You'll find little argument over just how many trails 1992's Batman: The Animated Series went on to blaze after hitting the airwaves. Its storytelling, characters, and visuals have become legend in the world of superhero media, with its success paving the way for a whole universe populated by DC's most iconic crimefighters. Though the likes of Static Shock and Batman Beyond might not have been as influential as the Caped Crusader's adventures, they still did right by both their fans and their source material. But perhaps none of these series that followed were as ambitious as 2004's Justice League Unlimited, a continuation of DC's Justice League show from a few years earlier that expanded its focus by about a gazillionfold.

Its episodes teamed up heroes that even astute superfans would have difficulty recalling, in addition to keeping up its predecessor's concern for spinning a solid dramatic yarn as much as giving viewers the dynamic slugfests their inner eight-year-olds crave. Now available on Blu-ray in a complete series set, Justice League Unlimited accomplishes the most important thing anyone can do when giving life to the realm of capes and cowls: making its players as captivating as the action-packed shenanigans into which they get themselves.

 The Justice League has grown a little, to say the least. No longer confined to its seven founding members, the world's premiere peace-keeping force now encompasses dozens upon dozens of heroes from all walks of life. You say that the Flash (voice of Michael Rosenbaum) is off running rings around criminals? The Question (voice of Jeffrey Combs) is there to sniff out the scumbags of society. Batman (voice of Kevin Conroy) is preoccupied? Supergirl (voice of Nicholle Tom) will gladly dish out some Kryptonian-style comeuppance in his place. Although it may seem a bit much, a team like the Justice League is going to need all the far-flung correspondents it can, so it can take on the most dire of threats to the world at large. From runaway atomic androids to old enemies like the cunning Gorilla Grodd (voice of Powers Boothe), the League's mettle is forever being tested, with even the innocent people they're protecting starting to wonder if they have too much power behind them. These superheroes have the ability to change the world together...but will they be prepared when evil decides to use it against humanity?

Admirers of its preceding series needn't fret about Justice League Unlimited bucking tradition in too radical a fashion. Aside from the greatly expanded hero roster, the greatest change it makes is trading in the original show's multi-episode story arcs for more self-contained one-off installments. However, this approach seems hit-and-miss, for while it does mean increased exposure for characters not as instantly recognizable as Superman or Wonder Woman, it also curtails the effect of some of the tales being told. Episodes dealing with such weighty concepts as Supergirl feeling alienated or the ideological split between Hawk (voice of Fred Savage) and Dove (voice of Jason Hervey) end up coming off as dramatically rushed and thematically incomplete. Justice League Unlimited attempts to pick up the slack by weaving in the occasional overarching plot thread regarding conspiracies and the like, but they're often resolved as prematurely as they are introduced. It becomes an especially glaring issue when the last few episodes suddenly confront us with the League having to team up with a legion of villains to combat a long-time foe's return, a development whose lack of build-up makes it a weak finale for the series as a whole. Whether it was planned as such all along or quickly tossed together because of a cancellation that wasn't seen coming, it's a bummer of an ending that crushes viewers with the heft of all the unanswered questions it leaves behind.

But when Justice League Unlimited takes off, it does so with sheer exhilaration, as the quality of its writing and escapist fun stack up easily against that of its comic contemporaries. The show's lack of hesitance in treating the more far-fetched additions to its ensemble seriously is reason enough for it to be heralded.

Having aired in the mid-2000s, pandering to the kiddies by giving all of the featured characters an "extreme" sheen couldn't have been an easy bullet for this property to dodge, but fortunately, cynicism is in short supply here. Each episode is presented in as earnest a tone as possible, and none of our heroes (or baddies, for that matter) seem as if their long-standing character traits are being compromised for the sake of forced drama. Seeing the League's various members interact with one another -- whether it's Shining Knight (voice of Chris Cox) struggling with his self-worth or Booster Gold (voice of Tom Everett Scott) trying to put a lid on his egotism -- brings just as much satisfaction as watching them round up thugs.

The lively animation injects a great deal of color and style into the often out-there nature of the team and its many adventures, and while the voice cast is too expansive to give kudos to every single player, rest assured that everyone suits their roles wonderfully. From returning veterans such as Conroy as Batman and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor to new faces like Morena Baccarin as the Huntress, the bulk of the actors deliver the goods (with maybe one or two that could've used an energy boost).

Though some fans may still bemoan the absence of Batman: The Animated Series in high-def, Justice League Unlimited's Blu-ray debut is an eye-catching package that'll keep them content in the meantime. Laden with verve, bursting with action, and carrying just enough of a knowingly preachy streak, those who've been following the show's characters on the screen or on the page for years are as likely to be entertained as those just dipping their big toes into the Olympic-size pool that is DC's animated universe. Plain and simple, Justice League Unlimited proves to be 39 episodes worth of exciting and imaginative comic-borne goodness.

(Justice League Unlimited: The Complete Series is available on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.)