Avengers EMH vs. Justice League Unlimited

[kguillou]

I’ve recently been revisiting Avengers Emh and I forgot how well crafted this show was and this inspired the thread. For a long time I’ve held JLU in the highest regard along with Batman The Animated Series in terms of storytelling, animation and character development but I feel like Marvel really threw down the gauntlet with EMH. What do you guys think?

 

[Detective Conan]

How dare you compare them! I can’t choose between them!

Joking side, I will say I think unlimited was ultimately the better show between them. Unpopular opinion here but I don’t think EMH’s second season was as strong as the first.

 

[Drunken Rider]

Both shows are good in their own right. Nuff said.

 

[The Batman]

EMH was great for a season or so, but JLU takes it easily.

The Cadmus Arc is one of the best storylines you'll see from any superhero media.

 

[Spider-Fan]

JLU. It's closer if it's just EMH vs JLU, but if you include JL as well.... even easier

 

[Mandon Knight]

Love both but JLU edges it.

 

[thangaran]

JLU. Beautifully written

 

[Zarex]

I love EMH, but JLU might be my all time favorite animated program. A wonderful exploration of the DC Universe that also featured a terrific version of Marvel's 70s era Defenders team and homages to Captain America and the Original Human Torch.

 

[MbJ]

JLU sweeps. The ideas that Yost teased for what Season 3 would've been were awesome, but the series never had a chance to live up to JL.

 

[OB12]

JLU wins, but it is not a huge win. EMH had some really well done plot threads and character arcs. Cap, Thor and Pym were all brilliantly written.

 

[Batmannerism]

Okay, I just got the entire JL and JLU series. .... sheer heaven.

DCs heroes in their animated form are at their best, the way they should have been in the DCEU.... sigh.

IMO Avengers EMH is okay, but isn't even close to JL, it's so much fun on so many levels.

 

[Batmannerism]

EMH was great for a season or so, but JLU takes it easily.

The Cadmus Arc is one of the best storylines you'll see from any superhero media.

Yup. Totally agree - although I liked the Starcrossed storyline a lot. Cadmus was great though.

Something about the artwork - the beauty of its simplicity against some of the maturity of the themes and the humour.

 

[metaphysician]

Personally, I think the entire Cadmus arc was the weakest part of the show. It was an attempt at a darker edgier storyline that didn't quite work. Its just, even a mediocre Timm/Dini story is probably better than most things made by other people.

EMH. . . was desperately trying to be a clone of the DCAU, and it only sort of worked. Its still one of the better Marvel animated projects, but a decent quality photocopy is still a photocopy.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Personally, I think the entire Cadmus arc was the weakest part of the show. It was an attempt at a darker edgier storyline that didn't quite work. Its just, even a mediocre Timm/Dini story is probably better than most things made by other people.

EMH. . . was desperately trying to be a clone of the DCAU, and it only sort of worked. Its still one of the better Marvel animated projects, but a decent quality photocopy is still a photocopy.

Dude... See... Cadmus for me was turning a lot of lemons into lemonade.

Which is what great COMIC BOOK writing does and I don't think people's love of JLU and the Cadmus story can be divorced from the aspects that Dwayne Macduffie brought in, and Dwayne was a crackerjack comic book writer.

For me the non-JLU seasons are like the first two seasons of NEXT GEN. Did I watch them with baited breath each week? Sure. Was that the best the show could give us? Absolutley not and the elements from those two early seasons aren't brushed away but allowed to be mined for so much that was to follow in season three and beyond. JLU is that for me because... I'm sorry but the start of JL through to the end of the pre-Ulimited seasons outside of a few one offs and arcs is deathly dull and misconcieved, not least of which is their handling of Superman and making the show for some stupid reason "Batman And Friends". Again... I don't think it's a coincidence that so many adore JLU and the Cadmus story because, "edgy" or not... It was quality, gave respect to ALL the characters and thus made it must see TV that I think was the equal of the adult live action shows of the time. I mean that, it was as good or better than many so called "serious" programming being done on network or cable.

 

[kguillou]

I agree, pre-JLU, the show was still good but it felt kind of...aimless? There were some really good two parters but it all felt like it was spinning its wheels. JLU felt like the training wheels were off and Dini and Timm really unleashed some seriously adept and complex storytelling. I was blown away by the Cadmus storyline, I cant think of another cartoon at the time that was doing what JLU was doing. I appreciate cartoons that show that just because theyre primarily made for a young audience doesnt mean it has to dumb down the writing. We just dont get that enough in American cartoons anymore.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I’ve recently been revisiting Avengers Emh and I forgot how well crafted this show was and this inspired the thread. For a long time I’ve held JLU in the highest regard along with Batman The Animated Series in terms of storytelling, animation and character development but I feel like Marvel really threw down the gauntlet with EMH. What do you guys think?

I consider Avengers: EMH to be the standard-bearer of comic book animated adaptations. They took so many classic Marvel stories and fused them into a near-flawless presentation. The show did justice to all of it's main characters, and the voice-acting was jaw-dropping.

JL-JLU was a fun ride, but it has some glaring flaws. Visually, it suffered from the same disproportionate Timmverse designs that plagued Batman and Superman's shows. Outside of outliers like Solomon Grundy, everyone on this show looked like they skipped leg day perpetually, and every male looked like they were hiding a brick in their mouth. The female characters were a little better in their designs.

From a writing perspective, John, Wally, and John got short-changed in their respective origins. There was next to nothing about the Flash Dynasty, even when Flash-centric villains like Grodd showed up . We never saw John get his ring or get trained in the Corps, only fleeting mentions. Likewise, I remember very little about Mars, any of J'onn's pre-JL history. When JL became JLU, these three got pushed to the backgroup more than the Trinity or Hawkgirl. I wasn't opposed to the focus being on a rotation of lesser-known characters, only that so much unfinished business was left with the three characters that I mentioned.

 

[Micromind]

Justice League Unlimited.

X-Men Evolution was better than Avengers EMH, though Thor centric episodes of A:EMH were the highlight of the series.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Justice League > Avengers, and I'm glad I've the chance to say that about the two outside the comics, cause I need that.

I love the good Avengers show, but I prefer the more fun Justice League show. Even if they were allowed to continuity EMH as planned I'd still hope to love Justice League more.

X-Men Evolution was better than Avengers EMH,

I love this sentiment. It's always nice to see more people appreciating X-Men Evolution.