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The World's Finest Presents

A League of Their Own: Part One

Episode #34 (385-858) - A League of Their Own: Part One
Original Airdate - March 1st, 2003

Static and Gear are alone in the Justice League's headquarters when Brainiac takes it over.

Media by Bird Boy, James Harvey
Review by Matt Zimmer
Credits:
Supervising Producer Alan Burnett
Producer Denys Cowan, Swinton O. Scott III
Associate Producer Bobbie Page
Story by John Semper Jr., Ernie Altbacker
Teleplay by Ernie Altbacker
Directed by [Uncredited]
Music by Richard "Wolfie" Wolf
Animation by Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.

Voices:
Phil LaMarr as Virgil Hawkins/Static
Jason Marsden as Richie Foley / Gear, Carmen Dillo
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Carl Lumbly as Martian Manhunter / J'onn J'onzz
Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern
Maria Canals as Hawkgirl
Michael Rosenbaum as Flash
Danny Cooksey as Hotstreak
Corey Burton as Brainiac
Kimberly Brooks as Puff
Screen Grabs














Sound Clips
Flash Heckles Puff (24kb, MP3)
Review

Static teams up with the Justice League in the first part of this two part episode.

The episode opens on the Watchtower when a space anomaly hits it and it breaks orbit. Batman tells Flash, Hawkgirl and J'onn J'onnz that he knows who they can get to recharge the thrusters keeping it in orbit--Static. They fetch Static (Gear insists on coming along) and Static recharges the energy field until Green Lantern returns. The League receives a distress call and ask Static and Gear to wait in the Watchtower and keep an eye on things. As Static and Gear settle in it is revealed that Brainiac, who was contained in the Watchtower computer before the anomaly hit has been released and faked the distress call to take over the station.

Static and Gear fights the robots that Brainiac has made to kill them while Gear manages to contact the league to get them to return. When they return they provide a distraction for Gear to have Backpack upload some music into the Watchtower computer to get Brainiac to crash. He does and the League tell Static and Gear they saved the world. Later when Richie is alone with Backpack Brainiac reappears in the robot telling Richie he downlaoded himself onto Backpack from the computer and that it wasn't over.

This was a really well done and thought out episode. I think I appreciated it opening like a Justice League episode as that just made the reveal of Static that much cooler. It was such a fanboy moment to see Static geeking out over the League. Static's relationship to Batman has evolved to the point that Batman almost treats him as an equal and I appreciated that. Hawkgirl scolding Gear was funny and the Flash is like a big kid himself so he fit in great.

I had two concerns one small, one big. Corey Burton has really made the role of Brainiac his own over the years and it was disconcerting that the producers felt the need to alter his voice's decibel to almost the point of unrecognizing. It's good that they managed to snag Burton but I wish he sounded as cold and calculating as he did on the Superman cartoon. I would have loved to hear Brainiac say "lay the funk down" in his own voice.

The other concern is the animation. While it is bright and colorful here it's obvious that Static Shock animators really never had practice animating space battles and it shows with how clunky the animation is. Maybe I was hoping for too much but even the worst episodes of Justice League's first season were animated more expertly than this.

Other than those two points which had nothing to do with the story I thought it was a really good episode.

Story: *****
Animation: **
Average: ****

Now continue to Part 2!

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