Review of Superman: Doomsday (2007) by John R — 12 Jan 2009

WB animation group, which brought us the weekly animated television series for Superman and Batman (in various incarnations), Justice League, and even the Legion of Superheroes, tries to be taken seriously here by aiming its product at adults, or at least at the serious comic book fan. The one thing the creators of Superman TAS (and the others I mentioned) had going was both strength and weakness -- strong, because they stayed true to the original concept and took their subjects seriously -- there was very little silliness or campiness in these TV shows -- but there was weakness because it still was technically children's entertainment. With this new series of direct to video products, they try to take the "kidvid" factor out.

For the most part, they are successful. You have mature relationships, great bad guys, a serious take on the characters. My issues here is that the source material (the "Death of Superman" story from the comics) was treated with short shrift, and was treated too simplistically -- the resolution was very unsatisfying. The artistic conception of Clark/Superman here is a bit strained (he's too much a muscled ox -- like nobody could ever figure out that towering hunk in glasses is Clark Kent), and the voice acting, other than Lex Luthor, leaves a lot to be desired. Did they do the animation on the cheap too? For a true comic book geek like me, this was a five star effort and a two star performance. A lot of promise, but the delivery missed.