Justice League Unlimited S02E09 Review: Who Watches the Watchmen

Justice League Unlimited, Season 2, Episode 9: Question Authority

Oh man. These next few Justice League Unlimited episodes will take... a pretty good while for me to properly write their reviews.The climax of JLU's second season is one of the most important, most intense and most well-told superhero stories in animation, and I do want to take the time and effort to properly convey my thoughts on these episodes.


So many plotlines have been tied around Project Cadmus' -- or rather, Lex Luthor's -- machinations, and the man at the center of it all is the Man of Steel himself, Superman. Seeds of this had been sown throughout the first two seasons of Unlimited. Luthor's campaign for president, Luthor discrediting Superman in the public eye by goading him into a fight against Captain Marvel, Emil Hamilton creating a clone of Supergirl, Batman sending Question to look for information and dig into Cadmus... and, yes, Cadmus's paranoia isn't poorly founded. Between their knowledge about the existence of an alternate dimension where the Justice Lords are a thing, the gigantic space gun that the League has, as well as Superman's brainwashing by Darkseid at the climax of Superman: The Animated Series, are all huge reasons that doesn't bother only Cadmus, but Superman himself. While the episode opens with an awesome battle sequence between Superman and the Apokolitan Mantis, we then cut to a picnic between Superman and Mantis where the godlike protector of Metropolis shows that he has a vulnerable side, too, an insecure side that feels bad about all the fuck-ups he has done. Because like we established before, even Superman... is a man.

While we see many aspects of Superman's personality in this episode -- the leader, the hero, the beacon of justice -- none really shows who Superman is other than the conversation between Superman and Lois, something that's became a rarity in the more densely-plotted Justice League Unlimited, and Lois is the girlfriend that tells Superman that, yes, the Justice League haven't gotten out of line yet, but they do have to evaluate themselves. Yes, Superman can justify his actions, but the sheer lengths that he's going can easily be applied to Lex Luthor. Harsh? Maybe, but it's the kind of harsh kindness that only family can really give Superman -- or Clark, rather -- and it's the kind of comparison that he needs to hear. Because as we've seen in 'Clash', Superman really hates Luthor as much as the other way around is true, and to be compared to Luthor? Yeah, that's going to make Superman step back and evaluate his actions all right.

Superman's storyline throughout the Justice League episodes is one that's often understated in favour of Shayera's more interesting one, but it's definitely one that sits in the center of its hugest story arcs. There is a reason why it's so much easier to portray Superman as the personification of justice... though the fact that all of the Justice League's biggest threats (Luthor, Darkseid, Brainiac) are all Superman's personal enemies is kind of a key factor in it all.

Another very important character in all this, however, is the Question, who is the League's resident paranoid conspiracy theory nutjob. Between his absolutely golden lines (“The plastic tips at the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is sinister.") and his two excellent episodes -- his introduction and team-up with Green Arrow and Supergirl in "Fearful Symmetry" that leads to the audience being made known to the existence of Project Cadmus, as well as his very entertaining second one with Huntress in "Double Date" -- make him a very likable character and compelling protagonist to follow. He's a very interesting character to contrast against Superman. Superman's very much intent on keeping the League's actions within the law, regretting his past misdeeds and missteps. The Question gives no fucking shits about the law, so long as peace is preserved. And when the Question finds out that Cadmus has video of the alternate-universe Justice Lord Superman killing Luthor and setting off the chain of events that causes the Justice League to become Justice Lords, he's dead-set on preventing this possible future...

By killing Lex Luthor.

Now pretend that that confrontation between Question and Lex Luthor didn't end with the revelation that Luthor's basically a Terminator suddenly enhanced with super-strength and ended up batting Question around like a paper doll. The Question, an unambiguous hero, has just tried to end the problem by assassinating what's essentially a helpless businessman.

Yes, superheroes like Punisher, Ghost Rider and Vigilante (the Adrian Chase one, not the cowboy) go around murdering people and acting as judge, jury and executioner, but to see this mentality happen in a DCAU's far more optimistic world is just jarring. Yes, we've got Huntress and her vendetta against Stephen Mandragora, we've got villains being killed in battle against the superheroes, but this is straight-up cold-blooded murder that Question is planning. And, yes, Question is fully willing to take the fall -- better he, the anti-hero who's borderline crazy, to be painted as the villain, instead of the beacon of justice.

The fact that the Question, a conspiracy nut himself, comes to the same conclusion as the Cadmus people did, that a superhero apocalypse is actually feasible -- it just needs a particular chain of events that involves Luthor becoming president, Luthor killing Flash and Superman killing Luthor -- makes him freak out and his whole world basically shatters right then and there. Question and Luthor's confrontation is absolutely amazing and I just replayed it simply because I can. Jeffrey Coombs and Clancy Brown are two of the most amazing voice actors I've ever heard in my life, and honestly this is one of the best confrontations ever in the history of all superhero cartoons. The fact that the Question is such an interesting design -- a hero without any facial features, thus making him almost immediately unnatural and 'wrong' in our heads -- in contrast to Luthor, whose face is in full display, is a great contrast.

Of course, before he confronts Luthor, he did confront Superman too, which happens in a pretty short moment that I nearly forgot to put in here. Superman's slightly more warlike and defensive side boils up, despite Question's very justified fears and the justification that hiding the Justice Lord videos would tarnish the League's reputation, but, like Lois said, it's the same justifications that Luthor would've made. Question ends up heading to his own conclusion, which, well, is to prevent the chance of this happening my getting rid of one bald dude.

The confrontation between the two, the amazing dialogue and scripting they had, Luthor's revelation that, yes, he is just that petty to set up a huge presidential election just for shits and giggles to fuck with Superman's mind, that he has sought a cure for his Kryptonite poisoning and has became an enhanced human, is amazing. "Do you know how much power I'd have to GIVE UP to be president? That's right, conspiracy buff, I spent seventy-five million on a fake presidential campaign. All... just to tick Superman off." Luthor's voice just drips with anger, ego and hatred all at the same time, dropping the nice guy businessman act and just reverting to good ol' hammy Luthor, and it's just amazing.

Honestly, Clancy Brown's portrayal of Lex Luthor in both Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited is just so well-done and so integral from my childhood that any other incarnation of the character, be it animated or live-action just can never hope to hold the torch to Clancy Brown.

Ahem. Anyway, continuing to talk about this episode, rogue Justice League member Huntress, also known as Question's girlfriend (the two freaking have phone sex in this episode, something that totally flew over my head as a kid), steals Jimmy Olsen's signal watch to summon Superman, asking his aid in searching for the missing Question. Huntress is an interesting character too -- we know who she is, we know she likes Question, but how she interacts with Superman is an interesting dynamic as well. Superman and the founding seven's role as the League's chairman is to get rid of the League members that aren't up to standard, and Huntress is one of those superheroes who's gotten kicked out for being a loose cannon. Yet Huntress is the one ally that Superman has in uncovering the Cadmus conspiracy, even if this means that the two of them have to operate outside the law... the very thing that Cadmus is afraid Superman will do.


It's an interesting dilemma, really. Yes, Huntress doesn't have the same powers as Superman (nor did she just have conversations with Lois Lane and Question and have his responsibilities challenged) and thus maybe she doesn't really understand the dilemma running in poor Clark's mind on whether he should bend the rules to rescue his friend. Ultimately it doesn't matter since helping Huntress turns out to be the right move, what with Question being pretty savagely tortured for information, but what if Question wasn't being tortured? Should Superman use all his power to stop Cadmus and put his feet down hard? Would it be fighting yet another enemy, or would it bring Superman closer to being Lord Superman? Seeing just how absolutely overpowering Superman is compared to Huntress when dealing with the Cadmus guards really show just how much responsibility and how much more powerful Superman is compared to your lesser heroes.

And as Superman enters the Cadmus facility, his world crumbles apart as he discovers that his longtime ally, Emil Hamilton, is actually one of the higher-ups of Cadmus. Superman and Hamilton's conversation is yet another key moment in this episode, where Superman hears firsthand how absolutely terrifying his actions were when he was controlled by Darkseid to the humans. Superman's rampage, as unintentional as it was, had cost him Hamilton's trust and friendship. Yes, other humans like Lois, Jimmy, Huntress and Question trust Superman to do the right thing, but some, like Hamilton, just sees Superman as a threat. We ever go as far as comparing Superman to Lucifer, a surprisingly religious reference on this show. And if nothing else, Hamilton doesn't want to put his fate on the whims of a godlike being.

It's really telling how absolutely freaking terrified Hamilton is when he breathes out that sigh of relief when Superman zips away in disgust. Dude's a treacherous jackass, but he was definitely pissing his pants in the presence of Superman, not really knowing how Superman will react to his treachery. Yeah, he's giving out this brave speech about how Superman's more devil than angel and all that, but he's a 'boo' off from crapping himself.

Side-note: I don't mention it enough, but while Tim Daly's pretty awesome, it's these episodes in Justice League Unlimited that really sell George Newbern's voice-acting chops as Superman.

Of course, the episode ends on a cliffhanger, with Superman, Huntress and Question's escape barred by Captain Atom. Yes, we did see Captain Atom work together with Superman to defeat Mantis earlier in the episode, but Captain Atom is easily the weakest link in the episode's finale. We've only seen Captain Atom play a semi-major role a grand total of once, during the first episode of Unlimited, and we don't really get that huge of an impression on his personalities and motivations. It's a bit of a rush job, compared to other pre-established characters like Superman, Huntress, Question, Luthor and Hamilton, and Captain Atom's sudden heel-face-turn ends up being a pretty weak link in what's otherwise a pretty perfect episode.

Justice League Roll Call:

• Speaking Roles: Superman, Captain Atom, Question, Huntress, Aztek
• Non-Speaking Roles: Steel, Crimson Fox, Shining Knight
• Major Villains: Mantis, General Wade Eiling, Lex Luthor, Emil Hamilton, Amanda Waller, dr. Moon

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Mantis is a pretty minor warrior from Apokolis with energy-absorbing powers (and apparently rose from the same race of bug-people that Forager came from, and Superman notes that Mantis's presence on Earth is a result of the Apokolitan Civil War, which we see during the events of "The Ties that Bind".
• Lois Lane reappears after being absent for nearly the entirety of Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. Jimmy Olsen's signal watch also makes a brief return. 
• Events from "Double Date" (Huntress's dismissal), "Fearful Symmetry" (Hamilton cloning Supergirl), "Clash" (Superman vs Captain Marvel) "A Better World" (everything regarding the Justice Lords), "Legacy" (Superman's brainwashing by Darkseid) and "Injustice For All" (Luthor's Kryptonite poisoning) are all mentioned.
• Dr. Moon's role in this episode as Question's torturer was initially supposed to be filled by Batman villain Hugo Strange, but thanks to the Bat-Embargo, Hugo Strange was unavailable for the role, thus dr. Moon. In the comics, dr. Moon is a minor Batman villain who later became the Suicide Squad's resident expert in brain and plastic surgery.
• The opening battle against Mantis happened in Plastino Street, which is a homage to the Superman comic artist Al Plastino.
• Superman drinks Soder Cola, a brand that in the comics is one of the few that sponsors Booster Gold and is frequently promoted by him.