Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics – DVD Review

The Film:

Everything you ever wanted to know about DC Comics, but in the broadest of strokes, is Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics. Marc Carter’s film hits all of the right areas, all of the right key figures, yet even at 90-minutes, the film peters out and just shows us the characters are still alive and well in The Dark Knight and Superman Returns. While that final handful of minutes just feels like a congratulatory promo reel, the real meat of the film is fun coverage of the origins of Batman and Superman and the rise of the characters again in the Silver Age.

While all of this is widely known knowledge, is still fun hearing Bob Kane talk about how quick he came up with Batman (then known as The Bat-Man) in 1939 and Jerry Siegel’s creation of Superman. The look at the old time art, the way the business was done, and everything in between is still good to hear (and see). But it’s not all about Bats and Supes, as the times started to change in American after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as did the heroes like The Flash, Atom, and the Green Lantern for the Silver Age interpretations of the characters.

Sadly, the film omits the huge arc of Crisis on Infinite Earths, probably because it’s too complicated. The documentary has to switch gears towards radio, TV, and Film for the multimedia aspects of DC. This is where it just becomes a clip heavy show. The cartoons and films are worthy of inclusion, yes, but also worthy of a more detailed look. But that’s the tough nature of capturing 80 years of a company’s history in 90 minutes. Non-fans will dig it more, but at best, it’s a kind rewind.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: WB offers a decent presentation. Some clips are in better condition than others, but it’s clean. No complaints. The audio is clear so we can hear Ryan Reynolds smoothly talking, which is all we need for this doc.

Since the film feels like a DVD documentary, there’s no extras here.

Conclusion: Non-fans, here’s a great starting point of the history of DC Comics. For die-hard fans, it’s all been told before.

The Film: Rating:

The DVD: Rating:

Jon Peters

I love film. That is all.

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