As the late summer doldrums ebb, home entertainment releases are ratcheting up, especially in the TV category with this week’s complement of five comic book-based TV series including the initial seasons of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Lucifer, and Ash vs. the Evil Dead, plus on the theatrical side, one of the best films of 2016 so far, Shane (Iron Man 3) Black’s highly enjoyable The Nice Guys.

TV on DVD

This category is really hopping now as the most of the 2014-2015 seasons of current shows will be released over the next few weeks, and there are plenty of shows due out on Tuesday of great interest to geek viewers including five series with direct comic book connections including the first seasons of two shows based on DC comics, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Lucifer.

While Marvel has ruled the big screen so far in the 21st Century, DC has always had the upper hand on the small screen—and even when DC comics-based films like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad struggle after mammoth openings, DC-based TV shows have established a strong foothold on the CW network, which, though it does have a smaller audience than the “major” networks, does very well with younger viewers.  DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Season 1 (Warner Bros., 704 min., $39.98, BD $44.98), which debuted last January, spun-off from earlier DC-based CW series Arrow and The Flash.  All three of these shows share characters and a common world.  More importantly they introduce young viewers to the amazingly complex DC Universe with its many parallel worlds.  Unlike the CW’s (though then it was the “WB”) Smallville, which slowly and gingerly introduced superhero elements, Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow are full on superhero sagas, chock full of heroes and villains from the DCU.  In fact Legends of Tomorrow with its epic storylines is arguably the most “superheroic” series yet to appear on the small screen, and while conventional critics can complain about the show’s surfeit of superhero characters, fans see Legends of Tomorrow as a wonderful portal bringing some of the richness and the complexity of the DCU to the small screen.

Lucifer, another DC-based series that debuted last January, is a bit different since it is a police procedural based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg for the Vertigo series Sandman.  Like Legends of Tomorrow, Lucifer has been renewed for a second season, but Lucifer airs on the Fox Network (along with Gotham), and deals with supernatural elements from the Christian tradition (the series’ protagonist is the bored Lord of Hell), who resigns his position in Hades to run a piano bar in L.A., where he aids L.A.P.D. Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) in finding and punishing criminals.  In spite of attacks on the show by the religious right (see “One Million Moms Targets Fox”), Lucifer was renewed for a new 13-episode season (though a new showrunner was added to the production).  Lucifer is an example of the sort of non-superhero property available for DC and Warner Bros. to exploit thanks to the publisher’s expansive Vertigo lineup of fantasy, horror, supernatural, and crime comics.

Other comic based titles include the cable powerhouse The Walking Dead: The Complete 6th Season (Starz, 600 min., $69.99, BD $79.99).  Ratings remain strong for this series, which has also been syndicated, giving it even more exposure.  While it is definitely a “mature” property, The Walking Dead is anything but moribund, and as long as the narrative remains as compelling as it has through six full seasons, it will remain a strong sales driver of a wide variety of related merchandise.  As usual this season of The Walking Dead also comes in a special Limited Edition (MSRP $149.98), which arrives with a spectacular sculpture (by MacFarlane Toys) of the “truck” walker from infamous rock quarry scene in the very first episode of Season Six.

And then there is Ash vs. The Evil Dead (Starz, 250 min., $39.99, BD $49.99), the 10-episode series that provides fans with the long-awaited follow-up to the Evil Dead movie franchise, which also spawned lots of comic books from Dark Horse, and more recently Dynamite.  Set 30 years after the events in the movies, the new TV horror/comedy series features Bruce Campbell reprising his role as Ash Williams, and he is aided by a strong supporting cast that includes Jill Marie Jones, Ray Santiago, and Lucy Lawless (Zena herself).

The fifth comic book-related series due out on Tuesday is The Strain: The Complete Second Season (Fox, 500 min., $39.99, BD $49.99), the bio-horror series that is based on a series of novels by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan that has also spawned a series of comic books published by Dark Horse.  While this show’s narrative may be a little unfocused at time, it remains compelling viewing for those who like their horror movies on the plausible side (but with some good medical gore).

Other shows out this week that aren’t based on comics, but which are still “geek” favorites include the swansong of the ABC mystery series, Castle, which spawned some Marvel comics of its own.  Castle: The Complete 8th Season presents the final 22 episodes of the series that stars fan favorite Nathan Fillion (Firefly).  In addition there is CBS’s modern Sherlock Holmes saga Elementary: The 4th Season (Paramount, 900 min., $55.98); the nail-biting Netflix Columbian drug war saga Narcos: Season 1 (Lionsgate, 352 min., 29.98, BD $29.99); the remake of the epic, multi-generational saga of the African-American diaspora, Roots (Lionsgate, 383 min.,$29.98, BD $29.99); the long-running NCIS: The Complete 13th Season (Paramount, 880 min., $55.96); the workplace comedy The Superstore: Season 1 (Universal, 237 min., $29.98); the cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Complete 3rd Season (Universal, 450 min., $39.98); and the sexy ABC behind-the-scenes political drama Scandal: The Complete 5th Season (Disney, 582 min., $45.99).

Vintage TV releases include the sparkling coming-of-age sitcom The Wonder Years: The Complete Series (Time Life, 2,760 min., $119.98), and the boundary-pushing police procedural NYPD Blue: The Complete 10th Season (Shout Factory, 1050 min., $34.93).

There are some interesting foreign series this week including the Irish crime drama Clean Break (Acorn Media, 214 min., $39.99), a gripping saga about a car dealer at the end of his tether who gets in way over his head when he orchestrates kidnapping of the local bank manager’s family; plus Endeavour: Series 3 (PBS, 360 min., $39.99, BD $49.99), the fascinating prequel to the Inspector Morse series; and another excellent UK detective drama, Inspector Lewis: Series 8 (PBS, 270 min., $29.98, BD $34.98).

Theatrical Films

The best of this week’s theatrical offerings is Shane Black’s The Nice Guys (Warner Bros., “R,” $15.95, BD $24.99), a delightful throwback to those detective/buddy films of the 1980s from the guy who wrote Lethal Weapon.  Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe star in this neo-noir comedy thriller that is set in 1977.  Produced for $50 million, The Nice Guys only made $57 million worldwide, which means it lost money in spite of its excellent (and well-deserved) critical rating of 91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.  The Nice Guys should make some of its money back in the aftermarket since it has all the trappings of the perfect “cult” film and is well worth checking out.

Universal’s losses on The Huntsman: Winter’s World (Universal, “PG-13,” $29.98, BD $34.98) were even greater because it cost $115 million to produce and only earned $48 million in North America.  This dark live-action adventure based on the Brothers Grimm’s Snow White was the sequel that nobody asked for, and it could only earn a 17% positive rating from the critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes.

Equally disappointing is the Canadian/American animated feature Ratchet & Clank, which is based on a video game and directed by Kevin Munroe who made the computer-animated 2007 TMNT movie.  With a critical rating of just 17% positive and a total box office take of just $12.6 million, it is safe to say that this is a movie for devotees of the Ratchet & Clank video game only.

There are a couple of art movies of interest this week including The Man Who Knew Infinity (Paramount, “PG-13,” 108 min., $29.99, BD $39.99), a film biography of the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, a genius who grew up in poverty in Madras, India, but traveled to Oxford during World War I where he became a leading mathematical theorist.  Few films about scientists manage to actually do a good job of portraying the complexity of the work done by the characters in the movie, but mathematical theories that Ramunujan worked on are well-explained and illustrated in this old school biopic, which also benefits from strong performances by Dev Patel and (especially) Jeffrey Irons.

Also of interest is Maggie’s Plan (Sony, “R,” 98 min., $25.99, BD $30.99), a subversive indie romantic comedy written and directed by Rebecca Miller.  Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Juliette Moore star in this “triangle” story that has more than a few twists and turns.  While Maggie’s Plan isn’t for everyone, those who enjoy indie comedies about sophisticated urban characters (think Noah Baumbach), should really enjoy Maggie’s Plan.

Anime

New releases in the North American market this week include The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Season 1, Part 1 (Funimation, 325 min., DVD/BD Combo $64.98), which collects a 2015 anime based on the fantasy novel series by Yoshiki Tanaka that spawned a famous series of OVAs back in the 1990s; Laughing in the Clouds: The Complete Series (Funimation, 300 min., DVD/BD Combo $64.98), which collects the 12-episode series produced by Dogakobo in 2014 that is based on the period (Meiji Restoration) supernatural shojo manga created by Karakara-Kemuri; the 2013 robot/science fiction anime feature film HAL (Funimation, 60 min., $19.98), which was produced by Wit Studio; Cross Ange—Rondo of Angel & Dragon: Season 2 (Sentai Filmworks, 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98), which collects the 12-episode second season of the excellent 2014 mecha series produced by anime powerhouse Sunrise; and the composite movie Hakuoki—Demon of the Fleeting Blossom—Theatrical Version 2 Warrior Spirit of the Blue Sky (Sentai Filmworks, 96 min., $29.98, BD $39.98), which was cobbled together out of the second season of the 2012 Studio Deen anime based on the popular Hakuoki video game.

Re-priced re-releases this week are led by the two entries from the fan service-filled female martial arts saga Ikki Tousen, the  Ikki Tousen—Great Guardians Complete Collection (Funimation, 300 min., $29.98) and the Ikki Tousen—Xtreme Xecutor (Funimation, 345 min., $29.98).