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You should know that the reason I haven't been posting is because I got that online role-playing game City of Heroes. So I've been superheroing on my own the past couple of weeks. I'm sure whatever slim readership I may have had has vanished into the ether. C'est la vie.
Anyway, I did find time out of my busy schedule to watch the series finale of Justice League Unlimited. JLU was in many ways the culmination of the Bruce Timm DCU Animated Universe. It began with Batman, grew to Superman, took a detour into Batman Beyond, and then absolutely exploded with Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. And now it's over.
Its ending brings with it the end of that animated universe. As far as I know, there are no plans to to make any further series set within that continuity (though I do hear that there will be a Legion of Superheroes series before too much longer). This of course, makes me sad. Because the series I've mentioned represent the best of what American animation has to offer.
All too often American animation is eclipsed by its Japanese counterpart. Anime is increasingly popular in the West. In many ways this parallels the incresed popularity of manga at the expense of more traditional Western comics.
Of course, I don't think the cancellation of Justice League Unlimited represents an end of American imagination. But it is the end of something that I've been watching grow over years. Batman: The Animated Series got me into superheroes. And that's what got me into comics. So I'm saddened by its end... Though I have hope that we'll see more in the future.
