Robot Chicken DC Comics Special [Blu-Ray]

After three specials worth of taking the piss out of Star Wars, the irreverent pack of adolescent adults behind this naughty puppet show turns its sights towards another sacred universe of geek worship. The DC Comics multiverse is rife with prime targets — a fact not lost on Robot Chicken's writers, who have affectionately exploited the inherent silliness of the company's iconic demi-gods, vigilantes and villains regularly over the previous five seasons. Although it's not fresh ground being tilled, the emphasis on the spandex hero set is more culturally relevant than another swing at the George Lucas piñata. Basically a doublewide episode, the 22-minute special actually bothers with a through-story: what happens when the jocular bullying of Aquaman goes too far? Since ragging on the King of the Sea is akin to shooting "a man who can talk to fish in a barrel while he's sitting on the toilet," the plot doesn't become apparent for at least the first half-dozen gags. Between these often slightly lengthier skits, which give the writers a bit of focus, are the regular assortment of occasionally shocking and often cheap yet semi-effective running jokes — Bane pops up randomly to administer backbreakers — that pad the main story with half-baked absurdities and sight puns. While it hits as much as it misses, this special is a little brief to warrant a video release. To justify not simply including it as a bonus feature for season six, this Blu-Ray comes loaded with extras. "The Making of the RCDC Special" is exactly what it sounds like: a behind-the-scenes look at how they put this elaborate stop-motion farce together. As far as peeks behind the curtain go, this one's pretty darn entertaining, with detailed, but not exhaustive, demonstrations of the typical workload each department faces. Continuing the tradition of Robot Chicken staff writers arguing about credit, respect and taste, "Aquaman Origin Story" sees Zeb Wells dish some Tina Fey-worthy eye rolls at perpetually morose whiny martyr Doug Goldstein. There's more where that came from in "Cut Sketches," which in some circles are referred to as deleted scenes. Each culpable writer introduces a cut sketch, explaining why the others were crazy/wrong/totally right for rejecting his idea (there are no female writers on staff — shocking, I know). Seeing such unrehearsed emotional responses is refreshing in this industry. "Chicken Nuggets" — behind-the-scenes bits where a viewer must click on a flashing chicken icon in order to see — is another returning feature. The commentary is welcome, but the clips come so fast and furious that a picture-in-picture version with hosts Geoff Johns, Seth Green and Matt Senreich would have made more sense, and be a much less tedious option. DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns also guides the Robot Chicken creators through a tour of DC Entertainment, showing off the fancy offices (they have a Skype wall!), comic archives and toy vault. And still there's more. "Stoopid Alter Egos" gives a glimpse of RC staffers getting their cosplay on for a wrap party; separate commentary tracks with the writers and actors are included; outtakes from the vocal booth are funnier than half the jokes; and "5.2 Questions" lobs some promo-driven soft balls at head honchos Green, Senreich and Johns.