Back in 2007, DC launched their line of made-for-video animated films. Here we go to where this franchise started: Superman/Doomsday.

Based on the Death of Superman graphic novel from the 1990s, Lex Luthor’s (voiced by James Marsters) company Lexcorp unearths an extraterrestrial vessel. In it they locate Doomsday, an alien super-soldier.

Doomsday possesses powers at least the equal of Superman’s (Adam Baldwin). This leads toward a brutal battle that comes with massive repercussions for mankind.

When Doomsday appeared in 2007, it came with one advantage it lacks in 2019: freshness. Sure, it stemmed from a 15-year-old graphic novel, but at least it stood as the only filmed version of that tale.

This no longer remains the case. 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice borrowed aspects of the tale, and then 2018/2019 brought The Death of Superman and Reign of the Superman, two connected DC Animated flicks that covered the original comic’s story.

Since Doomsday no longer acts as the only cinematic game in town, the question becomes whether or not it still holds value compared to its peers. I’d say it does, as it provides a tighter and more dynamic version than the two-film Death/Reign epic.

Fans might lean toward the latter because it gives us a more fleshed-out version of the story. With only 78 minutes at its disposal, Doomsday needs to expedite matters.

Besides, the two go down different paths after Superman dies. Whereas Reign pursued a tale of auxiliary superheroes, Doomsday leaves these roles out of the narrative and concentrates on the apparent return of Superman himself. These factors make the two projects dissimilar enough that they don’t feel like clones.

I will say that whereas Death/Reign improves as it goes, Doomsday loses some steam after the big battle between the two title characters. While we still find plenty of entertainment the rest of the way, the movie doesn’t quite keep pace with the intensity of its first half.

Still, I find more than enough to make this an enjoyable superhero tale. It recreates a classic tale in a compelling manner.

Superman/Doomsday appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No problems emerged during this strong presentation.

Across the board, sharpness looked strong. The movie boasted consistently terrific delineation and never suffered from any obvious soft spots.

Issues with jagged edges or moiré effects failed to materialize, and the image lacked edge haloes. In addition, no signs of source defects appeared.

Doomsday boasted very solid colors. The film used a natural palette that favored primary hues, all of which exhibited excellent vivacity and life.

Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows showed nice clarity. I found nothing about which to complain in this terrific transfer.

Though I felt disappointed the Blu-ray lacked a lossless option, I thought the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Doomsday opened up the comic book material well. This wasn’t a particularly ambitious piece, but it added pizzazz to the program.

The forward channels brought out the majority of the material. Music presented strong stereo imaging, while effects cropped up in logical spots and blended well.

The surrounds also contributed good information. For the most part, these reinforced the forward channels, but they also contributed a fair amount of unique material.

These instances mainly occurred during storms or bigger action scenes. The back speakers brought out a nice sense of space and environment.

Audio quality always satisfied. Speech was warm and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded lively and full, while effects displayed good definition. Those elements seemed accurate and dynamic. All of this led to a positive presentation that deserved a “B”, with a few points lost due to the lack of a lossless track.

As we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from directors Bruce Timm, Lauren Montgomery and Brandon Vietti, writer Duane Capizzi, voice director Andrea Romano and executive producer Gregory Noveck. All sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the source and its adaptation, story/characters, music and audio, cast and performances, animation and related domains.

This becomes a perfectly adequate commentary and no more. While it gives us some useful basics, it doesn’t seem especially insightful, so don’t expect a lot of real substance.

Called Requiem and Rebirth: Superman Lives, a 43-minute, 10-second documentary involves Superman: Man of Steel writer Louise Simonson, Wizard Magazine editor Brian Cunningham, Adventure of Superman writers Ken Kesel and Jerry Ordway, writer/artist Dan Jurgens, “Jim Hanley’s Universe Director of Operations Ron Hill, former DC Comics president/editor in chief Jenette Kahn, DC Comics president/publisher Paul Levitz, DC Comics Senior Group Editor Mike Carlin, penciler Tom Grummett, artist Jon Bogdanovic, writer Roger Stern, inker Brett Breeding, and Golden Apple Comics general manager Ryan Liebowitz.

“Requiem” covers the development of the “Death of Superman” story as well as its release/reception. This offers a fairly informative and fun overview, with plenty of good stories on display.

A preview comes with the 10-minute, 44-second Justice League: The New Frontier Sneak Peek. It features Noveck, Timm, Romano, Levitz, co-publisher Dan DiDio, script writer Stan Berkowitz, executive producer Sander Schwartz, writer/artist Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics editorial art director and editor Mark Chiarello, producer Mike Goguen, and director David Bullock.

This offers an overview of the Frontier movie. It’s a good promo piece, but it’s a promo piece nonetheless.

We find an additional ad via Sneak Peel at Wonder Woman. it goes for 10 minutes, 29 seconds and includes Levitz, DiDio, Noveck, Timm, director Lauren Montgomery, writer Michael Jelenic, and actors Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson and Virginia Madsen.

The show looks at the roots of Wonder Woman and aspects of the movie. It actually has a little more concrete info than its predecessor, but it remains promotional in nature.

With Behind the Voice, we find a five-minute, 19-second featurette that offers notes from Romano and actors Ray Wise, Adam Wylie, Swoosie Kurtz, Anne Heche, and Adam Baldwin. Thought brief, this offers a good look at the cast and performances.

Two other featurettes appear on the disc: When Heroes Die (29:16) and Clash of the Juggernauts (13:09). Unfortunately, my rental copy of the Blu-ray glitched and made these unwatchable, so I can’t detail their content.

The disc finishes with four episodes of Superman: The Animated Series. We find “Mxyzpixilated” (20:57), “Brave New Metropolis” (21:15), “Apokolips...Now! Part 1” (21:16) and “Apokolips...Now! Part 2” (21:20).

In “Now!”, Orion (Steve Sandor) comes from New Genesis to warn Superman (Tim Daly) of Darkseid’s plans to rule the universe. This sets up massive battles in an attempt to thwart those aforementioned plans.

Though it’s been more than 35 years since I actively read superhero comics, I recall that I never cared for any of the Darkseid-related threads. That sentiment continues even now, as there’s just something about the Apokolips/New Genesis theme that leaves me cold. “Now!” isn’t a bad double episode, but it doesn’t do much for me.

“Brave” offers an alternate universe story in which that realm’s Superman and Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) work together – as tyrants. It offers a fun twist on the usual Superman reality.

Finally, “Mxyzpixilated” focuses on Mr. Mxyzptlk (Gilbert Gottfried), everyone’s favorite extra-dimensional nuisance, as he annoys Superman. It’s an entertaining show, and Gottfried seems like perfect casting for the part.

An adaptation of a famous graphic novel, Superman/Doomsday creates a tight little superhero adventure. It mixes action and drama to turn into a lively tale. The Blu-ray offers very good picture with fairly positive audio and a nice supply of supplements. Doomsday works as a comic book extravaganza.