[...] impressed. This was put together by the usual suspects — co-directors Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, many other DCU cartoons) and Sam Liu (All-Star Superman), writer Tab Murphy (Superman/Batman: [...]

[...] The Spectre (originally released with Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) [...]

[...] Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths [...]

[...] line. That trailer is also available through the disc menu, as are trailers for Public Enemies, Crisis on Two Earths, the Jonah Hex motion comic, and Lego Universe [...]

[...] The Spectre (originally released with Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) [...]

[...] last gripe: Continuing from the last original DC animated movie, I really hate the tendency of these films to introduce second- or third-tier bad guys who look [...]

[...] Apocalypse is produced by animation legend Bruce Timm and directed by Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) from a script by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist). [NB JDC: [...]

[...] Lantern (July 28) and Batman: Gotham Knight (July 8) were summer releases. The most recent DVD, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, came out February 23, so it would be interesting to know how those sales compared to WW, although [...]

[...] (which I thought was the best part of the previous release — The Spectre was featured in the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths package) will be Jonah Hex, timely, considering the summer movie of the same name. It’s [...]

The Spectre short, which everyone is raving about, certainly gets outstanding marks for mood and its style. It’s pretty flat on plot, however. I thought, “hey this could be a real murder mystery,” but that element is not even really tackled – the audience has no opportunity to guess about who did it, why, or much less care. Still, it is stylistically captivating and definitely a cool addition.

Johanna, I had a very similar thought as you did along “New York overraction.” Although I am hesitant to call it that, since the trauma of any and all New Yorkers regarding that event must be huge compared to what any of us experienced, I did think that Didio had let his own shock impact how he wanted comics told. His reaction is not one I think I would have about comics, even in the wake of 9/11. In particular, the comment about needing to know that heroes put their lives on the life struck me as not just odd, but completely wrong. I know that my heroes aren’t going to die; I’m not interested in seeing them “put their lives on the line.” I’m much more interested in how they solve the situation, the character developments, and the psychology of how do you navigate difficult situations? Your example of the Miller DD run is excellent and I would argue that Morrison’s RIP storyline in Batman was about that also.

Also, the segment is interesting for what the people don’t say about it – how these events drive or are driven by marketing, if thinking about comics like TV episodes is a good or bad thing, how /why/should post-9/11 comics be different from post-WW II comics, among other topics.

I may have given the wrong impression, though. I don’t have the disc right now to check, but I think the Spectre short is on the first disc. The second is just the DC promo doc and the extra cartoon show episodes.

“When Frank Miller was mugged, he gave us a seminal Daredevil run. When Joe Orlando was mugged, he helped rework the Spectre with Michael Fleisher into a vengeful, eye-for-an-eye spirit. When Dan DiDio was frightened by cops with semiautomatic weapons in the subway, he gave us this crap and ruined the DC line for a decade.”

Thanks for the review–very balanced, and open about your biases (which I share). This’ll be a rental for me, if they end up renting out the two-disc set, just so I can see the Spectre piece, which sounds very interesting.

In general, that hasn’t been an issue with Blu-Ray-if anything Companies are not taking advantage of the options the space presents tem. On the other hand, these DC animated films seem all about packing in repeat extras from other releases (although, included additional Justice League episodes is kind of cool).

Sorry for the rant, but this has always bugged me!

Based on what you say about the Blu-Ray, I’d fear that it’s becoming shovelware. Just throw whatever you’ve got on there to fill up the space.