Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
In 2008, Warner Brothers released DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures, a two-disc set that presented all 18 of the classic Filmation cartoons, which first aired during the The Superman / Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967). The heroes in those cartoons were the Atom, the Flash, the Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Teen Titans, and the Justice League of America. That set was previously reviewed for Blogcritics by Hombre Divertido of Cinema Sentries.
In a move that makes absolutely no sense to me, rather than reissue the entire set together, which seems like a no-brainer as most consumers are likely going to want all 18 cartoons, Warner Brothers is releasing the discs separately, offering them nine at a time and labeling them Volume 1 and Volume 2. The former is out now and the latter debuts in May. While they have created new artwork for the cover, no one bothered fixing the glaring error on the menus, which still incorrectly features Hanna-Barbera’s Birdman rather than DC Comics’ Hawkman.
The nine cartoons run 63 minutes. The Atom stars in “Invasion of the Beetle-Men,” “The Plant Master,” and “The House of Doom.” The Flash stars in “The Chemo-Creature,” “Take a Giant Step,” and “To Catch a Blue Bolt,” the latter includes his sidekick, Kid Flash. And the Green Lantern stars in “Evil is as Evil Does,” “The Vanishing World,” and “Sirena, Empress of Evil.”
The stories are rather straightforward with the hero called upon to defeat the villain, which he always does. While definitely created for a young audience, these cartoons might not have the same appeal for modern-day children. Even though they only run approximately seven minutes, the pacing is still slow in comparison to current cartoons. The limited movement doesn’t help that cause nor does the repetition of action.
The video contains tiny white specks and blacks marks. The audio, available in both English and Portuguese, sounds free of age or wear. The previous set offered the lone extra, “Animation Maverick: The Lou Scheimer Story.” It doesn’t appear here but hopefully it will be available on Volume 2 to honor the legendary producer, who passed away in October of last year.
If the 2008 collection of DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures can’t be found, then I recommend superhero fans pick up the two volumes of this title..
