Two-in-One: Justice League As longtime comic-book fans, super friends Randy Lander and Don MacPherson just had sit down and watch the Cartoon Network's new super-hero cartoon, Justice League, in their latest Two-in-One Review. Don: When I was a kid, not long after discovering the wonder of DC's super-hero comics, Saturday mornings were a magical time for me, as the characters I so enjoyed in my comics were brought to life in the old Hanna-Barbera Super Friends cartoons. Looking back at them now, they're not quite as clever as I remember, but they're fun and cute nonetheless. The crew responsible for animating Batman and Superman in the 1990s reunite a number of familiar faces in a new cartoon, this time with a more modern sensibility, tempered with plenty of nostalgia for comics fans. Randy: Honestly, I don't even have a nostalgic love for the Super Friends, unless you count enjoying the mocking of them with friends. That doesn't mean, however, that I wasn't psyched for the debut of Justice League on Cartoon Network, which saw Bruce Timm reuniting with some of the writers, animators, producers and other talent from the Batman and Superman animated shows to create a series featuring DC's most famous super-hero team. The show premiered with an extra long episode about a week ago on Saturday, November 17. Justice League Pilot: "Secret Origins" featuring the voice talents of Kevin Conroy, Maria Canals, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum, Gary Cole & Jason Marsden written by Rich Fogel directed by Dan Riba & Butch Lukic produced by Rich Fogel, Glen Murakami, Bruce Timm & James Tucker Don: This show wasn't aired in Canada, so it took some doing for me to get a chance to see it. Given the strength of animated previous shows like The New Batman/Superman Adventures and Batman Beyond, I was awaiting this new program with bated breath. It's good and boasts some strong ideas, but it wasn't as compelling as I hoped it would be. An invasion from Mars strikes the Earth, and thanks to the efforts of some advance alien agents, we're ill-prepared to deal with it. Superman and Batman are joined in their efforts to battle the alien infiltrators by colleagues such as the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, while a young Amazon from Themiscyra features into Man's World to help. The key to stopping the invasion lies in the mind of the one being who knows more about the invaders than any other: a Martian by the name of J'Onn J'Onzz. Randy: I'm with Don in the estimation of the series so far, honestly. After hearing the creators talk about it in San Diego and seeing some of their artwork, I was really excited for the show, and perhaps it was inevitable that I'd be a bit disappointed. The show isn't terrible, don't get me wrong, but missed opportunities and mistakes abound, which gets the show off to a weaker start than that of its cousins Batman Beyond or the Batman/Superman Adventures. The series boasts some weak animation, a lackluster script and relatively boring voice casting from the usually strong Andrea Romano, particularly when it comes to the new Superman voice or the all-too-similar vocal styles of Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman. Don: I think what struck me as the greatest strength of the show had nothing to do with comics or super-heroes. The plot revolves around an obvious tribute to H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds. The destructive machines sent to pave the way for the invasion are clearly inspired by elements from that book. While I wasn't wild about the designs for the alien technology, the aliens themselves were thoroughly creepy and inhuman. The creators even went so far as to develop a bizarre alien language for them. Randy: The designs on the aliens were definitely intriguing. I thought they went a little overboard with tribute sometimes, which included nods to Independence Day and Grant Morrison's first JLA story arc as well as the Wells reference you mention. A little more independence from their influences would probably have made the show stronger. However, that said, their designs for the organic technology and alien physiology were pretty impressive. Don: At times, the show seemed a little disjointed, and I think I know why. It's clear that the creators were aiming to attract more than just children as viewers, and have tried to give the show a bit of an edge. However, it seems they were also keeping things toned down a bit so kids could still enjoy, or so their parents would be comfortable with it as appropriate viewing. In the process, they miss both marks. Don't get me wrong... it's still solid super-hero fun, but I needed a little more in the way of focus. The script struck me as a bit spotty at times as well. Some of the characters are not clearly identified (I don't think Green Lantern is referred to as anything but "GL" or "John"). There seems to be an assumption that viewers will already know these characters for the most part, and I think it's a mistake. To be fair, the Martian Manhunter (never referred to as such) gets plenty of time in the spotlight, and Hawkgirl has her shining moment as well, in which we learn of her alien origins and anger management issues. Randy: Spotty is being a bit generous, honestly. The dialogue mostly lacked the cleverness I've come to expect from the other productions this crew has been involved with, and I thought the story spent entirely too much time establishing the Batman/Superman story at the expense of the other characters. Given that those two characters had each had series of their own to develop, it seems foolish to spend the first half hour of the series on them, while not even giving Wonder Woman (never referred to as such on the cartoon either) or Hawkgirl more than a few minutes of screentime. Really, we know little to nothing about half the characters at this point, and although what we do know intrigues me, I think in trying to give us an action-oriented story they fell down in the characterization department. Don: As promised, the interplay between the ever goofy Flash and the rigid Green Lantern was a lot of fun. The two characters play well off of one another, and this relationship promises to be one of the greatest strengths of the series. Randy: There's potential, there, I'll admit. However, I did feel the dialogue they were given was weak, and didn't really do much to create any chemistry between them. That's partly a feeling that this version of the Flash is obnoxious, and not in a "love to hate him" way, but more of a "why did they let this prat on the team?" way. For all my complaints, though, there were definitely some things I really liked about Justice League. The action sequences are pretty incredible, particularly the first time the team comes together to battle the alien ships or the sight of Batman flying his plane alongside a squadron of military jets. In addition, the design work is pretty solid overall, from the modified designs of Batman and Superman to the new designs for the various characters and their new headquarters. In addition, I loved the opening sequence. Though I found the computer animation clunky in places, the shot of the team marching in silhouette towards the screen gave it just the right epic feel. Don: I have to admit, I didn't care for the computer-animated opening title sequence at all. It was stiff and didn't mesh well with the regular animation of the prologue scene. I'm surprised the title sequence doesn't even bother to identify the characters either. Sure, everyone will know who Batman and Superman are, but they might need some help with the Martian Manhunter and an obscure Green Lantern. Though the story seems in part based on War of the Worlds, there's plenty of inspiration drawn from comics. The plot also bears some parallels with Grant Morrison's first Justice League story arc, JLA: New World Order. It was also fun to see Snapper Carr play a role, albeit as a news anchor rather than team mascot. Randy: On this we agree. The creators clearly have a love for these characters, and that's the first step to getting them right. While the pilot episode doesn't stand up to the quality of Batman Beyond or the Batman/Superman Adventures, it's still stronger than 90% of what super-hero cartoons have to offer. And who knows what future episodes might have to offer? Email Randy and Don comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.