The DC Vault of Animation
Next year DC is releasing its new Computer animated Batman Series Beware, the Batman. And my hopes are high, just because DC has been on a roll with animated series now for 20 odd years. Computer animation always scares me because the quality has to be so high for the viewers to be satisfied. The trailer doesn’t give us much, other than the Batmobile, and that looks great. In the world of animated superhero series, there are many, and for me DC sticks out with stories and the use of the characters. Usually series like these are used as a platform to give the characters and their worlds a bigger sphere than just a comic book, but DC actually manage to evolve the characters to the point that it changes in the universe as well and make people value the the series just as much as the comic book or other adaptations. Of course the best example of this is the genius 1995 series
Batman the Animated Series. I have seen every episode and have dedicated a whole arm of tattoos of the characters from this show, because it was (for me) so much more than just a show, it was Batman. Dark, Violent, and it used its characters and plots extremely well to evolve some of the most exciting episodes in animation history.
Despite all that, Batman TAS are now given a run for its money because the shows DC are pumping out now are utterly.. fantastic.
Green Lantern The Animated Series. I was very sceptical to this show in the beginning. For the very shallow reason on how it was gonna look. Animated series nowadays hasn’t really held up quality-wise, mostly because we are spoiled with the amazing works coming from Pixar and what not. Despite all that I really really like this show. It is very well made actually! Sure not magnificent but I and i got use to it really fast (man, I sound animation-spoiled) By the way, I prefer old school traditional animation any day, every day. So, back to the actual show. Green Lantern Animated series is really good! Great adventures and very cool that Hal Jordan and Kilwog team up with a red Lantern. Only 13 episodes out so far, and I can’t wait for the series to continue.
Batman The Brave and the Bold. This show is Fantastic! It takes the best of the old school superhero humor and action and mix it with the awesome square-ish cartoon Network style of animation. The intro is so delightful, feels like I’m watching a sixties show. So obviously, this show takes a lighter and more humorous view on Batman, oneliners, silly jokes and not at all as dark as the Batman beyond and the genius 1995 Batman The Animated Series. Another cool thing is the amount of characters from the DC Universe it includes. They take the most obscure, hidden but also classic supporting characters and make the adventure revolve around that pairing and an amazing adventure is born. For instance we see Bat-mite kidnapping his biggest idol Batman and creates jams for him to get out of, just because he admires him so. Aquaman takes his wife and son on a land based holiday, only to be lured away to solve different jams other superheroes are more than capable of handling themselves. We see Atom Man shrinking down to a microscopic size to venture through Batman’s body, Deadman makes an appearance in the same episode as the Gentleman Ghost and Batman receive solid backup from the Metal Men. Blue Beetle, Mongul, Clock King, Huntress, Plastic Man, Blockbuster, Hour Man, Kanjar Ro, The Faceless Hunter, Phantom Stranger...gaaah! The list goes on and on of these incredible team-ups, and as an avid DC-reader every episode makes me do cartwheels inside. The voice of Batman is perfectly voiced by Diedrich Bader, who for me will always be Oswald from The Drew Carey Show. ALSO, the list of people lending their voice to an occasional character is miles long, Mark Hamill (not as Joker this time but The Spectre), Ron Perlman, Morena Baccarin, Henry Rollins, Neil Patrick Harris, Jeffrey Tambor, Tippi Hedren, Stephen Root, Michael Rosenbaum, Alan Tudyk, Wil Wheaton, and even Batman himself Kevin Conroy. So yes, there are many reasons to watch this show, the humour, the style of animation and most importantly.. the fact that you get to see such a big part of the DCU. I Love It.
Unfortunately, it stopped being produced last year, but it still runs on CN.
Young Justice. I have seen every episode of this show and I have to say, best animated series since Batman the animated series. It is so more serious and more adult than I expected it to be, the stories are so well written, intricate, well laid out and produced it is hard to grasp that this is a show for kids. To be honest, it couldn’t be for kids actually, it’s more for teenagers and animation crazy adults (me). The Young Justice consist of, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis, Zatanna, Speedy (Red Arrow) and Rocket. They gain a few members and lose a few to the big Justice League during the course of the series, for what happens is that in season two it (very cleverly) skips ahead five years and the some characters have evolved or changed to a different persona. So, for instance, Robin is now Nightwing, Kid Flash gave up his identity to live as a civilian, Tim drake is the new Robin and Red Arrow is revealed to be a clone.. It is just crazy good. Every episode has an individual story but there’s an underlying plot running through the series.
DC is really on top of the animated series ladder for me right now. And with Batman the animated series, Justice League, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, Superman the Animated Series in their backpack they will always be number one.
Ok, I know I am always siding with DC against Marvel but I absolutely love Marvel’s animated series as well, the 90s Spiderman and X-men are bloody incredible. And the intro music for Spiderman with its amazing guitar solo is by far the best one! Just for the record..
