Titans,
showrunners Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman & Geoff Johns
(DC Comics/Warner Bros., 2018)

As DC continues to flounder along its path to create a uniform cinematic universe for top-level superheroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, the comic-book giant has had more success with second- and third-tier heroes on the small screen.

The much ballyhooed Arrowverse has its supporters and detractors. The shows -- primarily Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, mostly airing on the CW network -- have room for the kind of storytelling and character development that the movies do not. Boasting strong, diverse casts and some talented writers, the shows have been largely successful, although some people aren't as sanguine about the soap opera-like qualities of the shows.

But this review isn't about them. It's about two shows that fall outside the CW's boundaries: Titans and Doom Patrol. Airing on HBO Max, the series both take a decidedly darker and more adult tone, with a lot more violence and salty language than you'll ever hear on the other, more family-friendly network.

Although Doom Patrol ostensibly is a spin-off of Titans -- the offbeat assortment of misfits first appeared in an episode of Titans, during which the character of Gar was handed from one team to the other -- they are officially in different realities, or different Earths, if you prefer the multiverse jargon.

The shows are much more violent than their CW counterparts, even considering the first season of Arrow, when Oliver Queen murdered bad guys with impunity. When Titans begins, for instance, Dick Grayson is the newly retired Robin, trying to make his way as a police detective, but when he dons his old costume he lets loose violent rages and brutalizes his foes -- enough to shock even Hawk, the meaner half of Hawk & Dove. When we meet Grayson's successor, Jason Todd, we soon learn he enjoys beating and maiming cops when the Bat isn't around and, as comic-book readers know, he eventually goes through a kind of rebirth and becomes the homicidal Red Hood. Starfire incinerates people who get in her way. Raven unleashes deadly demon goo.

Gar, aka Beast Boy in the comics, now only turns into a green, lumpy tiger (probably to save on CGI costs), and he's the most pacifistic of the bunch; he refuses to bite people -- until suddenly, he does. To be fair, he doesn't feel good about it. The Batman, who is a recurring guest on the series, is even driven to cross the line and slay one of his most constant foes.

Titans initially stars Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing), Anna Diop as Kory Anders/Starfire, Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth/Raven and Ryan Potter as Gar Logan/Beast Boy. As the series progresses, other characters come to the fore, including Curran Walters as Jason Todd/Robin II/Red Hood, Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger/Dove, Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall/Hawk, Conor Leslie as Donna Troy/Wonder Girl, Batman (Iain Glen), Superboy (Joshua Orpin) and Barbara Gordon (Savannah Welch).

The theme seems to be about finding oneself, and each character struggles to do so. Dick needs to figure out who he is, without Batman. Kory needs to figure out who she is, full stop, since she woke with no memories and, later, needs to figure out how to get home, or if she even wants to go there. Rachel needs to sort out just who her father is and what impact his background has on her future. And so on.

Through all the mayhem -- including villains such as Deathstroke, Dr. Light, Trigon and the Nuclear Family -- the Titans need to see if they can work as a team ... particularly in the face of past mistakes and tragedies.

There are a lot of feelings and emotional angst to deal with, but to be fair, these are mostly teens and twentysomethings, so that's sort of par for the course.

Doom Patrol is less violent, although the language is more adult, and we still get scenes like Rita Farr (who was stretchy in the comics; now she's blobby) smothering to death a Hollywood producer who wanted a little casting couch action, as well as an explosive donkey and a flock of carnivorous butts.

Doom Patrol stars April Bowlby as Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl, Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane, Matt Bomer and Matthew Zuk as Larry Trainor/Negative Man, Brendan Fraser and Riley Shanahan as Cliff Steele/Robotman, Timothy Dalton as Niles "The Chief" Caulder, Joivan Wade as Cyborg and Abi Monterey as Dorothy Spinner. Alan Tudyk is the oddly meta first-season villain, Mr. Nobody.

When I was a comic book-collecting kid, I had exactly one issue of Doom Patrol, and I didn't know what to make of DC's "offbeat" hero team. Later, I read more of their stories, including the seminal series written by Grant Morrison (who gets a fourth wall-breaking nod in the show), and found them intriguing, odd and wholly unlike the rest of DC's output.

The series captures the oddity, the sense of not belonging, the discomfort of being different. It suits the "offbeat" label remarkably well. It goes in weird and wacky directions, such as a sentient street that provides haven for people who don't fit in, a "beard hunter" who tracks people by tasting discarded hairs, a man whose power manifests through flexing muscles in different configurations, a psychological "subway" that leads to a character's numerous, disparate personalities, and a villain who routinely chats with the audience.

Both shows are dark, violent and adult-oriented, fitting more into the category of The Suicide Squad and The Watchmen than the company's more wholesome fare.

While DC continues to find its path on the big screen, it should take note of TV shows that work. These both offer something entirely different from anything Marvel produces (with the exception of Deadpool), and it's a niche they are handling well.