JL - The Enemy Below

This episode proves the merit of Justice League's initial decision to make hour-long episodes. It's rather epic in scope, yet still has enough focus on character to make it compelling.

Though long-time fans of the DCAU might remember Aquaman's initial introduction in an episode of Superman, The Enemy Below honestly requires no previous knowledge of the character. Everything you need to know about him is laid out: He's the king of the undersea Atlantean Empire, he's a tough guy, and he doesn't like humans.
Actually seeing Atlantis was a really cool thing. (the STAS episode never went anywhere close to it) It's a well-designed locale, and acts a great backdrop for this episode's large-scale adventure.


Speaking of art design, the color palette in "The Enemy Below" is much better than in the last episode. While "In Blackest Night" was rather annoyingly muted, mostly relying on black, green, and brown, "The Enemy Below" is much brighter. Furthermore, we get a nighttime scene, which always brings out the best in the DCAU's art.


There's a bit of political intrigue in this episode, leading to the classic "enemy of my enemy = super friend" plot device. While this episode was perhaps predictable, it was still interesting enough to be enjoyable. Epic sci-fi threats seem to be the best type of conflict for the JL, and this was an especially cool example.

While not completely without boredom, this episode was still good, if not great.

6.5/10

JL - In Blackest Night

Meh.

I love the Green Lantern Corps. I really do. They're one of my favorite comic book "things." However, I really don't care for John Stewart. So when there's an annoyingly boring episode revolving around him, you can bet that I don't care.

It was nice to see a little bit of explanation about the GLC, though I still think that it could have been done better.


The battle at the end was pretty cool, though. And the recital of the Green Lantern oath was really awesome, and a great end. Even my mom liked it.


Too bad the rest of the episode was terrible.

2/10

JL - Secret Origins

This episode is an odd one.

As the pilot episode of Justice League, it serves its purpose in that it shows the "origin" of the Justice League. Unfortunately, it does very little in the way of explaining the origins of the individual characters. While Superman and Batman need no explanation, others like Hawkgirl and Green Lantern are not explained at all. Fortunately, we do see a great origin for J'onn J'onzz, and Wonder Woman gets a very limited backstory. Even so, I have plenty of individual gripes about (almost) each one of the cast members.

Superman does not get a break throughout the entire episode. If he's not getting shot by a laser and screaming in pain, he's being knocked out or struggling to lift a mere dozen tons. This is writing at its shoddiest. Furthermore, he has some odd-looking age lines on his face that make him look old and tired. Why even include Superman if he's just going to sit there and do nothing but get hurt and groan in pain?

Batman, fortunately, is refreshingly cool. His character design is great, and everything he does makes sense. My only real gripe with him is that his "Gotham life" is not elaborated upon. We have no idea if Robin or Batgirl are still around, and we never even get a hint about anything relating to Batman's personal life.

Wonder Woman just comes off strange. Her motivations and powers are left rather unclear. Aside from having great laser-blocking skills and a strong rope (that is NOT magical, strangely enough), her powers aren't explained. Also, her character design didn't seem quite finalized yet, so her face looks disturbingly odd in a few shots.

Green Lantern also has some issues. His personality is irrationally grating, and his origin is not explained. If you're not a comic book fan with some DC Universe knowledge, and you haven't seen the episode of Superman: The Animated Series that explained the Green Lantern Corps, you'll have no idea who he is or what he does. Furthermore, they completely ignored the aforementioned Superman episode's plot, which introduced an entirely different character as Earth's Green Lantern.

The Flash doesn't really have an intro, but honestly doesn't need one. He's just a fast guy that makes stupid jokes. That's it. He does seem rather slow for someone faster-than-the-man-who's-faster-than-a-speeding-bulllet.

Hawkgirl is perhaps the worst new character. She doesn't seem to have any real purpose for being there, and has absolutely no backstory. There's an offhand reference to her home planet of Thanagar, but that's it. And she's annoying.

J'onn J'onzz is by far the best character in this episode. He actually gets a great origin story, complete with flashbacks that are completely relevant to the plot. Furthermore, he's an interesting character that most non-comics fans are unaware of.

Almost everything about this episode was mediocre. When I was twelve, this episode seemed amazing. Looking back, now seven years later, it really wasn't. The animation was inconsistent, the music was only serviceable, and the dialogue was TERRIBLE.

It served its purpose in that it got the League together. It just didn't do it brilliantly.

5/10