Tagged: Batman

Early Review: ‘Justice League: New Frontier’

 

Like many of you out there, a bad taste was left in my mouth coming off of Superman: Doomsday, so of course I was wary of DC’s next direct-to-DVD flick. I wasn’t a huge fan of the graphic novels (Isn’t that what we call thick comic books these days?), but I am certainly a fan of the [[[Justice League]]] and its animated counterpart. 
 
I’ll start with a warning to those who aren’t totally familiar with The New Frontier and its universe, but ARE fans of the established animated DC universe: this is a whole new direction from shows like Justice League Unlimited and others, but it is full of exciting DCU fan favorites. In fact, my biggest complaint about [[[Superman: Doomsday]]] was that there were no outside DC heroes, even though they were all over the original story. But I digress.
 
Looking at the animation first, I was very pleased that Bruce Timm (main creator of the animated DCU) and Darwyn Cooke (wirter/artist of The New Frontier graphic novel) were able to find a happy medium between the already established look of the animated Justice League and the very stylized look of Cooke’s art, thought I do think the eye-slits works much better for Superman than the baby blues. The entire artistic feel practically beamed with that golden age look, which is what attracted me to the books in the first place.

 

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‘Justice League of America’ Film Delayed, No Superman or Batman?

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  • February 15, 2008

As we reported earlier, Paramount announced they are pushing back the release of the latest installment of the Star Trek franchise until Summer 2009. Now, from the pushed-back department comes a report via MovieHole.net that the oft-discussed and delayed Justice League of America feature has had its potential start date pushed from sometime this year to mid-2010.

Apparently, according to the report, one of the major reasons for the push was the availability of cast who, as actors often do, have taken as much work as they can and are booked up for the year. Although, as we reported earlier, Common seems to be onboard and ready to rock as Green Lantern.

Casting wasn’t the only factor, though, as it appears the studio also realized the film just wasn’t ready to roll given its current condition — which is probably more the "real" reason.

In related news, a report out of Blockbuster would seem to call into question the presence of Superman or Batman in the eagerly anticipated superteam film.

A casting agency has apparently released the following plot description for Justice League of America:

“Feb 28, Sydney, Australia: The film is about Green Lantern, Green Arrow and others of the Justice League of America, an organisation made up of the world’s greatest superheroes. They must deal with the expulsion of Batman and the death of Superman at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday”.

 

 

 

 

First Look: ‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ Video

  • News
  • February 15, 2008

 

A preview has hit the ‘Net of Batman: Gotham Knight, the straight-to-DVD animated anthology intended to bridge the gap between the big-screen feature film Batman Begins and its upcoming sequel The Dark Knight.

You can watch the preview below, which includes commentary from ComicMix columnist (and former Batman Group Editor) Dennis O’Neil. 

 

 

The creative team for the film includes such Batman comics notables as Bruce W. Timm, who directs the anthology, as well as Brian Azzarello, David S. Goyer and Greg Rucka. According to IMDb, actor Christian Bale will voice Batman.

Confirmed characters in the feature include Deadshot, Killer Croc, the Scarecrow and Man-Bat.

Batman: Gotham Knight is scheduled for release this year, but no specific date has been announced.

(via SHH)

Lost In ‘Lost’, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • February 15, 2008
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Denny’s column normally runs on Tuesdays, which is great because Denny e-mails it to me on Sundays. For some reason – and for the second or third time – his various e-mail accounts don’t seem to like my various e-mail accounts. We think we’ve straightened it out. Go figure. If computers were cars, we’d all be riding horses.

 

And now, Mr. O’Neil… -MG]

 

While I was sort of half-watching the two Lost specials our pals at ABC television were treating us to recently, I recalled the hot new trend of a couple of years ago. Serialized stories. Nothing resolved until late in the season. They came and they went, those shows, though there are a few survivors, of which my favorite, and apparently the favorite of millions of my fellow citizens (including you?) is the aforementioned Lost.
 
The purpose of the specials, which ran on consecutive evenings, was ostensibly to remind the Faithful of what’s been happening to those funsters on the island, and to clue in the non-Faithful, like me, people who just watch the thing for an hour’s easy amusement, as to what the hell the continuity is. (Another reason for the specials might have been the writer’s strike, now settled; clip shows like these eat up airtime at little cost and need no new material. Or am I being cynical?)
 

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Dan DiDio on DC’s ‘Trinity’ and ‘Final Crisis’

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  • February 12, 2008

bagley-trinity-2974714As we reported recently, the upcoming DC project featuring a story by Kurt Busiek and art by Mark Bagley finally has a name: Trinity. DC announced the project at last weekend’s retailers summit, and have now begun providing some additional details about the series, as well as their other upcoming event series, Final Crisis.

In an interview with IGN, DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio sheds some light on both projects, and adds that the publisher learned some important lessons from comparing the structures of two of their most recent event-driven storylines, Sinestro War and Countdown.

When you work with a smaller group of creators, you have a much tighter control over what the message of the story is, and a much tighter sense of what that story is, and how to build momentum and excitement in that story. So we’re trying to do that right now, and we have a number of things that will be occurring throughout the DCU that really have that tightness, but also that large sense of scope.

So when you see Final Crisis occurring, it’ll have a tight but incredibly expansive story in regards to what’s being covered and the characters involved, but there are only going to be a handful of creators that will be working through the Final Crisis story. Kurt has a stranglehold in a very good way on Trinity and Trinity’s story for the year run of the book, and more importantly, you’ll see similar things like that occurring in the Batman group of books, the Superman group of books, and even more things building along those lines in some of the other series over the course of the next year.

 

Kurt Busiek on DC’s Weekly ‘Trinity’

  • News
  • February 11, 2008

DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio made it official at this weekend’s Retailers Meeting: The publisher’s next weekly series is titled Trinity and will be scripted by current Superman writer Kurt Busiek, with art by longtime Marvel Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley.

The weekly series will begin this June and feature a story each week involving the trio of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Busiek will leave Superman with issue #675. According to Busiek, each issue of Trinity will feature 10 pages co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza and 12 pages of a solo story by Busiek.

In an interview with CBR, Busiek commented on Trinity and the rumors that Jim Starlin’s recent Death of the New Gods miniseries cleared the way for DC’s "Big Three" to get the spotlight in Trinity — and that the series is simply leading to another big event.

“No, ‘Death of the New Gods’ is one of the series that is leading into ‘Final Crisis.’ ‘Trinity’ is not ‘Final Crisis’ related. It is a relatively self-contained story that follows its own track. It’s part of the DC Universe, but it’s not one thread in the giant plot structure that is a big event. It is its own story. It has a beginning, a middle and an ending. There will be repercussions, yes. It has new characters that are introduced that I sure hope will spin off into their own mini-series or series or things like that, but it’s not leading to ‘Final Crisis 2: This Time It’s Personal.’

Busiek also tried his hand at sorting out the web of storylines that make up DC’s final-countdown-to-infinite-crisis-on-52-multiple-worlds events and explaining where Trinity will fit into the greater DCU:

’52’ came out of ‘Infinite Crisis’ and itself was a repercussion of a big crossover. ‘Countdown’ is leading into a big crossover. Each time DC does a weekly, they want to do it differently. ‘52’ was about a world without the heroes, ‘Countdown to Final Crisis’ is building up to an event about the heroes and ‘Trinity’ is about the heroes. Front and center.

 

52 Weeks of Reading Recommendations by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • February 6, 2008

question_34-1231999

When ComicMix launched a year ago, we were especially pleased to include the legendary Dennis O’Neil as one of our regular columnists.  Denny has written and/or edited every major character in comics, including Batman, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Iron Man, the Question, Azrael, and Millie the Model.

Back in the day, when comics had letter columns, Denny would usually share his reading preferences with readers.  We’re delighted to have continued this tradition here on ComicMix in Denny’s weekly columns.

To celebrate the last 52 weeks of Denny’s contributions to ComicMix, here’s a list of what he’s recommended so far, in the order he recommended them and with his thoughts on the recommendations (when he provided them). You’ll notice that, sometimes, he suggests the same book more than once.  And sometimes, he suggests more than one book at a time.  That’s the kind of reader Denny is — he takes his time, and he’s eclectic.

Good reading!

2/13/07

Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud

This is the one essential book for anyone with a genuine interest in the subject.

2/20/97

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, by Sam Harris

2/27/07

Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames, by Thich Nhat Hanh

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Flickr Green Lantern Art: ‘Power.Less’

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  • February 5, 2008

A friend directed me to this great piece of Green Lantern art created by Derek Chatwood and located in a public album on Flickr.

It’s titled "power.less" and the story that goes along with the art is price.less (click through to the image homepage  on Flickr for the full text):

Ego. Hal Jordan was walking ego. His excuse was that he had to be. The Green Lantern was powered by will. No will, no power.

For some reason, that day, Batman wasn’t having it. He called Hal out, and told him he shouldn’t underestimate the abilities of his team-mates. Hal laughed. C’mon Bruce, you know how this works. Whatever I can think of, whatever I put my will to, the ring can make happen. I can move a planet if I want to. I can do anything.

Hal, Batman said, as he rose from his chair. In some ways, you’re the weakest member in the League. …

(Artist: Derek Chatwood, All Rights Reserved; Hat-Tip to "Friends of Fipilele" for the link.)

William James and the Superbowl, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • February 5, 2008

Big game day. As I sit down to write this, the coin toss that will start this year’s Superbowl is about 90 minutes away. Let a hush fall over the universe. The Pats and the Giants are preparing to vie for godlike supremacy. Who’s your favorite QB – Eli or Tom? Me – I’m going for the Giants, not because I know anything about them, but rather because Marifran likes the Patriots and we have this annual bet. Winner gets to choose the next movie. Call us sports.

Wonder what William James would have thought of the Superbowl?

William James, brother of Henry, as the English majors and philosophy fans among you probably know, launched the concept of the “moral equivalent of war.” Although he was a self-proclaimed pacifist, he recognized that war has its uses – he even declared that history would be “insipid” without it. And it does. It hastens technological development, helps young men understand others who are not of their tribe, offers an opportunity for individuals to test themselves (and maybe learn what they really feel), provides an opportunity to develop managerial skills…You can probably add to the list.

War also kills and maims the innocent and destroys economies and nations and minds and brutalizes the survivors and gives money and power to those least deserving of them, such as men who have never fired a shot except, maybe, at forest animals and who knows? – even then the shooter might miss his target and hit a companion instead. Feel free to add to this list, too.

The trick, then, according to James and like minds, is to find a way to do the good things war does, and omit the bad. It’s a trick nobody has learned how to do. But we have some activities that approximate war that don’t do significant harm and may do some good, and sports is one of them. It allows young folk to obey their evolutionary imperative to engage in strenuous physicality with the goal of beating someone or something and maybe copping some glory and admiring glances and, please, let us not knock that imperative; it helped our distant, burrow-dwelling ancestors to claim a home on the Earth’s surface after a big chunk of rock did in the dinosaurs.

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Batman Acknowledges Spoiler, Girl Wonder?

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

The Beat points me to an interesting panel in one of the recent Grant Morrison-penned issues of Batman. Apparently, the very, very vocal campaign for Batman continuity to acknowledge the existence of short-lived female Robin, Stephanie Brown, received a nod in Batman #673, during a dream sequence scripted by Morrison.

Girl-Wonder.org is, of course, quite excited about this development.

Way to go, Goddamn Batman.

 

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