Rating:  -
Not only do my kids love this, I do too! The stories are interesting and the animation well done.
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I tell my wife that I buy the Justice League season-releases for myself AND the kids. But it is me who sits most captivated in front of the TV with the kids as the episodes roll.
Shushing the kids so I can hear "cartoons" on TV is the joke my wife likes to make. I quickly correct her, "Justice League is NOT 'cartoons.' It's an 'animated series.'" This clarification for some reason always seems to bring on even more chuckles over a bottle of wine with friends than it does clarify the matter.
Anyway, indeed the kids sit captivated too. The Justice League stories are very well put together with a lot of detail. I'm not sure that my kids (age 3 - 7) appreciate or understand all of the emotion (sometimes pretty deep), heroism (of course), betrayal and just great story telling that goes into these Justice League productions. But rest assured, Justice League is definitely for kids too.
As far as I know, there are no single episodes in Seasons 1 & 2 with the exception of the Christmas episode, Comfort & Joy; all the rest in Seasons 1 & 2 are two and three parters. This means on DVD you have the opportunity to watch a 3 parter in one sitting, which is as good as sitting down with a full length feature. I'll take Secret Origins (Season 1) and Starcrossed (Season 2) over Tom Cruise in War Of The Worlds any day. (And are the alien war machines in War of the Worlds deliberate imitations of those in Secret Origins or is that just too much of a coincidence?!)
There are hours of entertainment on the Justice League Season 1 & 2 releases...and no dang gong Cartoon Network commercials! Well worth the purchase price.
Rating:  -
A pet theory of mine is that JL, at least initially, was an excuse for Bruce Timm, Glen Murakami, Dan Riba, and all the other vets of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series (along with Batman Beyond) to let their collective ids run wild and have a lot of cool super heroes fighting and causing lots of stuff to blow up.
To that end, they succeed magnificently.
The premise of the show is fairly simple - after an alien invasion where Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Green Lantern, and interstellar detective Hawkgirl are brought together by J'onn J'onzz (aka The Martian Manhunter) to save mankind, the company of heroes decides to stick together and act as a force of good for the world - a Justice League.
The more-than-two-dozen episodes in the Season One collection have the league facing other aliens, super-criminals, and under-water war-mongerers in fairly long (for a cartoon show) two- and three-part episodes. The show takes the science fiction trappings of both Batman Beyond and Superman: TAS and runs with them, creating a variety of incredibly fun alien landscapes, wierd technologies, and colorful side characters. The double and triple episode structure also allows for longer story arcs, giving each JL tale a similar scale to the team's previous works in episodes like Apokolips... Now! and Legacy.
However, the show's failing is that the characters aren't quite as interesting this time around. It's not a slight to the voice cast (everyone performs admirably, from returning vet Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight to newcomer George Newbern as Superman - though some fans may miss Tim Daly's voice as the Man of Steel). However, with over a half-dozen main characters and conflicts that continually pump up the scale with incredible action and even more side characters, there simply isn't enough room, even in 40-45 minutes, to explore the heroes themselves. At times, it leads to guest characters getting more development or interesting story than any of the main cast (Aquaman completely steals the show in The Enemy Below). And while some like Batman or the Manhunter can be interesting in concept alone, others like Hawkgirl get left out in the cold, often relegated to little more than "meat-tank" status for the action scenes.
However, the show's not completely without character (it just doesn't feel as explored compared to the best of Bruce Timm and co.'s previous work), and what it lacks in personal depth, it more than makes up in balls-out action and epic scale. In each story, the fate of the world or sometimes even the entire galaxy may hang in the balance, with just a handful of warriors to stand against the tide. The thematic struggles of good vs. evil are sometimes drawn in broad, bold strokes, while other times they raise valid questions over the need for the conflict. The animation is also impressive, and while it at times seems flat and lacks some of the deeper color tones of its predecessors, it's fluid, bright, smooth, and filled with a great sense of speed, power, and some very pretty effects.
Much like previous DVDs in the DC Comics Classics Collection, JL:S1 has creator/director commentaries on multiple key episodes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a very crisp transfer (retaining the 1:33:1 aspect ratio the show used until the start of Season Two). While the special features aren't the most extensive, they're informative and fun, while offering a great look at the minds behind the magic.
Overall, Justice League: Season One is a great kick-off for the show, and just a great load of action-packed fun. There's something to be said when a show that appeals this much to the young and the old can make you feel gloriously like a wonder-struck child again.
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The creators of the Batman and Superman animated series certainly had a blast as soon as they got the go-ahead to write stories for the Justice League. In one season they manage to cover a significant cross-section of the DC Universe, including stories about Aquaman, the Injustice Gang, Felix Faust, War World, Gorilla Grodd, Earth-2 (sort of), Morgan Le Fay, Vandal Savage, and many others. The quick jumps from one threat to the next might create a sense of vertigo for people new to the stories, especially since there is rarely enough time in each episode to introduce the explain the villains. Part of this is simply due to the format of the show, and the viewer will just need to try his best to keep up with the ride.
All the strengths and weaknesses of DC's superhero mythology are made obvious, here. The Batman and Superman series had the advantage of sticking to one main character and his particular set of villains. However, when a princess with a Grecian-legendary background (Wonder Woman), a Martian (J'onn J'onzz), two space cops (Hawkgirl and Green Lantern), a man who runs fast (The Flash) and a superpowered alien (Superman) are tossed together in the same bag, the inconsistencies of the fictional universe are made a little more plain. From week to week they may be fighting Greek gods, time-travelling immortal Nazis, King Arthur's half-sister, or mer-men. Still, the incoherency of the whole thing is part of the fun.
All in all, the first season of Justice League is a lot of fun. Pop it in the DVD player some Saturday morning, and remember the days when children's entertainment was still entertaining.
Rating:  -
this HAS got to be the worst show ever animated I do not like the way the producers treat superman and batman in the comics and graphic novels superman is a role model and a mentor for the rest of the league batman was more of a i do things my own way type. why do they always change things around. they could have done a show with just superman and batman but whatever. the avengers movie that marvel put out is BY FAR much better then this trash.
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