Justice League Unlimited S01E02 Review: Black Mercy

Justice League Unlimited, Season 1, Episode 2: For the Man Who Has Everything

Protip: Flowers make bad birthday
presents for men

One of the biggest criticisms leveled against other 'expansion' type events in superhero cartoons, such as Teen Titans' fifth season and Young Justice's second season, is that it shafts the entirety of the old cast, characters we've grown to love and care about, into the background, basically replacing them in favour of new guys. While Justice League Unlimited also does that to some extent (for the entirety of JLU's first season, poor Flash doesn't even get a single line of dialogue) it's a nice showing that the second episode only features three members of the old cast, DC's "Trinity", Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. It also adapts one of the most iconic and highly-lauded comic books ever, written by Alan Moore. It adapts out a significant chunk of the Superman-in-dream-Krypton plot, as well as Robin's presence from the comic, and adds a few short scenes to make the episode flow better with those omissions, but it's by and by a very, very faithful adaptation of the comic book. And one that's no less impactful emotionally.

See, it starts off as these three bigger-than-life figures doing something very... human. Superman, the last son of Krypton, a being of godlike power. Batman, the apex of normal humankind, a billionaire, a genius, a master combatant and strategist. Wonder Woman, a warrior hailing from the land of the gods themselves. And they're just... going off to throw a little birthday party for Superman. Yes, it might take place in the goddamned Fortress of Solitude smack dab in the center of the Antarctic, and Batman and Wonder Woman are driving there on the fucking Invisible Jet (making its debut in the DCAU!) and not your average car, but the conversation that Diana and Batman are having, birthday presents for Superman, is very human. From the emotionally-stunted Batman pulling out an envelope with cash and sheepishly admitting that it's his birthday present because he couldn't think of anything else, to Diana angrily calling Bruce out on that, it's a very fun moment of normalcy for these characters that still highlights their larger-than-life status.

They find Superman captured in the thrall of a mysterious alien parasite-flower, a 'gift' given to Superman by an old enemy, Mongul (where he found out Superman's birthday is a question that perhaps you shouldn't think about too much). It's the Black Mercy, a parasitic flower that gives Superman a hallucinatory trance that grants Superman the greatest desires of his life, and Superman himself needs to deny everything in that dream of idyllic happiness to even break free. We cut back and forth between Mongul (who got a huge boost in badassery from his sorry showing in season one of Justice League) fighting against Wonder Woman and Batman, with Superman as Kal-El in a very happy married life on Krypton, with a wife and son and living parents. It's actually far more heartbreaking for Superman in this version of the story, as it cuts out all the political and ideological problems on the comics' version of the Krypton hallucination, making this truly paradise for Kal-El. And it actually arguably improves the story in a significant manner, where Kal-El is just a simple family man (and still a farmer!) and a simple man akin to his Earth adopted father. It's the slice of normalcy that can be compared very well to the quote-unquote normalcy that the Trinity's birthday party was going to be. Yes, it's still an alien world, but Superman is just your average family man dealing with Krypto's dog poop and teaching his boy how to behave. There's a couple of great nods to how Superman's mind is influencing the hallucination. The farmer occupation, his wife being a combination of Lois Lane and Lana Lang, Jor-El at one point speaking with Jonathan Kent's voice...

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman fighting Mongul is absolutely epic, with a moment where Wonder Woman actually goes "go- to- [BOOM]" with the weapons stored in Superman's Hall of Weapons. It's a brutal fight, with Diana herself being a force of nature, but Mongul himself doesn't pull any punches.

As the Black Mercy gets pulled off Superman by Batman, holes start appearing in the hallucinatory Krypton. This leads Kal to bring his son Van to a rooftop, and giving a long speech about how he remembered Van's birth, a memory that's very vivid in his mind. And it's testament to the voice acting and I personally almost teared up when Superman gripped his hallucinatory son on the shoulders and told him that he thinks... he isn't real. It's hinted that Superman's acceptance was what allowed the Black Mercy to finally be pulled off, but all the memories of the life -- the son he never had -- are retained in Superman's mind, and he charges at Mongul with all the anger and, again, the voice acting and the sound effects of the BOOM BOOM BOOM of Superman's anger-fueled punches is very awesome. More awesome is Superman's single word filled with anger, hate and the promises of ass-kicking. "BURN."

Something that was merely glossed over in the comic (it cut off after Thomas Wayne wins) is when the Black Mercy latches itself to Batman... and we get a very awesome moment of the fateful night where Bruce Wayne and his parents are accosted by the shadowed gunman in Crime Alley. In this hallucination world, Thomas Wayne didn't get gunned down, but attacks and beats the fuck out of the gunman, and both the child Bruce and Batman in real life grin in absolute happiness as Thomas Wayne beats the fuck out of Joe Chill... and it's not as long a hallucination as Superman's Kryptonian life, but it's still heartbreaking to see that Bruce needed to accept the events as how they played out in real life, that the gunman needed to kill both his father and mother, before Diana can rip the Black Mercy off of Batman. Bruce had to 'allow' the gunman to be victorious over the imaginary kung fu of Thomas Wayne, and return the tragedy that so much defined Batman's life.

And in a very, very awesome meta moment, Joe Chill (whose identity remains a mystery throughout the entirety of the DCAU and never spoke until this dream sequence) is voiced by Kevin Conroy himself, perhaps highlighting how much Batman subconsciously holds himself responsible for his parents' murder.

And as Superman delivers the mother of all beatings to Mongul, he gets distracted by the two grand statues of Jor-El and Lara holding up Krypton, and stops himself from straight-up murdering Mongul. It's a great moment for Superman, and again a great reminder of what these superheroes may be. Yes, killing the villain is definitely the easier way out. But to be the beacon of hope that Superman's two sets of parents raised him up to be? That's a far more difficult choice to make.

And arguably, the fate that eventually befell Mongul, having the Black Mercy attached to him, is something that you might argue isn't any more humane than killing him off outright. Batman's angry "whatever he sees, it's too good for him." line, doubtless driven by a rage stemming from having to see his parents die, carry a hint of how dark the superheroing business can be, even in the (relatively, compared to modern movies and comics) more idealistic world of the DCAU. Yes, Mongul is removed as a threat, and faces a karmic fate as he is trapped in a dream-world while a flower eats him. But he is happy in whatever dream he's in, and as we see with both Superman and Wonder Woman barely able to take on Mongul, he is a threat. There's no real solution, in the end, though no killing Mongul outright is a lot more in line with how superheroes should act.

Justice League Roll Call:

• Speaking Roles: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman
• Major Villains: Mongul

DC Easter Egg Corner:

• This episode is based on a comic of the same title, published in Superman Annual #11, written by Alan Moore. Alan Moore, quite tellingly, allows himself to be credited in this episode when many other adaptations of his work, such as Watchmen and V For Vendetta, are not allowed by the author to have his name in the credits. The changes made in this episode are all allowed to be done with Moore's blessing. Major changes in this episode from the book include:
• Elimination of Robin's role in the comics, with most of his role going to Wonder Woman.
• In the comics, Wonder Woman brought a replica of Kandor, while Batman was the one who bought the new breed of flower called the Krypton. Here Wonder Woman brings the rose, which leads into one of the best lines in animation history.
• Kal-El's wife is renamed to Loana instead of some random Kryptonian lady. Kal-El's hallucinatory daughter is also written out.
• A long sub-plot about how Krypton faces a huge ideological rebellion is omitted, and here Kal-El is a simple farmer instead of a scientist involved in the whole ideological thing.
• Batman's 'dream' is expanded, albeit off-screen, with Thomas Wayne beating up Joe Chill, and Batman doesn't have to witness his parents again, and when he wakes up he notes in the dream that he grew up and married Batwoman.
• Jor-El's design is intentionally based on Superman's older-looking design in Justice League's first season, which was quickly reverted in the second season due to fan outcry. 
• First appearance of Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet, her transportation of choice in the older comics. As Wonder Woman eventually gets flight added to her repertoire of powers, the Invisible Jet gets used less and less often in modern incarnations.
• Kal-El's dog Krypto, of course, is the name of Superman's Kryptonian dog in the comics. In DCAU, the name Krypto is given to Bizarro's weird monster pet instead.
• Zod is briefly mentioned in the hallucination as a friend of Kal-El, who, of course, is a reference to the Superman enemy General Zod. In the DCAU, Zod never actually made an appearance, with his comic-book lieutenant Jax-Ur playing the role as the main Phantom Zone escapee.