Adam West's Batman Surfs Onto DVD!

Well this is POP! BAM! WOW!  Today on their blog, DC Comics announced via Conan O'Brien's twitter feed that the 1960s Batman TV show starring Adam West & Burt Ward is finally coming to DVD.  It's about frickin' time, right?  It's been a long, tedious conversation involving various rights issues and I honestly thought the day would never come.  Last year saw some headway as licensing deals between Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox were struck in order to produce Hot Wheels, Action Figures, Barbies, and statuettes.  If they could play nice over toys, I guess the inevitable home video release was not too far behind.  But the question remains, will anyone buy a copy after decades of comic convention bootlegging?  I sure hope so.

Not too long ago, when Frank Miller's Dark Knight & Tim Burton's Caped Crusader were the tough new reality of costume crime fighting, it was cool to hate on the pop art of Adam West.  But times are a changing, the world of nerdom is stretching, and thanks to folks like Kevin Smith & Grant Morrison, Adam West can be cool again.  Like most kids my age, I adored the show in my youth but grew apart when my cynical teens kicked in.  It took my friend Robert to reintroduce me to the joys of the Dynamic Duo.  He snagged one of those bootlegs a few years back and we paired a couple Julie Newmar episodes with Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin for a Movie Night.  His intense love for the Dayglo Cowl opened my eyes; the great thing about Batman is that he can support every kind of genre.  We all love Miller's neck cracking badass and Bruce Timm's noir avenger, but we're not too cool to enjoy the silly of King Tut or the weird of Book Worm.  West's Batman explored the insanity of comics.  The lark of it.  And it's an essential part of the characters history.

No word yet on an actual release date, but let's hope it's sooner rather than later.  And let's also hope there is some massive, ridiculous box set in the shape of a William Shakespeare bust to sit on my mantel.  Wanna get nuts?  Let's get nuts.  Hope The Wife isn't watching too closely because I'm going to spend every last dime on "Holy Memorabilia, Batman!"  Until then, let's enjoy some brief Bat-Clips.

--Brad

Dork Art: The Evolution of Batman

Terrifying, I know.  Artist Anthony Geoffroy shows us the horrifying evolution of the Batman movie franchise through a series of creepy ass caricatures.  The George Clooney brings the largest smile to my face and the Val Kilmer scares me the most.  You can find them at the Behance Network.

--Brad

Dork Art: Batman Meets The Dark Knight Returns

Oh yeah.  Genius.  The Burt Ward era Robin meets the Frank Miller era Dark Knight.  Terror ensues.  Thanks to artist Marco D'Alfonso.

--Brad

Brad's Week In Dork! (7/1/12-7/7/12)

This week finished up the Bat-Mania that I started with last week.  Man, Joel Schumacher.  Yer one strange fella.  And Burton, yer not much better.  But my favorite bit of Bat Dorkery I accomplished this week was Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated.  I can't believe it, but I'm all caught up on his books and I'm ready to dive back into the monthlies.  Again, this is The Brave & The Bold told deadpan.  It's not gonna be for everybody but for those ready & willing Morrison's mad run is pure bliss.

Other stuff this week was just random.  Yeah.  Saw The Amazing Spider-Man.  Yet another Summer Movie I found to be tremendously disappointing.  The friends I saw it with seemed to dig it, but I gave it a big meh.  And I concluded the week with Brave.  It was really good, but it also was no UP.

But really everything I did this week was just a distraction from the approaching San Diego Comic Con trip.  It's so close I can almost taste it.

TV OF THE WEEK!

Batman - The Animated Series Season 2:  The show only gets better in the second season.  With episodes like "Night of the Ninja" and "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne" the character of Batman is expanded in a way not seen in the original five Bat films.  But my favorite ep is "Almost Got 'Im," in which Batman's Rogues share tales of near Bat-Murder.  It's goofy and silly and kinda sad.  But Season 2 is still not the genius that Season 3 will eventually reveal.  I love this show, but it's not till 3 where I can honestly claim that Bruce Timm's Batman is the best Batman.

MOVIES OF THE WEEK!

Batman Forever:  So much neon. And you know you're in trouble when The Fab Knight's first words in the film are, "I'll get drive thru." After the lukewarm public response to the perceived "darkness" of Tim Burton's second film (what crack were they smokin?), Warner Brothers dumped Bats into the nipple-suited brain of Joel Schumacher. Now, if you're in a particularly goofy Adam West kinda mood than you can have some silly fun here with Tommy Lee Jones & Jim Carrey's loud and screechy interpretations of a couple of Bats' most notorious rogues, but if yer craving Nolan or even Burton than you shouldn't bother. I do think Val Kilmer could have been a solid Batman in a more serious vein and Nicole Kidman is lovely...but soooooo much Neon!

The Amazing Spider-Man:  In just ten years we Spidey geeks have been blessed (or cursed) with three goofy Sam Raimi-helmed Web Heads and now one Marc Webb reboot. That's a lot of wall crawling and a lot of disappointment for this filmgoer. The latest cinematic entry rushes through the origin despite adding some mysterious Parker parent hullabaloo that never builds into anything serious as the film is just another CGI punch-em up with a big green bad guy. Andrew Garfield is kinda great in the suit, finally adding some much needed Spidey fight monologuing, but his Peter Parker is mostly an asshole to his family and friends when he's not being over-emo awkward with Emma Stone and her constant knee high socks. And James Horner's score? It definitely matches the banality of the script.

Inception:  Our Man Leo and his Dreamscape Rat Pack infiltrate the fantasies of Corporate Muckety Muck Cillian Murphy on the behest of the other Corporate Muckety Muck Ken Watanabe; much subconscious gunplay to duck & dodge. "The Mind is the Scene of the Crime." It's a cool concept. And it's well executed and performed. I absolutely love fellow thieves Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt--they should have a half hour buddy cop romcom. And it's amazing how Marion Cotillard can be absolutely lovely one moment and then completely, disgustingly terrifying the next. However, I never really did connect to the emotions or even the narrative goals of Leonardo DiCaprio's character.  For me, Inception is more about the execution than the character arcs.

Batman Returns:  Depending on my mood, I often feel that this is the superior Tim Burton Batflick.  Here Michael Keaton feels a little more Batmanesque with his stance, pauses, and terse language. There's a lot of duality at play in the flick; Danny DeVito's Oswald Cobblepot is a mirror for Bruce Wayne, and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman does the same thing for Batman. And I love, love, love Christopher Walken's Citizen Kane-like Max Shreck--definitely the uber-villain of the piece. But the film is very Burton, Burton! Gothy exaggerated sets and characters, and if yer not into that than stay away.

The Adventures of Tintin:  A light, whimsical adventure story from a Steven Spielberg I once thought lost somewhere in the late 1980s. Imagine a slightly more childish incarnation of Indiana Jones wrapped in the fetishistic craft of mo-cap animation. Jaime Bell is a stunning Tintin and Daniel Craig has the perfect voice for the evil, bearded pirate descendant. Not sure this film has enough weight to go down as a classic, but it's certainly a popcorn fueled joyous night at the movies.

Matinee:  Joe Dante does what he does best, celebrates B-Movies and the art of William Castle in this Cuban Missile Crisis set coming of age tale. John Goodman is the Castle-esque Lawrence Woolsey who's traveled down to Key West to premiere his nuclear horror film MANT! Part Man! Part Ant! He's MANT! But he's really just a supporting player in the background as kid actors Simon Fenton and Omri Katz attempt to navigate their budding sexuality and the chaotic spazzing of fear loving grown ups. The A Story is fun enough, but this dork found the most pleasure in the B Movie references and cameos. And as always, more Dick Miller please.

Justice League - The New Frontier:  Based on Darwyn Cooke's utterly brilliant maxi-series of the same name, Justice League - The New Frontier is easily the best film from the modern wave of DC Animated direct-to-dvds. Not just an origin of the most famous super team, The New Frontier explores the birth of DC Comics set in the appropriate Silver Age of 1953. The Korean War has come to a close: Hal Jordan attempts to recover from that horror by diving into his speed demon test pilot persona, the Martian Manhunter arrives on Earth, Batman contemplates a more kid-friendly costume, and Superman struggles with his role in government. But all that is small potatoes when the mysterious being known as The Center plots global destruction. Besides being one of the most epic narratives, The New Frontier also succeeds in capturing the retro vibe of artist Darwyn Cooke.  And that in itself is worth consumption.  If you love comics and super hero films than you really must experience The New Frontier.

The Villain:  "Piss on the white man." Kirk Douglas is a goofball bank robber in pursuit of Ann Margaret's Charming Jones and her asexual guardian Arnold Schwarzenegger. Horribly awkward with its old man humor and loony tunes pratfalls, The Villain is a film you enjoy as an oddity more than a quality Western. Seriously, if you're a fan of the slide whistle sound effect and sped up frame rate hijinks than this is the film for you--uh, does such a Comedy Western fanboy exist? I really can't understand what the state of the world must have been like in 1979 where a film such as this could be considered as passable entertainment--a fascinating history lesson.  Check out more confused rambling over at cineAWESOME!

Batman - The Movie:  Cheese! Pure, glorious cheese! For part of me, Batman will always be the late Nick At Night reruns of this classic camp Caped Crusader. The film is a little rambling and a tad overlong, but they had to cram in ALL your favorite rogues to propel against rich boys Adam West and the young Burt Ward. And in some glorious future the lawyers will get all the rights issues for the TV show squared away and we can bask in the glory of Vincent Price's Egghead.  But until then we've got this theatrical gem. Classic bits of "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" and Shark Repellant Bat Spray and "Yo Ho!" Hydrating goons really make this silly flick watchable. Biff! Plop! Krack! And, yeah, this is still my favorite Batmobile design.

Brave:  Pixar's first Princess is a fiery haired warrior not interested in giving out her hand to the strongest brute in the kingdom, and when her feminist ideals clash with her mother's unwavering traditions it's going to take some serious celtic magic to keep the kingdoms from erupting into war. Possibly one of the most beautiful films produced by Pixar and saddled with some of my favorite voice talents, Brave doesn't quite reach the levels of Up, The Incredibles, or Finding Nemo but it is an exciting adventure story not often seen in contemporary animation. It's got the laughs. It's got the song. But it's also got a giant ass scary one-eyed bear that feels like he's charged right outta a Don Bluth nightmare. And that's awesome.

COMICS OF THE WEEK!

Batman Incorporated:  Grant Morrison's insane Silver Age love affair has all been building to this James Bondesque bit of insanity exploding from Bruce Wayne's Days of Future Past vision...or, rather, his ever inflating ego. Batman has gone global. Gotham City is too damn small and Wayne needs a Bat in every major city on the planet. Japan, you get Mr. Unknown. Argentina - El Gaucho. The Lakota tribe has Man-Of-Bats & Raven. The International Batmen is too dang bonkers not to be based in classic comics and Grant Morrison is My Hero for re-introducing this weirdo idea back into the mythos; where fanboys might be screaming for The Dark Knight Returns over and over again, Morrison is gonna show you the fun of Mighty Lord Death Man (well, he's actually kinda terrifying) or even the Adam West era. You wanna get nuts, let's get nuts.

Fatima - The Blood Spinners #1:  Yeah. So. There is something extremely compelling about the art of Gilbert Hernandez. I cannot quite put my finger on what it is about his style that immediately draws me into the story, but that’s just what happens. Fatima centers around a future society in which a drug called Spin turns good citizens into crazed, raccoon eyed zombies. And Fatima is the government agent sent in to brutally execute the junkies. Not really sure about the story yet, but I certainly love Hernandez’s depictions of blood and brains exiting the zombie noggins. Weird book, but I’ll keep going.

Hawken #4:  I’m still really enjoying Ben & Tim Truman’s weird Western. It’s the closest thing we’ve had to a Joe Lansdale scripted Jonah Hex in quite some time.  Miss that totally Mojo mini series.  Sigh...anyway.  Hawken is still plagued by the ghosts of his kills, but he’s now bedded the evil celestial from the previous issue thanks to the ground up bones of mermaids. Gross. Similar in effect even if it’s wildly different than Gilbert Hernandez’s style, Tim Truman’s art is beautifully ugly and every now and again a panel will punch me smack dab in the eyeballs. Wonderfully strange adventure reading.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #12:  I was kinda hoping we were gonna finally get that meeting between Aunt May and Miles Morales but it looks like we’re going to have to wait for a while. Cuz right now Miles is too busy beating the hell outta his evil uncle Prowler. A good action book with a pretty fantastic ending--did not see that coming. And man, I’m really happy to be back on monthlies with this story.

ROAD TRIP PREPARATION OF THE WEEK!

The San Diego Comic Con:  Ok.  I'm just days away.  The Wife & I fly out on Tuesday, should be arriving around 10AM.  And I'm stoked.  Granted, it kinda sucks that I couldn't score a Four Day Pass for The Wife (she can only attend Thursday & Saturday) but we're both craving the fanboy madness tingles we experienced last year.  Once you drink from the Kool Aid there's no going back to a non Comic Con lifestyle.

Right now, as I type this, The Wife is scrambling to clean and pack our clothes.  I'm going over our checklist with a fine tooth comb.  Cannot forget a thing, but we always do.  And we're debating what panels are essential and what panels we can afford to miss.  And we also have to accept that we're not gonna see everything.  It's impossible.  But what is the dream?  What are the sights we're dying to see this year?

I think the panel I'm most excited to see is Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim.  I still hate that title, but the idea of Del Toro pitting Giant Robots against Giant Monsters...oh yeah, that gets me giddy.  And I really need something from GDT.  It's been too long and this fanboy has been surviving on scraps.

But Comic Con also promises Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, The Expendables 2, Iron Man 3, The Hobbit, Resident Evil 5, William Shatner's Get A Life, and Roger Corman's Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader.  And a Dredd screening Wednesday night to kick it all off.  Fingers crossed on that one, doubt I can make it happen but we'll try.

And The Exclusives!  I snagged a few last year (Gentle Giant's Movie Cap Bust, Entertainment Earth's Twilight Zone Bob Wilson, Dark Horse's Spider-Man/Peter Parker), but I might go a little crazy this year.  Or at least I'm going to give it a try.  I love the MAD Magazine Bats & Robin, but I think my favorite SDCC 2012 exclusive is the Blade 2 Blu Ray & Reaper bust.  And Gentle Giant also has a gorgeous Pale Man statue!  I don't know how I'll get it back to DC but that sure would look pretty in the office.

Then you've got Mondo up to their usual panic inducing tricks.  Looks like artists Olly Moss & Daniel Danger have been partnering up for some really weird Batman prints set to debut on the show floor.  Each print depicts The Batman perched atop a retail chain.  Beautifully weird with a little bit of fanboy commentary.  Don't know if I'll shell out the cash for these but I can't wait to see them at the booth.  And maybe score some other Mondo surprises and rarities.

Right now I'm just counting down the seconds until the plane touches San Diego soil.  Only doing 7 days in the city this year, but we've got a few other non-comic con adventures we want to attend.  And frankly, as much as I'm looking forward to the Con, I'm really just looking forward to a little break from this Virginia weather.  It's freaking sweltering here, and I could totally use some mid range California heat right about now.

I'm going to bring my laptop with me, but I still wouldn't expect a lot of posts from me this week.  If you want all the dirt on Comic Con 2012 though, I will be tweeting like a madman (as usual) from @MouthDork.

--Brad

Brad's Week In Dork! (6/24/12-6/30/12)

Wow.  So, The Wife was out of town for work all week and that left me to wallow in the loneliness of my DVD collection.  I choose to devote most of my dorkery to my childhood action idol, Arnold Schwarzenegger and I dove into a whole batch of movies I haven't seen in quite some time.  You know I watch Commando and Predator on a fairly regular basis (along with The Terminator), but it's not too often that I crank into Red Heat and Raw Deal.  Great pleasure was found in watching Arnie go Barbarian and cuddle up with Kelly Preston.

But I guess the real big news this week was the derecho that tore apart Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia.  I was hard at work when it hit around 10:30 PM Friday night and I didn't really even notice anything until the lights went out.  On the car ride home I was dodging fallen trees left and right and several homes around me were struck by fallen branches.  Thankfully none of my friends and neighbors were hurt during the storm and the only real inconvenience was some power outage and the lack of the internet (hence my late WEEK IN DORK posting).  We can't really complain around here while that fire rages across Colorado.

Anyway, back to the Arnie madness...

MOVIES OF THE WEEK!

There Was A Crooked Man:  "The date for your hanging has not been set. In the meantime, obey the rules." Kirk Douglas outcharms all others as "The Son of a Bitch" outlaw imprisoned on account of a whorehouse peephole. His moral clash with Henry Fonda's warden is goofy and jovial, but the climax reveals a mean bastard behind the scalawag's smile and the cutesy comedy score simply masks the cynical ideals of a 1970s Western. A great cast lead by two of Hollywood's greatest talents, do not let this film remain forgotten.  Read more of my Crooked Man ramblings over at cineAWESOME!

Commando:  Easily one of the most gratuitously violent and ridiculous action films of the 1980s, Commando is Arnold Schwartznegger at his rip-roaringly butt-kickin' best. When people talk about their favorite One Man Army action heroes and they don't mention John Matrix, then they don't know what the hell they are talking about. But a film is only as good as its villains and John Matrix has a blast butchering his way through slimy David Patrick Kelly, meaty Bill Duke, marble-mouthed Dan Hedaya, and fashion expert Vernon Welles. "Let Off Some Steam" indeed. And yep, that climactic assault on The Island!?! Arnie must kill 80 to 100 evil mercenaries. Shootings. Necks slit. Chests stabbed. Arms hacked off. Explosions. Explosions. Explosions. Death Toll as pop art. Genius.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter:  This gimmick flick is straight B Movie territory and it's not nearly as silly as it should be, but there is an epic stampede battle in which horses are simultaneously used as weapons and platforms for axe wielding chop socky. So that's enough silly to enjoy. Writer Seth Grahame-Smith's screenplay barely connects the vampire hunter to the politician but if you just shrug your shoulders and go "OK" you'll have fun with the absurdity. And you gotta love a slo mo Confederate Vampire attack with the Gettysburg Address layered on as DRAMAtic narration. Plus, Mary Todd Lincoln gets her musket on.

Predator:  A shining beacon in the absurdist action cannon of Arnold Schwarzenegger.  This is the 80s equivalent of The Dirty Dozen plus an ugly mother from outer space.  These badass expendables include Carl Weather (Action Jackson!), Bill Duke (The Breakfast Green Beret!), Jesse Ventura (the other Governator!), Shane Black (the man wrote Monster Squad!), Sonny Landham (a real life crazy man!), and Richard Chaves (um...he's cool in Days of Our Lives...maybe?).  So much sweaty man muscle!  But the real star is Stan Winston's mandibled space man and the "Stick Around" one-liners.

Total Recall:  "I Am Quaid." The iconic action of Arnold Schwarzenegger meets the beautifully horrific ultra violence of Paul Verhoeven. Total Recall is a bloody, limb tossing science-fictiony action flick that might butcher the source material, but it doesn't really matter when you're having this much fun freeing Mars. Michael Ironside's spurned government assassin is a scenery chewing monstrosity and he really does rank as one of Arnie's best foils. And Ronny Cox hits the Robocop rewind playing another wonderfully skeezy corporate tool. And Marshall Bell's Stomach Man!!!! Yes! Total Recall is the best kind of over-the-top.

Red Heat:  "The Soviet Method is more economical." Reusing the comic buddy cop formula done so well on 48 Hours, director Walter Hill partners action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger with the SNL-lite Jim Belushi and it has all the smoke, neon, and explosive squibs you want from this kinda venture. Arnie's gargantuan Gumby is all kinds of goofy stern face and Belushi seems to take extra relish outta mocking his high wall hair and stilted foreign accent. But there's no breaking the Soviet. Ed O'Ross is a perfectly sleazy villain and shockingly scary. Maybe not the go-to classic like Predator, but Red Heat is essential viewing for fans of the Austrian. "I'm a holy man. I have no need for testicles."

Raw Deal:  "This must be what they mean by 'Poetic Justice'." Disgraced government agent Arnold Schwarzenegger is lured back into undercover work by G-Man Darren McGavin. Raw Deal is probably one of Arnie's most dramatic works but he doesn't let the narrative get in the way of brutal 80s action violence. The film drags a bit in the middle with awkward Robert Davi friendships and even more awkward drunken fumblings with muscle lover Kathryn Harrold. But the climactic machine gun shootout is EPIC and Arnie's ease with shotgunning mob goons in the back is grotesquely thrilling, especially when he dumps candy on their corpses. And you gotta love the crying suicidal terror he strikes in the hearts of scumbags.

The Running Man:  "This is a sport of Death & Honor! Code of the Gladiators!" Loosely based on a Stephen King (or Richard Bachman) novel, this classic Arnie cheese fest aims to please with its litany of goofy-cool stalkers (Jim Brown as Fireball! Jesse Ventura as Captain Freedom! Professor Toru Tanaka as Sub-Zero!). Made at the height of Schwarzenegger cool, squished right between the high art entertainment of Predator & Red Heat, The Running Man offers up some of Arnie's best worst one-liners: "Here's Sub-Zero, now Plain Zero!" "Have a light." "He had to split."  Good game show dystopian fun, and Richard Dawson is an amazing prick of a villain.

Conan The Barbarian:  A masterpiece of High Adventure, John Milius' Conan The Barbarian might not perfectly capture Robert E Howard's creation but it definitely ensnares the spirit of Frank Frazetta's iconic paintings. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a beast of a man, forced upon the Earth by James Earl Jones' thirst for steel and flesh. A brutal fantasy adventure that has not been matched despite many anemic attempts to capture the power of The Barbarian. And has Schwarzenegger ever been more perfect for a role? I think not.

Twins:  The result of a conveniently mysterious genetic experiment, Arnold Schwarzenegger is gifted with strength (soooooo many shots of his shirtless muscles) and brains (he likes reading - ooooooo) while Danny Devito is just a heap of the leftover crap. Separated at birth, the very 80s comedy comes from their eventual collision of philosophies and sizes. There's some thrown in action nonsense involving a suitcase full of cash and yet another mysterious bit of shiny technology. But the charm of this Ivan Reitman comedy comes from the goofy, silly cheer that radiate from Arnold's constant chuckling island born naivety. At the very least, Twins is a good palette cleanser after a marathon of violent Arnie action flicks.

The H-Man:  "Liquid Monster Dissolves Human!" Following similar themes as Godzilla but with less building smashing and more people puddles, The H-Man centers around a group of scientists and police officers attempting to restrain a living pool of goo slithering under the sewers of Tokyo. The film is filled with far too much chit chat and not enough puddle murder, but the puddle murder it does contain is heaps of drippy fun. A really strange flick that would be great to watch next to The Blob or THEM!

BATMAN MOVIE NIGHT!!!

Finished off the week with a spur of the moment Movie Party on Saturday night.  With a few minor exceptions, 2012 has been an infuriatingly abysmal year at the movies and I'm really hoping that The Dark Knight Rises is gonna kickstart a golden second half of the year where every weekend a new movie knocks my socks off.  And to properly prepare for the coming of Gotham's Reckoning I think it's necessary to explore the weirder and wonkier side of The Dark Knight.

After all the Silver Age lovefesting going on in Grant Morrison's run on Batman and the cartoony glory of The Brave & The Bold I was definitely craving some Adam West madness.  Thankfully, my buddy Robert had the show handy.

"The Purr-fect Crime" & "Better Luck Next Time":  This Catwoman two-parter sees the tightly fitted Julie Newmar snatching up some priceless Egyptian art and dumping the dynamic duo into her tiger pit.  You cannot properly understand the joys of Batman without witnessing the beauty of Adam West's endless utility belt.  Bats is not all about Frank Miller doom & gloom.  It's also about teaching Robin the importance of safety belts as well as foreign tongues. "Adios amigos."

Batman:  "I have given a name to my pain and it is Batman." It's been more than 20 years since Tim Burton's Batman busted the blocks of my childhood neighborhood and the blind excitement of seeing the brooding caped crusader on the big screen has definitely faded. Still, I really do love Jack Nicholson's violent makeover of Caesar Romero's maniacal clown prince of crime and you cannot deny the beauty of those Gotham sets & miniatures. And what a relief it is to see a superhero plot that jumps right into The Batman story; not messing about with routine character origins. Michael Keaton is a solid Bruce Wayne; his Bats is a little creaky but that just might be the fact that he can barely move in that rock hard rubber suit. Kim Bassinger is totally unnecessary and her love for the whacko millionaire is simply a clingy one-night-stand. And those Prince songs...I STILL LOVE 'EM!



Batman - The Brave & The Bold "Shadow of the Bat":  Another glorious oddity from the third and final season of the show.  The opening sees Batman & Robin swinging on jungle vines as they battle it out with Catwoman and her giant jaguar.  But the rest of the episode sees the Martian Manhunter and The Demon teaming up against a vampire Batman.  It's a typically crazy strange episode of the show that's shockingly dark after Alfred gets it in the neck.

Batman & Robin:  If you are going to enjoy the Schumacher Bat films in any shape or form than you really have to watch them in the context of the original Adam West show. It's a fabulously goofy and neon cheesefest with plenty of BIFF! THWAP! ZOINKS! (but no RAAAKKKKK!s) and if yer digging the craptastic vibe than Batman & Robin is far more entertaining than the similarly stupid Batman Forever with Arnie's endless string of WTF? puns--"Ice To See You!"--and the apishly stupid Bane "Bomb...bomb...bomb..." And you gotta appreciate how both Arnie and Uma Thurman commit themselves to these questionable comic book interpretations. Goofy crap, but it the mood hits you...see a doctor!

COMICS OF THE WEEK!

Batman - The Return of Bruce Wayne:  Batman R.I.P. Yeah, well we all knew that wasn't going to last. And it's kinda frustrating that Bruce Wayne has been tumbling around the timeline similarly to Ed Brubaker's Steve Rogers in Marvel's Rebirth and it's nowhere near as good as that and Rebirth wasn't all that hot.  Not to mention that my  memory of last year's Final Crisis is pretty weak at this point and I can't remember why or how Darkseid used Batman as a time bomb in the first place so some of the exposition in this book makes no darn sense to me. That being said, I love the old school whacky of a Caveman Batman, a Pirate Batman, a Cowboy Batman, a Noir Detective Batman. And all this crazy time jumping gives Grant Morrison some interesting opportunities to explore the Bat Apocalypse Madness he'd been building towards in Batman & Robin. Fun, but I'm glad Wayne's back and we can all just move on from here.

Spider-Men #2:  Peter Parker & Miles Morales finally clash in the Ultimate Universe and after some gee golly gosh Parker confusion and a serious spider sting, the plot of this latest mega event book reveals itself. There is at least one great confrontation between Black Nick Fury & Peter Parker and there is a pretty fantastic narrative reveal concerning the Ultimate Version of Mysterio that kinda rocked my geek brain; similar to the way Mysterio shocked me in Kevin Smith’s Daredevil run. Don’t dismiss ol’ Fish Bowl yet. Man, I’m really excited about the territories this mini series could take us.

Fatale #6:  The second arc in this horror noir jumps a few years into 1960s Hollywood with Josephine finding herself seemingly pulled back into the occult Nightmare. With movie stars and snuff films! After the climax of the first volume, this new direction seems a little bit of a let down but Brubaker is taking this story into another realm so that means more narrative build up. I’m along for the ride. And as usual, Sean Phillips’ art is stunning.

BPRD - Hell on Earth Exorcism: This looks like its going to be a fun two parter. Telling the story of two/maybe three exorcisms set during two different time periods (1890, Present Day) and three different locals (East Africa, Indiana, Mexico) writer Mike Mignola introduces us to another rookie Agent getting herself wrapped up in horrors way over her head. I love these little stories depicting the minor characters being affected by the larger Hell on Earth story. And who knows, this might eventually tie in to the greater plan being worked out in The Devil’s Engine.

Hit-Girl #1:  You know, I wasn’t going to buy this. I really did not love either of the Kick-Ass books and the idea of a story following the foul mouthed Mindy makes me roll my eyes a little. But dang, John Romita Jr’s art is sooooo good in these books. Never better. And he’s drawing some of the most vile and graphic depictions of beautiful violence. I cannot look away. I should probably wait for trade but I’m doing it in singles.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Century 2009:  Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neal bring the third volume of The LXG to a close and it is magnificent. For the last 100 years Mina Harker, Allan Quartermain, and Orlando have been trying to prevent occultist Oliver Haddo's birthing of the Anti-Christ. But it's 2009 and the Moon Child has already reached puberty and you'll never guess what childhood darling will bring about World's End? LXG remains a treasure trove for literary/cinematic geeks with cameos from several of our favorite James Bonds to a couple of Doctor Whos and, of course, our favorite time hopper Norton. And just like the last volume, Moore & O'Neal bring serious revelation to our characters but I really hope this is not the end of the saga. Time to take these characters into the future. I could read these adventure stories for the rest of my life.

Batman - Time and The Batman:  This collects the disposable Grant Morrison Batman issues #700 (“Time & The Batman”), 701 & 702 (“R.I.P. The Missing Chapter”), and 703 (“The Great Escape”). Frankly, the whole Missing Chapter business confuses the hell outta me and as I said earlier, I really do need to crack back into The Final Crises event before I can really comment on what the hell is really going on here. The Great Escape is meh. But I did enjoy the Time and The Batman anniversary tale that jumps between the Bruce Wayne of yore, Dick & Damien’s Batman & Robin, and the future dystopian nightmare of Damien Wayne’s Batman Death Wisher and his horrid collection of baddies (Two-Face 2…gross). And yeah, there’s some Batman Beyond references that are fun as well. Not an essential trade but if you’re reading through Grant Morrison’s run like I am than you gotta check it out.

ROAD TRIP OF THE WEEK!

(Photo Courtesy of ME!)

The Big Planet Comics Podcast #50:  On Wednesday, Matt & I drove down to Vienna for the live recording of the Big Planet Comics podcast.  They packed them in tight, filling every centimeter of the store with chairs for guests.  There was free soda!  Free cupcakes!  Free icing!  And Kevin, Jared, and Nick bantered wittily trying their darndest to act normal in front of the crowd.  They did their usual routine chatting on about the week's news and releases, and even if I was a little disappointed that the final chapter in LXG was not mentioned they did point me to a few books I'm gonna have to seek out - "Fatima The Blood Spinners" and "The Furry Trap."  I never did work up the courage to ask a question, but Matt got in some good airtime even if he wasted the opportunity to plug the blog--tsk tsk co dork.  All in all it was a wonderful way to spend a Wednesday night and I really do hope the boys do another show.

--Brad