Justice League Unlimited - The Complete First Season (2006)

Justice League Unlimited is the last series in the Bruce Timm designed DC Animated Universe that began with Batman: The Animated Series in the early '90s. It continues right after the events of "Starcrossed," the 3-part season finale of Justice League, and encompasses the entire DC Universe with a much bigger roster of heroes and villains as well as references from Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and even Batman Beyond; a take on a futuristic Gotham City with an elderly Bruce Wayne and a new Batman that was very contorversial when it first premiered, but has since been accepted by fans as a great follow up the the Batman mythos in this particular animated continuity. JLU also goes back to the half hour format instead of following Justice League's multi-part format for every story. Some thought this backwards, considering more characters were added to the cast, but the old format worked much better IMO. I personally didn't like the two-part/three-part format of Justice League. It was unbearable to wait for the second part when they were aired a week apart in Season 1 and when the parts were back to back for Season 2, I was actually bored and felt many episodes were dragged out longer than they needed to be. With the half hour format also came more standalone stories, with some laying the seeds to the very popular Cadmus story arc that spanned JLU's first two seasons. It had a very Whedonesque feel, Joss Whedon having made popular the season long arcs in his Buffy and Angel series. Like those series, JLU also had some interesting standalone episodes that are unique from conventional, straightforward storytelling. My favorite episodes: Season One"Kids Stuff" - Mordred, the son of Morgan Le Fey of the King Arthur myths, has banished all adults from the world and Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern must bring the world back to normal... as kids. Hilarious episode and a great character study on four of the original seven members. "The Greatest Story Never Told" - The first time I saw this I immediately thought "The Zeppo" from Buffy Season Three. Both are inspired by the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, an alternative telling of Shakespeare's Hamlet through the point of view of two characters that are never seen in the original play, but pronounced dead at the end of it. Booster Gold is this episode's zeppo and is relegated to evacuation duties while the rest of the league battles the big bad, but Booster Gold gets sidetracked in an end of the world moment and it's up to him to save the world. Season Two"The Ties That Bind" - A great standalone story featuring Mr. Miracle - aka Scott Free, Big Barda, and Flash. What I like best about it is that is expands on the New Gods/Apokalips mythos a bit, introduces us to Mr. Miracle and Big Barda who had cameos in Superman: The Animated Series, and has some really good Flash action moments. There's also a small side story between Flash and Martian Manhunter that's humorous and cute. "Double Date" - The DCAU's unofficial Birds of Prey episode featuring Huntress and Black Canary with The Question and Green Arrow. We get a nice little origin story for Huntress, some great interaction between all the characters, and an awesome Amy Acker voicing the vengeance bent vigilante. The Jim Lee Huntress design first featured in the "Hush" storyline in the Batman comics also looks way cooler here. "Clash" - A Captain Marvel episode that doesn't really let Superman shine, but the battle scenes are awesome. So much destruction! Captain Marvel's ideals are also nicely played out in context of the Cadmus conspiracy and what's been happening with the league so far. "Question Authority" - The first part of the four part Cadmus finale. This episode also ties in a great deal of stuff from Justice League into the Cadmus arc and features a teamup between Superman and the Huntress on a rescue mission to save The Question. Season Three"To Another Shore" - Possibly the best Wonder Woman episode in the entire series. We see her as an ambassador and some emotional doubt in the role, which is a nice character development. There were other nice character moments too, such as her exchanges with other ambassadors as well as a silent one with Agent Faraday when she flicks at her bracelets. The Lynda Carter transformation is mixed for me, but I don't mind it so much because everything else is well done. "Grudge Match" - This episode is purely fanservice, but with all the versus discussions between fanboys and fangirls I think Timm and company pulled off a believable situation when heroes would fight each other with no holding back. Wonder Woman never looked so scary as when Roulette brought her out for the finale match to face off Hawkgirl, Vixen, Black Canary, and Huntress. Hawkgirl's advice to the others, "Don't die." It's a fun episode and I love the pairing of Black Canary and Huntress. "The Great Brain Robbery" - Another one of the unconventional episodes, this one features Flash and Lex Luthor switching minds and hilarity ensues. Clancy Brown has never been funnier as Flash stuck in Luthor's body. The writing was really well done in this one.