JLUCast 3: “The Enemy Below” with Rob Kelly

Great Neptune! Aqua-fan supreme Rob Kelly joins Cindy and Chris to discuss the Sea King’s Justice League debut, “The Enemy Below”. This episode has it all; Aquaman, Mera, Aquababy, Atlantis, Orm and the best reason ever for getting a harpoon/hook for a hand!

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Clip credits:

Clips from Justice League “The Enemy Below”

Clips from The Adventures of Aquaman, Super Friends, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Young Justice.

Theme from Justice League by Lolita Ritmanis.

22 responses to “JLUCast 3: “The Enemy Below” with Rob Kelly

    1. Listen all the way to the end Chuck. 😉

      I just got to watch that clip. If I knew the “Currys” was based on a show intro, I don’t recall it, and I’ve certainly never seen it! Man, those B&B guys knew no limits on obscure references, did they?

      Thanks as always Chuck!

    1. Kind of sounds like the guy from Night on Bald Mountain!

      Cindy has jokingly called Rob “my work husband”. But I have to share Rob with Shag, and the very jealous Gutierrez, she has to also share me with Ryan, so….

      Plus, none of us get paid, so “work” doesn’t quite apply.

      Chris

  1. Ahh the aquaman man episode
    Having watched reruns of superfriends on cartoon network I knew of Aquaman though I never knew the baggage that show would give the character for what seemed to be pretty long time withering mainstream.

    Seeing him pop up on superman was a cool treat though wasn’t a big fan of the namor like attitude.
    My favorite will always be his portrayal from brave and the bold he was always a joy on that show.
    I thought the version in the justice league movie was ok though more of a meathead jock then I would prefer.

    As for these episodes talk about getting into some heavy stuff.
    Political intrigue,threats of war a attempted murder of a little baby and a cutting of a limb this stuff blew my mind as kid.
    I kind of a Frank Miller’s 300 vibe from some of the scenes with aquaman and mara and I was wondering if the scene were orm eas getting handsy with mera was kind of homaging the stuff with Leonidas wife and the advisor from the comic though thankfully in never that far

    Orm definitely was a pretty neat villain though kind of one note I think that of they delved a bit more into the aquaman mythos with him and Arthur would made the attempted taking of the crown more personal.
    As for his death definitely one of the highlights of the show that they would kill him off like that again wondering if 300 was a influence on that as well.

    If I remember correctly on the DVD there either a interview or on the commentary they talked about bringing orm back as ocean master but kind of dismissed him do to his comic costume
    Which I felt was a pretty lousy reason for not bringing him back I mean they redesigned some of the other villains on this show I dont think ocean master would have been that hard.

    Forgot deadshot was in the episode I remember wondering who the hell was this guy was but again to the shows credit he left a impression.
    Though knowing that his voice was inspired a bit by Kevin spacey and his comments to wonder woman do in hindsight make him a bit uncomfortable.
    This show using characters storylines and characters from the comics that never got used was such a eye opener to the dc universe and cool to see that some of them have reached the mainstream.

    Another episode down onward to the next one.
    Keep up the outrageously good work

    1. Thanks Dial C. Yes, this does have a 300 vibe, and now even a bit of Game of Thrones. You could totally do Aquaman that way. Heck they pretty much did in The Atlantis Chronicles 25 years ago.

      Too bad about them passing on Ocean Master. Timm and company always rose to the challenge when redesigning even the lamest of villains (not that I think Ocean Master is lame). Just look at what they did for Spellbinder on Batman Beyond!

      Chris

  2. How fortuitous that you were able to get the Big Orange and Green Cheese himself for the ‘cast! Either Rob doesn’t sleep, or he just wears a microphone all day. Speaking of which, Rob sounded better on this show than on his shows! His mic was hotter than the Franklins’, and seemed to have a clearer sound than usual.
    On to the subject at hand. All I know is what I’ve just heard, but it did get me thinking as I was listening. 1. Deadshot was right. He would have told the truth if he was alone with Wonder Woman. Her lasso would have compelled him to tell the truth! 2. Aquababy’s blanket. Why does he have a blanket? What is the blanket made of? It’s not wool! It’s not cotton! So now I’m thinking more about how you’re describing Atlantis. They’re “walking around?” On “bridges?” Who’s walking? Why? Bridges over what? Everyone should be swimming! Next time you’re at a big pool with lanes painted on the bottom, take a walk on one of the lanes. Let me know how that goes. 3. Atlantean tech. It’s got to be Kirby tech, because it can’t be conventional electronics, right? But what are all these “warships” and depth-charges made of? Forged metal? 4. Orm’s antecedents, re: dooming princes; Richard III, via Shakepeare. 5. Thank you so much for that final song! I love when there’s a special treat after the credits!

    1. In this version, the dome around Atlantis keeps the water out it seems. I guess they take periodic water breaks and go outside? Not really sure. But it certainly helps keep the Justice Leaguers from drowning when they visit!

      I don’t think WW has her Lasso of Truth yet. At this point it’s just a magically strong lasso it seems. She gets a magical upgrade later on in the series.

      I fiddled with the sound as best I could, but I should have boosted mine and Cindy’s audio a bit more. By the time I realized there were a few low spots, I was in the middle of editing, and didn’t have time to go back and tweak the source file again. I’ll work on that the next time we have a guest.

      Chris

  3. Hey Chris and Cindy, I know I am way behind with this episode, but just finished listening yesterday and wanted to say that I really enjoyed it.

    If I am remembering correctly this was my wife’s first introduction to Aquaman (as I don’t think she had seen A Fish Story, and she certainly did not read comics or watch Superfriends as a girl). As such I think she has always considered him a powerhouse, unlike a lot of folks our age who still consider him a joke. In my mind I considered this a sequel to A Fish Story, because as was mentioned on the show, Superman seemed to know Aquaman and was able to speak with him, indicating that they were at least on civil terms with each other after the results of the earlier episode.

    As far as Aquaman’s changed appearance, I considered it similar to how Scarecrow changed designs partway through B:TAS, or how essentially all of the cast changed designs between B:TAS and New Adventures — the characters have changed their look but are otherwise supposed to be the same.

    It was also very nice to hear Rob’s thoughts on the episode as well. I share his opinion that Aquaman would make a great basis for a toyline and hope to see some cool Aquaman toys around Christmas time to tie in with the film.

    The only point I will disagree with is that I do not think that Dini, Timm, and company got “every” DC concept right — there is exactly one villain in the second season which I think the ball was dropped on. But that is an immeasurable drop in the ocean of the characters they got dead on.

    Thanks again for the fun episode and looking forward to Paradise Lost.

      1. I was referring to Eclipso. That is one instance in DC Comics where I think the 90s/Iron Age version of the character greatly improved on the original.

        I have not watched “Eclipsed” in many years, but I remember thinking that the episode was not what I was hoping for insofar as the League dealing with the power of the Black Diamond. As such I am looking forward to you guys covering it down the road.

  4. I remember being of two minds about this episode, or rather how early it came in the schedule. I couldn’t decide if having Aquaman show up so soon was the creators throwing us Aquaman fans a bone after not including him in the line-up, or if it was just rubbing it in.

    But I think it made the case that Aquaman had a lot on his hands already and wouldn’t add to it by joining the League. I guess.

    1. I think it was a concession to the fans, honestly. And also probably so they could make sure to include Aquaman in merchandise early on, to replace the two girl characters who were obviously full of cooties.

      Chris

  5. I agree completely with the kudos given to Timm and company for the writing and characterization on JLU. But another thing to consider is the strength of having a team of writers working on the series. In the comics, it’s one writer for a long stretch. Yes, there’s collaboration with artists and editors, but by and large, the writer is a one-man show. With the cartoon, there’s a rotating group and they probably could collaborate more. Not to mention being allowed to reuse concepts and stories originally written by others. So this series’ writers get almost an unfair advantage. Not that I’m complaining, because they did an exemplary job of it. The stories could have been “phoned in”, but that didn’t happen. They put out excellent stories more often than not.

    I don’t know what I’d say is the “best” JLU moment, but my favorite in-joke moment is coming very soon. I can’t wait!

    It’s not JLU, but a great Deadshot appearance is in JLAction “Good cop, bad cop”. Hilarious!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaK3DZ3v-WM

    This podcast is so much fun. Thanks, Frankelly!

    1. Whoops! Almost forgot. I hear you about Superman wearing oxygen masks, but I prefer that to let him communicate with the team. Him talking underwater or in space is just bizarre by today’s standards.

      1. That’s a good point Tim. The more collaborative nature of animation leaves the show open for more input. So someone can say “I think that’s a bad idea” when several of the writers, producers, etc., want to go in a certain direction. Comics are more insular in many ways, with often just the edtior, writer and penciller calling the shots on the direction, and no one outside to tell them,”whoa, hold on a second”.

        Chris

  6. Hi! Resident punching bag for this episode. Sheesh, I thought Chris was supposed to get beat up on this show, not me!! 🙂 All kidding aside, another fantastic episode, and Rob made for a great guest. I’m was a huge fan of the Peter David era of Aquaman, and even I agree this was the best possible origin for the hook hand. Wow, such a powerful episode!! And while we didn’t get Aquaman as a regular, they really did a great job making him regal and deserving of the throne. Nicely handled!!

    Hope this isn’t too far off topic, at some point in one of your episodes y’all mentioned that the WB stores released some items featuring JL members, after the animated series for Batman and Superman began, but before the animated Justice League. Here are a couple items showing you what Aquaman and Green Lantern might have looked like in the Timmverse (circa 1998/1999). And yes, the Mac & Cheese boxes are empty. Of course I ate them!!

    Also, there were the spectacular Superman & Batman Magazines which featured lots of DC characters done in the Timmverse style long before they appeared in animated form. That includes Superman as the magazine was before his own animated series (Magazine ran from 1993-1995; Superman The Animated Series premiered in 1996).

    Thanks for another fantastic episode! Now that you’ve announced it, I look forward to appearing on the JLU Cast episode that covers the Firestorm-themed episode of the Justice League cartoon! 😉

  7. This was yet another example of the JL Cartoon handling the events of the comics better than DC Comics. John Stewart and the “destruction” of Xanthi, being not about John actually killing a whole world with his staggering powers of arrogance, and being not at all connected to “Cosmic Odyssey,” was one. The introduction of Aquaman’s “hook hand,” being not about someone holding his hand in a pool of piranhas for a bit, is another 🙂

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