I think he used kryptonite to cure himself and a side effect was the powers. He received Kryptonian powers the same way that Superman received human powers(or lack there of)in one of the old movies when he was exposed to massive amounts of yellow sunlight.
JLU is NOT strictly for kids. In fact, if you go back to the very first BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES episodes, you can see the stories were always meant to be taken seriously. Heck, characters have DIED in these shows, they just kept the details off-camera. The animation style was probably meant, not so much to copy Anime, as to make Warner Brothers think that these are kid-safe cartoons (which they kind of are, since there is really nothing here that you wouldn’t see in prime-time shows… and most of the adult stuff flies over the kids’ heads.)
Mull: Elfen Lied is one dark anime series involving evolution, mental powers, insanity and violence. I haven’t researched it much as it is obviously NOT my kind of story. But I’m sure others here can tell you more about it if you want.
“Silver Age” refers to comic books produced from the 50’s to the 70’s. And yes, some stories at the time had Supes doing things like moving, smashing, even CREATING planets. Nowadays he’s more of an “Incredible Hulk” level character. Makes for better stories in my opinion.
Jango: The same thing could be said about Batman. In the Justice League comic he’s this genius who can take down ANYBODY (with some preparation.) And yet, we’re supposed to believe he has problems (in his own comics) against the likes of The Joker. It’s just inconsistent writing.
Trk: The cause of Luthor’s powers is still a mystery- the doctor said the kryptonite MIGHT have been the cause but he wasn’t sure. We’ll find out soon, I suspect… 
What you seemingly fail to take into account is the fact that the Joker is the anti-Batman. However intelligent and resourceful Batman is the Joker matches that with his own exceptional intelligence, resourcefulness and all out insanity. He’s the Clown Prince of Crime for a reason, he’s a fucking criminal genius. He may not be as intelligent as the Bat himself but he’s a criminal mastermind. Besides, Batman has a reason to not do so well against the Joker. The Joker killed Robin, that alone gives Bats trouble when dealing with him.
Jango: Joker is the ‘Anti-Batman’ for the same reason Luthor is the ‘Anti-Superman’- he’s just his best known foe. Ra’s al Ghul is a far better match for Bats.
I’ve been reading Batman stories since the 70s, and, quite honestly, I’ve never seen any that makes me think he’s all that great. He’s suffering from character inflation (just like Batman is.) Somewhere along the line, they had him kill Jason Todd (Robin #2) as part of a story to just get rid of the character. Ever since then, Joker is this sick psycho who keeps succeeding in ruining Batman’s life for no believable reason: he’s also crippled Batgirl (#1) and killed Gordon’s wife. If Batman is such a freaking genius, how come he never finds a permanent solution to him?? He just lets him be taken to Arkham Assylum, from which he KNOWS the freak will escape again! Even if we accept that Batman doesn’t kill, he could’ve borrowed Supes’ Phantom Zone projector and banished him to limbo by now. -_-
It’s all shock value. He’s not even creative anymore. The Batman: Animated series Joker is much better than the current comics version, in my opinion.
Batman’s a hero. He may have done questionable things before but it’s not his job to punish the villains he catches. Jesus, pay the fuck attention to the episodes of JLU. Who’s the first person to bitch at Supes and co. for using the Zone projector? The Batman.
First off, how many people have heard of Ra’s al Ghul? From the few episodes he was in, he comes off as a rather lifeless, pathetic villain. Joker’s well-known for a reason; he’s colorful, sadistic, and laughs while he’s slicing a guy’s guts out.
The reason Joker’s still around? They changed the Batman story from a guy who didn’t give a damn if fifty criminals were sliced to ribbon, to a guy who tries to fight crime without killing everyone. That’s the one advantage Joker has: he’s wiling to go the extra step and kill someone that gets in his way.
There’s very little I can say about using the Phantom Zone projector; I highly doubt Superman would fly for that, and even if he did, the Phantom Zone has a notoriously bad track record. Anyone that gets sent through ALWAYS comes back fifty issues later, only much more powerful than before. The last thing we need is a super-powered, insane circus reject.
I haven’t read any of the more recent comics, so I can’t comment on that. However, I agree that the Batman: TAS Joker kicks serious ass. Too bad JL turned him into a vegetable.
As for JLU…it’s more of a “meh” kind of show. The third season was downright terrible; I’m personally glad they jettisoned the whole “Greek Gods attack Wonder Woman” after a couple episodes, but besides that, they picked some of the worst heroes in the DC universe to animate (“Hawk and Dove,” need I say more?).
The fourth season was better. The Cadmus Arc was great; you can clearly see the group declining as time goes on (although they get their act together and save everyone in the end…thank God for highly-illegal episode downloads). Then I saw the final episode and…
It was a Batman Beyond episode. It was barely related to Justice League, except it involved Batman and the future Justice League. NOT what I wanted to see for the series finale (since there’s been no REAL word on season 5).
Ra’s al Ghul is more of an itellectual villian. Like the Riddler he likes baiting Batman with puzzles and watching him solve them. Given his unnaturally long lifespan he’s not bothered with waiting a couple decades for a plan to come to fruition.
The last thing we need is a super-powered, insane circus reject.
In the comics Joker got hold of Myxlpkllyc’s power.
It was a Batman Beyond episode. It was barely related to Justice League, except it involved Batman and the future Justice League. NOT what I wanted to see for the series finale (since there’s been no REAL word on season 5).
Exactly what I thought. At first I thought it was a regular episode.
As for JLU Superman, they toned down his powers to make him more human-like; thus more falliable. Lately the series has shown him under a lot of stress trying to keep the JLU together by himself. For example, he didn’t tell the rest of the council how the Justice Lords formed. He was fighting himself while Luthor, Cadmus and the gov. were baiting him.
I’m NOT saying Batman should kill. I hate ‘Heroes’ who kill people, and anyway it would make no sense for someone who knows what it feels like to have your loved ones murdered to go around killing other people without thinking they might have family to miss them. (The Punisher is a pathetic nutjob in my eyes.)
And YES, I saw the JLU episode with the Projector, and it made NO SENSE that Bats was so angry that it was used on Doomsday. It was an EMERGENCY and there was no other way to contain the monster. You’d think they killed him or something. They obviously wanted to set up some tension there but didn’t think the details thru. One of the few slips on the show recently.
Gallo: The popularity of a villain versus how well they match against the hero IS my point. It’s sad Joker gets all the press while Ghul doesn’t (though maybe the new movie will change that.)
Killing is not an “advantage”. It’s a reason to get some hero to kill your sorry ass. Joker’s lucky he’s got Batman as an enemy. Most other heroes would’ve snapped by now.
And I think the Zone is a good way to contain criminals. Better than a jail where they can be brutalized, and much harder to escape from (certainly more than that swiss-cheese-walled Arkham Assylum.) And no, the Zone doesn’t give you powers, I dunno where you got that from (the Zone villains gain powers on Earth because they’re Kryptonians.) In fact, you could give someone a 1000 year sentence and they would survive that long in there! The only problem is that Zone prisoners can see anything on Earth, and that might lead to their discovering the Heroes’ secrets.
My personal opinion is that the first two seasons of Justice League were annoying, because of their constant plot errors (ex: there is NOT enough ice in the poles to flood the Earth if you melt them.) But at least they were well “acted”. Season three was much better, with the Thanagarian invasion being a great exploration of what happens when your loyalties are divided. The current series is pretty good, though I have to admit focusing on some of the new heroes isn’t as good as showing them interfacing with the older ones.
One thing about the Cadmus arc that annoys me is that The League REALLY thought they could put a nuclear-bomb-level weapon in their satellite and not scare the nations of the World. In the comics they NEVER did something like that. On the other hand, I have a little problem with how easily people are mistrusting the League, who, you know, have SAVED the world several times already; and even more with the heroes distrusting each other. In fact, had I been J’onn, I would’ve told the President if the League should’ve jumped to conclusions had that nuclear missile Cadmus launched at that small island hit? In fact, in the end, all the arguments against the League… that they’re too powerful, that how do we know they can be trusted… are the SAME ones that can be levied against every nuclear-powered nation in the World.
PS: You have seen this year’s final episode?? Or do you refer to last season’s?
Lex: It’s Mxyzptlk. Mix-yes-spit-lick. Try saying it backwards.
:hahaha;
Man,I wish I could see the JLU it seems that it’s getting good (damn not having cable suck’s).Anyway I will never understand why do they keep putting Batman’s villians in Arkham,I mean it’s like punishing a kid to go to his room and then leaving the house,you just know he will leave the room.
they picked some of the worst heroes in the DC universe to animate (“Hawk and Dove,” need I say more?).
Don’t mess with Hawk,he conquered the world once (old JL comic Will probably knows about it)
Anyone remember Red Rain? I think Bats finally snapped in that one as he… well, went and drained The Joker. And then mutilated him. Then again, it was ‘kinda’ justifiable so he wouldn’t become a vampire himself…
(Red Rain is an alternate reality Dracula/Batman crossover where Batman gets bitten.)
One other ‘overshoot’ was the Batman/Aliens where he takes on those things all by himself… even one born of a crocodile. Although I kinda liked the fact how even Batman himself keeps one of the facehuggers for study, but then dumps it “for the good of everyone…”
(And who can forget all those Marvel/DC crossovers? 
Spidey/Batman: YES, HE STILL IS TWO STEPS AHEAD OF YOU EVEN IF YOU HAVE SPIDER-SENSE! Spidey/Supes: YES! WE CAN FIND KRYPTONITE FOR EVERY POSSIBLE SITUATION!)
Mune: If you mean ARMAGEDDON 2001, I have a little revelation for you: it was NOT Hawk who was meant to become Monarch- it was CAPTAIN ATOM. However, somebody leaked the revelation to the public before the final issue, so they hastily rewrote the story to have Hawk become the villain from the future. Hawk later became the time-villain Extant, while a duplicate of Captain Atom became the real Monarch.
BTW, doesn’t The Anihilator Robot look awfully similar to Monarch’s armor?
Mab: Actually, I haven’t seen any of the books you mentioned yet, though I intend to someday. And personally, I believe Batman cannot beat Spider-Man in a FAIR fight- Spidey has got a spider-sense, the agility to dodge bullets, and enough strenght to lift/press 10 TONS. (Of course, Batman always prepares himself to deal with his enemies- given time.)
Well that explains a few things for me,I always thought that Hawk being Monarch was a bit out there because in the issues they always said that Monarch used to be greatest superhero ever which is obviously not Hawk.
I still liked the story because you get to see all this future versions of the JL heroes (supes as the president of the US?).
Anihalator Robot?
Anihalator Robot?
It was a killing machine Ares commisioned Hepaestus to make. I always thought it looked like the first incarnation of Abyss in the Marvel vs. Street Fighter game.
Never heard of it before,anybody got a picture?
Here it is.
Pretty cool concept, as you’ll see.
Batman can be hurt by a gun, but that doesn’t mean he will get killed every time he gets shot.
Superman can be hurt by kryptonite and magic, but he always overcomes it (and not just for the sake of keeping the titles going). Lex Luthor flat out says it in Teen Titans #25.
The TAS/JLU Superman is MUCH weaker than the comic version.
Also creates some inconsistencies - Superman has trouble lifting a crane, but can take down Darkseid?
Batman will never beat anyone in a fair fight, and a fight against Batman will never be fair.
There’s no such thing as a fair fight in the DC universe. Batman especially. There will never be a fair fight of Batman Vs anyone but characters like The Joker and Al Ghul. 95% of the DC character have some kind of super power giving them an instant advantage over characters like Batman. Yet, Batman’s incredible intellect allows him to analyse whatever weakness they may have and exploit it. Batman’s at the short end of the Super hero stick when it comes to abilities. He makes up for it in the ultimate bad assness.
Question: I have never been a comics fan or an avid watcher of CN shows that aren’t on Adult Swim. I’ve read this thread through and JLU seems to be a pretty good show. I’m oftentimes eating dinner when it’s scheduled for showings, but I haven’t seen much of it. I saw one episode where The Question (he’s the one dressed like a film noir detective and has no face, right?) paired up with The Flash (think it was him) and did a lot of sleuthing and came up with… not much of anything, but I thought it was rather good. The point is, would I get much out of the show if I started watching it now? Or should I try to find a DVD version of the first seasons/download them before watching it on CN?
Mengde: As I mentioned above, in general the series is pretty good but it’s been the last two seasons that have been truly excelent. The current season is almost over (only one episode to go- and it takes place in the future; the Cadmus storyline was just wrapped up) so I assume they’ll be rerunning the show while the next Season (yes, there WILL be one!! ) is ready, so take the chance to watch (or tape) it. The last Season is available on DVD (I think) and I’m pretty sure this one will be in the future as well.
BTW, I’ll review the Cadmus storyline soon. Wait for it!
Thank you very much, Wilfredo. I’ll see when it’s showing and check it out a bit more.