Batman musings

You know what I think would be hilarious?

Retelling All Star Batman and Robin with action figures or dolls.

Countdown issues

Is it just me, or does it feel like the writers of Countdown are not communicating with the other writing teams?

Personally, I find it annoying that the monitors are showing up everywhere with conflicting agendas. Maybe that's on purpose, but it isn't very smooth in any case. Nevermind the obviously inconsistancies with Black Adam.

Personally I would have taken him off the radar for several years, only to make a brief appearance during this new crisis - and then only after his upcoming miniseries. I mean, come on, I would have saved the return of his powerword to be the surprise twist ending of the mini. Here we are, spoiled as a silly plot device. I think it would have been better to bring out Eclipse, rather than have Mary joyride with Black Adam's lightning...

With 52 universes to watch over, the Monitors seem to be overly concerned with this earth. Why are they so worried about this Earth? Is Earth1 the hotspot for the multiverse's spring break and we need additional law enforcement or something?

Still, I can't be totally annoyed with DC over Countdown. I'm just annoyed that they seem to be in perpetual balance over what is good and bad. They let promising titles slide indo mediocrity, while the titles we like to laugh about actually gain promise - and the cycle repeats usually.

Justice League is actually decent now that it is crossing over with an already great title (Justice Society). 52 gave way to Countdown and lacks power, even with the awesome Dini driving it. Donner's Superman has practically vanished, while all-star batman is actually seen a new issue appear. Simone is moving from Birds of Prey to Wonder Woman, to bring that title out of a horrible slump - and hopefully BoP won't fall in quality...

At least I'm happy to say I'm through with Marvel. Only one thing could have tempted me back, but after hearing that DC maybe starting a norse comic I feel safe in saying Thor will not bring me back.

Norse Gods should not wear dinner plates as armor, nor should they be well groomed.

More Batman from Frank Miller?

Heard a rumor that Frank Miller was working on another Batman project.
Upon hearing that, I did not feel very well.
At least All Star Batman is delayed so much this new project likely will never be released.
Look, I enjoy Miller's original works, but stay away from the DCU.

PS. Thanks for Year One, now please move on.
^_^

Thoughts on 300...

First off I will say that while I enjoyed the movie, I felt a bit underwhelmed when the credits rolled. I should probably also say I haven't read the graphic novel, but I have studied the actual battle.

There were some very good scenes, in fact they were spectacular, however there was so much more they could have included. Yes, I know it's a Frank Miller movie, and he's a special kind of writer and artist, and the movie was very "Millertastic" to say the least.

I didn't care much for the bits of Gorgas' life after the 300 march off. It's not that I didn't care for her, but that the scenes honestly felt wedged into the movie. It broke the pacing even if it expanded what little plot there was.

Also, on the angle of macho men fighting a macho war with swords and spears...in the real battle the Spartans fought off four waves of Persians for the body of their king. That is awesome and very strong symbolically....did Frank Miller just skip over that part? That's a bit unlike him if he did...there wasn't even a chunk of voice over to bring it up...

Also, the ending really stretched out past where an emotional ending could have occured. It dragged on and on, killing the tone of the aftermath...

Maybe I'm just a bit frustrated from having it overhyped. I like Butler, but I hope he doesn't get typecasted into this type of role. Still, not to sound too negative I did enjoy the movie, and would give it a solid A.

Comics!

I feel like I'm really out of the loop, after having to adjust to not using the laptop. Every night I would sit down on the couch with it in hand, reading news sites and weblogs, chatting, and writing. Now, everything feels forced if it happens at all. I'm not used to writing on a desktop - it just isn't as comfortable, you know?

Anyway, this week was pretty average with the exception to two titles. Those being, of course, Catwoman and Birds of Prey. If anything could turn around an expensive day of mediocrity, it would be those two.

First of all, Catwoman has shot up in quality quite consistantly since I began reading it. This issue was probably the best I have read yet, and I place the blame solely on Film Freak. I'm big into film and such, so I really enjoy the antics of him. I also absolutely love the constant homages to old movies - so with last week's Psycho bit and this week's King Kong bit, I am in heaven.

Birds of Prey - Thank you, Gail Simone, for that rip on Frank Miller. I don't know if it was on purpose, but it sure felt that way. I don't like the return of 'classic' Batgirl, but I bet that comes from higher up. It isn't really classic Batgirl, as far as we know, but it is close enough. I am curious about the whole 'getting shot like the original Batgirl, but unaffected' thing going. Two Oracles are too many and silly, so I doubt that'll happen. Maybe this it just a really crazy misleading story to bring back Cassandra Cain. No way that's going to happen, but I can dream.

Also, we need shots of this Guy Gardner film. Have them go see the movie so we can see the movie.

All Star Batman & Robin is Awesome!

I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, but I think All Star Batman & Robin is awesome. I can't wait to see how the series wraps up. There is so much that could happen, and I can't wait to read it. Frank Miller is awesome.

Ok, this is where I take a breath at just the right moment and deliver an ill concieved punchline.

By awesome, I mean awesome like a car wreck. As bad as it may be, you can't help but watch as medics arrive and pull the bodies from the mangled wreckage. Issue two was a train colliding with the car wreck. Three was a plane making an emergency landing on top of the train. As for issue 4, I'll say Bizarro tossed a cruise ship on the whole mess becuase nobody wants to go on a cruise when they are sad.

The only redeming point in the issue, or the whole series so far, has been the six page fold out of the batcave. Still, even that was tainted by lots of Frank Miller homages. He is basically tagging with his hand that which he did not create - I seem to remember that being called vandalism. Problem is, DC gave him permission for this monstosity.

Still, I suppose I can be content in the knowledge that Frank Miller got Batman. Imagine what he would have created given access to Superman or Wonder Woman. Wait, he did have Superman running (running! Frank, the man can fly) and I think Wonder Woman is on the cover of an upcoming issue. Crap. This will never end...

Random Comic Thought #1

Stealing the idea, changing the name, and claiming my originality. Behold: Progress!

I've been reading the first sets of issues of Spawn. So far for the most part I have really enjoyed the comic. I started reading the recent episodes, and found the original issues cheap - I picked them up and started reading.

So basically what happens is Spawn touches a lance used by an angelic hunter that flew off after failing her one-hit-kill on Spawn. Now, I can forgive the abrupt end of the first battle with an angel after building the angel up to this force that has never been defeated. What through me for a loop were the guest writers that chipped in afterwards for several issues.

For the most part, the stories were really good and fit well within the whole 'mythos' created at that point in the title. My problem was Frank Miller's issue. Don't get me wrong, previously he did Sin City style Spawn poster that I thought was really nice and fitting - however, his story was just....out of place.

Spawn fighting a Nerd street gang and Creep gang over his alley filled with homeless bums. Stereotypical nerds fighting generic street punks, both armed with high tech weapons and having cyborgs on their sides. Very typical Frank Miller 'holy crap, you know how cool this would be?' storytelling. There was even a cute-ish girl involved, killed early on setting off the whole gang war.

So, in the end I have to say I liked the idea behind the guest writing, but Frank Miller doesn't belong on Spawn. It is close to his type of work, but he should be kept away from solo writing on the title. I wouldn't mind his art style, since Spawn could go Noir quite nicely. Also, remember that this is issue 11 I'm talking about, and 153 came out last month...

Comic Book Movies

In "honor" of V for Vendetta being a success in my mind, I thought about typing list of my top 10 favorite comic book adaptations. I'll list them in order from best to next to best.

1) Batman Begins
2) Hulk
3) Superman & Superman 2
4) V for Vendetta
5) X2: X-Men United
6) Batman Returns
7) Spiderman 2
8) Batman '89
9) Road to Perdition
10) X-Men

The tricky thing is that this list is limited to American comic movies only. If extended this list out to manga adaptations to movies the list would be larger and more competative in my mind (Japanese movies, mind you. I'm still waiting on preproduction of James Cameron's Battle Angel).

Some people would be quick to point out that Sin City is surprisingly absent from my list. While I really enjoyed the movie, and think it is probably the best thing Frank Miller has made in his genre, the movie wasn't an adaptation. What Sin City in fact was, in my mind, was a direct translation of media. For that, the movie is in a category all its own.