Next week on DVD

Every Friday -- or, in this case, Saturday -- we spotlight the DVD releases for the following week that may be of particular interest to comic book and animation fans.

With Superman Returns opening in less than a month, I was tempted to spotlight Superman: Ultimate Max Fleischer Cartoon Collection, which features all 17 cartoons from the early 1940s.

But then I saw the listings for Godzilla: The Original Animated Series, Vols. 1 and 2, and nostalgia got the better of me.

For many of us who spent Saturday mornings in the late '70s and early '80s glued to the TV set, The Godzilla Power Hour ranked just below Challenge of the Superfriends in the animated-entertaiment hierarchy.

Be honest, the theme song is playing in your head as you read this. ("Up from the depths/Thirty stories high/Breathing fire/His head in the sky ...")

Godzilla debuted in 1978 on NBC with Jana of the Jungle as part of Hanna-Barbera's The Godzilla Power Hour. Jana, as you might imagine, was a fairly typical "jungle woman" -- a female Tarzan, essentially -- created by Doug Wildey, of Jonny Quest fame. Her adventures were entertaining for Young Kevin, but nothing compared to Godzilla.

The series followed a team of scientists on the U.S.S. Calico who could call the good-but-cantankerous Godzilla -- voiced by Ted Cassidy -- via a hand-held sonic device. If memory serves, the giant reptile befriended the ship's crew after they rescued his winged "nephew" Godzooky, who was obviously meant to be endearing but was mostly annoying.

So, each week the 300-foot lizard was at the beck and call of Capt. Majors & Co., rescuing them from natural disasters and a menagerie of monsters. For a child of the '70s, it didn't get much better than that.

Details on the first two volumes are pretty sparse, which means they're probably bare-bones releases -- no special features or commentary. But they're 90 minutes each for just $12.98, so you can't expect a lot of frills, I guess.

Other notable releases:

• Beavis and Butt-Head: Mike Judge Collection, Vol. 2
• Diamond Daydreams, Vol. 3: Shoko/Akari
• Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks
• Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks
• Ghost Stories, Vol. 5: Graduation Ghoulies
• Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick, Vol. 5
• Hare Guu, Vol. 3
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Season 2, Vol. 1
• InuYasha, Vol. 42: Farewell My Beloved
• Kamichu! Vol. 1: Little Deity and Little Deity with Collector's Box
• Oh My Goddess: Collector's Edition
• Superman: Ultimate Max Fleischer Cartoon Collection
• Underworld: Evolution Special Edition
• Viewtiful Joe, Vol. 3
• Wandaba Style: Complete Collection
• The X-Files: The Complete Seventh Season
• The X-Files: The Complete Eighth Season
• The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season