Halloween weekend is over but I still have enough time left on my rental of the “Comic Book Guy” costume from The Simpsons to proclaim “Best Episode Ever!”
“A Better World” begins with Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman storming the oval office. Superman gets there first to find Lex Luthor clearing out. When confronted, Luthor puts his finger on the big red button and says Superman doesn’t have, and has never had, the testicular fortitude to do what is really necessary to stop him. After trading verbal threats, Superman uses his heat vision to turn Luthor into Luthor Flambé. Batman and Wonder Woman show up soon after and the lack of horror on their expressions says it all.
Following the opening credits, we jump forward two years later. Our heroes, dressed in different costumes, are hanging out in the Watch Tower. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl are reminiscing about how much they miss Flash. Martian Manhunter is in the monitor room watching over protests and Superman is telling a President Bush look-a-like that there will be elections when Superman says so.
“A Better World” is a parallel universe story where the Justice League as we know them have become the Justice Lords. They have eliminated all crime on Earth and all laws, no matter how small, are dealt with swiftly and severely. The Justice Lords are not afraid to kill their foes in the name of peace and harmony.
Down in the Batcave, Justice Lord Batman discovers the universe we know. He calls in the rest of the Justice Lords and together they watch as the Justice League fights another battle with power suit Lex Luthor. Together they decide to help the Justice League’s universe the same way they helped their own, killing in the name of the law.
Soon, the Justice League is trapped in the Justice Lords’ universe, under the watchful eye of evil Batman, while the Justice Lords are putting their excessive force to good use in the regular JL universe.
Then Doomsday shows up and everything gets kicked into high gear.
Unencumbered by ethics, the Justice Lords have a knock down, drag out fight with Doomsday. I was in awe of the shockwaves that rippled off the punches Lord Superman and Doomsday traded. If there is any fault to the episode it is that the fight with Doomsday isn’t long enough. Doomsday killed Superman in the comics, and yet he is dispatched in under five minutes by the Justice Lords. It was damn cool to see, but I would have gladly sat through 60 minutes of the Justice League just fighting Doomsday.
Of course, one of Doomsday’s strengths is that he can’t be beaten the same way twice. Now that he has been introduced to the Justice League universe, there is no reason he can’t return.
I love elseworlds/parallel universe stories so I loved “A Better World.” It gives the writers more freedom in the type of tale they can tell and you get you see some awesome things that might otherwise not be possible. Who would have thought we’d ever get to see Superman use his heat vision to lobotomize one of his foes or Wonder Woman in the ultimate cat fight against herself?
You can almost understand how the Justice Lords got to the point they were at. There have been a number of times I’ve been reading Batman and thought that it would just be better for everyone if Batman killed The Joker. What I don’t understand is why they changed their names to Justice Lords. At what point do you make the crossover to naming yourselves Justice Lords and still think that you are fighting on the side of good? There are not a lot of positive role models in comics with “Lord” in their title.
Flash watch: Flash had a good week this week. Yes, he did trip up again, and he did die in one of the universes, but he was able to outsmart Batman and even held his own against Lord Superman for a few minutes.
“A Better World” has taken the top spot on my list of favorite Justice League episodes. No other episode has ever been jam packed with so many awesome things; Batman vs. Batman. Flash vs. Superman. Green Lantern vs. Green Lantern, appearances by Batman’s Rogue’s gallery, new costumes, Superman robots and DOOMSDAY!
Derek’s Continuity Corner:
In the comics, DC did a similar storyline with just Superman — “King of the World.” Not an Elseworlds, instead the Man of Steel was under the control of a cosmic entity seeking to destroy the trust ordinary mortals had in him. Plus it tried to explore an age-old question: why doesn’t Superman kick everybody’s butt? But I have a more pressing question: Would Justice Lord Superman consider Thor to be one of the most powerful foes he’d ever faced?
Next Week: Soldiers unearth a vengeful spirit seeking total destruction of mankind.
