Directed By Joaquim Dos Santos
SYNOPSIS
An anthology of shorts featuring DC super heroes including a Superman/Captain Marvel team-up, The Spectre, Green Arrow, and Jonah Hex.
I went in to this expecting a full-length Superman/Captain Marvel match-up (as depicted on the cover) so I was surprised when their story ended after about 25 minutes in... but pleased with the three other stories that followed.
Captain Marvel is a sorely underused character. He was the most popular super hero during the 1940s. DC Comics sued Fawcett Comics, claiming the character was a rip-off of Superman, and won.... which sent Captain Marvel into DC's ownership and obscurity. The company tried unsuccessfully to revive him several times through the years. The story essentially is his origin and how he acquired the power of Shazam! Superman is added in for good measure and they battle Black Adam.
The Spectre was next. I never read a Spectre comic before and didn't know much about the supernatural character, so thankfully, it presented another origin story. The short was able to capture an early 70s low-budget action/horror film vibe with music and the animation which replicated a natural lighting look.
Third up featured Justice League mainstay Green Arrow The story is essentially one long and thrilling action sequence at an airport.
Lastly, we visit the old west with Jonah Hex. Here, he appears as intended (unlike the live-action bomb from last year.) The story is simple, stylish, and action-poacked just like the tales from the comic.
As a whole, the stories stand apart from each other visually and content-wise and perfectly matched the anthology comic style the filmmakers were going for. It was nice seeing some of the more b-level characters of the DC Universe get a chance to shine.
DC has put out yet another outstanding direct-to-disc animated adventure(s).
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