I'm not sure the people who make the JLU animated series fully understand the concept of television seasons. Season 1 of JLU (which was also sorta season 3 of the Justice League series) ended yesterday, with the second half of a fairly strong time travel episode. Season 2 starts... next Saturday. In a series where one often has to wait a several weeks between episodes, airing the season opener one week after last season's finale is a bit... odd.
Still, scheduling issues aside, JLU is an excellent show. It is truly all-ages in its appeal, and episodes are written by some of the finest writers in the genre (a recent episode was penned by Warren Ellis, and next season promises an episode by Gail Simone). The conceptual change between JL and JLU, which allows the writers to use any hero (and, obviously, villain) in the DCU, makes for an interesting variety of stories.
The season finale was a bit odd in the fact that it only featured Green Lantern, Batman, and Wonder Woman. But is was a decent story, with interesting reveals regarding the future of the animated version of the DCU.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
11 comments:
Well, I agree that the final two episodes had a lot of cool stuff thrown in, and it made them fun to watch. But they were also a little too silly, and I honestly think that Bruce Timm and company lost their touch.
Which brings me to JLU. In my final analysis, the balance for the show is not a positive one.
Sure, there were good eps - "For the Man Who Has Everything" was on the border of outstanding, and probably the best adaptaion of an Alan Moore comics to screen (although that's more of a testimony to the quality of previous adaptaions...) - but not surprisingly, it more resembled the older JL episodes, rather than JLU. Than there were "Fearful Symmetry" and "Wake the Dead" that did a good (not outstanding) job with the more serious plots, "This Little Piggy" and "Greatest Story Never Told" were ok funnies (although "Piggy" is far from being the best thing to come out of Dini's word processor). Everything else? I hate to say this, but it was largely garbage.
Most of the other episodes were just plotless, pointless, showcases of people beating each other. They were clearly attempting to squeeze as many characters with cool looks/abilities into a short time frame, and it ended up feeling like a super-powered GI Joe (that Warren Ellis ep, "Dark Heart" was particularily terrible).
So, with all my admiration for Timm, I'm glad he decided to make JLU his last stop on the animated DC universe. A change of environmet will do him good, I think.
-Raz
I kinda liked Dark Heart. Largely because I saw it as Ellis playing around with SF concepts, rather than a JL story. Along with Morrison, Ellis is the best SF writer in comics, and his sfnal concepts are usually fun, and interesting. I'm also enjoying his Iron Man run.
I liked some other episodes you didn't mention. "Hawk and Dove" was a nice nod to two underused characters. "The Return" was a nice bit of continuity, and I like the animated version of Lex more than most current comics versions. "Kid Stuff" was funny.
Really, the only crappy ep this season was Ultimatum, and even that gained by use of Max Lord, who was used so well be DeMatteis in the Formerly Known as The Justice League" mini-series.
So I'm enjoying JLU quite a bit.
Well, to each his own, I guess. Speaking of Ellis, probably the biggest loss for genre TV this year is the show based on his "Global Frequency" comics. JMS was supposed to take over as a showrunner, but it's unlikely to get picked up. I hope the pilot will be made available.
That said, your remark about im being the best SF writer in comics, that's because you haven't read anything by Masamune Shirow yet, right? But read Nausicaa first... :-)
-Raz
I KNEW I should have written *American* comics :)
And yes, I certainly wanted to watch Global Frequency. I hope it finds a second life somewhere else.
From where did you download the last eps?
Since Suprnova shut down- I couldn't find JLU eps for download in any of the Torrents sites.
----
Nir
Ok, so now I've seen "The Cat and the Canary". Wow! Now, THIS ONE ROCKED. Best episode since the show went into JLU mode. Ok, perhaps other than "For the Man...", but that one was about original members. I think this one's the first time they actually came up with a great story about the new members. Black Canary's picture should definately appear in the dictionary under "cool". And taking Morena Baccarin to do her voice ranks as one of the smartest decisions the show team has ever done. Dennis Farina was also amazing as wildcat, and Virginia Madsen fit in pefectly as Roulette. And did they ever let all the breaks loose with brutality as they did on this ep.
I must say it was a really nice surprise.
-Raz
It certainly was a fun episode. I have a bit of a problem with the fact that the animated universe doesn't have a JSA, where Wildcat is a much better fit, but it was a cool episode. Of course, I'm still waiting for Canary's return (with Huntress, Arrow, and Question) in Double Date, which will a couple of episodes away. No one writes Canary and Huntress as well as Gail Simone does (as evidenced every month in her superb Birds of Prey), and she'll be writing the ep. Also, Amy Acker plays Huntress.
Next ep should also be cool, with Steranko writing the cosmic stuff. And the one after that will probably suck, as anything with Doomsday almost invariably does.
Yes, I'm a huge geek.
Well to the person who said that "Ultimatum" was a bad episode. I do admit that the episode could have in itself had a more adequate plot, but the had two premises that it succeeded at: paying homage/poking fun at some of the lesser known, multi-racial members of the superfriends and to further along the cadmus project running plot. I think it did both very well. And I believe JLU is among the top animated comic series and animated series in general. Some episodes are dedicated to character development of smaller characters, and others are more involved with specific events (dark heart), which are vital to the series. First, although an episode like dark heart may not further character developments, it introduces a character, the atom, to younger audiences who may not know he is. Furthermore, it provides a depiction of what these characters do, which is saving the world from random villains. To understand a character better is not necessarily confined to dialogue and plot development, but seeing them do what a superhero does, which is fight villains. Finally, heavy fight-scene episodes are a must if you want to maintain a younger audience who might not be so inclined to understand the motivations of these superheroes just yet. I think the show is the best of what animated comics can offer and should be treated as such.
I think the main thing many people are missing about the JL shows in general is the Green Lantern problem. Stewart has to be the WORST green lantern ever. His ring is only limited by his will and his imagination, and he can barely make a hand. It seems like all he ever makes is a shield or a force beam. I mean come on, they should have Kyle rainer be the green lantern in these shows. I guess the problem was they needed a leader type for green lantern and Kyle would be a little...well "green". Too bad Hal Jordan is gone or he could have fit in nicely... Someone back me up on this
GL John Stewart has been creating tons of constructs (genies, armor, guns, etc)in the last 2 years ...where have you been.
they couldnt use Rainer or Jordan, bcuz they actually just needed the "token black guy"...yes i know this might seem racist but as a black person myself i see this ALL the time...sure Stewart might be the worst Green Lantern...but what would the public's response be if the only black person that showed up was Vixen...and HOW many years after the series premiere??
Post a Comment