Does the DCAU still hold up?

First off, i should say im a big fan of the DC Animated Universe (all DC comics related shows from Batman: The Animated Series up to and including Justice League Unlimited). That said, the debate does come up, do the shows still hold up in 2015? There were some goofy episodes in all the shows, and some of the stylized animation does seem to have flaws (Joker's New Batman Adventures redesign comes to mind, but to be fair, i wasnt a fan of that look even when it was new), and JLU had too many characters who simply stood around in the background. On the other hand, the storytelling rivals some of the best DC comics, B:TAS has some great noir-style visuals, and i liked how they turned minor characters in the comics like The Question into breakout characters.

Good rule of thumb here: if your main reason for disliking something is that some of the episodes are goofy and that there's occasional animation flaws, it holds up.

The question is - does it work? Can you tell what they're trying to do? How well are they doing it? Then you'll know if it holds up.

edited 22nd Jun '15 6:58:31 PM by Aldo930

The key is not to look for flaws, but to see how good its strengths are. All franchises have their clunkers in writing, directing, acting, but seeing how good their best episodes are is how to determine if it still holds up. Batman: Arkham Origins had the "Cold, Cold Heart" DLC that was basically a video game adaptation of "Heart of Ice" and nearly every major story beat was replicated in some fashion, and it worked wonderfully.

Even still, all shows take some time to grow into their absolute best version possible and it's THAT which makes early episodes seem lackluster rather than satisfactory. It wasn't until Batman Beyond that the action scenes gained a hyperkinetic quality to them, whereas in comparison all previous shows feel sedated.

i've seen a lot of episodes of BTAS very recently. most of them still hold up rather well. it's still a well-written show with a fantastic musical score and wonderful aesthetics.

Justice League definitely holds, despite its first season being rather formulaic and lacking depth.

Its second season is still an absolute masterpiece to this day (Starcrossed, A better World, Hereafter, wild Cards). Even the light episode Comfort and Joy is extremely heartwarming.

As for JLU, the quality depended on how much you liked the characters that got the focus, but there were plenty of great episodes - The Greatest Story Never Told, of course, but also For The Man Who Has Everything, Wake The Dead, Task Force X, The Balance, Double Date, Hunter's Moon...

And Green Arrow, Huntress and the Question (who got the most focus out of the new members) all are excellent characters.

So it definitely holds as of today. I would place Season 2 among the best seasons ever made in an animated show, hands down, with A Better World as its Magnum Opus.

edited 23rd Jun '15 2:50:36 AM by Julep

Let's all agree not to bring up The Zeta Project.

Anyway, looking back on it I'd say the only part of the DCAU that doesn't hold up as well is The New Batman Adventures which - despite being the springboard for everything that came after it (while Batman The Animated Series was the start of the DCAU as a whole, it was The New Batman Adventures that formed the basis for the DCAU proper), it's serious decline in writing quality and especially characterization make most of its episodes a lot less watchable than what came before or after it.

That said, it's still an above average show, and it's exceptionally good episodes are some of the best in the entire DCAU.

edited 23rd Jun '15 10:19:26 AM by KnownUnknown

While New Batman slid on character quality, it stepped up in animation and action, which again, set the tone for the series that came after it (or Superman TAS, which ran alongside it). What made the DCAU consistently watchable was solid action, pacing, and animation, keeping things good even when the writing was lagging

"Sedate" is a good term for a lot of Batman: TAS episodes, which were well-written but could get boring to watch at times, in hindsight. But this is because of what followed them and set a new standard for American action cartoons.

Yes.

Batman: TAS is still a great watch from time to time.

Superman: TAS is probably my least favorite of the ones I've seen, but is still good.

Justice League is probably my favorite. Especially Season 2 and JLU.

Batman Beyond I've only seen very few episodes, but the ones I've seen were good.

Now we have the movies to discuss:

• Mask of the Phantasm-One of the greatest animated movies ever
• Batman and Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero-What Batman and Robin should've been.
• Return of the Joker-The first of the DCAU movies I saw and it is amazing. I loved everything about it.
• Mystery of the Batwoman-Haven't seen it.

Mystery of the Batwoman isn't all that great. It does have a couple good moments, though.

If nothing else, I though Batwoman was fun.

that goon wasn't smart, he just has a good memory. how do you think he got the black eye?

EDIT: F*** it

edited 29th Jun '15 12:07:17 PM by TheLemsterPju

Ugh, do you really have to act like that? Saying that everyone else is negative and just follows the crowd is itself another way to be trendy and negative. If you have an opinion, give examples, please.

It's also in bad form to criticize a show (or shows) as a valve to try to reinvindicate another show (or shows) by comparison. Since not only shows should be judged on their own merits, but it also adds an unlikable 'agenda' undertone that wasn't needed at all.

EDIT: F*** it

edited 29th Jun '15 12:07:02 PM by TheLemsterPju

Getting back on topic: I think Batman The Animated Series holds out the strongest among the DCAU. While some episodes haven't aged well at all, a majority of them still hold up even to this day.

You're doing it again. Please stop playing the 'victim' card in a context that doesn't need it or call for it at all.

I recently watched Batman TAS for the very first time (yeah, that happens, I never got around to it beforehand). In any case, the first episode were a little bit meh. Very episodic and too much focus on random people Batman helped. But then there was suddenly a shift. It is still episodic but doesn't feel disconnected any longer, and the focus on the characters especially the villains did the show a lot of good. And yes, I think the show still holds up. Even though that I think that if you are more into character and story arcs, Gargoyles is actually the better series of the time. Not that it diminishes Batman TAS in the slightest. The shift from episodic TV to longer arcs is something which happened gradually in the late 1990s.

I think you might be able to argue your stance better if you gave some examples.

EDIT: F*** it

edited 29th Jun '15 12:06:51 PM by TheLemsterPju

Again, this should not be a thread about how the DCAU has problems and people shouldn't be criticizing Avengers Assemble because of it. A thread about how the DCAU holds up still today, sure. A backhanded thread that's actually about venting about Flame Wars and Fan Haters or anything like that? No.

Even without getting into the argument, it's basically a complain thread.

If that's what you intended all along, you should never have made this thread in the first place.

edited 29th Jun '15 11:19:32 AM by KnownUnknown

EDIT: F*** it

edited 29th Jun '15 12:06:38 PM by TheLemsterPju

You're not listening to what people are saying. I didn't say that you were telling people the DCAU sucked and Avengers Assemble was better, I'm saying that you're going off on a "DCAU fans are hypocrits" rant and - as Napoleon also pointed out - your getting defensive and confrontational when called out on it.

Direct quotations of yours.

If your intention is to make a thread to vent your frustrations at people comparing a show you like to something else, this isn't the way or place to do it. That, in itself, isn't really bad, but if you're going to get confrontational with people that's another thing altogether.

If you're not complaining about the show, you're definitely complaining about its fans. And what's worse you're projecting that frustrations onto people who haven't even been a part of it, essentially starting a flame war where there wasn't one.

Though I was under the mistaken impression that you were the O.P, so never mind about the "starting the thread" comment.

edited 29th Jun '15 11:27:37 AM by KnownUnknown

EDIT: F*** it

edited 29th Jun '15 12:06:29 PM by TheLemsterPju

If that's what you intended all along, you should never have made this thread in the first place.

In all fairness, it wasn't him who made it.

Edit: Never mind, I missed your correction about it. Sorry, let's move along.

edited 29th Jun '15 12:22:38 PM by NapoleonDeCheese