James Gun’s “Creature Commandos” is a comic book tour de force. The engaging animation style hooked me within the first few minutes and the insightful writing kept me coming back. The fast-paced, dialogue driven show explores complex ideas about the place of “others” in our society. Each episode focuses on a specific member of the team, while switching between their backstory, and the team’s current mission. As their mutual story unfolds, we get to learn about the condition that placed them on the team. Even though each member of the team is seen as a monster, that label is a social creation.
The team splits into groups; the first were born as monsters and the second became them. G.I. Robot, the Weasel and the Bride are shown to us unaltered. G.I. represents an alienation from society because of an inability to connect. His mission focused AI isn’t built for social interaction, and the glee he finds in killing Nazis is seen as off-putting. Yet, he is desperate to find friends and return to those he lost fighting in WWII and since. The Weasel is a kind, compassionate animal. He is unable to meaningfully communicate and he is seen by ordinary people as a threat. When he tries to save children from a burning building, all the authority figures can see is a threat, which results in a much higher body count. The Bride was created by Dr. Frankenstein as Eve was by God: a companion to a lonely man. An unholy abomination of rotten flesh, the Bride, is forced not only to live in a society that will not accept her, but also constantly chased by Frankenstein’s monster. While each of the three are more than willing to engage in acts of violence, Weasel and G.I. Robots’ lack of humanity means they are unable to meaningfully understand their actions and their consequences. The bride, however, is not only fully aware but also one of the most sane and competent members of the team.
Dr. Phosphorus and Nina were not born as monsters. After watching his family die at the hands of criminals he brought into their lives, Dr. Phosphorus is locked in and then later transformed by his experiment. The intention behind the criminal’s plot was to kill him and frame him for the deaths of his family. This immense suffering led him into a life of crime. He brutally murdered everyone involved with the aforementioned incident and takes their place in organized crime. He almost immediately abandons any pretext of humanity in favor of the monstrosity and fear he inspires in his underlings. Dr. Phosphorus is more than willing to step into the role society places at his feet even when that means hurting those that mirror his previous life. Nina, the saddest of all of the back stories, was born with severe birth defects affecting her lungs. Eventually, through a series of mad science experiments, her father turned her into a mermaid. This act of love serves any connection Nina had to her peers and further ostracized her from society.
The show’s powerful message about belonging is woven masterfully through blood, guts and gore. James Gunn was able to capture an aspect of comics that I feel has been missing from the screen adaptations so far. Like any other allegorical structure, comic books allow writers to communicate a message about the world around them. Primarily, on screen, that message has been either about the burden of responsibility or loss; however, “Creature Commandos” chose to explore other themes, like acceptance and exclusion.
