DC Nation

Brianne Drouhard's Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld animation shorts are easily one of our favorite DC Comics media projects of the past few years. The serial is exciting, it's got great action, and it's an incredibly interesting spin on Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and Ernie Colon's original idea, sending Amy Winston into a video game fantasy world where she has to level up and fight the bad guys to get home. And it's also an incredibly beautiful series. The character and monster designs are fantastic, but the backgrounds are breathtaking, which is why I was excited to see that background painter Mari Hosaka had posted a bunch of them at her Tumblr. Check 'em out below to take a trip through Gemworld's forests, volcanoes and caves -- and, if you're me, get frustrated that you can't actually take a vacation there.

Toys: Funko just keeps on cranking out great stuff. These classic X-Men toys are super cool.       Television: The newest trailer for the CW's The Flash series is Very Dramatic. With capital letters.       Documentaries: Starring Adam West, the new documentary about the actor who brought the 1960s Batman to life, looks outstanding.       Animation...

Warner Bros. Animation's DC Nation shorts produced some pretty fantastic material and shined a mass media spotlight on a lot of obscure DC Comics characters. But my favorite, hands down -- and that of many viewers -- was the animated reimagining of Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and Ernie Colon's Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Over the course of seven 75-second shorts produced, directed and designed by artist and animator Brianne Drouhard, Amy Winston was upgraded from an '80s straight-faced sword-and-sworcery concept to a a synthesis of gamer culture and magical girl anime, starring a contemporary young woman pulled into a funny and dangerous video game world where she's a princess of destiny set on a quest to battle skeletons, slay dragons and save the world. With the series of shorts concluded and available to watch online, we spoke to Drouhard about how she pitched the fan-favorite story, the trials of adapting her illustrating style for animation, and why it was important for Amethyst to have video games in her life. We also got plenty of gorgeous Amethyst art from Drouhard in the process.

Fall into Friday's links, after the jump.

Broadcasting Wednesday at 6:30pm (5:30pm CST) on Cartoon Network, Batman: Strange Days is the first all-new Dark Knight project authored principally by Bruce Timm in years and years. The latest of the DC Nation Shorts, the piece was conceived, written, storyboarded, designed and directed by Timm himself as a tribute to the original Batman comics by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson on the occasion of the character's 75th anniversary. And as Timm told ComicsAlliance in this exclusive interview, Strange Days is the Batman story that he would create if he was "boss of the world."

Between all of their brawls -- both with criminals and each other -- the cast of Teen Titans Go! channels more than their collective share of aggression. On tonight's new "Breakfast Cheese" episode on Cartoon Network, Starfire sees how it's affecting her friends and suggests a (perhaps) better alternative. After all, what does violence solve? Furthermore, what does cheese have to do with

A superhero sitcom inspired by the characters created and/or popularized by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, Teen Titans Go! is one of the best ever DC Comics series to come out of Warner Bros. Animation, which is saying something considering the prestigious history of that association...

Cartoon Network has pulled Beware the Batman off the air, even though it's only been part of its Saturday morning schedule since mid-July. The next episode, which was scheduled for this Saturday, won't be running. Fans can hold out a little hope, though: Anthony Ruivivar, the actor who voices Batman on the show, Tweeted that it may return in January.

  Debuting Saturday morning on Cartoon Network's DC Nation block, "Deadman" is the latest superhero short from Warner Bros. Animation. Based on the character created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino, the Deadman short comes courtesy of cartoonist C.H. Greenblatt, probably best known to ComicsAlliance readers as the creator of Chowder and to animation buffs as a storyboard artist for

What artist Robert Valley did with his four-minute Wonder Woman short for Warner Bros. Animation's DC Nation campaign was much more than simply express the powerful essence of the iconic superheroine. In just a few precious seconds, Valley defies every expectation absolutely anyone would have about what Wonder Woman could be, from the most hardcore fan to entertainment executives who've been endle