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Summary:  When the Watchtower is hit by a cosmic superstring, the Justice League depletes their energy reserves to maintain their shields.  Desperately low on power and falling out of orbit, the Justice League recruits Static to replenish their power core using his electromagnetic powers.  After recharging the core, Static and his partner Gear are allowed to stay on the Watchtower unsupervised while the League responds to a distress call in deep space, but it is revealed to be a ruse by Brainiac, who used the emergency to take over the space station's computer system.  Trapped onboard and hunted by the League's own security systems, Static and Gear must stay alive and help the League defeat the Kryptonian menace but, even then, is it really over?

JL Roll Call:  Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, J’onn J’onzz, Hawkgirl

Featured Character:  Static

Villain:  Brainiac

Supporting Villains:  The Metamen

 

Kids' WB! on "A League of Their Own":  “In this special crossover event, the Justice League enlists Static's help to recharge the Watchtower after it's struck by a cosmic anomaly and the central power core begins to drain.  When the 'J. League' receives an emergency call, Static and Gear are left behind only to discover that the computer virus, Brainiac, is taking over the system.  A chase ensues as they try to save the Watchtower from Brainiac's corrupt takeover tactics until Batman, the Flash, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, and Green Lantern can make it back in time.  Just when everything appears to be under control, things take an unexpected turn before all is revealed in the stunning conclusion of Part Two (courtesy of [website name removed]).”

Dwayne McDuffie on "A League of Their Own":  “I remember Alan Burnett was in the planning stages of a Teen Titans crossover and the concern was voiced that the Static episode would air before Teen Titans premiered.  Someone from the studio asked how we felt about doing Justice League instead and I guess it's obvious how we responded.  I'd still like to see Static meet the Titans someday, though.  [As it currently stands], it's a large-scale story worthy of the Justice League, but it's fundamentally a Static Shock story.  It will feel like two episodes of Static Shock with cool guest stars.

“[As for the show’s different art styles,] I'm not really qualified to talk about it from the visual side, except to say that I've seen it and it works.  From the writer's perspective, it was tricky—Static Shock is paradoxically both lighter in tone and more naturalistic than Justice League.  We needed a story with stakes big enough to challenge the Justice League, but personal enough so that Static wasn't completely overshadowed by the big guns.  John [Semper Jr.] and Ernie [Altbacker] solved the problem beautifully—tons of action, great interplay between Static, Richie, and the Justice League; lots of humor, and frickin' Brainiac!  Flash steals the show, I think (courtesy of Toon Zone)."

Dwayne McDuffie on Phil LaMarr's dual roles:  “I tried to torture Phil in that script—because he does the voice of Static and the voice of Green Lantern, I wrote this really involved sequence where he has to go back and forth (courtesy of [website name removed]).”

John Semper, Jr. on "A League of Their Own":  “I recall really pushing for the idea that the episode teaser should really start out just like a Justice League episode, with no hint of Static ShockI wanted it to look like the Kids' WB made a mistake and was airing the wrong show—then, at the end of the teaser, Batman says something to the effect that, 'There's only one person who can help us here.'  He punches up the image on screen and we see...gasp!...Static!

“I remember how much trouble Kevin Conroy had saying the line, 'It looks like some sort of space anomaly.'  He kept flubbing it and we all kept laughing.  I almost expected Batman to flub it in the final cartoon.

“The second part—the next episode—is more of a Static Shock episode with the Justice League as guest stars.  Most of the action takes place down in Dakota and we see the usual cast of characters.  So we get a whole new perspective on Static's interaction with the Justice League (courtesy of Toon Zone).”

Corey Burton on Brainiac in "A League of Their Own":  “I was a little surprised when I first read the script—it wasn't in the same vein as Justice League.  The overall feel of it just seemed, by comparison, a little on the 'hokey' side, and Brainiac's character had been altered quite a bit, from what I figured had already been so well-established in the other shows.  The lines made him come across as a hands-on-the-hips, challenging-the-universe, stereotypical villain as opposed to this vast, cool intellect.

“[The Brainiac voice is] entirely effortless…I look at the words and say them in a steady tone, and they just ring the right way and have such drama.  It's the choice of words and the way they're arranged [in the script] that give the character its wholeness, its power.  [With 'A League of Their Own'] I looked at the script and panicked—all of Brainiac's lines seemed to be off.

“[However,] once I started hearing the rest of the show, I discovered that this show was intended to be sort of campy, even though presented in a serious manner.  I mean, Justice League scripts are really juicy—the show really simmers with great melodrama that's appealing to the 'slightly more mature' crowd.  This particular Static Shock episode was heading in that direction, while having some light moments. It's definitely entertaining (courtesy of Comic Book Resources).”

Dwayne McDuffie on "A League of Their Own" (circa 2005):  "I think of it ['A League of Their Own,' Parts One and Two] as a separate meeting because, other than suggesting that it be 'Home Alone' on the Watchtower, I barely knew anything about it when I wrote Part Two (courtesy of DwayneMcDuffie.com)."

 

Images

A League of Their Own Image

 

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Images courtesy of [website name removed] and The World’s Finest.

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