NEW ENTRY)
- The Joker
- The Injustice Guild (and Brainwave!)
- Vandal Savage
- The Imperium
- Hades
- Draaga
- Brainiac (NEW ENTRY)
- Aresia
- Deadshot
- Orm
- The Injustice Gang
- Simon Stagg (and Java!)
- Felix Faust
- Morgaine le Fey
- The Manhunters
- Kanjar-Ro
- Mongul
- Gorilla Grodd
The Matt Signal 
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