Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Dirs. Various (see below)

An anthology with six shorts from various Japanese animation studios and a number of different Asian directors. There's no frame narrative tying the works together, but most, if not all of them, do seem to share the same continuity and the whole thing is unified somewhat by having Kevin Conroy be the voice of Batman throughout.

The first of them, by Studio 4°C and directed by Shōjirō Nishimi, features four kids at a skatepark trying to outdo each other as they relate the story of their individual encounters with Batman. It's a highly stylised work, varied even further by each child putting their own spin on the event.

The second is by Production I.G. and directed by Futoshi Higashide in a more traditional style. It follows two Gotham detectives who get caught in the middle of a gang shootout.

Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

Dir. Lauren Montgomery

A Green Lantern origin story in which test pilot Hal Jordan (Christopher Meloni) inherits a power ring and a spandex romper suit and is all too suddenly saving the universe from powerful bad guys.

Hal's chock full of confidence and embraces the role quickly, but that doesn't explain how he's instantly flying around and transporting heavy objects over great distances with no apparent learning curve. It just doesn't bear scrutiny.

Before he can claim full ownership of the power ring, he has to prove himself to a group of elders and to his peers. That part gets more time devoted to it, but isn't without problems of its own, most notably the main bad guy, whose attitude and methods mark him out as such from a mile way.