Tagged: Red Hood

DC Comics brought the notion of parallel universes to comics, beginning with the classic “[[[Flash of Two Worlds]]]” and then began the annual team-ups between the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America. Since then, the inhabitants of Earth -3, the Crime Syndicate of America, have been interpreted and reinterpreted with regularity. As a result, they have remained a popular aspect of the multiverse and certainly ripe for use in animation.

[[[Justice League: Crisis on Two Worlds]]] brings us a brand new take on the CSA, using Grant Morrison’s [[[JLA: Earth-2]]] graphic novel as a launching pad and going in a brand new direction.  The original animated feature goes on sale this month in a variety of formats from Warner Premiere and Warner Home Video. With a script from veteran comics and animation writer Dwayne McDuffie, the story posits an early version of the JLA with a limited membership. We open as they are still building their satellite headquarters only to have their work interrupted by the arrival of the parallel universe Lex Luthor.

On his world, the CSA has effectively taken control of the world, dividing it in six sections with each member exerting control through ten super-powered “made men”. Luthor and the Jester were the last of the metahuman resistance but the Joker-doppelganger sacrifices himself, taking their version of the Martian Manhunter with him, to allow Luthor to escape.

The JLA argues whether or not their mission should include other realties and when Batman is outvoted, he remains behind to oversee construction. The others cross the barrier and the action begins, rarely letting up. Overall, it’s a swift story that’s very entertaining with some playful touches including Slade Wilson as Earth-2’s US President. We see many “evil” versions of familiar JLAers in addition to the addition of new heroes to the JLA, so we get to watch the growth of the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes.

It’s far from perfect including my dislike for the character designs. Each of the Warner Premier videos is stand-alone and that seems to mean they are forced to reimagine how the heroes appear. This time, they’re a little too lean, too angular to appear as powerful as they should be, notably Superman. While a stellar alignment of voices is used, most feel miscast or bad matches to the characters designed. For me, the best characterization, dialogue and voice work are seen in Superwoman, performed by Gina Torres.

The overall threat, put into place by Owlman, has a poor rationale while the resolution leaves huge dangling threads. It’s a good effort, overall, but also not WP’s strongest offering.

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