Superman/Batman : Apocalypse Trailer
I’m just going to shut up and let this trailer speak for itself…
Secret Origin : The Story of DC Comics DVD
How can you not get excited for this?
Comicbookmovie.com recently posted about this DVD offering coming this November about the whole history of DC Comics. If they’re really transparent in this documentary (especially about the Alan Moore stuff, though I could understand if there are legal reasons that they would not be), this would put DC on the map and give them great exposure to all the wonderful products they’ve produced and continue to produce today.
Sign off on your thoughts here – one thing’s for sure, it’s a good time to be a DC fan.
Batman Inc. Gets The Batman Army Ready
We’re getting more details on the new Batman Inc. series Grant Morrison is bringing in October and it looks like quite a show. Say what you will about Morrison’s unconventional storytelling methods, you can’t fault him for trying to push the medium further, especially using an iconic DC character to do so. It will be interesting to see how far this “Batman” army will go to achieve Bruce Wayne’s grand agenda and what stakes will be involved.
I’m sure as well we’re going to see lots of angry tweets about the “glowing” yellow Bat symbol returning to the costume. Look, it is what it is – give me good storytelling and character development and I’ll accept whatever costume changes Morrison and team have in mind. Just please don’t use the Batman and Robin movie as source material for the changes and I’ll be peachy…
CBF Quick Picks #24 : Batgirl #11 / Secret Six #22
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With the majority of comic book events taking a break this week, it was good to spend some time talking about some sleeper hits under most people’s radars. I’ve enjoyed the heck out of Stephanie Brown’s take as Batgirl and has made me really appreciate her growth as a character since her days as the Spoiler. Having Oracle along for the ride doesn’t hurt either.
But what really takes the cake is what Gail Simone has been bringing to the Secret Six. Unbelievably brutal in both its characterization and in its violence, it makes you laugh and yet cringe at the same time at this rag-tag band of anti-heroes and villains (who really are quite charming and makes you want to go out to a picnic and hold hands with them). As of late, this has been the book about Catman and it has made him one of the more compelling characters as of late for DC. Hit the Play button and you’ll know why.
CBF Quick Picks #14 – Blackest Night #8 (Spoiler-free goodness!)
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Was there really any other choice this week?
I know for sure Mike and I will be talking about this with spoilers soon, so I’m giving you my take in the meantime but without all the trimmings. It’s been a good while since I’ve read a superhero event that ended in a very satisfying way and you have to thank the fine work of Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis for putting everything together (on time too) and making it stick well. Johns especially has become the premier superhero storyteller today that you can consistently count on (we hope that for the future too now that he’s chief creative officer in DC land). And to think the roller coaster ride continues with Brightest Day next month, which is great as well because Blackest Night truly gave us a lot to look forward to with this new series.
Enjoy the podcast!
CBF Quick Picks #13 : Batgirl #8 and Red Robin #10
As much as you all want to hear my squeaky voice in the middle of a static hurricane, you’ll be getting me here for a while until my new headset arrives. Thank you for your sympathy during this tragic time. Now onto comics…
I continue to be impressed by DC’s offerings lately outside of Green Lantern and Blackest Night. I, like many other comic sites, was set to pick Batman and Robin #10 as the
Quick Pick, but I decided to buck the trend and go with two books and two characters I hadn’t followed seriously in the last 10 years:
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I had heard that Stephanie Brown, originally dressed up as Spoiler long ago, had come back to be Batgirl and that she would eventually cross over to meet up with Red Robin in Gotham. My issues with Tim Drake’s choice of new attire aside, I was glad to pick these up so as to not only catch up on how these two have grown through the years, but to also re-kindle my love for the chemistry between these two that came out of Chuck Dixon’s run on Robin 10 years ago. To see them at this point grow more into their respective roles and help fill the gaps that Dick Grayson and Damian can’t is a nice sight to see. And they also still use the playful banter that made that past relationship work so well.
Adding in the League of Assassins storyline just makes this that much better and makes me wonder if they’ll play this out more as Bruce Wayne makes his return. They better not milk this then, as I believe the Bruce Wayne series will be 6 parts and you know how much a drawn-out story can get stale by the time something big comes around (I’m looking at you, Cable series).
The one pet peeve I had was with the art, particularly on Batgirl. Marcus To on Red Robin nailed her down fine as the more realistic straight-up nice-looking girl, but then in Batgirl, she’s drawn by Talent Caldwell as the sterotypical balloon-the-cleavage type of girl. Seriously man, keep some consistency going and know that not every girl in the world is like this. Beyond that, the art didn’t scream earth-shattering, but I did enjoy some of the fight sequences.
As long as we keep getting more Batgirl/Red Robin banter, I’m picking these two up for a while. Go give it a shot.
Superman: Earth One and Batman : Earth One Announced
It’s pretty typical to have a comics company launch a new continuity for its flagship franchises every few years. Some hit off great (Ultimate Spider-Man), some fall flat and collect dust (All-Star Batman & Robin).
Geoff Johns recently announced on his Twitter account the next big project he had set for DC in 2010 and it looks like AICN and the DC Blog followed suit in reporting his announcement as well as announcing the other big project. Two big re-boots in the Batman and Superman franchises are are coming our way and will be coming out in an ongoing graphic novel format. Where the writers take this continuity remains to be seen.
This might help a lot for those not able to go through the last few years of DC lore to catch up on their characters. DC did it to a degree with the All-Star franchise of a couple of years ago, but Grant Morrison’s Superman project was all you got that was superb about it. Let’s not even get into what happened with Frank Miller’s Batman All-Star take – just search the forums and you’ll see why people are down on it.
What are your thoughts? Is this needed even with the writing talent behind it in Johns and Straczynski?
Blackest Night’s Future
Because you know Mike and I never talk about it that much, we’re posting the latest from IGN Comics on what to expect from Blackest Night come this February. Click on the pic or this link to read the story.
For those that don’t know, the main Blackest Night book is taking a break in January to allow for multiple tie-ins to dominate that month. I’m not a big fan of keeping track of those whenever a big event is around, but in terms of the storyline, it’s a smart strategy to get each tie-in’s individual stories out of the way so that focus can be put back on the central series.
This just continues to be a remarkable series and these solicits, as vague as they may be in their summaries, could show that it’ll end on a great note.
Comic Book Fury Podcast : Special Edition – The Big Marvel and DC News
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Mike’s schedule didn’t allow him to be here tonight, so I’m taking it solo – God help us all.
I give you my piece on the big two news items in comic book land – Disney purchasing Marvel and DC Comics restructuring to become DC Entertainment. Might sound like the Disney/Marvel deal is bigger news, but you’ll see that DC’s move is just as big.
We’ll be back soon to discuss the latest Blackest Night books and anything else that comes about. Leave your comments on the site and hit Mike and I up on Twitter if you have any questions.
Blackest Night Has Arrived
It’s finally here.
Two years of hype built since the last issue of Sinestro Corps War has come to this. What both Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi have been doing for the main Green Lantern books during this timeframe has been amazing, but now it’s time to take off the kid gloves. Mike and I both picked up issue #1 today and while we will definitely will be talking about this in more detail in our next podcast, I just wanted to share a quick two cents and then sign off.
And that is just simply…..wow.
Obviously we have seven more parts to go in this DC comics event, but if this book is any indication, we’re in for a wild ride. A good build up, lots of drama, and then they hit you hard with what’s to come. Fantastic.
Be on the lookout for the next podcast – we got a LOT to talk about.