Earlier this year I worked my way through the complete Justice League animated series. It had been on sale and I was flush with cash so I picked it up on a whim. And despite my being such a fan of the DCU, I’d never really gotten into the Justice League animated series.
I watched the series when it first launched, but because they episodes weren’t “one and done” I’d often catch the first part or the second part but rarely both. It was frustrating. And when it became Justice League Unlimited and was “one and done” it was serialized enough that I often felt lost and pretty much just gave up on watching it.
(I did manage to watch “For The Man Who Has Everything” and that one was awesomeness.)
So because of scheduling, both mine and the show’s, I missed out on a pretty stellar show. But then it came out on dvd. And all was right with the world.
I was finally able to watch the series in it’s entirety. I got to see the Justice Lords and the Justice Guild. I got to see the awesome characterizations of The Question and Amanda Waller that I’d read about on message boards. It was pretty sweet to experience it.
And on top of that, being the DCU fan that I am, it was pretty thrilling to see Hawk & Dove, Booster Gold and Aztek in animated form. These are characters you really don’t expect to see anywhere outside of a comic book, but there they were on my television. How cool is that?
Of course when I got to the episode “Epilogue” that meant I had to run through Batman Beyond (which I’d picked up around the same time) just so that I’d be fully informed on the significance of the episode. And while I was watching both series, I’d always hit up the IMDB to find out the trivia and easter eggs that I might have missed.
It was a really enjoyable period of time.
And I’m so fond of the Justice League animated series that I give it out as gifts. I’ve given it to family who dig superheroes and I actually just purchased it again for my best friend’s daughters.
(A side note; my best friend is a huge Marvel guy, so we’re sort of competing with their affections. We constantly battle, each of us trying to sell our universe as the better one. I’m really hoping that the animated Justice League gives me a comfortable lead.)
(Another side note; Amazon has Batman Beyond on sale, at a pretty significant discount. As someone who already has it, I can say that is quite the deal at that price.)
But what sort of frustrates me is that the complete Batman the Animated Series is no longer available to purchase. If I want the genuine article, I’ve got to pay an arm and a leg, or I could just buy a bootleg. But I don’t want to do that. I’d rather just have WB manufacture it again. Maybe with The Dark Knight Rises we’ll see this happen.
I also wish that Static Shock would get the “complete series” treatment. But I guess that’s just wishful thinking.
Anyway, my basic point is that I’m enjoying the opportunity to catch up on the DC Animated Universe, since I missed out on it the first time around. I just wish that I could get the whole thing.
So that’s the end for this week. It’s Wednesday, go and pick up some comics already.
