Welcome to the fifty-first edition of Adventure(s) Time, a look back at animated heroes of the past.  In this installment, the focus will turn to John Stewart, the animated Justice League's Green Lantern. We'll open with the first episodes to give John the focus. Then, we'll look at how the comics tie-in portrayed this iteration of the Green Lantern.

Airing on November 19th and 26th 2001, "In Blackest Night" is the first pair of "regular" episodes to air following the three-part debut. Justice League distinguished itself from previous DC Animated Universe programs by making every story, at a minimum, a two-part episode. Nominally to give the series a more grandiose feel, but also to save money on production costs. With both episodes using many of the same character models and backgrounds, the animators had fewer obstacles to tackle and the budget was given some relief.

An issue with the first Justice League season was the producers' transition from solo protagonists to an entire team of heroes. One way they eased into the change was to do episodes centering on a specific hero, while playing the rest of the League as a supporting cast. John Stewart is the first Leaguer to receive this honor, in a story that begins with him visiting his old neighborhood. John stops petty crimes, reunites with his high school history teacher, and receives a bit of public adulation.

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Elsewhere, on the planet Ajuris 5, a tribunal of alien judges has sent the robotic Manhunters to apprehend John Stewart. They confront John on Earth, the League is drawn into the action, and John stuns everyone by agreeing to accompany the Manhunters into space.

Mystified, the League follows John and, against his wishes, observes the trial. The space pirate Kanjar-Ro testifies he witnessed a stray blast from John hit a vulnerable portion of the planet Ajuris 4's crust. The resulting explosion destroyed the planet, taking three billion lives. John puts up no defense, stunning his teammates by revealing the allegation is true.

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The League investigates John's case in the second chapter. And, big surprise, it turns out John's innocent after all. Ajuris 4 is actually fine, Kanjar-Ro is a liar, and the incident was all a ruse by the Manhunters. Like all sentient robots, the Manhunters have turned on their masters. In this case, it's the Guardians of the Universe from the planet Oa. Comics fans also know them as creators of the Green Lantern Corps.

The climax has John Stewart absorbing the central battery of Oa, as a Manhunter attempts to steal the power for himself. The Manhunters are defeated, John's reputation is restored, and the Green Lantern Corps once again accepts him as one of their own.

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Written by Stan Berkowitz and directed by Butch Lukic, "In Blackest Night" is in the hands of a solid creative team. Both Berkowitz and Lukic will go on to create some of the finest moments in the DCAU canon. "In Blackest Night," unfortunately, isn't one of them. The central plot sounds like a fantastic John Stewart story, and there are numerous quick scenes with the cast that hint at the more complex character work to come. (Hawkgirl accidentally refers to Superman as a human. She tries to apologize; he views it as a compliment. This isn't even a Superman episode, but that brief scene sums up the character perfectly.)

As a character piece on John Stewart, however, the story has problems. We're supposed to look back on the opening in a new light, after the big revelation is made in Part One's conclusion. And, yes, you could argue that John is a bit melancholy during that trip to his old neighborhood. But does he seem like someone carrying an overbearing amount of guilt? Did he read as someone with literally billions of souls on his conscience, hanging around the barber shop and shooting hoops?

Contrasting John's humble roots with the grandeur of his new life as an intergalactic cop is classic character building. In this instance, though, it feels shallow. And, later, when the shocking allegation against John is confirmed, he's given precious little to do. He stoically accepts his fate, while the team runs off and gets into adventures, clearing his name. The finale does finally give John some life, allowing actor Phil LaMarr to deliver one of the finest Lantern Oath readings you're ever going to hear, but the wait is irritating. For a story centering on the Worst Possible Thing that could ever happen to John, he's surprisingly absent for most of it.

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The earlier Justice League episodes also had issues with the series' visuals, which stunned DCAU fans at the time. Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and Batman Beyond were landmark cartoons. Network animation simply was not on this level before Bruce Timm and company reinvented the action cartoon. Initially, however, Justice League lacked this visual appeal. Technical issues caused the colors to air too bright, and some of the design choices just seemed questionable. Those squat, boxy Manhunters, for example, look like someone on DeviantArt doing a bad Timm impression. And the choice to render the Ajuris 5 tribunal as digital paintings, with literally no animation? C'mon. Of course that was going to look cheap.

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While Justice League will later flesh John out as a real character (particularly when the show evolves into Justice League Unlimited), the tie-in comic rarely paid him much attention.  The rare exception is found in Justice League Adventures #19 (July 2003).  Writer Michael Bernard and penciler John Delaney present "What's in a Hero?", the story of John befriending a young boy and helping out his local community.  This time, he's not carrying the guilt of a planetwide genocide on his shoulders.

Adventures had a tendency to bring in seemingly random writers.  Occasionally, this worked, as comedian Josh Siegal crafted a memorable Martian Manhunter story early in the run. The original solicitation for this issue boasted of Michael Bernard's work for the Noggin Network show Sponk! and MTV's Say What? Karaoke. Not a promising pedigree, but let's not be judgmental.

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The issue opens with an unnamed "science gone wrong" villain causing chaos in John's hometown.  He thinks he's subdued the threat, only for the villain to blast free of John's ring-bubble and hit a nearby apartment building.  The explosion harms a local mother, taking in groceries with her son Charlie.  John saves the entire building from collapsing, and soon befriends the kid.

Concerned about how the Justice League will stop this threat?  Don't be.  This isn't that kind of a story.  The villain, still unnamed, is dispatched off-panel by Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter.  No, this is a story about a hero inspiring a child, teaching him the difference between justice and vengeance.  And, yeah, it reads as about as "cereal box giveaway" as you could imagine.

What does set the story apart from the thousands before it is the context. "What's in a Hero?" was released in early 2003, still in the shadow of the 9-11 attacks. This might sound unbelievable in the current environment, where the news cycle swallows stories within a few days, but the 9-11 attacks were a daily part of the public conversation for a good two years.  For the first few anniversaries of the attacks, late night comedians would even suspend their shows, or go out of their way to do a special acknowledgment of the anniversary.  Walking out and telling jokes like everything was okay, even two years later, wasn't acceptable.

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Comics were also affected by the change.  Not only were several charity comics devoted to first responders, but scenes like this kept popping up.  The aftermath of the gigantic city battles, the tributes to the average citizens who help out their neighbors...these scenes were still common in 2003.  And, really, they're critic-proof.  Who's going to say they hate a story about people coming together after a tragedy?

None of this means the issue works as a John Stewart story, however.  Any generic superhero can fill this role, and establishing this city as John's hometown adds essentially nothing. He's here to give a speech and show that the real heroes are the common folks who help others.  A fine lesson for kids; not remarkable at all as a John Stewart story.  And it didn't have to be this way.  Heck, the original version of John's an architect.  The animated series John is a Marine.  You'd think either trait could've played a role in a story like this.  Instead, we're left a Green Lantern who could've been replaced by any figure in tights.

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The Wrap-Up

Design-y

This John Stewart design will later go bald when the show evolves into Justice League Unlimited.  Actor Phil LaMarr has commented on just how outdated the high fade haircut was in 2001 when he took the role.  Amusingly, a kid in the episode actually requests that style from his barber.

Continuity Notes

"In Blackest Night" is based on Justice League of America #140-141 by Steve Englehart, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. (We covered another Englehart classic that inspired a DCAU episode a few weeks back.)

Hey, I Know that Voice

Numerous voice actors of note this time. James Remar, best known as Harry Morgan on Dexter voices the lead Manhunter. Rene Auberjonois from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine provides the voice of Kanjar-Ro.  Kurtwood Smith, Red Forman from That '70s Show and the lead gangster in Robocop, voices the alien prosecutor.  Finally, Dennis Haysbert debuts as Kilowog. Haysbert was initially considered for the role of John Stewart, as it turns out. Phil LaMarr acknowledges that he mimicked Haysbert's deep tones during his own John Stewart audition.

I Love the '90s

Even though "In Blackest Night" aired in 2001, it still features a reference to Johnnie Cochran's defense of OJ Simpson.  This time,  it's Flash with the line "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." ("It" is the Green Lantern ring in this case.)

Battle of the Hometown Cosmic Heroes

Two adventures of John Stewart returning home, helping the little guy.  Neither really that much of a John Stewart story.   "In Blackest Night" doesn't have enough material for two episodes, sending most of the cast off on various sidequests that kill time before John can confront the Manhunters.  "What's in a Hero?" is a standard post 9-11 reminder of who the true heroes are.  A fine idea for a story aimed at kids, but not one that relies on John's unique qualities.

Regardless of its flaws, "In Blackest Night" works far better as an actual story.  And if the structure had been altered to spend more time with John, it would have likely worked as a classic John Stewart story. The contrast between humble beginnings and cosmic adventure.  The guilt John, a former soldier, feels when faced with incalculable civilian casualties.  The conflict between Green Lanterns and Manhunters, and the betrayal of the Corps, refusing to attend his trial.  Yes, there's potential here.

Unfortunately, like many Season One episodes, the storytelling is largely superficial.  Fans expecting more would have to wait for future episodes, when Justice League would develop into a far more engaging series.

That’s all for now. If you have any suggestions for the future, just leave a comment or contact me on Twitter.