Haven't been very active on this site lately, and I consider that to be a real shame. It just seems so lifeless around here nowadays...the unions I visited in the past are dead, I can only post in forums if I go to Gamefaqs, and not many people at all commented on my last few blogs. As such, I don't know how many people will end up reading this new review, but I feel compelled to post it anyway. It's kind of short, I know, but if I tried to make it any longer I might end up posting spoilers or giving away too many details in general. Without further rambling, here you are:

GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (TV SHOW)

This is...this is something special to me. On the one hand, it seems as if it should be easy to describe the series because of how I feel about it, but on the other hand I want to be very careful to do it justice and avoid any serious spoilers. I suppose I should start from the beginning. Aside from the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series' and a few movies, I didn't know much about Green Lantern and wasn't too interested in the character. I decided to watch this series mostly because I was bored of my other shows and because I knew it was supposed to be good based on the fan reaction to the news of it being ended alongside Young Justice.

My initial impression of the series wasn't great. I didn't care for the CGI animation and the plot was off to a slow and generic start in the first episode, but it was good enough to keep me engaged and make me want to see more. I guess it could have been due to the fact that the episodes are all part of a continuous story and they lead into one another most of the time. I can't remember at exactly what point it occured, but eventually I realized that I was becoming hooked to this show. I think it was probably around midway through the first part of the season. The characters began developing rapidly, the story fell into a groove, and the action was balanced. It's safe to say that when I was finished with the first two discs of the collection, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the final pair. Since neither Netflix or my library had them, I bought them from Amazon.com. That's something I very rarely do. In fact, I'd never even done it for a TV show...only movies.

I believe that one of the biggest draws to the series, for me, is the excellent way they developed the recurring characters while introducing side characters who deeply affect them and a progressing plot that really displays how one thing connects to another and explores the mindset of GL and his crew. I had a hunch very early on that I would come to really like Aya, for example, and as I saw the character develop and change throughout the series that hunch was definitely confirmed. Another thing I absolutely love about the show is how it incorporates some of the other Lantern Corps into the story. I don't know about anyone else, but I really get tired of seeing Sinestro as the villain and the old concept of green will versus yellow fear. That doesn't happen in GL:TAS, and for that I am grateful. The first part of the season focuses on the Red Lantern Corps as the main villains, and it works very well simply because it's unique and fresh. I won't spoil who they are, but the other Lantern Corps make appearances later on and it was a real treat for someone like me who never read the comics and thus had no other way to be familiar with them.

I breezed through the second part of the season in only two days after getting the discs because I was unable to pace myself any better, and by the time it was all over I desperately didn't want it to end. This is a series that could have kept me interested for like eight seasons, but instead it was canned after only one season and 26 episodes. Forget Hollywood and their mangled mess of a GL movie; if you want to experience GL in the way I believe he should truly be portrayed (an intergalactic, superpowered marine who patrols space with his crew and fights various enemies including other Lantern Corps) then this is the show for you. This may very well be my favorite DC show of all time, and that's not easy to say at all.

CHARACTERS: 5/5
PLOT: 5/5
OVERALL RATING: 5/5

FINAL THOUGHTS: I can't recommend this series enough to anybody who is a fan of DC characters at all...heck, even if you aren't, you still might enjoy it. Watch it and find out.

In brightest day,
in blackest night,
No Teen Titans Go! shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship Cartoon Network's might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!!!