Tagged: Batman

Happy Birthday: Golden Age Batman

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The Bruce Wayne of Earth-Two was born on April 7, 1915. A crook named Joe Chill robbed and killed Bruce’s parents in 1924, when Bruce was only eight years old. Bruce dedicated his life to avenging his parents’ deaths and protecting others from criminals and their evil deeds.

After many years of training, Bruce donned a fearsome costume and became the Batman. He was a member of both the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron, and despite not having any superpowers was considered one of the greatest of the American heroes. Bruce also reformed and married the former Catwoman, Selina Kyle—together they had a daughter, Helena Wayne, who later became the Huntress.

After many years, Bruce decided he was too old to continue as the Batman and retired from that side of his life, passing the mantle to his friend and student Dick Grayson. Bruce became the police commissioner of Gotham City instead. The fact that he had been the original Batman became public after Selina died in his arms trying to stop a former Catwoman henchman.

In 1979, Bruce was coaxed out of costumed retirement one last time to stop a super-powered crook named Bill Jensen, and the mission led to Bruce Wayne’s death. After his death, Doctor Fate erased the world’s knowledge that Bruce Wayne and Batman had been the same person.

The ‘Paper Comics Deathwatch’ Continues

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  • April 6, 2008

In the recurring "Paper Comics Deathwatch" feature over at Flashback Universe, the blog’s authors chronicle the events they believe to be hastening the demise of comics in printed form. It’s an interesting read occasionally, and I can’t help but laugh at the way "PCDW Points" are assigned to each event.

Recent subject matter for PCDW includes all of the love publishers are showing MySpace around the comics scene, an analysis of Joe Field’s address at the recent Comics Pro retailers conference and the Wizard crew pimping an advertising partner’s scanner as "Comic Book Collectors’ Heaven."

Heck, they’ve found so much fodder for this feature that they’re taking art submissions for a PCDW logo and awarding some prizes for the winner.

(DISCLOSURE: Readers can always get free, online comics published every every day of the week here at ComicMix, so there’s a distinct possibility that we might be showing up in that PCDW feature at some point, too.)

In related news, Vaneta Rogers recently tackled the best ways to attract new readers to comics in her always interesting Q&A feature over at Newsarama. A variety of industry creators weighed in with their thoughts on how to get a foot in the door with readers outside of the hardcore comics scene.

Christos Gage offers up some of his thoughts:

Like, if you rented a film noir movie, then there would be an ad at the beginning of the DVD, just like you have ads for other movies, but it would be for Criminal by Ed Brubaker, or something like that. I’d like to see ads that tie-in not only with comic book movies — like if you enjoy the Iron Man movie, then you’ll like Iron Man comics. But something where it says, "Hey, if you like James Ellroy, you’ll like Criminal."

Chuck Dixon also makes a nice point:

I wish someone other than Archie would make a digest-sized comic for the "impulse" aisle at the supermarket. A Batman/Superman or Spider-Man or Star Wars comic would go nicely in the pocket recently vacated by the cancelled Disney Adventures digest in thousands of market checkout lines. Disney cancelled their book because it was only selling a million copies a month!

 

(semi-via Journalista)

GraphicAudio Adapts Three ‘Justice League’ Novels

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  • April 5, 2008

We’ve opined previously on GraphicAudio’s full-cast adaptations of DC Comics’ Infinite Crisis and 52. Well, actually, of Greg Cox’s novelizations adapting DC Comics’ Infinite Crisis and 52. They must have sold pretty well, as they’re expanding their offerings to include at least three more projects.

They’ll be adapting a trio of Justice League paperback novels from a couple years ago: Christopher Golden’s JLA: Exterminators, Alan Grant’s Batman: The Stone King and Roger Stern’s Superman: The Never-Ending Battle. These adaptations feature a full case with music and sound effects, not quite like Big Finish’s original Doctor Who offerings in the sense that the stories are driven by each book’s narrative voice. While they fall slightly short of being full-blown audio dramas, I’ve enjoyed their work on Infinite Crisis and 52 and I hope they are able to maintain the same cast members for these CD presentations.

JLA: Exterminators comes out in May; the others follow in two-month intervals. They are released on CD and mp3 discs and are readily available at Interstate truck stops. Previous DC adaptations were distributed by Diamond to knowing comics shops, so you might want to do a pre-order. Of course, they’ll also be available at GraphicAudio’s website, where you have the option of buying them as downloads.

Cartoon Network Reveals ‘The Brave and the Bold’ Series

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  • April 4, 2008

After The Batman went off the air, we all knew it wouldn’t be too long before the caped crusader returned to animation in a different form. Cartoon Network has finally revealed the form in which Batman will be return. This time, he won’t be alone.

The Brave and the Bold will team Batman up with different DC superheroes each episode. Some of the heroes confirmed for the series include Green Arrow, Blue Beetle (the Jaime Reyes version), Green Lantern and Aquaman. The series is described as equal parts comedy and high stakes action.

The show will run on Friday nights as part of an action themed block of cartoons that also includes Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Alien Force and The Secret Saturdays. A premiere date has not yet been announced.

(via TV Guide)

 

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for April 3, 2008

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  • April 3, 2008

A big week, with Marvel kicking off the summer event season with Secret Invasion #1, which earned a separate review. Plenty of other comics came out, with a couple of princes but way too many frogs.

omeg7-4890921Book of the Week: Omega the Unknown #7 — This issue earns "instant purchase" status for the amazing Gary Panter cover (seen at right) and his interior pages depicting a comic as drawn by the hero of the story (wrap your brain around that one).

So we learn a little more about the history of the invading aliens and how they began their essentially nanotech-style war on humanity (and other alien races before that). Back in the present, Omega remains caught in the Mink’s maze and unable to join the fight against the robots. He does, however, catch a rat to eat. I don’t know if that’s better or worse than when he ate a bald eagle in an earlier issue.

Titus, the seeming Omega protege, and friends end up sneaking into the Mink’s base to bust out Omega, only to make a pretty alarming discovery that I won’t spoil here.

This series is big and crazy and reckless, but I still get the sense that writer Jonathan Lethem is very much in control of the story.

Runners Up:

Action Comics #863 — Both in this series and in Green Lantern, Geoff Johns is pulling an interesting trick by going a ways into the past to develop upcoming big events. And while all this time travel and Legion of Superheroes stuff could just be an excuse to show off Johns’ mastery of continuity, this manages to be much more, with a slobberknocker of a fight and some classic teamwork. By the time it was over, I was more excited about Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds than I was about Final Crisis.

Nightwing #143 — A mysterious villain is nefariously reviving dead villains on his secret island base, then escapes in a rocket when Nightwing and Robin defeat him. Sounds like something right out of James Bond, albeit without the beautiful women and cocktails. Somehow it works really well, probably because of the great interplay between Dick and Tim, two characters who should work together more often. (more…)

April Fools Day Round-Up: Were You Fooled?

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  • April 2, 2008

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When it comes to April Fools Day on the ‘Net, I’m not sure where I stand. On one hand, I’m endlessly entertained by the creativity various companies show in their efforts to pull the digital wool over readers’ eyes. It’s also an amazing promotional opportunity, providing websites that normally wouldn’t be players in the viral marketing scene a chance to flex their creative muscles and attract new readers.

On the other hand, however, it’s an editor’s worst nightmare. Every story is likely to be a hoax, and it’s damn near impossible to break any authentic news due to the inherent skepticism of online readers for a 24-hour period.

It’s a bit of a personal hell for me, too. Every year, I wake up on April 1 and remind myself that anything I read that day is probably an April Fools Day prank. And every year, I end up getting excited about a story anyways, only to realize that it was just another joke — more often than not, this happens after I go public with my excitement, adding to the embarassment. In the end, I’m reminded of Charlie Brown trying to kick that football time and time again, even though he ends up on his back in the dirt every time he makes the attempt. I feel his pain.

So this year, I’ve put together a list of some of the highlights from this year’s April Fools Day on the Interwebs. It’s nowhere near a complete list, just some of my personal favorites from the world of comics and comics culture, as well as a few notable non-comics pranks. Feel free to add your own to the ‘Mix (pun totally intended) by adding a link in the comment section at the end of this article. (more…)

Interview: Mark Verheiden on ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘Teen Titans’

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  • April 1, 2008

Writer / Producer Mark Verheiden is one of those fortunate individuals who has been able to make a living doing what he loves. His list of career accomplishments crosses most of today’s media landscape from feature films to series televison to comic books.

Starting off many years ago writing comics like The American and Alien Vs. Predator, through feature films like Time Cop, to producing episodes of the TV series Smallville, Verheiden has been a busy man. For the last several years, Verheiden has been even busier than usual, serving as Co-Executive Producer and writer on the critically-acclaimed series Battlestar Galactica — which airs on the Sci-Fi Channel and has its Season Four premiere this Friday. 

In addition to his producing and writing duties on Battlestar, Verheiden has also been hard at work adapting DC Comics’ The Teen Titans for the big screen as well as one of his own comic book stories, Ark. Recently, ComicMix sat down with Verheiden to talk with him about the next season of Battlestar, his plans for Teen Titans, the writer’s strike, what makes a good story and much more.

COMICMIX: Mark, thanks for taking the time to talk with us.

MARK VERHEIDEN: Of course. Always a pleasure.

CMix: How are you doing these days?

MV: Good. Now that you’re recording, I’ll say nothing incriminating.

CMix: Okay… unless you want to say something incriminating…

MV: No, not me.

CMix: Okay, let’s get to it then. You’re back from the writer’s strike. Hard at work on BSG?

MV: Oh yes, we’re back and right into it again.

CMix: Did the strike have any effect on your plans for the show? Did you have time to think while you were off? (more…)

The Writes Of Spring, by Dennis O’Neil

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  • April 1, 2008

As I sit down to write this, I’m less than five hours from midnight on March 23rd and so it might be appropriate to wish you a Happy Easter, or Happy Pasha if you’re an Oriental Christian, or Happy Purim. Or maybe I should give a shout-out to Aphrodite, Ashtoreth, Astarté, Demeter, Hathor, Ishtar, Kali, Ostara – all deities who were celebrated around the spring equinox and, as far as my extremely limited and unreliable knowledge goes, all of whom were connected to fertility, which figures: Spring equinox = end of winter = new life = let’s have a party.

Or…let’s let one stand for all and just celebrate the goddess whose name gives the holiday it’s name: No less an authority than The Venerable Bede, an early Christian scholar, wrote that Easter was named after the Saxon goddess Eostre, and if you can’t trust the Venerable Bede, well…

I like Easter, and tomorrow I may do something celebratory, even if it’s only to walk in the park down the road. (Yeah, us old guys really know how to tear it loose.) It’s a real holiday, as evidenced by all the ways it’s been celebrated over the millennia – see the goddess list above – and I think that means that it acknowledges and celebrates something deep in our collective culture, our life on this planet, probably our genomes. The catalogue of such holidays is short: there’s the various festivals of light that occur around the winter solstice – Merry Christmas, all – and around the fall equinox that generally involve harvests and eating, and Easter, et. al. All happen at seasonal changes and all involve the Basics: birth, death, light, dark, and survival.

You don’t have to believe in the literal truth of a mythology to accept the realities that underlie it.

(more…)

Review: ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ Deluxe Edition

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As I picked up a copy of the new Batman: The Killing Joke 20th anniversary hardcover, I flicked open the first page and sliced my finger on its edge. The paper cut seemed fitting, a physical manifestation of the violence contained within the book.

What I always forget about this story in the few-year intervals between readings is just how short it is, at 46 pages. And so each time I’m amazed all over again at how Alan Moore and Brian Bolland teamed to pack such intensity, ferocity and (surprise, surprise) humanity into those pages.

The Killing Joke is without question one of the greatest encounters between Batman and his nemesis, and the real reason is that the story serves both as a zenith for the Joker’s depravity and for his pathos. Even if this origin story isn’t true (as Bolland writes in his afterword), Moore shows a trace of a person behind the maniacal grin. It makes a Joker that’s more real, and more terrifying.

This new edition ($17.99) is of note for the top-notch packaging as well as Bolland’s re-coloring (see the differences between new and old right here). I’m sure there are those who hate the changes simply because it’s different, but the new colors really do improve the book, giving it a subtlety and grimness not present in the original.

The only additional features are a few of Bolland’s sketches and a new short story from him about wanting to murder Batman. It’s not bad, per se, but doesn’t add to the main story and comes across like padding. I suppose it’s a necessary inclusion, though. I mean, 46 pages!

Universities Taking Up Graphic Novels

  • News
  • March 28, 2008

persepolis_cover_big-8717525A couple of stories came out today in university newspapers revealing the continued growth of interest in comic books and graphic novels is beginning to manifest on campuses.

At Louisiana State University, officials selected Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis as the summer reading book for incoming freshmen. The Daily Reveille covers the story:

"It’s a very different choice from what we’ve done in the past," said Sarah Liggett, English professor and Student Reading Program committee chairperson. "It’s a focus on the Middle East, which is certainly very much in the news today, and it’s the first summer reading selection to be created by a woman. You see not only what she felt in the words, but you see it in the pictures."

From the responses in the article, it sounds like the choice is going over much better than at Ithaca College, where the student paper’s editorial board berated the choice of Persepolis on grounds that it wasn’t intellectual.

In other news, Emerson College is considering adding a comics/graphic novel program, according to the student paper there. For now, the college has added some new comics-related courses, which aren’t for credit but instead offer certificates for those who pass the courses. Andy Fish is the instructor.

[Fish] is currently working on a DC comic project illustrating the graphic novel "BATMAN 1939" and his own comic "The Boy Who Wished He Could Fly."

"Who knows if walking among the student body, or hanging out in the Dunkin Donuts on the corner is the next Frank Miller or Will Eisner?," Fish said. "Graphic novels have been gaining respect among the squares, and I think it is great that Emerson is offering this program, and I’m delighted to be a part of it."

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