Destruction Inc.

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.

I love the Fleischer Superman cartoons. The animation is smooth and fluid with vivid colors. The distinct art-deco style, vintage science fiction imagery, and use of noirish shadows gave them a look unlike any other cartoons. The music and voicework is superb. They're fun, accessible, enduring animation classics. While this is a cartoon from Fleischer Studios' successor, Famous Studios, it still tries to maintain the Fleischer style.

Thirteenth in the series starts off with a cool-looking sequence of an arm sinking into a marsh as a car speeds away. A night watchman at a munitions plant has been murdered, so Lois & Clark go undercover to find out what happened. Turns out some of the plant workers are saboteurs. Lois overhears their plot but is discovered. They shove her into a torpedo that will explode when tested. The torpedo is sent to the firing range and Superman must race to save Lois in time.

The best part is when the saboteurs are chasing Lois, as well as the intriguing opening scene. Other than that, this is another straightforward WW2 saboteur story.

When a guard from the Metropolis Munitions Works factory is found dead.

Lois Lane goes to investigate and is soon discovered by the saboteurs.

Luckily Clark Kent has also gone in to investigate in disguise.

Superman needs to catch the bad guys and save Lois Lane.

Apart from Clark Kent mistaking a man as Lois. This is repetitive stuff from previous cartoons.

It lacks care and attention. Also it lacks a lot of Superman.

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.