Thanks to its use of smaller DC Comic heroes and villains, watching Justice League Unlimited: Joining Forces is like watching a comic book come to life on your television screen.
I am a huge comic fan, and the Justice League Unlimited series does a great job of adding the action and humor that many of the comics bring out in their heroes. It also floods the show with a ton of “B-list” heroes, such as Wildcat and Booster Gold, that would normally be overlooked in a series that features the big guns of DC – Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
Justice League Unlimited: Joining Forces collects three episodes (not in any order) from Season Three of the hit television series that runs on the Cartoon Network. The DVD features “For The Man Who Has Everything,” “The Return,” and “The Greatest Story Never Told.”
“For The Man Who Has Everything” features the first appearance of Jor El, Krypto, and Joe Chill – the man who shot Batman’s parents. The plot follows Batman and Wonder Woman arriving at Superman’s Fortress of Solitude for his birthday. They quickly discover that the villain Mongul has placed Superman under the spell of the Black Mercy Plant – which puts its victim in a dreamlike trance where their every wish is realized in the dream.
Under the plant’s spell, Superman dreams of a perfect life on a never destroyed Krypton with Lois as his wife and his real parents still alive. While his fantasy is unfolding, Batman and Wonder Woman battle Mongul and try to break Superman from the plant’s grip. They succeed, but then Batman falls prey to the plant and dreams of his father defeating the criminal Joe Chill.
This episode has some great humor - such as when Wonder Woman criticizes Batman for possibly getting Superman a gift certificate for his birthday, and Batman replies he got him cash. It also has a ton of action with Wonder Woman and Mongul throwing down big time before Superman takes over once he is freed from the Black Mercy Plant.
“The Return” features appearances by Steel, The Atom, and several of the Green Lantern Corp (who need their own cartoon series). The plot follows the heroes as they struggle to protect Lex Luther and the planet from a returning Amazo – an android headed for Earth to take his revenge on Luther.
Booster Gold faces the dangers of crowd control in The Greatest Story Never Told
With a ton of extra heroes, including Dr. Fate and Supergirl, this episode really shows what the Unlimited series is about. It has a ton of action with the heroes falling to the android’s attack, and struggling to find the secret to stopping Amazo. There is also some pretty funny dialogue as Luther gets extremely stressed out as the android approaches.
In the end, the heroes have to rely on one of DC Comics greatest villains (Luther) to solve what the android is searching for, and save the day. It also shows that not every episode is going to find the heroes solving the problems with their fists or powers.
“The Greatest Story Never Told” is possibly the best of the three episodes on the DVD and features almost the entire Justice League. The plot focuses on Booster Gold – a hero from the future who longs to be as great as Superman and Batman, but is always forced to the sidelines.<!--page-->
As the Justice League scrambles to stop the villain Mordu from destroying the city, Booster Gold is called into action to work “crowd control.” You can’t help but laugh as the superhero complains about having to help the people cross the street, and rushes to save a kid’s “ants” thinking they are his “aunts.” There is also a great running joke through the episode as people continue to call Booster Gold the Green Lantern by mistake, and he has a meltdown each time.
The episode also has a ton of action, and Booster Gold soon finds out that working crowd control has quite a bit of danger involved in it too. The hero has his hands full later on in the episode when he has to try and stop a growing black hole from sucking in the rest of the city.
Thanks to some really great dialogue from Booster Gold and some of the jokes at the hero’s expense, this is really the funniest episode of the DVD. It has enough action and heroes thrown in to please every fan of the show.
Kyle Rayner and other members of the Green Lantern Corp show up in The Return
The main problem with the DVD is that it is simply three episodes and they are not in any kind of order with the series. I would have liked to see a Justice League Unlimited DVD release of the complete series or several seasons like we have seen for some of the early Batman Animated series.
This is the second or third release of the series from Warner Bros., but they continue to be three episode DVDs that aren’t in any kind of order. While this is just a problem for the real fans of the show, it would still be nice to see the complete seasons released on DVD. At the least, they could release a DVD with more than three episodes on it.
While the DVD may lack more than three episodes, it does come with some pretty good special features that are aimed at kids, but still fun to watch. They include “The Science of Superheroes: Secrets Behind Superman’s Power of Flight;” “Voices of Justice: Super Voice Lessons from the Professionals;” and the “Justice League Superhero Challenge.”
Batman and Wonder Woman team against Mongul
The Science of Superheroes feature has an interview with a scientist that works on projects for NASA. He discusses how Superman does some of his powers and the physics behind those powers. The Voices of Justice features interviews with the actors who provide the voices for Superman, Wonder Woman and the John Stewart Green Lantern. It is a pretty interesting look at what is involved in creating the voices and how each actor came to be the voice of the hero.
Even though it only has three episodes, Justice League Unlimited: Joining Forces is worth watching for any fan of DC Comics or of the show. It contains three episodes that have all the qualities that make the show a hit, and it is a lot of fun for kids and adults. I would highly recommend the DVD.
Justice League: Joining Forces is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
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