The series premiere of Creature Commandos is on the horizon, kicking off James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe with great fanfare. The adult animated series is planning to offer a violent and emotional take on the superhero team of the same name, which consists of an all-star cast of various monsters. The latest trailer for Creature Commandos, which screened at New York Comic Con earlier this month, showcased exactly what that will deliver — including an Easter egg to a surprising and niche corner of DC’s comic portfolio.
Midway through the new Creature Commandos trailer, as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is introducing Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) to the team, The Bride (Indira Varma) can be seen reading — and then ripping up — a tabloid magazine. The magazine has the title Young Love, with the same title treatment as the DC romance series of the same name.
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Originally published by the magazine publisher Crestwood/Prize beginning in 1949, Young Love was introduced as an attempt to capitalize on the success of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon’s massively successful Young Romance. The spinoff title ran successfully throughout the 1950s and 1960s, before Crestwood/Prize sold their catalogue of comic titles to DC. The publisher then carried the torch of Young Love for almost fifteen years, before shuttering the series in 1977. In that time, a number of beloved creators were involved with the series, including John Romita, Sr., Robert Kanigher, Mike Sekowsky, Gene Colan, and Barbara Friedlander. More recently, stories from Young Love have been reprinted in facsimiles, and the title inspired the 2017 Halloween-themed one-shot Young Monsters in Love (which, coincidentally, starred The Bride on its cover).
Just based on the snippet from the Creature Commandos trailer, it appears as if the in-universe DCU version of Young Love is more in line with a tabloid magazine. Either way, the inclusion of it in the series could have some interesting implications — for starters, it could allude to The Bride’s complicated romance with Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour). The Easter egg also illustrates the breadth of the DCU as a whole, with the ability to homage or include the publisher’s titles that aren’t just part of the superhero space. The modern acknowledgment of classic romance comics has been few and far between across the industry, outside of the enduring popularity of romance heroine-turned-superhero Patsy Walker / Hellcat.
Creature Commandos tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option. The cast of Creature Commandos includes Steve Agee as Economos, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana, Anya Chalotra as Circe, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Sean Gunn as GI Robot & Weasel, David Harbour as Frankenstein, Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Indira Varma as The Bride, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Based on DC characters and produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation; additional executive producers include Peter Safran, Dean Lorey, and Sam Register; Rick Morales serves as a supervising producer.
Creature Commandos will premiere exclusively on Max on Thursday, December 5th.