Superman: Destrucción

During WWII people at the Metropolis Munitions Works keep getting killed. Lois Lane, sensing a story, becomes a worker at the plant. She (quite conveniently) overhears a plot from saboteurs to blow up the plant. They discover her listening, kidnap her and put her in a torpedo that's going to be used to blow up a ship (!!!). Will Superman find out what's going on and save the day?

So-so entry. The plot is more than a little silly and the introduction of Superman into the story is handled VERY badly. Also watch Lois' skirt change from blue to green in a few shots! Still it is colorful and full of action...the plot just needed work. I give it a 7.

The 1942 short animated story "Destruction Inc." from writers Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster and Jay Morton is a pretty straight forward story. Though it was very much in tune with the other 1940s animated short stories of "Superman".

Predictable, sure. But there was still something enjoyable and entertaining about the narrative in "Destruction Inc.", though we are really given no reason for why Lois and Clark are undercover at a munitions factory.

The art style and animation in "Destruction Inc." is good. And it feels like the animators went a little bit out of their way to make the goons in this particular story more alive, as the animation was a bit more flexible and with more fluid motions to it.

If you enjoy these 1940s short animated stories, then you will also like "Destruction Inc." from directors Izzy Sparber, Dave Fleischer and Dave Tendlar, of that I am certain.

My rating of "Destruction Inc." lands on a six out of ten stars.

There is sabotage going on at a munitions factory and Clark and Lois are sent to investigate. Lois spies on some suspicious characters and gets herself caught (again). She does put up a good fight, but finds herself put inside a torpedo (an odd place for her). These crooks go to such lengths to find ways to kill people when there are a lot of old fashioned ones. Anyway, we are at war and Superman must fight these guys. One thing pointed out be a previous reviewer is that Superman's strength seems to change from one episode to another. One time he is utterly unstoppable; the next it takes him time to recoup his strength. The way these bad guys act doesn't help their credibility, but for decades, crooks have been portrayed as idiots, especially the petty ones.

This was yet another in the Fleischer/Famous Studios series of Superman cartoons. In the one, a guard from the Metropolis Munitions Works factory is found dead in a swamp so Lois Lane goes to work there to uncover a plan to blow it up. Somehow, Superman also seems to be there...Pretty atmospheric outing for the series as we see how things are being kept from happening due to the actions of the Man of Steel. As usual, Ms. Lane ends up being the damsel in distress who would have ended up dead were it not for Clark Kent always being nearby. For an 8 minute short, it's pretty entertaining enough but really, these are starting to become really repetitious concerning plots on these superhero cartoons. Still, if you're a Superman completist, Destruction Inc. is at least worth a look.

"Destruction Inc." is a very typical Superman cartoon from the WWII era. While many of the plots did NOT involve spies and the Axis Powers, many did--and this one is about saboteurs intent on destroying a defense plant. It begins with a night watchman from the local plant being murdered, so Clark goes in disguise to take the job. Of course, Lois also goes to work at the plant and she overhears the boss, Mr. Jones, talking about blowing up the place! They catch up with her after giving chase (Lois, for her part, did a great job trying to get away) and stuff her into a torpedo casing--intent on blowing her up!! However, since Clark is nearby, he springs into action and saves America, apple pie and Lois! As I mentioned above, this is all very typical. And, it might surprise you that in many of these early cartoons Superman isn't quite as invincible as he seemed later. When a load of scrap metal is dumped on him, he IS stunned and cannot quickly extricate himself. Overall, decent animation and a decent amount of action make this one worth while though it isn't especially inspired since it's so familiar.