Dead Boy Detectives parents guide: Is Netflix’s Sandman spinoff good for living boys and girls?

Dead Boy Detectives has had a long, complicated history making its way to the screen, but it’s finally on Netflix today. And kids might be intrigued given the young cast, the ties to the hit show The Sandman, and the fact that it’s based on a comic book. But are these dead boys okay for living children to watch?

Here’s a bit of the background on the show, if you’re not familiar. Initially part of DC Comics’ adult readers Vertigo line, the Dead Boy Detectives are two ghosts who solve mysteries given to them by other ghosts. They were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artist Matt Wagner, and introduced in the pages of Sandman, before spinning out into multiple runs of their own.

On TV, they were first introduced on the Max show Doom Patrol, which was also based on a Vertigo comic book. Steve Yockey, probably best known now as showrunner for The Flight Attendant, co-wrote the episode introducing them which served as a sort of back-door pilot for a potential spinoff series.

Not to get too deep in the weeds here, but several iterations later, we have a mostly new cast (some of the actors introduced on Doom Patrol are still involved, but not all). And instead of streaming on Max, it’s now streaming on Netflix. The good news is that the DBDs are back on the same streaming service as Sandman. And the better news – without getting into spoilers – there are a few surprises that were clearly shot later and tie the show even closer to the Sandman Universe.

So, that’s all well and good, but is the show appropriate for kids? Or should they go solve a case somewhere else?

Dead Boy Detectives Parents Guide: Explaining The TV-MA Rating

Dead Boy Detectives, like Sandman, is rated TV-MA. Specifically, Netflix notes the rating is for language, smoking, suicide, and violence.

Sex & Nudity: Per the rating, there’s no nudity on the show. There are some discussions of sex, and some kissing, but despite the “kids” on the show looking like they’re all about 25, they are supposed to be virginal, earnest teens. There’s one scene where the characters fall into bed together followed by a fade to black, but even then it’s explained they were only “snogging” aka kissing. It’s all surprisingly chaste!

Violence: This is most likely where most of the TV-MA rating comes from. These are dead boys, after all, and along with investigating ghostly cases, there are horrific creatures, attacks, and a trip to hell. Children (actual ones) are threatened, and as noted there are discussions of suicide. Other than one evisceration of a crow, though, it doesn’t get too gruesome.

Language: These are teens and they curse, but even then not that much. S-word, F-bombs, but it’s nothing over the top.

Drinking & Drugs: There’s smoking of cigarettes and a pipe, but some mild drinking, but like the cursing, nothing crazy. 

Overall Verdict: What Age Is Dead Boy Detectives Appropriate For?

I’ll be honest, I’m really completely unsure why this has a TV-MA rating, when the closest comparison show, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, has a TV-14 and way more gore, nudity, and sex. Perhaps it’s to pair it with Sandman?

Regardless, if your kids like supernatural teen dramas like Sabrina, or really anything that’s ever been aired on The CW, they should be just fine. The demonic creatures are probably a little too intense for the under-10 crowd. But tweens and up should be just fine.