These aren't the cartoons from your childhood. Those were broadcast on Saturday mornings and featured characters that were flawless, bland and always right. When Justice League Unlimited aired on Cartoon Network, it did so after 10 p.m. on Saturday nights. Its characters, while still heroic, are far from always right, and often find themselves correcting mistakes or resolving self-doubts. They exist in as realistic a world as they can with super-powered aliens and satellites with Star Trek-like technology.Thirty or forty years ago, superheroes were an extension of law enforcement.
They seemed to always operate in daylight and in conjuction with the police or the army. They were simply an extension of the authority figures in the real world, and no doubt were written to reinforce a respect for them. They were the "Super Friends," and with their kid sidekicks, they tracked evil down and vanquished it so the world could be safe in time for a sugar-coated cereal breakfast.Back around the same time, bland comic book characters were getting a make-over. With Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams, and later Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers, reinventing Batman as a fearsome creature of the night, the same superheroes that enforced the letter of the law - mostly in daylight - on Super Friends were often breaking the law in comics to realize their own vision of justice. Those creators and more like them in the 70s and 80s begat the film Batman in 1989, with its dark, serious take on the character, which begat the animated series of the 1990s by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, which might be the best interpretation of the character in its long history.
Timm and Dini also headed up an animated Superman in the 90s, which was also a great reinterpretation of the character. That led to Justice League, and after two seasons, Justice League Unlimited, which allowed them to explore the entire spectrum of the DC universe and all its characters. Hardly any corner of DC's publishing history went unexplored. By the way, this isn't the Justice League of America; rather, it's an organization represented by several nations and more than one planet. It's the League of Nations on a galactic scale.There's some heavy stuff going on for a cartoon too. A lengthy subplot through much of the series dealt with the government's concern that a group of super-powered beings had banded together to watch over the planet, with a satellite in orbit that could wipe out any portion of it. The government agency and project to discredit the League and its members made for some of the best dramatic moments of the series, not to mention the best conspiracy plots since the days of The X-Files.
You'd hardly expect adult relationships in the midst of the super-people's colored spandex, but they're there. Green Lantern Jon Stewart (a product of comics' reaction to the black power movement) is torn between two different women - one white, one black.
Wonder Woman even flirts with Batman and nearly gets him to crack his icy facade. The result of all this is more well-rounded characters who exhibit traits with which viewers could identify. It adds drama to the storylines and intensity to the action.The Season 2 DVDs look good, as did Season 1. Strangely, although JLU ran for three 13-episode seasons on Cartoon Network, the first 26 episodes were packaged together and labeled "Season 1," while the remaining 13 episodes are here as "Season 2." Whatever the grouping and classification, they're all here and they're as good as you remember them. You might even think the packaging has super-powers of its own, because if you put the thin-designed set on your shelf, it might seem invisible. (The two-disc set is less than half as thick as a standard DVD case.)
If you grew up with the Filmation incarnations of these characters in the 60s (some of which are coming to DVD in June) or the Hanna Barbera-produced Super Friends, you will appreciate the mature, sometimes complex, take on these characters and rich animation from Warner Bros. Throw in a sharp writing team and great voice talents, and you've got some of the best animated shows ever made.