Starring Michael Gough (II), Mark L. Taylor, Robert Ito, Miriam Flynn, Lorenzo Music
Written By: Various
Directed By:
Studio: Disney
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“I am the terror that flaps in the night.” “I am the sentence that almost never gets finished.” You have to love Darkwing Duck. As a kid, I know that I sure did. I never did get around to picking up the first volume of “Darkwing Duck” (it’s on my Christmas list), so this is the first time watching Darkwing in quite a few years. Although the campiness is more noticeable, there are quite a few humorous references that I wasn’t able to pick up on as a kid.

The Darkwing Duck character is loosely based on an amalgamation of Batman, Darkman and DuckTales. Basically, the overall feel of the show is similar to shows like the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Gargoyles”. It’s more of a kids show but the subtle pop culture references and comic book-like plots are usually decent enough for cartoon loving adults. I say usually because at times the stories are either over-the-top goofy or just plain absurd. You are watching a cartoon so you have to take it with a grain of salt.

“Darkwing Duck: Volume 2” contains a handful of classic Darkwing episodes. A few good ones that come to mind are “Dead Duck” an episode where an unfortunate accident leads to the death of our leading character and his adventure as a ghost trying to cure his deadness, “Life, the Negaverse, and Everything” with it’s obvious parodies of Jack Kirby era comic villains and heroes and “The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck” which is a futuristic tale that reveals the secret origin of our feathered crime fighter.

What I loved and still love to this day about “Darkwing Duck” was the similarities to the superhero cartoons that were in full swing back in the early 90’s. “Spider-Man”, “X-Men”, the Superman and Batman animated series…some of the best cartoons ever were being aired during that time and “Darkwing Duck” fit right in. Being a big fan of “DuckTales” and “Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers” and “TailSpin”, I would have to go out on a limb and say that the pulp comic/superhero feel to the show always put it a cut above the other Disney cartoons. With a great supporting cast of fellow crime fighters (Launchpad, Gizmoduck, Comet Guy) and an equally great yet zany wanted list of villains (Negaduck, Megavolt, Quackerjack), Darkwing Duck had everything that a superhero-loving cartoon duck follower could ever want in a half hour TV show.

Features:
None

Audio:
English and French language tracks

Video:
Full Frame (1.33:1)

Subtitles:
English

Favorite Scenes: Dead Duck, The Darkwing Squad, Toys Czar Us, The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck, Life, the Negaverse, and Everything
Rating: NR
Running Time: 612 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: