The Owl House: Love & Weirdos

Disney Channel was looking for the next comedy/adventure cartoon to fit in their files like Gravity Falls and Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil that wasn't adjacent to the standard Mickeyverse. Since Harry Potter had long since wrapped up, a new fantasy with kids learning magic seemed like a good enough idea. Animator Dana Terrace presented her plan for a series titled The Owl House blending common witchcraft with modern day pop and folk culture. Even though it might at first look like an Americanized version of an isekai anime, the show went on to have its own sense of style with fluid animation, realistic characters, deep lore, and engaging voice actors. What truly caught the eye of casual animation fans was how it drew in viewers as it engaged those who might be seen as weirdos. The Owl House encompassed the depiction of physical, emotional, and mental barriers in a positive manner. It also heavily took into account the encumbrance facing those coming to terms with their own gender, sexuality, and personal identity. For a show to highlight representation this way on a family-centered network was the first steps that the series faced towards its own premature end.

Dana Terrace was a storyboarder on Gravity Falls who eventually became a director for the DuckTales reboot. She took influence from anime like Utena and Pokemon, plus Tenchi Muyo which is evident as Eda's design is a clear copy of Ryoko. After working on DuckTales, Dana pitched the idea of a fantasy/adventure to Disney in 2018, and was greenlit at the same time as Amphibia, of which both shows are secretly in a shared universe.

Season One came out in 2020 with 19 episodes. Season Two was given 21 episodes in 2021. Season Three was trimmed to just a trio of hour-long specials instead of 20 regular episodes. Disney roped in the show as its serialized nature wasn't bringing in successful ratings. Part of the problem with this was because of episode leaks, although the major reason Disney cut the series short was largely due to the backlash from conservative parents on the show's open depictions of LGBTQ+ characters and all-inclusive nature which didn't fit into the company's standards at the time. This lead to a lot censoring of non-heteronormative material in foreign markets despite the show's strong fan following for it being all-inclusive.

The cast is vastly diverse with many professional voice actors and some with minimal voice over experience. Sarah Nicole Robles is the main character of Luz who only had some past credits in Disney dubs. Wendie Malick is Eda who had decades of experience in sitcoms, as well animation voice overs in Bojack Horseman and The Emperor's New Groove. Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch pulls double-duty as both King and Hooty. Tinkerbell herself Mae Whitman plays Amity. Anime VA regular Zeno Robinson is Hunter. Matthew Rhys is Bellos who later went on to do voices for Tuca And Bertie as well as the Watchmen duology. Cissy Jones is Lillith and afterwards played Elita-1 in Transformers. Michaela Deitz who played Amethyst on Steven Universe is the shapeshifting Vee. The Collector's actor Fryda Wolff has indentified herself as bisexual. Non-binary actor Avi Roque portrays the similarly non-binary Raine. Also included were Tati Gabrielle as Willow and Issac Ryan Brown as Gus.

Dana Terrace's original pilot had Amity being a witch disguised in the human world that Luz fell for and follows to the Boiling Islands. Luz gets stuck in the Demon Realm helping Eda escape her sister Lillith that here is the principal of Hexside. In the original story, Eda secretly works for Bellos who wants her to bring in the one human for him to inspect.

The main synopsis of The Owl House is that it takes place in another dimension called the Demon Realm. Luz is an Afro-Latina who moved to Gravesfield, Ohio so her mother Camila could get medical help for sick father. After her father's death, Luz is sent to a neurodivergent summer camp as she has ADHD. Instead of getting on the bus to camp, she winds up following an owl into an abandoned house which leads to The Boiling Isles that are the remains of a dead Titan where she meets Eda Clawthorne, the Owl Lady, a witch who promises to teach Luz magic. Eda had adopted a young creature she named King who thinks he is the lost king of demons. Luz attends the Hexside School where she befriends Amity, a stuck up girl who eventually changed her ways and formed a romantic relationship with Luz that recognized herself as bisexual.

The Boiling Isles is run by Emperor Bellos, who in reality is Phillip Whitebane, a witch hunter from the 1600s whose brother Caleb supposedly fell for a witch named Evelyn. Phillip makes clones of Caleb called Grimwalkers to act as his Golden Guard, the latest one of which is Hunter. Belos also stays alive through methods of cloning, plus consuming Palismans. Belos can inhabit bodies by splitting his soul. It’s possible that every split makes each version a totally different Belos, meaning the real one has been dead for years. He became emperor after setting up the Coven system. Each coven is broken up into 9 different systems: Emperor’s, Abomination, Bard, Beast Keeping, Construction, Healing, Illusion, Oracle, Plant, and Potions. Belos established these to utilize Titan's blood on the Boiling Isles which would allow him to open the portal door back to the human world.

Wild magic is the only kind outlawed by Belos because he couldn't control it. Evelyn was a wild witch that seduced Caleb, as well as being Eda’s ancestor. Flapjack was probably Evelyn’s Palisman. It's strange that in the series finale Eda eventually sets up her own school of wild magic which is paradoxical to her philosophy of being an individual as passing on what she’s learned can conform others into her own lifestyle. Eda resides in what's called The Owl House that was originally used by her father who fashioned Palismans. The house is inhabited by a bizarre owl demon with a long neck attached to the front door called Hooty

The enigmatic character of the Collector is part of a cosmic group called The Archivists who trapped him in the Demon Realm. The Archivists removed all the Titans because their power cancels out their own, so they either did this as an act of preservation or just plain old spite. King’s father was the last remaining Titan who took his hatred for The Archivists out on The Collector and left him on an island that was really his hand sealed off in another dimension with Titan Trappers that worshipped The Collector as a god. This is where King learns of his true heritage as a titan. Bellos finds The Collector's prision in a disc in his early days as Phillip because of a trip that Luz and Lillith took to the past in what is referred to a Time Pools.

The entire plot of The Owl House is one giant causality loop. A future timeline that only exists because someone went back in the past to set it up in the first place. Luz and Lillith were supposed to find the Time Pools, go back and meet the younger Phillip Whitebane, which in turn lead him to The Collector. This isn’t a fate vs. destiny debate because it's on a fixed timeline. Even though this timeline has been established, it’s possible to change it, and equally possible that Luz and Lillith ended up in a completely different reality when they travelled back to the future/present.

In a causality loop, even in a fixed timeline, it can be diverted. Chaos is a major factor in its creation, and the forces of order and chaos are constantly pulling at each other to close the loop or collapse it, either effect would replace it with a different timeline. When these forces are working against each other, reality can be radically altered in numerous ways. People who died can be brought back to life in one way or another, as well as someone temporarily gaining powers that they never had before. Bellos likely hired Lillith to begin with to keep her close so he could manipulate her into going back in time in the first place, a possibility he learned through oracle magic.

The Owl House utilizes the concept the Time Pools very well as they work under the principle of chronomancy, not time travel. Chronomancy is the magical manipulation of temporal energy, whereas time travel is the scientific and occasionally natural navigation of timestreams. Chronomancy is largely paradox free, even though order and chaos will still tug at both ends to cause a probability collapse. How this would ultimately resolve can only be answered in whatever aftermath there is upon its conclusion.
Eda would have been one of the most powerful witches on the Boiling Isles if it weren't for a curse placed on her. Despite her potent mastery of wild magic, Eda periodically transforms into what's called the Owl Beast leaving her unable to use magic. The owl curse stems from one of the Archivists who captured the actual Owl Beast and sealed it inside a scroll. Eda's sister Lillith placed this curse on Eda when they were younger which she now has to take an elixir for on an almost daily basis to keep it under control. Eda's curse is a metaphor for someone stricken with disability and having to adjust to their new way of living after a life-altering incident.

Amity begins the series disliking Luz because she only cared about social status. This was changed when she realized Luz was sincere in her honesty, and how wrong her parents were when it came to treating her fellow students. Amity was originally childhood friends with Willow but ditched her when pressured by her mother. Willow’s abandonment by the other students helped her discover the strength of her inner self to overcome her status quo. Amity saw this and left Boscha’s highbrow crowd to embrace this philosophy, which also lead to her becoming attracted to Luz.

In the beginning, The Titan itself had the mysterious Bat Queen as its Palisman, even though her size doesn't compare to that of the Palisman which act as a witch's familiar or animus figure. When Luz finally meets the Titan near the end of the series, it is shown that he has a demon growing out his eye that looks like Hooty, even though what the connection between the two is never explained. All magic on the Boiling Isles stems from what’s left of the Titan’s spirit. Evelyn found the Titan’s missing eye and used it to make the portal door. The Titan’s spirit exists in the In Between, a subspace within the Demon Realm which acts as the portal dimension that leads to Earth.

The Owl House has a huge theme of neurodiversity. The Coven system is an allegory for conformity, and Luz’s desire to study more than one form of magic showcases her lack of being able to focus on a single goal. This is partially due to her ADHD and lack of foresight. Luz’s sense of alienation is why she adapts to the Demon Realm so well. Her anxiety also drives her while holding her back at the same time which prevents her from fitting in with her more conventional peers.

This series also manages to spotlight on living with a disability. Eda's curse is a living example of this as it prevents her from using her magic that she keeps boasting about, and she’s afraid her beast mode might harm any of her loved ones. It could be seen as someone recovering from substance abuse, except this is a real curse and Eda needs to take medication to keep it in check. The Owl Beast curse also prematurely aged Eda physically which is a good way of illustrating how a handicap can limit a person's lifestyle.

One thing that The Owl House shined brightest was in its transgender representation. Eda's old friend Raine Whispers is non-binary, but they broke up with her when Eda didn't open up about her curse. Eda tried to rekindle their relationship, despite the fact that Raine was secretly leading a rebellion against Bellos all while being a coven head. Non-binary characters aren't that abundant in most TV series, but here they are given the respect and dignity that any binary person would.

LGBTQ+ was equally given as much attention in the series. In the beginning, Luz was shown as heterosexual, even though over time she slowly gains feeling for Amity who is initially implied to be a lesbian. The two of them officially become a couple halfway through Season 2, and their relationship grows from there, including one of the first animated same-sex kisses. Unfortunately, their romance gets more airtime in the Disney Chibi shorts than the actual Owl House TV show possibly due to the series being cut short. Willow's fathers are also a fine example of gay delineation. It’s likely that gender and racial diversity in the Demon Realm wasn't considered a negative issue which might have been part of Belos’ puritan crusade to rid the world of witches.

Trauma and PTSD are also major factors that were brought to the forefront in The Owl House. Luz is still reeling from the death of her father and trying to be accepted in school, while her mother Camila also had trouble growing up and is now a widow doubled with being a single parent who is defensive about her only child. Hunter is shocked that his entire existence is a lie as he was created solely to be part of his uncle's evil scheme, and he deals with it by running away to find comfort with those who understood about being critically distraught. Willow and Gus first bonded over both of them being social outcasts. Eda is constantly stressed that she can't use her magic anymore and has to make a living selling human junk since she doesn't trust anyone in authority. Lillith is stricken with guilt when she reveals it was her that cursed Eda, even though she now shares the curse that also causes her to fret adjusting to her new handicap. King has identity issues since his origins were at first a mystery, and after he learns he was really a titan, he worries that he won't live up to his father's legacy. The Collector had it worse than anyone as his own people tricked him into being isolated and as they snatched up all his young Titan friends, then he got sealed away by King's dad and reduced to a mere shadow who trusted Bellos to release him, only to be betrayed again despite all his reality-warping powers.

The Owl House's tragically brief time on general streaming TV was enough to make it notable among regular Disney watchers and its theme of inclusion to those some would refer to as weirdos. Even though they stick together, the weirdos' wish to be understood and accepted is a universal message that anyone intelligent enough should be able to pick up on.

MISC. MANGA, *Fairy Tail

Hiro Mishima had a decent amount of success with his first serial Rave Master that got an anime adaptation with a catchy theme song by Reel Big Fish done for the American dub. His next manga had ties to the same universe in this pseudo-spinoff titled Fairy Tail. Whereas One Piece could be seen as "pirate-punk", this genre of this manga would be something along the lines of "fantasy-punk". The manga was first picked up for American readers by Del Rey Books who went defunct in 2010, so Kodansha picked it up after reprinting the volumes that were already released. The anime adaptation has become one of the most successful releases among American otaku, and its follow-up, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest has just come out in Japan with western fans salivating for the latest installments.

Lucy Heartfilia is a young summoner who is looking to join the guild of rowdy wizards known as Fairy Tail. After an experience with a poser magician, Lucy comes across Natsu Dragneel, a member of Fairy Tail that was raised by a dragon. In their first mission together, they take their winged talking cat colleague Happy on a mission to the mountains investigating the disappearance of fellow wizard Macao who got turned into a horny primate. From this point on, we learn more about Natsu's mysterious past, and the revelation of a secret cabal of villains who are plotting their demise just to relieve their boredom.

With two hit anime TV series, a pair of full-length animated movies, and a series of OVA specials, Fairy Tail has left its mark in anime fandom. Their adventures do include a brief crossover with the Rave Master cast. Whether this will lead to a Hiro Mishima multiverse is yet to be revealed. The manga is dynamic, even though it does give into a much of the anime cliches of characters doing cartoon takes of being surprised or the males lusting over the females in a way that's borderline creepy. Fairy Tail is not for kids, but young adult readers who are looking for a little more adventure in their fantasy stories should be satisfied.

R.I.P. Greg Hildebrandt

 

R.I.P. Teri Garr

ANI-MOVIES, *Wendell And Wild

The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick hadn't been involved in a movie since Coraline in 2009, so when comedy-turned horror filmmaker Jordan Peele got together with him to produce a movie based on his unpublished book, it seemed like a great deal. Wendell And Wild is a stop-motion animation feature that premiered on Netflix in 2022 and directed by Peele's longtime collaborator Win Rosenfield. As far as an animated feature, it's above average, not exactly as overwhelming as something you would see in a Aardman or Laika production, even though still engaging to the eye. The problem is that the story is all over the place with and endless barrage of plot points that keep getting tacked on to it at breakneck speed. The overall narrative refuses to stick to a single idea for any in depth amount of time largely stuffed totally unrelated filler. The film suffers from a nagging habit of going from one unconnected scene after the other while losing its focus with its overall message.

Kat is an orphan whose parents are killed in a car accident she blames herself for when she was younger. Years later, she's become a punk rebelling against the system proudly playing her dad's old boombox as loud as possible. She returns to her hometown of Rust Bank and is enrolled in a Catholic school for girls. The town was originally supported by a soft drink brewery run by Kat's parents that was later burned down. A corrupt company called Klaxon Korp has slowly been buying up Rust Bank to create their own specialized prison. Kat doesn't make friends with any of her new schoolmates including the only trans student Raul, although he has his own agenda painting pieces of a huge painting over all the rooftops in town. Meanwhile, the title characters of Wendell and Wild are demon brothers toiling in the underworld spending their days planting hair plugs in their gigantic demon father's skull who has an amusement park on his gut where he tortures lost souls. Wendell and Wild discover that Kat is what's called a hell maiden and has a paranormal connection to the spirit world that gives her precognition. The brothers make contact with Kat and get her to summon them upstairs so they can set up their own theme park with blackjack and hookers. In exchange, Wendell and Wild promise to restore parents back to life thanks to their magic hair cream, even though the effects are only temporary. From this point on, the plot channel surfs between conflicting ideas and concepts, most of which never get resolved in the end. There's a nun at the school who is also a hell maiden, a disabled janitor that catches demons with her, and the evil school head who gets killed by the Klaxons but is resurrected by the demon brothers all working on a scheme to help the Klaxon Korp take over the town, even though they killed him! Some of the characters are well-meaning and honestly decent, but most are selfish and don't care who they use to get what they want even with good intentions. It's very hard to accept how abrupt the movie ends with its eternal barrage of expositions trying to explain the character's motives and backstories.

Wendell And Wild tries to shove too many social commentaries into a single feature. There's trans-representation, anti-industry, corporate greed, crooked religious authorities, and considering that the main crux of the film is about demonic mojo you would expect a little more under the topics of sins and succumbing to selfishness. One of the only saving graces is the adorable pygmy goat that acts as the film's token cute animal character that you could see someone making plushies of. This movie is a stunning viewing experience that could have neen quaint to see on the big screen even though its being limited to Netflix. Henry Selick might have had a good enough story in his original book, but Jordan Peele's input might have added more to the overall production than it was capable of handling, even in an animated movie. Peele is good at modern day thrillers, although Wendell And Wild can barely keep its head above water with all the political criticism which denies the audience a satisfying watch.

ANI-MOVIES, *Hellboy: Blood And Iron

The second and so far final outing of Hellboy's animated movies is Blood And Iron. There was a stinger at the end of this movie hinting at a possible third feature highlighting the spinoff character Lobster Johnson, but the only extension into the Hellboy universe included in this was a short available only on the physical release titled The Red Shoes where Hellboy hunts down a small demon. Blood And Iron was animated by Madhouse along with Film Roman and tried to create a darker mood than was used in Sword Of Storms, but the angular character designs and brightened backgrounds rob the movie of any real chance of that. Most of the regular voice actors from the previous film are back including John Hurt reprising his role of Professor Broom, and James Arnold Taylor portraying the younger version of Broom. Oddly enough, there are a few scenes where Taylor is filling in some additional vocals for the modern day Broom's dialogue, possibly due to John Hurt's availability at the time. Other voice actors included Jim Cummings, Grey DeLisle, and Cree Summer. The story folds out in two separate paths, one of the early Prof. Broom's adventure when he was trying to kill the vampire noble Erzsebet prior to his first meeting with Hellboy, except that its flashbacks shown in reverse chronological order, and the rest of the movie is set in modern day.

Hellboy and Abe tackle a clockwork minotaur in the legendary Labyrinth and are later called into help secure the authenticity of a haunted mansion in the Hamptons recently bought by a huge backer of the BPRD. Prof. Broom, Liz Sherman, and newbie Sydney go along to investigate whether this house really has any ghosts. The rich guy in question is a dead ringer for Xanatos from Gargoyles, and wants to turn the mansion into a tourist attraction by bringing a ton of artifacts from the home of the dead vampire Erzsebet who worshipped the Greek goddess Hecate. Part of Hecate's essence was sealed up in an old iron maiden which two witch harpy sisters are literally raising spirits to bring back to life. Hellboy and crew have to deal with pesky non-confrontational ghosts, a werewolf, a den of giant snakes, and the resurrected Erzsebet herself who Broom does away with via holy water. Hellboy himself gets into a slugfest with the awakened spirit of Hecate now in a giant iron body who was defeated after being exposed to sunlight.

Hellboy: Blood And Iron was partially based on the Wake The Devil storyline by creator Mike Mignola, but clearly went in its own direction. The movie does have shades of old Hammer Horrors but curbed even for modern day viewers. For a Hellboy adventure, the title character is a secondary character in his own movie and used only for when he's fighting goliaths. It's not set in the same continuity as any of the live-action movies as Prof. Broom is still alive in it, although possibly a prequel to the Guillermo del Toro duology. This movie catches the look and feel of your average Hellboy comic book, but you would be better off with Sword Of Storms if you want a more epic action fantasy.

Justice League Action: You Missed Out On A Great Show

After Cartoon Network dropped DC Nation, they were relying solely on Teen Titans Go as the only intake on their lineup of parent company Warner Bros’ comics publisher. The Arrowverse was in full swing, so a show that would bring children's attention to the Justice League was overdue. Young Justice didn’t count since they were a team operating under the League, so a cartoon that would motivate kids into buying a new brand of action figures was the answer. Unlike Young Justice, they produced some toys from Mattel to go along with this second Justice League animated series titled Justice League Action. This merchandise included some toys at Burger King that they had in their King Jr. Meals that were in rotation for years after JLA was cancelled. The regular action figures didn’t sell as big as your regular Turtles or Transformers at the time.

Justice League Action only lasted for 52 episodes until its cancellation, each one only took up 15 minutes of screentime that got a single weekly airing on early Saturday mornings. It's easy to see that Cartoon Network could have planned for this to air with two episodes back-to-back for a single half-hour, but for some reason they kept it to a scant single episode once a week. Despite all the talent they poured into it, Cartoon Network seemed to have a secret agenda with sabotaging their own production.

Warner Bros. Animation oversaw the show’s production with Sam Register as executive producer who was smart enough to give Lauren Faust’s DC Super Hero Girls a TV series. Producers included Alan Burnett who was involved in nearly every DC animated gig since the original Super Friends, plus longtime collaborator of Paul Dini. Speaking of which, Paul Dini from Batman: The Animated Series played a major part in this and leant a few of his original characters to the cast including Brother Night.

The major thing that JLA had going for it was the voice talent. Once again, Kevin Conroy is Batman and Mark Hamill is Joker, as well as Swamp Thing, Trickster, and Mark Hamill. Another holdover from the DCAU is Gilbert Gottfried returning as Mister Mxyzptlk, Khary Paton as Cyborg, Josh Keaton as Green Lantern, and Tara Strong as Harley Quinn. Former Batman, Diedrich Bader is now doing Booster Gold. Future Batman, Troy Baker is cast as Hawkman. Various former Star Trek alumni make appearances such as Michael Dorn as Atrocitus, John de Lancie as Brainiac, Robert Picardo as Two-Face, Armin Shimerman as Zox, and Brent Spiner as Riddler. Several comedians also played roles like Hannibal Buress as Mr. Terrific, Ken Jeong as Toyman, Thomas Lennon as Amazo, Jon Lovitz as Sid Sharp, Patton Oswalt as Space Cabbie, and Andy Richter as Chronos. A few serious legendary actors dropped in too like Carl Reiner as Wizard, John Astin as Uncle Marvel, Sean Astin as Shazam, Jon Cryer as Felix Faust, Cloris Leachman as Granny Goodness, Jerry O'Connell as Atom, Christian Slater as Deadshot, Gary Cole as Black Adam, Jessica Walter as Athena, and James Woods as Luthor. Some anime voice actors had parts in limited roles like Crispin Freeman, Max Mittelman, Patrick Seitz, and Travis Willingham. Other regular voice actors included P.J. Byrne, Darin De Paul, John Di Maggio, Grey Griffin, William Salyers, Dana Snyder, and Fred Tatasciore. It should be noted that voice actress Rachel Kimsey makes for a fine Wonder Woman, and Jason J. Lewis is amazing as not only Superman, but also as Zod, Krypto, Streaky, DeSaad, Dex-Starr, and Red Tornado.

Each TV episode was self-contained with only a reoccurring storyline running through the first 4 episodes. This is how it ran from Dec. 2016-Jun. 2018. At least 80% of every episode had Batman featured in it, so if you’re a heavy Kevin Conroy fan, you were getting your money’s worth. The series started out with the Justice League already operating out the Hall of Justice but moved it to the new Watchtower located on a freshly made dormant volcano in a bay near Metropolis. Aside from their previous ranks, they also added newbies like Stargirl, Firestorm, and Blue Beetle. A few Justice League Dark members were also signed on including Zatanna, Constantine, Etrigan, Dr. Fare, and a much more relaxed Swamp Thing. Some heroes only appeared in a few episodes, for example Martian Manhunter or Hawkman, while obscure DC characters such as Space Cabbie were frequent. Leaguers such as Dr. Light and Red Tornado were barely a blip on the radar. Other heroes like Aquaman, Guy Gardner and Robin only get a brief mention.

A good number of the JLA adventures featured part of, or all DC’s Big 3, but usually accompanied by other well-known good guys getting some spotlight like Atom, Green Arrow and Mr. Terrific. Firestorm particularly had a large portion of spotlight shined on him, specifically his two personas of Ronald and Prof. Stein. Stargirl must deal with being the newest rookie on the team and living up to Batman’s expectations. Supergirl also appears but near the end of the series, and she somehow managed to skate through any kind of orientation simply because she is Superman’s cousin. Constantine has taken a page from the Fox One Piece dub and replaced his smoking habit with lollipops. Swamp Thing is also way more laid back and not droning on about how The Green is suffering. Cain from The House Of Mystery narrates an episode where the Justice League Dark spend their Halloween magically turned into kids. Booster Gold takes up a good chunk of the series as the cause and/or solution to many of the League’s troubles. Shazam gets some exposure at the beginning of the series with only getting one episode to himself that sincerely takes the real-life father/son team of John and Sean Astin playing Uncle Dudley and Billy Batson. Hal Jordan is the only Green Lantern to ever see the light of day in this series, although there is the brief appearance of a legendary leftover from Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Mister Miracle here is more of an overdramatic celebrity wannabe. The goddess Athena also shows up to give Batman a hard time. Plastic Man is the real comedic gem here with Master Shake voice actor Dana Snyder scoring it, although Tom Kenny is still the best Plas. Original character Sid Sharp is humorously voiced by Jon Lovitz in his animation premiere as Clark Kent’s rival reporter who gets kidnapped by Darkseid.

A good portion of the villains that showed up were Batman or Superman enemies. Joker is back to being a fun-loving prankster, Riddler is reformed, Penguin is more of a gangster, Harley oddly never has Mr. J with him, Poison Ivy forgets her ecological crusade to be another bad guy, Zod is still into having people kneel before him, Deadshot is literally “shoot first and ask Christian Slater”, Toyman is obsessive with his action figure collecting, Brainiac is more anal retentive, and Luthor has refreshingly returned to being the greatest criminal mind of our time. Darkseid and his forces routinely appeared to show how much of a threat they truly were. The writers tried to make the lame criminal organization of HIVE a reoccurring menace to no avail. The Red Lanterns also dropped in but were usually upstaged by the awesomeness that is Dex-Starr who managed to hold off both Krypto and Streaky at the same time. Mxyzptlk guest-stars too, including one where he switches the Leaguers personalities around. Stock villains like Felix Faust, Chronos, Amazo, Solomon Grundy, Sinestro, Grodd, Mr. Mind, Clarion, and Calculator managed to have an entire episode dedicated to each of them being the big bad. Roxy Rocket shows up once now running her own intergalactic passenger transport service. Some villains who’ve never been featured in the comics at all got their premiere here, specifically Calythos and Uthool that were only mentioned in the comics as two of the items The Demons Three were sealed up in. Brother Dark is more of a power broker of dark magic instead of the demonic cultist from the source material. Lobo is his gruff bounty hunter self, even though here he’s a chaos factor instead of his normal anti-hero status. The only supervillain group we see in the whole show are The Nuclear Family, a family of robots who turn a nuclear power plant into a sitcom. There are some random crossovers like Luthor teaming up with Chronos, or Mr. Freeze tricking Killer Frost into being the energy source for his latest caper, but weirdest of all is when Joker is abducted by Mongul to makes his subjects laugh. The better villain pairing is when Joker steals a Mother Box and busts Luthor out of jail with and teleports all over the world for vacation with the League failing to catch them. The only original addition to DC’s rogue's gallery is Red Velvet, a ticked off time traveler that Booster Gold left at the altar who manages to destroy the Watchtower with her future tech.

Aside from the regular TV show, Justice League Action also had a series of 2-3-minute-long shorts that premiered on YouTube and were also made available on streaming. 22 episodes aired halfway through the TV series and were more like quick comedic vignettes with an emphasis on laughs. One is an entire take on Looney Tunes where Lobo is chasing Flash around like Road Runner. Viewers get to see the League in their downtime where Firestorm and Stargirl share a quick romantic moment, or the team go bowling after busting another super villain team up. The short where Plastic Man poses as Superman to throw Lois Lane off Clark Kent’s secret identity. There’s a nice bit where Wonder Woman and Supergirl have some girl bonding on Themyscira. Plastic Man and Booster Gold manage to steal most of the laughs in these tales, but funniest of all is where Batman is playing good cop and Superman is playing bad cop much to Deadshot’s shocking confusion. One of mention is where Firestorm’s constant changing of different kinds of Kryptonite keep shifting Superman in multiple ways, including turning into a woman. Arguably the best one is where Joker and Trickster unite to kidnap Mark Hammil and the actor gets them to work against each other while being rescued by Swamp Thing, all of which were of course voiced by Hammil himself.

Justice League Action had a terrific blend of action and comedy with incredible animation, even though it would seem slightly choppy at times. Cartoon Network should have had more faith in their product instead of limiting it to once a week on early Saturday mornings. It also didn’t help that they did little to no advertising for it. Since streaming wasn’t as prominent at the time when it came to shows currently running on TV, the show didn’t get as much attention as it should. Unless you had a DVR, you probably didn’t get a chance to watch the show as it was airing. It is currently standard on streaming services, plus available as a pair of 2-disc DVD sets, although currently no Blu-Ray release. At least the Justice League finally got their own battle cry, even if they only used it once during the whole series.