#featuring baby jason being 90% cape

[spiders-in-the-city]

justice league babysitting

[fancoloredglasses]

The Dini-verse (the 90s standard for a shared universe)

[All images are owned by DC Comics and WarnerMedia. I hope I’m too small-fry to sue...]

The collection of DC animated shows collectively called the “Dini-verse” (after their co-creator Paul Dini) is 7 shows (though 2 are continuations of existing series, only rebranded, and one didn’t officially join the Dini-verse until after it premiered) that share the same continuity (what? You thought Marvel thought of it first?) These are the first animated televised series since Crisis on Infinite Earths rebooted the DC Universe in 1985, and as such show the DC heroes and villains (sanitized for kids) that was currently in the comics at the time.

But enough in that, let’s look at the various shows...

(Thanks to Warner Brothers)

In 1989, Tim Burton’s Batman changed the way people looked at the Caped Crusader. While still having a lot of the over-the-top gimmicks, it showed a Gotham City much darker that what was shown in 1966, with a Batman (and Joker) to match, with Batman Returns taking it even darker. Batman took on that dark tone (lightened slightly for kids), with an almost noir feel. A lot was borrowed from the Burton films, including the music and the Batmobile, but most of the scenery and vehicles wouldn’t have looked out of place in a 40s detective film.

The voice cast was stellar, with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill voicing Batman and the Joker respectively for over 3 decades (long after the Dini-verse had run its course) in various animation and video game versions of their characters. The writers managed to tell compelling stories that gave a sense of peril (from a kid’s standpoint) and urgency while being deep enough to keep young adults drawn in (such as the origin of Two-Face) and being fairly light on deus ex Batshit.

While the series does a great job translating and updating the heroes and villains Batman associates with (including making Mr. Freeze an almost sympathetic character) to a kid-friendly environment, there’s one character that was created specifically for the series that fans demanded find her way into the comics...

Season 3 saw Batman: the Animated Series rebranded as The Adventures of Batman & Robin after Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) were introduced. This would be the final season, but two years later saw The New Batman Adventures, which picked up a few years later. Bruce and Dick have a falling out and Dick assumes the role he is now known as in the comics...

...Nightwing. Bruce then takes in Tim Drake as the new Robin (I see Dini is ignoring Jason Todd...probably for the best)

Unfortunately, the animation style for a number of characters (most notably the Joker) was vastly different, and many fans had issues

Between the two chapters of Batman, we saw a different hero in the spotlight...

(Thanks to 90sCartoonIntros)

Superman saw the first animated appearance of the post-Crisis Superman crew, in which Superman, while still more powerful that pretty much everyone, was not all-powerful and nigh-invulnerable, often struggling (and causing a great deal of property damage...just how much do residents of Metropolis pay for insurance?) with powerful beings. It also saw the first animated appearance of Lex Luthor as a ruthless industrialist instead of a stereotypical “FOOLS! I’ll destroy you all!” villain.

There eventually was a crossover event featuring Supes and Bats, establishing they shared a continuity. However, there was another hero whose continuity tied in...

(Thanks to The World’s Finest)

Static Shock follows the adventures of Virgil Hawkins, who was caught in an event known as the “Big Bang”, in which a bunch of gang members were dosed in a gas that inadvertently turned them into metahumans (or “Bang Babies” as the series calls them). Virgil acquired electric powers and assumed the moniker Static, defending Dakota City against the Bang Babies (most of whom have no intention of helping anyone but themselves)

Virgil’s best friend, Richie Foley, also gained super powers, but his was increased intellect, which he used to become the gadgeteer hero known as Gear.

The show, while aimed at kids, dealt with some very heavy topics (such as gangs, guns, and racism)

In Season 2, Static Shock officially joined the Dini-verse after Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) teamed up with Static and Gear after the Joker came to Dakota City. It would be later revealed that Static would become one of Earth’s greatest heroes in the future (more on his future later)

Now, with Batman and Superman sharing the same continuity, it was only a matter of time before...

(Thanks again to 90sCartoonIntros)

Justice League saw Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman uniting along with  Green Lantern (John Stewart), the Flash (Wally West), Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter (finally making his on-screen debut instead of being rebranded as El Dorado).

The League dealt with threats on a global scale that not even Superman could deal with alone, including an invasion by Hawkgirl’s people (she sided with her people until she found out they planned on destroying the planet). This made the League realize that even they weren’t enough and recruited every hero they could find, leading to...

(Thanks to imdb)

While most Justice League Unlimited (or JLU) episodes did feature at least one member of the original members, the better episodes focused on the “junior members” and a few got storylines that were interwoven over several episodes (many were romantic entanglements, such as Green Arrow/Black Canary, Question/Huntress (I still scratch my head over that one), and John Stewart/Hawkgirl/Vixen, as well as the oddest coupling: Batman/Wonder Woman.

And here is the biggest appeal of the Diniverse: while the shows are kid-friendly, they are not written for kids. In addition to the romantic subplots, there are actual character deaths, including Lex Luthor (in another dimension) and Solomon Grundy (twice), as well as a 10 year-old psychic girl named Ace (in one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the Diniverse)

(sorry, I have a bit of lost innocence in my eye sniff sinff)

(Thanks to Satam55)

But the Dini-verse isn’t done yet, as we need to fast forward 20 years to the futuristic time of 2019 (and if Gotham City is shitty in 2019, imagine how it will be a year later)

...where Bruce Wayne is retired due to his age...

...and a teen named Terry McGinnis discovers the Batcave and a prototype batsuit.

...stealing it to protect his family, Wayne admires his tenacity and decides to hire Terry as the new Batman. In addition to Batman, a few other (updated) icons from Gotham City were still around, such as...

Commissioner (Barbara) Gordon, also retired from vigilantism...

...and the Joker...err, Jokerz, the local gang

Oh, and a callback to earlier in this review...

Static, now a member of the Justice League!

As always, if there is a particular episode from the Dini-verse you would like reviewed, please let me know! If you would like to watch them yourself, KissCartoon has them available.