Welcome to Animation Quick look, you know the drill.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series focuses on DC comics first Green Lantern that was the concept we know of as Green Lanterns today, Hal Jordan (the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott had a green ring the was charged with a green lantern, but there was no alien factor or Green Lantern Corps or the uniform that pretty much all lanterns wear now). While he is the Green Lantern that’s supposed to be guarding Earth, he sets off with buddy Kilowog in a spaceship that’s basically Edi from Mass Effect to the far reaches of space to investigate the rumor of Red Lanterns that are killing Green Lanterns far from Oa. Why is he in space when he should be guarding his sector? BECAUSE REASONS!

In my previous review of Young Justice, I pretty clearly explained how awesome DC animated cartoons generally are, but even with that pedigree and hitmaker Bruce Timm behind this show, I wasn’t actually psyched about sitting down and watching this series for two main reasons. One, it’s CG. Now I don’t have a problem with CG in movies, but as animated CG shows tend to be incredibly low budget they generally look terrible. Also, much like everyone has a favorite Bond or a favorite Doctor who was usually their first exposure to the franchise, my first and therefore sentimental favorite Lantern was John Stewart. Sure he was pretty much in Justice League to be the token black dude, but he was still a great character and so I’m instantly biased against anyone else donning the ring.

So I was actually surprised to find myself quite enjoying Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Don’t get me wrong, Hal Jordan is totally the archetypal young rookie who breaks all the rules and still wins the day along with his practically “I’m too old for this shit” partner/friend/mentor Kilowog; but it’s a formula for a reason-most of the time it works and it works pretty well here too. It also has a clear objective that anchors every episode (at least in the 6 I’ve watched thus far) which I prefer to random wacky adventures that have absolutely nothing to do with the main plot. I mean those are fine, but too often shows (not just animated) are filled with so many one-off episodes that the main season arc only takes up 5 or 6 episodes and the rest of the season feels like a giant waste of time.

Also I really enjoyed the animation. Like I said previously, I loathe CG on animated shows because generally it’s very low-budget and looks awful. Even more recent shows like the most recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I actually like that show just not the overall look) and Beware The Batman have an off-putting CG style. But in Green Lantern they have a very Incredibles style look and it works really well and is fun to watch. It’s not quite up there with the DC Holy trinity of Batman/Superman/Justice League, but it’s a solid continuation of that fantastic animated DC pedigree that hopefully someday they can their shit together and pump out live action movies to match.

Final Rating: 4/5-Squirrels who are alien superheroes.

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Welcome to Animation quick look, you probably know the drill by the now, I watch something animated and tell you if it’s worth your viewing time.

Young Justice is a lot different from previous animated shows I have reviewed on Screensnark thus far. Not only have I seen bits and pieces to it prior to just putting it on for actual review, but for most shows I just go in cold with little to no knowledge of what the show is even about. I have been watching animated shows based on various DC properties since the seminal Batman: The Animated Series premiered over twenty years ago. Simply put, DC may be a goddamn mess when it comes to big budget live action movies, but they’ve dominated the animated scene for decades.

Batman, Superman, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans. All ridiculously awesome shows, some of which have continuity tied within series. DC did the whole connected universe thing years ago. It’s basically the high bar standard for western animation, and very little matches up to it.

Young Justice takes arguably the biggest risk of a DC show to date by focusing on the lesser known sidekicks. Because seriously, who the fuck cares about Aqualad or Kid Flash? Especially going up against D-List villains like Sportsmaster (seriously, the guy’s whole deal is deadly sports-themed gadgets and weapons). How can this possibly be good?

But what the DC Animated universe has done incredibly well it’s entire run is bring lower-tier characters in and make them interesting. In Batman: the Animated Series guys like Mr. Freeze and Scarface became storied deep characters who weren’t gimmicky jokes. In Justice League, minor heroes like Hawk & Dove, Vigilante and Booster Gold all got some fantastic spotlight episodes that made them actually interesting.

Young Justice continues that tradition, and plays well with the fact that this is a team made up of heroes that while trained and powerful, are still kids that no one takes seriously(and people even get their names wrong sometimes). Often villains underestimate them and wonder when the “real” heroes are going to show up. It’s a pretty good dynamic. As is their interaction with their mentors on the Justice League, which they resent for treating them like kids. And Superman is arguably at his most dickish in this series, completely blowing off his clone, Superboy. It’s great.

My only big issue with Young Justice is that at least as far as I’ve watched (10 episodes) is that not only do they often manage to defeat enemies on their own that give their mentors huge problems (essentially it boils down to someone on the team saying they should call the League for help and someone else going, no it’s ok this villain only almost killed half the heroes in the DC universe, but we can take him on our own!) but they don’t really establish their own villains, borrowing others. I mentioned guys like Sportsmaster, but he’s often working for a bigger villain like Lex Luthor or Ra’s Al Ghul. They really should’ve establish their own rogue’s gallery to contend with, even if it is mostly comprised of cheezy lower-tier villains. Teen Titans managed this quite successfully, no reason Young Justice couldn’t have done the same.

Regardless, it’s a very awesome show that continues the pretty great track record of DC animated shows. Basically if it’s animated and based on a DC property, you should give it a shot you’ll most likely get hooked.

Final Rating: 4/5 C-List Superheroes

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