CBF Podcast 13: The Decade in Review Part Deux
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Tim and I wrap up (no not rapping, we just talk) our decade in review starting at 2005. We hope you had a great year (and decade) and we’re looking forward to better and more podcasts, comics, movie reviews, videos and giving you our unique (some say odd, very very odd) take on comics.
Happy New Year everyone!
CBF Podcast 11: Blackest Night 4, 5 and Ronnie James Dio
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So we finally get our act together and talk some more about our favorite current topic, Blackest Night. Since we missed so much over the last few weeks, here is our take on issues number 4 and 5.
Have you been reading? (if not, don’t listen to this yet because we drop spoilers like hot potatoes. Mmmm, potatoes.)
Let’s talk about this. What do you think about the story so far? Where do you think it’s going? Geoff Johns has completely drawn me in and I plan to follow Green Lantern from here.
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?
CBF Podcast 9: Blackest Night 2
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Tim and I are back from technical difficulties that plagued us the previous two weeks, and we are all about Blackest Night this podcast. There are spoilers everywhere so you are warned.
We review Blackest Night 2, Green Lantern 44, Blackest Night Superman 1, Blackest Night Batman 1, and a little Tales of the Corps 1.
Zombie Sharks, true believers. Zombie Sharks.
What’s your take on Blackest night so far? Where do you think it’s going?
Enjoy!
Superman Prime in Blackest Night
We got good old Superman joining the fight in Blackest Night as well as Earth-2 Superman, so I guess it only made sense that he’d join as well:
I personally could go without Prime joining this fight, as he’s already exhausted his presence in the Infinite Crisis and Sinestro Corps War books, but I’ll let Geoff Johns ride on this one for a bit and see what happens.
Thanks to IGN Comics for the article.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Bruce Timm is a legend amongst DC animated lore. As a producer, he’s already brought us animated hits in Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Superman: Doomsday, Wonder Woman, and the soon-to-be-released Green Lantern flick.
Now he brings Superman/Batman: Public Enemies to the fray. It’s based off a popular Jeph Loeb arc from the Batman/Superman series where Lex Luthor runs the country and Superman and Batman are wanted criminals.
Somebody pinch me…
Thanks to Newsarama for the post.
Anatomy of the Comic Book: The Dark Knight Returns
Re-boots seems to be all the craze nowadays in movies. Batman was brought back to audiences four years ago and showed what the character and his universe was really made of (Heath Ledger would have something to do with that in the sequel). I also recently saw Star Trek, which refreshed a franchise in dire need of new direction and yet still honored the spirit of the franchise.
It’s only fitting then that I start off my blog series about relevant comic books with a re-boot that brought the Batman of the comic books out of the campy terrain:
- Dark Knight Returns
Before this book hit the stands, Batman was all about Adam West and the Bat-Tusi in the 60’s. The campy nature of the show became a hit, but at the same time, it made the character one not to be taken too seriously in the books. Rotating writers in the 70’s and early 80’s made efforts to bring the character back to his dark roots, but it was 1986 that saw Frank Miller put Batman back on top of the food chain.
Comic book enthusiasts know Miller well from bringing a similar darker edge back to Daredevil and Wolverine around the same time frame. His independent work on Sin City and 300 would become feature films as well. This dark, edgy style was the kind of boost Batman needed and would help remind us who he is and why he is the way he is.
Dark Knight Returns gives us a 55-year-old Bruce Wayne long retired from the crime-fighting business, but seeing his city still crumbling under the might of old and new villains. Not one able to enjoy retirement for too long, he dons the cowl once more and revamps his tactics to take on this new, violent society. The book is renowned for helping to bring more adult-oriented storytelling to the books and put characters in new lights (a female Robin, a government puppet in Superman, Joker just an unfunny psycho, etc.). It also (like Watchmen) spoke of a society in the Cold War going to actual war and what its characters’ values spoke of those events.
I also take personal satisfaction in the last issue when Batman must confront a Superman that has to bring him in. Say what you want about all the help he needed; the sight of Batman kicking the Man of Steel to the floor is a sight that won’t leave me.
What’s interesting about this book is that it speaks volumes as to what Mike and I spoke about in our last podcast regarding Neil Gaiman’s ‘Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?‘. Batman is a character that is relentless in his quest to put fear into the criminal element. The only way he can ever see himself out of the game is if he was dead. No amount of golf or emptying the family wine coolers would bring satisfaction. It’s a sad story to see, but it brings the kind of depth to a character that can be difficult to replicate at times.
This darker edge has resulted in many superb stories from The Killing Joke to Knightfall. It transferred over into the animated and movie realms and the rest is history. Read Dark Knight Returns and tell us what you think.
Blackest Night: Superman Cover
How sweet is this cover?
Feast your eyes on Black Lantern Earth-2 Superman. Looks like he’s resurrecting Earth-1’s pa. One can only wonder what character might object to this. Elongated Man, perhaps?
Thanks to IGN for the scoop.
Anatomy of the Comic Book
I routinely get asked what’s so fascinating about reading stories of spandex-clad super-heroes in the comics. I’ll get remarks that it’s just “nerd” material, just for kids, or that I need to get outside more. Granted, I do question at times why Superman wears red underwear outside his costume, but hey, he’s still fully clothed and that’s all that matters…
There’s a lot to be said about the comic book itself and what it brought to the table throughout history. When people were first introduced to Captain America in the 40’s, it was a response to our fears about how the U.S. will fare in WWII. When the X-Men were introduced in the 60’s, it spoke volumes about the racial prejudice prominent to that period. Then there were the stories that brought things down to a more personal scale. Spider-Man brought us a character that not only fought crime, but dealt with real-life issues most high school and college students could relate to. The Fantastic Four showed us that even super-hero families have relational issues and can still work them out. Combine these with the sci-fi aspects that comes with being super heroes and you can see why comics have outlasted economic turmoil and critic bashing over the years.
Of course, being that comics have been a visual medium for the longest time, there comes a time when the emphasis on art is stronger than emphasis on writing. Enter the early 90’s. Artists became superstars. Publishers produced hundreds of covers for almost every single issue. It was the “in” thing to collect and sell at later times. Storytelling took a back seat while artwork helped rack in the dough.
Then the market became saturated with thousands of useless issues that weren’t being collected. Consumers realized the deteriorating value behind these issues. Retailers and publishers lost millions. Marvel declared bankruptcy in 1996. The bare-bones storytelling became more noticeable and many fan-favorite characters suffered via cancellations. The industry started to re-think the direction behind its heroes as well as other areas they can explore.
The mid 90’s started to show the potential of the medium through Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, which Mike touched upon in our first podcast.
It was a different approach, delving into and re-inventing the mythologies Gaiman wanted to play with. It went away from the conventional super hero books and showed that comics could be as just a respected reading medium as any novel on the bookshelves. DC took notice and created its “Vertigo” line to accommodate creator-owned lines and new universes.
Fables, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and more would help in grabbing old readers disenchanted by the old superhero stories and new readers looking for innovative storytelling. The superhero books would follow after DC and Marvel discovered a new crop of writers that could re-invent their images. And while today’s sales numbers may not reach the numbers the 80’s and early 90’s brought, comics are getting a new kind of respect that has resulted in writers being offered TV gigs and comic properties becoming high-grossing movies.
My next few posts will highlight the books I feel are helping to realize the medium’s potential. Feel free to suggest any you feel deserve to be up on that list. Enjoy!