This year marks the 30th anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, which premiered September 5, 1992, as well as three decades of the DC Animated Universe — consisting of Batman, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, Justice League and more — as a whole. As the gateway for a lot of fans into the DC Universe, the DCAU has unsurprisingly had a lot of comic book tie-ins, but there’s always more that could be done.
Special thanks to the DCAU-centric YouTube channel Watchtower Database for inspiring this post: go check them out if you haven’t.
Justice League Unlimited
Wonder Woman:
Diana of Themyscira never received her own DCAU series, since she was introduced in the Justice League cartoon, so a solo comic book for Susan Eisenberg’s version of the character would be a lovely way to make up for that. Wonder Woman has a rich but underused supporting cast, and a comic would be a fun way to further consolidate characters like Nubia, Donna Troy, Cassie Sandsmark, and Yara Flor as essential supporting/lead spin-off characters. Furthermore: did anyone else realize Artemis never appeared in the DCAU? What a stunning omission of a great character.
Green Lantern:
One of the best decisions the DCAU ever made was choosing John Stewart to be Justice League‘s Green Lantern: for an entire generation, Phil LaMarr’s character is who they picture when they hear the name. It was all the more striking then, that John wasn’t in 2019’s feature-length film Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, which featured Jessica Cruz instead; it’d be great to see those two co-star in a follow-up, regardless of whether we get another film or not. There’s so much to explore with the Green Lanterns in a DCAU setting: John’s early years, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner’s place in the timeline (since they’re shown in Fatal Five), and the potential formation of the Sinestro Corps.
Aquaman:
When Justice League Unlimited was produced, the show ran into a number of “embargoes” over the use of characters appearing in other projects, the most infamous of which was the “Bat-embargo” that prevented various Batman villains from appearing on the show, because of the 2004-2008 cartoon The Batman. Aquaman ran into this problem too, thanks to the 2006 pilot starring Justin Hartley as Arthur, causing his nemesis, Black Manta, to be adapted into a Wonder Woman foe called Devil Ray. Now that enough time has passed, perhaps the DCAU’s Arthur can finally face off against David Hyde.
Red and Lightning:
A comic starring Michael Rosenbaum’s Wally West/The Flash would be a great way to bring in the wider Flash family, and perhaps most excitingly, give the Reverse-Flash the opportunity to be a major villain in the DCAU. And while on the subject of red-and-gold, lightning-themed heroes, it’s a shame Justice League Unlimited‘s version of Captain Marvel/Shazam never reconciled with Superman after their eponymous “Clash,” so it would be nice to see that happen in a comic, and have them face off against Black Adam (another great villain who never appeared on TV) together. Finally, Black Lightning never appeared in the cartoons, and who wouldn’t want to see him or his daughters team up with Static?
Teen Titans:
A DCAU version of the “Titans” was confirmed to exist by Batman on Static Shock, though we never saw them on TV or in a comic because of the unrelated 2003-2006 series that eventually spawned Teen Titans Go! It would be great to see these versions of Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, who was actually included in the unaired Justice League pilot alongside Tim and Impulse/Bart Allen (where he was depicted as a girl no less), plus any other characters the creative team decides on. It might seem a bit odd not having Dick Grayson/Nightwing be the Robin on the team, but a) who’s to say this is its first incarnation, b) perhaps they could be on the roster together, and c) an incarnation resembling this one was featured in the comics at the time.
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The Near Apocalypse of ’09:
First mentioned on Batman Beyond, the Near Apocalypse of ’09 marked the final battle between Bruce Wayne and Ra’s al Ghul. It’s a shame this story was never depicted, especially during 2009 when it was supposed to happen, but (pardon the cliche) better late than never. What exactly transpired that made this particular scheme nearly spell the end of the world, or is “near apocalypse” a general term for each major superhero storyline? If greenlit now, it would make for a great tribute to Ra’s al Ghul voice actor David Warner, who passed away this summer at the age of 80.
It’d also be great to see rising creators on any new books alongside old favorites: both the recent “Batman: The Adventures Continue” and “Justice League Infinity” had veteran DCAU creators like Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, J.M. DeMatteis, and James Tucker on board, but it’d be great to have writers and artists who grew up on these cartoons too. Be sure to tell us in the comments who you’d like to see contribute, and what stories you’d like to see from the next three decades of the DCAU, whether or not it continues in print or returns to the screen.
