Justice League Unlimited
Got Season 1 of Justice League Unlimited for my brother on his birthday (March 2nd), and he went out and bought the second season more recently. I have now watched them and will share my thoughts...
The stories are generally good. About 25-35% of both seasons are bad episodes that made me want to go read a book until they were done, including the last episode, which floods us with corny tough guy cliche dialogue that is generic to every character. The end of the first season, however, serves as a cap for that season and Batman Beyond, weirdly. I never liked Batman Beyond, but for the fans, it must have been quite the treat to get some sort of closure. Most of the DC universe that I'm familiar with shows up, except Plastic Man, Blue Beetle, and the Teen Titans (whose rights are no doubt tied up). More on the characters:
Superman: Don't like this version. Trying too hard to be edgy and tough. The boyscout is nowhere to be found. Not that he shows up too often anyways.
Batman: He's okay. Not as impressive as he was in his own cartoon. Since he's hanging out with a tougher crowd, he seems to do a lot of just throwing explosive batarangs.
Wonder Woman: I don't know why DC seems to always try and push her as an iconic equal to Superman and Batman. Superman is THE superhero icon, and Batman is timeless. Wonder Woman has a weird powerset, which seems to be inconsistent over the decades. She has the lasso and the bracelets that deflect bullets (which they actually found an excuse to use), and has ties to Roman mythology. Weird. She's also okay.
Green Lantern: John Stewart. Heh. Nothing much to say, except that he was underutilized. Kind of made out to be weak and uncreative.
The Flash: Pretty cool, but generally a jobber. He's generally the second most powerful of the bunch, second only to Superman, but he rarely shows much potential in the series. Episodes that focus on him are all great, and he redeems himself in the big fight at the end of season 1.
Martian Manhunter: Kind of a goofy character, but can be cool, as he is in this cartoon. Talk about underutilized, though. He just sits in the space station for almost the entire series.
Green Arrow: I never knew squat about this character until this series, but it made me a fan. That should tell you something. I approve. ;)
Hawkgirl: Kind of one-note. Why'd she give up her costume for a jogging suit?
Other noteworthies: The Captain Marvel episode was among the best. He's so out of place in the DC Universe though. I love the animated Supergirl. She reminds me of Rogue in the 80's, when she still kicked butt and was super-aggressive in a fight. She got written out in a horrible episode though. The Question was good stuff, and makes me want to look for the Steve Ditko issues. I wonder if Monzo is a fan; he seemed to be into Steve Ditko's work.
The villains: Lot of lame villains in the DC universe... Like the heroes, they were often undefined background decoration: no names or powers given. Don't they remember basic comic writing: you have to establish every character's proper name and powers in EVERY SINGLE appearance. Sloppy. And it's not like Transformers, where they could stand in the background firing without hurting anything -- these are complex characters with non-straight forward powers. And I HATE this version of Lex Luthor. It's like the writers asked themselves: what if David Xanatos was a complete asswipe? Too bad, 'cause I liked him in the Superman cartoon as more of a Kingpin type character. Bizarro and 'Icycle Chick' were kind of cool. Those two are a stretch, though, and nobody else really jumps to the front of my mind. Overall they served their function though.
My verdict: Much lesser than the old Batman, lesser than Superman, greater than Justice League, and much greater than Batman Beyond. If you're a DC fan, you can't NOT pick these up. It's insanity, I tell you! More casual fans certainly have something to be interested in here, as well. God, did I ever take the Batman cartoon for granted? As years go by, I realize more and more how we're never going to see anything like that again. God forbid Marvel should get a cartoon of half that quality. There was 90's Spider-Man, X-Men Evolution, and then squat except for the cheesy-but-fun 80's and 60's cartoons. Er, that is all.
The stories are generally good. About 25-35% of both seasons are bad episodes that made me want to go read a book until they were done, including the last episode, which floods us with corny tough guy cliche dialogue that is generic to every character. The end of the first season, however, serves as a cap for that season and Batman Beyond, weirdly. I never liked Batman Beyond, but for the fans, it must have been quite the treat to get some sort of closure. Most of the DC universe that I'm familiar with shows up, except Plastic Man, Blue Beetle, and the Teen Titans (whose rights are no doubt tied up). More on the characters:
Superman: Don't like this version. Trying too hard to be edgy and tough. The boyscout is nowhere to be found. Not that he shows up too often anyways.
Batman: He's okay. Not as impressive as he was in his own cartoon. Since he's hanging out with a tougher crowd, he seems to do a lot of just throwing explosive batarangs.
Wonder Woman: I don't know why DC seems to always try and push her as an iconic equal to Superman and Batman. Superman is THE superhero icon, and Batman is timeless. Wonder Woman has a weird powerset, which seems to be inconsistent over the decades. She has the lasso and the bracelets that deflect bullets (which they actually found an excuse to use), and has ties to Roman mythology. Weird. She's also okay.
Green Lantern: John Stewart. Heh. Nothing much to say, except that he was underutilized. Kind of made out to be weak and uncreative.
The Flash: Pretty cool, but generally a jobber. He's generally the second most powerful of the bunch, second only to Superman, but he rarely shows much potential in the series. Episodes that focus on him are all great, and he redeems himself in the big fight at the end of season 1.
Martian Manhunter: Kind of a goofy character, but can be cool, as he is in this cartoon. Talk about underutilized, though. He just sits in the space station for almost the entire series.
Green Arrow: I never knew squat about this character until this series, but it made me a fan. That should tell you something. I approve. ;)
Hawkgirl: Kind of one-note. Why'd she give up her costume for a jogging suit?
Other noteworthies: The Captain Marvel episode was among the best. He's so out of place in the DC Universe though. I love the animated Supergirl. She reminds me of Rogue in the 80's, when she still kicked butt and was super-aggressive in a fight. She got written out in a horrible episode though. The Question was good stuff, and makes me want to look for the Steve Ditko issues. I wonder if Monzo is a fan; he seemed to be into Steve Ditko's work.
The villains: Lot of lame villains in the DC universe... Like the heroes, they were often undefined background decoration: no names or powers given. Don't they remember basic comic writing: you have to establish every character's proper name and powers in EVERY SINGLE appearance. Sloppy. And it's not like Transformers, where they could stand in the background firing without hurting anything -- these are complex characters with non-straight forward powers. And I HATE this version of Lex Luthor. It's like the writers asked themselves: what if David Xanatos was a complete asswipe? Too bad, 'cause I liked him in the Superman cartoon as more of a Kingpin type character. Bizarro and 'Icycle Chick' were kind of cool. Those two are a stretch, though, and nobody else really jumps to the front of my mind. Overall they served their function though.
My verdict: Much lesser than the old Batman, lesser than Superman, greater than Justice League, and much greater than Batman Beyond. If you're a DC fan, you can't NOT pick these up. It's insanity, I tell you! More casual fans certainly have something to be interested in here, as well. God, did I ever take the Batman cartoon for granted? As years go by, I realize more and more how we're never going to see anything like that again. God forbid Marvel should get a cartoon of half that quality. There was 90's Spider-Man, X-Men Evolution, and then squat except for the cheesy-but-fun 80's and 60's cartoons. Er, that is all.