My Top Ten Justice League Episodes by Dwayne McDuffie

Writer, editor and founder of Milestone Media Dwayne McDuffie sadly passed away last Monday.

McDuffie had done a great deal of work for both Marvel and DC as well as writing several animated television programmes, including Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He was a very talented writer in all fields, and an all-round great person too, but it will be those two shows that I best remember him for.

Bright, fun, action-packed, and filled with captivating human drama, the Justice League animated shows are the best adaptation of comics I have ever seen, and a lot of their greatest episodes were penned by Mr. McDuffie.

In tribute, I thought I'd share some of my favourite episodes by Dwayne McDuffie. Indulge me, won't you?

10) Clash

One of the many strengths of this show was its highlighting of various DC characters in their own episodes, and in this one it was Captain Marvel. Initially portrayed as something of a simpleton who is just happy to be anywhere, he eventually stands up to the League, calling them out on some of their bad decisions.

This episode also featured not only a sensational fight between Superman and Captain Marvel (mirroring a scene in the comic book Kingdom Come) but a particularly vile Lex Luthor too, as he lures the innocent Marvel to his side.

9) The Brave and the Bold

The friendship between the Flash and Green Lantern is one of the cornerstones of DC's more lighthearted side, regardless of who might be filling those roles. This episode shows a more begrudging respect between Flash and John Stewart, who is somewhat more stoic than Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner. But it still works.

We are also introduced to supervillain Gorilla Grodd, voiced by the awesomely named Powers Boothe. He is superbly megalomaniacal and ridiculous all at the same time, in a plot that's just ape.

8) Wake the Dead

A sequel of sorts to Marvel homage episode "The Terror Beyond", Solomon Grundy is resurrected into an even more violent and powerful zombie and must be stopped by Dr. Fate, Amazo, Aquaman and Hawkgirl.

Not only is this show's rendition of Amazo amazing, but they actually made me manage to care about Hawkgirl too, and this episode is the best case for that. They also redeemed Aquaman's unjust public persona as a useless fish whisperer.

7) Starcrossed

More of that Hawkgirl stuff, this time in an earlier episode where her race invade Earth for a good cause. This was the first time (but not the last) we saw all Hell break loose for the League, as they become hunted on the streets, and torn apart from within.

It is also full of excellent character moments, including the sharing of secret identities, Batman and Wonder Woman's little moment together, and the final fate of Hawkgirl. A damn good example of this show's strengths, and the point at which it reallt took off.

6) Dead Reckoning

Maybe it's just cause I like Deadman, maybe it's the hilarious plot (once again masterminded by Grodd), maybe it's the tragedy of Batman using a gun, but I always think of this episode quite quickly when I think of JLU.

Their version of Black Manta (here called Devil Ray) is wonderfully amoral, and Luthor's "at last" usurping of Grodd was a long time coming too. A good villain episode all round.

5) Question Authority

One of the most popular supporting characters in this show was the conspirciy theorist, The Question, voiced by the splendid Mr. Jeffrey Combs, and this episode is his tour de force. Uncovering an evil plot that ties to Lex Luthor, the Question attempts to bring him down alone, knowing the League cannot be culpable. But things don't quite go down that way.

Fellow Charlton Comics character Captain Atom also gets his chance to shine here, going toe-to-toe with Superman, who, even after winning the fight, still tends to the Captain because "He's Justice League."

4) The Great Brain Robbery

One of the funniest episodes of the whole show, where the Flash and Lex Luthor switched bodies. It was a slight joke at the fact that Michael Rosenbaum, who voiced the Flash, also played Luthor on the TV show Smallville, but it really took off from there into its own thing.

Lex's attempts to escape the Watchtower provide some classy action, and seeing him outsmarted by Mr. Terrific is satisfying (super-speed is useless in zero gravity), but it's all down to the Flash-as-Luthor scenes. How he bluffs his way through villain meetings and conversations is priceless.

3) Divided We Fall

The culmination of an entire season-worth of build-up, the storyline about the League's name getting dragged through the mud sees its end in a showdown with an amped-up Lex Luthor. After a stunning, all-action episode featuring just about every character at their disposal, it was great to see the original seven strutting their stuff and beating the bad guy.

And the moment with the Flash at the end? Gets me every time. And Green Arrow's speech is second only to Superman's in...

2) Destroyer

Darkseid brings Apokalips to Earth in a big, honkin' battle that sees heroes teaming with villains against the God of Evil in the last ever episode of the show. Batman has some awesome moments, Lex Luthor has some awesome moments, but who would have thought we'd ever see Superman deliver the baddest of bad-ass speeches as he schools Darkseid up and down Metropolis?

Some say that the show could have gone on longer, but considering the perfect final scene (and line), I can't think of a grander finish.

1) The Once and Future Thing, Parts 1 & 2

When I saw that McDuffie had written this episode, I just knew it was going to be number one on this list, and it is indeed my favourite. A time-travel adventure as Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern chase bad guy Chronos across the old west and into the future, meeting some classic DC characters along the way, and crossing over with Batman Beyond too.

I honestly cannot think of a more enjoyable episode of this show, or a greater testement to Dwayne McDuffie's talents. He will be sorely missed, but in the meantime, I'm gonna go watch this episode. Excuse me.

And the adventure continues...