Justice League | NarikChase Review

Justice League is a 2001 superhero action animated television series created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, with voice performances by Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum, and Maria Canals.  The world’s greatest superheroes, including Batman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, the Flash, and Superman, join forces to fight evil and ensure that justice prevails.

Plot:  After an otherworldly threat forces the world’s greatest superheroes to team up, they continue the fight together to protect the Earth.  The series features some pretty badass stories with many of them taking place on Earth but others taking place in space and even alternate dimensions.  One of the things I would’ve liked to have seen is less episodic and more overarching stories.  Yes, there a few stories that stretch two episodes but the show does lack story arcs.  Episodics are good but lack depth and character development.  The episodes are diverse with great stories, some even stretching over genres. (4 out of 5)

Characters: The characters are just freaking awesome.  It’s great seeing our favorite heroes teaming up and taking it to the bad guys.  The main characters and founding members of the Justice League are Batman, Superman, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Hal Jordan.  Really love the relationships that are built between the characters and develop.  They become a really effective team after their initial hang-ups.  I love the large roster of supporting characters as well, both on the side of the good guys and the supervillains themselves. I like Amanda Waller, Lex Luthor, Gorilla Grodd, Brainiac, and Darkseif among some of the series’ antagonists. (4 out of 5)

Cast:  The voice performances are just awesome.  The main cast includes performances by Kevin Conroy (Batman), Maria Canals (Hawkgirl), George Newbern (Superman), Carl Lumbly (Martian Manhunter), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), Michael Rosenbaum (Flash), and Phil LaMarr (Green Lantern).  There’s a shit ton of supporting cast members which includes Clancy Brown, Corey Burton, Dana Delany, Powers Boothe, Olivia d’Abo, Lisa Edelstein, Oded Fehr, Brian George, Jennifer Hale, Mark Hamill, Dennis Haysbert, Michael Ironside, Ted Levine, Phil Morris, Ron Perlman, Robert Picardo, Scott Rummell, Tara Strong, and Michael T. Weiss. (4 out of 5)

Visuals:  The animation style is actually quite good.  If you’re a fan of Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, or Superman: The Animated Series, you’ll love the animation style here.  The character and costume designs are true to the comic book source and I love the character models where the women are athlete fit and the dudes have bigger upper halves (LOL). (4 out of 5)

Score:  I love the theme music which was Lolita Ritmanis gift to the series.  It’s great seeing how this intro has this strong guitar solo. Now the series does have Ritmanis teamed up with Michael McCuistion and Kristopher Carter and they do a fantastic job. (5 out of 5)

Writing:  Really got to give it to the writers, they do a good job of transforming comic book elements into a series and making it work effectively.  It’s great seeing the worlds of these characters coming together so nicely and the dynamics built between them.  I question the choice to have the series mostly episodic because it would’ve been nice to see more story arcs.  The writing is pretty good.  The complexity varies and it depends on the episode but the execution is good. (3 out of 5)


The Verdict:  In the end, Justice League is a fantastic show and will appeal to DC Comics fans.  Really the only issue I have with the series is a serious lack of story arcs that would’ve benefited the series and its characters.  Still, the series has great characters, good writing, great voice performances by a great cast, tons of superhero vs. supervillain action, a great score, and a good animation style.  Justice League gets 4 out of 5.
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