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How many of you remember the DC Animated Universe? I know I do. It comprised pretty much my entire childhood and was the most awesome thing ever.
For those of you that have never heard of it, I pity you.
Anyways, the DCAU (which is a fan-created term) is a continuity that spans several shows, four feature films, and two Flash-based web series. We'll ignore those web whatevers, though.
Let's start with the first series. Coincidentally [B]THE BEST[/B]
[B]Batman: The Animated Series[/B]
[IMG]http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm296/mikemarts68/batman_the_animated_series_logo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm296/mikemarts68/%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3Dbatman_the_animated_series_logo.jpg%26newest%3D1&usg=__vQjfPdV4E69GhEngtMN0iArVtYQ=&h=331&w=250&sz=24&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ivOeJT5278DEYM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=90&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBatman%2Banimated%2Bseries%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1[/IMG][img]http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm296/mikemarts68/batman_the_animated_series_logo.jpg[/img]
This started the entire DCAU and is universally considered the best part of it, as well as one of the best animated shows of all time. It's notable for being one of very few "kid's" shows to explore some rather dark themes (highlighted in the Batman Beyond movie, which I'll get to) and plots that weren't always just "oh no supervillian is robbing a bank."
It also had one of the best rogue's galleries of any show ever. Most notably, The Joker was Batman's biggest villain, and was voiced by Mark Hamill, of Star Wars fame. And he was incredible.
[IMG]http://images1.fanpop.com/images/quiz/26423_1215186322200_372_332.jpg[/IMG]
The Dark Knight this ain't, this Joker was a bad-joke-spewing hilarity, but still managed to be quite maniacal. The show also created The Joker's sidekick and loyal servant, Harley Quinn. She was so well received, she was eventually incorporated into the comics themselves!
Other notable villains include The Scarecrow (who became remarkably less threatening in the New Batman Adventures, a complete redesign of the character looks), The Mad Hatter, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze (he was a particularly great villain), Clayface, Poison Ivy, and several others.
Moving on...
[B]The Superman Animated Series[/B]
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Considering the well received Batman series, an adaption of DC's most famous hero was inevitable. This series, though (arguably) a bit simpler than Batman: TAS, was every bit as entertaining and just as classic.
Most commonly, Superman fought evil corporate man Lex Luthor or one of his many mechanized creations. His enemies also included Brainiac, the Toyman (who [I]is[/I] that, anyways?), and world-conquering Darkseid who basically invaded Earth every other Wednesday.
Oh yeah, and the incredibly awesome Mr. Myxzptlk.
[IMG]http://www.collectorsquest.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/mxyzptlk_animated.jpg[/IMG]
Voiced by the actor famous for Iago in Disney's Aladdin. Yeah, he was a p. cool guy.
Also, it apparently took place at the same time as Batman: TAS despite Gotham looking like it was the 1920s and Metropolis looking like the future. There was even a crossover episode! That was pretty generic.
[B]Batman Beyond[/B]
[IMG]http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Batman_Beyond.jpg[/IMG]
Batman in the future. Yeah. It was cool, the new Batman beat things up whilst flying.
Honestly, I don't remember a lot of BB's villains. Most of them (like Inque, for example) were generic super-powered dudes intent on blowing things up real good.
There was a green dude named Blight who could shoot... radiation? Or something. Point is, Batman punched them in the face. And all was well.
[B]The Zeta Project
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This show was a spin off of Batman Beyond, and starred a robot named Zeta.
I distinctly remember watching nearly every episode, and yet I can't even begin to tell you what it was about. This leads me to believe it was very, very bad. So we'll just ignore this show.
[B]Static Shock[/B]
[IMG]http://www.johnsemper.com/images/static_shock_6yr1.jpg[/IMG]
Obviously, this show starred a teenage kid living in the city who went by the name Static. He controlled electricity (and metal, apparently?) and flew around on a metal disc.
This wasn't nearly as terrible as The Zeta Project, but aside from a few cameo appearances by bigger DC heroes, it was mostly an unremarkable TV show. Static flew around, Static punched things up, Static saves the day. All while living the life of an average teenager! Yeah, not as interesting as Batman, Superman, or Beyond.
[B]Justice League [/B]and[B] Justice League Unlimited
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OK, this show was [I]incredible.[/I] It starred six of DC's most famous heroes, joining together in the Justice League and collectively punching lots of bad dudes.
Thankfully, it wasn't [I]just[/I] punching bad dudes. There was some serious characterization here and it didn't feel like "just another superhero show." I won't say it's as deep as Batman: TAS, but it was definitely remarkable.
Perhaps the show's biggest downfall, however, was that the Justice League was just [I]too[/I] strong. With this many super-powered heroes in one place, they inevitably fought off world-threatening aliens/demons/robots nearly every time. It was entertaining though, so I don't think anyone cared.
The show changed rather radically about halfway through its lifespan when it took on the moniker [I]Justice League: Unlimited.[/I] And they [I]meant it.[/I] Some 60 or so additional heroes were tossed up to the Watchtower (the base of operations in space) and assisted in protecting the world.
This actually fixed the main problem of Justice League, rather ironically. With this many heroes, the writers weren't as tempted to include every hero every time. They were more willing to focus episodes on just a few heroes each team, drawing the spotlight to such under appreciated heroes like The Question and The Atom.
Just as a note, this show also included the finale Batman Beyond deserved, but never got. The episode Epilogue draws a close to Batman Beyond, and is presumably the last episode in the DCAU continuity.
[B]The Feature Films
[/B]Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
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The first Batman: TAS movie, and most definitely the best. Originally intended as the finale for Batman: TAS, this was an exciting, well-written case concerning one of Bruce Wayne's love interests. Though not [I]terribly[/I] complex, it was still very interesting and certainly not just a mindless superhero movie.
Batman: Sub-Zero
[IMG]http://www.pixiepalace.com/bookblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Subzero.jpg[/IMG]
This should be ample proof Mr. Freeze was an interesting villain. He got his own movie! How cool is that?
Anyways, this explored Mr. Freeze's attempts to resuscitate his wife, Nora. Mr. Freeze has always led a tragic life, and the movie did a good job of highlighting that.
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
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This movie released long after Batman: TAS had finished, and was really just fanservice more than anything. It wasn't complex, it wasn't groundbreaking, but it definitely had the air of The Animated series about it, and it was just a pleasant return to the streets of Gotham.
Batman Beyond: The Return of Joker
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Often considered the pinnacle of storytelling for the DCAU, this was a startlingly dark movie. So much so, in fact, that it was censored shortly after its initial release. (The DVD released fairly recently is the uncut version.)
The movie detailed an inexplicable return of The Joker years after the end of the original Batman, and he, mysteriously, hasn't aged a day. The secret behind this is tragic, surprisingly, and definitely a fitting end to The Joker's escapades.
For those wondering, the censored scenes focused mainly on (spoiler tags) [sp]The Joker's torture of the young Robin. Honestly, I'm surprised they ever got that scene in the movie in the first place. It's not [I]particularly[/I] violent, but the fact they stuck in torture of a [I]kid[/I] is fairly surprising.[/sp]
And that's the DCAU. I apologize for not going into more detail on all the shows, but I'm feeling somewhat lazy right now. :v: I might fill in some more details later, but in the mean time, DISCUSS.
tl;dr The DCAU is the best superhero series to ever grace the Earth.
Agreed.
I've only watched part of Subzero. Been begging to watch all off them.
Nothing on new frontier? Crisis on two earths? First flight? Public enemies?
Batman was the best of the series' imo.
[QUOTE=gamerboy266;23458577]Nothing on new frontier? Crisis on two earths? First flight? Public enemies?[/QUOTE]
Those movies, though bearing some sort of title like "DC Animated" don't officially take place in the DCAU. They're in a separate continuity.
Plus, most of them suck.
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