Justice League: Season 1

High above the Earth in the great Watchtower of the Justice League, there are assembled the world's seven greatest heroes created from the cosmic legends of the universe - Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl. Their mission: To fight injustice, to right that which is wrong, and to serve all mankind.

It was planetary pandemonium for animation fans when the creators of "Batman: The Animated Series" unveiled the monster hit series "Justice League" back in 2001. Taking the premise of Hanna-Barbera's classic "Superfriends" [of uniting heroes to fight evil on a global scale as originally done in the comic books] and giving it a 21st century upgrade, the show's producers boldly took the time to flesh out the members of the League, adding a depth to what motivates them as heroes. This was never done with the Justice League of the 60s, 70s & 80s. Justice League featured Emmy-worthy production values in animated storytelling and brilliant thought and care in voice casting. Not to mention a magnificent main title theme by Lolita Ritmanis. Given the show's mature tone, fans were dumbfounded that DVDs of Justice League were only released as single disc "DC Comics Kids Collection" volumes with no more than 3-4 eps instead of season sets. (Note: If you own all of the original JL volumes then you already have Justice League - Season One episodes 1-15, and should consider the remaining 11 episodes plus the exclusive EXTRAS on this set before deciding.)

It only took 'em FOUR years (since the first JL volume released), but Warner Home Video will finally release the LONG-AWAITED Justice League - Season One DVD on March 21st! This 4-disc (575 min.) set features all 26 episodes (multi-part arcs); Full-Frame (1.33:1) video (fans campaigned to WHV for this format with following seasons to be in widescreen as originally animated); English audio; and English, Spanish, French subtitles. Here are the contents of this extraordinary set:

Disc 1:
Secret Origins Part 1
Secret Origins Part 2
Secret Origins Part 3
In Blackest Night Part 1
In Blackest Night Part 2
The Enemy Below Part 1
The Enemy Below Part 2

Disc 2:
Injustice for All Part 1
Injustice for All Part 2
Paradise Lost Part 1
Paradise Lost Part 2
War World Part 1
War World Part 2

Disc 3:
The Brave and the Bold Part 1
The Brave and the Bold Part 2
Fury Part 1
Fury Part 2
Legends Part 1
Legends Part 2

Disc 4:
A Knight of Shadows Part 1
A Knight of Shadows Part 2
Metamorphosis Part 1
Metamorphosis Part 2
The Savage Time Part 1
The Savage Time Part 2
The Savage Time Part 3

Special Features:
Commentary: "The Enemy Below Part 2" by Bruce Timm (Producer/Character Design), James Tucker (Producer/Character Design), Glen Murakami (Producer/Art Director), Rich Fogel (Producer) & Dan Riba (Director)

Commentary: "Legends Part 2" by Bruce Timm (Producer/Character Design), James Tucker (Producer/Character Design), Glen Murakami (Producer/Art Director), Rich Fogel (Producer) & Dan Riba (Director)

Commentary: "The Savage Time Part 2" by Bruce Timm (Producer/Character Design), James Tucker (Producer/Character Design), Glen Murakami (Producer/Art Director), Rich Fogel (Producer) & Dan Riba (Director)

Featurette: "Inside Justice League": A private panel discussion takes place between Bruce Timm and his team of creators about Justice League with some special surprises

Featurette: "The Look of The League": Bruce Timm explains character design of Justice League

Storyboards: "The Blueprint For Justice": The creative team of Justice League discuss storyboarding process

Bonus: "Justice League - The First Mission": Exciting "Never Seen Before" promo which helped Justice League leap into action

Well worth the wait, and Highly Recommended!!!

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkgirl & Martian Manhunter! Seven DC Comics legends who normally work alone but are brought together out of necessity to form a team of heroes to protect earth from threats both on and above it. They form The Justice League!

After several one disc releases with one or two episodes, Justice League finally gets its own DVD set! While I agree with many reviewers about the packaging and the format of the DVD's not being quite up to snuff, the set is STILL worth purchasing! Here are the eppys with the bonus features:

Disc 1

Secret Origins, Pt. 1 - Superman & Batman run across a new threat to mankind that's too big for even them to handle! They run across a new ally in J'hon Jonz, The Maratian Manhunter. But this new alien threat catch on to them and try to take them out!

Secret Origins, Pt. 2 - The trio of Superman, Batman and Maratian Manhunter receive help in the form of Hawkgirl, The Green Lantern (John Stewart) and The Flash. They also get unexpected help from Wonder Woman (I believe JL is the first time Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and this version of Green Lantern has appeared in any DC animated series/The Flash appeared once in Superman: The Animated Series).

Secret Origins, Pt. 3 - The seven heroes band together to make a final stand against the alien threat to earth!

In Blackest Night, Pt. 1 - A tragic incident from Green Lantern's past comes back to haunt him as The Manhunters come to earth to bring him back for trial.......for destroying an entire planet!

In Blackest Night, Pt. 2 - Superman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl and The Flash travel to Green Lantern's trial only to discover that Lantern's "crime" might be connected to the men that once gave him his powers!

The Enemy Below, Pt. 1 - Aquaman makes his first appearance in the JL series (He made a previous appearance during the Superman series) as he continues his fight with the surface world over pollution of the oceans, not knowing that mutiny is brewing among his own subjects in Atlantis.

*The Enemy Below, Pt. 2 - The Justice League suspect a plot on Aquaman's own life. Meanwhile, Aquaman makes a strong sacrifice to save his infant son as his own brother attempts to assasinate him!

*This episode has commentary by Bruce Timm, James Tucker, Glen Murakami, Rich Fogel and Dan Riba.

Disc 2

Injustice For All, Pt. 1 - Lex Luthor makes his first appearance in the series as he finds out that he has Kryptonite poisioning! Out of revenge, he forms the Injustice Gang which includes Copperhead, Shade, Solomon Grundy and an unwelcome ally in The Joker himself!

Injustice For All, Pt. 2 - The Joker helps The Injustice Gang capture Batman but The Dark Knight has his own way of leading the Justice League to them AND taking them down!

Paradise Lost, Pt. 1 - Feeling homesick, Wonder Woman returns to Themescara only to find that everyone (including her mother) has been turned to stone! A villian named Faust forces Wonder Woman to commit crimes to free them.

Paradise Lost, Pt. 2 - Superman, The Flash, Batman and Martian Manhunter follow Wonder Woman to help her combat this new threat. The ending is both joyous and sad.

War World, Pt. 1 - Superman is captured and taken to a planet called War World. He is forced to fight in their barbaric games while Martian Manhunter, The Green Lantern and Hawkgirl try to rescue him.

War World, Pt. 2 - Having been defeated by Superman, Dragga seeks redemption for himself but the true enemy lies with War World's dictator, Mongol! We also see the first signs of attraction between Hawkgirl and Green Lantern.

Special Features:
- Inside Justice League: Creators' Panel Discussion
- Storyboards: The Blueprint For Justice
- The Look Of The League: Character Design

Disc 3

The Brave And The Bold, Pt. 1 - Flash is framed for a crime he didn't actually commit under his own will! Green Lantern tries to clear his name but discovers a more sinister plot.

The Brave And The Bold, Pt. 2 - Batman, Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman join in the investigation and discover a plot by Grod, a intelligent gorilla bent on rule! We also see the first glimpse into the flirting between Batman and Wonder Woman!

Fury, Pt. 1 - A human woman who was raised and trained by the Amazons since childhood turns against them and wages war on all men!

Fury, Pt. 2 - With all the other male members down, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl go to take down this rogue amazon with the help of WW's own mother!

Legends, Pt. 1 - A mishap during a battle with Lex Luthor takes Flash, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern to another time line where they meet up with The Justice Guild!

*Legends, Pt. 2 - The Justice League discover there is more to the world of the Justice Guild than meets the eye!

*Commentary by Bruce Timm, James Tucker, Glen Murakami, Rich Fogel and Dan Riba

Disc 4

A Knight With Shadows, Pt. 1 - Etrigen, from The New Adventures Of Batman, teams with Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Martian Manhunter to stop Morgan Le Fey and her spoiled son Mordred!

A Knight With Shadows, Pt. 2 - Morgan Le Fey, sensing weakness with Martian Manhunter, exploits it to cause desension among the JL with Etrigen!

Metamorphasis, Pt. 1 - Green Lantern meets up with old friend Rex Mason, who unwittingly is duped into an experiement which will change his life forever.

Metamorphasis, Pt. 2 - Thinking that Green Lantern was putting the moves on his fiance, Saphire. Rex Mason, now Metamorpho, goes after the JL only to discover that is accident was NO accident and takes on the man responsible....Saphire's own father!

The Savage Time, Pt. 1 - While coming home on a mission, a time flux engulfs the JL (except Batman). The remaining members discover that a man named Savage has taken over using a time travel device to change the result of World War II!

*The Savage Time, Pt. 2 - The JL go back in time to World War II to correct history! Guest starring The Blackhawks, Sgt. Rock and his Commandos and Steve Trevor (a prominent character from both the Wonder Woman comic book and the TV show in the 1970's).

*Commentary by Bruce Timm, James Tucker, Glen Murakami, Rich Fogel and Dan Riba.

The Savage Time, Pt. 3 - The climactic conclusion of this thrilling tale which features a touching ending.

SPECIAL FEATURE:
Justice League: The First Mission. Never before seen promo!

While the format wasn't the best, these eppys are still worth the money purchasing! Highly recommended and I can't wait for Season Two this summer!

I'm thrilled. After multiple single-disc releases, Warner Home Video has finally decided to collect all the Justice League season 1 episodes in one set. This is the original series with the main 7 heroes, not the "Unlimited" incarnation it became last year. The stories are all two-part adventures, with two three-part epics book-ending the season. We get the following:

Secret Origins (3 parts)

In Blackest Night (2 parts)

The Enemy Below (2 parts)

Injustice For All (2 parts)

Paradise Lost (2 parts)

War World (2 parts)

Brave and the Bold (2 parts)

Fury (2 parts)

Legends (2 parts)

A Knight of Shadows (2 parts)

Metamorphosis (2 parts)

The Savage Time (3 parts)

In retrospect, most of the first season stories are pretty bland compared to what we're getting today. The writing is cliche, the stories are basic, and the animation is stiff and questionable in places. However once you account for the growing pains of any series, there's some fun material here. J'onn J'onzz, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman get spotlighted and developed this season. Etrigan, Aquaman, and Metamorpho guest star, and tons of new enemies from all over the DC universe make their appearance. The first season is if anything, a homage to the simpler story telling of the comic book silver age. The stories get more dramatic and powerful as the season progresses, and the love and respect the creators have for their material really shines through. Plus even at its worst, Justice League is still better than most of the shows kids are subjected to these days.

This set will come with 3 commentaries, interviews, and *possibly* rehash some of the featurettes from the single disc releases. It will be the only fullscreen release of the series, as that is the way it was actually animated. Future seasons have been confirmed for widescreen. Start saving up, and prepare to relive the Justice League's earliest adventures.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 108 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars