"Justice League Action" Season One Talkback, Part I (Spoilers)

[RoyalRubble]

Use this thread to discuss the first season of the new action-packed series, Justice League Action! Airing Saturday mornings at 7:30AM ET, on Cartoon Network!

The world’s greatest Super Heroes return to television in Justice League Action, an all-new animated series. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman lead the DC Super Heroes against their most infamous foes in adventures packed with relentless thrills, fun and action. Whether defending the Earth, facing invaders from space, or battling the bizarre forces of magic, the always-rotating team of Justice League heroes, are up to any challenge.

Justice League Action "Classic Rock"
Episode Debut - December 24th, 2016
Written by - Patrick Rieger
Directed by - Jake Castorena

Batman thinks he’s helping a homeless old man who is being mugged on the street only to discover that the man is a powerful wizard being chased by demons in disguise. It turns out the wizard is on a mission to save Shazam from the clutches of Black Adam.

*Please note this episode originally aired on December 16th, edited into the "Shazam Slam" premiere movie.

Comments?

Mod Note: We appreciate and encourage discussion, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Please do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC!

Also, keep in mind this thread is only for the US airings of the show. If you want to talk about any episodes that have aired internationally before making their debut on Cartoon Network in the US, you must use spoiler tags.

Related threads:
- Justice League Action "Shazam Slam!" Series Premiere Talkback (Spoilers)
- "Justice League Action" News & Discussion Thread, Part 3 (Spoilers)

 

[hobbyfan]

I guess, then, there'll be no new episodes here until the end of January. Nice move, CN. NOT! Now we know why they ran this at 7:30 am (ET), coupled with the Teen Titans Go!/Powerpuff Girls crossover. They knew folks would complain.

 

[Yojimbo]

Actually, the third episode "Night of the Bat" -- popped up on Zap2it/Screener's schedule. It's set for January 7. So new episodes for the U.S. are in line to start January 21 as some have speculated.

 

[Frontier]

Actually, the third episode "Night of the Bat" -- popped up on Zap2it/Screener's schedule. It's set for January 7. So new episodes for the U.S. are in line to start January 21 as some have speculated.

Well, late January is better then nothing .

 

[Yojimbo]

Well, late January is better then nothing .

Yeah, by then half the season will have aired in Europe collectively.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Check out Justice League Action, today at 7:30AM ET on Cartoon Network!

Justice League Action "Power Outage"
Episode Debut - December 31st, 2016
Written by - Heath Corson
Directed by - Jake Castorena

A ghoul known as Calythos possesses the Parasite in order to drain the Justice League of its powers and use that stolen strength to open a massive volcano.

*Please note this episode originally aired on December 16th, edited into the "Shazam Slam" premiere movie.

Comments?

Mod Note: We appreciate and encourage discussion, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Please do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC!

Also, keep in mind this thread is only for the US airings of the show. If you want to talk about any episodes that have aired internationally before making their debut on Cartoon Network in the US, you must use spoiler tags.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Check out Justice League Action, today at 7:30AM ET on Cartoon Network!

Justice League Action "Night of the Bat"
Episode Debut - January 7th, 2017
Written by - Heath Corson
Directed by - Doug Murphy

Superman and other Justice League members have to battle Batman when he gets possessed by an evil Djinn, Uthool, who is intent on using the JL power core to blow a crack in Earth.

*Please note this episode originally aired on December 16th, 2016 edited into the "Shazam Slam" premiere movie.

Comments?

Mod Note: We appreciate and encourage discussion, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Please do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC!

Also, keep in mind this thread is only for the US airings of the show. If you want to talk about any episodes that have aired internationally before making their debut on Cartoon Network in the US, you must use spoiler tags.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Check out Justice League Action, today at 7:30AM ET on Cartoon Network!

Justice League Action "Abate and Switch"
Episode Debut - January 14th, 2017
Written by - Patrick Rieger
Directed by - Jake Castorena

When the JLA tries to stop the Brothers Djinn, the ghoulish trio are able to direct spells on our heroes by saying their names, forcing the heroes to disguise themselves as each other in order to foil the spells.

*Please note this episode originally aired on December 16th, 2016 edited into the "Shazam Slam" premiere movie.

Comments?

Mod Note: We appreciate and encourage discussion, but please keep your posts civil, relevant and insightful. Please do not post any improper or inflammatory material, as we will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. And remember to keep the discussion ON-TOPIC!

Also, keep in mind this thread is only for the US airings of the show. If you want to talk about any episodes that have aired internationally before making their debut on Cartoon Network in the US, you must use spoiler tags.

 

[Yojimbo]

I still think the finale would have better without Black Adam returning and save him for a later episode. It really diminishes the Demons Three here, imo. Maybe have them release a horde of demons and monsters to fight instead of Adam for the final battle. Oh well.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Check out a new episode of Justice League Action, today at 7:30AM ET on Cartoon Network!

Justice League Action "Follow That Space Cab!"
Episode Debut - January 21st, 2017
Written by - Paul Dini
Directed by - Jake Castorena

While Superman escorts his prisoner Mr. Mind between planets, he is attacked by Lobo who wants to collect a reward on Mind. Temporarily powered-down, Superman seeks Space Cabbie’s help to get away from Lobo.

Comments?

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Also, keep in mind this thread is only for the US airings of the show. If you want to talk about any episodes that have aired internationally before making their debut on Cartoon Network in the US, you must use spoiler tags.

 

[Frontier]

I just want to point out the fact that Batman was not in this episode at all, even in a small cameo like in "Power Outage." Unless you want to count the illustration the depiction of the League taking on Mr. Mind, but all-in-all it's pretty impressive that Superman just had this episode to himself .

Space Cabbie has kind of become the "face" of JLA to some degree, at least in terms of presence in promotional art and interviews, emphasizing the series' commitment to spotlighting more obscure and wacky heroes and characters in major roles. He's certainly not a character you would've been surprised to see make an appearance in a teaser or cameo in Brave and the Bold, which I find appropriate .

You can pretty much sum up Cabbie as a "cabbie...in space," but this episode showcased him as a fairly likeable and friendly guy who's willing to do his job and then some when it counts. Patton Oswalt's performance also came off as very endearing .

Some neat references in this episode, from mentioning Tamaran, Korugar, and Thanagar to seeing pictures of multiple heroes on Cabbie's dashboard. Some of those characters have been confirmed to show up later in the season, but I do hope those who aren't (particularly Black Canary and Kilowog) pop up at least once and we get adventures set on those world's as well .

Can I just say how nice it is to see this show prominently spotlighting Hawkman? He usually gets shortchanged versus his significant other (who I love just as much, mind you), so it's great seeing him play a big role here as a major hero (and who's even in the intro to boot!). Troy Baker also does a solid Hawkman .

So he's the Thanagarian Hawkman, which mean's he's Katar Hol, so it'll be interesting to see how that might inform the character going forward beyond his straight-laced and stoic personality. I hope we get to see Shayera/Hawkgirl sooner rather then later as well .

It's almost fitting that the next new episode after the "Shazam Slam" special would feature a notable Captain Marvel rogue in a fairly major role, with Mr. Mind serving as the source of the main conflict in this episode while still causing some mischief of his own .

I admit I still have Greg Ellis' posh British Mr. Mind in my head whenever I think of the character's voice, but Oliver Vaquer's more high-pitched and nasally portrayal still did a good job of capturing the character's conniving and egomaniac personality .

The end of the episode made me wonder why stepping on him is not a more common tactic for beating Mr. Mind .

Lobo was just as much, if not moreso, a major antagonist and really gave the heroes a good run for their money. When he wasn't pulling out new blaster's out-of-nowhere, he was smacking down the heroes on even-footing with his powerful super-strength, which is saying something when he's going up against both Superman and Hawkman .

Funniest part of the episode was Lobo's nicknames for Hawkman .

"I don't seem to have any cash on me..." or pockets, for that matter. Good thing Hawkman does .

 

[Troy Troodon]

Troy Baker also does a solid Hawkman .

You know, I wouldn't mind hearing Laura Bailey playing Hawkgirl, if only to pair her up with Troy's or even Travis Willingham's Hawkman.

 

[RoyalRubble]

Fun episode. Nice mix of characters, with a pretty straight-forward but entertaining story.

I'm not too familiar with Space Cabbie though his name pretty much gives away what he's all about. It's cool they're continuing the trend of using lesser known or somewhat silly characters from the comics.

On a related note, I've never heard of Lobo's partner Jonas before this. I see he's from the comics as well, and while he didn't play that big of a role here he was pretty cool. Though I thought it was fairly predictable Lobo would double-cross him.

Lobo was handled pretty well, he was a good opponent and provided some good fight scenes. Seeing Superman team up with Hawkman was cool. Space Cabbie's side-plot was fun, but I was more interested in Superman's fight to be honest.

Honestly I was expecting Shazam/Captain Marvel to pop up in this episode, since Mr. Mind was involved. Space Cabbie outsmarting the worm was neat. A little silly but I think it worked and managed to offer some amusing moments as well.

I also wasn't expecting Lobo to step on and squish Mind. That was pretty funny. Plus a neat biology lesson about worms being able to regenerate.

It's cool how they tied up just about everything by the end of the episode - Lobo doesn't get his reward from Boss Kack, while Mind is imprisoned and Space Cabbie gets paid with a diamond.

All in all, a pretty good episode. I'm looking forward to more from this show.

And here's the cast list for the episode, for anyone curious:

Troy Baker - Hawkman / Jonas Glim
John DiMaggio - Lobo
Jason J. Lewis - Superman / Boss Kack
Patton Oswalt - Space Cabbie
Oliver Vaquer - Mr Mind

 

[JoeMabbon]

This episode was an excellent example of the one-shot, team-up format with solid writing and action.

 

[Frontier]

You know, I wouldn't mind hearing Laura Bailey playing Hawkgirl, if only to pair her up with Troy's or even Travis Willingham's Hawkman.

I'd be totally down for it, though I'd just as much enjoy Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham as anybody in JLA .

 

[Daikun]

I'm quite surprised to see Mr. Mind is in this show. I don't think we've seen him since...Brave and the Bold, have we?

Anyway, I wasn't a fan of the premiere episodes that aired in December. I liked this episode much better. Let's hope it's an uphill climb from here.

 

[Frontier]

I'm quite surprised to see Mr. Mind is in this show. I don't think we've seen him since...Brave and the Bold, have we?

Well, there was that DC Nation Shazam short...

 

[Yojimbo]

1x5 "Follow That Space Cab!"

Loved that they worked in Superman's 'crushing coal into a diamond' skill into the show. Was wondering as I watched this episode why of all places, an anthracite mine.

Patton Oswalt as Space Cabbie was perfect casting. I look forward to seeing him again as the show continues. Cool seeing as his photos though naturally wonder what kind of adventures these were like with more the Earth-based heroes such as Black Canary and Zatanna or Firestorm vs the space-based heroes like Barda and Kilowog. I wasn't that familiar with the version in the comics so I came in with no expectations and really enjoyed the character.

Liked how they were quickly able to characterize Hawkman as a very by the book stoic hero. It should be fun to pair him with polar opposites like Plastic Man in future episodes.

You can't go wrong with Lobo and this interpretation was entertaining although I still to this day think of Brad Garrett's take on him. But yep, knew he was going to double cross Jonas at some point. Bounty hunters. The ending reminded me a little of the S:TAS two parter when Lobo meets with the mob boss except things don't end as well this time for Lobo, heh.

Mister Mind was hilarious as the prima donna villain - threatening to report Cabbie and get his license taken away, preferring iconoclast to villain, asking he not be touched during the photo op. But omg, when he gets squashed. Hope to see him in a more traditional villain scheme later on. And wouldn't hurt to see Shazam villains with him like that one episode of The Brave and The Bold since it's one of the rarely tapped rogues gallery in animation.

In terms of references
*It was a pleasant surprise to see a few nods to Lobo's comic book from the 90s - namely Jonas (full name Jonas Glim) and Space Cabbie mentioning Al's Diner and it's one waitress Darlene (full name Darlene Spritzer). And of course, for good measure, one Main Man line.
*Nice to pepper in some planet references - Cabbie with Tamaran and Korugar and Lobo mentioning Thanagar which in turn confirms this Hawkman is likely to be Katar Hol.
*Didn't expect it, but cool to hear Cabbie mention his employers who are the same from the comics, the Nine-Planet Taxi Company.
*Although hilarious that Lobo had just about every chicken insult for Hawkman, he sure had a good knowledge of Earth-based fictional bird characters... eh. Probably intercepted transmissions from Earth.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Blurg, 7:30 in the morning without a rerun? CN, can't you at least try? You paid for this thing; get your money's worth!

 

[RoyalRubble]

Regarding Shazam's absence, maybe he helped Superman capture Mr. Mind prior to when the story started. But in a way I am kind of glad he wasn't featured here - after his rather big roles in "Classic Rock" and "Abate and Switch" it's nice to see others like Hawkman in action.

Also technically, Batman was also in this episode - in that still of Mr. Mind defeating the Justice League.

Spoiler

Kind of reminds me of the classic comic book cover with Starro the Conqueror.