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Justice
League Unlimited
Initiation
Original Airdate - 07/31/04
From the ashes of Batman, Superman and Justice League,
Bruce Timm brings to Cartoon Network Justice League Unlimited.
If it lives up to the hype, it should feature all your favorite
DC characters and Vibe.
The premise of JLU is that following
the events of "Starcrossed,"
the Justice League has gone into a crazy recruiting drive
and added approximately 30 members to the core team of Batman,
Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern
and Flash. J'onn J'onnz will monitor the world from the
Watchtower and deploy small task forces as needed.
Initiation
begins with Superman addressing the troops and giving their
mission statement. Check out Derek's
JLU preview for a detailed listing of team members
we might see this season. Not included in his preview but
visible in the pilot were Sand (currently of the JSA), S.T.R.I.P.E.,
Vibe, Zatanna, Orion, Gypsy, Black Canary and two or three
others that only a Zorlac like Derek could name.
The
plot of "Initiation" is relatively simple since
most of the time is spent introducing the concept behind
JLU. The DC version of North Korea has built a giant
nuclear monster to defend itself, only to lose control over
it. Martian Manhunter dispatches Green Lantern (now sporting
the "heartbroken, rebound goatee"), Captain Atom and Supergirl
to deal with it. Despite telling Batman that he wants nothing
to with the Justice League, Green Arrow tags along.
Twenty two minutes later the monster is
defeated and the heroes live to fight another day. Green
Arrow eventually joins the League and his reason for doing
so is perfectly consistent with his character.
JLU
episodes will always have one hand tied behind their back
in comparison to JL episodes, as the format of
the show is very limiting. Not only do you have a rotating
cast, (due to Bruce Timm's desire to explore as much
of the DC Universe before Cartoon Network says he can't
anymore), each episode is only 30 minutes long which
leaves little time for character development or back-story.
Fans of Justice League may be turned off since
plotlines will have to be simplified and their favorite
character may only appear a few times per season.
JLU will become a show for the hardcore
comic fans that already know who characters are rather than
giving time to develop…oh say…Captain Atom into something
other than a hero that can't fight and sometimes explodes.
That
said, "Initiation" did an alright job of establishing
Green Arrow as a semi-regular cast member, mostly because
the villain got zero time to be anything more than "average
big monster." More time should be spent developing his character
over the course of the season; otherwise he's just a guy
with a lame super skill. What makes Green Arrow interesting
and a fan favorite is his personality, not his Errol Flynn
impersonation.
Some
additional time could be spent explaining why the Watchtower
is now a least six different orbiting Watchtowers and who
all the civilians are that are running around on them. At
least they stopped numbering the highly fragile Javelin
ships.
It goes without saying that the animation
is Bruce Timm's usual top notch stuff. The characters all
still have that bloated chest look that Timm used in Batman:
TAS, Superman: TAS and Justice League. Timm and
his team of animators and directors have only gotten better
the longer they've been at it.
Based
on story and entertainment value, the episode clearly doesn't
compare with even the worst episodes of JL, but this is
a new show and it should be judged by that standard.
By
that watermark, this was the best episode of JLU
I've ever seen! Let's see if that statement is still true
once I've seen a second one.
One
final observation: The guitar riffs that have been added
to the opening theme and episode score SUCK GIANT MAN-THING.
And
that is the nicest thing I could think to say about it.
A
Zorlac Like Derek's Continuity Corner: Yes, for
a brief time in the early nineties, Martian Manhunter assigned
specific teams of heroes for specific jobs in the pages
of Justice League Task Force. It quickly veered
from its original intent and became a "training team"
of guys like The Ray, Gypsy and the short-lived Triumph.
Shortly after that, it was cancelled.
Also,
the villain of "Initiation" stole its design from
the John Byrne creation "Brimstone," a fiery construct
from Apokolips that wreaked havoc in the mini-series Legends
that launched the Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis/Kevin Maguire
Justice League. You know, the funny one. At Comic-Con,
Timm did cop to this design, but stressed that it's not
actually Brimstone. Go figure.
Man-Thing,
by the way, is a Marvel character and will not be appearing
in Justice League Unlimited.
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