Superman: TAS vol.3

by: Average Joe 2 years, 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes ago

Release Date:

6/20/06

Price:

19.99

Company:

Warner Bros.

Series:

Superman: The Animated Series

 

Warner Bros. Home Video has just released the third, and final installment of the "Superman: The Animated Series" (STAS) DVD sets, and to no ones surprise I was the first in line to purchase the set....purely for journalistic purposes of course.

The latest set collects the final 18 episodes of the series on 2-discs all wrapped up in a pretty slick looking package. Present among the collection are the episodes featuring the 6-episode story arc involving one of Superman’s greatest foes, Darkseid. The “Apokalips...Now!” and “Legacy” episodes are especially great because they show the Man of Steel doing something rarely ever seen...displaying his dark side (no pun intended). In my opinion these episodes alone are worth the purchase of this $19.99 set, however these are not the only ones you’ll find. Also included are episodes such as "Knight Time" in which Superman poses as The Dark Knight in an attempt to restore order to Gotham City, "In brightest day" which introduces the Kyle Rayner version of the Green Lantern into the DC animated universe, and "Fish Story" which features everyon’e favorite orange and green clad superhero Aquaman in his first animated appearance since his "Super Friends" days.

Aside from the above mentioned episodes, you’ll find episodes such as "Warrior Queen,” “Superman’s Pal," and “Unity” which are considered to be the less-than-stellar episodes of the set—personally I like every single episode in some way or another, but that’s just my opinion. For me, the best thing about STAS vol.3 is definitely the depth you’ll find in episodes like “Apokalips...Now!” and “Legacy” in particular. There are moments in the episode in which Darkseid takes our hero to the top of a mountain in order to sway him with temptation where the biblical overtones turn these from simple episodes in a cartoon, into almost myth.

As far as the special features go, STAS vol.3 is loaded with them, ranging from commentaries on three episodes; �??Apokalips�?�Now! Part 2,�?� �??New Kids in Town,�?� and �??Legacy, Part 2.�?� The commentaries are a little more straight forward than they are on previous versions, but still they are insightful, and fun to listen to. Also featured in the special features is a taped �??round table�?� discussion with Timm, Dini, Burnett, and Murakami hosted by David Kaufman (the voice of Jimmy Olsen) in which they discuss some of the reasoning for certain storylines, introduction of characters...etc. The guys also don’t hesitate to give Kaufman some pretty funny ribbing about being “Superman’s Pal.” One thing I found puzzling was the addition of a small excerpt from the documentary "Look up in the sky! The amazing story of Superman" which is good enough to make you want to see the full version...it pretty much serves as a promotional piece for the upcoming Superman Returns.

Superman: The Animated Series vol.3 is a great set, and a fantastic way to say goodbye to the Man of Steel and his animated adventures (from this show at least), and should get you fired up to see him make his triumphant return to the big screen this summer, and if it doesn’t, well then....there’s obviously something wrong with you!