Superman: Destruction Inc. (1942) User Reviews

Lesser Superman cartoon

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 11 March 2005]

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.

Destruction Inc. is yet another of these Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons

[tavm · 5/10 · 24 June 2011]

This was yet another in the Fleischer/Famous Studios series of Superman cartoons. In the one, a guard from the Metropolis Munitions Works factory is found dead in a swamp so Lois Lane goes to work there to uncover a plan to blow it up. Somehow, Superman also seems to be there...Pretty atmospheric outing for the series as we see how things are being kept from happening due to the actions of the Man of Steel. As usual, Ms. Lane ends up being the damsel in distress who would have ended up dead were it not for Clark Kent always being nearby. For an 8 minute short, it's pretty entertaining enough but really, these are starting to become really repetitious concerning plots on these superhero cartoons. Still, if you're a Superman completist, Destruction Inc. is at least worth a look.

You'd think the saboteurs would pick a city other than Metropolis!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 12 January 2014]

"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.

Superman #13

[Michael_Elliott · 17 May 2009]

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.

By this late episode in the original animated Superman film series . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 4 January 2020]

. . . feedback surely was reaching its producers that all of the guys and boys watching this early Super Hero were getting mighty peeved, disgruntled and generally fed up with "Clark Kent's" DAILY PLANET nemesis, "Lois Lane." After observing this back-stabbing wench using her womanly wiles, underhanded tricks and unscrupulous ploys to filch scoop after scoop out from under her milquetoast colleague Clark, at least half of every theater audience was keeping their fingers crossed hoping to see Lois finally fall flat on her face (no matter what color this fickle chameleon happened to be displaying at the moment). In attempting to please the growing impatience of this crowd, DESTRUCTION, INC. begins promisingly enough, as Lois is spotted out-of-bounds, chased, hunted down, captured and man-handled, bound, gagged, stuffed into a tight torpedo tube before having a high explosives projectile forcibly jammed up between her thighs. Better yet, Lois the Torpedo is then fired at about 120 MPH toward a hulking target. This should have been enough to reduce Superman's antagonist to a mixture of lint and jelly. Unfortunately, this part proved too hard to properly animate!

Lois's Efforts Get Torpedoed

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 27 December 2016]

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.

Not too shabby...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 9 June 2023]

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.

Superman vs more saboteurs

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 15 December 2013]

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.

Faster Than A Speeding Locomotive

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 13 November 2001]

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.

Saboteurs everywhere

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 6 May 2016]

"Destruction Inc." is one of the later entries to Dave Fleischer's Superman series from almost 75 years ago as this one was released during the Christmas holidays in 1942 and not directed by Fleischer himself, instead by Izzy Sparber, second time for him as the man in charge. It is inferior to the first though. Saboteurs are trying to blow up an ammunitions plant and Lois acts stupidly like a secret government agent, gets promptly caught of course as usual and it's Superman's turn to save the day, also as usual. The most interesting aspect here was the comedy (almost Warner Bros style) for me, one scene involving a supporting character to be precise. It was an approach really that we have not seen yet in the franchise so far. But other than that, I found it a fairly uninspired work, one of the weakest from the series. Don't watch.

Destruction Inc.

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 20 June 2021]

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.