by Jayden Leggett, Editor

Comic book fans and action figure aficionados now have plenty of reason to be excited with this brilliant collision of worlds, when the twisted and deranged humor of Robot Chicken takes control of the iconic super heroes and villains from the DC Comics universe in Robot Chicken DC Comics Special.

Within the first minute of playing the feature I was already giggling like a little schoolgirl. In this particular case, a rather immature schoolgirl, which is just as well, because Robot Chicken DC Comics Special is absolutely rife with childish gags and immature antics, but to dismiss this special episode as being “dumb” would be doing an incredible injustice (see what I did there?) to its sheer brilliance. Aquaman is constantly picked on because of his lame power of being able to talk to fish, the humping robot defiles the Bat Signal, and Robot Chicken teams up with the equally robotic Cyborg, and this is all just within the opening credit sequence.

In true Robot Chicken style, the episode is broken up by a heap of different short sketches, but what was really clever in this episode is that the main overarching storyline revolves around Aquaman being the butt of so many jokes, and ultimately turning to the Legion of Doom to get revenge against hist former Super Friends. In fact, every single sketch apart from one (which is based on the Green Lantern movie) ties in wonderfully in the final battle scene, as gags that have been running all throughout the show resurface in this final conflict. And there is definitely no shortage of gags in this show.

DC Comics have obviously been great sports to be on the receiving end of so many jokes that lovingly poke fun at their universe. Like when three different ice-themed villains all accidentally try to steal the same diamond at the exact same time. Or Superman using his questionable “forgetful kiss” power to make all of his enemies cease to hate him. There’s Two-Face who has to flip a coin to do absolutely everything (very complicated when needing to use the bathroom), and Bane repeatedly crippling Batman via a back-breaking knee-drop. And of course, the “Real Characters from the DC Universe” segment, in which characters such as B’Dg of the Green Lantern Core and Mister Banjo are openly made fun of by the narrator, as is Firestorm, who isn’t very pleased to say the least…

The animators behind this show really are talented, as watching these action figures come to life is truly a joy to behold, as are the equally impressive visual effects and the overall color scheme that is incredibly bright and vivid. And the music… the opening theme music that pays tribute to the classic Super Friends cartoon wonderfully sets the stage for the comedy skits that are to follow.

In addition to the usual Robot Chicken voice actors like Seth Green and Breckin Meyer, a slew of other well-known actors lend their vocal cords to this special episode. Fan favorite Nathan Fillion dons the power ring as The Green Lantern (as well as Glen, a mail delivery guy with extremely bad body odor), Neil Patrick Harris takes control of Two-Face and Black Manta, and the amazing Alfred Molina brilliantly performs the villainous Lex Luthor as well as the cruel joke that is Mister Banjo. Impressive performances all around.

The Blu-ray edition of Robot Chicken DC Comics Special comes packed to the brim with over two hours of special features:

The Making of the RCDC Special: A look at various different production aspects for the show, from writing to voice performances, set and figure creation to the animating of the figures. An incredibly lengthy and time consuming production process indeed!

RCDC’s Aquaman Origin Story: A segment in which the writers and creators talk about how the pitching process was conducted in terms of making the show primarily follow Aquaman and his poor treatment at the hands of the rest of the Justice League.

Chicken Nuggets: This was a very cool feature, where the viewer can watch the episode and hit “Enter” any time a chicken symbol is displayed onscreen, in order to receive a sketch-by-sketch commentary from the show’s creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, as well as Chief Creative Officer and Writer for DC, Geoff Johns. The three explain which bits they love, as well as pointing out animation mistakes and other things that I didn’t notice whilst watching.

Writer’s Commentary: Does what it says on the label, though I particularly liked how the writers decided that it would be too easy to pick on Aquaman for the whole show… and then just ended up picking on Aquaman anyway.

Actor’s Commentary: Also does what it says on the label, whilst various actors discuss their childhood exposure to comic books and so on.

Cut Sketches: Animatics and storyboards alongside the voice performances of the various skits that didn’t make the final cut into the finished episode. As nice as it was to see what was left out, without the stop-motion animation in place these segments were definitely lacking that trademark Robot Chicken edge.

Outtakes: Footage from the various actors screwing up their lines or just simply screwing around in general.

DC Entertainment Tour: A geek’s dream come true. Seth Green and Matthew Senreich are taken around the DC Entertainment Studio, where they are shown walls of comics, action figures and just about every other nerd collectable you can think of. Oh, and they get to walk away with a whole bunch of free toys too. So… jealous…

Stoopid Alter Egos: The Robot Chicken production team create their own awesome costumes (complete with animatronics) for a Robot Chicken DC Comics Special party. A party that I would love to have crashed.

5.2 Questions: Geoff Johns, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich each being asked a series of questions regarding such topics as to who are their favorite super heroes, their favorite super villains, what their ultimate favorite comic books are etc.

Robot Chicken DC Comics Special on Blu-ray is an animation masterpiece. Whilst its crass sense of humour may not appeal to everyone, and the feature run time is only very short, the wealth of special features and the overall feature quality of this show simply begs DC Comics fans to give it a spin. If you are indeed a fan of the classic DC super heroes, and have the ability to take a joke, the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special is definitely for you.

ComicsOnline recommends Australian and New Zealand residents purchase their copy of Robot Chicken DC Comics Special directly from the Madman Entertainment website by following this link.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Robot Chicken DC Comics Special 4.5 out of 5 super heroes trying to pick up chicks in a seedy bar.

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