JLUCast 24: “Wild Cards”

The Joker broadcasts his plans to blow up Las Vegas, and dares the Justice League to stop him, and his new Royal Flush Gang! But even if the heroes succeed, will they be able to overcome the Ace up his sleeve? All this, and the Green Lantern/Hawkgirl romance heats up!

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Clip credits:

Clips from Justice League “Wild Cards”, music by Michael McCuistion and Kristopher Carter, theme by Lolita Ritmanis.

Theme from Teen Titans by Puffy Amiyumi.

32 responses to “JLUCast 24: “Wild Cards”

  1. I’ve always loved the Roya Flush Gang, even tho they are pretty goofy. And I loved them here, too!

    Thanks for mentioning me in the same sentence as the great Tex Blaisdell.

  2. The magic bludgeoning weapon used as cardiac defibrillator move was used again in Avengers: Endgame. When Ant-Man causes 2012 Tony Stark to have a heart attack by pulling the plug on his arc reactor, 2012 Thor taps the reactor with Mjolnir and small surge of lightning jumpstarts Tony’s heart again.

    1. I can’t believe I forgot to mention that! We trip-hammered through parts of Infinity War and Endgame this past weekend, and I realized I should have mentioned how Thor stole Hawkgirl’s idea.

    2. Also, for what a brief dip into TV Tropes has taught me (apologies if this came up on the podcast), the point of a defibrillator is _not_ to restart a stopped heart; it’s to interrupt a heart that’s beating erratically and ineffectually. Like pressing the reset switch, so that hopefully, when the heart starts up again, it will beat properly.

  3. Flash running a Bomb out happens a few times. The Earliest I can think of is in Flash #139 (The Debut of the Reverse Flash) Where a scientist alerts Flash (Barry Allen) to the fact that an atomic Clock sent into the future (in a specially designed time traveling Time Capsule) will become an atomic Bomb when it reaches it’s destination. Flash travels into the future via the cosmic Treadmill and grabs the clock. He then runs it out to the Arctic so that the Atomic Explosion won’t harm anyone.
    Decades later, Wally West Flash has to run a Bomb out in his year one storyline (Born to Run Flash #s62-65) Present Day Wally as the Flash finds a time bomb at Keystone City airport (after a hasty search) and runs the “on the verge of exploding bomb” up the side of a plane and throws it up in the air before it explodes.
    There are a bunch of other instances I’m sure but those are the two that stick out the most in my mind.

    1. The Batman himself ran an exploding bomb out of a crowded area at (relative) superspeed in the BTAS episode “Time Out of Joint.”

    2. Thanks Michael! Those had definitely slipped my mind, although I have read those stories. I’m still thinking there’s an animated, or live-action version of Flash doing the same, but it’s still not ringing a bell!

  4. I have so many commentS
    1 why/how did this series get so dark!
    2. a joker solo series mention! it’s underrated read it
    3 ChRIS dont worry about Killing Joke “barbara gordon was REALLY Clayface “

    1. Unlike all the previous entries in the DCAU, which were pitched for weekday afternoon or Saturday morning syndicated network cartoon timeslots, Justice League was airing on Cartoon Network in a 9PM EST timeslot, so so I imagine the reins were significantly looser.

      That said, Batman Beyond, the previous DCAU show, is probably a darker show> Leaned more often into downer outcomes and body horror, and didn’t have the relative advantage of a primetime cable network timeslot.

      1. Yeah, Batman Beyond has a nastier edge than even Justice League. Nothing compared to what has come since in a lot of media, but it’s definitely grimmer overall. Timm and company took WB’s insistence on a “teen Batman show” and gave them one they were interested in doing.

  5. Impresive pod cast. Most impresive. Ah this was a cool episode. Mark was at the top of his game. Yeah glad the finely Got hawk Woman and GL together. Took em long enough. Yeah WW and Bats took longer…but it’s Bats. He drags every thing out. Ah Star Crossed is next…oy. Still was cool seeing the Royal Flush gang. And the Titans voice actors in it. Ace was good in this and great in the Bats bits for the JLU and Bats Beyond cross over. Well sort of. Any way can’t wait to hear the next pod cast.

    1. Whilst it makes for a great little ending to the episode, and about bloody time well, I find it difficult to believe that Shayera has never taken her helmet off around the other Leaguers. Unless future Thanagar technology makes really comfortable helmets that don’t mess up the hair!

      Also, I’m curious if it’s been covered in other media just how the Joker found out and “rescued” the Royal Flush Gang.

      1. Given the reveal we’re about to get, I personally don’t find it surprising that Shayera never took her helmet off around heroes she has essentially infiltrated. Heck, in the original comics the JLA didn’t know each other’s secret IDs for a ridiculously long time!

        It may have popped up in the Justice League Adventures comic, but I never hold those to “canon”. I know some folks do, but not me.

        Chris

  6. I hadn’t realized (or had forgotten) that the Teen Titans cast were in these episodes. I’ll have to show them to my daughter, a big Teen Titans/Teen Titans Go fan, and see if she recognizes any of their voices.

    Thanks for another extraordinary episode.

    1. Just have her close her eyes, and I bet she “sees” the Titans right away! And for fun, I would put on an episode of The Middle and see if she cans spot Greg (Beast Boy) Cipes. It’s streaming on HBO Max too (not a sponsor).

  7. I am surprised it was not mentioned that the Joker did not laugh AT ALL during these two episodes. That made him seem even more creepy.

  8. Maria Canals-Barrera’s comments on “the ending”:

    ” [The relationship] developed quite nicely, I think… little by little. And the episode where we first kiss, [“Wild Cards,”] that was major! [Green Lantern is] sitting there — shirtless I may add — and I talk about how different we are and it would never work, and he says, (mimicking) “All I see is a man and a woman.” And then he just grabs me and takes my mask off and kisses me. When I saw that scene, it was so arousing… and this was a cartoon! (Laughter.) It was really beautifully done. Just like a movie. It’s just filled with so much tension, the way I’m fighting my attraction to him, and he wears me down… and of course the unveiling of my face coupled with my emotions coming out. And it’s just very powerful on the kiss. It’s just great. It’s my favorite scene on the show so far.”

    This was hard to find, The full interview on Comics2Film is long gone.

    https://www.supermanhomepage.com/news/2004-news/2004-news-tv.php?topic=2004-news-tv/0225i

  9. As much attention as the John Stewart/Hawkgirl romance gets in this episode, it is easy to forget that it also shows how the Joker can be a Justice League-level threat just through his unpredictability and his insane, yet genius schemes. I mean, he had Superman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkgirl running ragged throughout Las Vegas while also going toe-to-toe with Batman. Not a small feat for a villain with no super powers.

    Chris, since you brought how over-the-top the depictions of the Joker’s vileness have gotten in comics, I will say I agree completely, and I often find myself groaning a little whenever he pops up in a comic anymore. This is why I always appreciate a Joker story that achieves a balance between the Joker being a credible threat while also being a lot of fun.

    1. Yes, this really does show the Joker earns his “Greatest Comic Villain of All Time” status. And please people, don’t even argue Doctor Doom with me. He’s great, but c’mon. The Joker is a household name, an icon on to himself.

      But as you pointed out Steve, I don’t really care for any modern depictions of him now. He’s become “The Boogie Man”, like some horror movie antagonist everyone dreads who just shows up, and people die. What’s the fun in that when you have a guy dressed like this?

      1. Dude, if I was running DC Comics, I would severely limit how often the Joker could be used.

        And I would remove the Batman-Who-Laughs entirely from continuity.

          1. The Joker is incredibly oversaturated now. But it was almost as bad in the late 40s early 50s when he appeared in at least one story in every issue of Batman.

            And yeah, that Metal stuff is just not my thing, at all. I saw a bunch of those McFarlane figures at Target yesterday, and it’s a humongous pass for me. More power to those who dig it, but you can have it.

            Chris

  10. Little thoughts about Ace driving the Joker crazy at the end. Maybe you mentioned this and I missed it, but Joker lied about her power not being able to affect him because he was already crazy, or he wouldn’t have held onto her power-blocking-headband to protect himself, which he dropped when Batman ambushed him. So he knew her power could affect him. Then if we take his vision as literally what he sees, Joker is falling into darkness, losing all sense of the world and possibly of himself. His ego and identity are central to his mania, and being utterly cut off from reality? Yeah, that could make him shut down.

    Fun episodes, especially the Teen Titans voice cast. Thanks, Franklins!

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