Justice League Unlimited S02E01 Review: Fight Club

Justice League Unlimited, Season 2, Episode 1: The Cat & the Canary

Well, back to this again! I have a love-hate relationship with reviewing Justice League Unlimited. On one hand, it's such a delight to review what is easily one of my favourite pieces of fiction, like, ever. On the other hand, there's so goddamned much to talk about, from the episode review, to talking about character development, to gushing over how well they adapted the source material... all that jazz, y'know?

And it's this kind of double-layered duality that you can see in this episode. The younger members of the audience, myself included when I first saw this episode, will see a fun, different plot than the usual Justice League fare, where our two street-level heroes, Green Arrow and Black Canary, have to deal with a freaking superhero/supervillain fighting ring, co-starring a fall-into-villainy/love-triangle subplot with Wildcat. The older members of the audience will see something more... depressing, as we get to see just what crimefighting actually does to your mental state. Obviously it doesn't quite go to as dark a place as, say, Watchmen does, but seeing Wildcat basically trying so hard to relive his glory days is a pretty harsh depiction of the problems of depression and inadequacy that many people are struggling with.

Wildcat is a professional boxer turned crime-fighter, and both of his professions involve violence in some form or other, but as many people probably points out, in a huge team made up of the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain Atom and other godlike beings, where do 'enhanced normal' superheroes stack up? More casual superhero fans often joke at how out-of-place the likes of Batman or Hawkeye are in their respective superhero teams, and, well, it's not hard to see why.

Here we see Wildcat going through some kind of a late-life identity crisis. His crimefighting methods are sorely outdated and ineffective to really compare with these new-fangled superheroes, and even the 'enhanced normal' superheroes like Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary generally tend to rely both on technological gadgets and not just simple fisticuffs. As a simple man who just wants to fight, Wildcat feels absolutely inadequate, so when he has an opportunity to relive his glory days, fighting against supervillains and metahumans in this Metabrawl, he jumps into it despite the constant warning from his loved ones.

He feels absolutely inadequate compared to the stronger and larger-than-life metahumans, and transferring that rage and anger to beating up, well, metahumans in Roulette's Metabrawl does double work for his mind -- relive his glory days and be a wrestling superstar, and at the same time, work through his aggression against the metahumans that he feels are overshadowing him. And he needs this glory, and the villain of the week Roulette knows just which buttons to push. Like how Cadmus and Amanda Waller are such different villains than your usual superhero breed, here Roulette isn't dangerous because she's very strong, but rather because of how well she can prey and manipulate Wildcat's inadequacies and addiction, getting him to stay and continue fighting despite him having second thoughts.

While there's an obvious 'Green Arrow is jealous of Wildcat' plot, the relationship between Wildcat and Black Canary is quickly established to be one of a surrogate parent to Black Canary, and the interactions between Canary and Wildcat is really well-told, similar to how a child argues against her stubborn dad to quit doing the reckless, self-destructive things he's doing. Usually it's like, gambling or drugs or alcoholism or something, but those would get too real too fast for a superhero cartoon (Black Canary's actual father in the Arrow TV show straight up struggles with alcoholism) so we get, well, this superhero fight club. And it's a very well-told story of how Wildcat's addiction ends up leading to a path of horrifying self-destruction that very nearly alienates and kills the people he cares about.

Oh, don't get me wrong, Black Canary and Green Arrow very much carry the bulk of the episode, with Wildcat mostly serving the role of the secondary character they have to rescue, but it's the Wildcat story that really feels the most fascinating to me. That's not to say that Green Arrow and Black Canary are badly-executed here, of course.

Green Arrow is established pretty early in the Unlimited series as this happy man who's a bit anti-authority, but ultimately is a nice fellow. He's got two very strong spotlight episodes, and while that's not to discredit CW's live-action Arrow adaptation, this is a Green Arrow that's far less troubled with angst and brooding and personal sins, but one that's just concerned about being a nice superhero and flirting with the ladies. And, boy, what a lady he's fallen for. Green Arrow's interest in Canary has been shown all the way since his first appearance, and while he's a bit reluctant to help out, the very well-done little sparring session (that has a lot more 'wink-wink' flirting than I remembered it to be) shows a very hilarious and different side to these superheroes.

Canary makes great use of Arrow's obvious interest for her to gain his help in dealing with Wildcat, and it's hilarious where in the sparring session Green Arrow tries his best to 'teach' things to Canary but she quickly establishes herself as the far superior fighter. It might not mean much at a glance, but it's a very well-executed way to show that, yeah, Canary is exactly on the same level playing field as Green Arrow, and isn't just a damsel in distress. Hell, Wildcat even mentions at one point that Green Arrow is straight-up inferior to Canary, and while that might just be a nod to how Canary was trained by Wildcat himself, it's this showcasing how Canary is both a woman that's not beneath using her charm to get what her want, but also someone who can drop-kick your ass when she feels like it.

There's some degree of emotional manipulation involved, of course, and Canary's pretty obviously holding back before making that bet, allowing the cocky, macho-gesturing Green Arrow to pin her down before making a bet and showing what she can really do. Yes, the end goal might just be access to Oliver Queen's huge, huge wallet to get into the metabrawl itself, but as the show quickly establishes, the attraction that Arrow feels towards Canary isn't one-sided.

Of course, Green Arrow himself feels a different form of inadequacy, quickly assuming that Canary's relationship with Wildcat is a romantic one, and he's just the third wheel being strung along. It's a feeling that many people definitely dealt with before in the past, second-guessing your loved ones because you feel that there's someone better. When Canary establishes that, yes, there is something between them and Wildcat is a father-figure to her, Green Arrow goes extreme in trying to make up for his accusations, knocking Canary out and facing Wildcat in the ring. ("That was reckless, macho, stupid... but very sweet", as Canary herself points out later) Yes, it's a pointless macho gesture, but Green Arrow has a gambit of his own. He knows that Wildcat and Canary might hold back against each other, and he intentionally riles Wildcat up, calling him a has-been and all sorts of insults to get him really riled up and apparently kill Green Arrow (he uses a 'stun arrow', apparently. An arrow for every situation!). It's all fake, of course, but the jarring sight at the ugly side of his addiction manages to shock Wildcat out of his rage to see how low he's fallen, and the shift from unbridled, blind rage to shame is well-done.

It's a nice way to end the conflict, of course, because even if it was simply Green Arrow or Black Canary beating Wildcat down to the ground in the ring, Wildcat's anger and desire for glory and his deep-rooted addiction isn't going to go away. It's a surprisingly emotional way to get Wildcat to see the error of his ways, by having Arrow fake the worst-case scenario for Wildcat's unhealthy addiction -- that someone will end up dying.

Oh, and let's not get into the fight scenes in this episode. The choreography of the varying styles of martial arts shown in this episode and the sheer upgrade in animation smoothness and quality is very well displayed. There's a distinct stylistic difference in Wildcat's more wrestler/boxer style that focuses more on his wide upper body, to Black Canary's more fluid, acrobatic fighting moves that relies on using her legs, while Arrow's kind of a more general, street-level of brawling. That long sequence of Wildcat or Canary running through a barrage of enemies is just amazing. Yes, Black Canary does have her canary cry power (which looks pretty cool in this cartoon, by the way), but the show has her rely more on her martial arts skills.

Yes, the superheroes team up and beat down Roulette's army of colourful supervillains (what the shit is an alien overlord like Evil Star doing among them), but a single realization isn't quite enough for Wildcat to get through his issues, and there's a nice little nod to his gradual healing as Wildcat goes into therapy with J'onn. He has been forced to see the error of his ways, but that doesn't mean he's automagically healthy again mentally. Acknowledging that you need help from a 'shrink' is one of the hardest things that people struggling with all sorts of mental issues have, and, well, it's a nice little bit for the cartoon to acknowledge this.

Shit, that's a lot more than I thought I would write for this episode, to be honest, but man, I really love this episode. It's a different approach to characters who've all been adapted into live action (Green Arrow, Black Canary and Wildcat in Arrow; Roulette and the metabrawl in Supergirl) but take a wholly different approach to it.

Justice League Roll Call:

• Speaking Roles: Black Canary, Wildcat, Green Arrow
• Non-Speaking Roles: Martian Manhunter
• Major Villains: Roulette, Atomic Skull
• Non-Speaking Villains: Sportsmaster, Hellgrammite, Bloodsport, Electrocutioner, Evil Star, Tracer, Gork

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Wildcat, a.k.a. Ted Grant, is one of the original members of the Justice Society of America, one of DC's first (both in real life and in-universe) superhero teams. He's a heavyweight boxer who tangeld with the criminal underworld and adopts a costumed superhero alter ego to clear his name. He's also super-old, first being active before World War II, though there have been attempts to handwave his still being alive right now with magic or whatever. Wildcat serves as a mentor to many younger heroes, including Black Canary and Catwoman in the comics, and is often portrayed as a rowdy grandfather-type figure with a streak of old-fashioned male chauvinism thrown in here or there.
• Roulette, a.k.a. Veronica Sinclair, is a villain associated with the Justice Society, though she primarily singles out Mr. Terrific as her nemesis. Roulette runs an underground 'metabrawl' like she does in this episode in the comics, though at various points in her career she's also pitted heroes against each other, or sent supervillains to wreak havoc and gain points like a game show. 
• Atomic Skull, a.k.a. Joseph Martin, is a Superman enemy, a normal human that has been exposed to a gene bomb unleashed by the alien invaders, the Dominators, which activated his latent metahuman gene and turning his skin transparent, while wreathing his head in atomic fire and allowing him to shoot energy from his hands. This is his first appearance in the DCAU.
• Other supervillains in Roulette's employ, in quick recap order:
• Sportsmaster, a.k.a. Lawrence "Crusher" Crook: enemy of the Justice Society, specifically the original Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Wildcat. A petty thief who uses, well, sports equipment, and is often a member of various incarnations of the Injustice Society. He's more well-known nowadays for being the jackass father to superheroine-slash-antihero Artemis, who stars as one of the main characters of Young Justice.
• Hellgrammite, a.k.a. Roderick Rose: Hellgrammite is a minor Superman enemy, who experimented with insects and mutation and turned himself into a hideous insect hybrid. 
• Bloodsport, a.k.a. Robert DuBois: A Superman enemy, Bloodsport is a man obsessed with the Vietnam war because he had chickened out and his brother went in his stead and lost his limbs. Luthor manipulated the unstable man to become a mercenary, fighting Superman with Kryptonite bullets and other sorts of heavy duty weapons.
• Electrocutioner, a.k.a. Lester Buchinsky: a lesser Batman villain who uses electricity-powered gloves to fight. In recent years has received far more focus than he deserves thanks to being featured in the game Arkham Origins, with a hilarious chronic loser status. 
• Evil Star: An enemy of the Hal Jordan Green Lantern, Evil Star is an alien from the planet Auron who creates the powerful artifact the Starbrand, and then comes to Earth to terrorize it.
• Tracer: He's the Sabertooth-looking dude, and an obscure alien enemy of the Justice League. Tracer is a member of the Extremists, a group of aliens whose appearance and powers are based on Marvel comics characters.
• Gork: Gork (dude with the weird pustules) is apparently based on a pretty obscure Batman enemy, having a single appearance as one of the genetically-modified soldiers of Doctor Moon. 
• In the comics, of course, Green Arrow and Black Canary is one of the series' longest-running superhero couple.