Smallville - Absolute Justice, Part 1
Aug. 8th, 2010 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcIt's the Smallville episode that's so awesome, a one word title isn't enough!
Like "Legion", the introduction of the Justice Society to the Smallville-verse is by Geoff Johns, and for much the same reason - he and James Robinson basically invented the modern version of the JSA. The nods to the comic books start with the first establishing shot - Radu's coffee shop is where Kyle Rayner used to hang out when he was the only Green Lantern.
Because it's by Johns, the main Society member is Stargirl, and interestingly, even before she takes up the cosmic rod, he's writing the current version, not the spoilt brat who became a superhero to spite her stepfather in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.. Of course, the comics version wasn't trained by Pemberton, who died before she was introduced. (It's kind of interesting that Johns uses the original Star-Spangled Kid in a role that really seems to belong more to the original Starman. Not wanting to tread on Robinson's toes? Or just wanting to work in the Star Rocket Racer?)
The idea that the Society disbanded after being arrested on trumped up charges is an interesting one, and a nice variant on the original, where they disband after being called before the Unamerican Activities Commission. (It looks like this JSA's heyday was the 60s, not the 40s, which is better than adding a string of explanations as to why they're old, but not that old...) It also gives us a reasonable excuse for the "fight then team up" paradigm. (Well, from Chloe and Oliver's point of view. The Society are kind of being jerks. But that's Johns's Hawkman for you, and his dislike of Green Arrow has a long comics pedigree.)
Besides Courtney the newbie and Carter the jerk, we have Kent Nelson the lunatic, which Johns seems to be basing on the fourth Dr Fate, Hector Hall, only more so. It works for a Justice Society that is long past the verge of collapse, and the fact he's much more together when he holds the helmet, let alone puts it on actually makes it more worrying; how much of Dr Fate is Nelson, and how much is Nabu, Lord of Order?
Icicle makes a cool (sorry!) villain (and is another of Johns's pet characters). At first I thought he'd be working with the Injustice Society, but no, he's just out for revenge for his father. (An interesting departure from the comics, where he couldn't care less about his father; one Johns-scripted story claims Joar Mahkent blamed his son for his wife's death, and Cameron "sort of laughed" when he heard his father died in Crisis on Infinite Earths.)
Except ... I'm not sure that is his only motive. Because the original "arrest the JSA on trumped up charges" program must have been organised by someone, and one scene has Icicle in a room with a chess-knight badge on the wall. Which suggests a connection to Checkmate, the DCU's go-to morally ambigious intelligence agency. (Please lets follow this up with an episode about Checkmate. Please lets have Greg Rucka write it.)
Lots of cool moments: three that stand out are Hawkman saying he has enough guilt for twenty lifetimes (Johns's Hawkman series made a big deal out of the reincarnation aspect of the character); Nabu seeing Clark's "fate", which is of course a big red cape zooming through the clouds; and of course, Clark looking through the JSA museum.
And the Martian Manhunter is back! Or at least, is going to be back next week! Can't wait!
(One minor nickpick: the big portrait based on the All Star Comics cover includes the Golden Age Black Canary. If Dinah's mum was a member, you think she'd have mentioned it to the League?)
Like "Legion", the introduction of the Justice Society to the Smallville-verse is by Geoff Johns, and for much the same reason - he and James Robinson basically invented the modern version of the JSA. The nods to the comic books start with the first establishing shot - Radu's coffee shop is where Kyle Rayner used to hang out when he was the only Green Lantern.
Because it's by Johns, the main Society member is Stargirl, and interestingly, even before she takes up the cosmic rod, he's writing the current version, not the spoilt brat who became a superhero to spite her stepfather in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.. Of course, the comics version wasn't trained by Pemberton, who died before she was introduced. (It's kind of interesting that Johns uses the original Star-Spangled Kid in a role that really seems to belong more to the original Starman. Not wanting to tread on Robinson's toes? Or just wanting to work in the Star Rocket Racer?)
The idea that the Society disbanded after being arrested on trumped up charges is an interesting one, and a nice variant on the original, where they disband after being called before the Unamerican Activities Commission. (It looks like this JSA's heyday was the 60s, not the 40s, which is better than adding a string of explanations as to why they're old, but not that old...) It also gives us a reasonable excuse for the "fight then team up" paradigm. (Well, from Chloe and Oliver's point of view. The Society are kind of being jerks. But that's Johns's Hawkman for you, and his dislike of Green Arrow has a long comics pedigree.)
Besides Courtney the newbie and Carter the jerk, we have Kent Nelson the lunatic, which Johns seems to be basing on the fourth Dr Fate, Hector Hall, only more so. It works for a Justice Society that is long past the verge of collapse, and the fact he's much more together when he holds the helmet, let alone puts it on actually makes it more worrying; how much of Dr Fate is Nelson, and how much is Nabu, Lord of Order?
Icicle makes a cool (sorry!) villain (and is another of Johns's pet characters). At first I thought he'd be working with the Injustice Society, but no, he's just out for revenge for his father. (An interesting departure from the comics, where he couldn't care less about his father; one Johns-scripted story claims Joar Mahkent blamed his son for his wife's death, and Cameron "sort of laughed" when he heard his father died in Crisis on Infinite Earths.)
Except ... I'm not sure that is his only motive. Because the original "arrest the JSA on trumped up charges" program must have been organised by someone, and one scene has Icicle in a room with a chess-knight badge on the wall. Which suggests a connection to Checkmate, the DCU's go-to morally ambigious intelligence agency. (Please lets follow this up with an episode about Checkmate. Please lets have Greg Rucka write it.)
Lots of cool moments: three that stand out are Hawkman saying he has enough guilt for twenty lifetimes (Johns's Hawkman series made a big deal out of the reincarnation aspect of the character); Nabu seeing Clark's "fate", which is of course a big red cape zooming through the clouds; and of course, Clark looking through the JSA museum.
And the Martian Manhunter is back! Or at least, is going to be back next week! Can't wait!
(One minor nickpick: the big portrait based on the All Star Comics cover includes the Golden Age Black Canary. If Dinah's mum was a member, you think she'd have mentioned it to the League?)
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-08 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-08 03:10 pm (UTC)(But watch the Justice League Animated Series episode "Starcrossed" [the one where Hawkgirl's people invade the Earth] and watch out for a large Thangarian warrior with a big beard...)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-08 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-08 06:19 pm (UTC)I saw this when it first aired in the US, and I remember enjoying it but I don't recall details.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-22 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 07:06 pm (UTC)