In case you don't know, unlike previous iterations of the Justice League series, Justice League Action (or JLA, for short), will have each episode lasting only 11 minutes long. This format has been the norm for Cartoon Network with their CN Original lineup, and more recently with the Powerpuff Girls and Ben 10 Reboots. JLA will also be much lighter in tone than its predecessors, though Kevin Conroy, who will reprise his role as Batman, assured fans that the elements that made Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited as great animated classics, will be retained in Justice League Action.
Word has it the UK is releasing episodes of JLA out of order, which gives the impression the series will air mostly stand-alone episodes mainly for syndication purposes, with a few to have an overarching plot as is the case of the US premiere. So I honestly have no idea what episodes the ones I saw are. If anyone knows the production code of the UK premiere episodes, please let me know.
The first episode of Justice League Action that I watched was "Power Outage". Here, Superman and Wonder Woman were taking down a villain named "Parasite", who has the power to absorb his victim's energy to increase his own. After Parasite is captured, he is seemingly killed by a meteor that contained the alien "Khalathoss" (I apologize for the improper spelling and pronunciation). Khalathoss has the ability to get stronger the more times he is attacked, as well as gain the powers of the said attacker, while draining the latter. So as Wonder Woman and Superman continue attacking Khalathoss, they gradually lose their powers while Khalathoss gains theirs and is getting stronger.
You would think Khalathoss is one really incredible foe that can give even Amazo and Doomsday a run for their money. But because this is a stand-alone episode, Khalathoss is taken care of very quickly, and quite easily. You see, Khalathoss is an alien that is very much tied to fire and magma. So Martian Manhunter was called in to have his powers absorbed by Khalathoss, because apparently Martians are 'allergic' to fire. Also Martian Manhunter is skinnier this time around and has a banter that would make him and Peter Parker best friends, as they'll spend all day telling jokes at each other.
Anyhow, the plan worked and Parasite was actually alive, just absorbed by Khalathoss. The two were contained and the episode ends with even more banter coming from Double-M.
The second episode I watched was titled "Nuclear Family Values" and introduces the properly named "Nuclear Family". Quick history from the episode reveals they were androids created as crash-test dummies for Nuclear explosion sites, but somehow gained sentience and intends to blow up a nuclear power plant to serve as their new residence. As the Justice League are unable to respond to the emergency, a non-registered member answers the call.
Enter Firestorm. Yes, the very same character you probably have seen in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow in DC's Arrow-verse. Differences are that one half of Firestorm is Ronnie Raymond and not Jefferson Jackson, a totally different origin story, and the power to manipulate inorganic objects at an atomic level, such as turning radioactive steam into air freshener in one scene. He is also capable of absoring atomic energy and release it back at his enemies.
Honestly, I like this version of Firestorm better as he has far more abilities than the Arrow-verse version, and probably even more powerful than Justice League's Captain Atom. My criticisms of the character is that 1), his design is similar to Fireman from the Rockman/Megaman games. And 2), JLA is making Firestorm almost the counterpart to Deadpool in terms of non-stop talking. After defeating the Nuclear Family, Firestorm was immediately invited by the Holy Trinity to become a full-time member of the Justice League.
In terms of character design, they were good at the initial promo, but watching it now in the series, the designs appear more simplistic and not too detailed. They appear to be done in order to appeal to the much younger crowd, or to put more bluntly, the kids who love Teen Titans Go. The animation also isn't as fluid, as though a decision was made to have less frames in one second of animation, so the end product appears a little bit choppy. I can guess reasons for these is due to the show having a much smaller budget than the previous Justice League incarnations.
As for the lighter tone and humor in Justice League Action, this is where your mileage may vary. While I don't find anything wrong with it, the atmosphere does feel pretty weird when compared with the previous Justice League shows. Best I can describe JLA is that it's like watching Batman: The Brave and The Bold plus the Ben 10 Reboot. What is certain is that anyone expecting JLA to be dark and serious like the Bruce Timm shows and Young Justice, despite what Kevin Conroy has said, you are not going to find it in Justice League Action.
So is Justice League Action worth watching at all? That depends on whether or not you're ok with a lighter-toned Justice League. Consider the DC Rebirth event, which relaunches DC Comics with a much lighter tone, dominating in comic book sales, and is inching closer to beat Marvel. So if you like the direction DC Comics is heading, you could enjoy Justice League Action. Otherwise, no harm, no foul, as the series is mostly episodic and doesn't require you to watch nearly every episode.
Justice League Action is airing right now on Cartoon Network in the UK, with a US release sometime in mid-December.
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