Reviewed: Green Lantern The Animated Series Pilot Episode!!!

This past October 13th through 16th was the New York Comic Con.  I had attended before, but only for one Saturday.  This year some of the JonQPublic gang made the trip out to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Manhattan’s West side.  One of the privileges I had was to attend the panel for Green Lantern: The Animated Series.  Attendees were given a full screening of the series’ first episode, followed be a Q & A with DC’s Bruce Timm, co-creator of Harley Quinn, and the man responsible for TV’s Justice League, Batman Beyond and much more.  I’ll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible!

What I liked about this show was that it didn’t start off with the origin story.  The producers essentially hit the ground running, giving us Hal Jordan on Earth for a few minutes.  We watched Hal break an expensive plane, save some people, flirt with Carol Ferris, and then be quickly taken away to Oa (something the feature film could have used a lot more).  Characters introduced there are Kilowog, Salaak, and the Guardians– with Ganthet being singled out as a secret buddy to Hal.   Hal and Kilwog soon meet the main enemies for the first season:  the Red Lanterns!  They are lead by Atrocitus who has two other red baddies with him, Zilius Zox and a new recruit named Razor.  Basically we get the first main battle of the series, and it’s really quite good.

The CG used was a little strange at first, almost like a stylized version of the Incredibles– but after five minutes I was on board.  The show doesn’t really lack much from the first episode.  There’s humor, danger and suspense all wrapped up in a nice 1-hour premiere.  This is a show that is just as much for an adult audience as it is for children.  The universe that is presented does not take the superhero battles lightly; we see more of an adult element played out with characters actually dying, instead of getting beaten up and just thrown in jail.  I think these themes will help it stand out from some of the other more cartoon-y superhero series that have been produced in the past.  Overall I liked the first episode as did my wife, Regular Jane, and we will gladly watch it.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series premieres Friday November 11th at 7 PM (6 PM Central) on Cartoon Network.