Exclusive: See Batman, Superman as raging dinosaurs in DC’s Jurassic League

“I didn’t know if it was a good idea or not,” artist Juan Gedeon said about Jurassic League, DC Comics’ upcoming miniseries about a prehistoric Justice League who are all anthropomorphic dinosaurs. “I just knew I wanted to draw these creatures.”

There are many things to be thankful for in the world Jurassic LeagueSuperman still traveled to Earth via a rocket ship as a result of his mission from an exploding planet. He was also raised by humans. It’s just that he’s also a man-shaped brachiosaurus. Batman, Gedeon clarifies to Polygon that he is actually Batsaur) is an allosaurus. Wonder Woman can be described as a triceratops. Joker is dilophosaurus.

Gedeon’s mind is the source of all this.VenomDaniel Warren Johnson, writer and favorite dinosaur (mosasaurus),Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star, favorite dinosaur: velociraptor). Polygon is exclusively revealed by DC Comics. Jurassic LeagueA six-issue DC Comics miniseries will be out in June. There’s also a lot of first-look artwork.

Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman as rad anthropomorphic dinosaurs on the cover of Jurassic League #1 (2022).

“You know the story: an infant escapes the destruction of its home planet and is deposited on Earth to be raised by human parents,” reads DC’s official plot synopsis. “A goddess from a lost city defends truth. A Tyrannosaurus rex dons the visage of a bat to strike fear into evildoers’ hearts. The heroic trio of dinosaurs and a team of super-powered dinos work together to protect a prehistoric planet from Darkseid’s evil plans. What? Okay, maybe you don’t know the story. So join us and bear witness to a brand-new — yet older than time — adventure and experience the Justice League as you have never seen them before!”

“I dig the Justice League,” Johnson wrote, “but I dig them MORE as dinosaurs.” And so did DC editor Katie Kubert, who according to Gedeon, came up with a few of the exceptional names for the characters, like Wonderdon and Flashraptor.

“I wanted each Dino to be recognized immediately as the hero they represent,” Gedeon told Polygon. “If anyone saw them and thought ‘which character is this supposed to be?’ it would mean the design was not successful. To use for a base, I chose a dino who embodied the essence of their human counterparts.

“At first I thought of doing Wonder Woman as Pterodactyl or something more athletic looking so that’s how I landed on the triceratops. They’re herbivores but they could defeat a T-Rex, so that seems fitting for WW. So I decided to use a rose and cactus as WW. Although they look great from far, they can cause injury if not properly handled. I think this is another layer I tried to incorporate to her design.”

The Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman of Jurassic League pose on cliffs. Superman is an anthropomorphic brachiosaurs, Batman an allosaurus, and Wonder Woman as a triceratops on a variant cover for Jurassic League #1 (2022).

A black and white unfinished page from Jurassic League #1, in which a rocket shaped like a brachiosaur head rockets towards earth and the egg inside hatches in front of a male and female proto-humans.

“Superman is the pinnacle of goodness and strength, and he only fights if there’s no other option, so I wanted a herbivore dino that looks harmless, but is solid and strong. Brachiosaurus seemed like a great fit. He’d never be a t-rex because he’d never hurt a fly, it’s not his nature.

“Batman has no superpowers, but puts fear in the hearts of criminals, so a carnivore dino seemed right (although Batsaur doesn’t eat meat, we might explore that in the book). But since he’s got no super-abilities, using a t-rex or another big carnivore would’ve made him too powerful. That’s how I came up with the Allosaurus (plus they have those pointy horns on the head, kinda like Batman’s ears).”

The Joker — an anthropomorphic dilophosaurus — grins at Batman — an allosaurus — in Jurassic League #1 (2022).

Dilophosaurus Joker leaps at allosaurus Batman and they fight in Jurassic League #1 (2022).

Batman, a green anthropomorphic allosaurus in a Batman costume, leaps across the prehistoric plains in Jurassic League.

“Joker had to be crazy, sneaky, colorful, unpredictable and dangerous. Cool, but also kind of disgusting in some ways. So I was reminded of Vertigo. Primal Rage. But since she’s a made up dino her “real” equivalent to me would be a dilophosaurus or an oviraptor. I added the green hair and some sort of “wings” inspired by Heath Ledger’s Joker.”

Jurassic League#1 will be available on May 10th with a different cover design by Walt Simonson. You can view it below.