DCAU Super Post!

The DC Animated Universe, for those of you who don't know (which I expect is none of you), was a series of interconnected animated series and movies made in the 1990s and 2000s.  They were aimed at children, but quickly proved very popular with adults because of the mature storytelling, great animation, and scope of the world.  Needless to say, the DCAU as a whole is one of the most successful adaptations of DC Comics and its effect on the comics themselves has been immense.  A lot of it has already been seen in the Super Posts for Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, so today we'll cover Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and Justice league/Justice League Unlimited.


Mercy Graves

Livewire



In addition to characters (most of which have already appeared in other posts), the DCAU also brought iconic looks to certain characters that were brought over to the comics, as well as a few other things:

Supergirl

Left: Supergirl as she appeared Post-Crisis (Matrix/Linda Danvers) (Superman #21, September 1988)
Middle: Supergirl as she appeared in Superman: The Animated Series (Kara In-Ze) (1998)
Right: Supergirl as she appeared after Matrix left (Linda Danvers) (Supergirl #51, December 2000)

Parasite

Left: the way Parasite looked in comics in the early 90s.
Middle: how he was drawn in Superman: The Animated Series. 
Right: His current look.  The earliest appearance I've found is Superman #657 (December 2006)

Toyman

Left: Toyman has he appeared in the 90s
Middle: Toyman has he appeared in Superman: The Animated Series (he's wearing a mask)
RIght: Toyman as he appeared beginning with Action Comics #837 (May 2006), before he was revealed as a robot and renamed "Toyboy".

John Stewart

Left: John Stewart's original costume (Green Lantern 1, June 1990)
Middle: John Stewart's costume on Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001)
Right: John Stewart's current costume (his eyes have also changed to green, but you can't see that) (Green Lantern #150, July 2002)

Power Ring III

Left: Power Ring II (JLA: Earth 2, 2000)
Middle: Green Lantern in Justice League Unlimited (2003)
Right: Power Ring III (JLA #107, December 2004)

Javelin

The Javelin first appeared as the Justice League's main form of transportation in the Justice League animated series (2001).  It made the jump to comics in Justice League of America #9 (July 2007).

John Stewart's military background

Originally in comics, the only career John Stewart had been involved in prior to becoming a Green Lantern was architecture.  In the Justice League cartoon, it was revealed that John Stewart used to be a marine.  Comics followed suit in Green Lantern #26 (December 2007), even having Stewart and Hal Jordan meet in a military bar before they were Green Lanterns. (More detailed information can be found here)