For some reason, the Justice League DVD box set does not go precisely in series order--we'll go with the DVD order.
- It didn't take long to get to the Legion of Doom--"Injustice for All" brings us Lex Luthor and a whole group of bad guys
- Lex is dying from cancer (he's been hanging on to kryptonite too long)
- So he brings together Ultra-Humanite, Cheetah, Copperhead, Solomon Grundy, Shade, and Star Sapphire to destroy the League--Joker even joins in, who manages to take down Batman. I love Mark Hamill's Joker.
- Even while tied up, Batman manages to get the bad guys to fight among each other, he seduces Cheetah, and pays off Ultra-Humanite to double-cross them
- There's a Wonder Twins reference during a big fight
- In the end, Luthor gets his battle suit which saves his life
- "Paradise Lost" showcases Wonder Woman, as she returns to Paradise Island.
- Classic JL foe Felix Faust (voiced by Robert Englund) attacks, turning her Amazon sisters into stone. Per his modus operandi, he forces her to find magic trinkets.
- The intro includes a reference to "Hurricane Gardner" - ha!
- The League forms small teams to collect the trinkets
- Batman figures out the deal about Faust. There's a great shot where Flash plays with a trinket that explodes, Batman warns him to put it down, and the others quickly put back other items
- We get a hieroglyphic-based history of the Amazons
- Faust is double-crossed by Lord Hades (John Rhys-Davies), who does the same to him
- In the end, WW is kicked out since she brought men to the island
- Superman and Martian Manhunter are taken prisoner on "War World"
- Mongul, a 90's DC villain (played by Eric Roberts) is in charge, and runs gladiatorial games with the prisoners that are rather like a reality show--it's all scripted. It's the whole "bread and circuses" thing.
- There's a B-story about GL and Hawkgirl searching for them, with a "good cop-bad cop" bit. There's also foreshadowing to their future relationship
- Our heroes powers are being affected by the atmosphere there--this was an issue for Superman in the comics at the time, and considering how wimpy he is in this series, it's particularly bad
- This is a "big message" episode about honor and heroism
JL biography: Batman
- aka Bruce Wayne, the Caped Crusader, The Dark Knight
- 1st appearance in the comics: Detective Comics #27, 1939
- Parents murdered, vows to avenge their deaths, buys lots of gadgets, builds a cool cave
- Powers: Money, paranoia, grimness
- Voice Actor: Kevin Conroy, who played the character from 1995 to today
- Main events in the comics while the series was on the air (2001-04)
- Dark Knight Strikes Again, by Frank Miller
- Jeff Loeb introduces Hush as a new Batman villain
- The Gotham Central title is introduced, where Bats is just a die character--the GCPD are the stars
If you would like to play along, the DVD box set is available on Amazon.