A League of Their Own: Part Two
Episode #36 (385-860) - A League of Their Own: Part Two
Original Airdate - March 8th, 2003
Back on Earth, Static discovers that Brainiac has taken over Gear
through Backpack, and needs the help of the Justice League to save
his friend.
Media by Bird Boy, James Harvey
Review by Matt Zimmer |
Credits:
Supervising Producer Alan Burnett
Producer Denys Cowan, Swinton O. Scott III
Associate Producer Bobbie Page
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Directed by [Uncredited]
Music by Richard "Wolfie" Wolf
Animation by Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.
Voices:
Phil LaMarr as Virgil Hawkins/Static
Jason Marsden as Richie Foley / Gear, Carmen Dillo
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Carl Lumbly as Martian Manhunter / J'onn J'onzz
Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern
Maria Canals as Hawkgirl
Michael Rosenbaum as Flash
Corey Burton as Brainiac
Jean Smart as Richie's Mom
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Review
Static and the Justice League fight Brainiac to save Richie in the
conclusion of a two-part episode.
Picking up from Part 1, Brainiac has taken over Richie and is using him to build a fortress. At
the Watchtower J'onn fears that Brainiac may have loaded himself onto
Gear's robot. Flash finds Gear and tells him they need to talk about
Backpack when Backpack captures him. Batman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and
J'onn J'onnz meet up with Static and tell him Flash is missing and
Static says he hasn't seen Richie either. Static uses his Shock Vox to
trace where Richie is and the League and Static find Richie and Flash at
an abandoned factory. Brainiac has taken over them and puts his mind
control devices on Static and the League but Static's shorts out.
Brainiac orders the League to kill Static.
Static manages to short out the rest of the League's mind control
devices and they tell him to wait there while they stop Brainiac. Static
is concerned that Richie will be killed and from a clue he got from his
friend he locates Backpack's remote control at the gas station.
Meanwhile Brainiac has gotten his floating Brainiac Airship up and
running and the league is battling him. Static arrives and tells the
league he can save Richie and shut down Brainiac at the same time. He
and Batman go into the control room when Brainiac takes the remote.
Static shorts the remote out and shuts down Brainiac, saving Richie. At
the end Green Lantern and the rest of the League tell Static that he
will be a handful when he one day joins the League.
A REALLY great conclusion to the two-parter. I think it works so well
because although the Justice League guest stars it's written with a
Static Shock sensiblilty in that it seems that saving Richie is more
important than simply just stopping Brainiac. Maybe the Flash's message
that the power of friendship is the most important thing is schmaltzy
but I think this is what sets Static apart from the other DCAU heroes so
it's forgivable. I also really liked Hawkgirl telling Static after she
cracked Green Lantern on the noggin that it was "just a tap".
I've heard it argued that Static shouldn't have been able to take down
the rest of the League as he did here but I have to disagree. Static
wasn't required to take them down in combat he just had to short them
out which seemed to me to be a relatively simple thing to do under
normal circumstances. I completely buy that a kid who's been
superheroing as long as Static would have the skills to perform his
signature move on even the most seasoned of heroes.
Like Part 1, the animation here is pretty choppy in regards to the final
battle. It's really noticeable and although it's a little better than
part one it still kind of drags the episode down. Other than that this
was a very solid conclusion and one of my favorite Static Shock team-ups
ever.
Story: *****
Animation: **1/2
Average: ****
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