Reviews

Welcome to the reviews section on International Hero. I've been asked several times by people writing in to me about what books, comics and DVDs I'd recommend checking out. I'm not sure why anyone thinks my opinion is more valid or interesting than anyone else's, but since people have persisted in asking, I'm going to start a semi-regular reviews section where I cover new releases I enjoyed, as well as the odd older gem that takes my fancy. I'll warn readers now that anything I review here is probably going to get a positive review, simply because if I don't like something, I'm unlikely to buy it or waste my time writing about it. As ever, comments below are my opinion only, and your feelings may differ stuff about the stuff I like or dislike.

Justice League: The New Frontier (DC Comics / Warner Bros)

Justice League: The New Frontier: An original animated movie based on Darwyn Cooke's miniseries of the same name, New Frontier retells the Justice League's origin in a 1950s setting, against the backdrop of McCarthyism, the space race, the birth of the equal rights movement, and government anti-superhero paranoia. Made by the same creative team who put together both the superior Superman: Doomsday animated movie and the astounding Justice League Unlimited series, the movie is, as you would expect from such an excellent predigree, exceptionally good. It is a more paranoid era, and in a manner not unlike the classic Dark Knight Returns, Superman (voiced by Kyle MacLachlan)is the government's only approved hero, while Batman (Jeremy Sisto), who has refused to retire like the Golden Age Justice Society of America members, has become a wanted fugitive; but they and DC's other iconic heroes, including Green Lantern (voiced by Angel's David Boreanaz), the Flash (Neil Patrick Harris), Wonder Woman (Lucy Lawless) and the Martian Manhunter (Miguel Ferrer) have to set aside their differences and work together to stop the entity known as the Centre (voiced by Keith David), which will otherwise exterminate all mankind; along the way a multitude of other DC heroes, including Adam Strange, Green Arrow, the Blackhawks, Challengers of the Unknown, a pre-Atom Ray Palmer, and Aquaman, make cameos. It's a refreshingly mature storyline, with beautiful animation, only let down by having to squeeze a complex story into 75 minutes.

Special features on the 1-Disc release are a little sparse, including an excellent documentary about the Justice League's history, and audio commentary from both the cartoon's creators and Darwyn Cooke. However, as ever it is the main feature you should be buying this for... and it is well worth it.

The All New Super Friends Hour - Season One: Volume One (DC Comics Classic Collection / Warner Bros)

All New Superfriends Hour Season 1, volume 1: The DC Comic book legends Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman return to fight for justice and protect the good people of planet Earth. Besides fighting evil, our super heroes rescue citizens who find themselves in harms way, providing some lessons for all of us. This incarnation of the Super Friends also includes the shape shifting Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, and their space monkey, Gleek. The Super Friends feature guest stars Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, Hawkman and Hawkgirl and new villains such as the Hydronoids and Dr. Cranum.

In original Super Friends cartoon had lasted only one season in 1973/74, but some three years later, the success of live-action shows such as Wonder Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man convinced network executives to revive the series as The All New Super Friends Hour. This new incarnation of the series saw comic relief sidekicks Wendy and Marvin replaced by the more dynamic alien Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, with the space monkey Gleek replacing Wendy and Marvin's pooch Wonderdog. As well as working alongside the Super Friends as trainee heroes, the Twins also had their own segment in the cartoon which detailed their solo adventures. All New Super Friends also saw an attempt to increase the Super Friends' ethnic diversity, with the well-intentioned (if somewhat unsubtly stereotyped) additions of African American hero Black Vulcan, Asian hero Samurai, Native American hero Apache Chief and Mexican hero El Dorado. The episodes zip along at a good pace, each episode split into 4 shorter segments; the first a team-up between a couple of the Super Friends, serving to spotlight individual members; the second the aforementioned Wonder Twins piece; the third adventure showing the entire team in action; and the final segment featuring team-ups between Super Friend members and a variety of heroic guest stars drawn from the wider DC Universe, including the four ethnicly-diverse heroes mentioned earlier. What is largely lacking, sadly, are credible opponents, with DC's stable of excellent villains noticably absent for the most part. However, if you can handle the more cringeworthy elements and simplistic storylines, then overall the series is still fun to watch.

The two disc set runs to a little under 5 and a half hours of material, including roughly half the All New Super Friends series, 7 episodes (I guess the remaining 8 will be on the next set), each of which is split in 4. The second disc also contains the special features. As with most of the DC cartoon releases, there's only a few extras, but they are well made: a featurette "One-Dimensional Goodness" looks back on the show and discusses both its failures and successes, while "Origin of the Guest Stars" spotlights some of the non-Super Friends DC universe heroes who turn up in the show. But as always, it isn't the special features that sell the set - it's the episodes. All New Super Friends isn't one of the stronger portions of the Super Friends cartoon saga, but if you are a fan of the Super Friends then it is well worth getting.

Teen Titans - The Complete Fourth Season (DC Comics Kids Collection / Warner Bros)

The penultimate season of Teen Titans was originally meant to be their last, with an adaptation of one of the best of the comic storylines, "Terror of Trigon," running as an arc through the season. This means two of the show's best villains, Slade (voiced by Ron Perlman) and Trigon (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), make multiple appearances through the season, culminating in a three part finale ominously titled "The End." Though as it turned out, it wasn't. Though the impending Trigon-doomsday runs through the year, thankfully it isn't the only story, with variety being provided with the return of old foes Mammoth, Gizmo and Jinx (from the comics), Control Freak (who originated in this cartoon), and the introduction of new enemies such as Mother Mae-Eye and Billy Numerous (voiced by the X-Men's James Marsden). Non-Trigon stories included "Cyborg the Barbarian," which sees the titular character transported into the past, and "Employee of the Month," wherein Beast Boy gets a job in a fast-food franchise so that he can save money to buy a moped.

Again, special features are limited, in this case to some background information about the Titan's rogues' gallery; nice, but hardly meaty. Combined with a generally less engaging season, it means this isn't the Titans at their best; the series remains fun viewing, just not as much as the last couple of seasons. However for $19.99 for 13 episodes ($14.99 on Amazon and some other retail outfits), it's not overly pricey, and if you bought the previous seasons, then chances are you will want this to keep the set complete.

The Batman - The Complete Fourth Season (DC Comics Kids Collection / Warner Bros)

Starting as a retelling of Batman's crimefighting from the early days, The Batman has shown how the crimefighter went from being hunted by the police to being their ally, watched Detective Gordon rise to the ranks of Commissioner, seen his first meetings with various icon foes, and watched in Season 3 as he went from being a solo crimefighter to reluctantly taking on Batgirl as his partner. Now, at the start of Season 4, another vital component of the Bat-mythos slots into place, with the introduction of Robin (voiced by Evan Sabara). He's not the only new arrival from the comics; Batman's ally Lucius Fox debuts (voiced by the excellent Louis Gossett Jr), as do villains including Black Mask, Rumor, Harley Quinn and a new Clayface (so that the show, like the comics, now has more than one). By turns funny and exciting, the series is only getting better, with episodes such as the zombie-fest "Strange New World" and time-travel tale "Artifacts" (which features Batgirl and Robin's future selves, Oracle and Nightwing, and includes a homage of sorts to Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns) standing out above all the others in an already excellent year. And then there is the two-part finale, which introduces another of DC's long-serving heroes, foreshadowing an interesting fifth season to come.

Special features are limited to a single behind-the-scenes featurette, The Batman: Season 4 Unmasked, which, while well made, is hardly the most exciting of extras. What makes this DVD worth the $19.99 asking price is the episodes, pure and simple. The Batman started strong, and has only gotten better with each season. Buy this, and then start saving up the cents for when Season 5 comes out.

THE ADVENTURES OF AQUAMAN: The Complete Collection (Warner Bros)

Debuting in 1967 as part of CBS' Superman/Aquaman Action Hour of Adventure, Filmation's Aquaman cartoon ran for two seasons (the second one minus his co-star Superman). Each seven minute long Aquaman segment was originally interspersed between similarly brief adventures of not only Superman, but also several other DC heroes, including the Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Justice League of America and Teen Titans, none of which are included here, sadly - hopefully they and the Superman cartoons will get their own release soon. Though the short episode length precluded any real depth of plot, nonetheless the show is fast paced fun for the youngsters and for nostalgia and superhero buffs like myself, featuring Aquaman and his allies Aqualad, Mera and Tusky against foes including his nemesis Black Manta, as well as lesser known foes such as the Brain, Torpedo Man, Queen Vassa, Captain Barracuda, Starro, and the Fisherman, through a 36 episode run. Given the era the animation is excellent, and Filmation does a wonderful job of realising a sub-sea world.

The DVD includes one special feature, an enjoyable 26 minute long retrospective Aquaman: Sovereign of the Seas, which looks back on Aquaman's history in comics and on screen, covering not only the cartoons, but his guest appearances in Smallville, the recent TV pilot for an unsuccessful live action series and even the Aquaman movie subplot from HBO's Entourage. Aquaman has never been one of DC's more famous characters, and he rarely gets the cartoon spotlight, unlike his more popular brethern Batman and Superman, and at a rrp of $26.98, the price is somewhat high for such a short DVD, but if, like me, you are a hardcore superhero fan, I'd still recommend picking this up.

THE SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS: The Complete Series (Warner Bros)

in 1985, a year after Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (see below) the final installment of Hanna-Barbera's Super Friends series debuted. Galactic Guardians saw Cyborg, a Teen Titan in the comics, join the group, finally providing a non-stereotyped ethnic character (and one whose name didn't make a point of highlighting his skin color or nationality), but the show finally divested itself of the often-irritating Wonder Twins. Unlike previous incarnations, and foreshadowing the 21st century Justice League cartoons, some episodes spotlighted only a few of the characters, giving them a chance to shine without being eclipsed by all their teammates. Darkseid and his minions DeSaad and Kalibak remained the main recurring nemeses for the team, now renamed the Super Powers Team (further emphasising their ties to the similarly named Kenner toy line), and old foes including Lex Luthor, Braniac and Mxyzptlyk also returned. New villains made the leap from the comics to battle the heroes, including Felix Faust, Superman foe Bizarro (ironically in a story which didn't feature Superman), the Royal Flush Gang, and Batman enemies the Penguin, Joker and Scarecrow, the latter in probably the best episode of the series, The Fear, which features the first on-screen cartoon retelling of Batman's origin. This story was one aspect of the series finally maturing, becoming noticably more serious; prior Super Friends cartoons featured narration from William Woodson, but in Galactic Guardians, Woodson narrates the opening in only one episode, the deliberately comedic The Bizarro Super Powers Team. A short season, lasting only 8 half hour episodes (the DVD cover claims 10, but this is because two of the stories are split into two 15 minute portions apiece), the show ended on a high with the excellent The Death of Superman. Despite this series' brevity and having only a single special feature, a retrospective on the show, it's well worth picking up this last installment of Super Friends.

SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW The Complete Series (Warner Bros)

Five years after the end of World's Greatest Super Friends, DC's headline heroes returned to cartoons, with Hanna-Barbera's Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show in 1984, the revival tying in with (or prompted by) Kenner's launch of an action figure line, Super Powers. This connection helped usher in some cast changes amongst the show's heroes, most notably with the addition of Firestorm, a comparatively new DC hero (at that time), who joined the show's regular heroes Superman, Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman. Those well-meant but nonetheless embarrassing stalwarts of previous Super Friends series, such as Apache Chief, El Dorado, Samurai and Black Vulcan, as well as the Wonder Twins, still made a number of guest appearances, but the writers generally attempted to enhance their roles, even letting them save the day on occasion. However neither the Flash nor Aquaman, both shown in the opening titles, actually show up in any of the episodes. New villains made their screen debut too, with Apokalips' tryant Darkseid battling the heroes across several episodes, and extradimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlyk dropping by to cause mischief, as well as foes such as Kalibak, DeSaad, Mirror Master and Doll Maker. Returning villains Braniac and Lex Luthor both got a revamp, bringing their looks up-to-date with the then-current comic incarnations of the characters. And the cast changes weren't just in front of the camera either; longtime voice of Batman, Olan Soule, became the voice of one component of Firestorm, Professor Martin Stein, vacating the dark knight role for someone with an even better bat-pedigree, Adam West, who had played Batman across 120 episodes of the 1960s live action show.

The series only ran for 8 stories, each split into two parts (hence the box cover's claim of 16 cartoons), and each story is around 22 minutes long, much shorter than previous Super Friends' series, which tended to run for an hour; this means each tale shoots along at high speed to tell its story, but at the cost of plot depth and character development. Nonetheless, it's still a fun romp. A trio of special features (two more than most of the sets in this series) help make up for the comparatively short duration of the DVD. If you've enjoyed previous installments of the Super Friends, then naturally you should seek this one out too.

SPACE GHOST & DINO BOY: The Complete Series (Warner Bros)

Debuting in 1966, Space Ghost and Dino Boy were the creations of legendary animator Alex Toth, who also created Bird Man and the Galaxy Trio (recently released on DVD as well, and also well worth checking out). The two unconnected cartoons aired in rotation with one another, with each 8 minute segment of Dino Boy bookended by a pair of Space Ghost adventures. Space Ghost (voiced by Garry Owen, Dynomutt's Blue Falcon and later the narrator for Captain Caveman's adventures) was a superheroic defender of the stars, working alongside his teenage sidekicks, the twins Jan and Jace, and their pet monkey Blip, against a horde of foes including Brak, Zorak and Moltar. Dino Boy was Todd, an otherwise normal kid who jumped from a crashing plane over the South American jungle, to find himself landing in a prehistoric land, and befriended Ugh the caveman and Bronto the dinosaur. Of the two shows, Space Ghost is undeniably the star turn, full of colourful villains and beautifully drawn (though a little static by today's standards). The short episode lengths don't allow for complicated plots or a lot of character development, and many of Dino Boy's adventures feel a bit samey, but they are still escapist fun; the highlight of the series however is the six-part finale of Space Ghost, a series of cliffhanger episodes which see him team up with several other Hanna Barbera superheroes (Moby Dick, Mightor, the Herculoids and Shazzan) against the Legion of Doom, an alliance of Space Ghost's greatest villains.

This collection contains all 20 episodes of the series (for a total of 60 segments), with minimal extras - just The Life and Art of Alex Toth, a documentary about the show's creator, Alex Toth. Enjoyable and informative, but hardly exciting. The image quality of the DVD set is about as good as you could hope from a show of its age, clear and watchable. However, the set is reasonably priced, and it's the episodes you want anyway, so as ever, extras aren't the decider on whether or not you should buy this. If you recall the original Space Ghost adventures fondly, then it's well worth getting; if all you've seen is Space Ghost's revival as a talk show host, then you might enjoy this, but be warned there's little resemblance between the original and it's tongue in cheek successor.

RRP $26.98, but you know you can find it a little cheaper online. Definitely and highly recommended.

The New Adventures of Superman (Warner Bros)

Own it on DVD from June 26th!

In an era where only a year or two passes from the end of one cartoon version of an iconic comic character before the new imagining is launched (cf. Batman: The Animated Series and The Batman, or MTV's Spider-Man and the new version recently announced), it's hard to imagine what it would be like to go for more than 20 years between cartoons. But that's exactly what happened between the 1940's Fleischer Superman cartoons and the Filmation New Adventures of Superman, the latter of which is contained on this 2-Disc DVD "DC Comics Classic Collection." Launched on CBS in 1966, this was Filmation's first cartoon, but despite this inexperience, it's enjoyable if somewhat shallow fare. Recognising the impact the Fleischer series had on people's memories, it has Fleischer-alumni Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander reprise their roles as Superman and Lois Lane (though Julie Bennett later shares some of the Lois voice duties with Joan Alexander) and it remains true to the look of the comics. The episodes are relatively short, coming in at around 6 minutes apiece, making the stories fast paced, as Superman faces old foes Mr. Mxyzptlk, Lex Luthor, the Toyman and Braniac, as well as new enemies such as the Tree Men of Arbora, Mermen of Emor and the Thrutans, across the 36 episodes which comprised the first season (all of which are contained herein). There's only one special feature with the episodes, the documentary "Superman in '66," but it's excellent, explaining how Filmation got the rights to do the series and a retrospective of the series.

Sadly there are a number of let-downs with the set. The picture and sound quality isn't astounding, definitely showing its age, and due to ongoing legal wrangling the set doesn't get to include the Superboy episodes originally shown between the Superman episodes. Despite this, it's still an enjoyable series and worth getting; CBS thought so too, because they commissioned a second season, which added in several other DC heroes to the mix. Hopefully we'll be seeing that on DVD sometime soon.

Check out the official site!

Batman Beyond: Season Three (Warner Bros)

The final season of Batman Beyond, although not quite the character's swansong. Having firmly established that it is possible to put a new and exciting twist on the Batman franchise in its first two seasons, Batman Beyond now goes out with a bang. Terry McGinnis faces the return of some of the series' home-grown villains, including Ink and Zeta (who would go on to get his own, short lived, cartoon) and the introduction of new villains such as the Repeller. But its in showing the future of established DC universe characters that this series really pays off for this old-time DC fan. Not only do we see Talia al Ghul, daughter of the greatest Batman villain of all time (Ra's al Ghul), make Terry's mentor, Bruce Wayne (the original Batman) an offer he can't refuse, which leads to a team-up fans of Batman Beyond have been waiting for since the show started, but we also get to watch Terry join the Justice League when Superman comes to ask for his help unmasking a traitor on the team (Terry would later return the favour by appearing in Justice League Unlimited Season 1). The biggest shame about this final season is that its only 13 episodes long, and over all too soon. Thankfully there's still the one-off movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker to look forward to.

As with previous seasons, the extra features on this disc are minimal but interesting. You have another panel where the show producers discuss the season and how it developed, and a section where some of the creators of the show pick their favourite moments from the final season. But as always, its not the extras you are buying this for, its the episodes, and those are top notch. If you are already a fan of Batman Beyond, it goes without saying you will probably be buying this; if you haven't checked the series out yet, shame on you, but don't buy this DVD...instead, go out and buy the first two seasons and watch them, THEN rush out and buy this one!

Justice League Unlimited: Season Two (Warner Bros)

It's a month for last appearances, as the final 13-episode season of Justice League Unlimited also comes in. And its not just the League who are saying goodbye, as the end of this show also marks the end of the long running Bruce Timm / Paul Dini "shared DC cartoon universe" which ran from Batman: The Animated Series through Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock and into Justice League, where characters from one show would turn up in the others voiced by the same actors. Marvel tried a similar venture in the 1990s, with their X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons of the era crossing over, but DC did it for much longer and to much greater effect, and in some respects it's a shame to see it go. After this we got the radically different styles of Teen Titans, Legion of Superheroes and the new interpretation of "The Batman" - but since they are all excellent too, that's not so bad.

Back to the review at hand - this final year of JLU sees the League take on Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom, and watches the show delve deep into DC's rich catalogue of characters, with show introducing stalwarts such as the Warlord, Deadman and the Legion of Superheroes, a somewhat eclectic mix. Plus the ongoing romance between Hawkgirl and Green Lantern is shaken when Hawkman shows up! Green Arrow leads a non-superpowered team against an insane super-soldier in "Patriot Act", proving it's heart and not superhuman abilities which make a hero, and Lex steals the Flash's body in "The Great Brain Robbery". And in the end the League face perhaps the greatest of all DC villains, Darkseid, for a suitably impressive finale.

Not as cohesive a season as the first (which had the incredibly strong Cadmus arc going for it), this final season still manages to deliver. The extras, as always, are good but minimal - a music only track on the final episode, creators picking their favourite moments of the season, and the producers discussing the Cadmus arc from last season. But these are just that, extras, a bonus and not the real reason to pick this DVD up; the episodes are. If you are a fan of DC's comics or cartoons, then this is definitely worth getting.

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (Warner Bros)

A spin-off from the Teen Titans cartoon, Trouble in Tokyo is the series' first feature length movie, and an excellent one at that. Attacked without provocation by the Japanese supervillain Saico-Tek (pronounced Psycho-Tech), the Titans learn that he was sent by a seemingly mythical villain, Brushogun, prompting them to head to Tokyo to confront their new foe. However they find the pursuit trickier than they thought; there's problems with the language barrier (at least until Starfire demonstrates a power which people rarely recall she has), local police who insist that Brushogun doesn't exist and who politely make it clear the Titans aren't the law here, romantic confusion within the team, Beast Boy's local admirers, Raven's lack of reading material and Cyborg's discovery that Japanese chefs don't handle losing gracefully. Not to mention the giant monsters, and Robin ending up a fugitive from the law, wanted for murder.

Its a fun romp, and though I identified the villain a mile off, the journey is still worth it even when the destination is clearly visible. I found the Anime style of this series off-putting when I first watched it (see review below), but this time, given where much of the story is set, it most definitely works. The Japanese villains are all new, created for this cartoon and not from a DC comic, but as an Anime fan, they are immediately familiar - though not exact matches, you can spot the inspiration provided by Astro Boy, Gojira, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, various Sentai, and less obviously Tetsujin 28. Plus there's a bike ride straight out of Akira, and the police organisation wouldn't look out of place in series such as Bubblegum Crisis. This feels as authentically Japanese as any "proper" Anime, which is probably attributable to the many Japanese members of the production team.

The extras are fairly minimal. There's a racing game where you ride Robin's bike through Tokyo, controlling your directions using the arrow buttons on your remote control, which I found difficult to play (I'm probably just getting old). There's a bunch of trailers. And there's an additional, short (10 minutes or so) Teen Titans cartoon, which I believe was made specifically for the DVD, and which is easily the best extra on the disc. At the end of the day though, what makes a DVD worth getting or not getting is the main feature; anything else is a bonus. And in this case, that main feature is definitely worth having.

At $19.98 (or a bit less on sites like Amazon.com) its the same price as for a season of the regular show. If you can only afford to make one purchase, I'd wait for Season 3 of Teen Titans to come out in April, because then you'll get around 290 minutes of entertainment (one season) as compared to around 90 (one 75 minute movie plus a 10 or so minutes short) for the same price. However, if you can afford more than one purchase, then Trouble in Tokyo is definitely worth adding to your collection.

Its been a Superman heavy couple of months, as different incarnations of the Man of Steel, big screen and small, make it to DVD.

Superman: The Theatrical Serials Collection (Warner Bros)

Appropriately first up is Superman's first live action feature, with Kirk Alyn taking on the daunting position of the first man to wear the big S on his chest (though not the first to voice Superman, with that honour going to Bud Collyer, on radio in 1940 and then in cartoons from 1941 on). Providing excellent value for money, this DVD set contains both 15 part Columbia serials, the 1948 Superman and the 1950 sequel Atom Man vs. Superman. Luckily, unlike its Batman predecessors, these were filmed post-War, when you could still find an actor who looked passable in a skintight costume (for those who don't know, when the 1943 Batman serial was made, any physically fit actor was likely to have been drafted, so poor Lewis Wilson, who played the title role, had a relatively average physique, which looked horrible once he got stuck in a tight costume). Alyn plays both Superman and Clark Kent well, and though I grew up with Christopher Reeve as the definitive Superman, I soon warmed to Alyn's portrayal. Given the limitations of the era, you can forgive the special effects being basic (Superman's flying is literally drawn in for the first serial, as a cartoon takes over from Alyn, though by the second they manage to do some live action flying), and both stories are fun romps following the usual serial routine of one unlikely cliffhanger after another. The first serial covers his arrival on Earth as a child and sees him take on the villainous Spider-Lady (Carol Forman), who intends to rule the Earth with the aid of a shrinking ray, while the second sees him confront the villainous "Atom Man", his nemesis Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot), who utilises both a disintegration ray and kryptonite to take on our alien hero.

There are only a couple of extras on the DVD, but both are excellent. One is "Saturday with Superman", as surviving cast member Noell Neill (Lois Lane, who has also cameod in several subsequent Superman adaptations) and various historians discuss the making of the serials, while the other is a lengthy (nearly two hours) documentary by Bryan Singer covering most on-screen incarnations of the Man of Steel, complete with interviews of various cast members from each version.

If you can allow for the era this was made in, and the limitations that brings with it, this DVD is a lot of fun, and highly recommended.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (Warner Bros)

For years fans of the original Superman motion pictures wondered how the second movie would have turned out if Richard Donner had not been fired and replaced by Richard Lester. Does this DVD finally give them the chance to see Donner's true vision? Not quite, but it's about as close as we'll ever get. Before being fired Donner had filmed a sizeable chunk of the film (much of while filming the first movie), footage that Lester then re-shot. More footage was junked because of legal issues with Marlon Brando. Thankfully this extra footage wasn't destroyed, and now most of it has been reinstated. However it still isn't quite Donner's version, as necessity requires the usage of Lester's versions of the sections from the script that Donner hadn't gotten round to filming, and in one notable instance, screen test footage never intended for public consumption. The result is a little disjointed sadly, and there's a few cases where I wish they hadn't cut the Lester footage - sue me, I liked seeing more of the villains destroying Houston. That said, overall, it's am improvement over the original cinematic release, which was already, for me, the best movie of the series.

The plot, for those who don't know, is that three Kryptonian villains who survived their planet's destruction because they were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, escape and come to Earth, inadvertantly managing to time their arrival when Superman has given up his powers for love of Lois Lane. Led by General Zod (the wonderfully arch Terence Stamp), the three decide to conquer the Earth, and no one is able to stand in their way, at least not until Superman regains his powers, realising he has to chose between his own happiness and the safety of the world. I always preferred the second film to the others - Supermans 3 and 4 don't even rate mention, and I never liked Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, whereas Zod and co. give Superman a genuine challenge - plus for the time, it had the best superpowered battles I'd ever seen. In this version as with the original, it's partly Superman's fault that the trio get loose, but unlike Lester's cut, it isn't because he throws a bomb meant for the Eiffel Tower into space, it's down to the missiles from the first movie which he redirects, a much closer connection between the films. Donner also handles the love story between Clark and Lois more effectively.

On the extras, there's not a huge amount to say. Donner introduces the film, and provides commentary throughout, accompanied by his friend Tom Mankiewicz. While the insights are interesting, it's nothing more than you'd normally expect on any DVD. There's an interesting short featurette discussing how the Donner version was restored and enabling comparison between some of the scenes in both cuts, and there's some additional footage Donner shot but which was still left out this version, mainly with Gene Hackman as Luthor.

If you aren't too fussed about the Superman movies, then (1) why are you on a site devoted to superheroes, and (2) the Donner Cut probably isn't interesting enough for you to pick up. For anyone else, even if you love the Lester cut, it's well worth having, if only as an exercise in what might have been.

Superman Returns (Warner Bros)

Superman Returns sets itself an incredibly difficult goal right from the off. Unlike other recent revivals of superhero franchises, such as Batman Begins, it isn't a reimagining of the character, its a sequel. Bryan Singer, rather than starting afresh with the cinematic Superman, instead decided to pay homage to the vision of Richard Donner's late 1970's Superman movies, treating Superman Returns as the follow on from Superman and Superman II (but not the less than sterling III or dire IV, thankfully). Ironically this is both the film's greatest strength and its greatest weakness. There's no doubt Donner's movies gave an iconic version of the character and a firm foundation of the viewing public's fond memories of Christopher Reeve's interpretation of the character to build on. But making it such an obvious continuation also invites comparison. Which is a shame, because viewed as a separate entity, Superman Returns is a good, though not perfect, movie.

While I personally felt the threat storyline, Lex Luthor's evil plans, a little lacking, the emotional storyline covering Superman's return to an Earth he abandoned and his discovery of how the world and his friends coped without him and moved on with their lives has a genuine impact. Brandon Routh is an excellent Superman, a worthy successor to not just Reeve, but all the other men who have worn the S on their chest. He captures both Reeve's Clark Kent and Superman wonderfully ... but he isn't Reeve. The rest of the cast suffer from similar problems. Kevin Spacey is an astounding actor, but I can't help feel he would have made a better Luthor if he wasn't also channeling Gene Hackman's interpretation of the character. If Superman Returns had genuinely been the original third movie in Donner's trilogy, with the cast of those two movies in the role, I think it would have been better received; its certainly head and shoulders above what we got back in 1983. If it had been its own beast, unfettered by expectations inherited from its predecessors, then again, I feel it would have been better received at the box office.

However, all that said, don't think I dislike the movie. On the contrary, one I figured out exactly why the movie wasn't quite connecting for me, and set aside my memories of Reeve's Superman, I enjoyed the film immensely. The main cast are all excellent in their roles; there's real emotional impact as you watch how the world reacts to the return of the Man of Steel; and the special effects? No two ways about it, they are suitably SUPER. The first major set piece, where Superman saves a runaway plane, is breathtaking.

The Special Edition DVD set's extras initially look a little sparse when you glance at the information on the packaging. A making of, plus a number of deleted scenes. However on closer examination, you discover the making of is nearly 3 hours long, split into individual documentaries which cover the creation of the movie from start to finish. Well worth watching to see how the film was assembled.

Overall? The film got mixed reviews for its theatrical release, but if you can let it be its own entity, be aware of the previous versions but not tied to them, and if you can accept that not all the plot elements will be tied up by the end of the movie (after all, sequels are planned), then I think you'll enjoy Superman Returns, and I heartily recommend it.

Batman Beyond: Season Two (Warner Bros)

Batman Beyond is, quite simply, the best DC cartoon to ever come out - and not just because the show is Emmy Award winning! There's been some great DC cartoons both before and since, and the Batman himself has had some excellent cartoons over the last decade. But Batman Beyond beats them all, because it brings something truly unique - a whole new world, a genuine expansion on the DC universe. Where other DC cartoons have been excellent adaptations of existing characters and storylines, and added the odd new element to the mythos, Batman Beyond uses the pre-existing material only to give itself a strong foundation, and then goes off to forge an independent entity of a quality easily equal to its source. Its some decades into the future, and Gotham has a new protector, Bruce Wayne's successor as Batman, Terry McGinnis. Unfortunately for Terry, not only has he inherited the legacy of his predecessor's foes, such as the Jokerz gang, but there's also new threats to face, such as Earth-Mover , Shriek and Stalker. Its an engrossing and rewarding show to watch, with the added bonus that if you followed Batman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, or Justice League, there's little Easter Egg like tie-ins between the shows: Kevin Conroy, who provides Batman's voice in those latter three shows here provides the voice of the older Bruce Wayne, forced to retire from active heroing by his age and injuries.

The Season Two box set sees Terry now a firmly established hero, though still chaffing under the constant supervision of Bruce Wayne. The 26 episodes of the Season are split over 4 discs, with minimal extras - a couple of audio commentaries and one feature, where the show's producers discuss the creation and development of the show. At just under $45 RRP, its not the cheapest Season Set out there, especially with the limited bonus features, but the show is so good, I can forgive that. Highly recommended.

Justice League Unlimited: Season One (Warner Bros)

Effectively the third season of the Justice League cartoon, Justice League Unlimited sees the team's original seven member roster expand to over fifty. Just about everyone who's ever been in the JLA in the comics is here, and for a fan of the comics, its a delight to play "spot the hero" in each crowd scene. If you are new to the characters, don't worry, because as each one gets their time in the spotlight, they are properly introduced; before then, all you really need to know is that the League is made up of the cream of Earth's heroes. Over the space of this season's 26 episodes, we get to meet Captain Atom, Hawk and Dove, Booster Gold, Supergirl, the Question, Green Arrow and more, but the original seven aren't forgotten by any means. The range of stories is equally impressive, from world threatening invasions, to time travel adventures (complete with Batman Beyond cross-over), to breaking up underground fight clubs, providing the rare feeling from a comic book cartoon that you are genuinely getting to enjoy the full depth and breadth of the fictional universe the characters come from.

Again there's 4-discs containing 26 episodes, with a smallish number of DVD extras, including:

" And Justice For All - Featurette with all the collaborators behind JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED discussing the revamping of the show, new characters and a new direction.

" This Little Piggy - Audio commentary from Producer Bruce Timm, Writer Paul Dini, Producer Dwayne McDuffie and Producer James Tucker

" The Return - Audio Commentary from Producer Bruce Timm, Director Joaquim Dos Santos, Producer Dwayne McDuffie and Producer James Tucker

" Themes of Justice - An interactive featurette where you the fan choose from a list of "music only" theme music with an intro by Bruce Timm

At $44.98 RRP (and considerably cheaper on Amazon), its definitely worth getting, though again, I'd pick up Batman Beyond first.

The Batman: The Complete Second Season (Warner Bros)

Batman's most recent cartoon incarnation has a tough act to follow. The 1990s Batman: The Animated Series was a class act, and to launch a new version so soon after was a brave step. How to do something distinct from what many consider a definitive version (so much so that Kevin Conroy, who voiced that version, was retained as his voice when Bruce Wayne appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, and Justice League), while still staying true to the character? Well, since you can't mess with the bat and his look, you play with his rogue's gallery. From the start, with U2's The Edge providing the distinctive theme tune, the show draws you in to a distinctly different Gotham. Tying in conceptually with the live action Batman Begins, this is the story of a younger, newer Batman, early in his career. This second season boxset sees Batman still considered a wanted fugitive by the Gotham PD for his vigilante activities, but beginning to forge the relationships which will see him in good stead for the future. As the season begins he's yet to meet Commissioner Gordon, his stalwart ally of the comics, and Gotham PD is headed by the bat-hostile Chief Rojas; Gordon debuts at the end of this season, voiced by the X-Files Mitch Pileggi. With Gordon missing from the picture, Batman has been forced to find a different secret ally, Detective Ellen Yin (Ming-Na), a new character but named in homage to one of the characters in Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, whose partner was turned into Clayface by the Joker in Season One.

Over the space of the season's 13 episodes, Batman faces the returning threat of several of his deadliest foes, introduced in the show's first year, including Catwoman, the Penguin, Man-Bat, the Ventriloquist, Mr. Freeze, and the aforementioned Clayface and Joker, plus new threats such as Killer Croc, the Riddler, and Ragdoll. The main joy for me, as an old-time batfan, is seeing the fresh new twists on old villains, each recognisable but different; everything old is new again. Clayface gains new pathos and a new enmity with the Joker which provides the focus for episode 8, "Meltdown", when he seeks revenge on the madman who turned him into a monster. The Penguin comes across as more of a threat than he often does in the comics, capable of going hand-to-hand with the Batman, and also picks up some distinctive and deadly sidekicks. The Riddler, all too often written or acted as a poor man's Joker (think Batman Forever), successfully comes across as his own distinct kind of maniac (though I'm still not 100% sold on his look here). Only the Joker falls short for me, but that's more because he's as iconic as Batman in his own way, and I find it harder to accept his makeover than I do the other villains.

The DVD boxset is pretty basic; you get two discs and the 13 episodes, plus an Inside Season 2 feature. However for $19.98 (less if you purchase it online off Amazon.com or Playusa.com) I can live with minimal bonus features. It's the episodes you want anyway, and they are well worth having.

Teen Titans: The Complete Second Season (Warner Bros)

I have to admit it took me quite a while to warm to the Teen Titans cartoon. While I enjoy a lot of anime, seeing the Pokemon anime style here just felt weird to start with, and the theme song by Japanese band Puffy Ami Yumi just added to that disconnection. However, as I've watched more episodes, it's gradually grown on me. The look seems to herald tales aimed at a younger audience than most of the other DC cartoons, as does the content of some of the episodes, such as the bizarre "Date with Destiny" which sees Robin forced to take the villainous Killer Moth's daughter to the junior prom, or "Every Dog Has Its Day", where an alien hunting for his lost dog mistakenly captures Beast Boy instead. Yet this second season also sees the cartoon handle with one of the more adult story arcs from the original 1980s comic version, as we are introduced to the earth-manipulating Terra in the season's third episode, and as in the original stories, she proves to be both an ally of their enemy Slade (voiced in this incarnation by Hellboy's Ron Perlman, and his costumed name of Deathstroke the Terminator apparently too violent for this cartoon), and an infiltrator on the team. The cartoon balances bringing in old elements from the comic, giving long time fans like myself chances to enjoy guest star appearances from the likes of Speedy, Aqualad and Wildebeest or glimpses of the future where Robin has become Nightwing, alongside new additions to the Titans mythos such as Johnny Rancid and Atlas. I have to say that for me the series worked best when it was using the older material, as the new villains alongside the anime look and "younger audience-friendly" stories just felt too little like the Titans I know and love. That said, I still found even those episodes enjoyable, so I'd still recommend checking the series out.

As with The Batman boxset discussed above, the Teen Titans Complete Second Season covers 13 episodes on two discs, with only an Inside Season 2 feature as a bonus. At the same cheap price as The Batman, its still worth picking up...but I'd buy The Batman first.

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