Superman on Television

Justice League Action: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episodes 8: "Galaxy Jest"

Originally Aired: December 4, 2016 (U.K.), February 11, 2017 (U.S.)
Written by Duane Capizzi
Directed by Jake Castorena

CAST:
Kevin Conroy as Batman (voice)
Jason J. Lewis as Superman (voice)
Rachel Kimsey as Wonder Woman (voice)
Mark Hamill as The Joker (voice)
John DiMaggio as Mongal (voice)
Charlie Schlatter as Flash (voice)

Rating - 5 (out of 5): When Joker gets abducted by Mongul to serve as his personal jester, Batman enlists the aid of Wonder Woman and Superman to rescue Joker. Meanwhile, Batman and the Flash race against the clock to find Joker's laughing gas bomb before it detonates in Gotham City.

Like most of the JLA episodes I've seen so far, "Galaxy Jest" moves at a brisk pace with only one scene where everything just slows down for a bit. That scene is Joker's standup routine and it's amazingly cringeworthy... but in a good way. You see, I've never found the Joker to be "intensionally funny" across every medium. Joker's a psychopath and depending on the material, he straight up murders his victims or gives them horrific smiles. Whenever I've laughed at the Joker, it's when he's butt of a joke or if he's not trying to be funny. In this episode, Hamill really nails a Joker who's completely out of his depth when confronted not only by the massive Mongul, but a crowd who doesn't find his shtick to be all that humorous.

The rest of the cast has their moments too. Superman goes toe to toe with Mongul on the warship while Wonder Woman thrashes Mongul's army. The Flash zips around Gotham racing against the preverbal ticking clock just as Batman deduces that the bomb is in an actual ticking clock. All of this action builds up to a satisfying payoff as Superman wisely neutralizes Joker's laughing gas and Mongul's warship in one fell swoop. (Side note: Someone please make me a .gif of Superman suppressing his laughter. I need for science and whatever.)

So yeah. "Galaxy Jest" is pretty great JLA episode. Everything moves at a tight pace and there's nothing that I found wrong with this episode.

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