Tag Archives: batman
A Cornucopia of Batmen
As if I wasn’t already excited enough for Arkham City to be released this fall, we now have a wonderful image of various suits available for Batman to wear as he cracks skulls and breaks legs. It’s my understanding that these will be available via various pre-order promotions. Unfortunately, few details have been revealed as to where you need to pre-order the game from in order to get your favorite suit.
I’m personally a huge fan of the Batman Beyond and The Dark Knight Returns skins. Which is your favorite? Do you like it enough to let it influence your decision as to where you purchase the game?
New Arkham City Footage
You know that I couldn’t let something this awesome go without mention. New Arkham City footage has been released that focuses mainly on the Penguin but we also get treated to a juiced up Solomon Grundy. (For those who didn’t know, he was born on a Monday.)
With as awesome as this game is going to be, you know that there will be a third installment. How will they even come close to being able to top Arkham City?
SD#2 The Zohner Show
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:12:05 — 66.0MB) | Embed
We have apologies to the wife, Zuke goes SQUEE, Zohner takes over, and we really REALLY like Green Lantern. Special thanks to everyone who gave feedback last time (be it on Twitter, Facebook, email, or the comments); we tried to follow a lot of what you suggested. Let us know how we’re doing by the comments below, the feeds to the right, or [email protected]
Hosts:
Zuke, Schmidty, Stark, Zohner
Topics:
April Fools – Gmail Motion, Toshiba Spectacle, 1996 Hulu, 35mm digital film, Nathan Fillion cancels Castle.
PSA – You may be getting a lot of emails that are trying to steal from you!
Sony’s Playstation Home Network becomes all Italian.
Miscrosoft makes pigs fly. Then the FTC joins in on the fun!
The death of the cloud begins; Grooveshark pulled from Android Market.
Green Lantern is so awesome it makes Zuke squee.
Gary Oldman really sucks at being subtle or coy.
Can DC be Captain America, or will they just be Wolverine?
Netflix is now buying first run syndication rights to TV series.
Tesla sues over review from Top Gear, apparently didn’t realize they were on Top Gear.
SpaceX announces the Falcon Heavy rocket. Not as cool as the USS Red Greene.
Halo Mutiplayer Voice is not who you’d think. And you can get more of his soundclips!
If you’re a big fan of Lady Gaga AND Vulcans . . . good for you, I guess?
Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts
So Many Comics, So Little Time
In 1993 my dad gave me three copies of Superman #75. Two of these were the “black bag” variant that contained assorted goodies and a variant cover all encased in a black poly bag with a bleeding Superman logo on the front. The third copy was the widely available basic newsstand version. In addition to the individual issues, he also gave me The Death of Superman trade paperback which contained the 11 comics detailing the entire Death of Superman storyline. Growing up, I was always been a fan of comic books but I hadn’t read them with any sort of regularity since I was in grade school so I was a bit surprised by this present but I was still grateful and excited nonetheless. Little did my dad know that his seemingly simple gift would send me down the long path to becoming a comic book geek.
After reading The Death of Superman, I couldn’t seem to get enough. Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding had me hooked on Superman. I kept reading the storyline knowing that nobody in comics stays dead (except for Bucky but he’s back now too) and I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I started a weekly hold at the local comic book store and was soon deeply immersed in the world of Superman.
About the same time as Superman was being killed off, Gotham City was facing a new villain named Bane who would eventually break Batman’s back in the Knightfall storyline. The guy at the comic book store gave me a synopsis of what had been happening and I immediately fell in love with the idea of yet another hero facing a force greater than he. I was also fascinated by the idea of a normal person with no superpowers whatsoever fighting crime. Batman was a character that I could relate with – he was smart and had cool toys. While nobody could be Superman, anybody could be Batman given the proper training and resources. I decided that I needed to follow the adventures of Superman and Batman so I added the various Batman titles to my weekly hold.
I believe that there were four Superman titles and four Batman titles being published at the time. The comic shop would get their shipment on Friday afternoons so every Friday night after work I’d stop by and pick up my comics for the week and then spend the evening in my room reading them. Since I was only reading eight titles regularly, my haul would usually be limited to two issues but, on occasion, there would be a special one-shot or variant cover that I would also pick up. It wasn’t long before I realized that there was a enormous universe of superheroes that I was missing out on. Apparently Superman was my gateway comic. I was soon picking up more than 10 titles per week. The artwork was so amazing and the storylines were so compelling that I couldn’t get enough. Add the fact that the comic book guy would tell me about titles that I might like and I was never short on reading material.
In February of 1995 I left on a two year mission to South Africa for the LDS Church. Before I left, Comic Book Guy offered to keep my hold going so that I would be able to catch up on things when I got home but I knew that two years worth of comic books was a lot so I declined his offer. While I was in Africa, I would occasionally see a rack of comics in a bookstore but, knowing that I was out of the loop, I would resist the urge to pick up a few issues. I figured that when I got home, I’d be able to start collecting again and that I could pick up the back issues over time. I was wrong.
Shortly after arriving back in the States, I met my wife and realized that there was no way that I could support my comic book habit and keep her happy so something had to go. It obviously wasn’t her. Over the past few years, I’ve started getting back into collecting comics but nothing like before. She has decided that it’s OK for me to start a hold again but only if I limit myself to one title per month. I’ve chosen Star Wars Legacy as my monthly fix but I’ve also started getting digital copies of older issues that I read on my computer.
I decided a few weeks ago that I needed to get caught up on all of my comic reading for the last 14 years so I’ve been acquiring various back issues from the DC Universe so that I know what’s been happening to my favorite heroes. The fact that my sister is also a comic geek has helped me too because she also gets the trade paperbacks and lets me borrow them as needed.
Right now I’m reading Crisis on Infinite Earths from 1985 and will soon start reading old issues of The Flash dating back to 1987 and Green Lantern from who knows when. I’ll eventually pick up where I intended to, which is just after Zero Hour, but I just can’t seem to focus on just one hero or storyline. It’s funny because I figured that I would just read the collections but it’s turning out to be entire comic runs. I dare say that I’ll be spending hours and hours trying to get caught up. Maybe I should have never canceled my hold…
New Arkham Asylum Videos
A few new videos detailing some of the rogues that we’ll be fighting inside Arkham in the new game, Batman: Arkham Asylum have been released. The first is of Bane who looks totally awesome. (I’ve always liked Bane but I think it was cheap how he wore down Batman before fighting him in Knightfall.)
Next up we have footage of Harley Quinn. It would appear that she has whored herself up a bit from her days on Batman The Animated Series.
Man, this looks like it’s going to be a great game.
So Very Awesome
Saturday Morning Video makes it’s triumphant return with one of the coolest things that you will witness this weekend. For those who are unfamiliar with the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum game, where have you been? This looks to be one of the best video games ever. I can’t remember a game that I have looked forward to as much as I am this one.
To the developers of this game, you’re beyond awesome! You’re… be-awesome!
Who Won The Battle Of Summer Blockbusters?
I love comic books and I love movies so naturally, I’m a big fan of movies based on comic books. There is no doubt that this summer was enough to make many a geek wet themselves with delight.
Talk to the hand
The summer started off with a giant crimson and gold bang as Iron Man dominated theaters to the tune of $318,219,154. Not too bad for a movie about a dysfunctional millionaire with a really cool suit. Despite the fact that I think that Tony Stark is a giant douche bag in the comics, especially after Marvel’s Civil War, there’s no doubt that Robert Downey Jr. was flat out amazing. Throw in a nice cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury that set up the upcoming Avengers project, and this provided much geek glee.
Next up we had Speed Racer, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and Indiana Jones and the Something About Aliens. I didn’t see Speed Racer because I fear having epileptic seizures. I don’t have epilepsy but the trailers were enough to keep me away. Plus, I’m not a big Speed Racer fan. Narnia was good, albeit a bit long and Indy was further proof that George Lucas is going insane. It should be noted though that I will be buying both Narnia and Indy because I am a geek and really enjoyed both movies.
Hulk contemplate the complexities of life.
Once the pre-summer blockbusters were out of the way, we were treated to Edward Norton getting all green and smashy in The Incredible Hulk which, surprisingly, did not suck. It even made a respectable $134,518,390 at the box office. I didn’t expect much from this film given the fact that Ang Lee’s The Hulk made me want to jump off of a bridge. That was a bad movie. The sequel, not so much. I may even end up buying it on DVD. Plus, there was a cameo by Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as Tony Stark. In case you forgot, it set up the previously mentioned upcoming Avengers project. There is also some alleged footage that was cut at the last minute that showed Captain America. It’s purpose? To set up the upcoming Captain America movie.
Between The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight, which let’s face it, is probably one of the best movies in the history of movies, we saw the release of Wanted, Hancock, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. I didn’t see Hancock but the other two were good movies. To be honest though, at this point in the summer, I was just waiting for Batman to beat the crap out of some bad guys.
"I've never felt this way towards a psychopath before"
July 18 will go down as the day that the best superhero movie of all time opened. Yes, I’m talking about The Dark Knight. I’ve already reviewed this so I won’t do it again here but this movie is two hours and thirty two minutes of pure awesome. When all was said and done, it brought in $521,890,027 making it one of the most successful movies in history. With a re-release planned for Oscar season, who knows how much this movie will end up making.
We were also treated to The X-Files 2: I Want to Believe and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I didn’t see X-Files. Not because I don’t want to, but because I was too busy. I’m sure I’ll eventually watch it though. For my thoughts on The Clone Wars, read my review. Needless to say, with a box office take of only $34,477,361, I don’t think I was the only one mildly disappointed by it.
This all got me to thinking, who came out on top this summer? Obviously DC Comics did well with The Dark Knight but Marvel had two offerings that were really good. OK, one that was really good, one that was awesome. However, Marvel set up future projects and actually did what the comics do in showing that these characters don’t live in a vacuum. With Thor, Captain America, The Avengers, an Iron Man sequel, and two Spiderman sequels all in the works, I think that Marvel is going to prove to be the big winner in this summer’s box office battles. With the cameos and the upcoming movies that they were able to set up, every geek should be jumping for joy. Now if only DC could pull of the same thing with the much rumored Justice League movie…
Really?
The next Catwoman?
From the Batman III, aka The Caped Crusader, casting rumors department: According to Telegraph.co.uk, Angelina Jolie may not be Christopher Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman in the next installment of the Batman franchise. His first choice is none other than Cher. What? Really? Was Bea Arthur not available? Somebody is obviously very, very high.
A studio executive said: “Cher is Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years.”
I have no idea how the 62 year old drag queen idol is on the short list for this part. Catwoman personifies sexuality and athleticism. Apparently Angelina Jolie falls short in these categories when compared to Cher. Obviously Nolan is living in 1972 when Cher had mass commercial appeal. And wasn’t 62 years old. Oh right, they’re going for a “twilight years” effect.
“The new Catwoman will be the absolute opposite of Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry’s purring creations.”
Well, I guess if that’s what they’re going for, Cher certainly fits the bill. When I think of Michelle Pfeiffer’s opposite, I suppose that Cher would come to mind. Honestly though, I try really hard to not think of Michelle Pfeiffer’s opposite because cave trolls and midgets tend to fill my imagination.
Seriously though, can you imagine Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne hooking up with Cher in a Catwoman outfit? Maybe in Bizarro World but this is Gotham, not Metropolis. Crap like that just doesn’t happen. Wouldn’t she be at high risk for breaking a hip or something? Imagine Catwoman jumping from rooftop to rooftop at 3.5 miles per hour in a Jazzy. Instead of a whip, she can use the tubes from her oxygen tanks.
I’m going on the record now and saying that this had better be a joke. Yes. This is all a cruel joke worthy of the Joker. Let’s pretend that these “talks” haven’t happened and that Kate Beckinsale will be donning the Catwoman outfit. That way we can all sleep at night.
Where Have All The Special Features Gone?
Next Tuesday, the biggest blockbuster of the year will make it’s triumphant DVD debut. This film also happens to be a geek-friendly movie based on one of the coolest super heroes in history. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m talking about The Dark Knight. This is one DVD that will be making it’s way into my collection.
I have a major gripe over the way that movie studios have been screwing people that buy DVDs over the past few years. When DVDs first started hitting the market, they were advertised as having super cool bonus features including deleted scenes, commentaries, trailers, bloopers, featuretes, etc. DVDs were a gold mine for the movie lover that enjoys useless information in documentary form. Those days are now gone, and I don’t even blame the introduction of Blu-Ray discs. I blame greedy movie stuidos that know that movie geeks will pay extra for this stuff.
The Dark Knight DVD release is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Warner Brothers decided that there will be single-DVD releases in both widescreen and full-screen. These will have the movie. Um… OK. It wasn’t that long ago that the single-disc version would be a veritable cornucopia of extras. If you want any of those, you’ll have to upgrade to the twice as expensive two-disc DVD. This will include:
That may seem like a lot but guess what? Regular DVD player owners are getting screwed. The Blu-Ray version comes with all of the above plus the following:
My question is this: what does everyone think of how movie studios enticed us into the DVD market by offering all manner of sweetness only to move said sweetness to multi-disc versions of the film? I can understand it but I hate it. And for those of us who hate Sony and refuse to buy their products, what about giving us über versions of regular DVDs a la The Lord of the Rings? Is that really too much to ask? We used to get these things for the price of a DVD and now we don’t and that just pisses me off.