LEGION OF SUPER HEROES VOLUME 1

Legion of Super Heroes Volume 1

Format: Color, NTSC
Language: English
Region: 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Run Time: 89 minutes

DVD Features:

Available Subtitles: English
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Four episodes: Man of Tomorrow, Timber Wolf, Legacy, Phantoms
We Are Legion: From Comic Book Origins to Animated Series Stars

Movie: * * *
Disc: * * ½

The Legion of Superheroes was never as big a superhero team-up comic book title such as JLA or The Avengers. The title however had a dedicated following since its creation in 1958 that kept it going throughout the years, but it’s still surprising that they managed to get their own Saturday morning TV cartoon show.

In a Jetsons version of the 31st century, a group of teenaged superheroes travel back in time to enlist the legendary Superman to help them battle a team of powerful supervillains. Their calculations are a bit off however and they come across a teenaged Clark Kent who is still a bit unsure about his superpowers and has yet to don the famous blue suit and red cape. Just don’t say “Superboy” — apparently the show couldn’t use the Superboy moniker due to legal reasons and had to stick to Superman.

Long-time fans of the comic will recognise the characters as an amalgamation of their comic book counterparts throughout the years. The Legion include Bouncing Boy (who bloats to the size of a huge beach ball and then, um, bounces about), Braniac 5 (super-intelligent and egotistical descendant of the old Superman villain), Saturn Girl (telepathic powers) and Lightning Lad (guess what his powers are). Unfortunately some of the original costume designs weren’t kept, but then again this is an all-ages cartoon series . . .

The animation is highly stylized (it took us one whole episode to get used to those elongated necks to be honest) in the same way that other WB Kids shows such as Teen Titans, Batman Beyond and JLA are. But the tone is quite light, the pacing fast and the writing okay. Plus the futuristic cityscapes and designs are always fun. If you’re into superhero comics then you can safely watch Legion of Superheroes with your little ‘uns.

THE DISC: The extras include a talk with some of the show’s writers and we actually get to see panels and covers from the original comic book.

WORTH IT? Yes. Let’s face up to it: kids’ cartoons have come a long way since the days of Superfriends.