Justice League Review!

 Alright! Today I'm reviewing the next show in my DCAU binge: Justice League (Sorry Zeta Project, you're not on HBOMax). 

Now, I grew up with this series, X-Men: Evolution, and Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The important thing to note here is that all of their theme songs were absolutely incredible. This theme song is a straight-up bop.

Justice League is very much a continuation of the previous DCAU shows while feeling wholly unique - that is, in part, due to the smaller cast. Each previous DC show had a titular character and maybe two or three supporting characters. Justice League is just all those headliners coming together with no supporting characters. 

I applaud the series for the incredibly well-balanced ensemble. To keep the deus ex machinas out of it and the dynamics fresh, the selection of the seven changes continually throughout each episode. Some episodes don't have Superman, others don't have Green Lantern. The shifts made things feel fresh and allowed ample time for each character to grow and develop. 

Once again animation proves that it's better than everything else - after providing the definitive versions of Batman and Superman, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini find a way to provide the definitive version of the Justice League as well (They had a template and chose not to use it for the DCEU! What? Why?). It's absolutely incredible how much thematic depth, terror, and iconicity can be fitted into a TV-Y7 show. 

The animation, as always, is great. Superman and Wonder Woman have eerily pronounced cheekbones, but aside from that, the character design is on point at all times. 

The Justice Lords episodes were straight-up incredible.

Now, I do have a grievance about the show: The first season is rather lackluster. None of the plots or episodes really stand out as anything special aside from Legends. But, for the record, I may just have a bias since repeat viewing as a 7-year-old has them ingrained into my very being. 

Season two, however, absolutely holds up. Aside from four episodes, every episode is of peak quality. Here we have thematic and rather adult twists and turns that bring new layers of depth and thematic darkness to the show. It starts off with an incredibly interesting two-parter about Brainiac trying to take Apokalips, it just keeps rolling the hits with Amazo the Android, a villain who traps you in your nightmares, the best "evil Superman" story ever made, Doctor Fate, Joker, and the Thanagarian invasion.

But, above all others, my favorite is easily the one about Superman (Surprise, surprise). Hereafter, a two-parter episode about what happens when Superman is "dead," blows the others out of the water by a long shot. Seeing the entire world come together over Superman's death is incredibly inspiring, and seeing how Batman specifically comes to terms with Superman's death is even better.

My favorite aspect of the series was definitely placing Martian Manhunter as the main character. The pilot begins with a dark backstory (How many children's cartoons can claim the main character's wife, children, and entire race died and was left the last person of his race?), continues the stakes throughout (A tearjerker scene where he reunites with his dead children), and then finally resolves (He finds a new family in the Justice League). 

I loved the episode Comfort and Joy. It humanized the entire League (And their villains) expertly and contains so many scenes that make Superman my favorite character. And even more than that I loved the subtle build-up of Green Lantern and Hawkgirl's relationship for maximum betrayal at the end. 

Few regular, live-action, acclaimed, "adult" series can claim to come to the highs that Justice League does, which is honestly incredible. The early 2000s were a truly wild time for children's animation.

Overall, I give Justice League a 9/10. "Aside from an uneven first season, Justice League is everything you'd want from an adaptation of the titular team."

Aw, Superman's the best.