JLUCast : The Greatest Story Never Told

FW All-Star The Irredeemable Shag joins Chris and Cindy to recount “The Greatest Story Never Told” starring the JLI’s Booster Gold! But was there perhaps an even greater story never told, involving Firestorm? And what will Cindy think of the male gaze as seen through Booster’s golden goggles? Listen to find out!

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Clip credits:

Clips from Justice League Unlimited “The Greatest Story Never Told”. Justice League Unlimited theme by Michael McCuistion.

19 responses to “JLUCast : The Greatest Story Never Told

  1. I’m always happy to listen to an episode of the Franklins discussing JLU. However, the highlight of this one was Cindy saying she hopes to do a Brave & the Bold series someday. I think that’s my absolute favorite animated DCU property. It’s filled with joy and a sense of fun too absent from today’s superheroes. Plus it’s use of the most obscure corners of the DCU was great. Be sure to follow animator James Tucker on Twitter.

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    1. B: B&B was a huge event here at the Franklin household, and I agree it was kind of swimming upstream fom the dark and dour doings in other DC Comics and media. We’re looking forward to covering it when our JLU journey is over, but we still have lots of great episodes left to talk about!

  2. Fun discussion as usual. I actually don’t have a lot of history with Booster Gold because I wasn’t reading comics in the JLI era (even though I have been enjoying learning about that version of the Justice League from listening regularly to Shag’s JLI podcast). I was reading JLA more back in the satellite era.

    Yet I really enjoyed this episode because Booster Gold is a fun relatable character. As you all noted he essentially carried the whole episode on his own without any major roles by other heroes, which is pretty amazing for a new character for the series. Also I enjoyed hearing the Firestorm story.

    Anyway thanks for another great podcast episode and I’m looking forward to the sea king in the next episode!

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  3. One of the great things about JLU is that nearly every iteration of the Justice League (and even the JSA) is represented. We have satelite era teammates mingling with BWAHAHA era members, and even the Detroit team. They even manage to represent the League’s history by breaking up the characters in their classic comic teams in the last episode…SPOILERS!

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  4. My wife is a Booster Gold fan solely because of this episode. Thanks for covering the good stuff as always, Franklins and Shag.

  5. As a longtime Booster Gold fan, I was overjoyed when JLU did an episode focusing on him. Interesting discussion regarding Firestorm’s exclusion from the series. I remember in early stills from the cartoon, people speculated Waverider was actually the “fire elemental” Firestorm, but nope, it was actually Waverider, which is a bizarre choice to put in there over Firestorm, who actually was a member of the League.

    The JLU comic book was a place to see the heroes who didn’t make it into the cartoon. The Ted Kord Blue Beetle, Firestorm, and Power Girl are all in the comic. They didn’t make it into the cartoon for various reasons (As you guys noted, Blue Beetle couldn’t be used in a TV show for a while because of weird old-timey rights issues from wayyyy back when he had a radio show). I know we got “a” version of Power Girl later in the series, but it really wasn’t Kara.

    You guys talked with Shagg about Skeets not being in the JLI comic book. As Shagg noted, Skeets does eventually appear. It’s in the Dan Jurgens JLI era (all too brief and utterly wrecked by the Doomsday storyline). It makes sense Mr. Jurgens would bring Skeets back, since he’s the original creator of Booster and Skeets. The poor little guy was switched off and in a box in Booster’s closet. No explanation given. I want to say Skeets was shown working alongside the JLI in a Justice League Classified story, too. Chris, your thoughts echo mine exactly: Skeets absolutely could’ve taken L-Ron’s place as the resident sarcastic robot. Or, they could’ve both been there, and been robotic rivals, one-upping each other and stuff.

    I would love a series on Brave and the Bold! I’m a JLI fan and the episodes where they gather those characters together are great.

    1. I remember that scene with Skeets in the Jurgens era JLI now. I really enjoyed that run! As much as I once loved the BWAHAHA era, I felt it had worn out its welcome (sorry Shag), and was glad to see a more serious take again, even with some of the humor remaining.

      I kinda thought Waverider might be THAT Firestorm too. I always thought it was odd that Waverider looked so much like him anyway!

  6. This episode’s take on Booster really did him justice. (hee-hee!) We get a quick overview of his origin, motivations, and struggles all in this one show. JLU did a great job in efficient storytelling, and this is a perfect example of that in action. Love it!

    Another fun twist on the episode’s title, is the Mordru battle could also be “The Greatest Story Never Told”, because us viewers don’t see what happens! We get bits and pieces, but not the entire story! It all depends on your point of view. 🙂

    A final bit, sort of a reverse comic connection, is while our scientist with the black hold definitely feels like Chunk, a few years after this episode, a human bonded to a sentient black hole becomes a supporting cast member of Doom Patrol volume 5, written by JLI’s Keith Giffen. It’s probably a coincidence, right? Right? Sure it is. I think. Maybe.

    Goodness, I got to hear Shagg twice in one day thanks to this and the JLI Bwah-hah-hah podcast. Thank you, Franklins!

    1. Good call on the double meaning with the “untold” Mordru story! And I don’t think I was aware of the Doom Patrol character. That version just kind of passed me by, relatively unnoticed (sorry Paul and Mike).

      Shag jokingly said he was going to break in n M*A*S*H Cast so he could have straight streak on the network. At least, I think he was joking!

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  7. Every JLI and JSA member but one, why are they torturing me like this so? 😀

    This episode always reminds me of the Buffy episode The Zeppo, with obviously a very similar plot, I wonder if it had some influence on this episode?

    1. Well…that certain JLI/JSA member is KINDA on the series…but probably not like you want her to be!

      I had totally forgotten about that Buffy episode! I haven’t rewatched the series in years. Considering Timm wanted to mimic Buffy’s/Angel’s ability to throw in really silly episodes ala “This Little Piggy”, there may be some inspiration there!

  8. Okay Cindy, I have to disagree with one point here (with love and respect). Dr. Simmons might have had courage and intellect, but it takes more than a fair share of courage to walk towards a black hole, or even near a black hole. I am in agreement that too many depictions of distressed damsels is problematic and vexing, but I think this is a case where it isn’t outrageous to want a super-hero to help. Dr. Brown was blundering around apologizing for sucking people into his black hole, but I also got the strong impression that he was supposed to be disoriented and erratic – and it could be that the gravity field in his chest was causing him trouble as well, making it hard for him to think and control his movements. So, I don’t think you’re wrong, just perhaps being slightly unfair to the situation.

    I think these two would last about three to four months in a relationship. There would be a lot of chemistry between them physically (they’re both attractive, and she might find his knowledge of the future stimulating from a mental standpoint), but I think Simmons would look at the long term between the two of them and figure out there’s no basis for a relationship aside from “he’s kinda hunky”. By then of course Skeets would have befriended her and the two of them would probably have a hobby together, much to Booster’s chagrin!

    This is another one of the “most watched” episodes in the house. It’s just a fun romp in the DC Universe!

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