Still reeling from BvS? Let the DCAU cure what ails you...
I
know what you’re thinking. You have likely witnessed the cinematic abomination Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
within the last week or so, the start of a proposed DC shared movieverse that
will roar sonic booms through the filmic landscape of the next five years,
leaving us all branded with a Bat-symbol of dread and disappointment in its
wake. It’s not justice that’s dawning in
your breast, but rather terror. Terror that those holding the keys to the
kingdom could get it so wrong, and
now threaten to cast their dreary and colorless pall over each successive film;
taking what was once a universe of smiling heroes and unbridled imagination and
turning it into a sick fantasy of morbid violence that leads to nothing and
moral quandaries no one even bothers to half-heartedly provide an answer for.
Things are definitely
grim for those of us who grew up cherishing the DC universe and wanting nothing
more than to see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice
League share the screen in adaptations worthy of their iconic stature. Those
dreams may yet still go unfulfilled in live-action, but the good news is that
it doesn’t really matter. Because the DCU has already been brought to vivid
life from the comic book page, in a way that used to be the fever-dreams of
comic book fans but is now a template that movie studios are eager to apply to
their properties, no matter how ill-conceived some of them may be. A whole
shared universe of DC characters is already at our fingertips - a sprawling
continuity that spans almost fifteen years across nearly three-hundred and
fifty episodes in the medium that is possibly the best fit for any adaptation
of something as colorful as superheroes: animation.
It all started in 1992
with the debut of the now-legendary Batman:
The Animated Series, which was so deft in its handling of the main
character and his world it might as well be considered the Rosetta Stone of the
Bat-mythos. Literally everything you need to know about Batman is presented
therein, from the grim avenger from the Dark Knight’s debut to the colorful
antics of the ’66 TV show. The series was so powerful it spawned lasting
changes to Batman’s legacy, whether it was through the introduction of the
indelible Harley Quinn, or the transformation of Mr. Freeze from a D-list mad
scientist loser to perhaps the most tragic and compelling of all Batman’s
rogues. Not to mention the absolutely boss vocal performance of one Kevin
Conroy as Batman, still the best (in live-action or animation) and probably the
actor who will hold the longest tenure as the Bat when all is said and done.
It was Batman who got
there first, but Superman: The Animated
Series is where things start to get truly exciting, from a shared universe
standpoint, at least. Much like Batman
before it, the Superman animated
series cut through the bullshit of decades of continuity, trimming and pruning
different eras to finally result in what might as well be the definitive shape
of the character; the perfect crystallization of everything that makes
Superman, well… super. It wasn’t long before the show’s producers brought back
Batman, and the two were paired together for the first time outside the comics,
in the epic “World’s Finest,” a three-part episode arc that is so tightly
constructed and thematically sound, it exposes that recent $200 million dollar
slugfest for the childish, breaking-of-someone-else’s-toys debacle that it is.
What’s most important to the show’s success is actually seeing the characters interact, and all of the fun and clever
ways they can bounce off of each other. Watching Batman and Superman pound it
out may scratch a skin-deep fanboy itch, but it is far more rewarding to see Bruce
Wayne romance Lois Lane, or the Joker and Harley Quinn going on the most
bizarre “double date” ever depicted with Lex Luthor and his bodyguard Mercy
Graves. Instead of highlighting their differences strictly through power
levels, the show tackled Superman and Batman’s differences in character, thus
highlighting what made each hero special and enhancing their opposite natures
when they worked together.
The results of Batman
meeting Superman were a success, and the floodgates flew open for the newly
christened DC Animated Universe. A bevy of guest stars eventually led to a
full-blown Justice League show, which
once again found its strength not through titanic tussles and “Who would win in
a fight?” wagers, but rather the interactions of the seven main team members.
The show even has a leg up on current times, crafting a diverse cast of
characters long before diversity in media was the hot-button issue that it is
today. Instead of going with the more popular Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner, the producers
chose John Stewart to be their Green Lantern, a choice that resonated so
strongly in the larger culture that the phrase, “I thought Green Lantern was
supposed to be black,” was a common sentiment expressed back when the aborted
Ryan Reynolds vehicle came out in 2011. The show also chose to add Hawkgirl for
the seventh slot on the team traditionally filled by Aquaman, providing the
team with some much needed extra girl power in a choice that paid off
wonderfully, considering where they took that character over the course of the
show’s run.
It would be easy for
Bruce Timm and co.* to sit back and rest on the laurels of their success, but
they instead decided to throw all caution to the wind and reboot the Justice League series into Justice League Unlimited, which for all
intents and purposes is basically DC
Universe: The Animated Series. Pretty much every hero in DC’s stable found
themselves a member of the League, and instead of crowding the frame and making
the show feel busy or over-stuffed, each hero was as well-depicted and true to
their original character as if the show were their own, and not shared with
dozens of others. We’re rapidly approaching a time where a literal army of
superheroes showing up on the big screen is sure to become a reality, where the
Guardians of the Galaxy will likely stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the
Avengers on IMAX screens across the world, but it seems unlikely that any of it
will hope to top the sheer balance of equal character development that JLU succeeded at, while also tackling a
season-long plot that rivaled the likes of Lost
and The X-Files for its budding
mystery and edge-of-your-seat cliffhangers.
And all of that doesn’t even take into account
the Static Shock series, which saw
the late, great Dwayne McDuffie bringing his and artist’s Denys Cowan comic
book character to the small screen with a rather daring look at racial issues
for a cartoon. Or Batman Beyond,
which sounds like the most horrible, focus-grouped-to-death idea ever (“Let’s
do Batman… as a teenager!”) but is actually a brilliant addition to the
Bat-mythos, with a bold, cyberpunk-infused setting and slick action built
around brain-bending sci-fi concepts.
So fear not, DC fans.
Whether or not Warner Brothers rights the ship in time or continues to
profoundly misunderstand their characters in the coming years, we will always
have this treasure trove of shows, the best love letter to the DC superheroes
and their wondrous, boundless universe a fan could possibly ask for.
*
You’ll forgive me for using the shorthand “and co.” to describe the many
talented collaborators of Timm’s (who was the key producer on nearly all of
these shows); fine folks like Eric Radomski, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, James Tucker
and a whole host of others. Their work speaks for itself.
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