TV Talk - Justice League/Justice League Unlimited

They will never know that I was the one who stole the cookies from the cookie jar!

So, here it is. Approaching a show like this is kind of hard. I mean, it’s perfect! It had great stories, great voice acting, and awesome animation. It was the culmination of everything that came before with DC’s Animated Universe (DCAU). Without a doubt, it is one of my favorite shows. Let’s get to it.

Background

I came across the show on Cartoon Network in 2001. I remember that the show came on in the evening which was pretty awesome. After it shifted in Justice League Unlimited (JLU), I was only able to watch some episodes. I was in college and Cartoon Network keep airing the show randomly at this time. Later on, I was able to get caught up on episodes through YouTube and other video sites.

When I found out the show(s) were on Netflix, I didn’t really care mostly because I’ve seen just about every episode. After a while, I decided to go through both shows. I mostly wanted to see ones I haven’t seen in a while. I haven’t completely finished watching both shows, but I’ve seen them enough. For simplicity’s sake, I’m putting both shows together on here. Heck, JLU’s just Seasons 3, 4, and 5 of Justice League.

Likes

EVERYTHING… Okay, just about everything.

• Good Stories – This show was literally a comic brought to life… of the 2-D variety anyway. The heroes were heroic, the villains were villainous, and the stakes were high. The show also evolved over time. In the beginning, there were stand-alone episodes and the stories were simple. When JLU came to be, the creators started to play around with ongoing story arcs with the “Cadmus” arc and the “Legion” arc. The show also did well in trying to give all of the Leaguers a moment to shine. Sometimes, a character would have an episode that revolved around them. So, if you think the show was “Batman and His Merry Men,” you got the wrong show.  
• Great Voice-acting – The voice acting for all of the Leaguers was pretty good. The only one who might have struggled at first to me was George Newbern’s Superman. We were already used to Tim Daly as the character from Superman: The Animated Series. Luckily, Newbern made it his own and got better over time. The voice acting for the show as a whole was good. Even the guest voices were pretty good.
• Great animation – The animation was pretty sweet. The character designs were pure Timm. They all more or less fit their comic-book counterparts. The animation also improved over the years along with the story. The action became more epic as well.
• Memorable characters – There were a lot of memorable characters on the show. Batman was… Batman, Superman was… Superman, Hawkgirl was the woman that you don’t want to mess with (or do you?), and Flash was the awesome comic relief. I also loved the banter with all of the Leaguers from the show’s beginning to the show’s end. The guest characters and villains were also pretty memorable and cool.
• Two awesome theme songs – Finally, the show had not only one cool theme song but two cool theme songs. I don't know which one I would like better. They're both cool. 

Dislikes

I think this is how I felt when I heard the show was cancelled.

Well, you know there have to be a couple of dislikes.

• (sobs) It Ended – All I have to say is this: WHY? This happens with a lot of shows I like. How can something like Pokemon, Beyblade, and Spongebob Squarepants last for years while a show like Justice League can’t last that long? I guess it has to do with ratings or some crap. Anyway, I shouldn’t be too unhappy that this show ended. When you combine both shows and split the two-parters into single episodes, we got 91 episodes of the Justice League. That is a good thing. Also add the fact that this show did get a pretty epic finale in “Destroyer.”
• Weak First Season – While the first season isn’t bad, it’s kind of lackluster when you compare it to the 2^nd season and all of JLU. If anything, it kind of feels tame when you compare it to the later seasons. Even though it’s a little tamer, it’s still a pretty good season.
• Not enough Flash – Now this is a complaint for the first season of JLU. All of the original Leaguers were around and had got some face time except for Flash. We see him in a couple of episodes, but they’re non-speaking roles. I still don’t know why that is. My guess is that the creators wanted to give the other new Leaguers some face time. Michael Rosenbaum may have also been also unavailable for that season, I don’t know. I do know that the character was definitely missed. He might also be the most underused of the Original Seven which sucks. Fortunately, we still got some awesome moments with him.
• That’s all. Now go watch the show!!!

My favorite episodes of the show will go into another post because I have a lot to say about those episodes... and here they are.

Favorite Episodes