The main attraction is the 22 minute short featuring Captain Marvel in his first lead role called Superman/ Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam. Billy Batson is an independent young boy living on his own in the big city. He has his fair share of hardships that a normal 10 year-old would not have to grapple with like crime and poverty. Billy is the subject on a local news story being written by an intrepid reporter named Clark Kent when Earth's former protector, Black Adam, returns and tries to reclaim his rightful place by eliminating his competition. Billy isn't aware that he has been chosen by the wizard Shazam to become the "World's Mightiest Mortal" and by uttering the wizard's name, Billy Batson is transformed into Captain Marvel, a physical manifestation of Billy's desire to make the world a better place and to do good. Together with Clark Kent's alter-ego, Superman, the two heroes battle it out against Black Adam and try to protect the innocent people caught in the crossfire.
The action and set pieces for Superman/ Shazam were very good. The pace was fast, almost to a fault, but fans are getting what they paid to see -- namely super-powered characters fighting each other for roughly a half hour. Captain Marvel is played convincingly by Jerry O'Connell (Stand By Me, Joe's Apartment) and veteran actor James Garner delivers a solid performance as the timeless wizard, Shazam. Although the Superman and Captain Marvel short is a very well conceived effort, it is also the weakest short of the set, mainly due to timing and pacing issues.
The remaining three shorts are all excellent in their own ways and the ability of DC to really tap into the heart of each hero goes a long way in reinforcing my belief that DC are the better storytellers over Marvel. Jonah Hex tells a story of the scarred gunmen searching for his next bounty in a saloon with less than reputable clientele. In all honesty, this fifteen minute effort is leagues better than the full 90 minute feature Hollywood cursed the world with just a few months ago. Jonah Hex is often an overlooked character and it is good to see him in a simple, yet effective, story that highlights his personality so well.
Green Arrow plays it straight with Oliver Queen waiting to meet his girlfriend, Black Canary, at a busy international airport when terrorists attack a convoy escorting royalty. I will admit that I don't know enough of Green Arrow to speak to his storyline, but the animated short definitely made him seem much more appealing than what you believe as a casual fan. Neal McDonough (Minority Report) is cocky as Oliver Queen and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) is excellent as always portraying the villain. In this case, McDowell plays Green Arrow's foil, Merlyn the Magnificent, although it would have been nice to include more banter between the two.
My absolute favorite short, by far, was The Spectre. Gary Cole (Office Space) plays Detective Jim Corrigan, a righteous cop gunned down in the line of duty that becomes possessed by the spirit of The Spectre. With newfound supernatural powers, Corrigan delivers swift justice to the guilty with horrific ruthlessness. In this stylish 70's-style detective story, The Spectre punishes the accomplices of a homicide by following the trail of money to the guilty. The Spectre short succeeds by being slick, short, and sweet. Even though DC already has a crusading vigilante, The Spectre is easily a much more fascinating case study.
The DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection is a great example of DC understanding what their fans want and experimenting with some lesser known characters. The experiment pays off, because even at 20 minutes each, these superb shorts accomplish more for the source material than most comic related TV series accomplish in a season. Not only does DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection provide great action (which looks great on Blu-ray) it also provides great pathos for many characters that are proving themselves worthy of more attention. Hopefully, next time we can get a story devoted to Superboy Prime, but that's just wishful thinking.
