Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice

The Hall of Justice from Superfriends (and later in the comics) was based on Union Terminal in Cincinnati.

The Seventh Leaguer

The screenshot accompanying this article about Justice League Heroes amuses me. Ignoring everything about the game itself, the choice of leaguers is always tricky.

By tradition you always have seven members. Slots 1-3 have to go to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. For four and five you pick the best second-tier heroes in the DC arsenal, Flash and Green Lantern. Flash’s speed makes him able to do almost anything, unless you slow him down in purpose, and GL’s power ring can by definition do almost anything. So that leaves you with two slots. One always goes to Martian Manhunter, because he’s been in every version of the League and because his powers are just ill-defined enough that you can use him as the easy-out for any story you’re not sure how to end.

And that leaves the seventh slot. DC just doesn’t have anyone on the same tier as the rest of them. Hawkman’s a great choice, but Hawkman’s really out of place with the rest of the cast. He belongs in the Green Arrow, Black Canary, and The Atom’s league, which also rules out all those characters. Aquaman has the name recognition, and unlike most I think he’s a great character, but only when you keep him in his element, the sea. Aquaman in the sea is great, but what’s the rest of the League doing there? Grant Morrison threw in Plasticman, but he’s not on the same tier as the rest, either. The game apparently likes Zatanna, but she’s solidly a tier 3 character, though she has the advantage of being another woman to round out your diversity to 2 women, 1 alien, and a black guy, assuming you’re using John Stewart as your Green Lantern.

Justice League Season 2 Kicks Off

Aside from one teaser this summer, it’s been over a year since the last new episode of Justice League aired. Last night “Tabula Rasa” finally kicked off their second season.

And it’s going to be a good one.

The artists on the show must have been working very hard in the last two years. The artwork, which had leaned more toward the style of Superman, has taken on some of the grittier air of the older episodes of Batman. The backgrounds have a strong level of detail and there’s a much greater use of motion.

I love seeing Lex Luthor as a Silver Age super villain. His current comic book persona as sly businessman turned President of the United States is genius, but watching him run amok in a green power suit with the Justice League in hot pursuit is fun. Combining this to make a Frankenstein’s Monster story out of Amazo was just great. They made a wise change in Amazo’s from this to a plain grey morphing monster (images from Toonzone). Even more impressively, the power absorbing robot succeeds in being a serious threat to the entire league. There are moments when you can actually believe that they might not win this one.

On top of some very good widescreen action, “Tabula Rasa” also features a good side plot featuring Martian Manhunter. While the resolution of his character development in the episode ends up being a little bit cheesy, it works and I bought it.

I can’t wait to see what Bruce Timm’s team has in store for us for the rest of the season.

(New episodes air Saturdays at 10pm on Cartoon Network.)