Justice League: Gods And Monsters Chronicles - Season 1 Review

A New World Order in an Alternate DC Universe

This year (2015) marks the return of an animation titan, Bruce Timm. A man responsible for creating the best animated DC Superhero Cartoons as well as being one of the creators behind the now iconic supervillainess, Harley Quinn. He has stepped away from DC animation for a while as a creative force, instead opting to be just a producer. But now, the time has come for his return. And it is a a return not many people were excepting.

Timm has decided to create an entirely original Justice League universe that is more edgy and gritty. Which translates to most people as, "Dark and Gritty." This bemoans DC fans as they are apparently tired of this trend, especially with how much the internet fan community already hates the darker DC Cinematic films, when as of right now there is only one to really complain about.

But Timm is no fool. He refuses to use the term Dark for this new universe he's creating. But he definitely wants it to be edgy, yet still exciting to watch. The result is JUSTICE LEAGUE: Gods and Monsters which debuts direct to DVD later in the year. But luckily he has partnered with Machinima to showcase three short 5-6 minute episodes that give audiences a taste of how different this world will be. And thus JUSTICE LEAGUE: Gods and Monsters CHRONICLES was born. You can watch these three short episodes for free on youtube through Machinima's channel. And these three episodes are meant to introduce us to the Trinity of this Universe: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Episode 1 - Twisted

The first episode of this web series introduces this universe's Batman. Here he is Kirk Langstrom, a character that most DC Comics fans know as Man-Bat in the main universe. This version of him is a Vampire, which automatically gives you an idea of how different he is from Bruce Wayne's Batman. But he is not the only one who shows up in this episode. Fan favorite villainess, Harley Quinn, is the primary antagonist of this short. But given that this episode's mission is to let you know that this is a much edgier world, Harley's actions definitely conveys it the most. Because here she is amplified to pure psychopathic serial killer. As the episode demonstrates, the gloves are off and this is definitely not a children's show. The tone is definitely fit for a Batman episode, but it is the horrific things that Harley does that truly gives new meaning to the term, gritty. It does however come off as a little bit trying too hard to outdo the notion of "dark and gritty" by going to the extreme. But that is only a minor problem, as the episode is a nice exercise of how effective short narrative is, as well as having little dialogue. The actions and atmosphere tell the story in a hugely effective way, and lets people know this is going to be their violent new Batman.

 SCORE: 8/10 - A great introduction to the new Batman, that does go overboard a bit

Episode 2 - Bomb

The second episode of this web series introduces this universe's Superman. This one is the son of General Zod, whom DC Comics fans will know as one of the archenemies of Superman in the main universe. Unlike his main universe counterpart, this Superman is raised by Mexican Immigrants and had a rougher upbringing. But none of that is explored here, as the episode deals with a city being completely torn apart by Brainiac. This isn't the alien computer from the main universe, but rather an entity created by the government to keep Superman in check. Unfortunately this entity has lost control of his powers and incapable of stopping the destruction he causes. And the confrontation between this world's Superman and Brainiac is what makes it the best episode of three. Here, in this not so subtle reference to Akira, we see how much this Superman is similar to the primary one. He definitely believes in doing the morally right thing first, as it is Superman's nature to always find another way. But then that's where the similarities end due to him being far more pragmatic with his actions. It is definitely a commentary about the controversial ending in Man of Steel, but this takes it to a whole lot darker territory. Tone wise it isn't as dark as the Batman episode, but the situation that it builds up to is both dark and truly... heart wrenching. This is a Superman who feels like a soldier who has to live with the decisions he makes while at the same time continue to perform what he believes is right. This adds a complexity to the Superman character that hasn't really been explored in the main universe, and it probably never will.

SCORE: 9.5/10 - A perfect introduction to the new Superman that is both dark and poignant

Episode 3 - Big

The third episode of this web series introduces this universe's Wonder Woman. Here, she is Bekka, who some DC comics fans will know as the wife of Orion and a New God. Unlike this universe's Batman and Superman who have direct ties to villains of their main universe counterparts, Bekka is not connected to the main universe's Wonder Woman in any shape or form. This makes her completely special and unique among the trinity, as she feels like a completely new character rather than a twist on an existing one. Granted her character in the main universe is pretty obscure, but here is her chance to shine as the most powerful woman in this universe. And she is powerful. However, as the two previous episodes demonstrate how dark this world can be, this episode was actually... fun. It is a complete homage to classic James Bond films, with this world's Steve Trevor as Bond but with a twist. It is a complete gender reversal by having the Bond Girl of this scenario, Wonder Woman, outclassing the James Bond of this scenario, Steve Trevor. It was completely meant to showcase that this Wonder Woman is boisterously cocky as well as sexually aggressive. She says what she wants and gets what she wants, whether you like it or not. And has the power to back it up. This comes off as a little jarring seeing as the previous two episodes dealt with dark themes, whereas this one really deals with sexuality. She is definitely proud of her barely covered assets and is hungry to have sex surrounded by a sea of corpses she was responsible for. That's pretty much where we really see what Timm meant by wanting to be edgy and not dark. Because this is edgy, having a cocky and extremely horny Wonder Woman, which may rub some fans the wrong way, but it does make her a hell of a lot more interesting. But in the end, the episode feels like a letdown because of how the previous two were handled.

SCORE: 7.5/10 - An entertaining introduction to a sexually charged Wonder Woman

Overall Impressions

This has been a great introduction to Bruce Timm's new edgy and gritty DC Universe. It offers us glimpses into not only the powers of the new characters but also their personalities. There really isn't much to nitpick about theses shorts as they are timed perfectly to deliver the goods. Although I would like to argue that the Wonder Woman episode probably should've been the second episode as chronologically her story takes place before Superman's. I am very much looking forward to the feature length film, as well as Season 2 next year. I'm loving these characters so far, and I can only hope that they mesh well together as the Justice League.