The '90s were good for comic book cartoons, for both the major comic book studios. DC had the Batman: The Animated Series [and the follow-ups] and Superman: The Animated Series, while Marvel had X-Men and Spider-man. Without getting into an argument about which were better (for I'm sure that will be forthcoming in a future issue!), DC was able to take the excellence of Batman and Superman and apply it on a larger scale with Justice League (and Justice League Unlimited).

But before getting into why the show was so well done, some background. For the first two seasons the show was known as Justice League. It featured seven of the top DC heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, and the Martian Manhunter. Each episode was actually part of a two-parter (occasionally a three-parter) that focused on some or all of the team. For the final three seasons, the show was known as Justice League Unlimited, and the JL roster was expanded considerably to include most all of the DC universe, though still featured the original seven. Each episode now was self-contained, but there was more of an over-arching plot for each season. Some people view them as two separate shows, with JLU being a continuation of JL, but I view them as one and the same, just with a shift halfway through.

So what is there to like about the show? Well, quite a lot. If you are a DC-comic fan, there is a tremendous amount of references back to the original comics, whether it be plot lines, more obscure characters being either glimpsed or perhaps even showcased, or random little trivia strewn about that only the diehard comic fans would even catch. The characters as presented are not strange re-images of the comics that may bother fans (as seen in some other animated shows), but are what I could consider "normal".

But that's not to say that there aren't some differences. For one, in the comics, Aquaman was a founding member, while here in the cartoon he is only an occasional character (Hawkgirl was added as a founding member so that there was more than one female team member). The Green Lantern chosen was the much-less-known John Stewart instead of Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner (who had even been featured in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series). Some character interactions were different, such as the tension and interest between Wonder Woman and Batman (I, for one, was highly amused at this throughout the series).

People who aren't familiar with the comics, though, wouldn't care or know about these differences. So is the show worth watching for non-comic fans? I say yes... for the most part. The stories and plots are constructed such that they are understandable for anyone to just sit down and watch. While knowing exactly who some of the characters (particularly the antagonists) are might make the show more interesting, it certainly isn't necessary.

So the writing and plots are good. What else? Well, the voice acting is a big one. Some of the actors used just own their characters, most notably Kevin Conroy as Batman. He is Batman. But for the geeks among us (which I'm guessing is pretty much anyone reading this), there is a plethora of geeky goodness to be found amongst the voices, from the main stars Carl Lumbly (Martian Manhunter) of Alias and Smallville's Lex Luthor himself Michael Rosenbaum (Flash), to all sorts of guest voices from various Star Trek casts, to seemingly the entire cast of Firefly, to The Man, Mark Hamill, who is by far the best Joker ever. Heck, they could have had one person do all other voices and as long as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were involved, I would be one happy cartoon-watcher.

It's not all perfect, though (alas). One issue is that with 7 main cast members, some episodes feature only 3-4 of them. It's fine from a character-growth standpoint, but causes problems from a logic standpoint... kind of the "um... if Superman were around, this would have been taken care of in 30 seconds" type of thing. And in the later episodes, in the Justice League Unlimited era, sometimes the focus is on a somewhat obscure character that the majority of watchers probably don't know. The episodes are well done enough so that people watching can follow, but there is the underlying question of "who the heck is that, and why should I care?". And, as per usual with anything dealing with Superman... he's rarely if ever allowed to unload to the full extent that he is capable of. His powers seem to be somewhat limited to just-enough-to-move-the-plot-forward, which is always kind of annoying.

But overall, these issues are relatively minor. The show is tremendous and enjoyable. It can be watched and liked by people of all ages. It is smart and polished. It is a treat for comic fans and excellent enough to convert people into comic fans (John Stewart has become more prominent in the comics as a Green Lantern, for instance, due to increased fan support). What more could you ask for, other than a good reason why it was cancelled after 5 seasons?! More Justice League, that's what I say (as long as Kevin Conroy is involved).

  -- K. Burtt