Saturday, February 11, 2012

Darkwing Duck, Season One, Episodes Twenty & Twenty-One: "Just Us Justice Ducks"

I've enjoyed most of these Marvel superhero movies that have been released over the last few years (the exception being Iron Man 2, about which the less said the better), but I'm still having a hard time conceptualizing how the upcoming Avengers movie can actually be good.  'Cause seriously, dude, you're trying to cram a half dozen-odd unconnected heroes together and give them all time to shine in the space of a two hour movie?  It's difficult to see how this can possibly be anything but really overstuffed and ungainly.

At any rate, perhaps "Just Us Justice Ducks" (love the title, if nothing else) can provide us with a preview, since here, in the space of forty-two-odd minutes, it's Darkwing and Gizmoduck and Morgana and Neptunia and Stegmutt versus Negaduck and Megavolt and Quackerjack and Bushroot and Liquidator.  Whew.  Honestly, it seems kind of pointless to take the time to put together whole teams like this without ever using them again--doing it just for the sake of the thing, because it's a superhero convention--but what the hell: let's see how if fares on its own terms.

So DW has a date with Morgana, but before that can happen, he has to deal with Megavolt being villainous.  And what's this?  There's Quackerjack being villainous, too!  Actually, the two of them are pretty funny together; I could deal with more of that.  Throughout the course of the first episode, the various heroes and villains are introduced, more or less awkwardly, and DW, being a lone-hero type, drives them all off.  Will he learn the True Value of Teamwork?!?

YES!  The second episode deals with having so many heroes and villains by more or less compartmentalizing them: in the first half, it's Neptunia versus Liquidator, Morgana versus Bushroot, Stegmutt versus Quackerjack, and Gizmoduck versus Megavolt.  In each case, the villain gets the upper hand, and Negaduck is going to drain their powers and incidentally kill them until DW shows up.  Then, they each pretty much smash the shit out of a villain in such a way that it's hard to know why they had so much trouble in the first place.  For all this talk of "teamwork," there really isn't all that much of it--they basically each just do their thing.

So okay.  That's that, I guess.  Not terrible, but there's a certain feeling of anticlimax, like we were building up to this whole big thing and now…well, the thing happened!  Back to the ol' grind!  I'm actually kind of looking forward to that, though; novelty notwithstanding, it's hard to imagine how this was ever going to be a really great episode, having to divide its attention so many ways.

Stray Observations

-I must admit, Negaduck is a pretty magnetic villain here, much better than in that "super-speed aging" thing.  It's never made clear why all the other guys are following him, though.  They're all different levels of bad, and they're all basically anarchists, so this seems like a doubtful notion.  Bushroot in particular is only very nominally a villain; it's hard to really swallow the idea of him getting all excited about fucking shit up in the same way as, say, Quackerjack.

-Man, Stegmutt is surely the worst character this show has come up with yet.  Jeez Louise.  On the other hand, I'm a li'l bummed that we won't be seeing more of Neptunia.  You can see why we won't, though.  "Neptunia," Gizmoduck sez, "your command of the creatures of the sea will be of great help!"  Is he being sarcastic, or what?  Is this a thinly veiled poke at the widely-noted impracticality of Aquaman's powers?

-"Bullsh….no no no no don't say the B word!"  Really?  This show can do that?

-"Morgana!  You have a mystical hideout-finding power, maybe perhaps?"

-"Flowers!  Flowers for Negaduck!"  "I hate flowers!"  "Did I say flowers?  I mean, uh…skulls!  Skulls for Negaduck!"  "Ah…I'll be right there."

4 comments:

  1. I have been checking here multiple times a day, every day for the past two weeks, for the inevitable appearance of this review! ;) And rest assured, I thoroughly enjoyed it. You have a way of totally covering all the bases as to whatever you're reviewing, in a thorough yet succinct, highly-attuned, quite accurate way ... that manages to also be very casual and engaging. In other words, reading this review was FUN!

    So okay. That's that, I guess. Not terrible, but there's a certain feeling of anticlimax, like we were building up to this whole big thing and now…well, the thing happened!

    Since I urged you to be sure to watch all of the introductory/"origin" episodes for each of both teams' members prior to watching this two-parter, I'll readily admit that your sense of anticlimax is completely my fault! What can I say? This episode was a BIG deal to me when I was nine years old! (Especially because of the inclusion of Gizmoduck. As "Tiff of the Titans" hadn't yet aired, I just assumed this was Giz's first appearance on this show, and that he and DW just knew each other by reputation; I didn't see a need for an episode devoted to their first meeting. On the other hand, I was COMPLETELY bewildered about several of the other characters!)

    he has to deal with Megavolt being villainous. And what's this? There's Quackerjack being villainous, too! Actually, the two of them are pretty funny together; I could deal with more of that.

    You're in luck, as it seems that the writers had felt the same way: there's at least one or two later episodes pairing Megavolt and Quackerjack exclusively as its respective villains! They really did work well together.

    Man, Stegmutt is surely the worst character this show has come up with yet.

    During my adolescence, I had the idea for a Bubba and Tootsie-teamed-with Stegmutt spin-off. Yeah. When I was young, I had some bad ideas. :D

    On the other hand, I'm a li'l bummed that we won't be seeing more of Neptunia.

    If memory serves, she does appear later on, but once, in what I'll call one of the shows Elseworlds episodes.

    Ryan

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  2. Hey, thanks! Who knew this blog had such an avid following? I can certainly see how this sort of thing could blow your mind if you watched it at the right age. HOLY CRUD! SO...MANY...CHARACTERS! ALL TOGETHER!

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  3. Nice review. I think that Negaduck is the natural leader of the group because he's the "alpha villain." He's the one who most seems to enjoy cruelty and chaos for its own sake while still remaining sane, unlike the clearly deranged Quackerjack. As you mention, Bushroot is a nominal villain– give him enough hugs and attention and he could become one of the Justice Ducks. Similarly, some later episodes will portray Megavolt in a more sympathetic light. I would have liked to have seen some episodes where Bushroot and Megavolt were brought over to the good side, a la Morgana, only NOT because of any romantic attraction to Darkwing.

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  4. Geo writes:

    “The second episode deals with having so many heroes and villains by more or less compartmentalizing them: in the first half, it's Neptunia versus Liquidator, Morgana versus Bushroot, Stegmutt versus Quackerjack, and Gizmoduck versus Megavolt. … For all this talk of "teamwork," there really isn't all that much of it--they basically each just do their thing.”

    That was pretty much the structure of the earliest JLA comics. I’d assume that was also true for the JSA - -but their comics are too expensive to own outside of reprints. It’s “Tradition”!

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