When we talk about DC Super Hero Girls three things might pop up in our brains, first simply the image of the multiple female heroes on DC, second the cartoon show from 2015 and lastly the most recent cartoon that came out in 2019. Both shows showcase an alternative reality where the DC heroes are teenagers and frequent high school together.
Now I have never watched the original show, personally find its design quite boring. The second show however conquered my heart immediately on Cartoon Network, so much that I couldn't resist properly watching everything once it was out on Netflix. Our main heroes in this story are Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Bumblebee and Zatanna, a group of girls that throughout the story fight villains, save the day and go through the hardships of high-school in a very simplistic and comic way.
Starting from the most obvious aspect, the character designs are amazing. They may look a bit childish (this is a show for kids, what were you expecting?) but that just adds to its charm, especially when they showcase the girls' personalities so well. Barbara Gordon - Batgirl - uses a little jacket Batman style that perfectly represents her obsession with Batman, Karen Beecher - Bumblebee - has a very cute sweater a bit oversized that showcases her anxieties, while Kara Danvers - Supergirl - has a more rock style look that goes according to her more tomboyish personality. Kara in particularly was a great surprise for me, most comics and even the famous CW TV-show show her with long hair and a more girly personality, so seeing this more rebel take on her was really great. Overall, the show represents a variety of different and diverse female characters.
Another interesting aspect of the series that I really appreciated was the different themes it tackled and how it played with the fact that the male superheroes tend to be more acclaimed than their female counterparts. On Supergirl story we see many times her conflict with her cousin who always gets acclaimed by the media while her actions always get sidelined. I watched grand part of the show with my young cousin who is a big superheroes nerd and this subjects allowed for us to have different conversations about toxic masculinity and how the world tends to be harder for women. I must say I was really surprised with the little fella and how invested he was in debating with me, really proud of my adorable kid.
Now, using the mention of Superman, I must point out that the representation of the male heroes tends to be a bit shallow compared to the girls. Hal Jordan - Green Lantern - is an idiot jock who thinks it is better than everyone, Dick Grayson - Robin - is an annoying spoiled brat, Steve Trevor is just there to be pretty and normal, while Flash is honestly just a good boy. It's nothing too bad, I just would love to see some character development from them, though after years of having the girls being shallow, part of me doesn't mind that much.
Moving on to my favorite part of the show, the shipping dynamics! Anyone that knows me slightly is aware of my obsession with shipping, I'm the type of person that sees two bags together and is like: "Aww I kind of ship them". So in a school story about some of my favorite heroes, of course I came out with fair share of couples. In the story we have very common ones like Robin and Batgirl or Diana and Steve, but me being the gay idiot that I am, I went with Barbara and Harley Quinn, and Jessica and Ivy.
Starting with the first one, the show has an amazing take on Barbara's and Harley's relationship. As many of you must know, these two are enemies in the canon, being both sidekicks of the mortal enemies Joker and Batman. In DC Super Hero Girls that dynamic continues with a twist, once they are out of the costumes and being normal teenagers, these two girls are best friends. The show plays with the idea of what would happen once they find out, and my heart who loves angst just couldn't stop quiet every time they were on-screen together. Ships dynamics aside, though, these two have an interesting storyline that I would love to see develop more if the show dares going out of its gag system.
The second relationship, I really adored, was more because of their comedy factor. Jessica Cruz is an activist fighting for the planet and the animal rights, while Poison Ivy as is well known, is a protector of the plants. In theory, they have very compatible personalities, but in reality they are very different. What ends up dragging me to this pair is the fact that Jessica tries her best to be friends with Ivy and really seems to like the girl, all that, while the other hates her and just wants to be far away from her as possible. They have very funny scenes together.
Overall this show can be a bit silly but always very enjoyable, I hope they keep producing more episode, I definitely will be here to watch them.
Now, I'm not particularly proud of this piece, but I'm kinda trying to get better at writing by writing something every day or something, so we shall take the less good takes to get the great ones. Also, I tend to take centuries to finish shows and with my memory not being the best makes talking about the shows a little bit tricky. Anyway, if you read this, thank you very much, and now I'm going back to singing the Portuguese intro of this cartoon.
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