I’m sure you’re asking yourself “Why on Earth would anyone take the time to summarize twenty-year-old comic books?” The answer is simple. I love the DC animated universe, and I want more!
The DC animated universe existed on television from 1992 until 2006. In that time, several hundred “tie-in” comics were produced. Though many of these issues were “phoned in,” just as many are real standouts. Some of these are not only excellent stories set in the DC animated universe, but some are excellent comics in and of themselves.
I’ve collected these comics since “Batman: The Animated Series” was on the air, and I’m fortunate enough to have a full run straight through to the end of JLU. Several years ago I opted to have all the issues bound together as attractive hardcover books. I created some dust jackets for them, and now they sit on my shelf as gems in my collective.
I have since read through them again, many for the first time since they were published. I was really surprised at the quality of writing and art in some of them. Many of the stories are “episode worthy.” I know there are still plenty of fans of the shows running loose in the wilds of fandom, and they want more. I suspect many such fans are unaware of how good some of these stories are. If these fans were aware of the quality of some of these issues, they could still get their “fix.” So I have set about chronicling the comics to such an end.
To my knowledge, no one has attempted such a compendium before. World’s Finest has an excellent listing of all the issues, but these only offer the briefest of summaries, usually from the books’ Diamond solicitations. I intend to include some commentary, a review of the script and art, and answer two important questions. 1) Are new characters or costumes introduced that might interest figure customizers or cosplayers? And 2) is a particular issue worth your precious time?
There are a lot of issues to get through. I intend to go through them all, good and bad. I hope to post at least one article a week.
If all this sounds a little crazy, it probably is. But I love the DC animated universe, and I want more! This seemed like a good way to get more, and share with other fans.
Happy reading!
This is fantastic! I am just starting to get into the comics, as I missed them the first time around, and am avoiding the new 52. Those hardcover collections look beautiful!
There is more charm and grace in these old titles than in the entirety of the New52.
HOLY MOLEY! Those books look beautiful! As I have all the original issues as well, can you explain how you got them bound like that (how much did it cost? How long did it take?) and whether or not I can buy copies of the custom-made dust jackets from you as well?
NOW I KNOW WHAT I WANT MY WIFE TO GET ME FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR! THANKS!
I took the liberty: http://comics.dcau.org/general/binding-comics/
Alright, I want in. How can I help this amazing endeavor!?
Just sit back and enjoy! I’ll get some more articles posted soon.