I’ve wanted to review this show since I started up the blog. This is my favorite superhero cartoon and the one that I can say I grew up on. This show is what made me think superheroes are the best thing ever and it might be in competition with Batman: The Animated Series as the greatest cartoon series ever. There’s only one place you can see Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Wonderman, Hawkgirl and Martian Man Hunter together and thats on Justice League.
Justice League starts with a four part series premiere. This premiere shows how the League was formed and shows the fantastic teamwork displayed by all of them. One threat is to large for all heroes individually so they team up. It seems a bit cliche now but when the show was made this was a huge deal. Each episode is in two parts, each one with thirty minute run time which was a bit upsetting as a kid but looking back on it, it made the episodes even better. Imagine watching an action packed episode, and right when you think the conflict is resolved BANG you have to wait until next week.
The villains in this show might be the best and greatest because its a mash-up of every heroes individual villains. Episodes can have Sinestro (Green Lantern villain) or even Gorilla Grodd (Flash Villain). Each villain had their own way to defeat their respective hero but the Justice League would always chime in.
The genius of the show is that an episode wasn’t always going to have the entire league. Some episodes might have a few of them on a off-screen mission while the remaining three or four are forced to take on the villain on their own. This gave the show a new dynamic and showed how certain members powers worked when they worked together. The Flash can use his speed to wrangle up a group of bad guys the Green Lantern already took care of or there can be the famous Batman carry. A hero that can fly would constantly need to carry Batman everywhere since he couldn’t fly which was always pretty enjoyable.
The show displayed how each hero was flawed. These flaws were mostly in regards to their ego or pride which was interesting in showing growth. Heroes learned to differ and let others take over when it was needed.
One of my favorite episodes was when the League goes into another dimension and meets the Justice Lords. They are an extreme version of the League who seem to govern and rule the world rather than protect it. It shows how easily the League can lose control and you get a feel of how powerful they really are in the universe.
In all honesty I can’t help but feel this show is ultimately about Batman. The only non-powered member of the group ends up saving them countless times and seems to the be most powerful one. He is never really “officially” in the League yet he seems to be the Leagues savior which just shows how much of a badass he really is.
IMDB: 8.6/10
TV.com: 8.8/10
SuperToons: 10/10
Available on Netflix: Yes (first one)
Run Time: 2001-2004
Seasons: 2
Episodes: 52
Watch: YES, watch it right now
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