{"id":11658,"date":"2022-03-01T18:00:20","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1594580"},"modified":"2022-03-01T18:00:20","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T17:00:20","slug":"the-boys-presents-diabolical-review-fun-and-disposable-animation","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-boys-presents-diabolical-review-fun-and-disposable-animation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boys presents Diabolical review: Fun and disposable animation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Huw Fullerton\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 01 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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It\u2019s been a while since the last season of Amazon\u2019s hit superhero satire The Boys<\/a> arrived in September 2020, and we still have a few months to go before we catch up with Vought, The Seven and the titular cape-killers in season 3. But never fear \u2013 to help bridge the gap Amazon have released this new anthology of animated shorts, telling stories set loosely within the world of the main show but with a twist. Expect gore, sex jokes, dark humour and extreme violence as you enter the world of The Boys presents: Diabolical.<\/p>\n

An impressive array of behind-the-scenes talent is involved in this show, with series stars Antony Starr, Elizabeth Shue, Chace Crawford and Giancarlo Esposito joining forces with guests like Ben Schwartz, Andy Samberg, Seth Rogen, Awkwafina, Kumail Nanjiani, Kieran Culkin, Christian Slater, Don Cheadle and Michael Cera to voice characters while the likes of Aisha Tyler, Ilana Glazer, Evan Goldberg and Justin Roiland are on writing duties (Samberg, Awkwafina and Rogen write and perform in their episodes).<\/p>\n

With such a team behind the show, fans might be expecting big things\u2026 which is not quite what they get. The Boys presents Diabolical is largely just fun and disposable, with no episode clocking over 10 minutes and enough action to keep you entertained. It\u2019s creative, often funny and fills in a few gaps in the main series\u2019 storyline \u2013 but some episodes are better than others, and generally speaking the scope feels a little limited over its eight episodes.<\/p>

Essentially, it\u2019s a little like Netflix\u2019s Love, Death & Robots or (perhaps more pertinently) Disney Plus\u2019 Star Wars: Visions<\/a>, telling standalone stories in different styles related to a central fictional world. In these eight episodes those styles include classic Tex Avery-style cartoons, French animation, anime, Korean horror, a story based more closely on the original Boys comics and a more modern Invincible-style animation. Oh, and there\u2019s also \u2018Justin Roiland\u2019 style, as used by the co-creator of Rick & Morty and Solar Opposites.<\/p>\n

Each story is different, but there are some similarities. Most of the shorts involve a person or persons being dosed with Compund V, the glowing blue drug that gives the \u2018supes\u2019 of The Boys\u2019 universe their powers, and the immediate fallout as their powers manifest.<\/p>\n

In one case, it\u2019s used in a skin cream that turns a nerd into a super-hunk, in a bleak parable about image consciousness; in another, an elderly man makes a desperate choice to save his wife, while one of the most uncomfortable watches (written by and starring Awkwafina) sees a lonely girl make an unconventional best friend when she ingests some V. Oh, and there\u2019s the Roiland-created episode where a bunch of \u201cpissed-off supes\u201d given dud superpowers track down and murder the parents that allowed them to be dosed.<\/p>\n