I make fun of Alan Moore sometimes, but rest assured it comes from a place of purest admiration. He’s who I want to be when I grow up.

When I’m in my seventies I want to be a mouthy old beard engaging in magic duals with gender-ambiguous wizards, worshipping a snake god and complaining about everything all the time.

And today, while hacking my way through this goddamn draft, I will take a break to briefly review what is (I believe) literally the only adaptation of Alan Moore’s work to receive his blessing, Justice League Unlimited’s second episode, For the Man Who Has Everything.

For the Man Who Has Everything was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Moore was pretty new to DC at the time, having gotten his start with Swamp Thing. He was asked if he wanted to try writing Superman, and he proceeded to just casually toss out what is now considered a fairly safe, uncontroversial pick for greatest Superman story of all time.

So, little wonder then that it was chosen to be adapted by the creators of Justice League Unlimited, still probably the best onscreen adaptation of the DC universe as a whole. Like, there are better Batman adaptations and Superman adaptations and Wonder Woman adaptations but no one else has ever taken the entire universe and really made it work onscreen like this show did.

I think it also gives the lie to the notion that Moore is just an unpleasable crank who wouldn’t be satisfied with any adaptation that didn’t slavishly follow his original. Because this episode doesn’t. Oh, it’s pretty faithful, even down to the same dialogue being used in many scenes. But, it also makes some pretty big alterations and Moore approved of them. I do too, to be honest. I think this is the gold standard for an adaptation; one where any changes to the source material only make it stronger.

The episode begins with Wonder Woman and Batman arriving at the Fortress of Solitude to surprise Superman with gifts for his birthday. We get two pretty big changes from the comic right away. Unlike in the comic, Robin isn’t here. That Robin was a pre-crowabar Jason Todd, but JLU takes place in the same continuity as Batman the Animated Series which means at this point in time Robin is Tim Drake. However, JLU had a “Bat-Embargo” where (aside from Batman himself) Batman characters that were slated to be used in upcoming or current projects (like The Batman, Teen Titans and Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy) were barred from being used. In fact, Tim Drake wouldn’t show up again in this universe until Return of the Joker where he made it seem like Jason Todd got off easy.

So, no Robin, which simply means that Wonder Woman gets more to do. Another change is that Wonder Woman is bringing Clark a Kryptonian Rose. In the comic it’s a carved replica of the Bottle City of Kandor. This was changed because this show is also canon to Superman the Animated Series and Kandor was never introduced as a concept there.

Wonder Woman asks Batman what he got Superman and he gripes that Clark’s not the easiest person to buy for and shows her a tiny evelope. Wonder Woman is appalled, thinking that Batman got him a gift certificate and Batman huffily replies “no, cash”.

They discover Superman standing unconscious with a strange alien flower growing on his chest. Wonder Woman goes to look for clues while Bruce examines him and realises that Superman is in a deep, deep trance.

We then cut to what Supes is actually seeing. Clark is dreaming that he’s a farmer on Krypton, married to a woman who’s an amalgam of Lois Lane and Lana Lang and with a son named Van. Everything in his life is perfectly idyllic except for occasional minor earthquakes which Brainiac (who in this continuity was basically Krypton’s Siri) assures him are nothing to worry about. Superman chews out his son for not walking Krypto, reminding him that he got him a dog in order to teach him the importance of responsibility.

In the real world, as Batman struggles to free Superman when suddenly Mongol appears holding an unconscious Wonder Woman.

Mongul is a character who confuses the heck out of me. He was created by Jim Starlin when he moved from Marvel to DC essentially as a copy of Thanos (who Starlin had previously co-created at Marvel). But…Thanos was famously a rip-off of Darkseid who was already a DC character so why would Starlin feel the need to photocopy the photocopy when he now had access to the original?

Anyway, Mongul is wonderfully voiced by Eric Roberts, all sneering condensation and steely menace. He mocks Batman when suddenly Wonder Woman reveals she was just playing possum and socks him right in the jaw. She’s about to throw down with Batman orders her to stop and Mongul condescendingly explains “Clearly the males on this planet are the smart ones. He wants to know about the plant”.

I love this moment because Mongul is right (about the plant, about the plant!) but completely misses the significance of Batman’s ordering Wonder Woman to stop: Batman fully expects that if Wonder Woman fights Mongul she will kill him.

Mongul tells them that the Black Mercy will create a mental paradise for Superman so perfect he’ll never be able to leave it and that, without Superman, the Earth will be his for the taking.

Wonder Woman proceeds to battle Mongul up and down the fortress of solitude while Batman works fervently to free Superman from the Black Mercy.

On “Krypton”, Superman visits his father who is still a scientist after slowing clawing his way back to respectability after the time he warned everyone that the planet was going to explode and turned out to be talking out of his ass. Clark tells Jor-El he’s getting worried about all the recent earthquakes. Jor-El tells him not to worry about it and that science isn’t even sure if earthquakes are real anyway and if they are they’re probably not caused humans and if they are it’s too late to do anything so why worry?

This is another change from the comic that I definitely think is for the better. In the comic, Superman’s fantasy starts out perfect but slowly gets darker as Krypton starts slipping into fascist dystopia. This undercuts the entire story in my opinion, if Superman is not giving up actual paradise to return to his responsibilities in the real world then the impact is much lesser.

On a rooftop overlooking Kandor city with Van, Superman hears Batman and realises the truth. He holds his son in his arms and says.

Krypton explodes around him and Superman wakes up.

I read a great quote from…I think it was Mark Waid…where he summed up Superman as a character:

“If he’s your friend, he’s the best friend you’ll ever have. If he’s your enemy? God help you.”

Blind with rage, Superman attacks Mongul and they proceed to batter the piss out of each other. Wonder Woman, badly injured, crawls back into the main chamber and find Batman, now in the clutches of the Black Mercy where he is living his greatest fantasy, watching his Dad beating Joe Chill to death in crime alley.

Deeper in the fortress, Superman is beating Mongul when a statue of his parents reminds him of everything he just gave up and Mongul manages to overpower him. But, just he’s about to finish him off with a rock to the head, he hears someone calling his name.

Best version of Wonder Woman and I will not be taking further questions.

She flings the Black Mercy at Mongul who gets lost in his own perfect fantasy. Sheepishly, Wonder Woman gives Clark his present which was crushed in the fight but he thanks her for it graciously. The three heroes look at Mongul and wonder what sick, depraved fantasy the Black Mercy is showing him to satiate his darkest, vilest desires.

***

There is no praise I can give this episode higher than what it has already received:

NEXT UPDATE: 18 JUNE 2026

NEXT TIME: You’ll believe…