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Hello there. I'm SilverEagle91. Justice League Action has finally arrived in the US. Despite the title saying "first impressions", I'm actually doing a "1001 Animations" for all the episodes that I've seen that have aired in both here and in other countries, meaning skip some sections if you don't want to be spoiled. I find it a bit easier. Those episodes are "Classic Rock", "Power Outage", "Follow That Space Cab", "Nuclear Family Values", "Zombie King", "Galaxy Jest", "Time Share", "Night Of The Bat", "Abate And Switch", and "Play Date". Two quick things before we start.

1. Jake Castonera, Doug Murphy, and Shaunt Nigoghossian have directed these episodes.

2. I apologize if I miss all the casting.

Now we start.

1. Classic Rock

Writer: Patrick Rieger

Date: December 16, 2016

Synopsis: "Batman must help The Wizard."

Of all the episodes that could've been picked, this is definitely a good way to start. This episode involves Billy Batson getting kidnapped by Black Adam and stealing The Wizard's powers. His goal is to set free demonic forces in the Rock Of Eternity, which prompts Batman and The Wizard to stop him, but the latter is reluctant to get help. The moral on getting help is pretty obvious, but it's still well executed, and there are some interesting surprises here. For one thing, The Wizard had his powers drained for years on end, which is not exactly pleasant. The fact he's actually focused on his job of saving Billy and maintaining peace makes him a slightly rough but still lovable old man. That's nice. It has some nice fast paced action and plenty of humor reminiscent of older DC cartoons, just with a modern flare. The ending also sets up a few episodes quite nicely. This is definitely a great way to start. Let's keep it up.

2. Power Outage

Writer: Heath Corson

Dates:

November 26, 2016 (UK)

December 16, 2016 (US)

Synopsis: "Superman and Wonder Woman must stop a villain that can absorb power."

What makes any Justice League story is how they can add a sense of realism to a fantastical situation, and it definitely applies here. This episode involves a villain named Calythos who crash lands on Earth in order to take it over. Superman and Wonder Woman try to stop him, but their power keeps getting drained the more they fight him since he's known for absorbing power. You know the expression "turn a weakness into a positive"? That phrase applies to our moral lesson of the episode, and it's tastefully done well. After some fun action sequences and well done dialogue, our heroic duo calls upon Martian Manhunter to defeat our villain. Said villain is weak to fire, and when he absorbed John's power, he also absorbed his weakness, resulting in an instant knockout. That is definitely pretty smart. Let's move onto the next episode.

3. Follow That Space Cab

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: November 26, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: " Superman teams up with Space Cabbie and Hawkman to protect Mr. Mind from Lobo."

Justice League Action takes plenty of cues from Batman: The Brave And The Bold, like giving obscure characters the spotlight. When done well like here, you get quite the entertaining viewing experience. This episode takes place in space where Space Cabbie runs into Superman. The latter is trying to protect a parasitic creature named Mister Mind from a bounty hunter named Lobo, who's trying to sell him on the black market. Superman works with Hawkman and Space Cabbie to stop him. While Hawkman definitely gets plenty of moments to shine, our little cab driver friend is the best character in the episode. His adorkable nature combined with resourcefulness in the cab makes a character who sounds boring feel pretty exciting. As per the title of the show, there's naturally a frenetic amount of high paced action with enough humor to bring it down to earth, especially from Lobo. There's even a nice moral on how acting creative and resourceful can help you out of jam. Come on Justice League Action! Show me what you got!

4. Nuclear Family Values

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: November 27, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "With most of the League unavalible, Firestorm is the only one to stop a family of androids."

Heart is what makes a good story for me. When you do something from the heart, like here, you earn my respect. This episode involves an explosion at a nuclear power plant. With Batman not being physically able to stop it, and the rest of the Justice League unable to get there in time, they send a teenage superhero named Firestorm to stop the explosion, which happened because of robotic villains called The Nuclear Family trying to find a home. Should I even call the Nuclear Family villains? They're really likable despite trying to blow up a nuclear power plant. They just want to find a place to call home. Their 1950s personalities are quite endearing. Firestorm makes a great straight man and foil to them. Yeah, he's egotistical, but he's also well meaning and kind as well as funny, all traits to admire. After some fun action, he then decides to put them in a container which has a mini home so they can live in peace without hurting others. It gets across a nice moral on showing compassion to your enemies at the right time. Now that's what I'm talking about.

5. Zombie King

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: December 3, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "Batman teams up with Swamp Thing, Zatanna, and John Constantine to stop Grundy and his zombie army."

I feel this should've been released around Halloween due to the material presented, but that's not a flaw in otherwise good episode. This episode involves Solomon Grundy utilizing a special gemstone to release a zombie army, and then use said gem to turn other's into zombies. With his destination being New Orleans, Batman teams up with Zatanna, John Constantine, and Swamp Thing to stop him. A minor nitpick I have is that John is a bit underutilized, but he's still charming. Interestingly enough, it's a character study for Swamp Thing, and it's done pretty well. There's a scene at the beginning where a mother and her baby run off after he saves them from some zombies because they thought he looks scary, which annoys him a bit. Some might think the fact that it's not given too much time to linger is a miss, but it's a hit with me. It's to show that you should keep fighting for justice no matter what and not let other people's behavior affect you, which works considering he still fights with the league against the zombies, and he does get recognized for his work. The whole thing plays out like a mini horror movie with all this talk of zombies and magic, and when you add in the action to enhance the moral, you get a dandy of a treat. What's next?

6. Galaxy Jest

Writer: Duanne Capizzi

Date: December 4, 2016 (Poland)

Synopsis: "The Joker must be rescued before his bomb goes off."

I find Justice League Action's whimsical tone to be quite inviting, showing how superheroes can also run on rule of fun. When you have a Joker episode, that's to be expected. This episode starts with Batman pursuing Joker in order to get him to disable a hidden bomb containing laughing gas. The latter suddenly gets abducted by Emperor Mongul for his space circus, causing Superman and Wonder Woman to rescue him while Batman and Flash try to find the bomb and deactivate it. Joker is definitely one of the main highlights here. Mark Hamill still manages to instill a powerful performance in playing a whimsical Joker, and he is really funny. There's also a rather subtly built in moral on why you should save your enemies. They often play tricks in your mind so you can't save the day. The key to stopping them is knowing how they go about their attacks. It's actually brilliant how they do it. I definitely recommend this one. Now let's move on to our next episode.

7. Time Share

Writer: Josie Campbell

Date: December 10, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "Batman and Blue Beetle must stop Chronos."

Justice League Action is one of the many shows that runs on both rule of fun and great storytelling, as this entry proves right here. This episode involves the villain Chronos going back in time to prevent Batman from completing his first mission. Blue Beetle teams up with present day Batman to stop the timeline from being altered. This episode offers the usual brand of frenetic action and humor, but it has a bit more. The lucky color of the day is blue, which is represented by our friend Blue Beetle. His reckless behavior called out by Batman on the mission is understandable since he's just overly excited and impulsive, not flat out stupid. It also helps that he has some skills. This makes the moral on planning ahead work since he uses his environment to his advantage to help defeat Chronos. That's definitely pretty smart.

8. Night Of The Bat

Writer: Heath Corson

Date: December 16, 2016

Synopsis: "Batman starts acting strange."

One of the keys to a good show is well defined characters, which Justice League Action does well here. Continuing from our first two entries, this episode involves Batman chasing after Djinn Uthol in a dark alley. After the fight, Batman acts uncharacteristically cruel to rest of the League, which is due to being possessed. I find this to be an interesting character study for Batman, showing how he's rough, but still firmly on the good, something the demons lack. I find its a good lesson to teach kids on how your knowledge of how other people act can help you get out of a sticky situation. The energy Kevin Conroy puts into voicing a more brutish possessed Batman is quite entertaining. Now we have one more episode.

9. Abate And Switch

Writer: Patrick Rieger

Date: December 16, 2016

Synopsis: "The Justice League must stop the demons."

With Justice League Action having a bigger emphasis on entertaining a younger audience, you have episodes like this that can appeal to them as well as older fans. This episode marks the conclusion of the four part story, with our main trio teaming up with John Constantine, Green Arrow, Swamp Thing, and Plastic Man to take down Black Adam and his demons, but said demons drain powers just by saying a hero's name. All the heroes except Batman switch outfits to take them on. We start with some hilarious hijinks that come from this type of plot, and end with an awesome beat down that's enhanced thanks to Shazam. Here, we get a better view of his powers and how he can contribute to the group. It's his spirit that helps to save the day. It's a moral that appeals to everyone, which is so satisfying.

10. Play Date

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: December 17, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "Toyman kidnaps Cyborg and the Justice League."

If I can describe this episode in a phrase, it's "what would you happen if you took Teen Titans' comedy and gave it a modern flare.". Let's see why. This episode starts with Cyborg and the Justice League trying to stop a break in, which is later revealed to be a trap by Toyman. He kidnaps our heroes and uses them for his live action video game against their well (through special controls), and Cyborg has to save them. This episode is just plain fun. It's definitely one that will appeal to hardcore video game players due to how sleek and advanced it feels and how over the top childish Toyman is. The most interesting part is its video game message. The beginning of the episode has Cyborg almost ruin said mission since he was distracted by video games. He then applies his video game skills to help save the day. What the episode is saying is how your hobbies can help you out in life, which is a nice moral.

All in all, I like what I see. The pacing is smooth. The characters are great. The action and humor strike a perfect balance with each other. I definitely recommend the show.

Here is the cast for all the episodes.

Kevin Conroy as Batman

Jason J. Lewis as Superman, Falcone

Rachel Kimsey as Wonder Woman

Sean Astin as Shazam

Gary Cole as Black Adam

Carl Reiner as The Wizard

Chris Diamantopolous as Green Arrow

Diedrich Bader as Booster Gold

Khary Payton as Cyborg

Dana Snyder as Plastic Man

Max Mittleman as Jimmy Olsen, Parasite

David Lodge as Calythos

Oliver Vaquer as Mister Mind

Patton Oswalt as Space Cabbie

John DiMaggio as Lobo, Mongul

Troy Baker as Hawkman

PJ Byrne as Firestorm

Stephen Tobolowsky as Professor Martin Stein

Melissa Disney, Rachel Kimsey, Jason Lewis, and Kevin Shinick as Mom & Brat, Sis, Bif, and Dad (The Nuclear Family)

Lacey Chabert as Zatanna

Mark Hamill as The Joker, Swamp Thing

Damian O' Hare as John Constantine

Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy

Dan Donohue as Brother Night

Charlie Schattler as The Flash

Jake T. Austin as Blue Beetle

Andy Richter as Chronos

Ken Jeong as Toyman

Thanks for reading everyone. Have a good day.

Description
Hello there. I'm SilverEagle91. Justice League Action has finally arrived in the US. Despite the title saying "first impressions", I'm actually doing a "1001 Animations" for all the episodes that I've seen that have aired in both here and in other countries, meaning skip some sections if you don't want to be spoiled. I find it a bit easier. Those episodes are "Classic Rock", "Power Outage", "Follow That Space Cab", "Nuclear Family Values", "Zombie King", "Galaxy Jest", "Time Share", "Night Of The Bat", "Abate And Switch", and "Play Date". Two quick things before we start.

1. Jake Castonera, Doug Murphy, and Shaunt Nigoghossian have directed these episodes.

2. I apologize if I miss all the casting.

Now we start.

1. Classic Rock

Writer: Patrick Rieger

Date: December 16, 2016

Synopsis: "Batman must help The Wizard."

Of all the episodes that could've been picked, this is definitely a good way to start. This episode involves Billy Batson getting kidnapped by Black Adam and stealing The Wizard's powers. His goal is to set free demonic forces in the Rock Of Eternity, which prompts Batman and The Wizard to stop him, but the latter is reluctant to get help. The moral on getting help is pretty obvious, but it's still well executed, and there are some interesting surprises here. For one thing, The Wizard had his powers drained for years on end, which is not exactly pleasant. The fact he's actually focused on his job of saving Billy and maintaining peace makes him a slightly rough but still lovable old man. That's nice. It has some nice fast paced action and plenty of humor reminiscent of older DC cartoons, just with a modern flare. The ending also sets up a few episodes quite nicely. This is definitely a great way to start. Let's keep it up.

2. Power Outage

Writer: Heath Corson

Dates:

November 26, 2016 (UK)

December 16, 2016 (US)

Synopsis: "Superman and Wonder Woman must stop a villain that can absorb power."

What makes any Justice League story is how they can add a sense of realism to a fantastical situation, and it definitely applies here. This episode involves a villain named Calythos who crash lands on Earth in order to take it over. Superman and Wonder Woman try to stop him, but their power keeps getting drained the more they fight him since he's known for absorbing power. You know the expression "turn a weakness into a positive"? That phrase applies to our moral lesson of the episode, and it's tastefully done well. After some fun action sequences and well done dialogue, our heroic duo calls upon Martian Manhunter to defeat our villain. Said villain is weak to fire, and when he absorbed John's power, he also absorbed his weakness, resulting in an instant knockout. That is definitely pretty smart. Let's move onto the next episode.

3. Follow That Space Cab

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: November 26, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: " Superman teams up with Space Cabbie and Hawkman to protect Mr. Mind from Lobo."

Justice League Action takes plenty of cues from Batman: The Brave And The Bold, like giving obscure characters the spotlight. When done well like here, you get quite the entertaining viewing experience. This episode takes place in space where Space Cabbie runs into Superman. The latter is trying to protect a parasitic creature named Mister Mind from a bounty hunter named Lobo, who's trying to sell him on the black market. Superman works with Hawkman and Space Cabbie to stop him. While Hawkman definitely gets plenty of moments to shine, our little cab driver friend is the best character in the episode. His adorkable nature combined with resourcefulness in the cab makes a character who sounds boring feel pretty exciting. As per the title of the show, there's naturally a frenetic amount of high paced action with enough humor to bring it down to earth, especially from Lobo. There's even a nice moral on how acting creative and resourceful can help you out of jam. Come on Justice League Action! Show me what you got!

4. Nuclear Family Values

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: November 27, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "With most of the League unavalible, Firestorm is the only one to stop a family of androids."

Heart is what makes a good story for me. When you do something from the heart, like here, you earn my respect. This episode involves an explosion at a nuclear power plant. With Batman not being physically able to stop it, and the rest of the Justice League unable to get there in time, they send a teenage superhero named Firestorm to stop the explosion, which happened because of robotic villains called The Nuclear Family trying to find a home. Should I even call the Nuclear Family villains? They're really likable despite trying to blow up a nuclear power plant. They just want to find a place to call home. Their 1950s personalities are quite endearing. Firestorm makes a great straight man and foil to them. Yeah, he's egotistical, but he's also well meaning and kind as well as funny, all traits to admire. After some fun action, he then decides to put them in a container which has a mini home so they can live in peace without hurting others. It gets across a nice moral on showing compassion to your enemies at the right time. Now that's what I'm talking about.

5. Zombie King

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: December 3, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "Batman teams up with Swamp Thing, Zatanna, and John Constantine to stop Grundy and his zombie army."

I feel this should've been released around Halloween due to the material presented, but that's not a flaw in otherwise good episode. This episode involves Solomon Grundy utilizing a special gemstone to release a zombie army, and then use said gem to turn other's into zombies. With his destination being New Orleans, Batman teams up with Zatanna, John Constantine, and Swamp Thing to stop him. A minor nitpick I have is that John is a bit underutilized, but he's still charming. Interestingly enough, it's a character study for Swamp Thing, and it's done pretty well. There's a scene at the beginning where a mother and her baby run off after he saves them from some zombies because they thought he looks scary, which annoys him a bit. Some might think the fact that it's not given too much time to linger is a miss, but it's a hit with me. It's to show that you should keep fighting for justice no matter what and not let other people's behavior affect you, which works considering he still fights with the league against the zombies, and he does get recognized for his work. The whole thing plays out like a mini horror movie with all this talk of zombies and magic, and when you add in the action to enhance the moral, you get a dandy of a treat. What's next?

6. Galaxy Jest

Writer: Duanne Capizzi

Date: December 4, 2016 (Poland)

Synopsis: "The Joker must be rescued before his bomb goes off."

I find Justice League Action's whimsical tone to be quite inviting, showing how superheroes can also run on rule of fun. When you have a Joker episode, that's to be expected. This episode starts with Batman pursuing Joker in order to get him to disable a hidden bomb containing laughing gas. The latter suddenly gets abducted by Emperor Mongul for his space circus, causing Superman and Wonder Woman to rescue him while Batman and Flash try to find the bomb and deactivate it. Joker is definitely one of the main highlights here. Mark Hamill still manages to instill a powerful performance in playing a whimsical Joker, and he is really funny. There's also a rather subtly built in moral on why you should save your enemies. They often play tricks in your mind so you can't save the day. The key to stopping them is knowing how they go about their attacks. It's actually brilliant how they do it. I definitely recommend this one. Now let's move on to our next episode.

7. Time Share

Writer: Josie Campbell

Date: December 10, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "Batman and Blue Beetle must stop Chronos."

Justice League Action is one of the many shows that runs on both rule of fun and great storytelling, as this entry proves right here. This episode involves the villain Chronos going back in time to prevent Batman from completing his first mission. Blue Beetle teams up with present day Batman to stop the timeline from being altered. This episode offers the usual brand of frenetic action and humor, but it has a bit more. The lucky color of the day is blue, which is represented by our friend Blue Beetle. His reckless behavior called out by Batman on the mission is understandable since he's just overly excited and impulsive, not flat out stupid. It also helps that he has some skills. This makes the moral on planning ahead work since he uses his environment to his advantage to help defeat Chronos. That's definitely pretty smart.

8. Night Of The Bat

Writer: Heath Corson

Date: December 16, 2016

Synopsis: "Batman starts acting strange."

One of the keys to a good show is well defined characters, which Justice League Action does well here. Continuing from our first two entries, this episode involves Batman chasing after Djinn Uthol in a dark alley. After the fight, Batman acts uncharacteristically cruel to rest of the League, which is due to being possessed. I find this to be an interesting character study for Batman, showing how he's rough, but still firmly on the good, something the demons lack. I find its a good lesson to teach kids on how your knowledge of how other people act can help you get out of a sticky situation. The energy Kevin Conroy puts into voicing a more brutish possessed Batman is quite entertaining. Now we have one more episode.

9. Abate And Switch

Writer: Patrick Rieger

Date: December 16, 2016

Synopsis: "The Justice League must stop the demons."

With Justice League Action having a bigger emphasis on entertaining a younger audience, you have episodes like this that can appeal to them as well as older fans. This episode marks the conclusion of the four part story, with our main trio teaming up with John Constantine, Green Arrow, Swamp Thing, and Plastic Man to take down Black Adam and his demons, but said demons drain powers just by saying a hero's name. All the heroes except Batman switch outfits to take them on. We start with some hilarious hijinks that come from this type of plot, and end with an awesome beat down that's enhanced thanks to Shazam. Here, we get a better view of his powers and how he can contribute to the group. It's his spirit that helps to save the day. It's a moral that appeals to everyone, which is so satisfying.

10. Play Date

Writer: Paul Dini

Date: December 17, 2016 (UK)

Synopsis: "Toyman kidnaps Cyborg and the Justice League."

If I can describe this episode in a phrase, it's "what would you happen if you took Teen Titans' comedy and gave it a modern flare.". Let's see why. This episode starts with Cyborg and the Justice League trying to stop a break in, which is later revealed to be a trap by Toyman. He kidnaps our heroes and uses them for his live action video game against their well (through special controls), and Cyborg has to save them. This episode is just plain fun. It's definitely one that will appeal to hardcore video game players due to how sleek and advanced it feels and how over the top childish Toyman is. The most interesting part is its video game message. The beginning of the episode has Cyborg almost ruin said mission since he was distracted by video games. He then applies his video game skills to help save the day. What the episode is saying is how your hobbies can help you out in life, which is a nice moral.

All in all, I like what I see. The pacing is smooth. The characters are great. The action and humor strike a perfect balance with each other. I definitely recommend the show.

Here is the cast for all the episodes.

Kevin Conroy as Batman

Jason J. Lewis as Superman, Falcone

Rachel Kimsey as Wonder Woman

Sean Astin as Shazam

Gary Cole as Black Adam

Carl Reiner as The Wizard

Chris Diamantopolous as Green Arrow

Diedrich Bader as Booster Gold

Khary Payton as Cyborg

Dana Snyder as Plastic Man

Max Mittleman as Jimmy Olsen, Parasite

David Lodge as Calythos

Oliver Vaquer as Mister Mind

Patton Oswalt as Space Cabbie

John DiMaggio as Lobo, Mongul

Troy Baker as Hawkman

PJ Byrne as Firestorm

Stephen Tobolowsky as Professor Martin Stein

Melissa Disney, Rachel Kimsey, Jason Lewis, and Kevin Shinick as Mom & Brat, Sis, Bif, and Dad (The Nuclear Family)

Lacey Chabert as Zatanna

Mark Hamill as The Joker, Swamp Thing

Damian O' Hare as John Constantine

Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy

Dan Donohue as Brother Night

Charlie Schattler as The Flash

Jake T. Austin as Blue Beetle

Andy Richter as Chronos

Ken Jeong as Toyman

Thanks for reading everyone. Have a good day.