Justice League of..."Love"?!

Since it's the beginning of the quarter, I've had much time to reflect on life, rest, and most importantly, watch multiple episodes of Justice League, the Cartoon Network show that aired a few years ago.  Jk about the most importantly, but seriously though, I've been watching way too much JL.

Anyways, I just wanted to share my thoughts on this show before I forget what I've learned already (I've picked up this bad habit of forgetting everything I learn in a quarter's time):

Justice League (and later Justice League Unlimited, the not-so-good extension of the original series) features multiple superheroes banding together to stop forces of evil all over the world, although most of the evil seems to root itself in either Gotham or Metropolis in this series.  One of the main problems of this scenario is the fact that there are a lot of superheroes.  I mean, sure, you want to try to emphasize the importance of teamwork, and interesting scenarios can be developed with many superheroes, but I just don't buy it.  Maybe after you read a brief synopsis of the characters, you'll agree with me:

SUPERMAN

Comes fully packaged with all his original powers: super speed, super strength, super flying powers, super eye lasers, and super see through vision.  The only weakness he has (besides women heh) is Kryptonite, which seems to be present in every weapon on the show (there's an episode with a nuclear missile which is coated in Kryptonite...yeaaah)

BATMAN

On screen, he still almost identical to his dark knight portrait in the earlier cartoon series.  In this series, he's more known for his intellect and prowess as a detective, less for his strength as a hero.

MARTIAN MAN EATER

Ok, this bad boy is truly a beast.  Super strength, the ability to read people's minds, the ability to walk through walls / people (instant KO), AND the ability to become whatever/whomever he wants, with the added bonus of also having their super power.  Wow, forget the Justice League, Martian Man Eater is where it's at!  Unfortunately for him, since he's so powerful, the series tries extra hard to downplay him as a true beast, thus resulting in him usually getting his butt kicked.

WONDER WOMAN

Hailed as a demi-goddess from the land of Hera, she can fly, kick some serious butt, reflecting projectiles off of her bracelets, and has a whip that magically extends to however long she wants.

FLASH

IMO, the worst of them all.  He's the fastest superhero, but that's about it.  He can win olympic medals all day, but when it comes to being a superhero, I'm super sorry for him.

HAWK GIRL

This character reminds me of Harvey Birdman, the ridiculous lawyer superhero from the Space Ghost series.  She has a permanent pair of hawk wings on her back, allowing her to fly (duh).  Also, she has this electric mace which she uses to destroy anything / everything in her path.

GREEN LANTERN

One of my favorites, he's an ex-marine who has a magical green ring, which allows him to create anything he wants.  For instance, the green ring is usually used as a shield, but it can also allow him to lift ridiculously heavy objects as well as become a weapon.  Oh, and he can fly.

As you can see, it seems like the League is unbeatable, at least with their stats objectively laid out.  That's where this series hurts itself; it makes the superheroes weaker than they actually are in order to give the enemies a better chance / make the plot more interesting.  I usually see Superman getting whacked more than I see him doing the whacking.  Plus, in light of other superhero series that features only one superhero, this series seriously suffers (a little alliteration, anyone?).  For instance, the original Batman cartoon series.  Batman was a true beast in those episodes!  He always managed to trick all the bad guys, rescue the damsal / high tech piece of equipment that was stolen, while still managing his billion dollar business as Bruce Wayne.  But now?  He's reduced to one of seven superheroes who still can't beat one bad guy :/.

One more interesting thing about JL before I watch another episode haha, is the fact that this series really pushes the envelope for a cartoon series in terms of romance.  Yes, you read right, ROMANCE!  There's a TON of drama that goes down in these series between the superheroes.  I mean, I think I've seen at least 5 pseudo-relationships and 2 actual relationships bud between the characters in only 6 - 7 episodes!  Most of it is pretty illegit IMO; there's an episode where Batman has to prove his *LOVE* for someone.  You can view it here.  While you're watching it, try to hold your jaws together; mine almost fell off at least 5 times.  Although I bag on JL for their emphasis on romance, there is one relationship that really surprised me to the point where I thought it was pretty well executed, although still illegit hahahaha.  If you really want to find out and you have 10 - 12 hours to kill hahahaha, go to veoh.com and search for justice league.  There are a few episodes there to watch; I suggest watching all of them before you watch Starcrossed, the episode that reveals the relationship drama which I was referring to.  It's also one of the best episodes, if not THE best.

Aish, curse you procrastination!