Tagged: Batgirl

Happy 80th birthday, Don Heck!

Happy 80th birthday, Don Heck!

  • News
  • January 2, 2009

Don Heck. Today would have been his 80th birthday.

I first met Don twenty-seven years ago at his house in Centereach. He and my dad frequented the same bar, the Emerald Pub. My dad knew I was a fan of his on The Flash, and thought I should meet him, and finagled an invite.

It was the first time I’d ever seen a comic artist’s studio– and to this day, the best analogy is the scene in the movie where the young boy visits the wizard’s cave and sees the dimly-lit wonders, or the hacker’s technical sanctum and all the neat knick-knacks, you know the scene.

It was magic.

And like any good magician, he gave a gift to the audience– the page to the right, from The Flash #292, was one of them.

Don still hasn’t gotten the appreciation he deserves– for creating Iron Man, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow; for his runs on Avengers, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Justice League of America; for hundreds of stories without a single costume in them– but there are those of us who still remember.

Thanks for the magic, Don. Happy birthday.

Evan Rachel Wood cast in Spider-Man musical

Evan Rachel Wood cast in Spider-Man musical

  • News
  • December 11, 2008

Evan Rachel Wood, one of the most respected young actresses today, will make her Broadway debut as Mary Jane Watson in Julie Taymor’s Spider-Man musical.  In an exclusive report at IESB, Wood confirmed she will portray the model with rehearsals beginning in June 2009.

Ironically, Evan lost out to Kirsten Dunst, who plays MJ in the movies, for the child lead in Interview with the Vampire.

She also said the producers are at work on actor Jim Sturgess to take on the lead.  Wood said they are, "still trying to convince him." Both displayed their singing skills in Taymor’s Across the Universe, which was released last year.

The musical will also feature  Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Playbill in 2007 also listed the following parts:

The character breakdowns provide some insight to plot points as the character Arachne ("female, 20-35 years old, any ethnicity") is described as "a beautiful, boastful young woman turned into a spider for her hubris and lack of respect for the gods. She subsequently appears to Peter Parker and the audience as in turn a powerful spider-woman who comes from another time to inspire Peter; an otherworldly lover; a bride; a terrifying (and sexy) dark goddess of vengeance; a dance partner in a charged and violent spiders dance of death; and, finally, a lonely, fragile young woman." Casting is seeking a "strong Celtic, Balkan style, e.g., Sinead O’Connor," noting, "outside the box ideas are welcomed. Could be someone from the music industry."

Also, a "Geek Chorus" consisting of "three teenage boys and one girl" are described to "meet to ritualistically retell the greatest Spider-Man stories.

Bono and The Edge of U2 are providing the music and lyrics for the musical which is likely to debut in 2010. The book is from Taymor and Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) which had a reading in New York in July 2007.

Matthias "Teese" Gohl (Frida) will serve as musical supervisor.

On a related note, Alicia Silverstone, the former Batgirl, returns to the stage in the world premiere of Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still. According to Variety, the cast also includes Anna Gunn (Deadwood), David Harbour (Quantum of Solace) and Robin Thomas (Damages).

 

Review: ‘Batman’ #681

Review: ‘Batman’ #681

The nature of super-hero comics (and serial storytelling in TV as well) has become an incestuous thing, one that feeds on its own cast of characters, no matter how wrongheaded it might seem. In any given story arc, the reader (and the viewer) has been trained to expect The Last Person You’d Ever Expect (fill in the name of your favorite Beloved Supporting Character) to be revealed as the villainous mastermind. And/or salacious details about Our Hero. Dark secrets that threaten the very underpinnings of the lead characters’ being. The promise of certain death for players who’ve existed for decades. (No, really. We mean it!)
 
The pleasure in last week’s wrap-up to [[[Batman R.I.P.]]] was in the way Grant Morrison mocked all that. Consider yourself under a Spoiler Warning for the duration of this column.
 
At its best, the story was a love letter to Batman as he ought to be — prepared to a degree that anyone else would find ludicrous (as in a terrific flashback sequence) and uncompromising in the face of threats against the reputation of his family name. Watching him emerge from an inescapable deathtrap and wade through all comers was quite satisfying after months of questioning whether Batman had lost it.
 
Just as 1993-1994’s [[[Knightfall]]] arc gave us the ultra-violent Batman that a fringe of fandom imagined they wanted, R.I.P. delivered the story formula that readers have been conditioned to expect. And then, in the final act, Morrison pulled the rug out from under them. Think that the Black Glove was going to stand unmasked as Thomas Wayne, the father of Bruce who’d faked death and became a criminal mastermind? Lies. All lies. Waiting for the culmination of Batman’s mental breakdown? Didn’t happen (at least not to the degree it seemed). He was acting! (Thanks, Alfred!) And that caped-and-cowled, ready-for-slabbing corpse? No body.
 
I can’t help but think, too, that Morrison’s treatment of the Joker reflects a bit on the villain’s usage in the wider DC Comics line. In Morrison’s first issue (#655), the character was casually defeated by a nut in a Batman costume who shot him in the face. And in this climax, his fate was even more dismissive: He was accidentally run off the road and killed (yeah, right) by a speeding Batmobile driven by the deranged Damian. The two scenes struck me as a statement of sorts on the sheer over-saturation of the Joker, a villain who’s appeared in 44 comics in 2008 alone! A character that almost anyone in the DC Universe can hold their own against is a character who can be sucker-punched by nutty Batman wannabes. Couple that with his ubiquitous presence in Bat-books proper and the persistence in characterizing the Joker as the biggest and most unstoppable mad-murderer in history and you have a Batman who’s rather ineffectual, too. But I digress.

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‘Hellblazer’ Reaches 250th Milestone Issue

‘Hellblazer’ Reaches 250th Milestone Issue

  • News
  • December 3, 2008

December 17 marks a historic moment for Vertigo as its flagship title Hellblazer reaches issue #250 — the first ever Vertigo title to do so. Vertigo has assembled some of the most celebrated creators in the industry, to ring in this milestone issue with five unique stories set in London during the holidays. It is also being billed by Vertigo as an excellent jumping on point for lapsed or new readers.

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS:

Dave Gibbons is best-known for the iconic look of the best-selling Watchmen— one of Time Magazine’s 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. Gibbons’ story “Happy Fucking New Year” takes Constantine from a museum theft to a human sacrifice.

China Mieville has written stories for McSweeney’s and Hellboy; he is the author of 5 novels. His story “Ash” explores the real angels of Christmas.

Peter Milligan, author of Shade, the Changing Man and X-Statix will be taking over as the ongoing Hellblazer series writer with the next issue. His story in issue #250, “The Curse of Christmas”, follows a ghost trying to unravel the mystery of what killed him.

Brian Azzarello, acclaimed Chicago author of 100 Bullets, and Joker returns to the pages of Hellblazer. His story “All I Goat For Christmas” explores the myth of the Chicago Cubs curse.

Jamie Delano, the first ongoing Hellblazer writer (#1-24, 28-31, 33-40, 84) is back. His story “Christmas Cards” takes Constantine to a high stakes poker game.

Sean Phillips is best-known for his art in Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, and earlier issues of Hellblazer.

Giuseppe Camuncoli’s work has appeared in Swamp Thing, Batgirl Secret Files, and Spider-Man.

Eddie Campbell is best-known for collaborating with Alan Moore on the acclaimed graphic novel From Hell and his work as writer/artist on Bacchus.

Rafael Grampa has provided illustration for Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Diesel, and ESPN-NBA Sports.

David Lloyd is best-known for illustrating the seminal work V For Vendetta; this is his third time drawing the John Constantine character.

The Theory of Webcomics: A DC Wiki?

The Theory of Webcomics: A DC Wiki?

  • News
  • November 16, 2008

A few weeks ago, I discussed the usefulness of active, available archives for webcomics. Archives provide huge amounts of free content to draw in new readers; and they prevent continuity lockout by providing a way to easily go back and refresh your memory of previous events. With print comics, especially before the advent of everything getting collected in trade paperbacks, there really wasn’t a way to avoid that — which is a lot of why Silver Age stories needed to be as self-contained as they were.

Nowadays, people who are flush with cash can always go buy a TPB collection of stories they missed or forgot. Who the heck is this character in the latest issue of Ultimate Spider-Man? The editor’s note says he first appeared back in Ultimate X-Men #17. All it takes is one trip to Amazon.com, several days for delivery, and then reading time, and I’ll be caught up enough to understand what’s going on in the comic currently in my lap.

Of course, those of us with rent bills to pay have to make do with the lower-cost option: The internet. There are lots of choices to catch up on, say, DC Comics continuity: The DC Wikia, the Justice League Library, Heroes Wiki, and heck, even granddaddy Wikipedia itself.

But you know where you can’t go to figure out what happened in that recent issue of Batgirl you missed, or that Green Lantern plot point from 1988 that recently cropped up? DCComics.com.

Now, don’t get me wrong: If you want to see artwork previews, or check the list of everything that’s in print, or get a short graphic bio of most of the characters, DCComics.com is the place to go. But say you haven’t been following Trinity and want to catch up. If you go to the forum and ask for the best place to do so, they’ll point you to Wikipedia.

Of course, Marvel’s website already has their own version of the wiki and it’s pretty nifty, too.

So here’s my suggestion to DC: You need a wiki. You’ve got an army of fans just aching to show how much they know about the characters and storylines, as evidenced by the other wikis that crop up everywhere. You need accessible utilities that’ll help build a bigger audience, especially among younger people, who don’t have the continuity knowledge to get into most recent titles. You need to drive traffic to your website as effective advertising for your products, and keep people at your website, rather than shunting them off to an outside source. And you’ll want all of this to be under your nominal control.

Here’s how you do it: Acquire the Wikia content (I don’t know the legal channels, but I’m sure you could find them). Hire a few of your most OCD fans (and a couple of the ComicMix contributors come to mind) as moderators. Set a few ground rules (no spoilers for this month’s books, no speculation, no flaming), and let the fans go from there. Link in the original stories, history of the DC and other online content you currently have, and have the last line of the wiki entry for each ongoing book or characters be a link to a preview of the next issue. Heck, if you set up creator/author/artist pages right, you can have an “subtle” way of linking fans of one book to things that they would also want to buy.

Also, everything that currently in print? There should be a “Buy It Now!” icon. Not a tiny, blend-in-to-the-background “Subscribe to your favorite comics” down at the bottom of the page. That’ll also be really easy to transition to digital pamphlets when the time comes and the color ebook readers are ready.

Just because classic print comics and “webcomics” as I define them are different animals, doesn’t mean they can’t take lessons from each other about what works in terms of monetizing web content.

(On the odd chance someone official reads this and goes ahead with this idea, I’d also love to see a Showcase volume of my dad’s work from the 70s and 80s, particularly ‘Mazing Man. Also, a pony.)
 

Where Have All The Editors Gone?

Where Have All The Editors Gone?

  • News
  • October 8, 2008

Something is going on in comic books. Have you noticed? It’s been happening for a few years now. For some reason, certain comics are not making sense with the rest of the established universe and history. For some reason, things that don’t make sense have been running rampant throughout the fictional realities of DC and Marvel.

Have you noticed it? Sure you have. I’m not the only one, right?

Have you checked out DC Decisions #2? It’s very interesting. Guy Gardner is on Earth rather than Oa. And Power Girl is around instead of still trapped on the new Earth-2. Does this story take place before the current JSA storyline? Or afterward? It would be nice to be told in a brief footnote.

Then there’s the recent Hawkman Special where Carter Hall was told that his memories of being the Ancient Egyptian Prince Khufu were a lie and it basically was said that Khufu couldn’t have existed. Okay, um, wait a second. Black Adam and the wizard Shazam were both there and lived alongside Khufu. And the JSA actually went on a time travel mission a couple of years ago and worked with Khufu against a younger Vandal Savage. How can all of that be explained by false memories? Has the entire JSA been infected with identical delusions?

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Robin in Media

Robin in Media

  • News
  • October 2, 2008

So if you checked our site yesterday faithful readers, you know that the CW has given the green light to a new live action series to replace Smallville (or join it if it continues for a ninth season). This series, The Graysons, woud focus on the life of young Richard John Grayson (called DJ in the show), who many of us know will grow up to become the first hero called Robin.

Whether you think such a show can work or not, it’s undeniable that Robin is a household name, partly due to his contant appearances in various media.  And that’s not even considering the fact that he’s gone through quite an evolution in comics, uniquely so compared to many other super-heroes.

In DC Comics, Richard John Grayson, known to everyone as "Dick", was a circus acrobat along with his parents. The Flying Graysons were a famous act in the traveling Haley Circus. But during a stay in Gotham City, a protection racket organized by mobster Tony Zucco tried to get money out of the circus owner. When he refused, the trapeze was sabotaged and Dick’s parents fell to their deaths in front of a live audience. The audience included Bruce Wayne, secretly the Batman, who took in the adolescent boy and aided him in bringing Zucco to justice.

Dick was a natural due to his inherent talen and years of training in athletics and acrobatics. This, along with his heart and determination, allowed him to pursuade the Batman that he was worthy of staying on as a full-time apprentice and, later, a partner. Wearing a costume that emulated his old circus outfit, Dick called himself "Robin." Originally, it was said this was because he was styling himself on Robin Hood. In later years, it would be said that "Robin" had actually been his mother’s nickname for him, either because he was born on the first day of spring or because as a child he never sat still and was constantly  "bop-bop-boppin’ around." Part of the reason he was called Robin and not given a serious super-hero name was because back in the 1940s, sidekicks were only given nicknames so that the writers would be able to save any cooler titles only for more serious super-heroes.

Over the years, Dick proved himself to be a formidable hero and a gifted detective, becoming leader of the original Teen Titans. As he entered adulthood, he was no longer satisfied being viewed as Batman’s kid sidekick and believing that the Dark Knight did not give him enough credit, he left Gotham to carve out his own life. Eventually, inspired by a story Superman had told him of a Kryptonian hero, Dick returned to his super-hero role under the new name of "Nightwing", an identity he has kept for nearly twenty five years now. He is well-respected in the hero community and was even made leader of the Justice League for a short time. And whenever Batman needs him, this black-clad acrobatic avenger is willing to return to Gotham to help out.

That’s the comics. What about his appearances in film and television?

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The Weekly Haul: Comics Reviews for July 17, 2008

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

A couple disappointments and a near no-show from DC aside, this was a pretty good week in comics, especially outside of the mainstream superheroes.

Still, this week more than anything is just a little whisper, as all eyes are on San Diego for next week’s Comic-Con. All the same, books came out, so on to the reviews…

Book of the Week: Mice Templar #5 — This series started out as a fairly typical fantasy story, albeit told with mice and featuring a violent edge.

Last issue, it started becoming clear that writer Bryan J.L. Glass was veering away from the expected route of the young protagonist realizing his great destiny and triumphing over evil.

This issue, any and all signs of the archetypal fantasy narrative have been thrown clear out the door. Paradigms change in a big way for Karic, and to write anything about it would be to spoil the fun.

Mike Oeming is once again top-notch on art, and really the only question left is how many times the creative team can keep raising the bar.

Runners Up:

Captain America #40 and Ghost Rider #25 — Marvel had two superhero winners this week, with very different very good issues. Ghost Rider starts out slow, continuing the retrospective storyline of Johnny Blaze in jail. Zadkiel’s manipulations continue, and things build to a hellacious conclusion, highlighted by Blaze literally using the Bible as a weapon. Only Jason Aaron could make that work.

Cap sees the big fight between Bucky and the new impostor (the old Nomad), but the real bout to watch is that between Sharon and the Red Skull’s daughter. Ed Brubaker uses his skil with pacing to tell both stories at once, using each to heighten the drama of the other. And the ending? An out-and-out punch in the stomach moment.

Omega the Unknown #10 — The weirdest Marvel series in a good, long while finally ends, with Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple taking a bow with a nearless wordless denouement that comes straight out of David Lynch’s oddball mind. It’s a fitting conclusion to the series, which was enigmatic for the whole trip.

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ComicMix Six: Greatest Joker Victories

ComicMix Six: Greatest Joker Victories

  • News
  • July 16, 2008

Sometimes the villain wins.

Sure, you might stick them in jail — or an asylum — for what they’ve done. You could even throw them off a rooftop, leaving them paralyzed for life. But that won’t change the fact that they already did it. They scored a victory, even if it was short-lived.

The Joker is definitely a villain with a better track record than most. Lex Luthor may have become President and nearly destroyed Superman a few times. But he never killed Lois Lane or tortured Ma and Pa Kent. The Clown Prince of Killers, however, has had quite a few shining moments.

What drives this evil mass murderer? Some have claimed the chemicals which altered his pigmentation also damaged his brain. Some have claimed he suffered such psychological trauma and simply snapped. Some believe his brain actually acts on a higher level of perception, forcing him to operate with a logic we simply aren’t equipped to understand. Half of his crimes seem to be a way of trying to bring Batman to his own way of thinking, that there is no hope in the world, only chaos.

The fact that we can argue about the Joker’s sanity (or lack thereof) is part of what makes him so interesting. And so, with the release of The Dark Knight — and the Joker — looming near, we’ve sifted through the long and bloody history of the Harlequin of Hate to find those victories which stand out above the rest. Steel your nerves and enjoy ComicMix Six: The Six Greatest Joker Victories.

And if you’re interested, you may want to check out our related article, 11 Batman Stories to read before The Dark Knight.

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Comic Reality Bytes, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • June 19, 2008

Samuel Keith Larsen recently popped me a question on my message board that I found interesting:

“Remember back in the Death Of Captain Marvel, where Rick Jones asked the Avengers why they haven’t discovered a cure for cancer? To this day, given all the magic and super-science, there hasn’t been any good answer for why cancer hasn’t been cured in the Marvel Universe. If you were asked to write a story dealing with that topic, how would you answer the question?”

Well, I’d note that Captain Marvel was dead but seems to be feeling better these days. Same with Bucky. However, that’s beside the point – and the question being asked.

As I answered the question on my board, if I was approached to write a story such as Sam described, I’d probably not cure cancer but use the story to explore the problems with curing cancer and why finding a cure is so difficult. The question asks really about continuity – if Mr. Fantastic is so freakin’ smart, why can’t he cure cancer? Or AIDS? It begs the issue of consistency.

For me, there is a larger issue and it gets back to the basic purpose of storytelling – all storytelling, to a greater or lesser degree. As the rector at my church, the (sometimes) Reverend Phillip Wilson, has often put it, stories are the atoms of our society. We use them to tell, share, compare, illustrate, defend, and maintain our lives, our experiences, who we are as individuals, as communities, even as a nation.

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