Years ago, I reviewed Batman: The Animated Series, it's continuations as well as Superman: The Animated Series. This was imminent, so here goes.
Episodes 1-3: Secret Origins
The series opened with a three part story with the title group only forming properly towards the end of this. You've got Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Superman (George Newbern) on relatively friendly terms. Somewhat established as active players were The Flash (Michael Rosenblum), John Stewart (Phil LaMarr) and Hawkgirl (Maria Canals-Barerra). Then the events of this story saw Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg) leaving Themyscira to help out. As for the story itself, there was the introduction of Martian Manhunter (Carl Lumbly) and invaders from Mars that very nearly managed to take over the Earth, had it not been for our seven heroes. It's a strong opening story that established our heroes pretty well. 8/10
Episodes 4-5: In Blackest Night
With the first story being more of a character set up, this second story was a two parter focused on John Stewart being on trial on Oa. His supposed crime? Apparently he blew up a planet and despite John protesting his innocence and The Flash being firmly in his corner. Of course, it's obvious that John didn't do but this story certainly kept him in the firing line for as long as possible. Eventually it was revealed that Kanjar Ro and the robotic Manhunters did the deed in order to steal a Green Lantern power battery. Not one of my favourites but a solid story. 6/10
Episodes 6-7: The Enemy Below
With the first two stories exploring both Earth and space, it's nice that the third one went to Atlantis. Yup, we got Aquaman (Scott Rummell) and he was certainly an abrasive character, who clashed with the League. He's also happily married to Mera (Kristin Bauer), has a son named Arthur Jr. Then there's Orm (Richard Green). The latter was scheming to take over Atlantis, managed to nearly kill the Justice League and his brother, before the latter cut his own hand off to save his son and reclaim his kingdom. There's also a brief supporting role for Deadshot (Michael Rosenblum) in this one too. 7/10
Episodes 8-9: Injustice For All
If you're going to have a Justice League, then of course you need it's counterpoint. Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) knew that, so he enlisted Ultra-Humanite (Ian Buchanan), Solomon Grundy (Mark Hamill), Cheetah (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Star Sapphire (Olivia d'Abo), Copperhead (Efrain Figueroa) and The Shade (Stephen McHattie). Then the Joker (Mark Hamill) also inserted himself into the team. As a group, they nearly worked. They came close to actually taking out the Justice League but too much infighting and divided loyalties ultimately derailed them as a team. Lex not being a likeable leader also didn't help. 8/10
Episodes 10-11: Paradise Lost
Ah, it was time for Wonder Woman to get some much needed focus. The start of the story had her going through her excuses for leaving Themyscira, only to find her mother, Hippolyta (Susan Sullivan) and the rest of the Amazons frozen as stone statues. Felix Daisy (Robert Englund) emerged as being responsible and he quickly forced Wonder Woman's hand in retrieving magical artificats for him. Eventually Wonder Woman needed to get help from the rest of her current team. As for Faust, he somewhat took a backseat when Hades (Jonathan Rhys-Davies) emerged as the bigger problem for both Wonder Woman and Hippolyta. The story ended on a very bittersweet note. 9/10
Episodes 12-13: War World
My least favourite two parter so far. One one hand, I'm happy that we have a two parter that's very Superman focused. On the other hand, I just don't greatly care for Warworld or even Mongul (Eric Roberts) as a character. These Fight Club type stories don't really do it for me and this one didn't either. It's a fairly plodding story, even when Mongul played on Superman's morality in order to mess with Warworld's eventual successor, Draaga (William Smith). 5/10
Next blog I'll tackle The Brave And The Bold, Fury, Legends, A Knight Of Shadows, Metamorphosis and The Savage Time.
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