JLUCast 10: “The Demon Within” and “A Knight of Shadows”

Rise the Demon, Etrigan! Jack Kirby’s Demon guest-stars in two DCAU adventures. First up, Batman the Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures episode, “The Demon Within” where Klarion the Witch Boy separates the Demon from Jason Blood. Can Batman and Robin help restore order to Gotham City?

Then, Blood asks for the League’s help against Morgaine Le Fey and her quest for the Philosopher’s Stone in Justice League’s “A Knight of Shadows”. But will Morgaine manage to tempt J’onn J’onnz into betraying his teammates, and his new home?

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Clip credits:

Clips from The New Batman Adventures, “The Demon Within”, music by Shirley Walker

Clips from Justice League, “A Knight with Shadows”, theme by Lolita Ritmanis, music by Michael McCuistion

27 responses to “JLUCast 10: “The Demon Within” and “A Knight of Shadows”

  1. “People are really not going to want to make you mad after this episode, Cindy.”–Chris

    YES, BECAUSE THAT WAS A WISE LIFE CHOICE BEFORE THIS EPISODE.

    The Demon is one of those characters that I love when they are a guest star, it’s such a great visual, great hook, everything, so you’d think it would work as main character but IMO never quite does. I’ve said this before, but I have tried FOR YEARS to get into the original Kirby series, and I can never quite crack it. I think I see what he’s going for, and then I still walk away sort of bewildered. Still features some of my fav Kirby art, in any case.

    I had the JLU-style Demon action figure for a while, I think it was only offered as part of a three pack? One of their best, IMO, because of all the specific styling that had to go into it. Not like you’re ever really going to re-use the mold.

    Love the show as always.

    1. I haven’t read the whole Kirby series, but I would like to. I’ll probably walk away with the same feeling as you, because I tend to like Etrigan better in small doses as well. I’m excited when he shows up, but not sure I want him to stick around TOO long.

      That is one sweet JLU figure, for all the reasons you stated!

      Chris

    1. I don’t mind it. I really don’t like the TNBA design when comparing the two, so I can live with the lip color. It does mimic Kirby squiggly black lines, even if comic Etrigan usually didn’t have it in that area.

      Chris

  2. Impressive Podcast. Most Impressive. I was never a fan of Daemon. Only read him in Lobo’s Back. And Kevin Smith’s run on Green Arrow. Not a fan of the character. The rhyming gets old. Still cool pod cast. I didn’t watch these episodes. When they were on tv. Still Witch Boy has his moments. He was good in the Young Justice game. And it’s tv show.

    1. We didn’t really mention it here, but Etrigan only rhymes once, in the Batman episode at the end. That wasn’t a Kirby addition, so that’s probably why Timm and company mostly ignored it.

      Klarion does have quite a history with Young Justice, doesn’t he?

      Chris

  3. I appreciate that the cartoon’s animators made such efforts to include so many Kirby Kharacter Kameos! Goody Rickles! That’s fantastic!
    I believe that Morgaine LeFay was in possession of a philospher’s stone in one of the Michael Golden illustrated stories in Batman Family/Detective. I feel a little ashamed that I can’t recall the story exactly!
    Thanks for playing the little clip of Dave Thomas. I was imagining him doing his spot-on Bob Hope impression!
    Here’s my complaint for this post: Chris and Cindy, MOVE CLOSER TO YOUR MICROPHONES! I had to keep turning up the volume and when you played a podcast promo, Ryan was shouting at me! While I’m at it, that goes for you, too, Rob. Get right up on those windscreens.

    1. I think you may be right about Morgaine and the Batman Family strip, Ward. I need to dig those out and re-read them now. Darn.

      Sorry for the audio issues. I thought Cindy sounded a LITTLE low, but not enough to go back and Levelate while I was mostly done with editing. It’s a pain if you don’t do it to the raw audio at the outset.

      I tend to try to place the microphone closer to Cindy, because her voice is generally softer than mine, but this time we got a little off. My bad.

      Chris

  4. Great show as always; a new JLUcast is always a welcome sight in my feed. Let me just say that echo Chris’s lament about Batman: at some point, the writers at DC decided that Bats is nothing but a jerk who doesn’t like anyone, doesn’t need anyone, and can do absolutely anything except actual detective work 🙂

    1. Well said Max. I don’t like my Batman…well…unlikeable. I don’t want him to be a Superman clone, but there are subtle degrees of characterization, without making him a perpetually sullen man-child.

      Chris

  5. Chris, Batman has been my favorite character since I was four or five. He has far too often been portrayed as a jerk since Frank Miller got a hold of him.

    I enjoyed the show, but don’t have a lot of additions to what the other commenters said.

    As for Morgan Le Fay, she was the villain in a story in Batman 36 where Professor Nichols sends the Dynamic Duo travelled to King Arthur’s time, so Batman has some history with her. Robin comments that Morgan reminds him of Catwoman and Morgan escapes at the end of the story, with the hint that Batman may have let her escape because he found her attractive. It isn’t as obvious as when he let Catwoman go in Batman #1, but the implication is there. I can’t afford a Batman #36, but it was reprinted in an Archive and an Omnibus. That same issue had “The Penguin’s Nest” story that was later adapted into an episode of the Adam West Batman show.

    Oh, and I think the D’abo cousins pronounce their names as Dobbo. Olivia’s cousin Maryam was in Living Daylights and I believe that was how they pronounced it. I should have checked before I posted, but I knew it would be the weekend before I could get my disk watched. I hope you don’t mind me making that comment. I don’t want to be THAT guy.

    1. I think Batman may have been veering into jerkish territory in the 80s even before Miller, basically as his and Dick’s relationship was re-examined as not so rosey by writers like Wolfman and Barr, but ol’ Frank definitely set the template for the not-so-likeable Knight.

      Good catch on the GA Batman time travel story Gothos! I forgot that one! I remember the Catwoman/Morgaine connection now!

      Dobbo it is! Cindy and I have both heard it pronounced “Deh-ah-bo” somewhere…but that doesn’t mean it’s right. We can say we were technically pronouncing it right all along, and our accents were the cause of the confusion. 😉

      And don’t worry about being “THAT” guy. If you have a correction for us, let’s hear it!

      Chris

      1. Chris, I hate to tell you, but I’m from Alabama and my accent is MUCH thicker than yours or Cindy’s. I have to talk to some people in the UK via phone for my job and they always seem to get a good laugh at the way I talk.

        Don’t feel bad about the occasional mis-pronunciation. Christopher Lee mispronounced Linnea Quigley’s name several times on 100 Years of Horror. Of course, if Christopher Lee mispronounced my name, I might change the pronunciation to match what he said.

        1. Ha! I have often said the most brilliant southerner can sound like a moron on TV, while the most ignorant Brit sounds like a genius.

          And yeah, if Chris Lee EVER said my name, right or wrong, not only would I change it to match his pronunciation, I’d play that sound clip CONSTANTLY. Same goes for Boris Karloff or Peter Cushing!

          1. “… while the most ignorant Brit sounds like a genius.”

            (Don’t make a Brexit joke. Tim. Don’t. Don’t do it. Tim…)

  6. Regular viewers to Svengoolie are familiar with the use of sampled sound bites that Sven sprinkles in to the host segments for punch lines and such. I recognized in the TNBA episode, the following two lines from Sven using them on occasion:
    Tim asking, “Who’s this? Sure is ugly,”
    and later, the basso profundo Demon telling Klarion, “Yes: I hate you.” (Which Klarion had literally ordered him to say. Simply great.)
    It may be just me, but it’s awesome to have a chance to come across the original sources for this stuff. Thanks for going the extra mile and including extra content like this Demon back material, you two! It really adds to a fantastic show, and I’m always most eager to hear what you’ve got coming up next.

    1. Thanks Doug! Yes, Sven takes a LOT of audio from the DCAU shows (and Animaniacs) and classic Looney Tunes…basically the entire Warner animated library. Now that you say that, I have heard Tim’s line a few times. I hear Harley’s “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!” a lot.

      I’m honestly not sure how he gets away with that, but he may actually license the sound bits. Unlike someone else we know… 😉

      Chris

  7. “Why didn’t they crush the stone when they first got it?” YES! Thank you, Logic Lass! Diana is more than strong enough to have done that! Come on!!!

    And another thing: How come Mordred is eternally young, but Morgan has to drain life from other people? Did that get explained and I missed it?

    And another ‘nother thing: Did the animation style change in the final battle? It seemed more fluid and exaggerated, but maybe that’s just me.

    Not to be nitpicky, because overall, I really enjoyed these episodes. The Demon is a great anti-hero counterpart to team up with the League, making both dramatic and humorous moments. J’onn’s temptations by Le Fey was heartbreaking. Just a fun solid story.

    Thank you for the kinds words on my “Legends/Justice Guild” comments. I was on a bit of a ramble, so I’m glad you all appreciated them.

    Looking forward to the next episode with Etri-Cin!

    1. Good point on Mordred vs. Morgaine as far as immortality goes. Maybe Morgaine is older, and her time is now running out? Not sure. I don’t think they ever explain it. Mordred and immortality comes up in “Kids Stuff”, however…

      I’m not sure the animation style changed, but the storyboard artist may have changed, so maybe the studio followed those cues, and the art looked slightly different. It could have been Timm or Tucker pulling rank again and taking that sweet sequence for themselves.

      Cindy was kind of surprised no one commented on her “spirit animal” bit before, so thanks for bringing it up, Tim!

      Chris

      1. Tell Cindy it was my pleasure. Maybe one day Etri-Cin and Time Priest will have a team-up! Of course, TP has the tact of the Flash, so it might be a replay of this story. 😉

  8. Thanks for the shout out Chris and Cindy.

    I believe the term Cindy was searching for was Minimalism.

    Also, I kind of know a guy, who knows Roy, so I’m asking about “Legends”. I’ll let you know if I hear anything back.

  9. From The Roy Thomas Appreciation Facebook Page (Join up if you haven’t!):

    “Brought to our attention by Derek William Crabbe. The Justice League episode called “Legends.” Did any one of you know it was an homage to our boy Roy?

    Here’s the man on it.

    Nope, I knew nothing about it… of course, I’d have preferred “Jerry Thomas,” but this looks like fun. Naturally, nobody at DC ever mentioned it to me, but I’m happy they did it. Ray and Thompson are both names I’ve often been addressed, esp. in writing.

    I’ll watch it some early morning soon…

    Thanks,
    Roy “

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