Dan Vs: The Complete First Season (2011/Anchor Bay DVD)
Picture: B Sound: B Extras:
C- Episodes: B-
Originally airing on Hasbro/Discovery Channel’s HUB cable station, Dan
Vs seems to be a relatively popular series among the kiddies; though I
can’t say I approve. I am not one to shield children from the world,
nor am I overly sensitive, but Dan Vs seems to lean more toward the
‘Adult Swim’ brand of animated comedy, than that of the HUB network.
Dan is a black T-Shirt wielding man with the word ‘JERK’ strewn
across it; his days being consumed with anger and revenge. HUB usually
airs programs like My Little Ponies and Aquabats,
but Dan Vs is a breed all on its own. Dan is dead
set on the idea that the world is out to get him, filling him with paranoia and
anger; sadly (and funny enough) for Dan the world is (in fact) out to get
him. This puts the jobless Dan on a mission to seek revenge on all
who wronged him; whether it be kidnapping a baseball
commissioner who messed up his TV programming, going after his dentist, or even
swearing revenge on the state of New Mexico; Dan will stop at
nothing. Dan’s quests are aided by his ‘not-so-good’ friend Chris
setting up a buddy ‘sitcom’ like feel for the series.
Dan Vs can seem redundant as once the
viewer realizes it is going to be a ‘revenge plot’ of the week animated series,
the magic is lost; but that doesn’t mean it isn’t funny. There are
22 episodes this season and the voice work is beautifully cast as Curtis
Armstrong (Dan) brings the character to life with enthusiastic energy.
Great series, just not sure if it sends the best message to kids.
The video is bright, crisp, clean and clear in its anamorphic
widescreen presentation. The audio is a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
sound that is surprisingly well done with solid directionality and atmosphere,
again being clean and clear as it gets the job done.
The extras ONLY include an Animatic for the episode ‘Burgerphile,’
which I did not find to be overly impressive.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
