Hey, remember that JLU episode titled ‘The Once And Future Thing: Weird Western Tales’ where a couple of JL members ended up stranded in the old West thanks to time travel?
Well, turns out there was a comic book very similar to it written by Gerry Conway with art by Don Heck but starring a different set of JL members which may or may not have been the inspiration for the episode:
The episode was written by the late Dwayne McDuffie who was no stranger to writing in references to older comics. For instance, the two parter ‘Brave and the Bold’ Flash’s hallucinations were references to various Silver Age Flash comic covers and he was also very open about the fact that the line up for the Terra Beyond two parter was based on Marvel comics Defenders (no not the Netflix team, the one with Namor and Dr Strange). Even the episode title itself, ‘Weird Western Tales’ is a reference to the long running anthology series of the same name featuring DC’s western characters.
The story arc in the comics ran from Justice League of America Vol 1 #198-199.
While it’s hard to conclusively say that the episode was inspired by the comic, there are some interesting similarities like Batlash’s introduction here:
I posted Zatanna’s meeting with Cinnamon earlier in another post but here is a little excerpt:
Interesting to note that one of the goons calls her an ‘Eastern Filly’ (is it because of the way she was dressed or a subtle hint that she is not 100% Caucasian?). The heroes and their new Western cowboy friends all meet at a Saloon:
Then they all ride off on horses out of town to confront the villain and of course, faces robot cowboys:
The differences begin with the choice of the time travelling villain, the comic went with classic JL villain: the Lord of Time:
JLU went with David Clinton, aka Chronos. He’s a different villain who is primarily the enemy of the Atom/Ray Palmer but has also fought the JL on occasion.
The Lord of Time on the other hand, is a conqueror from the future who travelled back in time with future technology to conquer the past and rule the future. Sound familiar? He was Kang before Kang. Since JLU’s version of Chronos comes from the future, you could make a case that version is a combination Chronos and Lord of Time.
Then of course, there is the line up, the comic features Zatanna, Elongated Man, Barry Allen and Hal Jordan whereas the show features Wonder Woman, Batman and Green Lantern. Superman also appears trying to thwart the Lord of Time in the present day.
On the Western heroes side, we got Diablo instead of Cinnamon and Scalphunter is replaced by Pow Wow Smith (and it only takes a cursory glance at the characters wikipedia pages to see why the socially conscious Dwayne McDuffie made that choice).
The plot of the JLU episode involved a corrupt sheriff using future technology to take over the town but the plot of the comic is a little different. The Lord of Time sent the heroes back in time, erased their memories, because an anti matter meteor was set to strike earth on that day. The LoT is counting on the heroes to stop the meteor so he can have it for himself so he can use it to conquer the world. (Why he doesn’t just get the meteor himself? Maybe he didn’t have the technology to?)
Anyway, the heroes learn about the anti matter meteor heading towards them, Zatanna is reluctant to leave her new found cowgirl girlfriend with her friends to fight the robots:
But she ends up going anyway:
Can I just say, I really like this shot of Zee and Green Lantern flying together? Even though she is depowered during this period, they never really stuck strictly to the ‘she can only manipulate the elements’ ethos. Having her flying alongside GL and being unabashed powerhouse is really cool and shows her place among the DCU. There is no ‘she has to be taken out so someone else can shine’ bs here. Also, reading these comics, I have felt that GL makes the most sense as the field leader of the JL; power based on creativity and will power and they are specifically trained to work together and take on strange extra terrestrial or otherwise threats. I think any of the human GL’s (except maybe Guy) can lead the team.
Zatanna and GL manage to stop the meteor. But in present timeline the Lord of Time ends up defeated by Superman (early on he got in a kryptonite trap set by the LoT but managed to escape) just as the time trapped Leaguers make their way back.
Awww, a krytonite waterfall wasn’t that bad, Clark.
Overall, the issue was alright. It does feel like placeholder (albeit a fun one) before the big #200 celebration issue (I posted some scans from that here). Come to think of it, the episode came off as filler as well, with the Western parts feeling like a fun romp and ultimately inconsequential to the arcs of the main heroes but the follow up portion set in the Batman Beyond timeline was more impactful and memorable.
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From JLA #198-199; Zatanna and Cinnamon have only known each other for less than half a day and yet their entire energy is basically ‘I’ll die for you”.
Literal first meeting where Zee is amnesiac:
Meeting her friends:
Teaming up with the Leaguers:
And not wanting to to leave behind her new cowgirl friend to face danger alone and not be separated from each other:
The fact that Cinnamon was later revealed to be a reincarnation of Hawkgirl nearly two decades later adds another layer to this (although not the same Hawkgirl that Zee knew on JLA except for that times that it was....it’s.....complicated).
Also this two parter may or may not have been the inspiration for the JLU episode ‘The Once and Future Thing Part 1: Weird Western Tales’.
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