“The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume 1 & Volume 2” DVD Review
There’s no mistaking what this show is about right from the get-go. The series opens with the Mayor of Super Hero City attempting to cut the ribbon on a new impenetrable door designed to keep the baddies of VillainVille safely locked away. Naturally, the wall doesn’t quite work as it should and, within seconds, the heroes of Super Hero City find themselves under attack. Led by Iron Man, he and the Super Hero Squad mount a defense to keep the citizens of Super Hero City safe. Definitely aimed at a very young audience, and written with tongue planted firmly in cheek, The Super Hero Squad Show has a charm about it that diehard Marvel fans should really dig, regardless of age.
Synopsis:
When the greatest (and coolest) heroes on the planet unite to face the world’s greatest villains, you get the biggest, most family-friendly Super Hero team-up in TV history. It’s no small job protecting Super Hero City from the wild, weird (& even wacky) villainy of VillainVille’s infamous baddies…but the Super Hero Squad is always up for the job. These brave heroes totally deliver the action – but with plenty of humor on the side. Join in on the fun with these two new great Vivendi Entertainment Canada DVD releases featuring the best Marvel has to offer – The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume One: Hero Up, Squaddies! and The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume Two: Titanic Team-Ups!
A fun, and usually packed with family-friendly action, The Super Hero Squad Show is definitely an interesting little series. It’s a team show like you’ve never seen, taking a very all ages approach to some of Marvel’s biggest heavy-hitters, both good and bad. In fact, this new take on Marvel’s stable of heroes, save for Spider-Man, is blatantly obvious from the get-go. With a big feet/big hands chibi-esque design to each character, and simple fact that Super Hero City and VillainVille are the main locations for the show, we know this series won’t resemble Wolverine and The X-Men or other recent efforts from Marvel Animation. The crew behind the show are striving for something different and, for the most part, they do succeed.
The best way to describe this show is “cute.” It’s a cute show. All the characters look cuddly in their own respect, with their stubby three-fingered (and one thumb) hands and huge feet, completely inoffensive in every way. The action is very soft and usually packed with jokes and one-liners. All in all, I believe the creative team have faithfully executed what they wanted to do – make an all-ages fun adventure show starring Marvel heroes. Nothing serious or dark, just flat-out fun and corny, and they succeeded. There’s nothing here to scare kids and the show should keep most adults entertained for the duration of each episode.
If I have any complaints, it’s for only two things really. The first is that some of the humor just doesn’t work, which is the same as any show. I’m sure kids love fart and burping jokes as much as the next, but it seems like there’s just so much of that at times, too much from time to time. It’s completely expected for a show such as this, but sometimes…boy…they really pile it on. Secondly, this show seems really “by committee” for me. While the creative team on the series obviously has great love for the series, it does seem a bit artificially composed at times. Batman: The Brave and The Bold is a show that can easily be compared to The Super Hero Squad Show, but the Caped Crusader’s show feels more organic and natural, that every single episode and moment is painstakingly created out of pure love for the character. Here, at times, the show feels rather by the numbers, with any references or homage placed in because that’s just what the show should have. The older crowd will get these references and completely enjoy them, I know I did, but sometimes they don’t really feel organic to the show.
So, which episodes do we get over these two releases? Both titles, each with five episodes per disc, feature the episodes “And Lo…A Pilot Shall Come!,” “This Silver, This Surfer!,” “Hulk Talk Smack!,” “To Err is Superhuman!,” “Enter: Dormammu!,” “A Brat Walks Among Us!,” “Oh, Brother!,” “From the Atom…it Rises!,” “Night in the Sanctorum!” and “This Forest Green!” Naturally, the first five episodes listed can be found on The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume One: Hero Up, Squaddies! , with the second five found on The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume Two: Titanic Team-Ups!
So, overall, just how is the main feature here? These ten episodes of The Super Hero Squad Show spread out over two volume releases? Well, the majority of these episodes are fun to watch, and should easily keep the attention of any youngster. Additionally, if you’re a hardcore Marvel fan, there’s plenty of in-jokes, nods and references that should catch you eye. I found the likes of “A Brat Walks Among Us!” and “This Forest Green” to be some of the weaker episodes included on these two volumes, but those two episodes are but a fraction of what is included here. Overall, I’ll have to mark the main features on both the The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume One: Hero Up, Squaddies! and The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume Two: Titanic Team-Ups! releases as Recommended, with the reservation that this show is aimed at a very young age bracket and, therefore, may not please those looking for full-on superhero team action in the same vein as Wolverine and The X-Men, for example. The Super Hero Squad Show is a fun series, nothing more, and outside of my odd misgivings about the series, is one worth giving at least one spin to.
The DVD:
Vivendi Entertainment Canada has two fine releases here with The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume One: Hero Up, Squaddies! and The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume Two: Titanic Team-Ups!. Housed is a spiffy transparent Amaray case, Vivendi Entertainment Canada has offered up a couple nice releases for Marvel fans in the Great Canadian North. The extras may not be overwhelmings, but there seems to be just enough to engage the younger audience and provide a new bit or two of information for the older set.
Digging in, the bonus features and overall presentation is pretty fantastic. The menu set-up definitely looks flashy, though simple and easy to hop around on. And while the bonus features are light, it’s nice to see Vivendi putting in some bonus extras that fans both young and old will get a kick out of. I’ll admit I was ecstatic to see they included the The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes teaser trailer on both releases, me already counting the days to when Vivendi will get that Fall 2010-debuting toon out on home video. The bonus material between both releases include hero profiles, music videos, The Super Hero Squad Show trailer, a Stan Lee interview, and the aforementioned trailer for the upcoming The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series. It’s a small collection of extras, yes, but still nice, and should provide viewers with a few extra moments of enjoyment once the main programs on each disc wrap up.
Click here to view package art and menu screens from these two DVD titles.
The audio and video quality is excellent for this release, I find. Audio for both titles is pretty impressive, everything crystal clear and booming out of each speaker. The mix may be predominantly center-oriented, but every speaker gets the workout here. The video is also really excellent, very sharp with only the odd hint of compression or aliasing. Additionally, this is also a bilingual release, with a complete French language track and French text on the back cover. Vivendi Entertainment Canada has done a real swell job putting both of these two discs together.
Overall, if you’re a fan of the show or looking for some family-friendly comic book cartoons to watch, The Super Hero Squad Show is a great place to start. It’s not the best show by any means, but it’s a good way to get some all-ages appropriate superhero action out to the younger crowd. Plus, there’s plenty for the diehard Marvel fan to enjoy, no question. Full of in-jokes and references, The Super Hero Squad Show should keep the majority of Marvel fans happy. With that in mind, I’m going to give both The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume One: Hero Up, Squaddies! and The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume Two: Titanic Team-Ups! the Recommended stamp, it being a show that any Marvel fan young or old should be able to thoroughly enjoy.
Both The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume One: Hero Up, Squaddies! and The Super Hero Squad Show – Volume Two: Titanic Team-Ups! DVD releases hit Canadian retailers tomorrow, May 4th, 2010. Please note that while these releases are intended for Canadian consumers, these titles are available to order online for American and other Region 1-capable consumers.