Batman Defeats The Justice League! | JLA: Tower of Babel

[@comicpop]

Pick up JLA: Tower of Babel here: amzn.to/1N6A2X6

[@Spydirmonki]

I'm with Sal, the best part of JLA: Doom is that ending. Kevin Conroy delivers the unapologetic matter-of-fact speech to the League, then his response to Supes asking "Why no plan for yourself?". "I do have a plan. It's called The Justice League." So good.

[@brandontriplin5447]

No one else thinks that's funny because how arrogant bat man would have to be to think it would take the JL to stop him

[@panthor109thabest7]

@@brandontriplin5447 it would since they would still have morals. He would have no morals and their weaknessess

[@parkerboy795]

​@@panthor109thabest7In right scenario, it would take on them to beat him.

[@juanmoreno6591]

God damnit sal, Kyle's reason to vote for Batman to stay in the league is actually the better one, he's the only one who actually totally fine with Batman having the fail-safe plans, he's like "I'm just a dude who happened to got the most powerfull weapon in the universe, so yeah I'm glad someone has figured out a way to prevent it's missuse"

[@tdtellem]

Infinite Crisis actually brought a retcon that says Batman figured out about his mind being wiped and it was the final straw that made him go forward with creating these contingency plans for the League.

[@tdtellem]

The story is in one of the collected editions of the Tower of Babel comic books I believe.

[@ScriptZac]

Superman H2O you say? Like some kind of... "Aqua" man...

[@dennisduffy21stcenturybeep25]

+ScriptZac I mean Shazam may as well be called electric Superman

[@ScriptZac]

Magic Superman is probably better. Electric Superman was an actual thing, lest we forget.

[@bruhernandez8607]

When you zoomed in on Ethan closing the comic, I couldn't stop laughing for 4 minutes.

[@BBmetalhead04]

Someone needs to make that into a gif.

[@rustydelacruz5367]

.rustydrla cruz

[@calebroberson5561]

Batman hung up the transmission with Oracle not because of guilt, but he realized that she no longer trusted him either

[@laramiewall]

First. A sincere thank you. I used to work at a comic shop, and now I'm an ICU nurse. The last three weeks have been very challenging, and a friend of mine keyed me in that I needed to listen to Back Issues, as it reminded him of he and I talking at the shop. This has been the comic relief on my commute I REALLY needed at a time I REALLY needed it. So, thanks. Second, to scramble both written and verbal language, you'd only have to upset Wernicke's area, it comprehends language through both. Not that I expect anyone to know that, but maybe you can get a question on pub quiz one night. Anyway, thanks. Laramie Wall

[@benbaragona]

+Laramie Wall glad to hear you're digging the content!

[@Juggy113]

Electric blue superman sound like the best mountain dew flavor ever.

[@jonathanleiman7346]

Best Ethan zoom-in reaction yet

[@AbdulazizAljanahi]

In Justice League Doom, a bomb was attached to the flash that would go off as soon as he moved slower than a certain speed, so he could not stop running. And superman was shot with a bullet laced with kryptonite that's just enough to penetrate his skin and keep fucking him up from the inside, but without killing him. Which I find is kinda cooler than perpetual seizure flash and red kryptonite

[@changvasejarik62]

Maybe but the doom version of Superman’s failsafe could have been foiled if Clark thought to use his X-ray vision on metallo. I’m more fine with Tower of Babel’s version.

[@JohnnyMalkav]

I kinda like the perpetual seizure bit, but agree that the reconned red K is pretty lame...

[@jacob_ian_decoursey_the_author]

As a kid I remember seeing that “Superman, I DID THIS TO YOU!” page with clear skinned superman, in a comics magazine (I think WIZARD?) and being so disturbed by it out of context.

[@kyrosvlar]

10:50 to 11:00 I love this moment.

[@marnetteryes2613]

"You guys don't understand, you were taken out. I was frozen today! ...and then shattered"

[@Sicod79]

One thing I don't remember hearing in the analysis is how this was the first post Morrison JLA storyline, so you know Waid had to be swinging for the fences trying to keep up.

[@Spikex1]

I also like this story a lot, but it always irks me to see it misinterpreted so often, primarily by fans of Batman who use it as material to proclaim how much more awesome he is than the rest of the DCU, and how he can beat up anyone; Galactus, the Spectre, God, whatever. The animated movie adaptation leans in that direction. Putting aside the logistics of theoretical "Batman Vs. X" fights, the story is about Batman being a traitor who couldn't trust his teammates. The rest of the team even makes the point that they understand the need for having those plans, but couldn't Batman have at least let them know that the plans existed without getting into the details of them? Breaking the trust of the JLA had the ripple effect of distrust going through the Titans and Young Justice, and later issues of JLA after this story would have them falling apart even further directly because of Batman planting the idea that nobody on the team is above suspicion of ulterior motives, doing more harm to each of those teams than any supervillain has done. And it's only fixed by Superman getting Batman to see how badly he fucked up and convinces him to apologize. Tower of Babel is really only Part One in a series of stories by Mark Waid where the ongoing subplot is Batman learning how to trust, and hopefully earn back the trust of others.

[@oatmat]

Justice League Doom isn't bad, like it's not great but its solid with some great moments. The way I look at it is that It's the first draft of Dwayne Mcduffie's last script, it needed more work but unfortunately he passed away before he got to finish it and I just have to add what a brilliant writer Dwayne Mcduffie was he created Static Shock, was a Producer and writer on Justice League and Unlimited and soo much more this guy was simply the best.

[@steellegionaire]

I'm not gonna lie, Sal, when you said that language is under attack my immediate thoughts went straight to "Vocal Cord Parasites" and Skull Face's monologue about how English- and everyone who speaks it- deserves to die. I really need to cut down on my playtime with MGSV.

[@krisj827]

This is when I started thinking that Batman is basically a supervillian who just chooses to do good. I get why he had contingency plans for all the JL members just in case they go bad but maybe let them know about it.

[@danejohnson9906]

I loved the part where Ben was talking about when they put Plastic man back together and the muwmwuhmuh😂 break him again

[@interregnum_]

Call me a softie, but I think Talia instigating this on her own as a way to isolate Batman from the League's influences (and thus push him closer to her ideal version of him (and, of course, closer to her)) would have been the way to go. Ra's is good and all, but Talia's motives are always so much more personal.

[@senshaw6640]

yeah she dose love him in a strange way

[@bradwatkins7564]

Yeah Batman in the 90's under Morrison was really when Batman being a mega asshole went into overdrive. The fact here is that Bats being indignant about this is complete bullshit. This was not about keeping people safe but Batman's need to control everything. If Batman was really this concerned about the League being coopted or their minds controlled, then why not invest that time and energy into creating defenses for such attacks for him and his teammates?

[@TDWTB]

I feel that justice league: doom is slept on. Aside from getting the majority of the old cast back to do the voices some of the plans are a lot better. Superman‘s is way better simply because it plays to his humanity. Hal Jordan‘s contingency plan is also superior because just going blind is really not as debilitating as one might think. Even flash had a better plan rather than just seizing. The final act is the only bad part. Also this could just be me but I don’t think Batman ever really wanted to shatter plastic man. I think that was just an improvised moment by the Mook.

[@fbritannia]

I used to love this channel called Pretty Much It which talked about movies, but the channel is now kinda dead. Yet I discover this new amazing show which I'm enjoying a lot, I'm so happy to have a new favorite channel. I love your stuff guys. Great Vids!!!!!

[@comicpop]

+F Britannia Thank you!

[@lewaproductions]

Booster Gold's actual name isn't Booster Gold, it's Michael Jon Carter.

[@CTR_ALT_MAKIMA]

I liked Justice League Doom...

[@illanalevi6091]

+The Stegman That's what I was thinking, they had a similar plot but it sounds like they did it better.

[@CTR_ALT_MAKIMA]

illana levi it was done better.

[@Venras1001]

Best part if they remade Tower of Babel post rebirth would be Bats reaction when Superman counters red kryptonite, it would go from "I made this brilliant countermeasure" to "wait what!" when he realises he wasn't the smartest person in the room.

[@oranginator]

You guys are like a badass machine, I love you guys!

[@chancegoss623]

You guys are gold, perfect to listen to while doing homework👍🏾.

[@abanks917]

I agree with Sal, the artwork in this book was way too cartoonish and because of that I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to.

[@TheWazzoGames]

Another great Video from ComicPOP. Not a surprise at this point.

[@CleaveTheDragon]

10:51 WHOA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO *WORDS THAT KILL*

[@thegraphicloop5506]

3:53 Lightbulb just went on in Ben's head.

[@charlietownsend2826]

37:41 | Batman "intending" for it to happen is because he knew what the votes would be. The thing is: Batman ultimately did not get kicked out of league. Superman was the tie breaker and he said "yes", voting in favor so Batman was allowed to stay. But when they go get him he’s already gone. Except as Superman guessed, Batman already knew that he would break the tie in his favor and that he would ultimately get to stay. So why did he leave ? That’s what Superman is trying to figure out and what leads him to seek out Oracle. And the answer seems to be that he left on purpose to sow distrust between the Bat-family and the rest of the superhero community. That’s the part that he supposedly did intentionally.

[@shauntempley9757]

I like the animated answer more, though the reasoning in the comics is spot on. In the animated show, Batman disappears, because the Phantom dies, and he is summoned to train the new Phantom while fighting the Sing Brotherhood. He is told while waiting for the vote, and does not tell anyone what he is doing. He goes for five years, where he is totally absent from both the Justice League and Gotham. He does this, because there is a prophecy about the Bat heralding the final victory of the Phantom over the Sing Brotherhood, as much as he promised the previous Phantom he would do it.

[@DomovoiJr]

Wild to watch this now and hear him at the end talking about Rebirth coming up. Didn’t realize it’s already been so long since that started.

[@noahjohnson5603]

10:51-11:00 is probably the best part of this whole video.

[@derekmarcucci871]

best reaction shot ever lol.

[@benbaragona]

+Derek Marcucci agreed! I cackled with laughter when I saw the final product

[@jakemcintosh6385]

I really want to see Martian manhunter in his water suit trying to help aquaman before they fix him

[@juanmoreno6591]

+Jake McIntosh it's in there

[@theterrorofdeath8907]

Please do the event comic dc one million

[@ptsteelers]

+daniel dulberg Seconded

[@mikevitti772]

+daniel dulberg Third.

[@TheWazzoGames]

fourthed

[@theterrorofdeath8907]

Thanks for the support

[@Thomas-zu1wq]

Fifthed

[@dannydevito3152]

I check and boom it's there you guys are awesome, keep the awesome videos coming!!

[@ApeSapiens]

I love the Ethan-closes-the-book-edit :D

[@willweber8338]

I think Mark Waid made this in response too how batman was becoming more paranoid and untrusting through the 90s.

[@henchone]

that close up and book close..............just awesome!!

[@iMikeTech811]

One of my all time favorite JL stories!

[@tjjordan4207]

I have three ideas that may help this story be a little better. 1: Name the title “The Crisis Within” 2: Take out the disrupt human language story plot 3: Have Jason Todd be the one who was behind it

[@gettingartsywithalobster1949]

3b And he did it because he felt like he was allowed to die because Bruce's attention was to divided so instead of Batman knowing the Bat family would be driven closer, Jason would be the one who knew of the consequences

[@MrMike11233]

Great video - I agree with you (again!) Sal that Tower of Babel was a seminal JLA story. Now this is just me, but I believe that the rest of the JLA was less concerned with the fact Batman had made these contingency plans as the fact he chose not to share that information with anyone. There's your betrayal. I think they would have agreed with the original premise. Anyway, cheers!

[@ryebreadreturn1]

Good point, but if you accept that the contingency plans serve a valuable purpose, then it's hard to argue Batman should have told them because that would have rendered them useless. that is, if someone knows how Batman will take them out, they can develop a counter-strategy.

[@kinneary]

Thank you for the amazing videos. You four are incredibly fun to watch breaking down comics!

[@dru-is-here2599]

I have been waiting for this one! An awesome story to do for your 111th episode. I love this book and I love this channel.

[@godzillasaurbuttersworth3176]

Wait Could people understand sign language, since it's not a written or spoken language? …I feel like we could have solved this problem easily.

[@godzillasaurbuttersworth3176]

See! These guys know what I'm talking about!

[@jordanrobertson1248]

Bro how did you get Hyde and Erik Foreman on your show !!!???

[@supermegapizzaguy808]

That 70s show is awesome!

[@dbzking02]

It's stories like this that put Batman down on my list of favorite superheroes.

[@bigfest6498]

@27:38 yo Sal...that was a fuckin hilarious recap of what had happened. You are a great storyteller and I bet one hell of a dungeon master lmao. You guys are fucking comedic gold. Keep 'em comin'. Peace and love.

[@andrewwestfall65]

I think the reason why Green Lantern couldn't make things is for a similar reason as to why it is easier to lose balance and harder to walk in a straight line. You make constant adjustments to these things and if you can't see it's more difficult to do. If he were to practice at it and have some time to adjust then he would probably be able to do everything just fine.

[@TheGgghhht]

Loved watching Ethan "NOPE" the fuck out of this book.

[@Grievousish]

I had an interesting idea. What if the sonic emitter thing also scrambled the language of thought on top of speaking and hearing and seeing? If people couldn't form a thought in their own heads then that could easily lead to chaos.

[@r.babylon2885]

They touch on Tower of Babel in Batman: Endgame. Joker poisons the JLA with new toxin and sends them after Batman. He is forced to use his contingencies against them. One of these contingencies is a Hulk Buster.

[@KmBandz]

I think it would be cool if the person who ended up taking Batman’s files was Jason Todd. This could’ve been like a part one to the under the red hood story. After Jason gets brought back by the lazerus pit he doesn’t go to hush instead he steals the files from Batman so that the justice league and maybe even the bat family lose trust in him. Then Jason comes to Gotham in under the red hood and would reveal that it was him who took the plans and wanted to ruin Batman’s reputation before going to Gotham and deal with him himself. Just a random thought I had, don’t really know if it’s a good idea but whatever.

[@r.babylon2885]

Guys, Wednesdays are often my Fridays. No matter how hard my day at work is, I know I can come home to a new Back Issues and a following weekend. Keep up the great work.

[@Astralspirit716]

You guys are really the only channel that I consistently like.

[@nicholasbennett7699]

Sal please can you do Batman Endgame

[@mttylerdurden9]

the whole babel thing sounds exactly what shriek did in bat man beyond, titled of course"Babel"

[@caitlynm5346]

Great video! When I read Tower of Babel, it reminded me a lot of JLA: A League of One, where Wonder Woman took down the League by herself in order to save them.

[@blew2864]

This is great because you can just listen to it or watch it and it's still amazing.

[@kevinkruger1686]

I like your channel more than rob, joel, and beny it's way better. p.s. do rock of ages

[@herlocki]

Been binge watching a lot of episodes lately. Great videos guys, keep up your great work. Also, Sal's reference in the end to the rebirth superman being able to guess the shit batman will pull with the red kryptonite got me thinking. After seeing your episodes I literally purchased all the DC event books from 'Crisis on infinite Earths' to 'Final Crisis'. But it would be nice if you can do a video like a 'Crash course in DC crisis' where you talk about each and every character and their evolution through out the crisis.

[@0zTheAlchemist]

@ComicPop Are you guys ever going to do Under the Redhood?

[@MultiBoomtube]

Loved this episode, I think it would be really cool if you did an episode on JSA: The Liberty Files, it's an elseworld story written by Dan Jolley and Tony Harris

[@caitlinbrewer4843]

It makes me wonder if Batman has plans to take down his own kids...

[@mitchellamar3286]

Caitlin Brewer probably

[@michaellabonte6390]

Caitlin Brewer idk.....ik he wouldn't have one on dick but probably Damian and Jason but I don't know about Tim I hope not

[@caitlinbrewer4843]

Michael LaBonte Dick is the person he trust above all others and his favorite kid so...

[@RVAlien]

11:06 is my favorite part lmao. Another great video guys keep it up!

[@joechill7492]

when he closed the book..... LOL

[@Bobbybillybillbob]

Would love the concept of Batman not being trusted would cause a rift between the heroes and the bat family with trust. Nightingale, Robins, Oracle etc feel the repracautionz

[@desi_no_aka]

Sal predicted rebirth superman bringing up the Tower of Babel to the league

[@FloorTankMain]

Could you guys please do Red Hood: The Lost Days? :))))))

[@senshaw6640]

no gives a fuck about redhood

[@pop000690]

I think my main problem with both this comic and the animated movie is the league act surprised that Batman of all people had contingency plans on the league. You're correct it actually would've been better if it was another league member that had the plans and you could have a moment where Batman gets pissed over the fact someone else was doing something he would do.

[@parkerboy795]

Yeah because he was their teammate and he used that to study their weaknesses. No matter the reason, that's betrayal, especially since he didn't tell them about the plans. And yes, he could have told them while leaving out the details.

[@bawspatel5155]

The language thing is like what the villain Shriek did in Batman Beyond!

[@mateuscordeiropereira6198]

When they zoom in ethan when sal says that language is under atack. So funny!

[@Articorse]

Awesome, I've been waiting for you guys to do this one!

[@moeman813]

It's cool that this video now has more views than the episode on comicstorian

[@GuyWithAnAmazingHat]

Another great episode, but... where's Tiffany's response to the Doctor Strange trailer?

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

I'm telling ya, she collapsed in on herself from the sheer force of her excitement.

[@williamgazca963]

+Just Some Guy with a Mustache u sir would get my vote if comic pop ever had a "bring on a fan as a guest segment" but if u don't really have a mustache, I will not know what to believe in anymore.

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

William Gazca You give me too much credit, kind sir.

[@zachhaynes6924]

Wow, something I have read before that doesn’t happen very often. What is next Enemy of the State, War of Kings or maybe Booster Gold: Blue and Gold. I want to get a streak going.

[@adamisajoker]

Booster Gold's name is Michael John Carter. Booster is his nickname.

[@unodestosdiaz2998]

"Lets make Superman out of water" They didn't, but the made one out of sand in New 52...

[@KensieMGS]

hey I requested this a couple of times thanks comic pop this was really funny. Does anyone thing the authority is an example of the Justice league if the 90s go ahold of them?

[@GreatDane117]

Awesome episode!!! Ever think about doing dark victory or war games? Also give Ironman some love on back issues ha!

[@sammysamiam5219]

Justice by Alex Ross please

[@Ylatch]

The weird language thing reminds me of a movie called Pontypool. There's a weird verbally communicated plague that triggers when people use a certain type of word, and it makes the "infected" babble constantly and eventually go mad.

[@williamgazca963]

I thought that movie was the shit!

[@senshaw6640]

i wish they were more talia and batman and talia defending batman in the vote

[@liamb1752]

Great episode guys!Keep up the good work

[@fightingmedialounge519]

I would have it be jason todd. have a man coverd in shadow hack the bat computer. While throughout the story have the mystery character say things like " it's time the truth came out bruce"and when batman goes to the volcano he sees a giant robin symbol implying one of them is behind all of it.Finally in the red hood story have jason say he did this so the justice leauge wouldnt interfere in his plan.

[@tjjordan4207]

Actually, that would make sense. Jason Todd knows Batman and about any plans he may have. Plus, turning the Justice League against him would work in his revenge.

[@apcfire]

That SMBFC in that speech bubble, isn't that the title of one of Sal's comics? Maybe I am remembering that wrong.

[@barraki6706]

(26:08) My reaction to the Gen 8 Fossil Pokemon.

[@Alphafy]

Sal will you ever do the under the red hood story

[@Htownblokhedz]

I'm from the future, he does it

[@PjWilliams975]

The zoom-in on Ethan, and him closing the book had me laughing. Awesome Video!

[@scottholcomb4739]

thanks for everything you guys do. been a hard week. hope everything is going well at POPulation HQ, tv little house 4 life

[@JoshMunroe]

If there's ever another DC/Marvel crossover, I just want it to be Batman just going to every character he can and trying to figure out their weaknesses. Bonus points if he dresses up as Matches Malone. "So you say that you're not a fan of enclosed spaces, Ms. Munroe? Got it... oh, what's this? Just a notebook I have for... notes. About what? About... my... dreams? It's a dream journal."

[@NachiketNaik]

What I would have done is, start with a prelude where Joker fights Batman and while being sent off to Arkham says "But, I'm your only friend Batsy" and Batman says "I don't think so" while on the side responding to a Justice League call. That is when Joker hatches a plot which has him getting his hands on Batman's plans and using it to make Batman distanced from any of the superhero friends he has and also cause the communications babel because that is totally a Joker move.

[@cacanchik]

I feel like a complete dork but I have to say it: Booster Gold's name is Michael. Great episode as always

[@sadiosalah2561]

finally!Thank you +Comicop i love this story and i also loved this video! Stay awesome ;)

[@Lol8922]

Tower of Babel? More like Tower of Babble!

[@snowycomics6844]

Love the channel!

[@InfiniteBalance]

So... maybe for E:120 you could do Marvel's Crisis, Secret Wars 2015?