Justice League: Secret Origins Part One

I’ve been meaning to finish the Justice League Episode Guide for a while now – like everything else. So, inspired by Rob’s blogging of the entire Silver Age JLA, I’ve decided to try it out the episode guide in blog style myself. I don’t know what the frequency of these type of posts will be, we’ll just see how it goes. I ‘ll hold off on the season one retrospective until later. For the moment I’ll jump straight in with the first episode.

Justice League – 01×01 – “Secret Origins” – Part One

“J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, comes to Earth to warn of an impending alien invasion. With the help of Superman and Batman, he gathers the world’s greatest superheroes to fend off an unstoppable invading armada.”

Screen Shots

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Episode Credits

Synopsis

Two lone figures explore the windswept and desolate surface of Mars’s Mariner Valley where one of them stops to investigate an unusual crystalline outcrop. US astronaut J. Allan Carter has only just begun studying it when the entire valley floor suddenly collapses beneath him. He comes to in a buried cavern that is lined with ancient glyphs, his exit seems blocked by a mysterious sealed door. Carter breaks the seal, but as he does so the glyphs light up and the cavern is bathed in light — something ancient has been released.

Two years later, the Batman is investigating a series of security breaches in Earth’s deep space monitoring network. He confronts three technicians as they sabotage a Wayne-Tech radio telescope, but he is surprised to find that then have superhuman strength and resilience. Superman arrives to help the Dark Knight, but he’s crippled by a sudden unexplained migraine and Batman has to save them both from the exploding telescope. The battered heroes then watch the three saboteurs straighten their twisted wounds and walk off into the woods. Batman explains his investigation to Superman and the Man of Steel gives him a hypersonic signal watch in case he encounters any more superhuman saboteurs.

Directly after his meeting with Batman Superman joins J. Allen Carter (now an American Senator) to present a new disarmament plan to the World Assembly. It calls for Superman to oversee and manage the destruction of the world’s missile weapons. While there is wide scale public support for the plan there are notable critics, including General Wells of the US Army and even some superheroes, who think that it’s beyond even Superman’s abilities. Six months into the disarmament process Superman is hit by another unexplained and crippling migraine.

Meanwhile Batman’s investigation into the telescope’s sabotage has brought him to a derelict branch of Star Labs where he discovers the real technicians from the telescope unconscious in transparent pods. He is interrupted by the saboteurs’ watch dog, but it quickly reverts to its true state – a transparent-skinned red-eyed monster – forcing Batman to use Superman’s signal watch to summon help. Superman finds the unconscious Batman just as a giant flaming meteorite crashes into the centre of Metropolis.

Emergency crews and the media surround the crash site, but they are ill prepared for the giant three-legged alien war-machine that emerges. Superman tries to approach it, but he’s hurled backwards by its powerful energy beam. Superman suffers another migraine – flash of mental images – just as two more war machines pull themselves out of the meteorite. Seconds later Superman zooms away from the war zone without giving an explanation.

Neither the Batplane’s missiles, the USAF, or the ground troops can scratch the alien machines. Hours later the centre of Metropolis is devastated and the invaders are unopposed. War machines land in Paris, Cairo, Malaysia, and even more arrive every hour. Diana, Princess of the Amazons, feels the omens even in the tranquility of Themyscira, but her mother, Hippolyta, refuses to become drawn into the affairs of the outside world.

Batman traces the errant Man of Steel to a military installation that appears to have been taken over by the same aliens as the Wayne-Tech Telescope. The psychic flashes that have been causing Superman’s migraines are actually a telepathic distress call from an alien, J’onn J’onzz, who is being help prisoner at the base. He came to Earth to warn of the invasion, but he was captured and imprisoned. As they try to leave the base the heroes are stopped by a contingent of alien soldiers disguised as the US infantry.

Commentary

The DC Animated Universe (DCAU) is the name some fans give to the animated continuity presented in Batman: The Animated Series and its various incarnations and spin-offs. In terms of DCAU continuity Batman was the first hero and he would have been active for nine years by the start of the first episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Superman appeared about four years later. Together they’ve met various superheroes including the Flash, Zatanna, Dr Fate, Aquaman, and at least one Green Lantern and, while there have team-ups, they haven’t yet founded a permanent team.

The pivotal time for Justice League is about 16 years into Batman’s career and two years before the start of the actual Justice League series. This is when Superman’s own series ends with his victory over Darkseid of Apokolips. Events surrounding that invasion setup plot elements that are picked up in later seasons. It is also about the time of Carter and Reiss’s mission to Mars, their accidental release of the Imperium soldiers, and J’onn J’onzz’s flight to Earth. If the world is just recovering from Darkseid’s invasion it would certainly explain why they were so gung ho in imprisoning J’onn.

The name of the astronaut J. Allen Carter, is a nod to Jay Garrick, Alan Scott and Carter Hall (the Golden Age Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman) and to John Carter of Mars, the hero of Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian/Barsoom novels. The other astronaut is called Ed Reiss (second name given in the credits) which is possibly a nod to the real NASA lunar astronaut Ed Mitchell who has made no secret in his belief in alien life. The alien invaders from Mars are not Martians – as will be revealed later – but the parallels with H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds are still made. The skeptical General Wells is named after old HG and the tripod alien war-machines are a direct lift from the novel.

In the DC Universe there are two races of Martians, the Green Martians, of whom J’onn J’onzz is the last survivior, and the Pale Martians who are actually a ruthless and warlike bunch. The Pale Martians were the villains of Grant Morrison’s first JLA story (JLA #1-4). There are several parallels to that story and this one. The villains came from Mars, they invaded in disguise, a League had to be formed, and they ended up with a new Watchtower at the end. The non-Martian Martians (the Imperium) are then a parallel for the Pale Martians.

The hypersonic signal watch that Superman gives Batman is of course a parallel with Jimmy Olsen’s famous signal watch that lets him alert Superman to the presence of trouble. It’s also indicative of Superman’s attitude to the Batman and the other heroes in this story. He thinks because he’s the toughest he has to defend the world on his own – he just considers the Batman as somebody else that is going to need his help. Its the same arrogance that allows Carter to dupe him into weakening Earth’s missile defences. Superman’s folly of trying to rid the world of its nuclear weapons has come up in several stories, most infamously in the dreadful Superman IV.

Snapper Carr, the news reporter, is a re-purposed character from the comic books. He appeared in the Justice League’s very first story in Brave and the Bold #28 as a hip-and-cool teenager who helps the League defeat their first foe and then becomes their mascot and an honorary member. He was meant to be a relatable character for the kids, but it never really worked. The nickname “Snapper” came from his habit of snapping his fingers. Snapper crashed out of the League after accidentally betraying them to the Joker. Since then he’s bummed around the DC Universe as a fringe character. He’s mentored the android Hourman and an incarnation of Young Justice. He even gained teleporting powers for a time.

Hawkgirl and Green Lantern do not appear in this episode. Although, Phil LaMarr (Green Lantern) does provide the voice of the Astronaut Ed Reiss. Unanswered question: if the Imperium impersonated Carter, did they bother impersonating Reiss as well?

Great moments

The Batplane in formation with the USAF fighters.

Oddities

Watch out for Superman’s arrival at the abandoned Star Labs facility. Normally he’d just crash through the wall, but for some reason he pauses to walk nicely through the door despite knowing that Batman is in trouble.

My thoughts

I hadn’t rewatched Secret Origins for quite sometime and I think it holds up really well, better than most of Season One in fact. The strength of this first episode is that it focuses on the two established characters of Batman and Superman – they don’t need to be built up or introduced as we already known them from their own series. After so long the switch from Tim Daly to George Newbern isn’t as jarring and the newcomer does a good job as the Man of Steel. Conroy is always brilliant as the Batman. In fact I don’t think there is a weak link in any of the main cast of characters. Eisenberg as Wonder Woman just feels natural, as if the character had always spoken with her voice. Lumby as a fairly passive Martian Manhunter is a little stranger and is certainly an interesting take on the character.