Justice League: Season 01 (2001)

Member Rating:

Season one of the animated series Justice League opens with the three-part "Secret Origins," which explains the reason that the League is formed and establishes the principal players. Duped into disarming the Earth's warheads, veteran superhero Superman is aghast when a fleet of bug-like space aliens attacks the Earth, led on by the traitorous Senator J. Allen Carter. Flying to the orbiting space-station headquarters of Batman, Superman and his fellow crime-fighter try to mount a strong defense against the extraterrestrials, only to discover that it is too much of a job for just the two of them. Thus is formed the mighty Justice League, comprised of Superman and Batman's comic-book confreres the Green Lantern, the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Hawkgirl -- with added backup from a new member of the gang, the telepathic, shape-shifting Martian Manhunter (aka J'onn J'onnz). Once the alien insects are thwarted, the Justice League embarks upon several new adventures, most of them unfolding in two-part story arcs. Though the League members are united in a common cause, there is a certain amount of friction, rivalry, and envy amongst them -- just like any "normal" exclusive club. Featured in the series' 26 are a number of characters who will be familiar to any fan of the original Justice League comic-book line, including underwater superhero Aquaman; Wonder Woman's mother, Hippolyta, and erstwhile boyfriend Steve Trevor; black crime-fighter Virgil "Static Shock" Hawkins; and Sgt. Rock (of Easy Company). Several infamous villains also make appearances, among them Superman's perennial nemesis Lex Luthor (who at one point organizes a rival team of bad guys called The Injustice Guild), Batman's longtime enemy the Joker, and such reprehensible reprobates as Brainiac, Mordred, Star Sapphire, the Shade, and the simian criminal genius Grodd. The season ends with the three-part adventure "The Savage Time," wherein six Justice League members are transported back to D-day during World War 2! ~ Rovi