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Releases - DVD - The Complete Fourth Season
 
Static Shock: The Complete Fourth Season
Release Information:
Street Date: April 24, 2018
MSRP: $24.99
Sound Track Language: English
Run Time: 276 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33, Standard [4:3 Transfer]
Sound Quality: English (Dolby Stereo 2.0)
Format: Made to Order DVD

Synopsis: Static Shock's fourth and final season cements Static's arrival as an A-list super hero, thanks to a Bat-charged flash-forward that sees Static (voiced by Phil LaMarr) bounce from the present-era Bruce Wayne/Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) to Batman Beyond's Terry McGinnis (voiced by Will Friedle) and a glimpse at his own future self. After confronting the future's incarnation of Kobra (voiced by Lance Henriksen), Virgil returns to Dakota City in the present, where he and Gear (voiced by Jason Marsden) tackle faux Bang Baby wannabe hero She-Bang, assist African hero Anansi and try to take down Static's idol, Green Lantern (also voiced by LaMarr). It all comes to a head when a cure is discovered for the Bang Babies - a cure that threatens Gear's and Static's abilities as well!

This collection also includes the Justice League Unlimited two-part episode "The Once and Future Thing" (Part One, Part Two), which follows up on elements from Static Shock's time-bending season opener.

Static Shock: The Complete Fourth Season
DVD Review by James Harvey

The final season of Static Shock is now available to own on DVD, courtesy of Warner Archive, meaning fans can finally revisit this solid swan song to the superb animated series! Static Shock: The Complete Fourth Season deftly balances traditional super-heroics with teenaged societal issues, all with some wacky adventures tossed in for good measure. It's essentially another enjoyable season of what you'd come to expect from the fan-beloved animated series (and believe me, that's a very good thing). Static Shock, in it's fourth and final season, goes out on a great note.

As with the preceding three seasons of Static Shock, the fourth continues to chronicle the heroic journey of teenage superhero Virgil Hawkins, which are now on a whole new level given his recently established role in the super hero big leagues. This season also continues to push Static higher, as not only does he have his first time-travel superhero team-up (though this isn't his first time time-traveling), but he also deals with his status as a super hero and what it means for Dakota and himself (the show nicely deals with that in the final episode, which also includes an epic climactic throwdown). In addition to the writing, the animation is really on-point this season, too.

The season kicks off with the aforementioned trip to the future with "Future Shock," quite possibly Static Shock's best crossover episode. It's a flat-out fun episode from start to finish, its only weakness being the use of Kobra as the dastardly foes our heroes need to take down. After attempting to help Batman and Robin fix some broken bad guy tech, Static finds himself flung into the future where he teams up with the Beyond Batman to save his future self from a terrorist organization! Not only is it great to revisit the world of Batman Beyond, but the design of Static Shock in the future is flat-out awesome (and clearly inspired by the late writer/creator Dwayne McDuffie). The other crossover episode included this season, "Fallen Hero," features a pretty topical story where Static has to grapple with the fact that our heroes just might not be who we think they are. It's a quality episode (with a seriously great cold open) that still really rings true given our current times.

This season also features the return of reoccurring characters, including Shebang and Anansi, along with a few familiar foes popping in. "Army of Darkness" is also a standout episode, as it offers a neat twist on some of the Bang Babies, "No Man is an Island" is an excellent good guy/bad guy team-up tale, and "Kidnapped" features a surprising status quo change. Also of note, there's a handful of enjoyable 'message' episodes, including "When the Rubber Meets the Road," where Virgil helps a friend who struggles with dyslexia. The episodes can be a little heavy-handed at times, sure, but they addressed issues that other Saturday morning cartoons rarely touched at the time, especially in the early 2000s. And naturally, we do get an extremely goofy guest-star episode with "Hoop Squad". It's a cool collection of episodes for Static Shock's last season, all of it leading to finale that serves as a great caper to the series.

As for the DVD release, Warner Archive has included all thirteen episodes from the fourth season of Static Shock and tossed in a couple bonus episodes of Justice League Unlimited! The bonus episodes - "The Once and Future Thing, Part One" and "The Once and Future Thing, Part Two" - do somewhat pick up on what we see in "Future Shock," and serve as a nice follow-up to Static's earlier future-based adventure. The episodes are presented in widescreen, keeping their original aspect ratio, and look excellent for a standard definition DVD transfer.

In terms of presentation, as usual, Warner Archive has done a great job making this series pop in standard definition. The audio is crisp and solid throughout, with the video appearing clear with strong and vibrant colors, though there are some aliasing issues. The video really pops here. As with previous Static Shock releases, this is a two-disc DVD-R set, not a regular DVD. To note, that's not an issue when it comes to be able to produce a quality release. However, these type of discs tend to have a shorter shelf-life then regular DVDs, so the utmost care is required in order for viewers to get the most out of these releases for as long as possible. That said, don't let that deter you from picking this release up - it's still a worthwhile purchase.

Warner Archive deserves an additional pat on the back for just how quickly the label was able to release the entire Static Shock animated series. Static Shock: The Complete First Season hit shelves back in March 2017, and now just over a year later, all four seasons of the series are available on DVD. Getting Static Shock on DVD is something fans have been waiting years for, so props to Warner Archive for getting these releases out to the public at such a quick pace - especially without sacrificing quality. As mentioned above, these standard definition transfers look stellar.

Static Shock: The Complete Fourth Season is a great send-off to the series, giving Static one last round of legitimately well-written stories and solid action (the last three episodes, which focus solely on the core Static Shock cast, are top-notch). While not every episode here is a home run, they all still have a charm about them (primarily thanks to the excellent cast), and the top episodes of the season simply soar. Ideally, having the entire Static Shock series readily available to own will hopefully allow it to reach more new viewers. Plus, with this DVD, every animated series in the DCAU is now available on home video. True, there are a couple small bits here and there (debatedly) not released yet, but all the core animated shows are now purchasable. And, it's pretty safe to say that anyone who picks up Static Shock: The Complete Fourth Season - be it hardcore fan, casual fan, or even a new one - will definitely not regret it. Highly Recommended.

Review copy provided by Warner Archive.

Click on the thumbnails below to view updated imagery of select episodes from the fourth season of "Static Shock!"

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