Justice League Unlimited: Season 2

Within the final 13 episodes of Justice League Unlimited, Grodd recruits Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Bizarro, Giganta, and hordes of other villains to form the Legion of Doom, leading to a large number of action-packed episodes of villains fighting the superheroes of the expanded JLU. The core members of the original series–Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Flash, and Green Lantern–are supplemented by such heroes as Green Arrow, Black Canary, Supergirl, Red Tornado, and Mister Terrific. But even waves of super-beings would be a bore if the stories weren’t compelling and well-thought-out, and dashed with humor. It is the respect for the viewer’s intelligence that elevates JLU beyond a kids’ series to arguably the most productive animated-superhero show ever.

All the way through the season, Hawkgirl meets Katar Hol, Hawkman, who claims that he and Hawkgirl are the resurrection of centuries-ago lovers, which throws a wrench into her developing relationship with Green Lantern (“Shadow of the Hawk,” “Ancient History”). Flash fights a rogue’s gallery of his arch enemies alongside Batman and Orion (“Flash and Substance”), Luthor switches brains with the Flash in “The Great Brain Robbery” (inside joke: Michael Rosenbaum is the voice of Flash, but plays Lex Luthor Within the series Smallville) , and Luthor’s and Grodd’s struggle for dominance of the Legion of Doom comes to a head Within the final two-parter, which results in an unlikely partnership against without equal supervillain. The series also dips into other characters and realms of DC comic-book lore, such as the Legion of Super-Heroes (“Far from Home”), Deadman (“Dead Reckoning”), the Seven Soldiers of Victory (“Patriot Act”), Birds of Prey (“Grudge Match”), and Mike Grell’s Warlord (“Chaos on the Earth’s Core”). Within the bonus features, the series creators discuss JLU‘s ongoing Cadmus story line, there is a music-only track of the series’ final episode, and the creators do a 30-minute on-screen statement talking about three late-season episodes. –David Horiuchi