Webtoon Spotlight

Respect spotlight #06: DCAU

Fourteen years, eight series, six movies,11 awards, and a timeless effect on animation and comics as a whole. As another year is hours for the taking at the time of this chapter, I would like to praise the ever-loving crap of the first shared multimedia franchise of superheroes: The Dc Animated Universe.

Overview

Since this a huge medium of animation, I will compromise this story of the greatest aspects of these shows, how they affected me, and their legacy on geekdom as a whole. But I might as well talk about the creation of this great universe.

Back in the early '90s, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Mitch Brian decided to create a series that would be heavily based on the Tim Burton live-action movies. And it what so easily could have been a pointless, brainless cash grab turned into a dark film noir story set in a timelessly classic Gotham city. Where a creatively colorful rogues gallery of villains almost on the weekly challenge a troubled man who tries to be to do the impossible: making sure no little boy would ever have to lose what he did. Throughout 65 episodes, we saw the Batman mythos come alive and explored thoroughly in dozens of stories as the show got critical acclaim, four Emmys, and eternal recognition.

Eventually, Bruce Timm branched out with writer Alan Burnett to create Superman the Animated Series, which was also done in a classical style that paid tribute to the cartoons of the titular character in the 1940s. With another success underneath the belt, the series spent it's last years building up the existence of other prominent characters and spawning numerous spinoffs that included The New Batman Adventures, Static Shock, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and spin-off materials.

Writing

Where hundreds of people worked on this franchise, I believe the most important people that need to be thanked for this masterpiece is Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, Dwayne McDuffie (God rest his soul) Butch Lukic, Dan Riba. These writers managed to turn some of the greatest characters in the modern era. In this continuity, we see Batman from boy to old man as we see a 14-year-old journey of him sacrificing his happiness for his crusade, attempt to have a family again, the mental and physical scars that this life brought him, his retirement and his new beginning. The character has never been more three dimensional than he is here. Superman is at his most intelligent and almost most poignant here as across his run, the man of steel is tested and tempered from the likes of Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and Cadmus to still be the boy scout of truth and justice.

The Dcau always knew how to make these seemingly boring characters and giving them arcs, developments, and scenarios that aren't found anywhere else. The comic book world they created is so large yet serialized that almost every character can be made stories of. And I'm not going to be talking about the amazing continuity. It is simple enough to jump in almost anywhere yet intricate enough to the point where rewatching pivotal moments are almost all the greater. I could go on about this, but I will talk about it in a later section.

Animation /art style

While there was an amazing amount of animation companies. However, Bruce Timm, in every show he touched or moved towards a blocky simplified look, infamous across his stories to create a more dynamic and consistent animation. This worked almost too well as it created a unique look that is almost one of a kind. Another trademark was the classic style that Timm tried to craft to a science. The Gotham City of Btas is trapped in a classic era filled with Police blimps, seemingly infinitely tall buildings, early 20th century gangsters, and seemingly ever-changing night skies. Superman's metropolis looks straight out of the '50s with bright colored buildings with the alien locations looking futuristically streamlined and almost always fun. But I think where the designs hit their mark is the anime-inspired techno punk aesthetic of Batman Beyond, which pushed the envelope on what this future was created.

Voice Cast

Andrea Romano is probably the greatest voice director of the dcau. Thanks to her, we managed to get some of the most iconic actors for the roles of these characters. Because of this, we got Tim Daily/George Newburn as Superman, Kevin Conroy as Batman, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Phil Lamar as Green Lantern (John Stewart), Micheal Rossebaum as Flash (Wally West), Carl Lumbly as Martian Manhunter and Maria Canals-Barrera as Hawkgirl. These voices are so great in their roles, and the recording together creates a well-meshed cast. And how could I forget Mark Hamill as Joker and Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor who plays each character like Beethoven does a symphony ? The Dcau casting was so on point that these are the voices that I hear when I think of these characters. They've become iconic and lefedary.

Risks

Probably the greatest contribution that this franchise has done is in the amount of creativity and risks the team took in. What kind of studio do you know would even attempt to listen to the criticism of its fan and use it to become better the next time around? Because that's exactly what happened between Jl season 1 and 2. These guys were always pushing the envelope on what they could. Static Shock got four seasons and 52 episodes, and that is a superhero show based on Wildstorm comics, a com ic company known for making African American superheroes. They took the chance of creating Batman mythos that other comics and series have since written for. The wb's attempt to make a "teenage Batman"  created new lore in the form of Batman beyond. I wish more shows have this since you never know when a good idea is going to pop up. The Cadmus ar, in general,l is some of the best superhero drama I've ever seen, giving us a realistic look into what superheroes in a realistic setting would do to society. And yet the series never stops acknowledging and loving the wacky world these characters live in for even a second.

Legacy

Overall, even with a decade of it being off-the-air, the Dcau still has many of its stories inspire dc's future media both indirectly and directly. The voice cast for these characters remained forever iconic, and new material was added that benefited Dc comics. Many of the directors and writers for the franchise have still added much to both the animation industry and Dc. And the impact it's left on fans has seemingly only strengthened as time has gone on with youtube channels like j reviews providing dcau retrospectives, and the ever prominent Watchtower Database, which asks and answers the questions of the dcau we've all been looking for with their fan-made comic called Legacies of the Dcau which bridges the gap of Batman Beyond and Justice League. And while the DC live-action movies are doing well, many still believe that to really make them good is to follow the example of the Dcau.

And for me, this is the template and the standard that I hope my stories will one day achieve as this was the series that truly made me a lifelong nerd. Other universes like the Marvel Production, Christopher Yost and Marvel Animation universes nothing will ever compare to this, before or after this. And while I wish that it would never end, I'm glad that it existed. I hope you all enjoyed this spotlight, and I hope you guys loved this universe just as much as I do. Happy 2020 everybody!