Monthly Archive: March 2008

11 Batman Stories to Read Before Watching ‘The Dark Knight’

11 Batman Stories to Read Before Watching ‘The Dark Knight’

  • News
  • March 24, 2008

Batman Begins and its upcoming sequel, The Dark Knight, are both feature films that deal with Bruce Wayne at the beginning of his career as a crime-fighting detective. But some in the movie audience may be curious about how these rookie years unfolded in the continuity of the comics.

So, here at ComicMix, we’ve put together a timeline of the stories you should read (and the order in which to read them) to learn about Batman’s early days. This list is focused on collected storylines from the single issues and one-shot stories rather than individual issues, and includes what is deemed to be currently in continuity within the mainstream DC Universe (so certain stories such as BATMAN: Year Two are not included). If a story’s place in the greater Batman continuity is uncertain, but hasn’t been directly contradicted by other stories, we’re including it.

Please note that this is focusing on Batman’s early solo years and is, as stated above, a timeline. Therefore stories such as Arkham Asylum and The Killing Joke, while famous, aren’t being included here since they take place much later in Batman’s career.

ADDED NOTE: If you like this, be sure to check out our related article, the Top Six Greatest Joker Victories.

Now let’s begin …

Batman: Year One – It all starts here in this story by Frank Miller (Sin City) and David Mazuchelli (DAREDEVIL: Born Again). After years of learning how to be a detective and training in the martial arts and ninjitsu in the Far East, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to begin his war on crime. Learn how he first met a young Lt. James Gordon (who would later become the famous commissioner of the GCPD) and hot-shot District Attorney Harvey Dent, as they all try to free their city from a corrupt police department and fight against the mobster known as Carmine “The Roman” Falcone.

This comic also features the reason Bruce Wayne chose a bat as his symbol and his first encounter with Catwoman. The end of this story leads directly into another item on our reading list, BATMAN: The Man Who Laughs.

Batman and the Monster Men – In Year One, you might notice a large gap of time that passes between November and December. This story, written and drawn by Grendel’s Matt Wagner, takes place during that gap and reimagines one of Batman’s earliest stories from the Golden Age of Comics. Meet Bruce Wayne’s early girlfriend, Julie Madison, and watch his first encounter with the sociopathic Professor Hugo Strange. This story also introduces the proto-version of the Batmobile.

Batman and the Mad Monk – Another Golden Age story is brought into the modern day by Matt Wagner with this follow-up to Batman and the Monster Men. Following his encounter with the monsters of Hugo Strange, Batman now faces a potentially supernatural enemy and a deadly cult. Batman’s car truly becomes the Batmobile in this story and we also see the developing partnership between him and Jim Gordon. And see just what happened to make the Dark Knight lose the first serious love in his life.

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‘Doom Patrol: Planet Love’ Review

‘Doom Patrol: Planet Love’ Review

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  • March 24, 2008

And so we come to the end. It’s taken DC Comics sixteen years to collect all of Grant Morrison’s classic run on Doom Patrol, but it’s complete now. I don’t know if new readers coming to Morrison’s Doom Patrol in 2008 can understand how different that series was in the early ‘90s – the era of million-copy runs, of the Image founders becoming Marvel superstars and then packing up to become “Image,” the biggest boom that superhero comics have ever seen.

There was bombast in the air, then, on all sides. Superheroes were long past their days of stopping bank robberies and foiling minor criminals. The era of cosmic threats all the time had been inspired by Secret Wars II and the first Crisis, and had grown through Marvel’s summer crossovers and everyone’s monthly gimmicks. You couldn’t swing a cat without hitting a would-be world conqueror, or a megalomaniac with an anti-life formula, or some other unlikely threat to everything.

You have to remember that background when you read Morrison’s Doom Patrol, just as you have to remember the stolid seriousness of ‘80s superheroism when you read his Animal Man of the same era. Morrison wasn’t parodying what everyone else was doing – he’s only very rarely been one to specifically poke fun at other creators – but he was pushing it further, in the direction of his own obsessions and ideas, than anyone else was willing to do. (Take a look at his Arkham Asylum for another example; it’s the epitome of the “crazy Batman” idea that percolated all through that time — the concept that Batman attracted so many damaged and insane villains because he was inherently damaged himself.)

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New York Comic-Con: Less Than Four Weeks To Go

New York Comic-Con: Less Than Four Weeks To Go

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  • March 24, 2008

 

Oh, boy… We’d nearly forgotten what we’re in for, and this video reminded us all over again:

 

Yes, the ComicMix crew will be there in force. Be sure to say hello, ask for autographs, throw fruit, what have you. And if you’re really smart, ask us where to get food outside of the Javitz Food Court.

To Boldly Go Backward Again, by Mike Gold

To Boldly Go Backward Again, by Mike Gold

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  • March 24, 2008

They say there’s nothing new under the sun. Well, now I’m saying that as well, but I’m saying it about science fiction.

S-F was supposed to look forward and, at its best, teach us something about today’s human condition. You can look forward by looking into the past, but you’re not looking forward by burying your nose in your belly button. Sadly, our popular fiction has been spending the past decade or so snorting lint.

After a lengthy rest, Star Wars returned to us with a three-part prequel renown for its tedium and lameness. Star Trek countered with Enterprise, which told us the secret origin of a starship. It was pretty good – after two exceptionally lame seasons. At least those who hung in there were slightly rewarded. Boosted by the enormous success of the show’s concept (it was the most short-lived of those that followed the original series), now Paramount is polishing up a “major” motion picture about Kirk, Spock, McCoy and friends at boarding school. I think Mickey Rooney and Liza Minelli are playing instructors.

Now we see that our friends at Battlestar Galactica are doing a pilot for a spin-off show. No, make that another spin-back series. Entitled Caprica, instead of capitalizing on all the careful and intricate concepts established in the original series (itself a remake of one of the worst S-F shows of all time), it’s set 50 years prior. The big deal: the Cylons are created. I’ll bet you didn’t know the Cylons were created. Certainly not, if you hadn’t watched either of the original shows.

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ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending March 23, 2008

ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending March 23, 2008

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  • March 23, 2008

I’m still recovering from my yearly giggle-fest as my husband and I spent last night MST-ing the Biblical epic The Ten Commandments, which for some reason was shown on Easter weekend rather than Passover weekend.  Always remember, Eliezar, he passed over your holiday!  So many great quotable lines in that film.  ComicMix columnists have been serving up their own quotables this week as well:

Here at ComicMix, love is not an art to us, it is life to us!

ComicMix Broadcast Blog: Nickelodeon Goes Gaming

ComicMix Broadcast Blog: Nickelodeon Goes Gaming

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  • March 23, 2008

After a week away fighting the March "blahs", we’re back with a few links to enjoy while biting the head off that very special chocolate bunny you got today:

The revamp of Nickelodeon’s websites contines as they add 1,600 new games in the very near future. Of the new games, about 600 will be exclusive, original games to the sites, with the remaining 1,000 coming from outside publishers. (Just to put this in perspective, Nickelodeon’s current library is comprised of 5,000 games). You can find highlights of some the exclusive, original games at Nick.com, TurboNick, Nicktropolis  and Nick Junior, where 185-plus games are being added, with a focus on multiplayer, cooperative games such as 3D Nicktoons SlimeBall on Nicktropolis, and an Avatar multiplayer global game set for this fall 2008. In addition, Nick.com will fully redesign its game experience with the debut of a new games landing page. At Nick Junior, some 35 new original preschool games are set to bow including Spin Art, which allows kids to create their art; Diego’s Snowboard Rescue and  The Wonder Pets Storybook (end of March).

Meanwhile, NeoPets expands into multiplayer games, which include a new retail convergent element with Key Quest, along with tournaments with the return of Daily Dare and Altador Cup.  Neopets’ Key Quest is a new multiplayer gaming and collecting experience tied to Neopets retail product.

Finally, AddictingGames will introduce 75 exclusive self-published and licensed games, along with 600+ new titles from game developers around the world, in 2008.

To help you live through the next four weeks without Lost, go here and, in the continuing effort to make us forget we won’t see new episodes until the fall, NBC has posted the new Heroes soundtrack here. Sorry guys. It didn’t work.

To watch the ongoing process of Dynamite Entertainment’s revamp/relaunch of Buck Rogers, go here but keep in mind that new material will be added regularly and to look for a big reveal close to ComicCon.

And if you just plain forgot to go see Britney Spears’ anime/superheroine video for  “Break the Ice,”  you can still do so, at least for a few more days. Come on — you know you want to!

Not one to put all our colored eggs in one basket, lert’s just say this will be a big week on ComicMix Radio. Starting with our new comics and DVD rundown to our preview of a new independent film set at the San Diego Comic Con. And we get geared up for the return of Battlestar Galactica with our exclusive talk with Executive Producer Mark Verheiden.

Get off that sugar rush and be here on Tuesday!

Thomas Sangster to Star in ‘Tintin’

Thomas Sangster to Star in ‘Tintin’

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  • March 23, 2008

The role of the titular character in the upcoming Tintin films has been filled.

The adventure-seeking reporter will be played by 17-year-old Thomas Sangster, a London born actor who appeared in Love Actually and Nanny McPhee.Sangster joins Andy Serkis on the film, who has already been cast as Captain Haddock.

Directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are collaborating on the upcoming Tintin trilogy, which will employ motion capture technology. Spielberg is scheduled to direct the first film in the series, which begins principle photography in September 2008.

 

(via Daily Mail)

 

The Guest Strip Project Recruits Fill-Ins For Charity

The Guest Strip Project Recruits Fill-Ins For Charity

  • News
  • March 23, 2008

The fill-in artist is a staple of comics and webcomics alike, but Michael Rouse-Deane is making a year-long event out of the practice — and for a good cause.

April 1 is the scheduled start of The Guest Strip Project, in which a different webcomic creator will provide a strip each week, with proceeds from the advertising, store and donations headed to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The project is described as follows:

One artist can only do one guest strip, they won’t be asked back, once their page is completed it’ll go into the archives and they can never return. This means its much more complicated but also allows other talented people out there to have a chance of making an impact.

At the side of each page are banners and also donation buttons where people can donate money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There’s also the store which will every so often have exclusive merchandise as well as spin-off books, posters, t-shirts and artwork up for grabs all donating to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Keep in mind that the project will be presented in the standard, no-charge webcomic format, so it will be interesting to see how successful a unique campaign like this, which relies upon advertising, merchandise sales and donations, will end up. Although the roster of creators currently expected to provide strips hasn’t been posted at this point, the "Links" page could provide some indication of the talent tapped for the kick-off.

 

(via Fleen)

30 Days of Wakeful Nights, by Ric Meyers

30 Days of Wakeful Nights, by Ric Meyers

  • News
  • March 23, 2008

Any regular reader will no doubt have noticed something by now. I think I may have mentioned it once before, early on, but there should be no harm in repeating it: this column isn’t really for the big-time releases any DVD fan already know exist. Naturally, by all rights, I, like everyone else, should review I Am Legend and maybe even The Mist, but hey, you’re going to watch, or not watch, those without any input from me – no matter how good or bad the special features are.

Instead, I most like to consider the DVDs that may have slipped under your radar, like Wakeful Nights, which is really an amazing movie for several reasons. Japan in general, and Tokyo specifically, is two different places. It’s an amazingly exciting, beautiful, cultured, exotic place for people who don’t speak or understand Japanese, and it’s an incredibly perverted, sex-soaked, practically demented place for those who do. Wakeful Nights is a DVD that both reveals the lusty fun just under the well-designed, well-dressed surface, as well as revels in the classic art of filmmaking and the ancient delights of Rakugo (Traditional Comic Storytelling).

Director Masahiko Makino was inspired by his grandfather, who was credited with initiating a “100 Years of Japanese Filmmaking” celebration, so he brought together generations of actors, writers, and singers to create a lewd, crude, but loving tale of a family gathering for a master comic storyteller’s funeral. Deciding to release this iconoclastic comedy in America, the good folk at AnimEigo had their translating and subtitling work cut out for them. But, for the most part, little is lost in translation … which is really saying something, considering the content and subject matter of the romp. Much of the time they have to put everything in context for American eyes, while still maintaining the momentum of the warped, culturally-punny jokes.

That’s where the extras help. They include some deleted scenes that contain some of the least effective diversions, but the real fun is to be had with the additional songs and their karaoke companions.  First you get to watch two characters have a “Geisha Idol” contest to see who best can deliver the jolly performance and raunchy lyrics of classic sexy songs usually performed by pretty hostesses at mens-only parties, then you get to try your luck at the same songs, with the help of phonetic lyric subtitles, and the occasional actor pop-up. It’s fun to watch and hilarious to try.

Then comes AnimEigo’s vaunted program notes, which are exhaustive to a fault, and much welcome in this multi-layered anniversary effort. Despite their attempt to answer every query the film might elicit, they are also a great starting point for further research – a fact the company seems well aware of, because the final program note is a long list of websites where more material can be found. By the last frame, I felt indoctrinated into a special place in Japanese entertainment, rarely experienced by any outsider. But even if you don’t share that feeling, it’s hard not to appreciate a DVD that comes with the warning: “Contains adult situations and language, disgusting puns, sick jokes, filthy karaoke, and a traumatized Manta Ray.”

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On This Day: The Trickster!

On This Day: The Trickster!

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  • March 23, 2008

Giovanni Giuseppe was a con artist and circus acrobat before he decided to turn to a life of crime. He changed his name to James Jesse and created several clever but dangerous gag devices and a pair of shoes that let him walk on air.

Calling himself the Trickster, James embarked upon his new career, only to encounter and be defeated by the Flash. The two clashed frequently throughout the years.

For a brief period, the Trickster reformed and worked with the FBI, but he later reverted to his criminal ways.

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