Shazam
There are four shorts included on this release that star The Spectre, Green Arrow, Jonah Hex, and Superman and Shazam. These shorts are enjoyable, with The Spectre one being my favorite followed by Superman/Shazam, then Green Arrow, then Jonah Hex.
The Spectre short runs about thirteen minutes and is about a murder. The Spectre is on the case and he discovers that this murder was done from the inside, for the money. It’s hard to say much more about it without spoiling it for you, but suffice it to say that it features some nice sequences in which The Spectre scares the hell out of some bad guys before finally, brutally, bringing justice to each of them.
In the Green Arrow short, our hero is tasked with keeping a young queen alive at an airport while she is under attack. The short runs for twelve minutes and features some solid bow and arrow action as Green Arrow guides the young girl through the airport and to safety.
The Jonah Hex short was released around the time of the movie and I believe it was already included on the Batman: Under The Red Hood release. Running about twelve minutes, we’re given some insight in Hex’s character.
Finally in the Superman/Shazam short, which runs twice as long as the others, Superman must help a young kid (who becomes Captain Marvel during the short) stop Black Adam who is determined to kill the kid. Shazam bestows upon the kid the powers he will need to become a superhero and together he and Superman manage to defeat Black Adam.
These shorts are all very well animated and enjoyable, make no mistake. On Blu-ray, the visual quality is very good, although I noticed some artifacting in Spectre’s short, but nothing major. The audio is clean and does very well for itself. There are a handful of extra features including audio commentary with some of the creators, Steve Niles, Joe Lansdale, Greg Weisman, and Michael Jelenic, for example. Bruce Timm also picks four bonus TV episodes as well, not unlike what was done in the Under The Red Hood release.
Ultimately, this makes a good rental title, but a purchase should only be left to the very diehard DC fans.