Destruction Inc.

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.

A SUPERMAN Cartoon.

Intrepid reporter Lois Lane discovers that DESTRUCTION INC. - a small band of murderous saboteurs - plans to destroy the Metropolis Munitions Works. Looks like a job for Superman...

This was another in the series of 17 excellent cartoons initially created by Max Fleischer for Paramount Studio. They feature great animation and taut, fast-moving plots. Meant to be shown in movie theaters, they are miles ahead of their Saturday morning TV counterparts. Bud Collyer is the voice of Superman; Joan Alexander does the honors for Lois Lane.

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.

"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.

Destruction, Inc. (1942)

** (out of 4)

Set during WW2, this Superman short finds out hero trying to battle some saboteurs who plan on doing destruction at the Metropolis Munitions Works factory. This is one of the weakest shorts I've seen in the series and that's saying quite a bit since there have been several that I was disappointed in. The biggest problem here, as in previous shorts, is the story is just downright bad. It's made even worse here because of how the Superman side of things is handled and all of these leads up to some weak villains and a pretty bland and boring ending. The animation is once again the main reason for watching it because the colors are outstanding so at least you have something to look at.