Does the DCAU still hold up?

I caught the Subzero and Batwoman movies on Cartoon Network! They came out a number of years after the series they would have gone with, didn't they?

x4 Yeah, I know, I was just counting those as part of the Animated Series.

Anyways, it's a shame DC isn't continuing those Batman/Superman/Justice League Beyond comics anymore. They ended with a really awesome Justice Lords Beyond plotline.

Now instead, we're getting some nonsense about a time traveling Tim Drake taking the Batman mantle after Terry dies, and it's set in the New 52 instead of the DCAU, so... I guess the DCAU is officially over for the time being.

edited 29th Jul '15 4:26:55 PM by spashthebandragon

Sub-Zero came out around the time of TNBA. It was meant to tie-into Batman and Robin.

Mystery of the Batwoman is kind of the black sheep of the movies, coming out long after TNBA ended and during the run of Justice League. It also didn't have quite the same visceral punch of Phantasm or Return of the Joker. Sub Zero isn't all that good either, it's mostly just an extremely bloated episode that wouldn't have even made a good two-parter. It's somewhat forgiven since it was made as a cash grab tie-in with Batman & Robin and at least wasn't as bad as that film.

On that note too, Superman: Brainiac Attacks uses the exact same character models and most of the same voice cast as STAS but is NOT part of the DCAU, which makes things confusing. The only clues are that this appears to be Brainiac's first arrival on Earth, the Fortress of Solitude has a different design (more of a high-tech command center vs. the shrine to Krypton) and Luthor's voice actor and personality is a massive departure from the Clancy Brown version. I remember hearing nothing but bad things, but watching it the only thing that really stunk was Luthor.

I feel like DCAU Luthor is the best Luthor yet. The way he's used, the way he acts, the way he's drawn(smugness level is unmatched), and his amazing voicework makes him the definitive Luthor for me. The luthor smirk is just great.

...Which just makes Jesse Eisenberg's Luthor all the more glaring to me. Why couldn't they get Clancy Brown, darn it? He played a bad guy on the Flash TV show! They could afford him!

I think the problem people might have with Mystery of the Batwoman is that compared to the former movies, it's a lot more lighter and softer in tone.

There also isn't any plot advancement that effects the characters.

Mask of Phantasm: Has the origins of Batman & The Joker.

Subzero: Nora is finally revive.

Return of the Joker: The End of Joker

Mystery of the Batwoman: Er... the mystery of a one time character is solved?

Eisenberg is a new Luthor for a new age. No longer the 80s Reaganaut titan of industry, he's a new-10s tech-wunderkind who embodies the new age of billionaires.

Has anyone read the comics based on the shows? And if so, are they worth reading?

Yes, generally. DC's tie-in comics are generally good no matter what the show, and the DCAU's are especially good - especially the Batman ones.

If you wanted more meaningful development for Nightwing or an underutilized villain in TNBA, for example, Batman/Gotham Adventures did that. If you missed characters that weren't utilized in Justice League, Justice League Adventures did that. Superman Adventures had arcs written by Mark Millar. All of them capture the tones of their respective shows perfectly while treading new ground, and some of certain characters' best moments are in those tie-ins imo.

edited 11th Sep '15 12:12:35 PM by KnownUnknown

I expect Eisenberg-Luthor to be very much a cross between a supervillain Mark Zuckerberg and Devin Weston from GTA V. Someone who's money, hip facade and social media presence makes them untouchable. Someone who can best Superman with nothing more than a few blog posts and the trending hashtag #Yes All Kryptonians. He doesn't have to be a genius technologist in this age; he can just buy them.

I've only read the Justice League tie-in comic.

I've read the following tie-in comics published by DC:

• The Powerpuff Girls
• Cartoon Network Block Party
• Justice League Unlimited
• Teen Titans: Go! (NO relation to Teen Titans Go!, this one is based off the 2003 version)
• The Batman Strikes (Based on The Batman)
• Legion of Superheroes
• Batman:The Brave and the Bold

And I have one issue of the Dexter's Lab tie-in.

So remember that scene in Return of The Joker, where Terry turns the tables on the Clown Prince of Crime, mocking him as nothing but a poor comedian who's trying (and failing) to make Batman laugh? I've always loved that moment but I'm wondering if this could be applicable to any other versions of the Joker. Would it have worked on Ledger's version, who's not as showy as the DCAU version? How about Moore's version? Or Miller's? Hell, would it have worked on the "real" Joker that existed in the DCAU? After all the version Terry defeated was just an A.I based on the Joker's consciousness and genetic material, not the flesh and blood genuine article.

edited 30th Jul '16 4:43:29 AM by windleopard

I would say it would have worked on the "real" Joker. We've seen him similarly rattled in a few episodes. To be honest, I think that's something that made the DCAU Joker work better than how he's typically been depicted in recent years (even in productions starring Mark Hamill such as the Arkham series): Other people, such as Terry, Charlie Collins and the Creeper, were sometimes able to turn the tables and get under his skin in a way that he gets under other people's skin.

That's a far cry from how he's typically depicted in modern adaptations where you can generally count on him to never, ever lose his cool.

Depending on how you interpret "making Batman laugh," it applies to most versions of the Joker. One of Joker's primary goals tends to be making Batman see the world as one big joke in the same way he does, and to make him go on to turn as insane as he is.

Arguably, it might even apply to the DCAU version of Joker less than most others, as while that Joker clearly respects Batman more than anyone else and defines himself by their rivalry, he rarely shows any desire to convert Bats to his way of thinking and seems more interested in killing him in spectacular ways.

It's why I've always liked the "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Joker's Favor better, since Charlie pegs the DCAU Joker exactly.

edited 30th Jul '16 9:26:07 AM by KnownUnknown

The issue with a lot of adaptations is that they don't have the opportunity to really explore the longevity of their relationship. The DCAU Joker had been around nearly a decade at the ROTJ moment (and In-Universe had a long history with Batman before the Batman Beyond Time Skip), which makes that dissection of his motives work. Ledger's Joker was in one movie that spans at most a month. It's almost impossible to explore the relationship between the two when they barely know each other.

That's actually part of the reason the DCEU approach of putting Batman much later in his career is interesting, it builds history without having to start from the beginning.

More adaptations need to start mid-way or farther into heroes' careers in general, because there are a lot of interesting characters and events in superhero stories come about because the hero has been around long enough to create a developed mythos around themselves, or simply because of events that have to follow other events and so on.

It's why Tim Drake is basically never going to get adapted in a way that really captures him, for example.

A lot of adaptations nowadays have been trying to get their cake and eat it by having the origins and then rush-jobbing the big later events, but it doesn't always work.