Justice League Unlimited – Episodes – Season 3, Episode 6 – Dead Reckoning

The ghost of a circus performer convinces Superman, Batman and Wonder
Woman to help him retrieve the stolen souls of a mystic order of Monks.

Review by Stu
Media by Bird Boy

Voices:
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman
George Newbern as Superman, Bizarro
Raphael Sbarge as Deadman
Powers Boothe as Grodd
Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor
Juliet Landau as Tala
Michael Beach as Devil Ray
David Ogden Stiers as Solovar
Sab Shimono as Monk

Another new episode of JLU brings us a character we?ve yet to see animated before now in Deadman. It?s great to see a lot of these obscure characters getting introduced into the show, and I?m glad the creative team seems to be doing a great job updating them for animation. Deadman himself proved to be a little out there even for a show with a cast as big as this.

I think it was an intelligent move having Batman already be aware of
Brand?s existence, as it saved a lot of time explaining his origin and allowed us to get on with the main story. Whilst I?m sure some will complain that Deadman didn?t appear enough in the episode, I think he served his role perfectly. While I don?t claim to be a big fan of the character, he was pretty cool. I was especially impressed with his design, particularly how well the red and black contrasted each other, and the excellent lighting effects that have been mostly hit and miss since Superman: The Animated Series ended all those years ago.

I?ll admit the voice didn?t really fit the character too much, but nevertheless, it was a fine performance. The real fun began when Deadman entered other people?s bodies and everyone adapted to his style of speaking. Kudos to George Newburn, he really worked hard in this one, not only providing his typically excellent Superman, but SuperDeadman and Bizarro too! Newburn doesn?t nearly get the credit he deserves, because when he has something to work with, he is an outstanding Man of
Tomorrow.

Speaking of Bizarro, I wasn?t too impressed with his appearance here.
He?s not at all like his Superman: The Animated Series
counterpart, and since Bizarro am Stu?s favorite Superman villain, I was disappointed with his portrayal. It?s been explained that Bizarro was
?amped up? by Luthor into doing the exact opposite of whatever he says, but the chip used to do this is barely noticeable, and no explanation was offered as to why this was happening. His perfect model from
Superman is yet another victim of digital coloring castrating a classic design and his cape is now pink for some reason. Pink. Like a girl.
Whilst he wasn?t featured in the episode that much, and he did take part in some kick ass fight scenes, it was sad to see such a great villain play such a mediocre role what will probably be his final appearance.

Onto better things now, starting with the direction. Dan Riba has never really been a favorite of mine, going right the way back to his Batman:
The Animated Series work. It?s not terrible by any means, but I?ve always thought of it as ?normal?. I know this is hardly a compliment to a guy who?s been entertaining us all for 14+ years, but to me, he never stood out as great or terrible. This episode however, completely and utterly destroys any and all of his previous work. In short gentle reader, this episode looks stunning. Whilst a lot of it can be contributed to some of the finest animation to ever grave our beloved
League, one can?t deny the sheer brilliance of the staging as the big 3
kick the crap out of the Legion of Doom. This is without a doubt one of the best looking episodes of JLU ever, combined with a story as brilliant as this and numerous twists and turns, we?re looking at one of the best ever entries into the DCU.

The ending of the episode featured not one, but two big shockers! Batman with a gun was something I didn?t see coming in the slightest. While there wasn?t enough time to see him deal with the blood on his hands so to speak, it?s there for the next few episodes. Hopefully it will be addressed, this is one storyline where fading to black won?t cut it. We have the potential for a character defining Batman episode here, and I hope it won?t be squandered.

The other big shocker is Grodd?s plan, and Luthor?s ascension to the leader of the Legion of Doom. I believe I?m not alone when I sniggered at Grodd?s master plan of turning everyone into apes but at least it went somewhere with Luthor now in charge. I do wonder what exactly the point of the first four episodes of the season were now that Grodd is apparently out of the picture, but one shouldn?t worry about the past when the future appears to be looking brighter than ever. If this truly is JLU?s final season, then I simply can?t wait to see it all unfold. If the previous two episodes are anything to go by, we?re well on the way to greatness this season. Let?s hope the Legion don?t screw it up!