JLA: Paradise Lost

here we get some background on Diana, Princess of Themyscera.

we start out with a big storm.  nice to see Snapper Carr included in the cartoon, too bad they never tried to give him his jive hip patter from his early appearances.  he actually might sound cool, now.

Diana decides to go home and seek forgiveness from her mother.  of course, being a cartoon, something is very wrong on Paradise Island.  the oddball sorcerer Felix Faust is there, trying to release Hades from Tartarus.  you'd think this would upset Zeus, but does he even bother to show up? nope.  the first part is filled with the quest to find the remaining parts of the key, and Batman finding out more about Faust.

Diana has to help Faust because all the Amazons have been turned to stone.  there are more than a few nods to Ray Harryhausen in  this episode, notably the Medusa's head amulet and the bronze sculpture that comes to life in the museum.  I wonder who paid for all the destruction of said museum and the mall that Superman and Diana destroy.

here's the finished key.  looks really heavy, but Faust carts it about with ease, and he's a weakling.  so it can't be that bad.

 a bit of foreshadowing here?  the world may never know.  Diana doesn't have all of her powers yet, like the Golden Lariat of Truth.  that is explained why in a few years.  it's been established she's been away from Themyscera for eight months at the time of this adventure.

here's Hades "true" form.  though why it would be is beyond me.  why would he bother to assume a human form most of the time?

neither GL or Hawkgirl are here (hmm).  this also comes into play later on.  Diana is exiled for bringing men to the island, a nice way of keeping her in the JLA.  good moment at the end. 

all in all, a good episode, mostly for the non-action sequences.  the whole first episode seemed padded to get the keys.  still, more shows could be padded like that!