As I mentioned in the previous post, I grew up in the 90s, with the animated cartoon Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. As such, to me, they are the defining portrayals of my favorite DC superheroes. Which, to be fair, I would say that shows that spawned from Batman the animated series and Superman are the greatest adaptations of the stories from the comics. They had to streamline the story and characters, make it palpable to a general audience. While, not losing what makes the stories special to begging with. To me they succeeded.
That brings me to the current roster of my favorite superheroes; Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and The Flash. The cartoon is the start of my love for these characters, and it the metric that I use for the adaptations. Comics, occasionally, are overly complicated for no reason. But, that is because they are really just soap operas in print. That isn’t a bad thing, but they are like Dark Shadows in that regard. And I love the original Dark Shadows.
The first two that I want to discuss is Green Arrow and Black Canary. Honestly, perfect noir, with comic goofiness. Green Arrow is a man dressed in green with boxing glove arrows. Comics are goofy. And it is a fair comparison, Green Arrow and Batman, which is why I think the stories that fit Green Arrow the best are detective stories. Or detective like. I think that is why the WB series Arrow did so well, it was very noir inspired. Black Canary fits into that genre, she is a femme fatale. Which, like the Green Arrow, her stories are the best when she’s subverting that trope. She is a femme fatale who’s also a martial arts expert. Put these two together, with their flirtatious banter, and that romantic vibe, it’s an instant success. The Cat and the Canary being one of the best episodes showcasing that flirtatious vibe. Another great episode, not JLA, but DC Showcase: Green Arrow. From what I can tell it’s in the same universe as Young Justice. The main thing I think is clear, why I love these two, is that I love noir detective stories.
Also Green Arrow is a little less moody than Batman, usually, and it’s fun to watch him quip with the villains. The best Black Canary is also pretty quippy. The lighthearted nature of their dynamic, is what makes them so great, and the romantic in me loves them.
Now Wonder Woman I have covered before, because I have talked about the film before. Point of fact I have made other observations here and here. But the short of it is that the scene in the films, where Wonder Woman leaves the trenches, is what made me really fall in love with the character. Looking back, however, it could be argued that JLA had already planted the seeds. You can see the strength of the character in what they focus on. Both of the film and the animated series really showcase why she’s the strongest of the three main heroes of the JLA. She’s the glue to hold the darker elements of Batman and the ideals of Superman together. For the Man who Has Everything, is the episode which I think showcases this the best. Out of the main three or the big three, she’s the more grounded as well. What I mean by that, is that Superman has too much of the ideal farm country boy and Batman is a broken child with money. The best portrayals of these two are non-killers, or more specifically there is a line that they will not cross. Wonder Woman will do what is needed to be done, and will not ask permission to do it. Couple of other JLA animated episodes that highlight the fun of Wonder Woman; Kid Stuff, The Once and Future Thing Part One, and Part Two. Now Wonder Woman is not in Part Two of the Once and Future Thing, but it really showcases how important she is to the team, and especially how Batman responds to her disappearing. And Starcrossed is just a fantastic large scale event TV movie.
And that brings me to the heart of the team, the greatest comic relief, The Flash. Though I kid, the episode Only A Dream really does a good job showcasing that sort of teasing quality that the show had at The Flash’s expense. However, it also showed the best qualities of The Flash as well. He’s a lovable goof, with a heart of gold. He’s a hero to be that, a hero. That’s refreshing in a way. He brings a bit of levity that the other heroes really can’t. At least the better adaptations of this character showcase this. Honestly, a person just has to watch the JLA episode Flash and Substance to really understand how to write The Flash right. It is the episode that really captured how great The Flash is. Along with A Better World when it comes to underscoring why you need that heart of gold character. Even the comic I had when I was a kid understood that, Wally was flirting with his girlfriend on the phone while pulling gum from his shoes. The best Flash adaptations understand that at the core of this character, he’s a good man. This character, can be done wrong however, and in my opinion is when they forget that he’s a good man, or really lean into the goofy side of The Flash. He still has tragedy in his story as well. He’s not just the comic relief, even though I made that joke as well, he’s more than that. He’s the character whose okay with being the comic relief if that will make other’s feel better.
I know I leaned heavily on the JLA cartoon, but as I stated, it really did shape these characters for me. Also visual media does have slight advantages against static images, and I would argue that cartoons are a better fit for the world of comics than live action. Comics are campy soap operas. That doesn’t mean they can’t be serious, like I love The Batman movie, but Mask of the Phantasm was just as dark in it’s own way. Everyone has their own canon for these characters, that is the nature of how long and old these stories have been around. I just am using what inspired me to choose them as my favorite characters. My hope is that perhaps others will give the episodes a try and find that they enjoy them. Or re-watch the Wonder Woman movie, it really was a fantastic movie, and I actually valued the sincerity of it. I can be jaded and quip here and there, but it is nice to watch a film that has heart as well.
Matthew William Lindquist 