Justice League: Secret Origins—An alien invasion story with light-sensitive, shapeshifting alien aberrations.
Justice League: Justice on Trial—The Green Lantern Corps’ predecessors, the Manhunters, frame John Stewart with the destruction of a planet to get at the primary Green Lantern battery. The second story involves Aquaman and a plot to plunge Atlantis into war with the surface world. The main villain of this story, Aquaman’s brother Orm, actually could make a decent DL.
Justice League: Paradise Lost—The first story has Wonder Woman returning to Themyscira to find the Amazons had been turned to stone by Felix Faust in an attempt to release Hades in exchange for ultimate knowledge. The second story showcases Mongul, a villain who wants to be in the big leagues but he doesn’t have the smarts for it.
Justice League: The Brave and The Bold—The first story showcases the Flash villain Gorilla Grodd taking over Central City with mind control and launching nukes at Gorilla City. The second story shows a kryptonite-induced cancer-ridden Luthor forming the Injustice Society in an attempt to destroy the Justice League (a case of misdirected blame).
Justice League: Starcrossed the Movie—Considered the bridge between Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, this yet another alien invasion story, with a twist. The Thanagarian leader, Hro Talak, wants to end the war with their eternal enemies by sacrificing the Earth to gain a major tactical advantage.
Justice League Unlimited Season 1—It should be noted that Project Cadmus figures prominently in the second half of season 1, a very effective faceless villain, a bureaucracy.
• Initiation—Brimstone, a giant, radioactive robot; and the xenophobic government that spawned it.
• For The Man Who Has Everything—Mongul makes a reappearance (and clearly chauvinistic) and an alien, telepathic plant known as Black Mercy which creates a mental prison of pure joy for its host while feeding on its host. A very good episode for Ravenloft actually.
• Hawk And Dove—The god of war, Ares, has an animated suit of armor, the Annihilator, made that feeds off violent actions.
• Fearful Symmetry—Project Cadmus makes itself known by making Galatea, an evil Powergirl-clone of Supergirl. (Given the demiplane’s effect on clones (arcane or otherwise), this story at the very least can give some psychological insight into dread clones.)
• Kids’ Stuff—Morgan LeFay’s eternally young son, Mordred, gains control of a sorcerous amulet and banishes all adults to a nether realm.
• This Little Piggy—The witch-goddess Circe is freed from her imprisonment and turns Wonder Woman into a pig. While primarily a comedic episode (who knew that Bruce Wayne could sing), even comedy has its place in RL.
• The Return—Professor Ivo’s android, Amazo, returns to Earth more powerful than ever…and he’s gunning for Lex Luthor. The JL must protect Lex.
• The Greatest Story Never Told—Another comedic episode. While the rest of the League is dealing with Mordru, Booster Gold must deal with another equally dangerous threat, a scientist with a black hole inside him, on his own and none of the other League members believe him (that’s what he gets for being a glory-grabber type).
• Ultimatum—JLU’s encounters their universe’s version of the Super Friends’ Wonder Twins, Apache Chief, Samurai, and Black Vulcan in the form of Shifter and Downpour, Long Shadow, Wind Dragon, and Juice (respectively)…the Ultimen. Project Cadmus makes another appearance and figures prominently.
• Dark Heart—The Replicators have…oops, sorry, wrong universe. Nanotech alien machines have come to Earth.
• Wake The Dead—Some warlock wannabe, D&D-playing (I resent that), college students accidently summon a force of chaos and it re-awakens Solomon Grundy and making him more powerful than ever and getting stronger.
• The Once and Future Thing Part 1—A scientist from the time of Batman Beyond becomes a time-travelling thief. During an attempt to steal Batman’s spare utility belt, the scientist and several heroes end up DC Comic’s Old West.
• The Once and Future Thing Part 2—The scientist-thief has moved on to bigger things to steal and is destroying the universe doing it. We get to see some upgraded versions of the Jokerz from Return of the Joker.
• The Cat and The Canary—The episode deals with old age and an addiction to fighting. The primary villain of flesh is Roulette but the true villain is Wildcat’s mid-life crisis.
• The Ties That Bind (aka Miracles Happen)—The Granny Goodness of Apokolips, bereft of Darkseid’s lordship, kidnap Oberon from New Genesis in attempt to change the balance of power on the planet, and Barda and Mr. Miracle asks the JL for help.
• The Doomsday Sanction—Project Cadmus shows off its members: Gen. Eiling, Amanda Waller, Tala the Sorceress, Prof. Hamilton, Dr. Sivana (not named but seen) and Lex Luthor. A dismissed member of Project Cadmus releases the beast Doomsday, setting into motion events that causes Gen. Eiling to launch a kryptonite-lined nuclear missile. This episode reveals the reason behind Cadmus comes from an incident the Justice League had with the Justice Lords (pre-Starcrossed), the League in an alternate universe where things went horribly wrong. Unfortunately for this universe, events that resulted in the Justice Lords ruling their Earth are starting play out on this one.
• Task Force X—Project Cadmus “hires” some villains to sneak into the JL satellite and steal the Annihilator (this plan was actually mentioned by Tala in the previous episode). There are plenty of “god” references in this one. A great villain-centered story, “storming Heaven’s gate” as it were and the original seven are one step closer to the Justice Lords.
• The Balance—The aftermath of the theft of the Annihilator, the ghost of Felix Faust takes control of the armor and goes after Hades. With his theft, he drives the magical forces of good insane. A reluctant Wonder Woman must defeat Faust and restore Hades to his throne.
• Double Date—The Huntress and The Question have to deal Green Arrow and Black Canary while searching for a mob boss that had killed Huntress’s parents when she was a little kid.
• Clash—Cadmus attacks the Justice League and Superman (successfully, too) in particular through the use of media and Superman’s own knowledge/paranoia concerning Lex Luthor. A great episode, if converted to an adventure, showing that heroes don’t always win.
• Hunter’s Moon—After a fight with a god from Apokolips, Cadmus has Captain Atom’s military rank and commission re-activated in an attempt to use his patriotism against the JL. The Question and Huntress hack Cadmus’s files and discover the Justice Lords mission file. The question of will history repeat presents itself. Lex hints at a bigger gambit and displays some new strength.
• Question Authority—Shayera, Vigilante, and Vixen head into trap laid by Thanagarian forces.
• Flashpoint—During the events of the previous episode, Cadmus’s plans play further along with Captain Atom fighting Superman. Cadmus continues to push the League’s buttons. Lex activates the League’s superweapon and Cadmus sends Galatea and an army of Ultimen clones to take out the League.
• Panic In The Sky—Galatea and the Ultimen fight the League on their own satellite, six of the original seven turn themselves in as a public show of trust. During the battle on the satellite, Supergirl faces Galatea, who is now a fully mature clone. Lex reveals his plan to inject himself into a Lex version of Amazo. Brainiac reveals himself as the grand architect.
• Divided We Fall—Brainiac merges with Lex Luthor, becoming a techno-god.
• Epilogue—An aged Amanda Waller shows an adult Terry McGinnis (Batman Beyond) his true parentage (didn’t you ever wonder why Terry and his little brother were brunettes while mom and dad were both redheads?). During a flashback, a new Royal Flush gang.
Justice League Unlimited Season 2—
• I Am Legion—With the threat of Brainiac a year behind, an apparently-crazed Lex Luthor escapes during a prison transfer and introduced to Gorilla Grodd’s Legion of Doom secret society. The plot revolves around Blackhawk Island and Lex’s initiation into the Legion by acquiring the Spear of Longinus (the Spear of Destiny). Plenty of effigy template constructs.
• Shadow of the Hawk—Hawkgirl has a stalker who shows her that the ancient Egyptians may have been influenced by stranded, ancient Thanagarians.
• Chaos at the Earth’s Core—The Legion of Doom engages in arms dealing with a warlord at the Earth’s core in an attempt to get a hold of a very large chunk of kryptonite, which is (ironically) a source of healing for the human natives.
• To Another Shore—Global warming has revealed the resting place of a famous, long-lost Viking prince. Gorilla Grodd, familiar with the prince’s legend, wants the body to reverse-engineer the prince’s invulnerability. This episode also hints that Grodd has an ulterior motive for forming the Legion of Doom.
• Flash and Substance—Central City dedicates a museum in honor of their resident superhero, the Flash. This dedication propels three of the hero’s rogues gallery to try and kill him.
• Dead Reckoning—Deadman makes an appearance as Grodd’s plan nears fruition—the total transformation of humanity into apes. Grodd has the Legion attack a temple in Nanda Parbat for a mystic artifact that would be the final piece. When the plot fails, Lex forces a power play that takes Grodd out of the leadership role. If you want to see D&D monks in action, this is the episode for you.
• Patriot Act—General Eiling, formerly of Project Cadmus and still obsessed with idea that the League is the single greatest threat to national security (why is it that these ego types only think about their country and not the world they live on?), decides to use a super-soldier formula developed during WWII. The formula was obviously stolen from another universe and has the side-effect of turning Eiling into an intelligent Hulk.
• The Great Brain Robbery—In an attempt to find the Legion, the League attempts to mystically probe the Flash’s mind for a residual mental link to Grodd. Simultaneously, Lex attempts to technologically extract some information from Grodd’s mind. The interaction of the two attempts results in Lex’s mind being in Flash’s body and vice versa. A very interesting episode with the idea of what would happen when an evil genius is using a hero’s powers.
• Grudge Match—Roulette returns with a new form of metabrawl—Glamour Slam. With Luthor’s help, Roulette uses mind control to have the women of the Justice League fight for entertainment.
• Far from Home—In the 31st century, the Fatal Five plan to use the Legion of Superheroes to destroy the capital of the Galactic Federation. Supergirl, Green Lantern John Stewart, and Green Arrow must help Bouncing Boy and Brainiac 5 free the Legion and stop the FF.
• Ancient History—Sequel to Shadow of the Hawk with all its major players plus Vixen, it reveals new details about the ancient Thanagarians. The show is good for reincarnation ideas.
• Alive!—A villain-centered story, Luthor has the Legion transform their headquarters into a spaceship in order to retrieve some off-Earth fragments of Brainiac. En route, Grodd escapes his confinement and attempts a mutiny (which Luthor ultimately wins). Luthor shows the depth of his evil in his attempt to reconstitute Brainiac by using the witch Tala as “the mystic conduit.” The plan almost works but the god of Apokolips, Darkseid, is reborn instead.
• Destroyer—Sequel to “Alive!”, Darkseid does a mass invasion of Earth. The entire Justice League is called to action, teaming up with the surviving members of the Legion of Doom to stop him. This episode is great for multiple reasons: The musical score is as non-stop as the plot action and really drives home the emotion. The episode also shows Batman dodging Darkseid’s Omega beam (yet another thing to add to the list of things that only Batman should do) and Superman cutting loose on Darkseid.
That's all for now. Hope you have some new ideas.
