These are the best episodes of the Justice League animated series and Justice League Unlimited!
Its tough to pick favorites when discussing theJustice Leagueanimated series and its follow up,Justice League Unlimited.
Its also tough to really make a distinction between the two, despite the different titles and increased roster.
A few tweaks aside, theyre the same show, and the level of quality is consistent throughout.
But lets celebrate some of our favorites.
If you havent given this show a chance yet, this is the right place to jump in.
Of course, we were wrong, but well get to that.
Thats a good thing.
TheSuperman: The Animated Seriesmodel is done away with and were gifted with the armored supervillain incarnation.
At least for now.
When the Justice League returns to Earth after a space mission, it finds Batman gone and Earth changed.
The League must team with DC military legends the Blackhawks and Sgt.
Im not crying, youre crying.
Yeah, The Savage Time is simply perfect.
Any time the New Gods are on the screen in these series, its a good episode.
But no episodes are as important to the overarching plot of the DC Animated Universe as these two.
Theyre simply the Justice League pushed into a darker path.
Obviously, Icthultu is a stand in for Cthulhu while Hawkgirls allies are stand ins for Marvels original Defenders.
you could even argue that Hawkgirl could be Marvels Valkyrie!
In this tale, writer Stan Berkowitz presents a battle between Gorilla Grodds Secret Society and the Justice League.
further reading: Every DC Easter Egg in the Justice League Movie
And what a Society Grodd has assembled!
You cant go wrong with great source material.
Its tough to imagine that even Alan Moore himself could take issue with this one.
Nah, he probably could.
And you guys, Conroy is quite the velvet throated crooner.
There are only two words a Justice League member dreads more than monitor duty and thats crowd control.
So with the League taking on Mordru (!!!)
Classic Atom villain Chronos is introduced as a hen-pecked husband that just so happens to have a time machine.
When his wifes rants become too abusive, Chronos uses his temporal powers to steal historical artifacts.
First off, it is an absolute delight to see DCs Western heroes come to life in animated form.
But there are ingenious little character moments as well.
Thats right, young Bruce meets old Bruce and Terry McGinnis.
The League meets an old version of Static Shock and Green Lantern meets Warhawk, his future son.
Amanda Waller is a monumental badass on this show, just like her comic counterpart.
The tremble the animators add to her hand after Batman leaves is a great touch.
Double Date
Justice League Unlimited Season 2 Episode 6
Banter, banter, banter.
So much banter in this episode, and its all thanks to Gail Simone.
Huntress response is to just stare forward, annoyed, as if to say, Not this shit again.
Gold star for the episode fitting in a quick reference to Hitman.
In different hands, this could have been cynical and wrongheaded.
Here, its somehow perfectly in keeping with the innocence of theShazammythos.
The waythe Flashsaves the world is probably its best part, though.
These episodes were written by Dwayne McDuffie, and theyre all perfect examples of his ability as a writer.
The action is perfectly balanced, and they hit strong emotional beats.
Epilogue
Justice League Unlimited Season 2 Episode 13
Epilogue is a divisive episode.
Hey, they figured they werent getting picked up for another season.
Batman started this animated universe and this finale is a love letter to him.
Patriot Act
Justice League Unlimited Season 3 Episode 7
This is just a pile of deep cuts.
First of all, the episode features the Seven Soldiers of Victory and a semi-cameo from the Newsboy Legion.
Their initial season left him with virtually no appearances outside of background cameos with no dialogue.
Ergo, how about a storyline where Flash and Luthor switch brains?
You cant shortchange Lexs voice actor Clancy Brown, whose exploits as Flash-in-Luthors-body are completely hilarious and awkward.
The way he interacts with Dr. Polaris, Tala, Grodd, and even Bizarro make this must-watch.
When Roulette uses mind control, the Leaguers are forced to fight each other in a death match.
Seriously, when Diana is revealed as Roulettes champion, it is absolutely heart stopping.
Remember earlier when we said thatSuperman: The Animated Seriesdoesnt get enough credit?
Well Destroyer is all the proof you need.
Superman was often relegated to the sidelines onJustice League, out of fear that he would outshine his teammates.
He doesnt have to.
And so he doesnt.
