Justice League Unlimited 2.06

Double Date

Huntress gets kicked out of the League by J'onn J'onzz after she attempts to assassinate, Mandragora, a villain who is in federal custody. Huntress, visits the Question before she leaves the Watchtower. She hopes that he can help her locate Mandragora.

Justice League Unlimited 3.X

In addition to episodes there are also a couple notable extras on the second DVD in this set

Justice League Chronicles

This is look back at some of the episodes from this season.Bruce Timm, Dwayne McDuffie, and James Tucker sat down to re-watch and discuss part of the season.

The first few minutes are about the concept behind the season. They show scenes from the first episode during this part but it isn't about the first episode as much as it is about the season as a whole. After that they focus on three episode: The Great Brain Robbery, Ancient History, and Alive. Timm and McDuffie do most of the talking. They tell stories about the making of these episodes and the actors who read the parts. They also and show some of the storyboards side-by-side with the episode.

Most interesting to me was the disagreement over whether Carter Hall really was the reincarnation of Prince Khufu. Timm said he was, McDuffie said he was not. I tend to side with McDuffie and think that at least the way it was played in the two episodes (Shadow of the Hawk, Ancient History) it seemed more likely that Hall was delusional and not really the reincarnation of a Thanagarian.

I'm not sure if this is essential viewing but it was fun to get a behind the scenes look at these episodes.

Destroyer (with music-only audio track)

There is a brief introduction by Bruce Timm before the episode begins. He explains that there was considerably more soundtrack in this episode than in a typical one. The music runs almost non-stop. The audio track includes just the music. There are no sound effects.

This was great, probably better than the other extra.

Justice League Unlimited 3.13

Destroyer

An appropriate title for the final episode of the final season.

This episode is all out war. There is very little preamble. There is a brief explanation for what happened at the end of last episode and how the villains survived and made it back to Earth so quickly. Before the Justice League has time to consider what Luthor is telling them Darkseid attacks. Although Superman balks at the idea at first, the Justice League teams up with the super-villains to battle the forces of Apokolips.

There are lots of cameos in the battle scenes from heroes who have not been seen before or only seen rarely in the past. Most of the battle scenes are dialogue free. One thing that I noticed after the fact is that the invading forces consist of just Darkseid and hordes of parademons. In the last episode, when Darkseid returns to Apokolips he encountered many of his followers. None of them show up in this episode, which is a little disappointing.

The battles between the hero/villain groups and the forces of Apokolips occur in various places around the Earth including Tokyo, Metropolis, Paris, Washington DC, and the Great Wall of China.

Luthor joins Superman and Batman in attacking Darkseid's flagship just over Metropolis. Superman takes on Darkseid more or less on his own. The Daily Planet building becomes their battleground and is more or less destroyed in the process of the fight. Batman and Luthor get a few hits in on Darkseid but for the most part he sees them as an annoyance. Superman is Darkseid's number one target.

The battle between Superman and Darksied leads to a great monologue by Superman about how he usually has to restrain himself for fear of killing others but Darkseid is strong enough that Superman won't have to be careful. So he punches Darkseid through a few buildings. Darkseid isn't hurt badly but it's very possible that someone else might have been. Funny how the collateral damage is ignored at moments like this one and the one where the Daily Planet building was destroyed.

Wonder Woman, Shining Knight, and Star Sapphire team-up to battle parademons along the Great Wall of China. It is there that they encounter a former member of the League who left earlier in the season. They don't recognize him at first because he doesn't look like he used to.

Metron shows up in the midst of the battle in Metropolis. Luthor asks him for help. Metron takes Luthor to the Source Wall but warns him that only a 12th level intellect has a hope of surviving the Source Wall. Luthor is not impressed and dives through it. This whole sequence from the time Metron showed up in this episode reminded me a bit of the part of the original Galactus trilogy when the Watcher told the Human Torch about the Ultimate Nullifier and how to get his hands on it.

Luthor emerges from the Source Wall with the Anti-Life Equation and uses it to save the day. Admittedly it is a deus ex machina but there's something appropriate about it, not just the fact that it proves to be Darkseid's undoing but that it is Luthor that retrieves it and that is also seems to be his undoing too.

In some ways this episode reminds me a lot of Starcrossed, the 3-part finale to season 2 of Justice League. Once again there is an alien invasion that threatens to destroy the planet and the League needs all the help they can get to defeat the forces of Apokolips.

I wish this story had been a little longer. I would have liked to have seen more of some of the ancillary heroes battling the forces of Apokolips. It would have been nice to see the heroes and villains of Earth going toe to toe with some of Darkseid'd non-parademon henchmen and women. I wanted the scene where Luthor enters the Source Wall to last longer and show more than it did.

What is left hanging at the end is what happened to Luthor and Darkseid. They vanish but what happened to them. Are they dead? Will they ever return? The should, probably, but this is the series finale so that's it. This episode aired in 2006 but the JLU comic book continued until 2008. Based on the covers it looks unlikely that there was any followup in the comic book.

There was a lot here that I didn't remember. I enjoyed the very ending which was just a parade of heroes, some of whom had not appeared before. The parade ends with the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Overall Season 3 lived up to my memories of it. I didn't like every episode but I loved the story that ran through most of them and this two-part series finale.

Justice League Unlimited 3.12

Alive

Lex Luthor's obsession with reuniting with Brainiac reaches its high point. Tala uses magic to help Lex locate Brainiac, after his own efforts fail. Tala showed him scenes of Brainiac's planetoid blowing up (from Justice League: Twilight). Lex pushes the Legion of Doom to make modifications to their headquarters and then leads them to a far off solar system to find Brainiac.

There is some dissension in the ranks of the Legion of Doom. Tala is convinced that Lex has finally lost it and frees her former lover, Grodd, from the cage where Luthor was keeping him. Grodd leads a revolt against Luthor which ultimately fails and ends with Luthor forcing Grodd out of an airlock.

The remnants of the Legion of Doom locate the missing pieces of Brainiac and reassemble them only to discover that instead of Brainiac they have brought Darkseid back to life.

This is a very supervillain-centric episode of JLU. It is all supervillains until the very end when Luthor and the Legion of Doom return to Earth to tell Superman and the Justice League that they have a problem.

I should probably watch this episode again before watching the series finale. It has probably been more than a decade since I last saw this episode and I'm curious to see if there is anything that I missed this time around. One thing that remains unexplained in my mind is how the supervillains got back to Earth. I thought that Darksaid has destroyed or seriously damaged the Legion of Doom's HQ but maybe I'm just imagining that part.

On the whole a great first part of the series finale. It sets things up nicely for the next episode while at the same time having an arc of its own. The focus is mostly on Luthor, Tala, and Grodd. Most of the other villains hardly get any lines let alone character moments.

Justice League Unlimited 3.11

Ancient History

The Shadow Thief strikes again. This time he kidnaps Green Lantern. Vixen and Shayera, his current and former lover, team up to rescue him. Along the way they cross paths with Carter Hall who joins their fight against the Shadow Thief.

The true nature of the Shadow Thief who first appeared in Night of the Hawk (JLU 3.02) is revealed. Hall (aka Hawkman) was also introduced in that episode. It isn't a coincidence that they both made their first appearance in the same episode. There is a tie that binds them together. Shadow Thief knows what it is but Carter Hall has to have it revealed to him.

This is the missing second half of the story that began in Night of the Hawk. As a whole, when you put these two parts together it makes a lot more sense. All that really needs to be understood is that some time has passed between the two halves.

Still not my favorite story but considerably better now that I know, the rest of the story.

Justice League Unlimited 3.10

Far from Home

Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow get abducted by a time bubble sent from the 31st century by Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Supergirl gets very punchy once Brainiac 5 introduces himself but her teammates manage to calm her down. The only other Legionnaire around when they arrive is Bouncing Boy. All the other Legionnaires (Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Wildfire, Timber Wolf, Shadow Lass, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy, Ultra Boy, Blok) have been abducted by the Fatal Five.

It isn't long before the Fatal Five strike again. This time it is just Emerald Empress and the Persuader but they prove to be a little too much for the 5 heroes. The villains try to capture all the heroes but in the end settle for just taking Green Lantern and Bouncing Boy.

Green Arrow picks up on the budding romance between Supergirl and Brainiac 5 and gives them a little space. In addition to flirting the Kryptonian and the Colluan figure out where the Fatal Five are and what they are up to. They have the kidnapped Legionnaires plus Green Lantern brainwashed to do their bidding and send them to destroy the capital of the United Planets. Supergirl does her best to prevent the mindless heroes from leveling the capital of the United Planets while Brainiac 5 and Green Arrow take on the Fatal Five.

There are a lot of good, funny lines in this one. It isn't all humor but it had enough to keep me chuckling and it was well placed. A fair amount of it revolves around the mutual attraction between Supergirl and Brainiac 5, whom she initially describe to Green Lantern and Green Arrow as "seriously cute",

This is at least the second time that Supergirl has teamed up with Green Lantern and Green Arrow. The other episode that comes to mind is episode 1.01: Initiation.

There are a lot of captured Legionnaires who show up in this episode but none of them have any lines. On the one hand I wish that there had more Legionnaires with significant roles in this episode, on the other hand I think they did a great job with what they chose to use.

This episode has the feel of a back door pilot for a show that never happened, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. There was a Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon not too long after JLU went off the air but it was not done by the same team that did JLU and had a very different look to it. I don't think Supergirl was a regular on that show.

I remembered this episode but I didn't remember very much about it. I was cautiously optimistic that I would enjoy it. I was not let down.

Justice League Unlimited 3.09

Grudge Match

Huntress notices that Black Canary seems a little off her game. She tracks her to an underground fight club which is run by Roulette. It turns out that there are several female heroes (Black Canary, Fire, Hawkwoman, Vixen, and Wonder Woman) at the arena fighting against their will.

This is kind of sort of a Birds of Prey episode. The two central characters were member of that team. It is also a bit of a call back to an episode from season 2 of JLU, The Cat and the Canary. The only male Leaguer to appear in this episode is the Question.

Story-wise I thought this episode was just so-so but the animation was crisp and the fight scene choreography was fantastically detailed.

Justice League Unlimited 3.08

The Great Brain Robbery

Dr. Fate tries using magic to track Gorilla Grodd by reading Flash's mind. At that very moment Lex Luthor is using scientific means to try to read Grodd's mind. Unexpectedly Flash and Luthor change bodies. Luthor, now in Flash's body, wrecks havoc on the Justice League's Watchtower as he tries to escape back to Earth.

Flash stumbles quite a bit after he wakes up in Luthor's body and hilarity ensues. There is already dissension in the ranks of the Legion of Doom. Dr. Polaris is leading a group of villains challenging Luthor's leadership. Grodd is the only one who knows what happened and he refuses to help change things back to the way they were.

In addition to Dr. Fate, there a number of other heroes who show up in this episode: Mr. Terrific, Red Tornado, Dr. Light, Steel, Ice. There's a fair amount of action mixed in with the humor.

I only had a sketchy recollection of this episode before watching it this time. It was much better than I remembered. This is the funniest episode of the season so far. I laughed several times. Most importantly it all flowed together well. Nothing felt tacked on or out of place.

Justice League Unlimited 3.07

Patriot Act

The show takes a step back from the Legion of Doom story for a one-off that is a bit of a callback to the Cadmus story from the previous two seasons. General Wade Eiling (J.K. Simmons) breaks into a government lab and injects himself with a super-soldier serum. It makes him big, strong, and deformed. He bears a certain resemblance, after the transformation, to the Hulk, not so much in his appearance as in his mannerisms.

After being transformed he goes looking for Superman. He still doesn't trust superheroes and is convinced that the military is the best defense for the United States. He sees superheroes as a threat and probably has at least since the events of the Starcrossed story, at the end of season 2 of Justice League. Instead of Superman he finds a bunch of heroes who have volunteered to fill in for Superman at a parade.

The heroes (Green Arrow, Shining Knight, Vigilante, Star Girl, STRIPE) do their best but can't beat the General. He is ready to kill them until an old woman shames him into backing down. Unlike the Hulk, he has not lost the ability to reason. He runs off in the end never to be seen again.

This episode is notable for a couple more things. First, the groups of heroes that comes together and fights General Eiling were at one time known as the Seven Soldiers of Victory in the comic books. In this episode they are just thrown together by chance and Mr. Terrific. Speedy (Green Arrow's former sidekick) and Crimson Avenger show up in mid-fight to help out. The Seven Soldier of Victory had a run that lasted 14 issues in Leading Comics in the 1940s.

Second, the Newsboy Legion shows up in this episode. The Guardian, a costumed hero who usually appeared with the The Newsboy Legion, does not. The Newsboy Legion helps to get people to safety while General Eiling is fighting the costumed heroes but that's about the extent of their role in this episode. The Newsboy Legion were created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in Star Spangled Comics in the 1940s.

Third and finally there is also an appearance by Spy Smasher in a flashback to World War II. It is this sequence that introduces the super-soldier serum and tells the story of how Spy Smasher stole it from the Nazis before it could be used to create a Nazi super-soldier. It is presented in back and gray tones and made to look like a newsreel.

Overall this is a middling episode in my opinion. I like it more than episodes 2,3,5 but not as much as 1,4,6. I think it tries a little too hard to pull in too many elements and is a little too fan service laden. Despite that fact I think it is fun even though it is lacking in the sort of serious character moments that I like so much.

Justice League Unlimited 3.06

Dead Reckoning

A detachment of villains from the Legion of Doom, including Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Tala, and Devil Ray along with a few squads of their heretofore unseen shock troops invade Nanda Parbat. They overpower the monks and take a mystic object, the Heart of Nanda Parbat. Deadman is in the city at the time but his efforts are countered by Tala's magic and he loses that fight.

After the super-villains have left Deadman goes to the Justice League for help. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman respond to his plea. They reach out to Solivar in Gorilla City only to discover that the Legion of Doom has started an assault on Gorilla City with a strike force similar to the one used on Nanda Parbat. The heroes rush to Gorilla City but they get there just a little too late. Grodd is able to put his plan into action. Using the Heart of Nanda Parbat and a high tech gadget found in Gorilla City Grodd transforms all humans, around the world into apes.

Grodd's victory is short lived. Superman quickly destroys the machine. The souls of the monks trapped in the Heart are released and everyone who was turned into an ape turns reverts back to human form.

Epilogue 1: Deadman learns from Rama Kushna, the Goddess of Nanda Parbat, that because his actions lead to the death of Devil Ray the scales are now out of balance. As a result he must remain a ghost for the present and will not be allowed to crossover to the land of the dead for now.

Epilogue 2: A change in leadership occurs at Legion of Doom HQ after the strike force has returned. Luthor loses his cool and violently ousts Grodd, in large part because of the ineptitude of his plan.

Over the course of the episode Deadman possesses the three heroes and two villains. Superman doesn't realize what happened to him. Wonder Woman is angry with Deadman, after the fact, because he did so without acting permission. Batman hides his anger well but is livid because while Deadman had control of his body he shot and killed a villain, Devil Ray, who was about to kill Wonder Woman. Batman has a thing against using guns because his parents were killed by a gun-wielding thief.

Overall this is not a prefect episode but it is a lot of fun and helps to advance the overall season-long plot. There are some funny moments, many of which involve Lex Luthor's deadpan style of humor. The 2nd 3rd, and 5th episodes of this season all left me a bit cold but the 1st, 4th, and 6th episodes are all required viewing by my standards.

Justice League Unlimited 3.05

Flash and Substance

Central City honors Flash with a museum. Some villains (Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Trickster, Captain Boomerang) decide to rain on Flash's parade. Batman and Orion show up for the celebration but end having to help Flash fight the bad guys.

On the plus side there were lots of cameo appearances by various supervillains.

Wally's nameless boss looked a lot like Barry Allen from the comic books.

The mirror dimension was probably the coolest part of the episode.

Not my favorite episode. Not much in the way of good character moments and the plot didn't amount to much.

Justice League Unlimited 3.04

To Another Shore

- the Viking Prince episode
- an ancient wiking ship is discovered buried in the ice; it is believed that the Viking Prince is aboard the ship; the Legion of Doom sends Devil Ray, Giganta, Killer Frost, and Heat Wave to retrieve it
- Wonder WOman is nearby at a global warming conference and winds up getting into a fight with the villains; when WW falters King Faraday shows up with reinforcements; when that doesn't prove to be enough Wonder Woman calls to the watch tower for help
- Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter quickly rush in to help; Martian Manhunter tries reading Giganta's mind to figure out what is going onbut all he gets is something about Viking Prince's invulnerability and then her mind gets wiped out
- Using a sub Devil Ray takes off with the Viking Ship which is still frozen in ice; Green Arrow makes his way on to the sub and almost catches it single-handed
- with some help from King Faraday the sub is captured by the good guys
- Martian Manhunter convinces Killer Frost to save the conference attendees from an avalanche

- So many great moments:
- Wonder Woman confronting J'onn about his reluctance to go out on a missions and J'onn throwing it back in her face
- the tale of the Viking Prince's origin as told by Gorilla Grodd using still images of Joe Kubert art
- Wonder Woman reading while the Viking Prince and his ship burn up as they approach the sun and Martian Manhunter leaving the League indefinitely
- Green Arrow's quips and commentary
- Mr Terrific - crossword puzzle in ink

- the ending brought tears to my eyes
- J'onn materializes; changes to human form, merges into the crowd

- The Viking Prince
- created by Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert
- first appeared in Brave and the Bold 1 (Aug/Sep 1955)
- regular in B&B until #24
- also Sgt. Rock team-up story in Our Army at War 162-163 (Jan & Feb 1966) - reprinted in Sgt. Rock Special 1 (1988)
- Viking Prince Collection
- Birds of Prey (2000s); Arak, Son of Thunder (1980s)

Justice League Unlimited 3.03

Chaos at the Earth's Core

- Green Lantern, Stargirl, and STRIPE battle a kaiju, specifically a giant turtle, in Japan; at the last minute Supergirl joins the fight, which they win by shrinking the Giant Turtle
-  While flying back to the U.S. in a Javelin the team gets sucked into a hole in the Earth that leads to Skartaris
- First they are attacked by lizard men riding on dinosaurs; Supergirl discovers that her powers don't work very well
- the leaguers team-up with Morgan Travis, the Warlord, and his allies (Jennifer, Machiste, Shakira, Tara) to battle Deimos who now controls most of Skartaris and is currently trying to get his hands on a giant chunk of Kryptonite that is in a temple
- assisting Deimos are Metallo and Silver Banshee
- lots of little moments give screen time to Warlord's allies but he gets considerably more more for himself
- Stargirl is quite happy to see Supergirl taken down a notch after Supergirl stole the spotlight in Japan; apparently Supergirl was there for a Supergirl-themed convention
- Silver Banshee disappears mid-way through the episode after briefly fighting Green Lantern; STRIPE and Green Lantern drop out of the episode at this point but reappear at the end; at this point the focus seems to shift to Warlord battling Deimos, and Stargirl and Supergirl battling Metallo
- After the battle the leaguers interrogate Metallo; he is about to spill the beans when his body short circuits and he is frozen
- Supergirl's costume and hair have changed since season 2
- Animation not so great
- This one felt a little rushed and overstuffed with cameos
- So far we are seeing members of the Legion of Doom show up playing small roles; more eye candy than anything else; they have yet to deliver on the promise made in episode 3.01
- I enjoyed this episode more for what it could have been than what it is; probably my favorite part of this episode is the rivalry between Supergirl and Stargirl; although I'm not crazy about Supergirl's new look it is good to see her back in action; she was an important player in seasons 1 and 2

Justice League Unlimited 3.02

Shadow of the Hawk

- Shayera plays along with a stalker who claims that she and he are reincarnated lovers until she discovers that he has interfaced with some Thanagarian technology, an Absorbascon
- Green Lantern and Batman try to warn her about trusting the stalker, Batman goes so far as to follow them to Egypt
- the Shadow Thief is the bad guy, although there is an implication that he or the technology he uses are Thanagarian
- on the whole it seems to be a bit lacking in plot
- love the animation, crisp, clean, but the story lacked commitment and as a fave of the reincarnated lovers version of the Hawks I thought it was cruel to dangle the possibility in front of my face
- the only person who truly seemed invested in the lie was Carter Hall, who believed it even though he was the one telling it
- I recall being very disappointed the first time I saw this one and I have a similar feeling now
- Looking ahead I see that Carter Hall and the Shadow Thief will return in Ancient History (3.11)
- Green Lantern does make some reference to the events of the Once and Future Thing (1.13) when he and Batman traveled to the future and met Green Lantern's son (with Shayera) and there is some back and forth with Batman over why GL is dating Vixen now if he wants a future with Shayera

Justice League Unlimited 3.01

I am Legion

- new season, new story
- written by Dwayne McDuffie
- Lex Luthor breaks out of prison, chased by police he escapes only thanks to the intervention of another villain, the Key, who takes him to meet Gorilla Grodd
- Grodd has organized a group of supervillains, has a hideout for them, basically they are the Legion of Doom from the old Superfriends cartoon
- Luthor doesn't want to join, he is still thinking about Brainiac, not just thinking about him but talking to him, seeing him, hearing him talk back even though no one else notices his presence
- Grodd finally lures Luthor into joining by promising him the only known remnant of Brainiac's body
- for his first mission Luthor is sent (along with the Key and Dr. Polaris) to Blackhawk Island, which was abandoned decades ago but still has many security devices to protect it
- the last surviving member of the Blackhawks, Chuck Siriani, alerts the Justice League that an alarm has gone off on Blackhawk Island; Hawkgirl, Flash, and Fire fly to Blackhawk Island to deal with whatever the problem might be
- the leaguers end up battling a number of the island's security systems, including a war wheel and flying mechanical sharks
- eventually the leaguers must battle the legionnaires, it takes some time but the JLU prevails until Lex grabs Chuck and uses him as a hostage; the baddies escape but without Chuck
- in the end it is revealed that the only thing stolen is the Spear of Longinus (aka the Spear of Destiny); the look on Chuck's face when he realizes what it is that the baddies took!
- in DC Special 29 and All-Star Squadron the Spear was used to keep the most powerful superheroes of the Justice Society and other teams away from Europe
- the episode builds, it is so-so at first; but I was so excited by the end
- lots to love here: the promise of a building story; Luthor talking to Brainiac (who isn't visible or responsive all the time); the Spear of Destiny, the War Wheel; calls back to Savage Time; Shayera teasing Flash about being shy around Fire