New Justice League Cartoon Delivers Clever Comedy, Good Animation, and Chiefly ACTION

Welcome back to another edition of Comic relief! Where I talk about all sorts of things going on in the world of Geekdom!

The past 5 years or so for the comic brand DC comics have not been an easy one. The giant resurgence of MARVEL in the media, from it's cinematic universe down to the 2012 relaunch MARVEL NOW has put a pretty harsh burden on DC comics to try and keep up. 2 years ago DC dropped down to the number 2 spot in comic sales behind Marvel due to the success of their Marvel NOW launch and the lackluster success of DC's New 52 launch, and the utter failure of their DC YOU initiative, and that's not to mention the immense overall dip in quality in their animated features. However, for all the things that went wrong in 2016, it appears that DC finally found it's footing again. Despite the controversy critically for blockbusters like BvS and Suicide Squad, both were very successful films that together with Man of Steel grossed more collective revenue than the first 5 Marvel Cinematic films (Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man 2, and Captain America First Avenger). In the world of comics, DC made HUGE strides forward with their Rebirth relaunch,quickly overturning a fairly long Marvel held lead in comic book sales. The end of 2016 has been shaping up to continue this stream of success. Back in October it was announced that Young Justice was brought back to life and will be returning for a much deserved third season, however this past month we saw the debut of quite possibly one of the most satisfying bits of DC media in a long time: Justice League Action.

It's announcement back in August was met with mixed reception. Considered to be kind of the legacy cartoon of the beloved cartoon from the early 00's Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, there was bound to be some skeptical response. As I had previously stated, the past 5 years have left people pretty disappointed in DC and when it comes down to animation there was a lot to be mad about: Teen Titans Go!, cancellation of Young Justice, the terrible New 52 based films. The announcement of a Justice League cartoon with the same animated short style that Teen Titans Go! uses was not something most people were excited about. However there were those of us that had hope *cough* me *cough* that had high hopes and expectations as they had announced the return of iconic voice actors of the old DC animated universe Kevin Conroy, and Mark Hammil, as well as confirming Paul Dini (one of the key writers of Batman the animated series, and creator of Harley Quinn) as one of the principal screen writers of the show. With the four part premiere episode, Shazam Slam (with the great Sean Astin voicing Billy Batson and Shazam), debuting just a few weeks back, the show has done nothing but live up to my high expectations and for most it has completely caught them off guard.

What exactly makes Justice League Action so great? In all honesty it's a tough question to pin down to one thing, the simple answer is everything about it. To start, the writing is genuinely fun. Unlike the fairly dumb and stupid humor found in things like Teen Titans Go!, Justice League Action provides genuinely funny humor and quips that honestly everyone will get a laugh out of (classic Paul Dini in other words). Then there is the fact that each episode feels like a love letter to everything DC. There are references to all the things that DC media has touched (even allusions to things not necessarily done by the company, in the Shazam Slam special, there is a reference to the internet famous JL8 web comic by Yale Stewart about Batman's smile). Certain episodes are pay homage to the great animated series that have come before. In one episode Batman and Blue beetle travel back to a time early in Batman's career, and the first shot you see is the iconic dark Gothic style Gotham skyline from the Batman Animated series with the Danny Elfman theme used for both the Tim Burton films and the Animated Series. However where the show really finds it's strongest points lies in it's name: JUSTICE LEAGUE and ACTION.

Honestly this show does a much better job than it's predecessor in giving you a taste of the grander scope of characters that make up the league. One of the advantages of having a show that is comprised of 10 minute episodes with no real continuity to them is that each one is it's own separate adventure with a new set of heroes. In the first four part special we are obviously introduced to the DC Trinity, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, but we are also introduced to Shazam, the Wizard, John Constantine, Martian Manhunter, Swamp Thing, and Booster Gold (who's sparring session with Batman was hysterical) all of whom receive adequate screen time and have fun dialogue. then there is the Action. Dear god is this show full of it. I mean in that first four part special alone there is more than enough to go around, however, quite possibly one of the best moments to summarize the show was in the second episode, where Lobo is chasing Superman while he is in this space cab driven by a bad ass cabbie voiced by Patton Oswalt. Superman Calls for back up and all of a sudden Lobo is taking a giant mace to the face by Hawk man and suddenly I am cheering at my TV screen as Lobo and Hawkman duke it out and are changing the landscape on this abandoned mining comet.

Congratulations are in order, and a tip of the hat to you DC comics! Now if only you could deliver the Judas Contract film without a Damien led Teen Titans and I'll be a bit happier. However, with the greatness of Justice League action, it does bring me a great deal of hope for Young Justice Season 3 to remain true to form and for any other future DC projects.

This has been Comic Relief! and I hope you all have enjoyed! Happy New Years to everyone, our next post will be in 2017! Exciting huh? See you in the New Year!