With all of the whining I did this week I just plain forgot to post my usual YouTube Tuesday. I’ll rectify that today.
It is no secret that my all time favorite animated super-hero series ever is Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. Loved it. Loved it to pieces. I watched the series as best as I could when they first aired and I have gone through my box sets on numerous occasions. I just dig the way Bruce Timm and crew animated the DC characters.
On two separate occasions the series had Superman and Darkseid duking it out. I am a sucker for a good Superman/Darkseid fight. When done right it is an awesome thing to see and Bruce Timm, along with the various writers, producers, animators and other people that worked on the show, lived up to that on both occasions. What I enjoyed about those fights is how personal they were. In the final two episodes of Superman: The Animated Series Darkseid took control of Superman’s mind and very nearly conquered the Earth before Superman broke free of his control. Even though Superman fought Darkseid to a standstill it was apparent that the citizens of Apokolips were still going to love and support their dictator.
In the opening two episodes of Justice League‘s second season Darkseid came to Superman for help. Brainiac had come a calling and was fixing to destroy Apokolips and New Genesis. Turns out Darkseid was working with Brainiac and at the end of that particular story Superman got another chance to take his revenge. Darkseid apparently died at the end of that battle, though not at Superman’s hands.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGWvW339Qp0&feature=related
Gotta love Superman burning through Darkseid’s foot. What I like about that particular brawl is how it was one of the rare times that Superman was willing to let someone die. To him Darkseid had to go. I don’t know if anyone had a problem with this though I can see why they did. I saw it as an interesting character exercise. This scene also had two interesting exchanges between Superman and Batman the first being when Batman stopped Superman from killing Darkseid. The relationship between these two characters went through an interesting evolution over the course of the series. My take on Batman getting Superman out of there was that Batman didn’t want Superman to cross that line, which deepend their friendship. “You are not going to cross that line and I am going to make sure of that.” All throughout this two-parter Batman had been pushing Superman’s buttons, which led to that neat line at the end where Superman told Bruce that he wasn’t always right. So not only was this a great fight, but a great moment between Superman and Batman as well.
In the final episode of the series Darkseid returned in a big way and he was gunning for Superman.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOmMTRZyoIY&feature=related
Best. Fight. Ever.
Seriously. While some may believe that Superman was acting out of character I thought that it was an interesting exploration of how far the Man of Steel could be pushed. Superman was different on Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. He had more of an edge to him but not in a bad way. Most of the time he was reacting to the world around him and on more than one occasion his actions were manipulated by outside forces. While it may not be my favorite version of the character I still dig on it quite a bit. I thought that George Newbern did a fantastic job as the voice of Superman and was not only able to bring the edge to the character but also get the subtler, almost funnier side to the Man of Steel.
Great. Now I want to watch all of it again. Not that that’s a bad thing mind you.
More to follow…
