Warner Home Video is releasing the Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24th.  The DVD contains the animated version of Tales of the Black Freighter, a meta-comic/homage to the bleak narration-heavy EC Comics pirate tales of Joe Orlando contained within the Watchmen saga in which a young boy reads the grisly Tales of the Black Freighter comic book at a newsstand as New York City crumbles around him.  Watchmen director Zack Snyder decided to create an animated version of Tales of the Black Freighter to include on the Watchmen DVD, since it would have made the film too long (or forced the director to cut out other story elements) had it been included in the theatrical release print (see “Tales of the Black Freighter Anime”).

While the Tales of the Black Freighter may still be released on a deluxe DVD version of Watchmen later this year, Warners is going to release it on a separate DVD just 18 days after the theatrical release of the movie.  In addition to the animated comic-within-a-comic, the Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter DVD will also include Under the Hood, the autobiography of the key Watchmen character Nite Owl.  Under the Hood chronicles the events in Hollis Mason’s life that led him to become the Nite Owl, and it explains how the Minutemen supergroup, which also included Sally Spectre, the Comedian, and Moloch the Mystic. Directed in a live-action documentary style, Under the Hood stars Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

The Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter DVD will have an MSRP $27.95, with the Blu-ray version priced at $35.99.