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Five Thoughts on DC Super Hero Girls‘ “#SweetJustice”

By | March 11th, 2019
Posted in Television | % Comments

The DC Super Hero Girls line has been such a big seller for DC now that it’s rather surprising it’s only becoming a TV series now. With Lauren Faust, the creator of the surprisingly well-regarded My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic at the helm, it was all the more reason to check out the well overdue adaptation. Here are our five thoughts on the four-part pilot, “#SweetJustice,” which aired (appropriately enough) on International Women’s Day:

1. Everyone is So Much Younger

The show stars high school versions of Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Supergirl, Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Green Lantern (Jessica Cruz), and Bumblebee, and we’re also introduced to similarly young takes on Lex Luthor, Hal Jordan, Barry Allen and Harleen Quinzel. (From the yearbook in the opening credits, we also see the show will feature a teenage Lois Lane and Selina Kyle/Catwoman.) In fact, aside from the core cast’s parents (like Jim Gordon and Hippolyta), only Superman and Batman seem like established adult superheroes in this world, which is a cool nod to them being the first DC superheroes, but it’s still surprising given Wonder Woman is, well, a woman. Granted, a 317-year old immortal is basically a teenager, but it’s still jarring seeing Diana as a contemporary of Barbara and Kara, not Donna Troy.

2. Unfamiliar Familiar Faces

That said, Wonder Woman’s portrayal feels very reminiscent of Gal Gadot’s take in the 2017 movie, as well as other younger, more wide-eyed takes from the comics, albeit taken to naturally cartoonish new levels. Y’know the scene from Geoff Johns and Jim Lee’s “Justice League” run where Wonder Woman discovers “ice cream is wonderful” (replicated in Justice League War and Patty Jenkins’s film)? Here, when Diana tastes ice cream for the first time, she becomes a ravenous monster who snatches and devours Bumblebee’s purchase. Also, she garbles “I would kill for a burrito” as “I will kill you for a burrito,” which is something you’d never expect her to say.

Meanwhile, Barbara Gordon initially seems like her rather introverted self from the comics, but she’s portrayed as a very hyperactive, happy-go-lucky adventurer (exactly the sort to befriend Harleen Quinzel, who’s already a delinquent here). Kara Zor-El is a very stocky, moody brawler, which helps distinguish her quite a lot from Melissa Benoist’s take. Bumblebee’s very shy and anxious, Zatanna’s a mean girl instead of Batman’s warm childhood friend, and Jessica Cruz is naturally bereft of her dark, convoluted backstory of her comics counterpart. Ultimately though, all these alterations help distinguish every member of the ensemble from each other, and are arguably striking starting points for them to inevitably progress from: we may not be dealing with the finished articles here.

3. Skewing Young

This is a very colorful and light show. You’d expect from the opening that the big bad is Lex Luthor, up to no good with a nefarious real estate plan as always, only it turns out it’s his prepubescent sister Lena, who just wants to destroy all the places teenagers enjoy. As evil schemes go, it’s hardly completing the Infinity Gauntlet, but maybe it’s the sort of plot this frothy kids’ show needs. There’s not much hint of an overarching season long storyline or anything scarier than Lex predictably giving the Super Hero Girls some stink eye.

Still, the show does create some sense of jeopardy by emphasizing civilians can be harmed – or worse – during the girls’ training: these montages do a great job of silently stressing that getting people out of harm’s way during a fight should more important to the Super Hero Girls than actually crushing an enemy. That’s something supposedly more mature superhero adaptations have forgotten too many times, and we should be grateful for it.

4. Powerpuff Factor

Given Lauren Faust was a storyboard artist, writer, and director on the original Powerpuff Girls cartoon (created by her husband Craig McCracken), it’s only natural DC Super Hero Girls brings to mind many elements of that show, from the strong use of rock/pop music, to the anime-esque character design, and the vocal characterization. Tara Strong, the original Bubbles herself, brings that same sweetness to Batgirl and Harleen, while Nicole Sullivan’s butch performance as Supergirl is strongly reminiscent of E. G. Daily’s Buttercup. It’s a comparison aided by the conflict between Kara and Diana’s Blossom-like leader, and how much Lena comes across like Princess Morbucks. These four episodes are nowhere as gratuitously violent as Powerpuff Girls could be, though Kara and Diana’s fight in detention is surprisingly brutal, with punches to the face and gut aplenty.

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5. Production Notes

Something DC Super Hero Girls shares with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic are the lack of black outlines: every outline on a character reflects their own color scheme, which combined with the high frame rate, generates a wonderfully fluid look to the animation. Admittedly the color grain becomes a bit noticeable on close-ups of Bumblebee whenever she shrinks, but overall, the show looks unique and aesthetically pleasing.


The first “episode” of DC Super Hero Girls was a fun hour of screwball comedy, one that’s bound to delight its target audience. It probably won’t draw an older audience like Young Justice, but it is its own confident take on the DCU, one that doesn’t feel as much of a self-parody as Teen Titans Go! And Batgirl’s ears being as expressive as she is an ingenious touch.


Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Chris is the news manager of Multiversity Comics. A writer from London on the autistic spectrum, he enjoys tweeting and blogging on Medium about his favourite films, TV shows, books, music, and games, plus history and religion. He is Lebanese/Chinese, although he can't speak Cantonese or Arabic.

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