Author: Robert Greenberger

Moorcock to fly the TARDIS

  • News
  • November 13, 2009

Acclaimed novelist Michael Moorcock posted the following statement on his message board yesterday:

“Looks like it’s official. I’ll be doing a new Dr. Who novel (not a tie-in) for appearance, I understand, by next Christmas. Still have to have talks etc. with producers and publishers but we should be signing shortly. Should be fun.”

By “not a tie-in” we presume he means he will pen an original novel featuring one of the Doctors. We find this very exciting news.

While there have been novelizations of television story arcs for decades, the first original novel dates back to just 1986. Led by the prolific Terrence Dicks, who has written adaptations and original prose, the line has seen many top-notch authors write adventures including a number well-regarded series of anthologies.

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Fox Cancels ‘Dollhouse’

  • News
  • November 11, 2009

dollhouse-cast-photo-whedon-2662106The mixed reviews and poor ratings have led Fox to formally cancel Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.

The second season show, starring and co-produced by Eliza Dushku, is currently on a planned hiatus, keeping it from the harsh glare of the November Sweeps ratings period.

The announced plan has the final episodes broadcast on these dates: two episodes each will air December 4, 11 and 18, from 8 pm to 10 p.m. The last three episodes will air on January 8, 15 and 22 at 9 p.m.

Whedon has been given sufficient notice so the final episodes will wrap up the existing storylines. Summer Glau was recently added to the cast and will play a pivotal role with her knowledge of someone’s past life.

A second season DVD set is expected but no date has been announced.

This marks the second failed series Whedon has produced for Fox, after Firefly. He has yet to issue a formal statement but no doubt it will be heartfelt and entertaining. Meantime, Whedon is also prepping to direct at least one episode of the network’s hit series Glee.

Review: ‘Up’ on Blu-ray

Pixar’s command of digital animation has captivated an entire generation of viewers and with Up
, its tenth film, it has actually taken some interesting chances. First, they focused on a senior citizen, the very demographic totally abandoned by Hollywood despite the longevity now being enjoyed by many.

It also decided to take storytelling chances by stretching how many absurdities we can accept in a single film. Previously, we were asked to accept one major concept per film: toys that can talk, a world powered by children’s screams, and so on. Here, we’re being asked to accept an awful lot and frankly, sitting through the film, I think it asked for too much.

Up arrives on DVD tomorrow and comes in Walt Disney Home Video’s controversial multi-package format. The Blu-ray edition contains four discs: the film and extras, a second disc of extras, the film and some extras on standard DVD and a disc with a digital copy. On the one hand, it’s nice to have this package because eventually we’ll all be using Blu-ray so we avoid buying the movie twice. On the other, it’s pricey for people not willing to make the leap for years to come.

The film’s best sequence is the opening ten minutes known as “Married Life”, which details the meeting and evolving relationship between Carl and Ellie. It’s incredibly poignant and moving, aided tremendously by Michael Giacchino’s score. From there, we meet 78-year old, arthritic Carl, every bit the curmudgeon he appears. Wonderfully voiced by Ed Asner, he’s done with life and just wants the world to leave him alone. Sadly, the world wants to move ahead and is busily construction mammoth commercial buildings around his home.

Finally forced to move to an assisted living facility, Carl decides to escape to Paradise Falls, the one place he and Ellie wanted to visit and never found the time and/or money. Here’s where we’re asked for the big leap of faith: overnight, be fills 10,000 balloons with helium, rigs steering gear, and in the morning, launches his home into the air for the trip to South America.

OK, let’s accept that. Let’s also add in the Russell, the young Asian Wilderness Explorer trapped on the porch when the house broke free of its foundation. Their odd couple relationship will form the spine of film and that’s fine.  Now, the house miraculously makes it to Paradise Falls and there’s when things go off the rails. First, we have a pack of dogs each equipped with a collar that translates their growls to human speech, allowing communication. A wondrous piece of technology that would make its inventor world famous and fabulously wealthy. Instead, the inventor, 90 year old Charles Muntz, remains in self-imposed exile, seeking the rare bird whose capture will repair his reputation, spoiled decades earlier when scientists questioned the validity of the bones he brought back from one of his celebrated expeditions.

Once Carl and Russell meet Muntz, the film no longer feels like a Pixar classic, but instead a pale imitator as your credulity is stretched beyond belief time and again. The climax, a battle between geriatrics, is impossible to accept given the athleticism each displays despite their previously established infirmities.  Fortunately, the final scenes come back to familiar Pixar territory and ends on a satisfying note. As a result, Up the movie is a mixed bag and far from its best work.

The extras on the discs, though, show the level of attention that went into each and every aspect of the film from studying the way seniors moved to house architecture. There are several mini-documentaries adding up to over 40 minutes of nifty behind the scenes information. Best of the eight may well be the piece on Giacchino and the scoring for the movie. There’s also the film in Cine-Explore track as the directors, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, discuss the making of the film, complete with designs, sculptures and other visual details popping up on screen. The main disc also offers up two shorts: Dug’s Special Mission and Partly Cloudy. Another short bit is a look at various ways Muntz’s story came to an end.

The second disc, in addition to the documentaries, offers up a nice piece on the development of “Married Life” and them shows a storyboarded alternative approach, equally effective. Finally, there’s the Global Guardian Badge Game, an interactive trivia game that earns you badges of increasing complexity. It uses the BD Live feature which is nice for those so inclined.

A somewhat good, somewhat flawed film is well packaged and offers up much for families and film enthusiasts to enjoy.

Review: ‘Monsters, Inc.’ on Blu-ray

Pixar burst onto the scene with [[[Toy Story]]] and proved that they were the successor to Walt Disney Studios by providing heart-warming, funny family-friendly animation, using pixels instead of paintbrushes. They followed up with [[[A Bug’s Life]]], which was another success, and they came right back with [[[Toy Story 2]]] which was an expected smash.  The question was back then, how long could they sustain the hits and the level of quality. A lot was riding on their fourth release, Monsters, Inc.
, since it was to be their third original creation and a gauge of their long-term viability.

Well, we all know what happened. It and every subsequent film has been one hit after enough, proving Pixar was not only the real deal, but a successful font of new ideas. Disney clear had no choice but to advance their partnership by owning the company, which reinvigorated their own franchise characters.

Monsters, Inc.
is being released on Blu-ray this Tuesday clearly intended for holiday shopping, and comes in an assortment of flavors. The 4-disc set, sent for review, has the following elements: the film and extras on Blu-ray, a Blu-ray disc of even more extras, the movie on standard DVD and a digital copy. That’s a really impressive deal, if you own a Blu-ray player.

The fabulous movie looks and sounds even better on Blu-ray, the digital creations just as inventive and fun as always. The 91 minute story remains amusing with a lovable set of characters and full realized world of monsters, which required energy derived from children’s’ screams. Boo, the little girl accidentally in their world, could be a sickly-sweet character but instead looks and acts like a real 2-year-old, charming and frustrating all the way. The voice cast, headed by John Goodman and Billy Crystal, is top-notch and well picked for their parts.

But you know all that.

The movie disc comes with the previous DVD bonus material. The shorts For the Birds and Mike’s New Car; but new is a lengthy Filmmakers’ Round Table where four of the geniuses behind the movie, talk through their challenges and favorite parts. There’s also a preview of the Monstropolis exhibit at Tokyo Disneyland, the closest most of us will ever get to see the impressive looking ride.

The second Blu-ray has a few hours’ more fun starting with the interactive game, Roz’s 100-Door Challenge. By answering questions based on the film, it determines which job you are suited for. Don’t like the job, you try again.  There’s a nice tour of Pixar’s compound, dubbed the Fun Factory. Clearly, the imagery emphasizes the creative, goofy, and downright fun involved in the making any one film. On the other hand, the hard work and long hours brining the story and characters to life, is sadly underplayed. Everything on this disc is geared to demonstrating how Pixar works related to Monsters, Inc.  It’s a rich assortment of features for the fan.

The movie endures, a classic for families for generations to come and there’s no better way to preserve this than having this rich package of video material.

Review: ‘Justice League the Complete Series’

For those who only knew the Justice League of America as the Super Friends must have been in for a rude awakening when they sat to watch the Justice League
animated series with their kids. From 2001 through 2006, the Cartoon Network offered up what has since gone on to be recognized as the greatest comics adaptation of all time.

Super-heroes moving from the printed page to animated film have had a checkered path from Filmation’s 1966 [[[Superman]]] through Ruby-Spears’ 1988 effort with the Man of Steel. In between, there were some highlights such as 1968’s [[[Spider-Man]]] and some really low moments including the 1977 [[[Batman]]] show. The problem is that super-heroes need conflict in which to use their powers and abilities. With every passing year, parents fretted over the amount of violence their children were expose to, coupled with concerns over the kids imitating the exploits in real life and causing themselves harm.

Any super-hero in the 1970s and early 1980s found that they could no longer duke it out with villains and their powers were used instead to stop natural disasters or rescue the proverbial kitten stuck in a tree. Some shows rose above the restrictions and proved entertaining but largely they were weak and short-lived.

That all changed thanks to Tim Burton. His 1989 Batman feature film reminded audiences what was good about comic books and their heroes. It forced everyone to re-examine comic book adaptations and prompted Warner Bros. to try a new Batman animated series. In the hands of producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, they rewrote the rule book and produced an amazing series.

That in turn gave us Superman so it was logical to follow with the Justice League. Along with James Tucker, Dan Riba, Dwayne McDuffie and others, the JLA never looked better. Now, all 91 episodes are collected for the first time in a two volume tin boxed set and it’s a joy to behold.

Warner Home Video essentially took the season sets and repackaged them for Justice League: The Complete Series
, so the discs are broken down by season and disc number while the accompanying booklets count the discs from 1-14, so you have to carefully count discs to find a favorite episode. One nice aspect is that all the original extras are therefore included so there’s a rich amount of material to sift through. Unique to this set, on sale Tuesday, is a 15th disc containing “Unlimited Reserve: Exploring the Depths of the DC Universe”, a 16 minute chat with the producers discussing the joys of adapting the comics for a new generation of fans.

The nicest thing about the show, as either [[[Justice League]]] or [[[Justice League Unlimited]]], is the fidelity it paid to the source material. Yes, they altered a great many things, but nothing felt gratuitously done. The heroes and villains looked and acted appropriately plus the comic book conventions of sub-plots and continuity carried over nicely. There was a strong emphasis on characterization, for all the players. As a result, many JLAers had nice arcs, notably [[[Wonder Woman]]] who went from rookie hero to a true Amazon Princess. Hawkgirl’s seeming betrayal and subsequent redemption played well, too.

There far more hits than misses and no doubt everyone has a favorite story or arc. The eight-episode arc of the League versus Cadmus holds up very well and shows many sides to the issue of, ahem, “[[[Who Watches the Watchmen?]]]”  During this, the Question quickly becomes a major player and wonderfully used. Similarly, the League’s rejection of the Huntress or Captain Marvel’s resignation show that not everyone is cut out to be a hero or a team player. All the characters have distinct personalities, which was most welcome.

The show is crammed full of super-heroes drawn from throughout the entire DC Universe from Spy Smasher to Aztek. Just about everyone is superbly voiced from the familiar Kevin Conroy as Batman to Jeffrey Coombs as The Question. Guest voices are also welcome, with some sly winks from the producers such as Jodi Benson’s Aquagirl or The Wonder Years’ Fred Savage and Jason Hervey as Hawk and Dove.

This is most definitely worth owning or finding under your Christmas tree this season.

Review: ‘Two Girls and a Guy’ on Blu-ray

2guysandgirl-bd-spine-3810881When an actor or director suddenly breaks out and gets hot, studios scour their vaults to see if there’s a way they can capitalize on this heat. Last year, Robert Downey, Jr. went from a troubled, gifted actor to a Super Star thanks to his performance in [[[Iron Man]]]. This week, 20th Century-Fox hopes to catch a break with the Blu-ray release of Downey’s 1998 film Two Girls and a Guy.

Written and direct by James Toback, the film is virtually a real time three-person stage play on a film. In his self-congratulatory 20 minute conversation on the Extras, Toback talks about how he came to write the film, by beginning to imagine a setting. In this case, that’s the spacious loft apartment which became the set his performances would use. After that, he populated the apartment with his players.

We open with Natasha Gregson Wagner’s Lou and Heather Graham’s Carla standing outside the apartment building waiting for their boyfriend to return from trip Very quickly, they determine that the boyfriend in question is the same man, Blake. Once Lou breaks a window to access the apartment, they bond while laying in wait.

Blake arrives and immediately calls his mother, then Carla, then Lou, placing them in the exact order of his affections although that doesn’t become obvious until later as his lies comes to haunt him. The audience gets to see him in has natural state before the women reveal their presence one at a time, catching him in his 10 month-long web of lies.

Carla and Lou are very attractive women in vastly different ways, with Carla soft, brainy, and traditional while Lou is edgier, street smart, and sharp tongued. What’s interesting to Toback was exploring how the same words could seduce such different women. In fact, he finds great humor in this, despite none of that mirth making it onto the screen.

The 1:25 length of the film should allow all three to shine and strut their stuff, but despite the histrionics, the film feels cold and uninvolving. At no point does Toback allow Downey’s Blake to show us any redeeming qualities to demonstrate why they fall for him. As a struggling actor, Blake should not be able to afford such nice digs or afford two women but that’s never addressed.

Instead, the characters reveal their true selves while dunning Blake for obfuscating the truth while he continually denied doing anything wrong. The truth is the overall theme of the film as is the importance of honesty. All too often, though the film’s momentum is interrupted with Blake’s obsessing over his mother, which shows where his heart truly lies.
 
Toback not too subtly shows his hand by decorating the apartment with a framed one-sheet for the classic French film [[[Jules et Jim]]]. Late in the story, Lou brings up a threesome relationship which excites Blake but seems to disinterest Carla. In fact, by this point, both women are drunk and begin to reveal their true feelings culminating with Carla taking Blake to his room for sex while Lou sits outside the door, listening.

The sex scene earned the film an NC-17 rating and Toback’s appeals were rejected so he made edits. Interestingly, both versions are on the Blu-ray disc and they are both steamy and erotically charged without any nudity.

The original DVD commentary is provided and between that and the Toback interview, we learn how much was improvised despite the writer claiming the script wrote itself in a mere four days. As a result, one longs to see deleted or alternate scenes to see how the cast found their characters but alas, none are provided.

As the credits roll, one hoped for a more satisfying ending. I was unmoved by this potentially fascinating set-up despite some solid performances.

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Review: ‘Zorro’ The Complete First and Second Seasons

  • Uncategorized
  • November 5, 2009

wdtreasuresix-zorrophoto-032-1484041Walt Disney had a gift, an ability to take someone else’s property and recraft it for a modern audience. Just about every time he touched a fairy tale or legend, he struck paydirt.  Look what he did with Grimm’s fairy tales or A.A. Milne’s [[[Winnie the Pooh]]]. Largely overlooked these days is the incredibly popular 1950s television series based on Johnston McCulley’s pulp hero, Zorro.

The black and white series, starring Guy Williams, ran a mere two seasons but spawned over 500 licensed merchandise items in addition to enjoying a long syndicated run in the 1960s and again after the birth of the Disney Channel. Back in the ‘50s, the season ran 39 weeks and a half-hour show actually had 25 minutes of story so there was plenty of material to recycle.

Fortunately, Walt Disney Home Entertainment noted the enduring appeal of the character and has this week released the complete run in two attractively packaged volumes. Both volumes are available in numbered limited edition tins that come complete with certificate of authenticity, label pin, black and white still of [[[Zorro]]], and a booklet detailing the contents.

Leonard Maltin, who grew up watching the series when it originally ran on ABC from October 10, 1957 through June 2, 1959, provides introductions to seasons one and two, providing some context and information that nicely sets the stage. The seasons nicely fit into five discs and both volumes contain a sixth disc with bonus material.

McCulley’s somewhat clunky prose style was full of ideas: that of a masked avenger rising to protect the citizens of the small town of Los Angeles in the early part of the 19th century. Taking a cue from the precedent set by Baroness Emmuska Orczy’s [[[Scarlet Pimpernel]]], introduced a decade before in 1903. Don Diego de la Vega decided he needed to play the fop so no one would suspect he was the black-cloaked fox known as Zorro.

The stories fired the imagination and were quickly adapted to screen, first in the silent films and then in the movie serials before it enjoyed feature film status. Along the way, McCulley actually incorporated some of the changes made for film into his prose. In 1952, Disney tried to acquire the rights and it took him until 1957 before it was a done deal. In September 1957, on his Walt Disney Presents,  Uncle Walt told stories to his Mousekteers on his fourth anniversary show and it was used to introduce Williams as Zorro, leading people to watch the show which debuted weeks later.

(more…)

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Review: ‘Say Anything…’ on Blu-ray

sayanything-bd-spine-7054665You never know when something will come along and click with the pop culture zeitgeist. A line, a performance, even a single image, can leap off the page or screen and become emblematic for an era. The sight of John Cusack, holding a boom box over his head, trying to woo back Iona Skye, has become one of those moments now indelibly used to visualize the 1980s.

Here we are, 20 years later, and the moment has been repeated endlessly in real life and parodied throughout movies and television. Now, we can relive that moment in the 20th anniversary edition of Say Anything
…, released this week by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Written and directed by the wonderfully gifted Cameron Crowe, the movie avoided all the clichés inherent in the romance and teen comedy films of the decade. Instead, he found fresh characters in Lloyd Dobler and Diane Court and avoided expectations by enriching every character with complexity.

Diane was the driven class brain, “in the body of a game show hostess”, who was so focused on class work that she missed out on connecting with her peers. Her awkwardness at addressing the student body at graduation punctuates that point. Interestingly, it is only after the ceremony and her forced dealings with them have come to an end that she actually gets to know them.

When love struck Lloyd calls her a fate, he wears down her reluctance until she acquiesces.  After hanging up the phone, she looks up his picture in the yearbook; uncertain of whom she has committed herself. As it turns out, she finds herself enjoying the party antics while Lloyd watches her in action, relegated to being the key master, holding everyone else’s car keys so they can freely get drunk.

Lloyd is uncertain of his future, a kickboxer without a real plan, but he’s a decent guy as seen in his dealings with his young nephew or the residents of the old folks’ home owned by Diane’s father, played with gusto by John Mahoney.  Meantime, Mr. Court disapproves of Lloyd, seeing him as being beneath Diane but puts her happiness ahead of his own misgivings.

Diane’s relationship with her father provides an emotional spine to the film that helps separate it from similar tales. They clearly love and trust one another, and while Diane can tell her father anything, he chooses not to reciprocate. As a result, when he comes under investigation by the IRS, his lack of moral judgment crushes her, leaving her no one but Lloyd to turn to.

The tale is of a young couple falling in love for the first time, complete with the ups and downs that happen. Crowe, who captures voices and emotions so well in his works, treats his characters with respect and is rewarded by strong performances.

After 20 years, it largely holds up and maintains its strong grasp on the viewer. The video transfer looks and sounds good.  The new edition comes complete with Crowe and his cast reminiscing in a 21 minute featurette, An Iconic Film Revisited: Say Anything…20 Years Later. The director continues to chat about the making of the film in his own 9 minute A Conversation with Cameron Crowe.  Also exclusive to the Blu-ray edition is To Know Say Anything…is to Love It! Trivia Track containing over 200 fun questions. Carried over from previous editions are the alternate scenes, deleted scenes, and extended scenes, trailers, original featurette, and a gallery.

The story of Lloyd meets girl is well worth revisiting.

Review: ‘Malice’

Malice

By Chris Wooding, illustrated by Dan Chernett
Scholastic Press, $14.99, 380 pages

What if you could transport yourself to another world by following an incantation found in a comic book? Well, you might find the world a frightening and terrible place, just as children find in the new novel [[[Malice]]].

Chris Wooding, an accomplished young adult author, begins a new series this month with Malice, which mixes prose with comic book pages interspersed. Basically, children around the world have been reading this comic book, Malice, a cult title with each issue a seemingly disjointed series of eerie vignettes. What no one realizes is that if the children following the directions, they vanish and are transported to this other land. In the real world, they go missing and the few that return, have no recollection of where they have been but have been deeply affected by the experience. 

Wooding’s novel focuses on the residents of the small town of Hathern, just as the young teen Luke vanishes. His friends, Seth and Kady, piece together he disappeared after reading the comic book and go on the hunt. Along the way, they find out who has been producing issues but necessarily why they are stealing children.

Only after Seth goes in search of Luke by entering the realm, does he begin to understand the malevolent forces at work, represented by Tall Jake, who has usurped control of this dark world. The world of Malice is a creepy place, patrolled by mechanical and non-human packs of beings, seeking the children who have wound up there. The children, meantime, fight for daily survival and swap stories –notably the rumors regarding the underground resistance force.

While Seth forges new alliances away from Earth, Kady begins to understand what’s happening but has too many questions, including trying to understand what the Queen of Cats wants with her. There’s a great revelation that takes the story in a different direction, keeping the pacing sharp.

Wooding, to his credit, creates credible, likeable characters and his vivid writing demonstrates the stark differences between England and Malice. His evocative writing creates a nice atmosphere and keeps you turning the pages, although as you near the end, it becomes clear this is just the opening chapter. A sequel, [[[Havoc]]], is announced on the final pages.

If only his words were matched by Dan Chernett’s illustrations. The book would have benefitted greatly by using an accomplished comic artist as opposed to a professional illustrator unaccustomed to working in the medium. As a result, his pages are poorly constructed, the storytelling is weak and the use of shadow and scratchy lines robs the comic sections of their power. Had the masters of macabre from Bernie Wrightson to Ben Templesmith been brought in, this would have complemented the prose quite nicely. A real missed opportunity.

The book is recommended for readers 12 and up and that sounds about right given the characters, pacing and description contained within.

Review: ‘Ruby-Spears Superman’ on DVD

  • Uncategorized
  • November 2, 2009

[[[Superman]]] did not do well as an animated series despite three different studios attempting to tell his stories. Filmation debuted as a competitor to Hanna-Barbera with the 1966 Superman series then H-B told their stories in [[[Super Friends]]]. It seemed they didn’t fully know how to challenge someone with the amazing powers.

By the late 1980s, Ruby-Spears was a well established company, best known for their [[[Thundarr the Barbarian]]]. In 1988, it was their turn to try their hand with the Man of Steel and tomorrow, Warner Home Video releases Ruby-Spears Superman
, a two-disc set collecting the thirteen episodes from the one season series.

This series came out just two years after Superman had been revamped from top to bottom by John Byrne and Marv Wolfman in the pages of [[[Superman]]], [[[Adventures of Superman]]], and [[[Action Comics]]]. Most of the changes from the comics are not reflected here, the exception being Lex Luthor as a business tycoon scheming to rid the world of Superman.

However, the producers clearly weren’t comfortable with this interpretation so borrowed heavily from the just completed film series. As a result, the Luthor here is not at all a threat and saddled with a dumb blonde, Jessica Morganberry, for a confidant rather than the more interesting, and far deadlier, Hope and Mercy.

Marv Wolfman was the story editor, chosen not because he helped craft this modern day version of the mythos, but based on his other animation credits. He surrounded himself with like-minded professionals including Martin Pasko and Steve Gerber (who may have written the best of the episodes) and got to work. Visually, the series was a cut above its predecessors thanks to the involvement of Gil Kane, no stranger to Superman. It’s fun seeing Kane’s unique designs come to life, if only more of his touch were evident in the main characters.

The characterizations for Clark Kent, Lois, Jimmy, Perry, and the Kents is virtually non-existant which undercuts much of the emotional impact of the stories. The threats, whether from the benign Luthor or extraterrestrial sources, are also largely unimaginative. Why his rogues’ gallery is absent is never addressed and again, that robbed the series of better stories. Wonder Woman guest stars in one episode and she’s diverting but not at all majestic or riveting to watch. Instead, we have tales that sometimes defy story logic or the laws of (comic book) physics.

From an animation standpoint, the series suffers lapses when characters stand in front of oncoming energy blasts or runaway trains when they should be in motion. The voice casting is off for most characters and is unmemorable. This is far from Ruby-Seaprs’ finest moments.

The most interesting aspect of the series is that each episode concludes with “The Superman Family Album”, four minute vignettes in chronological order, detailing Clark Kent’s journey from adoption through the first time he donned his costume. Unfortunately, all the heart-warming elements we loved from the previous incarnations are gone. Instead, Clark is an impatient brat who demonstrates his powers without ever once being taught about the responsibility that comes with them. We jump a few years and he’s suddenly more mature if no less patient, and we never see the lessons the Kents imparted that made him the World’s Greatest Super-Hero. In her introduction, Lana arrives as a blonde, and her relationship with Clark is given short-shrift. Similarly, Lois’ introduction to Superman is badly handled and devoid of emotion. A great idea, terribly wasted with poor creative choices.

The 13 episodes look nice, and the soundtrack, inspired by John Williams, is a cut above but overall, they are less than wonderful adventures.

The box set comes with one unique extra: “[[[Corruption of the Corrupt: The Rise of LexCorp]]]” which attempts to place Luthor’s comic book characterization into the context of the times. Educators and authors along with Superman editor Mike Carlin contribute their thoughts and it’s somewhat engaging, but has little to do with the animated series, certainly it has no resemblance to the Luthor depicted here.

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