PAUL DINI PREVIEWS JUSTICE LEAGUE

At a panel devoted to him at Wizard World Texas last weekend, Paul Dini previewed "Comfort and Joy," the Christmas-themed episode of Justice League written by him and scheduled to air Saturday, Dec. 13 on Cartoon Network.

"It was fun to do," Dini said after showing the episode. "It's a one-off, not the normal two-parter. It's interesting to see what they're like when they not off saving the Earth."

The episode, directed by Butch Lukic, shows how the Leaguers spend Christmas.

Flash pays his traditional visit to the Central City Orphanage as "that jolly man in the red suit to bring a special present to the resident kids.  Green Lantern decides to show Hawkgirl his favorite childhood games and activities that involve snow, which results in a spectacular snowball fight.  Superman, heading home to spend Christmas with his Earthly parents, the Kents, and await Santa¹s arrival, decides to bring along a depressed Martian Manhunter, who doesn¹t understand why everyone finds the season so magical.  Batman and Wonder Woman volunteer to serve "world monitor duty" at the League's Watchtower headquarters.

Little does each hero suspect that major surprises await them all. 

When Flash is asked to produce the hottest toy of the season, a "DJ Rubber Ducky," he is forced to search the world for it.  With the doll at last in Flash's possession, arch-villain Ultra-Humanite appears and nearly destroys it.  Through an amazing act of goodwill and compromise, Flash and Ultra-Humanite actually join forces to repair the toy and deliver it the anxious kids before resuming their adversarial relationship. 

Hawkgirl reciprocates Green Lantern's holiday "gift" by showing him the place and unique way she prefers to celebrate‹resulting in mayhem.  One last surprise awaits them both: a secret romance. 

And Superman's family embraces Martian Manhunter warmly, leaving him the freedom to explore the peace and joy of Christmas Eve on his own.  His unexpected experiences that night lead him to compose his own song of joy which he shares with the Kent family.

Dini said the episode also hints at future developments for Justice League.

"Essentially what you see is the first date for Green Lantern and Hawkgirl," he said. "And you're going to see more of that.

"There's a big arc coming with Hawkgirl's origins and dealing the Thanagar. That's the last of the new shows for this season."

And...

"You might not see a unit of the seven characters as much," Dini said. "You'll see different characters from the DC Universe coming in and out of the show."

In other news from the panel:

* With the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman movie doing well, Dini said a decision about another Batman movie he wrote with Alan Burnett should be made in the next month or two. The story involves Batman teaming up with several heroes.

* Dini said a Justice League-Teen Titans animated crossover is possible, but a major stumbling block for producer Glen Murakami is how to mix the shows' very different styles.

* The "Green Loontern" episode of Duck Dodgers sprang from an initial attempt at a Green Lantern series. Dini said that DC Comics' Paul Levitz heartily approved of the use of the character.

* After five yearly treasury-size books, Dini said he and Alex Ross are taking a year off. They have discussed a project, Profiles of Villainy and Profiles of Heroism, that would feature Ross illustrations with text by Dini.

* Dini said he hopes to work with Mike Kunkel on a Spider-Man comics project.

* With the success of Elf, chances for the movie version of Jingle Belle seem on track, Dini said. "It'll be a pretty straight adaptation," Dini said.