An epiphany can come from the strangest places at the strangest times, can’t it?
The other day last week I was watching this DC Super Hero Girls short:
…And it suddenly dawned on me one reason why I like this series so much.
DC Super Hero Girls is closer to the Teen Titans…
…Or Teen Titans GO! series…
…That I wanted.
DCSHG is closer to what I wanted from Teen Titans: more familiar DC characters with closer ties to the iconic DC superheroes (nothing against the 2003 show, but I wouldn’t have gone with the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans team; I would’ve preferred a show starring the Founding Five…
…Or some contemporary derivation thereof; ideally, I’d like for there to have been some non-whites among the team and the odd gender-swap here and there, as the whole “several guys and 1 gal” thing never clicked with me.
Perhaps replace Speedy with Artemis,
Or switch out Garth in favor of Kaldur.
Or better yet Tula/Aquagirl, for some good ol’ fashioned fan-service.)
…Shorter, simpler slice-of-life stories with a greater emphasis on comedy, a diminished presence of villains and fight scenes and no wannabe anime look and feel. Again, I have nothing against anime, but I never felt the whole anime-aping look and feel had any place on the show. It had gotten to the point where some fans got the idea–and who knows where they got this idea–that Teen Titans was actually made in Japan, proving something a friend of mine once said: “It amazes me how half of [Teen Titans]’s fan base has never picked up a comic in their bloody lives.”
Now, let me again point out that I didn’t hate Teen Titans; I liked the show OK, but in my mind it wasn’t the voice and tone that I would’ve used. For my taste, TT was marketed too much and framed too strongly as a boys’ action show (though plenty of girls liked the show too). I have nothing against boys’ action shows, but they’re a dime a dozen.
“COWABUNGA, DUDES! (And dudettes to a lesser extent.”)
My ideal Teen Titans show, rather than being part-action, part-comedy, would’ve been nearly ALL comedy, which I realize wouldn’t have sat right with many hardcore superhero fans, but I feel the comedic format showcasing the “calm between storms” moments depicting what the capes do in their down time was one of the few things Teen Titans GO! got right. Typically when the subject of TTGO! comes up, the biggest complaint I hear wailed towards the heavens is…
“WHY IS IT A COMEDY?????!!!?????”
Personally, I don’t have a problem with a superhero show being a comedy. The whole superhero genre at it’s core is itself very, very silly: it’s about fit dudes and chicks who gain crazy magic powers, don wacky costumes, give themselves goofy names and go out to beat up mad scientists and would-be world conquerors. Superheroes are already as goofy as all get-out, so a lighthearted take on them isn’t that big a departure, folks.
No, my issue with shows like Teen Titans GO!, Ultimate Spider-Man…
Da-derp-de-derp-da-derp-de-derp-da-DUM!
And Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.…
Comes in 5 fun colors! Try ’em all!
…Isn’t that they’re comedies, it’s that they’re not funny. If someone wants to make a jokey and jovial superhero show, then by all means do, but if you’re going to do that, be funny! My issue with TTGO! isn’t that it’s a comedy or that it features little to no actual crime fighting, it’s that the jokes aren’t funny, the characters act like amoral sociopathic a-holes and all of the characters shout their lines all the time. Volume doesn’t make a lame joke funny.
Now here’s what my take on Teen Titans would’ve been like: my TT would have been set in a universe which acknowledged the presence of the adult Justice League members, who would serve as parental figures/mentors to the kid heroes…
It always bothered me how TT depicted the kid characters living on their own with no adults or any kind of adult supervision, and not even so much as a passing mention of the adult DC heroes. I know that bugs me more than it should, but it still bugged me.
…The main setting would be the Hall of Justice…
…Which could probably have a separate guest cottage/quarters/club house for the kids.
The basic crux would be that the adult Leaguers would typically sideline the kids from missions, so while they were off saving the day, the show would spotlight the kid sidekicks at home having wacky shenanigans. There could be the occasional passing mention of some of the League’s missions being overheard on the TV or radio or happening off in the distance, showing the wacky highjinks the kids are getting into alongside of the Justice League stories. On TT, all of the villain whomping and fight scenes would take place off-screen. My take on Teen Titans would basically be like the Justice Friends segments from Dexter’s Laboratory…
…Only cuter.
Twin Images 
A few things to note:
1. While the show still retains its trademark humor and tone, it has gone in a more story driven direction with episodes continually building off of one another, and even introducing multi-part episodes. For example, if you want to watch the Intergalactic Games movie, then you would have to watch the “Super Hero High” special, the Spring Prison Break episode, as well as the episodes involving Lena Luthor since they tie heavily into the movie’s multiple plots.
2. Lauren Faust has own version of the series coming out this year, which is in an alternate continuity to this series.
3. Speaking of alternate continuities, the Lego projects based on the series are not tied to either series since neither Shea Fontana nor Lauren Faust are involved. Some characters are changed, such as SuperGirl being more ditzy and clownish, and Harley being more artsy. There’s also the matter of done voice switches, such as Batgirl going from Mae Whitman to Ashlyn Selich, again only for the Lego projects, but the cast is otherwise consistent. Also, while you don’t have to watch the main series to understand the Lego projects, you still need to watch them to understand both the Galactic Wonder special and the Brain Drain movie, as well as the upcoming Super Villain High movie.
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“While the show still retains its trademark humor and tone, it has gone in a more story driven direction with episodes continually building off of one another, and even introducing multi-part episodes.”
And typical of my Aquarian nature, I prefer the stand-alone shorts to these multi-part stories, But then, it should be noted that I’m cooling down a bit on DCSHG in general; I’ve already mentioned that I won’t be devoting any more blog posts to this show, as it was starting to look like this was a DCSHG fan site, now, I’m just not into it like that anymore.
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We now have the redesigns for Faust’s version.
https://www.toonzone.net/first-look-art-for-lauren-faust-produced-dc-super-hero-girls-series
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Yeah, I’ve seen those. Ms. Faust’s designs are…OK, I guess, but I don’t see why we need an altogether different continuity; why not just bring the web series to TV? I hope Supergirl here isn’t going to be a reiteration of the one from Faust’s Super Best Friends Forever, who was just Buttercup of the Powerpuff Girls’ brain transplanted into Kara Zor-El’s body. I preferred the adorkable Supergirl from the web show. Jason elaborated on this already, but given how powerful Kryptonians are, Supergirl shouldn’t be a bully/badass, ’cause then she’d become impossible. Also, the article I read described Harley Quinn as a “teen fiend”, meaning not only is Harley not one of the main characters on this show, but here she’s a villain again. Do not like. Harley is one of my favorite characters on DCSHG, and DCSHG is my favorite take on the character, so I’m not thrilled that she’s going to be a bad girl on this show as opposed to the gang’s funny, crazy, annoying friend.
I may catch one episode out of curiosity, but I can’t say whether I’ll be watching this series regularly.
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One interesting point regarding Lauren Faust’s version of DC Super Hero Girls is that the series will be airing on Cartoon Network rather than on Boomerang, which has aired some of the DCSHG specials. Makes sense, since CN is in more homes and the show would attract a wider audience on CN than it would on Boom, but I thought that Turner wanted the revamped Boomerang to target girls the way that CN supposedly caters to boys. I guess all of that has flown out of the window at this point, and once again, it seems as though Turner is only keeping Boomerang (the TV channel) around because they don’t have anything to replace it with.
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1. One reason why I think we have a tv reboot is that WB wants to continue the franchise since it makes them a lot of money, yet they don’t want a creative burnout. Presumably, the Shea Fontana series will end within the next year or so to make way for Lauren’s series, while the Lego projects will be concurrently yet independently produced.
2. They mention Harley as a teen fiend, so my guess is that, while she may become a villain again in this series, she’ll be given a redemption arc and major sympathetic qualities on the path to becoming a hero.
3. In a video from Butch Hartman’s podcast, Grey DeLisle Griffin mentioned that she will still be Wonder Woman, but Batgirl will be voiced by Tara Strong (who voiced her on BatmanTheAnimatedSeries and SuperBestFriendsForever) . There will probably be a few more recasts to set this show as an alternate continuity.
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https://mobile.twitter.com/user/status/1018925901071855616
Rather than being voiced by Anais Fairweather like in the Shea Fontana series and Lego projects, SuperGirl in the Lauren Faust series is voiced by Nicole Sullivan. She voiced the character on Super Best Friends Forever.
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Hmm…that means that Supergirl will likely have the quick-fisted, tough girl” personality that Lauren Faust gave her for those shorts, which I wasn’t crazy about. Honestly, I preferred Anais Fairweather’s “adorkable” personality for the webtoons more.
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https://mobile.twitter.com/user/status/1018994257049391105
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HoYay/DCSuperHeroGirls
1. This magazine excerpt does seem to support the idea that SuperGirl will be more in line with SBFF counterpart.
2. Speaking of which, it also mentions how there will be little to no romance, much like how it is with the Shea Fontana and Lego projects (though the Les Yay, as they call it, will probably be cranked up, if tv tropes is any indication). Yeah, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor were ship teased, and even dance in one episode, but it’s still minor stuff. Heck, even the school dance episode they had pretty much no romance in it (except the aforementioned dance the two had in Tamaranean Dance).
3. Though it was due to red Kryptonite, I think Anais Fairweather could’ve also done a tougher Supergirl.
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Yeah…nah. Unless Faust’s DCSHG generates some seriously positive buzz, i.e., it scores big with adults too like SpongeBob and MLP: FiM, I’ll probably be skipping this show, though I’m down with the no-romance thing (if that’s indeed the case): it’s just a slippery slope that’s probably best avoided.
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Here is more information on the Lauren Faust series, including additional character designs and character descriptions.
https://mobile.twitter.com/mesulli/status/1020397369324535808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1020397369324535808&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%231020397369324535808
https://mobile.twitter.com/mesulli/status/1020397852671934464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1020397852671934464&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%231020397852671934464
https://www.newsarama.com/40960-sdcc-2018-dc-super-hero-girls.html
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https://www.instagram.com/p/BlepDRqh3rk/?tagged=dcsuperherogirls
In the first post, Nicole Sullivan mentions that there will apparently be something shown before the Teen Titans Go movie on July 27. The second post is Wonder Woman’s character bio.
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Here’s a four and a half minute video featuring Grey DeLisle Griffin, Nicole Sullivan, and Lauren Faust talking a bit about the series.
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Yeah, I know I’m constantly posting these, but it’s worth noting. Here’s Zatanna’s character bio.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlepUDKhPtI/?utm_source=ig_embed
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Season 5 of the Shea Fontana series comes out August 2. The most recent episode was on June 28.
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https://www.comicsbeat.com/sdcc-18-talking-humor-heart-and-heroics-with-the-cast-crew-of-dc-super-hero-girls/
Here’s more information on the Lauren Faust series. Notably, this is the third time a John DeLancie voiced character went against a purple Tara Strong character after Duck Dodgers (Sinestro and Kat Ma Tui in Green Loontern) and MLP (Discord and Twilight).
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https://mobile.twitter.com/spacekicker/status/1025099787429793792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1025099787429793792&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%231025099787429793792
Starting in season 5, the story editors are Jeremy Adams, Patrick Reiger, and Joelle Sellner.
Jeremy has worked on the franchise’s Lego movies, and has also worked on Green Lantern The Animated Series, Justice League Action, Legend Quest, ThunderBirdsAreGo, and co-wrote “ScoobyNatural” and both “Lego DC Comics Superheroes: The Flash” and “Lego DC Comics Superheroes: Aquaman: Rage Of Atlantis”.
Patrick worked on Justice League Action, Legend Quest, ThunderBirdsAreGo, Miles From Tomorrowland (aka Mission Force One), and Niko And The Sword Of Light.
Joelle has worked on Zevo 3, Ben 10: Omniverse, Sonic Boom, and some shorts for the franchise’s Lego projects.
On another note, Batgirl is now voiced by Ashlyn Selich, who she voiced in the aforementioned Lego projects. I’ve heard some people who think the animation is a bit too stiff now. I’d say it’s due to some of the more expensive episodes like “Nevermore”, and the budgets going towards the movies.
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I’ve heard some comments on how Lauren Faust’s take on DC Superhero Girls is essentially meant to be a spiritual successor to her own Super Best Friends Forever. The short that was shown in front of the Teen Titans Go movie, “The Late Batsby”, seems to prove this given that it’s a remake of the SBBF episode where Batgirl tries to get to the villains’ without getting caught. On top of that, Grey DeLisle Griffin uses a Greek accent for Wonder Woman, the same accent she used for Wonder Girl on SBBF.
On an unrelated note, the voice director for this series is Sam Riegel instead of Colette Sunderman. Given that he worked with Lauren on Wander Over Yonder, is the voice director for two successful girl centric shows (Sofia The First and Elena Of Avalor), and is the voice director for Unikitty and “Scooby Doo And Batman: The Brave And The Bold”, it works.
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Yeah, I figured Faust’s series was basically an extension of SBFF, which I could take or leave honestly. Faust basically transplanted the Powerpuff Girls’ brains into Wonder Girl, Batgirl and Supergirl’s bodies. As previously stated, I’ll likely be skipping Faust’s series, as I prefer the Superhero High continuity, and I’d rather not have to try and break in a new continuity while the web series is still going. It also doesn’t help that the Faust show promises secret identities for the characters, which I’m very much not a fan of; I’ve never been fond of shows in which characters have to keep their ‘specialness’ a big secret from everybody; it always reminds me of those wacky 50’s/60’s sitcoms like Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and Mr. Ed. If the Faust DCSHG is really good, like if it gets positive buzz from both kids and adults alike a la MLP: Friendship is Magic or the DuckTales reboot, then maybe I’ll check it out, and if it proves really successful, then Cartoon Network will run it about 10 times a day, so I’ll have plenty of opportunities to see it, but otherwise…pass.
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Comparisons can also be made to My Little Pony, with Wonder Woman essentially being an altruistic bookworm like Twilight, Batgirl having the energy of Pinkie Pie (which is interesting since Tara Strong originally auditioned for Pinkie Pie before getting Twilight, who’s also purple), SuperGirl having the brash and loyal nature of Rainbow Dash (they even both have red, blue, and yellow to some degree), Bumblebee’s more shy nature and yellow color evoking that of Fluttershy, Zatanna having purple hair and a more showoff personality like Rarity, and Jessica Cruz’ more laid back nature here evoking that of Applejack. I’m not complaining, but it is a bit noticeable. Though admittedly, she did also use many of these same character archetypes on Milky Way And The Galaxy Girls (that doll line she tried turning into a show, but only got as far as a 3 minute short).
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The Late Batsby was uploaded to YouTube, with the description mentioning a new series of shorts called “DC Superhero Girls : Super Shorts” coming out next week to lead up to the series.
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That short was basically a copy and paste version of Lauren Faust’s old Super Best Friends Forever short with a different skin.
I have mixed feelings about Lauren Faust’s DC Super Hero Girls replacing the former. I admit I’m going to miss hero Harley and I like that series’ take on Beast Boy more than the one on Teen Titans: The Animated Series, who was a little too much of a buffoon for my tastes. And I still prefer the lovable goof Supergirl over the quick-fisted, Buttercup-esque Supergirl, and I always will. Still, what’s done is done. The previous web series had a good run, and I generally enjoy Lauren Faust’s stuff. I’m not really digging the whole “Good super girls fight bad super girls” shtick, but I have to remember that this series wasn’t made for me. Unfortunately, because of Ms. Faust being behind this project, comparisons to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic are going to be inevitable. That’s already started on YouTube.
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Even if Lauren wasn’t behind this new series, there would no doubt be something radically changed from the Shea Fontana series to make this its own thing, and comparisons to other shows and projects (not just DC) would be inevitable. I mean, the Lego DC Superhero Girls projects produced by Jim Krieg do retain much of the same elements of the main series, but with a few notable changes such as a ditzier Supergirl, the girls being less tolerant of Harley’s antics, and the Female Furies only having three known members and being led by Lashina instead of Granny Goodness.
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Yeah, I saw that this morning. I admit I was mistaken on something: when I first heard about Lauren Faust’s DCSHG, I thought her series would be running alongside the Super Hero High shorts, but apparently that’s not the case; the former is replacing the latter, which makes sense, I suppose; 2 different continuities of the same franchise would probably be too confusing to viewers.
The short in question was actually a remake of a Super Best Friends Forever short. In fact, the Faustian DCSHG seems to just be SBFF with a new title tacked on and more characters. That’s not necessarily a complaint, though. I don’t yet know how I feel about Faust’s takes on Bumblebee, Jessica Cruz and Zatanna or the villain girls (I wished Faust could’ve at least kept Harley Quinn a hero, I liked the Super Hero High Harley!); Super Hero High was the first time I’ve ever given a crud about Bumblebee and I’m not sure how I feel about her being a shy wallflower; I’ll have to see more of these cartoons in order to give a concrete opinion on them. Maybe after we start video production (which is still happening, BTW) we’ll mention this series in a vlog or something.
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Here is Batgirl’s profile. Tara Strong nails the energy.
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Thanks for the heads-up, but we’re both subscribed to the DC Superhero Girls channel, so we get notifications whenever a new video come up. We’re good. š
As previously mentioned, Tara Strong is just reprising her portrayal of Batgirl from Super Best Friends Forever; in fact Faust’s take on this franchise is just a bigger, grander scale version of those shorts with higher production values.
I’m guessing we’ll see profiles and spotlights on all the characters eventually; I still have to see the new additions to the cast in action before I can formulate opinions on them, especially Zatanna, since she wasn’t depicted in the Super Hero High series. Part of me questions whether they really need 6 main characters, as the SBFF shorts captured the Charlie’s Angels style smart girl/sweet girl/tough girl dynamic pretty well, plus Faust going with a sextet of leads yet again just opens the floodgates for people to draw constant annoying parallels to MLP: FiM, but I have to remember that this series is designed to sell a line of dolls, and the more characters they have, the more dolls they can sell. Also the Trinity alone would be 3 white girls (technically Wonder Woman is Greek and Supergirl is an alien, but you get my meaning); this way is more diverse.
I’m still not crazy about them attending a regular school and having secret identities; those are both tired and overdone tropes IMHO, but as long as those elements are kept in the background it should be OK.
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https://mobile.twitter.com/Fyre_flye/status/1084300773712773120
On a more humorous note, Lauren is definitely invoking trying to get a periphery demographic for the series given this tweet she put out.
Also, not to sound pushy, I’m wondering what your YouTube username is so that we can just talk about this new series in the comment section. Ill tell you mine: BlythePennyBicycle21.
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Currently our YT usernames are just our names: Damon Pollitt (me), Jason Pollitt (Goldstar). When we start uploading videos we’ll probably create a third channel so viewers won’t have to toggle back and forth between 2 channels.
As far as YouTube’s comments section is concerned, I only post there occasionally, and then it’s usually just to type factual stuff, like information and so forth. I generally avoid YT’s comment section; too many trolls and haters. I prefer WordPress because there’s an actual moderation service in place.I do see where you’re coming from, though; that might be better than continually bumping this 3 year-old post.
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…And on that note, I think that we won’t be publishing any further comments on this particular post, as we’ve strayed pretty far from the original topic. We’re not even talking about the same DC Super Hero Girls anymore. The DCSHG in the original topic is over now.
Sofiablythe2014 has a point, though. It might not be a bad idea for us to have someplace where we can converse without the blog posts here becoming horribly dated. However, I’m not going to launch another forum because I don’t want the job of having to maintain it. Been there, done that. We’re devoting the year of 2019 to remaking Twinsanity into something bigger and better than a mere blog, so I’ll be thinking about the exact direction to take this particular matter in, starting now. Pre-production on the videos has since begun, so there’s that.
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