The Justice League vs The Crime Syndicate | JLA: Earth 2

[@lazarussolomon3541]

Whenever I think about Martian manhunter I'm reminded of the Robot chicken joke "Fire is his weakness" "Yeah of course it's his weakness. ITS FUCKING FIRE!"

[@IvanKroloCroGeek0424]

Your Grant Morrison impression perfectly captures his mad genius.

[@Junior2000625]

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths was an awesome movie

[@Capfanxfl]

+William Dublin It's my fav DC animated film, love James Woods as Owlman!!!

[@sigurdthyrring5390]

+Capfanxfl oh a piece of candy

[@shadowxelnaga]

William Dublin yep.

[@benbaragona]

+William Dublin hell yeah, it was!

[@sirtoby4939]

To be perfectly frank, I found it a to be a tad.... Predictable. :()

[@JoshMunroe]

I've noticed a pattern thus far: If Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely team up, there will be a Langoliers reference.

[@MercysLittleShoww]

A good Darkseid. Brightseid? Sounds like a My Little Pony.

[@comicpop]

Brightseid!

[@comicpop]

Avocado11 In search of the... Ultra-Life Equation?

[@genshishio9316]

+Mercy's Little Show Am i the only one who is who cant help the image of a shiny white & light blue themed ridding a pony with rainbows all around?

[@panthor109thabest7]

darkseid is evil in all because he is multi versal

[@TheCelticTiger32]

Mercy's Little Show the new gods planets exist outside of the multiverse, known as the fourth world. Their dimension is closest to the source wall and there for life equation, which is why they are basically immortal. This is why you can't just fly to new genesis or apokolips and can only get there by boom tube. So you couldn't find alternative versions of Darkseid in alternate universes as only one exists

[@ItsOver9000Productions]

The closeups on Ben just kill me everytime.

[@TheSpeedMason]

Fucking hell, Sal's Grant Morrison impression cracks me out ever since I started watching through the JLA series on Comicpop.

[@trangstyfemme]

Sal's Grant Morrison impression is hilarious

[@MysticalGreenBeanie]

21:08 when you hit the bong of blagadoor and you start to feel it

[@benbaragona]

+MysticalGreenBeanie "...woah, I just became aware of my eyeballs..."

[@MysticalGreenBeanie]

"like...how did we evolve to get them? why are they on our faces and not our chest?"

[@benbaragona]

MysticalGreenBeanie "...oh no, it's been a while since I said anything, they're going to know I'm totally blazed out of my mind! I better laugh really quick."

[@MysticalGreenBeanie]

Ben Baragona *opens mouth to laugh* "alright...i can do this...i can do this..." *makes no sound* "nailed it"

[@DominicGloverComicBookArtist]

I would love to see you break out that Multiversity guide book that Grant Morrison made and see what Ben and Ethan's reaction is to that.

[@benbaragona]

+Dominic Glover oh please no

[@infamousempire8302]

About Mirror Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. Mirror Aquaman has a cameo in a latter story (invading the surface world to take advantage of the CSA’s loss to the Justice League). For mirror J’onn there is a throwaway line about Ultraman killing him.

[@TheCelticTiger32]

25:34 the new gods planets exist outside of the multiverse, known as the fourth world. Their dimension is closest to the source wall and there for life equation, which is why they are basically immortal. This is why you can't just fly to new genesis or apokolips and can only get there by boom tube. So you couldn't find alternative versions of Darkseid in alternate universes as only one exists

[@yuritzenpresents3113]

Ultraman was a deep space astronaut who was injured and was rebuilt by them. Insanity followed. Owlman murdered his mom and brother, blames his dad, drugged himself to be physically stronger and smarter. Super Woman killed all the Amazons. Power Ring collected Volthoom, and became cursed. Johnny Quick is addicted to Speed Juice.

[@aisnota5192]

New 52 Earth 3. All of them died during the event Forever Evil.

[@danthefan28]

8:31 that has to be the best Grant Morrison impersonation I've ever heard, you can't even tell them apart.

[@Grievousish]

Don't worry guys, I get the Langoliers reference. Damn little sharp-teethed bastards.

[@akap]

There wouldn't be a good Darkseid because New Genesis and Apocalypse exist outside the multiverse. THERE IS ONLY ONE DARKSEID!!! Hail Darkseid!

[@infamousempire8302]

That retcon wasn’t introduced at the time this book was published.

[@TupocalypseShakur]

They've been inconsistent with that

[@comicfannerdicus]

This is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE DC Books EVER!!!! Thanks Sal for doing this!

[@Sicod79]

It is impressive how many in continuity follow ups there were to this book, considering it wasn't necessarily written with that in mind.

[@putridsunrise192]

Still waiting for Morrison's Final Crisis and The Invisibles...just so I can watch Ethan and Ben slowly mentally descend into madness.

[@kevinmarques7716]

If this book were written now, Aquaman would be practically leading the team into the alternate universe and it woulda been awesome!!!! Lol Aquaman is awesome and I will not apologize for being a big fan of his. Great episode guys!

[@mitchellgeorge2560]

And then there was "Forever Evil" and it never ended

[@stephen8805]

I think Forever Evil is an amazing story.

[@OwenLikesComics]

Big fan of Morrison's JLA work, great video as always!

[@AnnoBathory]

great episode, Earth 2 was the first JLA book i ever read and i loved it...still waiting on Dark Victory

[@creme8338]

i really liked dark victory, but it was pretty much a reskinned long halloween

[@gabrieljimenez9762]

I love these Back Issues, I love the reactions and thoughts of Ben and Ethan. This episode in particular though, I feel like Sal kinda did a disservice to the story, or didn't portray it that positively? I might be biased cuz I really liked this story, but I feel like a lot of cool details and points were left out. I think this story is clever, has a lot of big ideas, has a lot of humor. Feel like the amazing art is completely ignored. Too much attention was given to unnecessary details and nitpicks (convergence, multiverse). Oh well. On to the next. Can't wait to see Hunter/Prey recap!

[@hazelcoleman6744]

This episode was great. More Morrison books on back issues and or hack and splash!!! Please & thank you :)

[@liverusrock6789]

I knew (when i read the title) that Ethan would have so many question about it. This was great!!

[@fredbushee9161]

Guess there aren't any Beastie Boys in the crime syndicate world cause Ultraman is the illest mo-fo from here to Gardena

[@jamesandresen7033]

Holy crap!! This sounds like a mess. So much fun to listen to you guys shred it though. 21:08 may be my favorite ComicPop edit of all time, but I kinda thought it was going to end up with Ben's head exploding. I'm glad that didn't happen; I look forward to seeing what comes next.

[@comicpop]

Thanks! I wanted to do something special with this reaction.

[@b1merio]

Ha! Love the Morrisson impression, Sal. Would love to see more Morrisson stuff just for that.

[@howardroark3208]

Have to agree the only Langoliers ref worth making is "hey is that Balky from perfect strangers yelling like a prepubescent girl ?"

[@benbaragona]

+Howard Roark rofl

[@skyemoon6011]

"I'll tell you why." -Sal

[@FifthHorseman23]

I love The Langoliers and always have an 'Oh, cool.' reaction when you guys reference it. Yes, the movie wasn't all that great, but I think the concept is really cool.

[@chriswait9679]

Such great reactions in this episode from Ethan and Ben. Meanwhile, I'm just nodding along with everything Sal's saying like it's common sense. Haha

[@TommiP1988]

Not even three minutes in and we are getting physical with Ethan. This is a sign of a great episode 😀

[@CTR_ALT_MAKIMA]

This is one of the few back issue books I haven't read, so I'm REALLY enjoying the explanation.

[@Grievousish]

***** Funny, for me it's almost always the other way around. Rarely have I read the story ahead of time.

[@benbaragona]

+The Stegman you and me, both

[@Matty2Tone]

Shout-out to the Langoliers. Made-for-SciFi TV movies for life.

[@jonathanleiman646]

21:10 We're losing him!

[@mrheroprimes]

Also Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths was originally planned to be Justice League: Worlds Collide a continuation of Justice League Unlimited animated series but was idea was modified into Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths by mostly retaining the same plot removing connections to the TV series.

[@trevormerritt548]

Wait but doesn't the movie have Hal instead of John?

[@mrheroprimes]

Trevor Merritt dc remove the connections to the TV series that why they had hal instead of John?.

[@tdtellem]

I get those Langoliers references. Weird movie. 😂😂😂😂

[@d.c.stranded7134]

Despite the flaws and limitations when trying to understand and make sense of it, I really like this story largely for it's ambition on having philosophical views on Mainstream Superheroes, Alternate Realities, and etc. Like, I would want to discuss this kind of book in a Social Studies class.

[@devinamendez9709]

lol@Ben"It's the illest name I've ever heard" Thank you Comicpop!

[@slecommentary1105]

I would actually watch a show of just Sals impressions of comic creators.

[@Depthcharge2030]

New Back Issues in the sub box? Delightful. :)

[@benbaragona]

+Depth Charge Talks every week!

[@DrMadd]

Good Darkseid? Would that make him Lightsied? And all father, nothing mother?

[@Bryan-dr5qy]

Well it should be you looking on the brightseid not the lightseid

[@DrMadd]

Bryan Leong Yeah but nobody joins the bright side.

[@brandontriplin5447]

Yes because the darkseid is better then the lightseid

[@GankMo]

Briteseid of Rapture and Nothing Mother of Old Exodus, I wanna read that Elseworlds. Seeing twisted versions of the new gods and apokalyptians would be cool, maybe like Miss Fortune instead of Mister Miracle.

[@yuritzenpresents3113]

Dr. Madd that version is dead.

[@Whatshisface92]

Was anyone else not looking at the screen and immediately thought they were having a stroke at 21:18 🤣💀

[@Mark-fq3kb]

This is a great story and the art is amazing

[@danthefan28]

21:27 HIT THE DECK HES GONNA BLOW!!!

[@tomstreet2859]

Nice but one correction...Kal-IL is Geof Johns version of the Crime Syndicate. Morrison was a little more clever making Ultra Man a human named Clark Kent who was experimented on by Aliens and went bad.

[@jeff8008]

Episodes like this remind me why Ethan is awesome. Bring on those questions. Poke fun at that comic nonsense!

[@MagoDSnowman]

Actual multiverse theory is probably way less complicated than anything DC can come up with.

[@PeterStellenberg]

Kurt Busiek used this version of the Crime Syndicate in JLA/Avengers crossover during the intro. It's a call back to Infinite Crisis on Infinite Earth. And also, when Busiek wrote JLA shortly after that, he used the CSA again. In an actually more satisfying way.

[@Superhero672]

I really do enjoy Ethan, and I'm glad he's still doing back issues with you guys. Tiffany is great on your shows, and also on back issues, but I love Ethan's complete lack of comic knowledge.

[@f3yolo]

I remember Langoliers. Bronson Pinchot was in it of "Perfect Strangers" fame lol

[@monfe5532]

I love ben's shirt.

[@benbaragona]

+Monfe a huge thanks to Tiffany, she has excellent taste in gifts

[@zeechoclatemalt957]

I've been wanting to know more about Earth 2 thanks guys for another amazing episode

[@ussawinb]

OMG, This channel is picking up so much that I just got my first ad on a ComicPop video.

[@kevinmarques7716]

Completely unrelated to this video, but yesterday I bought both Kingdom Come and Dark Knight Returns based solely on your reviews and love for the stories. I've never read them so i'm looking forward to it. So thank you for making me buy them!

[@Mr78Jonnyboy]

I really liked the video, great job again guys! I thought the pre-crisis earth 3 was for the crime syndicate and earth 2 was for all the JSA characters. I could be wrong but anyways great job again.

[@quackmaster1014]

Found a Trade at a local used book store and was like i've seen that on comic pop, couldn't remember if it sucked or not but bought it anyway, your suggestions hadn't wronged me yet.

[@thecityofboston1251]

Yay Ethan's back

[@comicpop]

Ethan is only on Back Issues. This is the only show he does now.

[@flimpeenflarmpoon1353]

You do know that he and Tiffany are the same person, right?

[@thecityofboston1251]

Getting physical with Tiffany?!?!?!

[@jameslyon2338]

ComicPOP! now as in during the summer tho … right?

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

The city of Boston OI! OI! NO! *takes out spray bottle* NO!

[@DeeCross]

The problem with trying to write opposites with some kind of all-encompassing logic is that the second you have more than one concept, there is no such thing as a single possible opposite. What's the opposite of dark? Light. What's the opposite of a darker dark? A lighter light… or a duller light? What's the opposite of up? Well, what does 'up' mean?

[@davidaaronartist]

Matter and anti matter as a concept in physics. But Morrison glue it as a good VS evil ideal

[@marlonreynolds5422]

Sometimes you just gotta fly a plane through a skygina.

[@benbaragona]

+Marlon Reynolds O_O

[@MugenNiFukuzatsuna]

Hey, I LOVE the Langoliers. Always thought it was nonsensical but very awesome.

[@comicritical1696]

The only thing I understood in this video was the langoliers reference it took Grant Morrison to make Stephen King sense

[@kevinmorel2485]

why all the crime syndicate they don't have the same identities as with their main land 1 counterparts

[@hornpilepheonix6254]

hey sal are you guys gonna do a comentary on God's and monsters

[@rulerwatchman]

I'm just here for the Langoliers references.

[@greenechri]

The Morrison Irish accent was great. We need more of that.

[@welshgamer98]

Scottish

[@greenechri]

***** Damn. Knew I'd guess wrong on that.

[@Kal-El_138]

I saw the animated movie and I really liked it. You should see it if you haven't yet.

[@ThePongzilla]

Sal: "It's a mess." Me: "Well yeah. It's Grant Morrison."

[@MrWolfJack]

Oh man, I absolutely hated the langoliers. Such a stupid premise!

[@scottdunham7902]

Antimatter Earth Alexander Luther would not be poor, but all of his riches should be tied up in Antimony. I'm both inordinately proud and ashamed of that pun. I do think He should have hair, like a Wolverine level of hair.

[@benbaragona]

+Scott Dunham holy crap, thinking of Lex with that much hair made me chuckle A LOT. Thanks for that.

[@johnkalek8789]

The thumbnail for this video blew my mind

[@flywheelshyster]

and there are more langolier references later :D it's a staple now, like a good mel brooks reference, or even better.....you know...SPACE BALLS!

[@camiloroldan1292]

great show!

[@EfrenZurita0]

I do know that this version of the Syndicate appears in JLA #50 Vol. 3 maybe? It's got a really cool gatefold cover

[@thomasbaldridge8982]

In your video you kind of suggested that the Crime Syndicate did not return until Forever Evil, but they would return toward the end of the JLA series. Whatever, I absolutely love your channel especially Back Issues and Off the Rack. You are all awesome, Ben is my favorite as he is funny as hell.

[@genshishio9316]

DAMN IT BEN! "that's the ill-est name i have ever heard"

[@fcm3d]

I love the Langoliers.

[@dexter_b2860]

for earth 2 it's like entering the negative zone where all atom become negatively charged.

[@JoshMunroe]

Earth-2 Lex Luthor is the clone of a more hirsute, Australian version of himself. He also dates a shapeshifting blonde that he asks to look like a gray blob at all times. Opposites!

[@supersi1980]

Get Ben and Ethan to watch the animation they will enjoy it more as it has a better ending and owl man is very creepy.

[@SJO897]

Hey gang, how's about making this show a podcast as well? It would be cool to listen on my way to work in the morning. Keep up the good work.

[@rorschach221]

I distinctly remember Ultraman killing the techno organic Brainiac near the end, that might have been worth mentioning

[@comicpop]

He didn't. He lobotomized him.

[@mculpepper]

ComicPOP! So... he becomes a techno organic vegetable Brainiac? sounds like a new diet craze.

[@rorschach221]

ComicPOP! Ahhh yeah I remember it now, thanks for clarifying

[@H1mcel]

That earth 3

[@mttylerdurden9]

anyone else know where this fits in with the rest of Grant Morrison's JLA run? and I'd love to see you guys do Grant Morrison's JLA WildCats crossover

[@ianlaue6283]

Hey guys, respectfully request JSA: The Golden Age by James Robinson and Paul Smith, its a great standalone story for "traditional" Earth 2 Characters (with a few minor changes). If its applicable I'd love to see the reaction to the ending. I've always appreciated the old school pulpy charm of it, but I recognize its not for everyone, still think its really well drawn and plotted though.

[@yuritzenpresents3113]

They do bring the Anti Matter Crime Syndicate back in Trinity Series.

[@LouDawgStudios]

My new addition to the bucket list is to watch sal though its not comics explain the story of the kingdom hearts series lol

[@adbelvillela4233]

Yes! The Langoliers references had been busted open, god that movie sucked but the movie references work well with the comics. Keep the good work Sal,Ethan and Ben!

[@nemesis3587]

Kurt Busiek's sequel story "Syndicate Rules" is much better story. They actually fight against each other in that.

[@reinventingstupidity]

This is coming out of left field but I would love to see Ben and Ethan react to gutts from berserk

[@Jaycharlesjackson]

Sal, your great, but you made that explanation way too complicated. The Syndicate is from Earth 3 as they have and always will be and Alexander Luthor calls Earth 1 by Earth 2 because he thinks of his own planet as the primary dimension, pretty simple. In edition Superwomen is actually the Earth 3 Mary Marvel which is an odd decision on Morrison's part but why not?

[@ryebreadreturn1]

Sal does explain to us that the syndicate is from Earth 3, and that in this book the familiar JLA earth is called earth 2 by Alexander Luthor, but that stuff didn't make it into the episode. I'm still confused though because members of the crime syndicate are like alternate evil versions of earth 1 heros, but then many of those earth 3 cbaracters also show up in earth 2 as good guys. So there are good and evil variants of Earth 1 characters who are more similar to each other than either is to the earth 1 characters they are based on. I find this very odd.

[@sithapprentic03]

I don't understand, if i am the universe, why do I care about what humans believe is good and evil, also why would I base a universe around human conceits of what is good and evil?

[@trevormerritt548]

Well the dc universe and all other universes are created and changed by earth 39 which is our universe with no superheroes. this allows for writers like grant morrison to control how the dc universe works, imagine grant morrison being the universe and judging things by good and evil

[@Bryan-dr5qy]

You should do the heroic age of Marvel, at least some parts of it. I love the stories about Steve Rogers being director of S. H. I. E. L. D and assembling the secret Avengers and joining the Illuminati.

[@Bryan-dr5qy]

Or the Dark Avengers, that would be cool to see too.

[@scottholcomb4739]

O, it's almost like a bizarre wOrld

[@morethanthrills1616]

please do wolverine enemy of the state or that venom remender trade you guys got

[@johnny2003]

Hold on...I've never read this, but this is just Injustice. But Lex is the Batman in this story.

[@MotionUniverseguy]

There cannot be a good Darkseid because Apokolips is located in the Godsphere, which is located outside of the multiverse.

[@TheSerpentsEye]

Doesn't the "good" Darkseid come into play in the movie Justice League: Gods and Monsters? That threw me for a loop.