“Justice League Action” Episode Review – S01E37 “The Ringer”

Superman Homepage reviewer Marc Lax reviews episodes from the “Justice League Action” Animated Series, airing on Cartoon Network.

Check out his review of the 37th episode of Season 1 in which Sinestro’s ring gets more power and the Justice League investigate by sending a microscopic Atom into it.

Justice League ActionOriginally Aired: September 23, 2017 (U.S.)

Written by Jennifer Muro
Directed by Shaunt Nigoghossian

CAST:
Josh Keaton as Green Lantern (voice)
Rachel Kimsey as Wonder Woman (voice)
Jason J Lewis as Superman (voice)
Jerry O’Connell as The Atom (voice)
Darin De Paul as Sinestro (voice)

3Rating – 3 (out of 5): Green Lantern is off in space fighting his arch foe Sinestro whose yellow Lantern ring seems much more powerful then usual. Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Atom are on their way to help. Green Lantern’s ring is losing power and he has to recharge. Just before Sinestro lands his final blow on Green Lantern Superman flies in to distract him with help from Wonder Woman who’s navigating one of the JLA’s “space planes”. The Atom lands the Justice League ship and picks up Green Lantern so he can recharge his ring. With Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman fighting Sinestro with all they’ve got The Atom decides to shrink down to microscopic size and enter Sinestro’s ring and see why the ring is more powerful and remains charged without a battery. When The Atom enters the ring he’s at a press conference in his honor celebrating his win over Sinestro. Soon the crowd laughs and Atom realizes he’s only in his underwear! Staying in communication with Green Lantern he asks why he’s experiencing these visions. Green Lantern tells him it’s the yellow ring playing on his fears. Once The Atom calms down and gets control of himself he finds the reason the yellow ring is so powerful. There is a “giant” power battery that is constantly being recharged with the help of a spider-looking Yellow Lantern who, sensing The Atom’s presence, goes on the attack!

I know my ratings of these episodes have been more on the low side lately but these episodes have really been hit or miss. They’re aimed at a much younger audience, though anything Justice League will get viewers of all ages watching. There are some Easter Eggs for the more discerning viewer (Space Cabbie, Dinosaur Island, etc.) and they’re always entertaining but this is a kids show. And that’s okay. If young fans watch this show and get interested the way many of us did with the “Super Friends” hopefully there’ll be a new generation of DC fans and more importantly comic book fans. But again this show is aimed for a specific audience and therefore the stories tend to be simpler and played more for laughs. This episode for example is basically a slugfest between our heroes and Sinestro. The scenes with The Atom are fun and getting into his mind and watching his fears play out are very amusing. The best part of this episode are the visuals. The images that Sinestro and Green Lantern use with their rings are clever and fun and they’re allowed to cut loose with their constructs. But not much story.

The spider lantern tries crushing Atom but he shrinks to sub atomic level getting the best of Spidey and crushes him. This cuts off Sinestro’s ring and he’s defeated. The Atom uses his “talents” to good effect here and of course triumphs. But the other heroes are there just for distraction and while their plan works they’re basically regulated to deflecting Sinestro’s ring.

With all that said this was an enjoyable episode and accomplishes its task of staying light and funny. I do enjoy this show and look forward to future episodes but have learned to lower my expectations. Hopefully this show has some tricks up its sleeve and can throw in some surprises. Time shall tell.

Check out the “Justice League Action – Episode Reviews” Contents page.