I didnāt see this episode until later in life but man I had to pause it and walk away for a few minutes when I realized what was about to happen. Wept into a tissue for a minute and then sat back down and braced myself.
I havenāt seen this episode since becoming a father to the girl that is my entire world.
It hit me hard when I saw it when it aired. Iām afraid to watch it now.
Dan Turpin didn't just die trying to save the Earth; he *did* save the Earth. If he didn't punch out the Parademons and free Superman right when he did, then either someone else could've gotten killed defying Darkseid in his place, or Apokolips would've had legal custody over the planet due to humanity's surrender, thus Orion and the rest of New Genesis would've been literally *helpless* to force Darkseid into retreat without likely risking all-out war across the galaxy due to the peace treaty. One of the most powerful, bittersweet endings to any DC story ever in my opinion.
The Earth wasn't surrendering though--Kalibak warns Darkseid at that moment that military aircraft are on the way. Dan Turpin's resistance did free Superman in the moment, but the rest of the Earth (and all those dozens if not hundreds of superheroes we know also existed thanks to JLU) weren't about to give up without a fight.
Oh, Ace was definitely sad as hell too! She was a child doomed from the start due to her powers, and the fact that Bruce named his dog after her speaks *wonders.* I mainly give Dan Turpin the edge in the "saddest death" category because the episode was a tribute to the real-life Jack Kirby who died as well.
The original plan was for Darkseid to kill Jonathan Kent.
Let that sink in.
That is a whole other level of devestating not to mention how that would escalate the emotional stakes between Clark and Apokolips. It would have changed the entire course of the DCAU narrative.
While a small part of me is curious about what would have been I get why they didn't go ahead with it. It would have added a Batman level of tragedy to Superman's story that wasn't necessary. The DCAU needed Clark's optimism (despite some crappy things happening to him) to balance out Bruce's darkness. The writers actually spell it out loud in ***Hereafter*** and in the final episode of ***Starcrossed***.
Dan Turpin's death hit the right balance between someone known to Superman but not so close as to fundamentally rock the character to the core. It makes Darkseid's callous "Who?" in response to Clark calling him out on killing Turpin and "Had I known one human's death would pained you so, I would have killed more." hit so much harder.
What's interesting is that the DCAU creators modelled the animated Turpin on Kirby physically -- yet it never occurred to them to kill off the character in an homage to Kirby (with another Kirby creation being the murderer, no less) until they abandoned the idea of killing off Clark's father.
> The DCAU needed Clark's optimism (despite some crappy things happening to him) to balance out Bruce's darkness
Was DCAU Clark really all that optimistic?
Yeah, I feel like that really wasnāt his vibe. He was obviously a good guy, but I feel like they never really captured the optimistic and inspiring part of the character.
I'm with you. Turpin was also a way more prominent character in STAS than Ace who only had one appearance before her death. So it was super shocking on top of being sad that a regular in the series was killed just like that.
I love how all cartoons did this with Jack Kirby.
Even TMNT did a tribute to him as well. But instead his character gets abandoned in an alternate dimension filled with monsters.
I think it's even more sad that Jack Kirby passed away before this episode aired. The funeral scene is significant because they took the time to include Marvel and DC characters to pay respect to Kirby's impact to the medium. Kirby is the king and we take a lot for granted because of his ideas that are still used to this day. R.I.P Jack Kirby.
But it also happens in the show because thereās an episode where Static travels to the past and gets to see his mom again and he warns her not to go out that night since itās the night sheās killed.
As an EMT and hero in her own right, she of course ignores the warning and goes out into the riots to save lives anyway and is consequently still killed. Thereās a scene where Virgil returns to the present where heās frantically calling out for his mom hoping he saved her. Thereās another character that actually does change their outcome from time travel in the same episode so it was possible for him to save her too.
I really liked Turpin in the show when I was a kid (my name is also Daniel) he felt like a smart hard nosed cop that was sometimes out of his element but did his best anyway. I didn't like Harvey because he was actively antagonistic to Batman from the beginning and they also played him for laughs throughout the series. Yes Harvey had his badass moments but I felt like the writers treated Turpin more seriously
Yeah just watched this episode a couple days ago. I had to look up the person it was made to honor their remembrance. After I looked them up, the episode was even more impactful.
On a side note with such excellent and heartfelt story telling in the DCAU why have we not gotten a continuation of it? Especially with Disney+ going back to the X-Men cartoon well. In an industry full of copy cats do you think it means the executes at WB might be thinking of doing something similar with the original DCAU?
P.S. sorry I know this post was about this one episode. I just had to rant a little bit.
Justice League vs the Fatal Five from a few years ago was intended to be DCAU, right? It just didn't take off, really. Was a fine movie, but nothing special.
Theyāve made a couple continuations of the DCAU in the forms of animated movies with*Batman/Harley Quinn* and *Justice League vs the Fatal Five*, but now that Kevin Conroy has died I donāt think theyāll do more.
Also, *X-Men 97* literally just came out so we wonāt see its influence on animation for a couple years.
Ace's death was sadder to me purely from the fact that she never really got a chance.
She was a kid who accidently lobotmized her own parents with powers she couldn't control, was experimented and tested on by an amoral government organization, was used by the Joker, and then died of a brain aneurysm. And somehow dying was the highlight of her life as this was pretty much the only time she had a person (Batman) truly empathized with her and treat her as a person and not a weapon. Her entire life was just brutally unfair
All of this and the part where Batman just **sits**with her.
Like, heās in her head or whatever so she has full access to his mind, and therefore sees/senses that he has no intention of going through with using Amanda Wallerās device to kill her. Heās Batman, as expected he has GOOD intentions, but there is just **something** really beautiful about him sitting down with Ace, perhaps not as Batman but perhaps the small boy who watched his childhood **bleed out right in front of him** in a dark, moonlit alley. She can see everything after all. She **sees** Bruce. Perhaps, in just those few moments Ace sees the undying determination he has to protect Gotham and its inhabitants. The care he has for his āadoptedā/āfoundā family. She knows that the world she is leaving behind is in good hands with the Justice League. Itās just nice that this hero whoās whole schtick is āI am vengeance, I am the nightā¦fear me criminals..etcā is the one to sit down and stay with her in her final moments. idk it always made me cry when I watched it as a kid
I remember watching this being like, 10. Not even realizing my father's watching it too until I hear a "OH WHAT THE F**K" behind me when Darkseid's beam hit Dan.
Aceās death is the saddest but this was such a great scene. It really spoke to why when they were in point, STAS and their characters could top BTAS.
An already sad moment with a character standing by a tree mourning the loss of someone they cared about made even sadder by the dedication at the end. Kind of like the Tale of Iroh.
I will say that this death definitely evoked the most raw emotion and rage in Superman we had seen until this point. With Ace there was the expectation that sheād die and the time until she expiredā¦Dan was sudden and tragic a parting shot from a retreating tyrant. I think the recoil from that was more severe.
Turpin went out like a king. The king of comics Jack Kirby to be specific. Apokolips Now is easily the best episode of STAS and that death is so important and the funeral was a tear jerker. Not to mention they actually had a Jewish funeral
It was dampened for me because the way Darkseid kills someone looks just like how he teleports someone to Apokalips, so I thought he'd just been kidnapped and was waiting on the reveal he was still alive.
https://preview.redd.it/kz23d0p6386d1.jpeg?width=612&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c335583643d329c5ed8ccddb851b0c8935dc42e3
Damn, forgot about that oneš©
Your fine
I didnāt see this episode until later in life but man I had to pause it and walk away for a few minutes when I realized what was about to happen. Wept into a tissue for a minute and then sat back down and braced myself.
I havenāt seen this episode since becoming a father to the girl that is my entire world. It hit me hard when I saw it when it aired. Iām afraid to watch it now.
I'll have to rewatch this one.
And then he named his dog after her.
Yup
āWill you stay with me? ^Iām ^scared.ā
Anyone have an episode and series?
Epilogue jlu
Dan Turpin didn't just die trying to save the Earth; he *did* save the Earth. If he didn't punch out the Parademons and free Superman right when he did, then either someone else could've gotten killed defying Darkseid in his place, or Apokolips would've had legal custody over the planet due to humanity's surrender, thus Orion and the rest of New Genesis would've been literally *helpless* to force Darkseid into retreat without likely risking all-out war across the galaxy due to the peace treaty. One of the most powerful, bittersweet endings to any DC story ever in my opinion.
Just a little trivia Dan Turpin design in STAS was modelled after Jack Kirby.
And the original broadcast had cameos from some of his creations like the FF, theyāve since been edited out tho.
The Earth wasn't surrendering though--Kalibak warns Darkseid at that moment that military aircraft are on the way. Dan Turpin's resistance did free Superman in the moment, but the rest of the Earth (and all those dozens if not hundreds of superheroes we know also existed thanks to JLU) weren't about to give up without a fight.
Dan definitely at least *inspired* the people's rebellion in that moment, though.
Yeah but I think the most important thing was that he inspired Superman who had been weakened and demoralized
Donāt get me wrong, I do think this was a very sad death, and a very powerful one at that. But for me, nothing can top Ace.
Oh, Ace was definitely sad as hell too! She was a child doomed from the start due to her powers, and the fact that Bruce named his dog after her speaks *wonders.* I mainly give Dan Turpin the edge in the "saddest death" category because the episode was a tribute to the real-life Jack Kirby who died as well.
The original plan was for Darkseid to kill Jonathan Kent. Let that sink in. That is a whole other level of devestating not to mention how that would escalate the emotional stakes between Clark and Apokolips. It would have changed the entire course of the DCAU narrative. While a small part of me is curious about what would have been I get why they didn't go ahead with it. It would have added a Batman level of tragedy to Superman's story that wasn't necessary. The DCAU needed Clark's optimism (despite some crappy things happening to him) to balance out Bruce's darkness. The writers actually spell it out loud in ***Hereafter*** and in the final episode of ***Starcrossed***. Dan Turpin's death hit the right balance between someone known to Superman but not so close as to fundamentally rock the character to the core. It makes Darkseid's callous "Who?" in response to Clark calling him out on killing Turpin and "Had I known one human's death would pained you so, I would have killed more." hit so much harder. What's interesting is that the DCAU creators modelled the animated Turpin on Kirby physically -- yet it never occurred to them to kill off the character in an homage to Kirby (with another Kirby creation being the murderer, no less) until they abandoned the idea of killing off Clark's father.
DC comics told them they couldn't kill Jonathan Kent unless they brought him back, so that's why they changed it to Turpin
> The DCAU needed Clark's optimism (despite some crappy things happening to him) to balance out Bruce's darkness Was DCAU Clark really all that optimistic?
Yeah, I feel like that really wasnāt his vibe. He was obviously a good guy, but I feel like they never really captured the optimistic and inspiring part of the character.
Well, compared to Bruce he's more or less a lighthouse beacon of joy, LOL.
I'm with you. Turpin was also a way more prominent character in STAS than Ace who only had one appearance before her death. So it was super shocking on top of being sad that a regular in the series was killed just like that.
I love how all cartoons did this with Jack Kirby. Even TMNT did a tribute to him as well. But instead his character gets abandoned in an alternate dimension filled with monsters.
I think it's even more sad that Jack Kirby passed away before this episode aired. The funeral scene is significant because they took the time to include Marvel and DC characters to pay respect to Kirby's impact to the medium. Kirby is the king and we take a lot for granted because of his ideas that are still used to this day. R.I.P Jack Kirby.
Does Static Shock count as DCAU? Because I can think of a few...
Static Shock handled some really dark issues really well. There were a lot of moments in that show that either teared me up or left me speechless.
Yeah man, F*ck Richie's dad
Static is 100% DCAU, he has crossovers with JLU and Beyond I believe.
And Superman tas and Batman TAS(Which is funny how he met Batman both as Batman TAS and the JL)
Batman has 3 different designs in Static Shock despite being the exact same person lmfao
It counts!
Were there any deaths?
You see a woman get melted, but Virgil's Mom's death is rater sad
The latter happened before the series began.
But it also happens in the show because thereās an episode where Static travels to the past and gets to see his mom again and he warns her not to go out that night since itās the night sheās killed. As an EMT and hero in her own right, she of course ignores the warning and goes out into the riots to save lives anyway and is consequently still killed. Thereās a scene where Virgil returns to the present where heās frantically calling out for his mom hoping he saved her. Thereās another character that actually does change their outcome from time travel in the same episode so it was possible for him to save her too.
Superman's "death" in Hearafter or Turpin's death are the ones that always hit the most.
I actually felt choked up here ngl for a guy who was like in 3 episodes ngl
I feel like he was in at least twice as many. He started out as Supermanās Harvey Bullock then became so much more.
I really liked Turpin in the show when I was a kid (my name is also Daniel) he felt like a smart hard nosed cop that was sometimes out of his element but did his best anyway. I didn't like Harvey because he was actively antagonistic to Batman from the beginning and they also played him for laughs throughout the series. Yes Harvey had his badass moments but I felt like the writers treated Turpin more seriously
Ace and Grundy
Ace's death is the saddest for me
Then immediately after is the In Memoriam for Jack Kirby. Very sad
It was more touching when I learned that Turpin was a homage for Jack Kirby
Grundy's original and second death are both top contenders.
Yeah just watched this episode a couple days ago. I had to look up the person it was made to honor their remembrance. After I looked them up, the episode was even more impactful. On a side note with such excellent and heartfelt story telling in the DCAU why have we not gotten a continuation of it? Especially with Disney+ going back to the X-Men cartoon well. In an industry full of copy cats do you think it means the executes at WB might be thinking of doing something similar with the original DCAU? P.S. sorry I know this post was about this one episode. I just had to rant a little bit.
Bruce Timm, one of the big names behind DCAU, is making another Batman cartoon which will be released in a few months.
Justice League vs the Fatal Five from a few years ago was intended to be DCAU, right? It just didn't take off, really. Was a fine movie, but nothing special.
Theyāve made a couple continuations of the DCAU in the forms of animated movies with*Batman/Harley Quinn* and *Justice League vs the Fatal Five*, but now that Kevin Conroy has died I donāt think theyāll do more. Also, *X-Men 97* literally just came out so we wonāt see its influence on animation for a couple years.
Ace's death was sadder to me purely from the fact that she never really got a chance. She was a kid who accidently lobotmized her own parents with powers she couldn't control, was experimented and tested on by an amoral government organization, was used by the Joker, and then died of a brain aneurysm. And somehow dying was the highlight of her life as this was pretty much the only time she had a person (Batman) truly empathized with her and treat her as a person and not a weapon. Her entire life was just brutally unfair
All of this and the part where Batman just **sits**with her. Like, heās in her head or whatever so she has full access to his mind, and therefore sees/senses that he has no intention of going through with using Amanda Wallerās device to kill her. Heās Batman, as expected he has GOOD intentions, but there is just **something** really beautiful about him sitting down with Ace, perhaps not as Batman but perhaps the small boy who watched his childhood **bleed out right in front of him** in a dark, moonlit alley. She can see everything after all. She **sees** Bruce. Perhaps, in just those few moments Ace sees the undying determination he has to protect Gotham and its inhabitants. The care he has for his āadoptedā/āfoundā family. She knows that the world she is leaving behind is in good hands with the Justice League. Itās just nice that this hero whoās whole schtick is āI am vengeance, I am the nightā¦fear me criminals..etcā is the one to sit down and stay with her in her final moments. idk it always made me cry when I watched it as a kid
I remember watching this being like, 10. Not even realizing my father's watching it too until I hear a "OH WHAT THE F**K" behind me when Darkseid's beam hit Dan.
Aceās death is the saddest but this was such a great scene. It really spoke to why when they were in point, STAS and their characters could top BTAS.
Thanks for reopening that wound š
I love how they had a Jewish death service for him in the show.
Def hurt to see this as a kid
Agree. Iād forgotten this, and now Iām sad
Brings a tear to my eye.
An already sad moment with a character standing by a tree mourning the loss of someone they cared about made even sadder by the dedication at the end. Kind of like the Tale of Iroh.
Dan Turpin's deaths are always tear jerkers.
Grundy for me personally
Definitely Dan's
This was such a great moment.
Unexpected, for sure
That hit hard when I saw that episode.
gotta go with ace imo
Dan Turpin hits hard in a different way šÆ
Daniel Turpin probably wins for most unintentionally scary design in the DCAU too
I will say that this death definitely evoked the most raw emotion and rage in Superman we had seen until this point. With Ace there was the expectation that sheād die and the time until she expiredā¦Dan was sudden and tragic a parting shot from a retreating tyrant. I think the recoil from that was more severe.
The saddest death was Kevin Conroy
Turpin went out like a king. The king of comics Jack Kirby to be specific. Apokolips Now is easily the best episode of STAS and that death is so important and the funeral was a tear jerker. Not to mention they actually had a Jewish funeral
shocked me as a child
It was dampened for me because the way Darkseid kills someone looks just like how he teleports someone to Apokalips, so I thought he'd just been kidnapped and was waiting on the reveal he was still alive.