...
...
...
and yes, dammit all, it friggin' kicked ass.
Now it's late and I have to wake up crazy early tommorow, but I'm sure I'll be dreaming dreams of Scarecrows and batcaves and genial English butlers. Yep, this is going to be one of those movies that stays in your head for a long while. Awesome, kickass, excellent.
Sure as a fanboy and Batman afficionado I have a list of nitpicks and grievences and comparisons to other canonical works. I have some problems with the aesthetics, the quick cuts, the costumes or lack thereof, and some backstories that remained conspicuously unexplored. I'll tell you those later.
For now I'm just going to reflect and smile as I think about that final scene, straight out of Batman: Year One, perfectly nailed by Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, and director Christopher Nolan, which plain and simple GOT IT RIGHT - nay, got it PERFECT, it felt right, it looked right, it sounded right, and it left you wanting more, leaving the audience with no choice but to spontaneously burst into uncontrollable applause signifying pure, unadulterated appreciation - appreciation that yes, it was finally all so clear - this, THIS, was the Batman movie that we had all been waiting for.
More later ...
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Tales From the Page Lounge, and: The Best Batman Stories Ever
Yo yo yo let me speak on this.
Well today was a much more laid back day than yesterday's ticketbox nightmare, despite my schedule being kind of crazy. But that was okay since I had a great tour in the morning (if I do say so myself) and while doing tape and hold for Leno I got to see a cool rehearsal featuring a bunch of crazy animals like bobcats, a vulture, albino rattlesnakes, and some rare species of lizards. The rattlesnakes in particular were amazing and very creepy. Gotta love the animal editions of the Tonight Show.
The one lowlight was that while seating people for the show, this one family, particularly the wife / mother of the clan, was absolutely furious due to being seated in the upper corner of the studio rather than front and center. I mean, this woman was practically quivering in anger, with tears flowing from her eyes and fists clenched. Absolutely unbelievable. Sure it's disappointing to not get the best seats in the house, but come on, what makes you more deserving than anyone else to sit in the front? Oh, right, you traveled 3000 miles to be here. Guess what? So did almost everyone else. The fact that this woman was so emotional over a FREE event and selfish enough to throw a tantrum about it just boggles the mind. The best thing she said? I told her I was sorry, but "there's nothing else I can do to help." And she just looked at me, eyes burning and lip trembling, and said "Can't? Or WON'T?!?!" The fact that I was so nice to her despite her acting like an idiot is pretty remarkable now that I look back on it.
Tommorow:
Interview for an assignment with Studios Productions. Is third time going to be the charm? Wish me luck, I think.
NBA:
Nice to see De-troit actually making a series of the NBA Finals, which until tonight had been completely boring and utterly dominated by San Antonio. Game 4 just got a lot more interesting ...
And by the way, while I don't like the Pistons, ya gotta love Antonio McDyce, who truly has the heart of a champion and is a class act all the way, coming back from some horrible knee surgery to put on a string of great playoff performances.
Oh, and I really hope that the Lakers get no big free agents in the offseason, so we can finally see if Phil Jackson is the real deal or just an overhyped bandwagoner. Guess what, LA, you won championships because of Shaq, not Jackson. Honestly I wish he would have taken over the Knicks position. Now that would be a new kind of coaching challenge for the Zen Master.
And now ...
TOMORROW IS IT! BATMAN F'N BEGINS.
I don't feel like speculating any more than I have about the movie, other than to say that the 80-something percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes is pretty encouraging. Can't wait to see it for myself, in IMAX no less.
But in any case, Batman Begins week continues here on my site with the biggie ...
The BEST BATMAN STORIES EVER:
While hundreds of great Batman comics have been published, I have limited my selections here to stories or storyarcs that are still available in print as trade paperback collections. In my mind, there are particular self contained issues of Batman, ones that have never been reprinted, which are among my all time favorites, but to list them here would just be too time consuming and complicated. However, a number of the best single issues of Batman from his illustrious history can be found in some great collections that are out there. For example The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told trade paperback collects a number of standout stories from the last six decades by an all star lineup of creators. Another one I highly recommend is Batman: Dark Legends, a collection of some of the best single issues and short story arcs from the critically acclaimed Legends of the Dark Knight anthology series, including works by Mike Mignola and a Denny O'Neal-penned tale of Batman's first encounter with the Joker. I have included a few collections in the list that don't collect just one particular storyarc, but that's because I feel these compilations reflect singular visions of particular creative teams, like Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers, or Denny O'Neal and Neal Adams. There are also a few key miniseries or storyarcs that might have made the list but are excluded since they have never been reprinted, such as the underrated Batman: Family series by John Francis Moore or the excellent Batman: Turning Points by Greg Rucka. Also, while there are some amazing stories featuring Batman's supporting cast, I mostly refrained from including stories featuring Nightwing, Robin, Barbara Gordon, the Justice League, or the Gotham PD, and stuck to stories where, at the least, Batman's name appears in the title. In any case, these are all great stories, and the top five or so entries are definitely amongst the greatest comic stories ever told, period. Sure, some of the entries are not exactly universally regarded as great stories, but they are ones that I really enjoyed, and probably read at a time when I was younger and highly impressionable, and therefore they have a particular sentimental value for me - but still, I think all of these stories hold up to this day and stand the test of time. So here they are, all available at your local Borders books or on amazon.com for your reading pleasure: The Best Batman Stories - Ever.
20.) Batman: Hush - writer: Jeph Loeb / artist: Jim Lee
premise: Batman is perplexed by a new villain, Hush, who shares a personal connection with Bruce Wayne and is determined to manipulate Batman's greatest villains in a calculated attempt to bring down the Batman.
- My first entry here is one I am kind of torn about, because in the final summation this can't be considered a great Batman story, because the ending is simply not satisfactory. And yet, the build up to that ending, the feeling of excitement and anticipation that each chapter in this mystery story generates, is off the charts. Loeb does a cinematic, widescreen version of Batman here, and the art by Lee is absolutely phenomenal - the best work of Lee's brilliant career, easily. In recent years, no other comics story has had me awaiting each new chapter like this one did when it was first released two years ago, and yet that ending - ugh. But the art alone makes this classic - Batman, his allies, and his villains as drawn by Jim Lee is a watershed moment for the character.
19.) Batman: Contagion - writers: Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, etc. / artists: Graham Nolan, etc.
premise: a deadly virus sweeps Gotham City, and Batman is powerless to stop it, even as Robin is numbered among the infected.
- While this story has a few weaker chapters, it has some amazing moments as well. The premise alone is different and interesting, and is really a different kind of threat for Batman to take on. There is lots of human drama here, and the writers and artists really put Batman to the test, both personally and as a crimefighter.
18.) Batman: Prodigal - writers: Chuck Dixon and others / artist: Tom Grummet and others
premise: the first Robin, Dick Grayson, temporarily takes over for his mentor and becomes the new Batman!
-this is a great exploration of what it takes to be Batman, and what makes Bruce Wayne's interpretation of the mantle so unique and potent. It is also an entertaining character study of Dick Grayson, and the similarities and differences between him and Bruce Wayne.
17.) Batman: The Last Arkham - writer: Alan Grant / artist: Norm Breyfogle
premise: Batman is deemed criminally insane, and is locked up in Arkham Asylum alongside his deadliest foes.
- An intense psychological study of what makes Batman tick and what differentiates him from the criminals he hunts. Great action and a dark, foreboding atmosphere make this a classic.
16.) Batman: Venom - writer: Denny O'Neal / artist: Trevor von Eeadon
premise: Unable to save a girl from death, Batman is convinced that his human limitations are hindering him, and thus begins taking a strength-enhancing drug known as Venom.
- Denny O'Neal's intriguing story examines Batman's own self-perceived shortcomings and asks the question - are his lack of extraordinary abilities in fact a liabilty? This is a dark, cold, and brutal story that takes a look at what makes Batman unique in the world of comicbook heroes.
15.) Batman: The Sword of Azrael - writer: Denny O'Neal / artist: Joe Quesada
premise: Batman investigates the origins of the avenging hero Azrael, the product of a secret society that has long manipulated its champions throughout the centuries. This story would introduce Jean Paul Valley - the latest incarnation of Azrael who would later go on to become Bruce Wayne's replacement as Batman.
- This is an intriguing story with amazing art by Quesada, and a classic globe-spanning adventure penned by O'Neal, that introduces a fasicnating world of secret societies, avenging angels, and reincarnated demons long before the Da Vinci code made that stuff vogue. Plus it introduces Azrael, who would go on to become a key figure in Batman lore.
14.) Batman / Huntress : Cry For Blood - writer: Greg Rucka / artist: Rick Burchett
premise: Batman confronts the vigilante Huntress, who plays by her own rules and will do anything to get to the bottom of her mafioso origins and take revenge on those who were responsible for her tragic childhood.
- Rucka crafts a mature, emotional crime drama here that pits the Huntress against the Batman in an amazingly well-crafted tale, whcih stands as, easily, the best ever depiction of Huntress and features great supporting roles by underused characters like The Question and Richard Dragon.
13.) Batman: Mad Love - writer: Paul Dini / artist: Bruce Timm
premise: the twisted origins of Harley Quinn, the one time criminal psychologist who somehow fell madly in love with her deadliest patient - the Joker!
- Adapted from the animated episode of the same name, this one-shot comic may seem simplistic, but is in fact an insanely entertaining and memorable story of love's twisted tragedy through the eyes of the one woman who could actually fall for The Joker, the inimitable Harley Quinn, Dini's psychotic yet lovable villainous creation.
12.) Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying - writer: Marv Wolfman and more, artist: George Perez and more
premise: still reeling from the death of Robin II, Jason Todd, Batman has become darker and more driven. So having figured out the secret identity of Batman and put all the pieces together, a young kid by the name of Tim Drake decides to prove a point - that Batman needs a Robin.
- A story that really examines the duality of Batman and Robin, while succesfully introducing the character of Tim Drake - the best-written and most likable incarnation of Robin to date. Featuring excellent art and some great character moments, this is a great companion piece to A Death in the Family.
11.) Batman: Arkham Asylum - writer: Grant Morrison / artist: Dave McKean
premise: a dark, horror-filled look at Batman's villains and what exactly is going on in their psychologically-disturbed heads
- From the insane mind of Grant Morrison comes probably the weirdest and most offbeat Batman story ever told, a horrific and disturbing look into the minds of Batman's rogues gallery, showing us the readers just how tormented and screwed up villains like Two Face and the Joker really are. Featuring surreal art and poetic prose, this is as unique a Batman read as you'll find.
10.) Batman: Knightfall / Knightquest / Knight's End - writer: Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Alan Grant, Denny O'Neal / artists: Jim Aparo, Mike Manley, Brett Blevins
premise: Batman is pushed to the limit and broken by the new villain Bane, who in a masterstoke of evil genious unleashes all of Batman's villains in an effort to wear doen the Batman until he is rip for th kill. Confined to a wheelchair, Bruce Wayne relinquishes the mantle of the Bat to Jean Paul Valley. aka Azrael, who becomes a grittier, more violent version of Batman. As a crippled Bruce Wayne goes on a quest to fins his kidnapped love, Shondra Kinsolving, Azrael alienates the ploice, Robin, and crosses a line that Wayne never would - he becomes a killer. When Wayne eventually heals from his injuries, he learns of Azrael's extreme actions and confronts his increasingly unstable replacement, in an epic battle to decide who will be Batman!
- Some criticize this story, but clearly, it is probably the most ambitious in-continuity Batman epic ever told, featuring new characters, sweeping changes, and Bruce Wayne's most crushing defeat ever, followed by him giving up the role of Batman to another. This is the story that made me a comics fan forever, and while some of the plot elements seem a little rushed now, this is awesome stuff- the stuff that makes thirteen year olds into fanboys for life.
9.) Batman - Bruce Wayne: Fugitive / Bruce Wayne: Murderer? - writers: Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker and more / artists: Scott McDaniel and more
premise: Bruce Wayne appears to be guilty of murder, and the evidence is so convincing that even Batman's closest allies aren't sure what to believe. But when Wayne is actually found guilty, he decides that his "secret identity" is no longer worth keeping, and becomes Batman full time.
- This is the best Batman story of the last few years, expertly written by Brubaker and Rucka, deftly examining who Batman is and who Bruce Wayne is and why both pieces are needed to form the man. Rucka introduces Batman's most compelling and believable love interest ever, Sasha Bordeux, who plays a key role in the story, and Brubaker pens some incredible standalone chapters as well. The two authors play with the inner struggle between Bruce Wayne and Batman to amazing dramtic effect, and in so doing elevate this to much more than just a murder mystery, but a classic Batman tale with a ton of action, suspense, and conflict to boot.
8.) Batman: Strange Apparitions - writer: Steve Englehart / artist: Marshall Rodgers
premise: Batman must cope with a new wave of crime in Gotham, spearheaded by mob boss Rupert Thorne, even as he falls for the enigmatic Silver St. Cloud.
- in this classic run of stories by Englehart and Rogers from the 70's, Batman is redefined - he is taken out of the campy Adam West years and suddenly, all those old villains - Joker, the Penguin, etc. are fresh again, revitalized, and they are joined by cool new menaces like Deadshot and Clayface. Basically, this is classic, definitive Batman. Sure, slightly melodramtic and over expository by today's standards, but the basics are all here and done right, paving the way for a lot of stuff to come, featuring great art by Rogers and fun, classic writing from Englehart.
7.) Batman: Tales of the Demon - writer: Denny O'Neal / artist: Neal Adams
premise: Batman first encounters Ra's Al Ghul, his intellectual equal, who manipulates and toys with Batman to suit his own ambiguous ends, all the while courting Batman to be the successor to and inheritor of his secret league of shadows.
- These stories brought Batman back to the dark side - tinged with foreboding atmosphere, mystery, and intrigue thanks to the pulpy prose of O'Neal and the incredible, realistic, dynamic art of Adams. They introduce Al Ghul, one of the all time great Bat villains, and his daughter Talia, forever torn between love for her father and adoration for Batman, her "beloved." These stories feature world-spanning adventure, martial arts showdowns, leagues of assasins, hidden mountaintop lairs, and a sophistication that was as of then unseen in Batman comics. In short, these stories of the Batman and The Demon's Head (aka Ra's Al Ghul) kick a lot of ass, even thirty years later.
6.) Batman: The Long Halloween / Batman: Dark Victory - writer: Jeph Loeb / artist: Tim Sale
premise: in this tandem of epic murder mysteries, a killer called Holiday plagues Batman's first year on the job with a series of murders corresponding to the calender dates of holidays. As he tries to solve the mystery of the holiday killings, Batman sees his friendship with James Gordon grow, betrayel by his tormented friend Harvey Dent, the introduction of Robin, and fateful encounters with the likes of the Joker, Catwoman, and the mafia family that runs Gotham, the Falcones.
- these stories take the world of Frank Miller's Year One and expand it enormously, adding new depth to Batman's early years, and providing the definitive takes on Batman's early friendship with Commisioner Gordon, and of the tragic turn of D.A. Harvey Dent into the insane villain Two Face. The murder mysteries themselves are intriguing, but the real star here is the unique vision and atmosphere of these stories, stylistically illustrated by Tim Sale and starkly written by Jeph Loeb, who here is at his absolute best, channeling the classic film noirs and bringing their shadowy sensibilities ot the world of Batman. Along with Year One, these two hefty volumes are the must-read tales of Batman's formative years.
5.) Batman: A Death in the Family - writer: Jim Starlin / artist: Jim Aparo
premise: becoming increasingly uncontrollable, Jason Todd, the second Robin, sets off to find the secrets of his true parentage, even as his quest puts him in the deadly path of The Joker. In his recklessness, Jason seals his tragic fate - one that even Batman is powerless to prevent.
- It's not often in comics that the death of a character has true impact - but this is one notable excpetion, where the effects of Jason Todd's death are still felt today. But apart from the shocking nature of the death itself, this is, in any case, a great story. The intensity and desperateness of Batman to try to save Robin - his determination to exact revenge on the Joker - his single mindedness which puts him in direct conflict with none other than Superman - all are the elements here which solidify this landmark tale as a classic. And you know what? Years after first reading this story, it's not the death of Robin that stays with me, it's the aftermath - the desperate, terrible realization by Batman that the Joker has gotten away with murder - he's killed Batman's partner - and that Batman was powerless to stop it.
4.) No Man's Land - writer: Greg Rucka, Devin Grayson, and more / artist: Dale Eaglesham, Alex Maleev and more
premise: in the wake of a destructive earthquake, Gotham City is declared a no man's land by the government and evacuated - only the vile, the venal, and the insane remain. The city has been divided up into sectors, each controlled by various gangs and criminals. Batman is nowhere to be found. After careful planning, Batman returns, and begins the long, arduous process of taking back his city.
- in theory, this story, with it's far-out premise and overwhelming length (it spanned over a year's worth of comics), should not have turned out anywhere near as good as it did. But somehow, DC Comics assembled an amazing team of writers and artists to tackle this ambitious project, and it all eventually came together, and became one of the greatest Batman sagas of all time. This story was really Greg Rucka's coming out party, and he peppered it with great character moments in the midst of all the action and high drama. Rucka brought the Batman-Jim Gordon relationship to its most complex, dramatic high point. In fact he wrote Jim Gordon better than anyone since Frank Miller. He elevated the Huntress to main-event status, fleshing out her character to unprecedented levels . And he delivered one hell of an ending to this saga. Because of its huge size, there are obviously some chapters in this story that fall flatter than others. But remarkably, the team of artists and writers is consistently great, and they pull it off. No Man's Land went from a bold experiment in storytelling to something a bit easier to appreciate - a great Batman story.
3.) Batman: The Killing Joke - writer: Alan Moore / artist : Brian Bolland
premise: As the murky history of the Joker is revealed, the Clown Prince of Crime goes on a personal crusade against the Batman, crippling Batgirl in the process and setting himself up for a final and climactic showdown with the Dark Knight, with an ending that nobody expected.
- Alan Moore is a frikkin' genious. The man can flat out write, and this short but effective graphic novel is his lasting contribution to Batman - the best ever Batman-Joker story. Similarly, Brian Bolland can flat out draw, and this is his lasting contribution to Batman - a kickass rendering of Batman and the absolute greatest version of the Joker ever drawn. This story is unrelentingly dark, horrifyingly violent, and posseses a grotesquely black sense of humor. It singlehandedly explains why the Joker is the greatest and scariest and most insanely evil of all comic book villains. It is, simply put, a masterpiece.
2.) Batman: Year One - writer: Frank Miller / artist: Dave Mazzuchelli
premise: the origin of Batman, this series chronicles Bruce Wayne's tragic beginnings and his first year as Batman - his early relationships with Jim Gordon, with Catwoman, and with the unrelenting city he calls home.
- with Year One, Frank Miller created the modern day Batman, and changed comics forever. Miller essentially said "this isn't just comic books, this is literature, this is art." He was working on the same premist that Christopher Nolan is going with for Batman Begins - if you take the character seriously, you can tell a seriously effective, relevant, and lasting narrative. Miller reinvented Batman with this story, and ushered in the modern age of comics - stories that resonated, that were tangible, spophisticated, multi-layered, that felt real. This was the new benchmark in comics storytelling, and one of the best Batman stories ever.
1.) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - writer and artist: Frank Miller
premise: In the near future, a middle-aged Bruce Wayne is forced out of retirement to clean up the city he calls home, which is spiralling into darkness and chaos. A cold, calculating, grizzled, battle-hardened, and violent Batman has returned for one final mission, and he is out not just to rid his city of crime, but to take on anyone who would try to stop him, be it the Joker, the government, or even Superman himself.
- When you talk about the best mainstream comics ever written, there are really only two that deserve mention - Alan Moore's Watchmen and Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. Both take place in dystopian near-futures. Both are filled with sex, violence, and depth of story. Both are products of the cynical and politically charged Cold-War era 1980's. But only one has Batman. Miller's magnum opus is a pure adrenaline rush - it is big, epic, but above all it is the tale of one man, Batman, who is mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore, and there's not a damned thing anybody can do about it, even if they happen to be more powerful than a locomotive. This Batman is middle aged and crazy, intense, violent, and maybe even has a deathwish. So while this is a political story, it is also an intensely personal one - one that despite being out of continuity left the character of Batman forever changed. This Batman completley erased whatever remanants were left of the 1960's happy go lucky Batman, it kicked that Batman in the balls and left it crying out for mommy. This Batman was darker, crazier, more driven than ever before, and that has been reflected in the comics, the movies, the popular culture ever since. This is the story that got people into comics, that got comics written about again in the New York Times and Time Magazine, that got them taken seriously. And above all it is an awesome and awe-inspiring story, filled with memorable quotes and images that are forever emblazoned in one's memory after having been immersed in Miller's world. Because Miller does creat a whole world here, with it's own look, feel, dialect, and attitude. This is the story where the Dark Knight Returns, yes. But in a larger sense, this really was the return of the Dark Knight, and above all else, is the greatest Batman story ever told.
Alright, tommorow is the day. Let the countdown begin, to Batman Begins.
Well today was a much more laid back day than yesterday's ticketbox nightmare, despite my schedule being kind of crazy. But that was okay since I had a great tour in the morning (if I do say so myself) and while doing tape and hold for Leno I got to see a cool rehearsal featuring a bunch of crazy animals like bobcats, a vulture, albino rattlesnakes, and some rare species of lizards. The rattlesnakes in particular were amazing and very creepy. Gotta love the animal editions of the Tonight Show.
The one lowlight was that while seating people for the show, this one family, particularly the wife / mother of the clan, was absolutely furious due to being seated in the upper corner of the studio rather than front and center. I mean, this woman was practically quivering in anger, with tears flowing from her eyes and fists clenched. Absolutely unbelievable. Sure it's disappointing to not get the best seats in the house, but come on, what makes you more deserving than anyone else to sit in the front? Oh, right, you traveled 3000 miles to be here. Guess what? So did almost everyone else. The fact that this woman was so emotional over a FREE event and selfish enough to throw a tantrum about it just boggles the mind. The best thing she said? I told her I was sorry, but "there's nothing else I can do to help." And she just looked at me, eyes burning and lip trembling, and said "Can't? Or WON'T?!?!" The fact that I was so nice to her despite her acting like an idiot is pretty remarkable now that I look back on it.
Tommorow:
Interview for an assignment with Studios Productions. Is third time going to be the charm? Wish me luck, I think.
NBA:
Nice to see De-troit actually making a series of the NBA Finals, which until tonight had been completely boring and utterly dominated by San Antonio. Game 4 just got a lot more interesting ...
And by the way, while I don't like the Pistons, ya gotta love Antonio McDyce, who truly has the heart of a champion and is a class act all the way, coming back from some horrible knee surgery to put on a string of great playoff performances.
Oh, and I really hope that the Lakers get no big free agents in the offseason, so we can finally see if Phil Jackson is the real deal or just an overhyped bandwagoner. Guess what, LA, you won championships because of Shaq, not Jackson. Honestly I wish he would have taken over the Knicks position. Now that would be a new kind of coaching challenge for the Zen Master.
And now ...
TOMORROW IS IT! BATMAN F'N BEGINS.
I don't feel like speculating any more than I have about the movie, other than to say that the 80-something percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes is pretty encouraging. Can't wait to see it for myself, in IMAX no less.
But in any case, Batman Begins week continues here on my site with the biggie ...
The BEST BATMAN STORIES EVER:
While hundreds of great Batman comics have been published, I have limited my selections here to stories or storyarcs that are still available in print as trade paperback collections. In my mind, there are particular self contained issues of Batman, ones that have never been reprinted, which are among my all time favorites, but to list them here would just be too time consuming and complicated. However, a number of the best single issues of Batman from his illustrious history can be found in some great collections that are out there. For example The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told trade paperback collects a number of standout stories from the last six decades by an all star lineup of creators. Another one I highly recommend is Batman: Dark Legends, a collection of some of the best single issues and short story arcs from the critically acclaimed Legends of the Dark Knight anthology series, including works by Mike Mignola and a Denny O'Neal-penned tale of Batman's first encounter with the Joker. I have included a few collections in the list that don't collect just one particular storyarc, but that's because I feel these compilations reflect singular visions of particular creative teams, like Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers, or Denny O'Neal and Neal Adams. There are also a few key miniseries or storyarcs that might have made the list but are excluded since they have never been reprinted, such as the underrated Batman: Family series by John Francis Moore or the excellent Batman: Turning Points by Greg Rucka. Also, while there are some amazing stories featuring Batman's supporting cast, I mostly refrained from including stories featuring Nightwing, Robin, Barbara Gordon, the Justice League, or the Gotham PD, and stuck to stories where, at the least, Batman's name appears in the title. In any case, these are all great stories, and the top five or so entries are definitely amongst the greatest comic stories ever told, period. Sure, some of the entries are not exactly universally regarded as great stories, but they are ones that I really enjoyed, and probably read at a time when I was younger and highly impressionable, and therefore they have a particular sentimental value for me - but still, I think all of these stories hold up to this day and stand the test of time. So here they are, all available at your local Borders books or on amazon.com for your reading pleasure: The Best Batman Stories - Ever.
20.) Batman: Hush - writer: Jeph Loeb / artist: Jim Lee
premise: Batman is perplexed by a new villain, Hush, who shares a personal connection with Bruce Wayne and is determined to manipulate Batman's greatest villains in a calculated attempt to bring down the Batman.
- My first entry here is one I am kind of torn about, because in the final summation this can't be considered a great Batman story, because the ending is simply not satisfactory. And yet, the build up to that ending, the feeling of excitement and anticipation that each chapter in this mystery story generates, is off the charts. Loeb does a cinematic, widescreen version of Batman here, and the art by Lee is absolutely phenomenal - the best work of Lee's brilliant career, easily. In recent years, no other comics story has had me awaiting each new chapter like this one did when it was first released two years ago, and yet that ending - ugh. But the art alone makes this classic - Batman, his allies, and his villains as drawn by Jim Lee is a watershed moment for the character.
19.) Batman: Contagion - writers: Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, etc. / artists: Graham Nolan, etc.
premise: a deadly virus sweeps Gotham City, and Batman is powerless to stop it, even as Robin is numbered among the infected.
- While this story has a few weaker chapters, it has some amazing moments as well. The premise alone is different and interesting, and is really a different kind of threat for Batman to take on. There is lots of human drama here, and the writers and artists really put Batman to the test, both personally and as a crimefighter.
18.) Batman: Prodigal - writers: Chuck Dixon and others / artist: Tom Grummet and others
premise: the first Robin, Dick Grayson, temporarily takes over for his mentor and becomes the new Batman!
-this is a great exploration of what it takes to be Batman, and what makes Bruce Wayne's interpretation of the mantle so unique and potent. It is also an entertaining character study of Dick Grayson, and the similarities and differences between him and Bruce Wayne.
17.) Batman: The Last Arkham - writer: Alan Grant / artist: Norm Breyfogle
premise: Batman is deemed criminally insane, and is locked up in Arkham Asylum alongside his deadliest foes.
- An intense psychological study of what makes Batman tick and what differentiates him from the criminals he hunts. Great action and a dark, foreboding atmosphere make this a classic.
16.) Batman: Venom - writer: Denny O'Neal / artist: Trevor von Eeadon
premise: Unable to save a girl from death, Batman is convinced that his human limitations are hindering him, and thus begins taking a strength-enhancing drug known as Venom.
- Denny O'Neal's intriguing story examines Batman's own self-perceived shortcomings and asks the question - are his lack of extraordinary abilities in fact a liabilty? This is a dark, cold, and brutal story that takes a look at what makes Batman unique in the world of comicbook heroes.
15.) Batman: The Sword of Azrael - writer: Denny O'Neal / artist: Joe Quesada
premise: Batman investigates the origins of the avenging hero Azrael, the product of a secret society that has long manipulated its champions throughout the centuries. This story would introduce Jean Paul Valley - the latest incarnation of Azrael who would later go on to become Bruce Wayne's replacement as Batman.
- This is an intriguing story with amazing art by Quesada, and a classic globe-spanning adventure penned by O'Neal, that introduces a fasicnating world of secret societies, avenging angels, and reincarnated demons long before the Da Vinci code made that stuff vogue. Plus it introduces Azrael, who would go on to become a key figure in Batman lore.
14.) Batman / Huntress : Cry For Blood - writer: Greg Rucka / artist: Rick Burchett
premise: Batman confronts the vigilante Huntress, who plays by her own rules and will do anything to get to the bottom of her mafioso origins and take revenge on those who were responsible for her tragic childhood.
- Rucka crafts a mature, emotional crime drama here that pits the Huntress against the Batman in an amazingly well-crafted tale, whcih stands as, easily, the best ever depiction of Huntress and features great supporting roles by underused characters like The Question and Richard Dragon.
13.) Batman: Mad Love - writer: Paul Dini / artist: Bruce Timm
premise: the twisted origins of Harley Quinn, the one time criminal psychologist who somehow fell madly in love with her deadliest patient - the Joker!
- Adapted from the animated episode of the same name, this one-shot comic may seem simplistic, but is in fact an insanely entertaining and memorable story of love's twisted tragedy through the eyes of the one woman who could actually fall for The Joker, the inimitable Harley Quinn, Dini's psychotic yet lovable villainous creation.
12.) Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying - writer: Marv Wolfman and more, artist: George Perez and more
premise: still reeling from the death of Robin II, Jason Todd, Batman has become darker and more driven. So having figured out the secret identity of Batman and put all the pieces together, a young kid by the name of Tim Drake decides to prove a point - that Batman needs a Robin.
- A story that really examines the duality of Batman and Robin, while succesfully introducing the character of Tim Drake - the best-written and most likable incarnation of Robin to date. Featuring excellent art and some great character moments, this is a great companion piece to A Death in the Family.
11.) Batman: Arkham Asylum - writer: Grant Morrison / artist: Dave McKean
premise: a dark, horror-filled look at Batman's villains and what exactly is going on in their psychologically-disturbed heads
- From the insane mind of Grant Morrison comes probably the weirdest and most offbeat Batman story ever told, a horrific and disturbing look into the minds of Batman's rogues gallery, showing us the readers just how tormented and screwed up villains like Two Face and the Joker really are. Featuring surreal art and poetic prose, this is as unique a Batman read as you'll find.
10.) Batman: Knightfall / Knightquest / Knight's End - writer: Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Alan Grant, Denny O'Neal / artists: Jim Aparo, Mike Manley, Brett Blevins
premise: Batman is pushed to the limit and broken by the new villain Bane, who in a masterstoke of evil genious unleashes all of Batman's villains in an effort to wear doen the Batman until he is rip for th kill. Confined to a wheelchair, Bruce Wayne relinquishes the mantle of the Bat to Jean Paul Valley. aka Azrael, who becomes a grittier, more violent version of Batman. As a crippled Bruce Wayne goes on a quest to fins his kidnapped love, Shondra Kinsolving, Azrael alienates the ploice, Robin, and crosses a line that Wayne never would - he becomes a killer. When Wayne eventually heals from his injuries, he learns of Azrael's extreme actions and confronts his increasingly unstable replacement, in an epic battle to decide who will be Batman!
- Some criticize this story, but clearly, it is probably the most ambitious in-continuity Batman epic ever told, featuring new characters, sweeping changes, and Bruce Wayne's most crushing defeat ever, followed by him giving up the role of Batman to another. This is the story that made me a comics fan forever, and while some of the plot elements seem a little rushed now, this is awesome stuff- the stuff that makes thirteen year olds into fanboys for life.
9.) Batman - Bruce Wayne: Fugitive / Bruce Wayne: Murderer? - writers: Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker and more / artists: Scott McDaniel and more
premise: Bruce Wayne appears to be guilty of murder, and the evidence is so convincing that even Batman's closest allies aren't sure what to believe. But when Wayne is actually found guilty, he decides that his "secret identity" is no longer worth keeping, and becomes Batman full time.
- This is the best Batman story of the last few years, expertly written by Brubaker and Rucka, deftly examining who Batman is and who Bruce Wayne is and why both pieces are needed to form the man. Rucka introduces Batman's most compelling and believable love interest ever, Sasha Bordeux, who plays a key role in the story, and Brubaker pens some incredible standalone chapters as well. The two authors play with the inner struggle between Bruce Wayne and Batman to amazing dramtic effect, and in so doing elevate this to much more than just a murder mystery, but a classic Batman tale with a ton of action, suspense, and conflict to boot.
8.) Batman: Strange Apparitions - writer: Steve Englehart / artist: Marshall Rodgers
premise: Batman must cope with a new wave of crime in Gotham, spearheaded by mob boss Rupert Thorne, even as he falls for the enigmatic Silver St. Cloud.
- in this classic run of stories by Englehart and Rogers from the 70's, Batman is redefined - he is taken out of the campy Adam West years and suddenly, all those old villains - Joker, the Penguin, etc. are fresh again, revitalized, and they are joined by cool new menaces like Deadshot and Clayface. Basically, this is classic, definitive Batman. Sure, slightly melodramtic and over expository by today's standards, but the basics are all here and done right, paving the way for a lot of stuff to come, featuring great art by Rogers and fun, classic writing from Englehart.
7.) Batman: Tales of the Demon - writer: Denny O'Neal / artist: Neal Adams
premise: Batman first encounters Ra's Al Ghul, his intellectual equal, who manipulates and toys with Batman to suit his own ambiguous ends, all the while courting Batman to be the successor to and inheritor of his secret league of shadows.
- These stories brought Batman back to the dark side - tinged with foreboding atmosphere, mystery, and intrigue thanks to the pulpy prose of O'Neal and the incredible, realistic, dynamic art of Adams. They introduce Al Ghul, one of the all time great Bat villains, and his daughter Talia, forever torn between love for her father and adoration for Batman, her "beloved." These stories feature world-spanning adventure, martial arts showdowns, leagues of assasins, hidden mountaintop lairs, and a sophistication that was as of then unseen in Batman comics. In short, these stories of the Batman and The Demon's Head (aka Ra's Al Ghul) kick a lot of ass, even thirty years later.
6.) Batman: The Long Halloween / Batman: Dark Victory - writer: Jeph Loeb / artist: Tim Sale
premise: in this tandem of epic murder mysteries, a killer called Holiday plagues Batman's first year on the job with a series of murders corresponding to the calender dates of holidays. As he tries to solve the mystery of the holiday killings, Batman sees his friendship with James Gordon grow, betrayel by his tormented friend Harvey Dent, the introduction of Robin, and fateful encounters with the likes of the Joker, Catwoman, and the mafia family that runs Gotham, the Falcones.
- these stories take the world of Frank Miller's Year One and expand it enormously, adding new depth to Batman's early years, and providing the definitive takes on Batman's early friendship with Commisioner Gordon, and of the tragic turn of D.A. Harvey Dent into the insane villain Two Face. The murder mysteries themselves are intriguing, but the real star here is the unique vision and atmosphere of these stories, stylistically illustrated by Tim Sale and starkly written by Jeph Loeb, who here is at his absolute best, channeling the classic film noirs and bringing their shadowy sensibilities ot the world of Batman. Along with Year One, these two hefty volumes are the must-read tales of Batman's formative years.
5.) Batman: A Death in the Family - writer: Jim Starlin / artist: Jim Aparo
premise: becoming increasingly uncontrollable, Jason Todd, the second Robin, sets off to find the secrets of his true parentage, even as his quest puts him in the deadly path of The Joker. In his recklessness, Jason seals his tragic fate - one that even Batman is powerless to prevent.
- It's not often in comics that the death of a character has true impact - but this is one notable excpetion, where the effects of Jason Todd's death are still felt today. But apart from the shocking nature of the death itself, this is, in any case, a great story. The intensity and desperateness of Batman to try to save Robin - his determination to exact revenge on the Joker - his single mindedness which puts him in direct conflict with none other than Superman - all are the elements here which solidify this landmark tale as a classic. And you know what? Years after first reading this story, it's not the death of Robin that stays with me, it's the aftermath - the desperate, terrible realization by Batman that the Joker has gotten away with murder - he's killed Batman's partner - and that Batman was powerless to stop it.
4.) No Man's Land - writer: Greg Rucka, Devin Grayson, and more / artist: Dale Eaglesham, Alex Maleev and more
premise: in the wake of a destructive earthquake, Gotham City is declared a no man's land by the government and evacuated - only the vile, the venal, and the insane remain. The city has been divided up into sectors, each controlled by various gangs and criminals. Batman is nowhere to be found. After careful planning, Batman returns, and begins the long, arduous process of taking back his city.
- in theory, this story, with it's far-out premise and overwhelming length (it spanned over a year's worth of comics), should not have turned out anywhere near as good as it did. But somehow, DC Comics assembled an amazing team of writers and artists to tackle this ambitious project, and it all eventually came together, and became one of the greatest Batman sagas of all time. This story was really Greg Rucka's coming out party, and he peppered it with great character moments in the midst of all the action and high drama. Rucka brought the Batman-Jim Gordon relationship to its most complex, dramatic high point. In fact he wrote Jim Gordon better than anyone since Frank Miller. He elevated the Huntress to main-event status, fleshing out her character to unprecedented levels . And he delivered one hell of an ending to this saga. Because of its huge size, there are obviously some chapters in this story that fall flatter than others. But remarkably, the team of artists and writers is consistently great, and they pull it off. No Man's Land went from a bold experiment in storytelling to something a bit easier to appreciate - a great Batman story.
3.) Batman: The Killing Joke - writer: Alan Moore / artist : Brian Bolland
premise: As the murky history of the Joker is revealed, the Clown Prince of Crime goes on a personal crusade against the Batman, crippling Batgirl in the process and setting himself up for a final and climactic showdown with the Dark Knight, with an ending that nobody expected.
- Alan Moore is a frikkin' genious. The man can flat out write, and this short but effective graphic novel is his lasting contribution to Batman - the best ever Batman-Joker story. Similarly, Brian Bolland can flat out draw, and this is his lasting contribution to Batman - a kickass rendering of Batman and the absolute greatest version of the Joker ever drawn. This story is unrelentingly dark, horrifyingly violent, and posseses a grotesquely black sense of humor. It singlehandedly explains why the Joker is the greatest and scariest and most insanely evil of all comic book villains. It is, simply put, a masterpiece.
2.) Batman: Year One - writer: Frank Miller / artist: Dave Mazzuchelli
premise: the origin of Batman, this series chronicles Bruce Wayne's tragic beginnings and his first year as Batman - his early relationships with Jim Gordon, with Catwoman, and with the unrelenting city he calls home.
- with Year One, Frank Miller created the modern day Batman, and changed comics forever. Miller essentially said "this isn't just comic books, this is literature, this is art." He was working on the same premist that Christopher Nolan is going with for Batman Begins - if you take the character seriously, you can tell a seriously effective, relevant, and lasting narrative. Miller reinvented Batman with this story, and ushered in the modern age of comics - stories that resonated, that were tangible, spophisticated, multi-layered, that felt real. This was the new benchmark in comics storytelling, and one of the best Batman stories ever.
1.) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - writer and artist: Frank Miller
premise: In the near future, a middle-aged Bruce Wayne is forced out of retirement to clean up the city he calls home, which is spiralling into darkness and chaos. A cold, calculating, grizzled, battle-hardened, and violent Batman has returned for one final mission, and he is out not just to rid his city of crime, but to take on anyone who would try to stop him, be it the Joker, the government, or even Superman himself.
- When you talk about the best mainstream comics ever written, there are really only two that deserve mention - Alan Moore's Watchmen and Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. Both take place in dystopian near-futures. Both are filled with sex, violence, and depth of story. Both are products of the cynical and politically charged Cold-War era 1980's. But only one has Batman. Miller's magnum opus is a pure adrenaline rush - it is big, epic, but above all it is the tale of one man, Batman, who is mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore, and there's not a damned thing anybody can do about it, even if they happen to be more powerful than a locomotive. This Batman is middle aged and crazy, intense, violent, and maybe even has a deathwish. So while this is a political story, it is also an intensely personal one - one that despite being out of continuity left the character of Batman forever changed. This Batman completley erased whatever remanants were left of the 1960's happy go lucky Batman, it kicked that Batman in the balls and left it crying out for mommy. This Batman was darker, crazier, more driven than ever before, and that has been reflected in the comics, the movies, the popular culture ever since. This is the story that got people into comics, that got comics written about again in the New York Times and Time Magazine, that got them taken seriously. And above all it is an awesome and awe-inspiring story, filled with memorable quotes and images that are forever emblazoned in one's memory after having been immersed in Miller's world. Because Miller does creat a whole world here, with it's own look, feel, dialect, and attitude. This is the story where the Dark Knight Returns, yes. But in a larger sense, this really was the return of the Dark Knight, and above all else, is the greatest Batman story ever told.
Alright, tommorow is the day. Let the countdown begin, to Batman Begins.
Monday, June 13, 2005
A Smooth Criminal, and: Batman's Greatest Writer
Holy frikkin' crap, longest day ever.
Okay, normally I get on here and complain about working ticketbox, and usually, sure, it's annoying, but I get through. But not since my first disasterous day as ticketbox head have I had such a purely awful, strenuously conflict-riddled ordeal out at the front of the NBC guest relations office. First, the less annoying part, which, still, is unbelievably annoying. Everyone had an issue today. Every single person coming in had some sob story or some reason why they'd keel over and die if they did not get on the 12 pm tour. I heard about people driving 2000 miles, 3000 miles, appparently everyone is in the habit of driving straight across the country just to get on the freekin' 11:30 NBC Studio Tour, never, not for a moment, anticipating that it is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE. PEOPLE! Realize that you have to be a little bit flexible, this isn't the German train system or something, it's not an exact science. But yeah, that, THAT, was only the tip of the iceberg.
Hmm, should I or shouldn't I go into details? Tempting, but I guess if the situation were reversed I wouldn't want some jackass going on the internet and detailing my particular failings of character. But basically, things got badly screwed up with the scheduling today, and it wasn't due to the customers, but because of my fellow pages acting like immature jerks and nobody stepping up to the plate and saying "yeah, things aren't going exactly as I planned in my ideal vision of what this day would be like (aka sitting on my ass doing nothing), but don't worry I'll help out." Some people need to get their heads out of their asses and learn to work as PROFESSIONALS, which sometimes means 1.) taking one for the team, and 2.) COMMUNICATING with others in a productive, not destructive manner.
ANYWAYS ...
A few small highlights did brighten up my otherwise rough day. One was, guess who was on the guest list for the Tonight Show today, who checked in on the guest list with her family? Jenna Fischer, the leading lady from the US version of The Office! Cool! I am a big fan of the actress, and I even got to talk to her for a bit and tell her how I thought she did a great job on the show, and how I was glad it got renewed. And she had not a hint of snobbishness or anything - a truly class act and nice person. So that was pretty cool.
Also, randomly, my former landlord from my early LA days at the Burbank Extended Stay Inn was on the guest list. Weird.
OH YEAH ...
So everyone at work was preoccupied with the stupid Michael Jackson trial today, as I suppose much of the country was. Now to quote a great man: I'm not the kind of guy to say I told you so, but I told you so. It was so clear to me that MJ was going to gt off scott free in this case. It's what happens when the accuser in a trial is most likely just as corrupt and whacked out as the accused. I mean what parent, in their right mind, let's a kid stay at Neverland Ranch in the wake of the charges that had previously been leveled against Jackson? Clearly, these are people who wanted something and would do ANYTHING to get it. There was little solid evidence, from what I know, in this case. Just circumstantial testimony and a scattered bunch of reports about Jackson's behavior, few of which directly relate to the particular incident in question, and most of which could not be supported by multiple witnesses or any concrete evidence. So no, in this particular case, there was NO WAY they were going to find him guilty of anything. As for MJ, I think that basically he is just a really screwed up guy who while he may even sometimes be well intentioned in trying to help kids, he just is clueless in terms of what is appropriate in terms of how to act with kids and how not to act. No question, he is a guy who has done some highly questionable, sketchy stuff, and who needs someone to forcefully take him aside and tell him "look, you need help, and you need to change some of your attitudes. Even if you don't like it, you have got to realize what is and is not appropriate." So yeah, a predictable if unsatisfactory resolution - which as could be anticipated, left things mostly unresolved.
And now ...
Batman Begins Week Continues with:
THE GREATEST BATMAN WRITERS OF ALL TIME:
Batman has been fortunate in terms of writers. Most mainstream superheroes are lucky to have one or two great stories that have been told throughout their histories being published. Batman has had dozens of amazing stories told, and his myth has been shaped by some of the absolute greatest writers to ever work in comics or any other medium. Here are some of the best, and the their definitive stories.
16.) Mike W. Barr - O'Barr is one of those classic yet underhyped writers whose ability has never gotten quite the recognition it deserves. But he has written a lot of good Batman stories, and a lot of his stuff is unusual in that it is no longer part of official cannon despite being quality stuff. For instance his Batman Year Two was taken out of continuity after it was retroactively explained that contrary to what happens in this story, Batman has never found out who killed his parents. O'Barr's Batman stories mix superheroics (Batman and the Outsiders) with dark tragedy and pathos (Year Two, Birth of the Demon), and the man deserves credit as a key contributer ot the modern mythos. (see: Batman: Year Two).
15.) Jim Starlin - Starlin has done a few key stories for Batman that really set the bar high. First you have to acknowldge his role in writing Batman: A Death in the Family, which saw the death of Robin II and, for all the hyper around it, was a damn good story that still holds up today. Also, Starlin wrote kind of the Batman fans' cult favorite story, Ten Nights of the Beast, a kickass story that pits Batman against the KG Beast, a villain who though kind of cheesy in concept, is depicted as an awesome threat in this action packed, classic story. (see: Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast, Batman: A Death in the Family)
14.) Grant Morrison - Already something of a modern legend, the Morrison's crazy ideas, unlimited imagination, and unique vision have established him as one of the greatest writers of the last two decades. His Batman works have been few, but Morrison really did a lot to redefine the character. First there's his graphic novel Arkham Asylum, a twisted look at Batman's rogues gallery which is a classically psychotic and nightmarish tale. Then there is Grant's work on JLA in the 90's, which helped establish the badass Batman of today, who seems to always be the JLA's MVP despite having no superpowers. Morrison's first JLA Arc, the awesome New World Order storyline, reintroduced a James Bond-like Batman who single handedly prevents a Martian invasion with his superior intellect. (see: Arkham Asylum, JLA: New World Order)
13.) Doug Moench - Moench is one of the most prolific Batman writers of the modern era, and helped write many of the key stories in Batman's career in the 80's and 90's, working with great artists like Jim Aparo. Moench has a flare for dark, moody stories, and wrote some great supernatural-themed stuff featuring magical characters like The Demon, giving Batman a large part of his otherworldly, gothic persona that came to define the character in Tim Burton's movies. Moench also wrote key chapters in epic event sagas like Knightfall, and did a number of standalone stories as well. Pick up any Batman collection from the 90's and you'll likely see Moench's sistinctive stamp. (see: Batman: Knightfall)
12.) Marv Wolfman - Wolfman's most lasting contribution to Batman actually took place in the pages of Teen Titans in the 80's, where his classic run with artist George Perez saw former teen sidekick Robin, aka Dick Grayson, evolve into Nightwing, stepping out of his mentor's shadow and going on to form his own identity. At the same time, he wrote the definitive version of Grayson's origins as Robin in Batman: Year Three. This transformation paved the way for numerous stories to come, including the introduction of the second Robin, Jason Todd, a character who Wolfman wrote and helped kill along with Jim Starlin. Wolfman would then go on to help introduce the third Robin, Tim Drake, in the story A Lonely Place of Dying, another key chapter in Batman's saga. While Wolfman is best known for Teen Titans and the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths, he is also a key shaper of the Batman mythology. (see: Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract).
11.) Jeph Loeb - While Jeph's current work on titles like Superman / Batman is not among my favorite, this currently hot writer earns his place on the list for two amazing, character-defining stories that played a big role in influencing Batman Begins. Loeb's The Long Halloween and Dark Victory are great, classic, stories - dark, murder mysteries that show Batman's early years with unprecedented levels of emotion, character, and cinematic scope. Loeb's work with Tim Sale on the stories is canonical, but Loeb also went on to write perhaps the most hyped up Batman story ever, Hush, along with superstar artist Jim Lee. While the story was widely criticized for its lackluster ending, there's no question that it exemplified Loeb's ability to do widescreen, edge of your seat adventure like nobody else, along with an uncanny ability to write stories that really play to the strengths of his artists. (see: Batman: The Long Halloween)
10.) Ed Brubaker - Brubaker, along with Greg Rucka, are the two best Batman writers of the new millenium. Brubaker established himself during the epic No Man's Land story, and went on to produce some of the absolute best Batman stories ever in the following years, with a consistently satisfying run on the main Batman title that hit all the right notes, and showed a great mix of both character and action. Some of Brubaker's one-shot stories in the midst of the Batman: Bruce Wayne - Muderer / Fugitice story are shockingly good, and his work on the milestone Batman issue #600 is classic. (see: Batman - Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Fugitive)
9.) Greg Rucka - I give Rucka the edge over Brubaker simply because he's worked on the character slightly longer and done more work overall. Rucka had a definitive run on Detective Comics over the last few years, and produced a long run of dark, noirish stories that harken back to Rucka's roots as a mystery / spy novelist, and intoduced love interest Sasha Bordeux, one of the best new Bat supporting characters in a long while. He also wrote some of the best chapters of No Man's Land, including the gripping final chapters. Rucka has also done awesome work with some of Batman's supporting characters. His miniseries Batman / Huntress: Cry For Blood was an amazing story of Gotham's most loose-cannon vigilante, The Huntress, that explored her mafioso roots. His work on the series Gotham Central, a ploice drama set in Batman's Gotham City, is award-winning and groundbreaking - all the best aspects of Hill Street Blues or NYPD Blue set in the world of Batman. (see: Batman / Huntress: Cry For Blood, Gotham Central: Half A Life, Batman: No Man's Land).
8.) Alan Moore - Moore is in my mind and the minds of many the best comics writer ever, bar none. His work on books like Watchmen is simply unmatched, not only in comics but in literature, period. And luckily, Moore has lent his talents to a select few Batman tales which, unsurprisingly, were classics. The notable contribution by Moore to the Batman mythos is of course The Killing Joke, an examination of The Joker that is, basically, the definitive story of Batman's greatest villain, featuring amazing art by Brian Bolland. The Killing Joke is one of the most intense, gripping, and darkest Batman stories ever told, and some would say one of the greatest comics stories ever, with a shocking ending that will stay with you forever afterwards, and reprecussions that forever changed the world of Batman. (see: Batman: A Killing Joke)
7.) Alan Grant - Along with Chuck Dixon and Doug Moench, Grant was one of the key Batman writers of the 1990's. But even in the midst of big event-driven storylines, Alan Grant always seemed to do his own thing, and his thing was damn good stuff. Grant had a knack for the pschological, and if you think about it Batman is all about the psychological element. It was Grant who spearheaded the launch of a new Batman title, Shadow of the Bat, to coincide with the new Batman movie in '89, and what a launch it was. From it's classic opening arc, The Last Arkham, in which Batman is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum alongside the criminals he helped to place there, Shadow of the Bat was the most innovative, mature, and well-written of the Bat titles at the time. Grant took chances and introduced new villains, like the serial killer Mr. Zsasz and the unpredictable Anarky. Grant went on to work on a number of Batman titles, specials, and miniseries throughout the 90's, and each maintained his clear ability to write Batman as a dark, shadowy, and psychologically complex character. Grant helped redefine the modern version of Batman, and sadly he has all but disappeared from the comics scene in recent years. But Alan Grant is truly one of the greats.
6.) Paul Dini - For over ten years, Paul Dini has been bringing superior Batman stories to television in the form of Batman: The Animated Series, a work that stands as the best ever translation of Batman from comics page to screen, and that is in large part to the decievingly simple scripting of Dini, who managed to combine the best elements of Batman into a timeless celebration of all that is great about the character. In comics, Dini is no slouch either, teaming with superstar artist Alex Ross on the oversized graphic novel Batman: War On Crime, and on occasional specials like the critically acclaimed Batman: Mad Love one-shot and Batman: Harley Quinn, which introduced his animated Harley Quinn character into the comics. But his work on The Animated Series is Dini's true and lasting contribution to the Batman legacy. (see: Batman: Mad Love)
5.) Steve Englehart - In the 60's, Batman was all fun and games, and had gotten away from being a grim avenger of the night as was originally intended. But two writers began to darken the character, one of whom was Steve Englehart, whose short but memorable run on Batman with artist Marshall Rogers in the 70's layed the groundwork for much of what was to come, and brought a darker, more mysterious atmosphere to the formerly camped-up world of Batman. Englehart reestablished Batman's villains, and wrote some of the all time classic Joker stories. He gave Batman one of his all time best and most memorable love interests, Silver St. Cloud. He introduced new villains like the marksman Deadshot. And most importantly, he combined the fun and adventure of the 1960's Batman with the maturity and depth of modern storytelling to completely change the way that the character was perceived from that point on. (see: Batman: Strange Apparitions)
4.) Chuck Dixon - While he is never listed among the great comics writers like Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, few writers are able to capture and define the voice of comic book characters like Chuck Dixon. Dixon is a writer who has perhaps contributed more elements to the modern Batman canon than any other, and in doing so he forever set the tone, created the voice, of Batman, Robin, Commisioner Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, Nightwing, Barbara Gordon,and a host of other characters. At the same time, Dixon has a flair for pure action-based storytelling like few others do, and has created a number of action-adventure epics featuring Batman and his supporting cast. Dixon is the definitive writer of Robin, Nightwing, and Birds of Prey, three books on which he had long runs that forever shaped the featured characters, to the point where other writer's versions seem off in comparision, for lack of having that trademark Chuck Dixon inner monologue, which got you inside the heads of his protagonists so that you really felt like you knew characters like Robin, aka Tim Drake, like they were your high school buddy. Along with his sometime writing partner Scott Beatty, Dixon really has been the modern gatekeeper of Batman's universe, and he wrote some great stories while he was at it. (see: Batman: Knights' End, Robin: A Hero Reborn, Nightwing: The Hunt for Oracle)
3.) Bob Kane / Bill Finger - These two created Batman, and while their early stories were simplistic and rough by today's standards, they created an icon who is one of pop culture's greatest characters. Kane saw the appeal of a man who was born of tragedy, who was not super per se but just a regular guy who wanted nothing more than to stop criminals. The two's imagination and vision led to an amazing series of ideas, from wonderous gadgets to memorable villains to the first ever teenaged sidekick in Robin, The Boy Wonder. Give credit where credit is due - these guys started it all, and in doing so changed pop culture forever.
2.) Frank Miller - The Batman as we know him today? Yep, that's in large part Frank Miller's doing. Miller changed comics forever with Dark Knight Returns in the late 1980's. One of the greatest comics ever published, Dark Knight, along with Alan Moore's Watchmen, deconstucted the superhero for the modern day and looked past the masks to give a new spin on what it meant to be a hero in a world that seemed increasingly drawn in shades of grey. Dark Knight changed everything. It was Batman for adults. It was practically rite of passage reading. It was R-rated, or at least close to it, and it was unrelentingly dark, violent, and gritty. And most of all, it was a simply amazing story, the likes of which had never been seen before in mainstream comics. If you've never read Dark Knight Returns, read it now! I guarantee you'll be blown away by what you find. Sonn after, Miller would apply his same grim n' gritty style to Batman: Year One, an in-continuity tale that rebooted Batman from scratch and retold his origin for modern audiences. Year One is almost as much of a classic as Dark Knight, and is probably the number one influence on Batman Begins' look and feel. Miller reinvented Batman in the 1980's, and everything since is just riding his coattails. (see: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One)
1.) Denny O'Neal - O'Neal is my pick for the all time greatest Batman writer, and the reason is that for over thirty years, O'Neal has been contributing to the Batman legend and defining the character like no other singular personality has ever done. Denny O'Neal along with artist Neal Adams singlehandedly saved Batman in the 70's. Batman had become a joke, a campy punchline as delivered by Adam West. But O'Neal, with his darkly poetic prose and atmospheric narration dripping with moonlit night skies, exotic locales, and ominous creatures kicked Batman in the ass and never let up. O'Neal brought back the grim crusader, the enigmatic Dark Knight. He pitted Batman against new foes like Ra's Al Ghul (star of Batman Begins), and made the adventures mature, realistic, and yet absolutely fantastical - pure, exhilirating escapism in the grandest pulp-noir tradition. And yet, O'Neal didn't stop there. He kept writing Batman into the 80's, and shaping him as an editor during the next few decades as well. And he kept going. In the 90's O'Neal came back in a big way, launching the new title Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight and writing many of its best stories himself, including new classics like Batman: Venom. He added new layers to the Batman supporting cast with the groundbreaking Batman: Sword of Azrael series, which would introduce Bruce Wayne's short lived replacement as Azrael, and then O'Neal would go on to write a succesful spinoff Azrael series for 100 issues, despite being a senior editor and well past middle age. He was instrumental in crafting the big event stories of the 90's and beyond, from Knightfall to No Man's Land, and he still hasn't stopped. O'Neal opened the door for people like Frank Miller to take Batman to new places, and in general he opened the doors to new levels of sophistication, relevance, and realism in comics - but of all his many contributions to the field, O'Neal's stands out as Batman's greatest writer. (see: Batman: Tales of the Demon)
Alright - can you feel the hype building?
Tommorow it's another early day, so I'm off. Whoooooooooooo.
Okay, normally I get on here and complain about working ticketbox, and usually, sure, it's annoying, but I get through. But not since my first disasterous day as ticketbox head have I had such a purely awful, strenuously conflict-riddled ordeal out at the front of the NBC guest relations office. First, the less annoying part, which, still, is unbelievably annoying. Everyone had an issue today. Every single person coming in had some sob story or some reason why they'd keel over and die if they did not get on the 12 pm tour. I heard about people driving 2000 miles, 3000 miles, appparently everyone is in the habit of driving straight across the country just to get on the freekin' 11:30 NBC Studio Tour, never, not for a moment, anticipating that it is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE. PEOPLE! Realize that you have to be a little bit flexible, this isn't the German train system or something, it's not an exact science. But yeah, that, THAT, was only the tip of the iceberg.
Hmm, should I or shouldn't I go into details? Tempting, but I guess if the situation were reversed I wouldn't want some jackass going on the internet and detailing my particular failings of character. But basically, things got badly screwed up with the scheduling today, and it wasn't due to the customers, but because of my fellow pages acting like immature jerks and nobody stepping up to the plate and saying "yeah, things aren't going exactly as I planned in my ideal vision of what this day would be like (aka sitting on my ass doing nothing), but don't worry I'll help out." Some people need to get their heads out of their asses and learn to work as PROFESSIONALS, which sometimes means 1.) taking one for the team, and 2.) COMMUNICATING with others in a productive, not destructive manner.
ANYWAYS ...
A few small highlights did brighten up my otherwise rough day. One was, guess who was on the guest list for the Tonight Show today, who checked in on the guest list with her family? Jenna Fischer, the leading lady from the US version of The Office! Cool! I am a big fan of the actress, and I even got to talk to her for a bit and tell her how I thought she did a great job on the show, and how I was glad it got renewed. And she had not a hint of snobbishness or anything - a truly class act and nice person. So that was pretty cool.
Also, randomly, my former landlord from my early LA days at the Burbank Extended Stay Inn was on the guest list. Weird.
OH YEAH ...
So everyone at work was preoccupied with the stupid Michael Jackson trial today, as I suppose much of the country was. Now to quote a great man: I'm not the kind of guy to say I told you so, but I told you so. It was so clear to me that MJ was going to gt off scott free in this case. It's what happens when the accuser in a trial is most likely just as corrupt and whacked out as the accused. I mean what parent, in their right mind, let's a kid stay at Neverland Ranch in the wake of the charges that had previously been leveled against Jackson? Clearly, these are people who wanted something and would do ANYTHING to get it. There was little solid evidence, from what I know, in this case. Just circumstantial testimony and a scattered bunch of reports about Jackson's behavior, few of which directly relate to the particular incident in question, and most of which could not be supported by multiple witnesses or any concrete evidence. So no, in this particular case, there was NO WAY they were going to find him guilty of anything. As for MJ, I think that basically he is just a really screwed up guy who while he may even sometimes be well intentioned in trying to help kids, he just is clueless in terms of what is appropriate in terms of how to act with kids and how not to act. No question, he is a guy who has done some highly questionable, sketchy stuff, and who needs someone to forcefully take him aside and tell him "look, you need help, and you need to change some of your attitudes. Even if you don't like it, you have got to realize what is and is not appropriate." So yeah, a predictable if unsatisfactory resolution - which as could be anticipated, left things mostly unresolved.
And now ...
Batman Begins Week Continues with:
THE GREATEST BATMAN WRITERS OF ALL TIME:
Batman has been fortunate in terms of writers. Most mainstream superheroes are lucky to have one or two great stories that have been told throughout their histories being published. Batman has had dozens of amazing stories told, and his myth has been shaped by some of the absolute greatest writers to ever work in comics or any other medium. Here are some of the best, and the their definitive stories.
16.) Mike W. Barr - O'Barr is one of those classic yet underhyped writers whose ability has never gotten quite the recognition it deserves. But he has written a lot of good Batman stories, and a lot of his stuff is unusual in that it is no longer part of official cannon despite being quality stuff. For instance his Batman Year Two was taken out of continuity after it was retroactively explained that contrary to what happens in this story, Batman has never found out who killed his parents. O'Barr's Batman stories mix superheroics (Batman and the Outsiders) with dark tragedy and pathos (Year Two, Birth of the Demon), and the man deserves credit as a key contributer ot the modern mythos. (see: Batman: Year Two).
15.) Jim Starlin - Starlin has done a few key stories for Batman that really set the bar high. First you have to acknowldge his role in writing Batman: A Death in the Family, which saw the death of Robin II and, for all the hyper around it, was a damn good story that still holds up today. Also, Starlin wrote kind of the Batman fans' cult favorite story, Ten Nights of the Beast, a kickass story that pits Batman against the KG Beast, a villain who though kind of cheesy in concept, is depicted as an awesome threat in this action packed, classic story. (see: Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast, Batman: A Death in the Family)
14.) Grant Morrison - Already something of a modern legend, the Morrison's crazy ideas, unlimited imagination, and unique vision have established him as one of the greatest writers of the last two decades. His Batman works have been few, but Morrison really did a lot to redefine the character. First there's his graphic novel Arkham Asylum, a twisted look at Batman's rogues gallery which is a classically psychotic and nightmarish tale. Then there is Grant's work on JLA in the 90's, which helped establish the badass Batman of today, who seems to always be the JLA's MVP despite having no superpowers. Morrison's first JLA Arc, the awesome New World Order storyline, reintroduced a James Bond-like Batman who single handedly prevents a Martian invasion with his superior intellect. (see: Arkham Asylum, JLA: New World Order)
13.) Doug Moench - Moench is one of the most prolific Batman writers of the modern era, and helped write many of the key stories in Batman's career in the 80's and 90's, working with great artists like Jim Aparo. Moench has a flare for dark, moody stories, and wrote some great supernatural-themed stuff featuring magical characters like The Demon, giving Batman a large part of his otherworldly, gothic persona that came to define the character in Tim Burton's movies. Moench also wrote key chapters in epic event sagas like Knightfall, and did a number of standalone stories as well. Pick up any Batman collection from the 90's and you'll likely see Moench's sistinctive stamp. (see: Batman: Knightfall)
12.) Marv Wolfman - Wolfman's most lasting contribution to Batman actually took place in the pages of Teen Titans in the 80's, where his classic run with artist George Perez saw former teen sidekick Robin, aka Dick Grayson, evolve into Nightwing, stepping out of his mentor's shadow and going on to form his own identity. At the same time, he wrote the definitive version of Grayson's origins as Robin in Batman: Year Three. This transformation paved the way for numerous stories to come, including the introduction of the second Robin, Jason Todd, a character who Wolfman wrote and helped kill along with Jim Starlin. Wolfman would then go on to help introduce the third Robin, Tim Drake, in the story A Lonely Place of Dying, another key chapter in Batman's saga. While Wolfman is best known for Teen Titans and the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths, he is also a key shaper of the Batman mythology. (see: Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract).
11.) Jeph Loeb - While Jeph's current work on titles like Superman / Batman is not among my favorite, this currently hot writer earns his place on the list for two amazing, character-defining stories that played a big role in influencing Batman Begins. Loeb's The Long Halloween and Dark Victory are great, classic, stories - dark, murder mysteries that show Batman's early years with unprecedented levels of emotion, character, and cinematic scope. Loeb's work with Tim Sale on the stories is canonical, but Loeb also went on to write perhaps the most hyped up Batman story ever, Hush, along with superstar artist Jim Lee. While the story was widely criticized for its lackluster ending, there's no question that it exemplified Loeb's ability to do widescreen, edge of your seat adventure like nobody else, along with an uncanny ability to write stories that really play to the strengths of his artists. (see: Batman: The Long Halloween)
10.) Ed Brubaker - Brubaker, along with Greg Rucka, are the two best Batman writers of the new millenium. Brubaker established himself during the epic No Man's Land story, and went on to produce some of the absolute best Batman stories ever in the following years, with a consistently satisfying run on the main Batman title that hit all the right notes, and showed a great mix of both character and action. Some of Brubaker's one-shot stories in the midst of the Batman: Bruce Wayne - Muderer / Fugitice story are shockingly good, and his work on the milestone Batman issue #600 is classic. (see: Batman - Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Fugitive)
9.) Greg Rucka - I give Rucka the edge over Brubaker simply because he's worked on the character slightly longer and done more work overall. Rucka had a definitive run on Detective Comics over the last few years, and produced a long run of dark, noirish stories that harken back to Rucka's roots as a mystery / spy novelist, and intoduced love interest Sasha Bordeux, one of the best new Bat supporting characters in a long while. He also wrote some of the best chapters of No Man's Land, including the gripping final chapters. Rucka has also done awesome work with some of Batman's supporting characters. His miniseries Batman / Huntress: Cry For Blood was an amazing story of Gotham's most loose-cannon vigilante, The Huntress, that explored her mafioso roots. His work on the series Gotham Central, a ploice drama set in Batman's Gotham City, is award-winning and groundbreaking - all the best aspects of Hill Street Blues or NYPD Blue set in the world of Batman. (see: Batman / Huntress: Cry For Blood, Gotham Central: Half A Life, Batman: No Man's Land).
8.) Alan Moore - Moore is in my mind and the minds of many the best comics writer ever, bar none. His work on books like Watchmen is simply unmatched, not only in comics but in literature, period. And luckily, Moore has lent his talents to a select few Batman tales which, unsurprisingly, were classics. The notable contribution by Moore to the Batman mythos is of course The Killing Joke, an examination of The Joker that is, basically, the definitive story of Batman's greatest villain, featuring amazing art by Brian Bolland. The Killing Joke is one of the most intense, gripping, and darkest Batman stories ever told, and some would say one of the greatest comics stories ever, with a shocking ending that will stay with you forever afterwards, and reprecussions that forever changed the world of Batman. (see: Batman: A Killing Joke)
7.) Alan Grant - Along with Chuck Dixon and Doug Moench, Grant was one of the key Batman writers of the 1990's. But even in the midst of big event-driven storylines, Alan Grant always seemed to do his own thing, and his thing was damn good stuff. Grant had a knack for the pschological, and if you think about it Batman is all about the psychological element. It was Grant who spearheaded the launch of a new Batman title, Shadow of the Bat, to coincide with the new Batman movie in '89, and what a launch it was. From it's classic opening arc, The Last Arkham, in which Batman is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum alongside the criminals he helped to place there, Shadow of the Bat was the most innovative, mature, and well-written of the Bat titles at the time. Grant took chances and introduced new villains, like the serial killer Mr. Zsasz and the unpredictable Anarky. Grant went on to work on a number of Batman titles, specials, and miniseries throughout the 90's, and each maintained his clear ability to write Batman as a dark, shadowy, and psychologically complex character. Grant helped redefine the modern version of Batman, and sadly he has all but disappeared from the comics scene in recent years. But Alan Grant is truly one of the greats.
6.) Paul Dini - For over ten years, Paul Dini has been bringing superior Batman stories to television in the form of Batman: The Animated Series, a work that stands as the best ever translation of Batman from comics page to screen, and that is in large part to the decievingly simple scripting of Dini, who managed to combine the best elements of Batman into a timeless celebration of all that is great about the character. In comics, Dini is no slouch either, teaming with superstar artist Alex Ross on the oversized graphic novel Batman: War On Crime, and on occasional specials like the critically acclaimed Batman: Mad Love one-shot and Batman: Harley Quinn, which introduced his animated Harley Quinn character into the comics. But his work on The Animated Series is Dini's true and lasting contribution to the Batman legacy. (see: Batman: Mad Love)
5.) Steve Englehart - In the 60's, Batman was all fun and games, and had gotten away from being a grim avenger of the night as was originally intended. But two writers began to darken the character, one of whom was Steve Englehart, whose short but memorable run on Batman with artist Marshall Rogers in the 70's layed the groundwork for much of what was to come, and brought a darker, more mysterious atmosphere to the formerly camped-up world of Batman. Englehart reestablished Batman's villains, and wrote some of the all time classic Joker stories. He gave Batman one of his all time best and most memorable love interests, Silver St. Cloud. He introduced new villains like the marksman Deadshot. And most importantly, he combined the fun and adventure of the 1960's Batman with the maturity and depth of modern storytelling to completely change the way that the character was perceived from that point on. (see: Batman: Strange Apparitions)
4.) Chuck Dixon - While he is never listed among the great comics writers like Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, few writers are able to capture and define the voice of comic book characters like Chuck Dixon. Dixon is a writer who has perhaps contributed more elements to the modern Batman canon than any other, and in doing so he forever set the tone, created the voice, of Batman, Robin, Commisioner Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, Nightwing, Barbara Gordon,and a host of other characters. At the same time, Dixon has a flair for pure action-based storytelling like few others do, and has created a number of action-adventure epics featuring Batman and his supporting cast. Dixon is the definitive writer of Robin, Nightwing, and Birds of Prey, three books on which he had long runs that forever shaped the featured characters, to the point where other writer's versions seem off in comparision, for lack of having that trademark Chuck Dixon inner monologue, which got you inside the heads of his protagonists so that you really felt like you knew characters like Robin, aka Tim Drake, like they were your high school buddy. Along with his sometime writing partner Scott Beatty, Dixon really has been the modern gatekeeper of Batman's universe, and he wrote some great stories while he was at it. (see: Batman: Knights' End, Robin: A Hero Reborn, Nightwing: The Hunt for Oracle)
3.) Bob Kane / Bill Finger - These two created Batman, and while their early stories were simplistic and rough by today's standards, they created an icon who is one of pop culture's greatest characters. Kane saw the appeal of a man who was born of tragedy, who was not super per se but just a regular guy who wanted nothing more than to stop criminals. The two's imagination and vision led to an amazing series of ideas, from wonderous gadgets to memorable villains to the first ever teenaged sidekick in Robin, The Boy Wonder. Give credit where credit is due - these guys started it all, and in doing so changed pop culture forever.
2.) Frank Miller - The Batman as we know him today? Yep, that's in large part Frank Miller's doing. Miller changed comics forever with Dark Knight Returns in the late 1980's. One of the greatest comics ever published, Dark Knight, along with Alan Moore's Watchmen, deconstucted the superhero for the modern day and looked past the masks to give a new spin on what it meant to be a hero in a world that seemed increasingly drawn in shades of grey. Dark Knight changed everything. It was Batman for adults. It was practically rite of passage reading. It was R-rated, or at least close to it, and it was unrelentingly dark, violent, and gritty. And most of all, it was a simply amazing story, the likes of which had never been seen before in mainstream comics. If you've never read Dark Knight Returns, read it now! I guarantee you'll be blown away by what you find. Sonn after, Miller would apply his same grim n' gritty style to Batman: Year One, an in-continuity tale that rebooted Batman from scratch and retold his origin for modern audiences. Year One is almost as much of a classic as Dark Knight, and is probably the number one influence on Batman Begins' look and feel. Miller reinvented Batman in the 1980's, and everything since is just riding his coattails. (see: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One)
1.) Denny O'Neal - O'Neal is my pick for the all time greatest Batman writer, and the reason is that for over thirty years, O'Neal has been contributing to the Batman legend and defining the character like no other singular personality has ever done. Denny O'Neal along with artist Neal Adams singlehandedly saved Batman in the 70's. Batman had become a joke, a campy punchline as delivered by Adam West. But O'Neal, with his darkly poetic prose and atmospheric narration dripping with moonlit night skies, exotic locales, and ominous creatures kicked Batman in the ass and never let up. O'Neal brought back the grim crusader, the enigmatic Dark Knight. He pitted Batman against new foes like Ra's Al Ghul (star of Batman Begins), and made the adventures mature, realistic, and yet absolutely fantastical - pure, exhilirating escapism in the grandest pulp-noir tradition. And yet, O'Neal didn't stop there. He kept writing Batman into the 80's, and shaping him as an editor during the next few decades as well. And he kept going. In the 90's O'Neal came back in a big way, launching the new title Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight and writing many of its best stories himself, including new classics like Batman: Venom. He added new layers to the Batman supporting cast with the groundbreaking Batman: Sword of Azrael series, which would introduce Bruce Wayne's short lived replacement as Azrael, and then O'Neal would go on to write a succesful spinoff Azrael series for 100 issues, despite being a senior editor and well past middle age. He was instrumental in crafting the big event stories of the 90's and beyond, from Knightfall to No Man's Land, and he still hasn't stopped. O'Neal opened the door for people like Frank Miller to take Batman to new places, and in general he opened the doors to new levels of sophistication, relevance, and realism in comics - but of all his many contributions to the field, O'Neal's stands out as Batman's greatest writer. (see: Batman: Tales of the Demon)
Alright - can you feel the hype building?
Tommorow it's another early day, so I'm off. Whoooooooooooo.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Not Just The Coolest. Not Just The Best ...
That's right, this blog is Just. In. Credible.
Man, I am hyped up from watching today's ECW One Night Stand PPV. Yep, pro wrestling, dudes fighting it out in no holds barred death matches with tables, ladders, and a wee bit of barbed wire like it was 1997 all over again. If you're a red-blooded American male, ya gotta love it. If you're reading this and thinking "man who watches that crap?" then look at yourself and ask "do I watch shows including but not limited to: Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, Dancing With the Stars, Fear Factor, or One Tree Hill?" See my point? It's the guys who are watching reruns of Friends and voting for American Idol that I'd be worried about.
Anyways why am I defending myself. Awesome show and kudos to all involved. It gets a solid A from me and it will be interesting to see if this triggers any kind of revival of ECW, or at the least makes some of the other promotions, namely the WWE (who actually put on this show and own the rights to ECW) reconsider the type of product that they currently present. As this show reminded everyone, ECW is not just about spectacle and violence but heart, soul, intensity, and passion. EC-Dub, EC-Dub, EC-Dub!
So .......
MY WEEKEND:
Since I'm currently in a rebellious, anti-establishment mood yer gonna get the extreeeeme version of Danny B for the remainder of this blog entry. Just warning you.
So this weekend I went to see MR. AND MRS. SMITH on Friday at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Decent movie though slightly below the level of what I was expecting. I guess I was hoping for a bit more James Bond and a little less When Harry Met Sally, if ya know what I mean. But again some good dialougue, a hefty dose of action, and some good character moments. But lack of plot and an uneven pace made this less of a summer blockbuster as it was hyped to be and more of a "meh" movie that is solidly in the lower to mid B range. Clever, but a little too clever for it's own good. Jolie and Pitt were both good with what they were given, and dayum if Angelina doesn't know how to handle some heavy artillery, but a movie like this needs a good villain and some sweet supporting characters, which were two elements sorely lacking, though Vince Vaughn tried his best to add something to the movie. Anyways, don't rush out to see this, but at the same time, worth checking out if you have the time and $$$. My grade: B
Saturday I (contain your excitement) cleaned my apartment and then stopped by Paul Lurie's place before he heads off to USY on Wheels (same trip my brother Matt is going on). While there I caught a screener DVD of STELLA, the new trippy sitcom from the guys behind THE STATE And WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER. Some hilarious stuff, even if some of the gags were old hat for these guys, and some of the stuff was a little TOO out there even for them. Still, funnier than almost anything else on TV and definitely worth checking out for fans of absurd, irreverent, crazy comedy, of which these guys are the masters.
TOMORROW:
(Conan the Barbarian voice on) Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Ticketbox ... AGAIYNNNNNN!?!?!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
And it's getting closer ...
BATMAN BEGINS THIS WEEK -
Got my tix reserved for the IMAX showing at Universal on Wed. Can't wait. A lot of interesting stuff being written about Batman lately, such as a great look at the evolution of the character in today's LA Times' Book Review, written by Max Allan Collins, who dabbled as a Batman writer in the 80's and went on to create Road to Perdition, which became a huge movie with Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Jude Law. Just as I did last week, Collins contrasts the colorful and relatively simplistic creation of Bob Kane with the brooding, serious, and gritty Batman as written by Frank Miller in Year One, which would forever change the character. And to show you that Batman is just about as extreme as they come in recent years, I present to you the darkest, sickest things that have happened to the character in his modern continuity:
BATMAN'S MOST EXTREME MOMENTS:
7.) SPOILER DIES (Batman: Wargames) - Batman has bad luck with Robins. The most recent example is the teenaged girl hero Spoiler, aka Stephanie Brown, who for a brief while became the new Robin when her predecessor, Tim Drake, had some disagreements with Batman. But soon after she put on the green and red tights, she got offed in gruesome faction by the villainous Black Mask, who was in the midst of a plan to become Gotham's new criminal kingpin.
6.) BATMAN SLEEPS WITH THE ENEMY -- AND HAS A SON?!?! (Batman: Birth of the Demon). In the new movie you'll see Ra's Al Ghul, but wo you might not see is his beautiful but deadly daughter, Talia, in the comics forever torn between love of her father and love of "The Detective," aka Batman. Well in one instance, Batman finally succumbs to his passions and does it with the demon, er, well his daughter at least. And then the twist - at the end of the story it is nine months later and Talia has a baby boy! So wait, Bats is a daddy? According to DC Comics editors this story is now considered out of continuity, but for a while there it looked like Batman had a little Batman out there wondering who his true father was.
5.) BATMAN TAKES OUT THE ENTIRE JUSTICE LEAGUE?! (JLA: Tower of Babel) Turns out that Batman is a pretty paranoid guy. So paranoid that he designed ways to take out all of his super friends if they should ever go bad. But when Ra's Al Ghul steals those secret protocols from Batman's files, the villain uses Batman's own darkly efficient methods to destroy Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and the rest of the JLA, and it was all Batman's fault. Let's just say that those heroes hadsome trust issues with Bruce Wayne after that episode.
4.) THE JOKER SHOOTS COMMISIONER GORDON'S WIFE IN COLD BLOOD (Batman: NO MAN'S LAND) - The Commish is a tortured soul. In fighting his own war on crime he's lost just as much as Batman himself. His wife left him, his daughter was paralyzed ... and then just as he found happiness with his new wife, Sarah Essen, the Joker comes along and offs her, as the hellish No Man's Land saga reaches its conclusion. After the deed is done, Gordon confronts the Joker and points a gun to his head. "I won't stop you" says Batman. But Gordon, quivering, simply shoots Joker in the kneecap and says "No. We do this by the book." and lets the cops take him away. Now THAT'S a cop for ya.
3.) THE JOKER CRIPPLES BATGIRL (Batman: The Killing Joke) - Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon, was a pop cultural icon. But in one grotesque act of violence, The Joker barged into apartment of the dominoed crimefighter and shot her in the abdomen, paralyzing her from the waste down. Today Barbara Gordon is still haunted by that fateful day, but continues to fight crime, though wheelchair bound, as the information broker to the heroes, now known as Oracle.
2.) ROBIN DIES - (Batman: A Death in the Family) Back in 1988, fans weren't exactly enamored with Jason Todd, the second Robin, who replaced Dick Grayson, the original, after he took on a new identity as Nightwing. DC then set up Todd for a hell of a fall, as they penned a story where, after a search for his true parentage, Jason went toe to toe with the Joker. So the penultmiate issue of the story ends with Jason, badly beaten by the Joker, trapped in a building full of explosives. Would he live or die? DC left it up to the fans, who could actually call a 1-900 number to vote whether Jason lived or died. And they actually voted, by a small margin, for him to DIE. So next issue Batman arrives on the scene too late, only to find the lifeless body of Robin amongst the wreckage. At that point Batman vowed to kill the Joker, but the insanely evil clown eluded capture in what would be the first of many narrow escapes from Batman's wrath.
1.) BATMAN BEATS SUPERMAN - (Batman: Dark Knight Returns) - So how does a regular guy with some martial arts skills and cool gadgets take on an all powerful kryptonian who can fly, lift twenty tons, and is invulnerable? Read the classic Dark Knight Returns to find out. Ya see, in this dystopian future, Superman has become a puppet of the corrupt US government, and Batman has called him outfor an all out, to the death battle. Sporting a mechanized suit of armor, Kryptonite-laced gloves, and an array of other weapons at his disposal, Batman pummels Superman while taking the beating of his life. The tide changes when A trategically fired kryptonite arrow opens up things for Batman to really open up. Though it almost kills him, Batman has done the impossible - kicked Superman's ass. "I want you to remember, Clark." he thinks. "To remember the name of the man who beat you." Hardcore.
Alright, must get sleep for ticketbox tommorow. Oh man that is gonna succccccccck. Tommorow regular nice guy Danny returns. For now, I say if you want some, come n' get some.
Man, I am hyped up from watching today's ECW One Night Stand PPV. Yep, pro wrestling, dudes fighting it out in no holds barred death matches with tables, ladders, and a wee bit of barbed wire like it was 1997 all over again. If you're a red-blooded American male, ya gotta love it. If you're reading this and thinking "man who watches that crap?" then look at yourself and ask "do I watch shows including but not limited to: Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, Dancing With the Stars, Fear Factor, or One Tree Hill?" See my point? It's the guys who are watching reruns of Friends and voting for American Idol that I'd be worried about.
Anyways why am I defending myself. Awesome show and kudos to all involved. It gets a solid A from me and it will be interesting to see if this triggers any kind of revival of ECW, or at the least makes some of the other promotions, namely the WWE (who actually put on this show and own the rights to ECW) reconsider the type of product that they currently present. As this show reminded everyone, ECW is not just about spectacle and violence but heart, soul, intensity, and passion. EC-Dub, EC-Dub, EC-Dub!
So .......
MY WEEKEND:
Since I'm currently in a rebellious, anti-establishment mood yer gonna get the extreeeeme version of Danny B for the remainder of this blog entry. Just warning you.
So this weekend I went to see MR. AND MRS. SMITH on Friday at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Decent movie though slightly below the level of what I was expecting. I guess I was hoping for a bit more James Bond and a little less When Harry Met Sally, if ya know what I mean. But again some good dialougue, a hefty dose of action, and some good character moments. But lack of plot and an uneven pace made this less of a summer blockbuster as it was hyped to be and more of a "meh" movie that is solidly in the lower to mid B range. Clever, but a little too clever for it's own good. Jolie and Pitt were both good with what they were given, and dayum if Angelina doesn't know how to handle some heavy artillery, but a movie like this needs a good villain and some sweet supporting characters, which were two elements sorely lacking, though Vince Vaughn tried his best to add something to the movie. Anyways, don't rush out to see this, but at the same time, worth checking out if you have the time and $$$. My grade: B
Saturday I (contain your excitement) cleaned my apartment and then stopped by Paul Lurie's place before he heads off to USY on Wheels (same trip my brother Matt is going on). While there I caught a screener DVD of STELLA, the new trippy sitcom from the guys behind THE STATE And WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER. Some hilarious stuff, even if some of the gags were old hat for these guys, and some of the stuff was a little TOO out there even for them. Still, funnier than almost anything else on TV and definitely worth checking out for fans of absurd, irreverent, crazy comedy, of which these guys are the masters.
TOMORROW:
(Conan the Barbarian voice on) Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Ticketbox ... AGAIYNNNNNN!?!?!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
And it's getting closer ...
BATMAN BEGINS THIS WEEK -
Got my tix reserved for the IMAX showing at Universal on Wed. Can't wait. A lot of interesting stuff being written about Batman lately, such as a great look at the evolution of the character in today's LA Times' Book Review, written by Max Allan Collins, who dabbled as a Batman writer in the 80's and went on to create Road to Perdition, which became a huge movie with Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Jude Law. Just as I did last week, Collins contrasts the colorful and relatively simplistic creation of Bob Kane with the brooding, serious, and gritty Batman as written by Frank Miller in Year One, which would forever change the character. And to show you that Batman is just about as extreme as they come in recent years, I present to you the darkest, sickest things that have happened to the character in his modern continuity:
BATMAN'S MOST EXTREME MOMENTS:
7.) SPOILER DIES (Batman: Wargames) - Batman has bad luck with Robins. The most recent example is the teenaged girl hero Spoiler, aka Stephanie Brown, who for a brief while became the new Robin when her predecessor, Tim Drake, had some disagreements with Batman. But soon after she put on the green and red tights, she got offed in gruesome faction by the villainous Black Mask, who was in the midst of a plan to become Gotham's new criminal kingpin.
6.) BATMAN SLEEPS WITH THE ENEMY -- AND HAS A SON?!?! (Batman: Birth of the Demon). In the new movie you'll see Ra's Al Ghul, but wo you might not see is his beautiful but deadly daughter, Talia, in the comics forever torn between love of her father and love of "The Detective," aka Batman. Well in one instance, Batman finally succumbs to his passions and does it with the demon, er, well his daughter at least. And then the twist - at the end of the story it is nine months later and Talia has a baby boy! So wait, Bats is a daddy? According to DC Comics editors this story is now considered out of continuity, but for a while there it looked like Batman had a little Batman out there wondering who his true father was.
5.) BATMAN TAKES OUT THE ENTIRE JUSTICE LEAGUE?! (JLA: Tower of Babel) Turns out that Batman is a pretty paranoid guy. So paranoid that he designed ways to take out all of his super friends if they should ever go bad. But when Ra's Al Ghul steals those secret protocols from Batman's files, the villain uses Batman's own darkly efficient methods to destroy Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and the rest of the JLA, and it was all Batman's fault. Let's just say that those heroes hadsome trust issues with Bruce Wayne after that episode.
4.) THE JOKER SHOOTS COMMISIONER GORDON'S WIFE IN COLD BLOOD (Batman: NO MAN'S LAND) - The Commish is a tortured soul. In fighting his own war on crime he's lost just as much as Batman himself. His wife left him, his daughter was paralyzed ... and then just as he found happiness with his new wife, Sarah Essen, the Joker comes along and offs her, as the hellish No Man's Land saga reaches its conclusion. After the deed is done, Gordon confronts the Joker and points a gun to his head. "I won't stop you" says Batman. But Gordon, quivering, simply shoots Joker in the kneecap and says "No. We do this by the book." and lets the cops take him away. Now THAT'S a cop for ya.
3.) THE JOKER CRIPPLES BATGIRL (Batman: The Killing Joke) - Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon, was a pop cultural icon. But in one grotesque act of violence, The Joker barged into apartment of the dominoed crimefighter and shot her in the abdomen, paralyzing her from the waste down. Today Barbara Gordon is still haunted by that fateful day, but continues to fight crime, though wheelchair bound, as the information broker to the heroes, now known as Oracle.
2.) ROBIN DIES - (Batman: A Death in the Family) Back in 1988, fans weren't exactly enamored with Jason Todd, the second Robin, who replaced Dick Grayson, the original, after he took on a new identity as Nightwing. DC then set up Todd for a hell of a fall, as they penned a story where, after a search for his true parentage, Jason went toe to toe with the Joker. So the penultmiate issue of the story ends with Jason, badly beaten by the Joker, trapped in a building full of explosives. Would he live or die? DC left it up to the fans, who could actually call a 1-900 number to vote whether Jason lived or died. And they actually voted, by a small margin, for him to DIE. So next issue Batman arrives on the scene too late, only to find the lifeless body of Robin amongst the wreckage. At that point Batman vowed to kill the Joker, but the insanely evil clown eluded capture in what would be the first of many narrow escapes from Batman's wrath.
1.) BATMAN BEATS SUPERMAN - (Batman: Dark Knight Returns) - So how does a regular guy with some martial arts skills and cool gadgets take on an all powerful kryptonian who can fly, lift twenty tons, and is invulnerable? Read the classic Dark Knight Returns to find out. Ya see, in this dystopian future, Superman has become a puppet of the corrupt US government, and Batman has called him outfor an all out, to the death battle. Sporting a mechanized suit of armor, Kryptonite-laced gloves, and an array of other weapons at his disposal, Batman pummels Superman while taking the beating of his life. The tide changes when A trategically fired kryptonite arrow opens up things for Batman to really open up. Though it almost kills him, Batman has done the impossible - kicked Superman's ass. "I want you to remember, Clark." he thinks. "To remember the name of the man who beat you." Hardcore.
Alright, must get sleep for ticketbox tommorow. Oh man that is gonna succccccccck. Tommorow regular nice guy Danny returns. For now, I say if you want some, come n' get some.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Fightin' Foo, and: The Best Obscure Batman Movies
Well I wanted to write some more and do another hardcore all out balls to the wall Batman entry tonight but, crap, I gotta wake up at freakin' 6 am tommorow and once again man the damndable ticketboxxxx. It's a hard knock life.
But some quick stuff:
TODAY:
Foo Fighters rocked on The Tonight Show! Best musical performance I've seen on Leno probably since Billy Idol. But seriously (actually I was serious in my last statement, but anyways ...) they kicked some ass.
Today's show actually really fired on all cylinders. Former Melrose vixen and Wayne Campell's second favorite babe, Heather Locklear made a great appearance as the lead guest. John Leguizamo turned up despite food poisoning and was very funny as usual (well, I mean, as usual except for in movies he's in ...), and the enigma wrapped in a grotesquely effeminate conundrum, Ross the Intern, delivered a hilarious yet distrubing opening segment. Good stuff, for once. Even the monologue seemed funnier than usual.
MTV Stuff:
MTV Movie Awards tonight. Damn I remember when this was a must-watch, along with the video music awards back in the day, when comedians like Mike Myers and Ben Stiller used the show as a hilarious showcase for their absurdist sense of humor. So tonight's "awards" show actually wasn't too bad. It mostly succeeded in entertaining me, which was necessary since tonight's opening round of the NBA Finals between Detroit and San Antonio was, yes, a defensive showcase, but also really really boring. Jimmy Fallon was the most tolerable he's been in a while, and even occasionally kinda funny. Some of the sketches were decent. And the show gets points for 1.) a random yet hy-larious cameo by NAPOLEON DYNAMITE in the opening Batman-themed movie parody and 2.) a very nice tribute to The Breakfast Club, which saw Ally Sheady, Anthony Michael Hall, and yes, Molly Ringwald come out to accept the honorary award. Those two things alone elevate the show to the B- ish range, and make up for unfunny appearances by the likes of Andy Dick, Vince Vaughn, and Owen Wilson doing the same tired schtick they've been doing every year for the last five years or so. Maybe one day MTV will be cool again. Until that happens, we will have to accept that according to them, Lindsay Lohan is the year's best actress. Riiiiiiight. The MTV of old would have gone with Uma Thurman in a heartbeat.
TOMMORROW:
Ticketbox allllllll durn day. To quote Darth Vader: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And because it is BATMAN BEGINS WEEK on my blog ...
I present to you:
The TOP 3 OBSCURE BATMAN MOVIES, WHICH MAY ACTUALLY BE THE ACTUAL 3 BEST BATMAN MOVIES EVER MADE ...
3.) The Batman / Superman Movie: Yep, forget the WB's axed big-budget live-action version that was going to be directed by Wolfgang Peterson. They already made this movie, in animated form, and it was actually pretty damn good. Done in the classic Paul Dini / Bruce Timm animated style, DC Comic's two biggest icons team up in an epic adventure that combines the best of both heroes' worlds. Check it out on DVD.
2.) Batman: The Movie: No, I don't mean the Tim Burton one starring Michael Keaton. I'm talking the classic ADAM WEST version. In this movie, widely and cheaply available on DVD, Batman and Robin set the bar for superhorics very high as they take on EVERY ONE OF BATMAN'S VILLAINS AT ONCE! Yep, the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, AND Catwoman (okay so it's not every villain, but hey that's quite a team!) all band together to combine their forces in a dastardly plan. And no, they aren't trying to take over Gotham or anything weak-ass like that. Nope, they are only trying to throw the WHOLE WORLD into chaos by turning EVERY MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTO DUST. Badass. This movie is action packed, freakin' HILARIOUS (it features the debut of the BAT-SHARK REPELLANT) and is psychedellic 1960's Batman at his Bat-best. Sure, it's not my ideal version of Batman, but just like how some days you can't get rid of a bomb, some days you just gotta watch Batman at his campiest.
1.) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: Shortly after Burton's movies came out, this animated feature-length film came out in theaters, but it only got a limited release and has since been seen mostly on home video and DVD. But whoah, hold the phone, this movie by the Animated Series team of Dini and Timm is awesome. This IS BATMAN AS BATMAN SHOULD BE. And guess what? This is, EASILY, the BEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER MADE. Hell, Batman Begins will have to be pretty damn good in order to be better than this underrated gem. If you want to see a dark, epic, adventure that delves into Batman's haunted psyche, pits him against a deadly cadre of villains, and features huge action, look no further than this movie. And I have to give a shout-out to my middle school English teacher, Mrs. McDonnell, who showed this movie to our class one day and made us write about it, one of the coolest things I ever did in school, and my first exposure to this awesome movie. Note: I hear that a couple of other animated Batman flicks, Batman: Subzero, and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, are pretty great as well, though I have yet to actually see 'em. So that's on the ol' to-do list. Thoughts?
Anyways ...
Must rest. Tommorow may suck, especially between the hours of 6 am and 11:30 am (my lunch break).
But some quick stuff:
TODAY:
Foo Fighters rocked on The Tonight Show! Best musical performance I've seen on Leno probably since Billy Idol. But seriously (actually I was serious in my last statement, but anyways ...) they kicked some ass.
Today's show actually really fired on all cylinders. Former Melrose vixen and Wayne Campell's second favorite babe, Heather Locklear made a great appearance as the lead guest. John Leguizamo turned up despite food poisoning and was very funny as usual (well, I mean, as usual except for in movies he's in ...), and the enigma wrapped in a grotesquely effeminate conundrum, Ross the Intern, delivered a hilarious yet distrubing opening segment. Good stuff, for once. Even the monologue seemed funnier than usual.
MTV Stuff:
MTV Movie Awards tonight. Damn I remember when this was a must-watch, along with the video music awards back in the day, when comedians like Mike Myers and Ben Stiller used the show as a hilarious showcase for their absurdist sense of humor. So tonight's "awards" show actually wasn't too bad. It mostly succeeded in entertaining me, which was necessary since tonight's opening round of the NBA Finals between Detroit and San Antonio was, yes, a defensive showcase, but also really really boring. Jimmy Fallon was the most tolerable he's been in a while, and even occasionally kinda funny. Some of the sketches were decent. And the show gets points for 1.) a random yet hy-larious cameo by NAPOLEON DYNAMITE in the opening Batman-themed movie parody and 2.) a very nice tribute to The Breakfast Club, which saw Ally Sheady, Anthony Michael Hall, and yes, Molly Ringwald come out to accept the honorary award. Those two things alone elevate the show to the B- ish range, and make up for unfunny appearances by the likes of Andy Dick, Vince Vaughn, and Owen Wilson doing the same tired schtick they've been doing every year for the last five years or so. Maybe one day MTV will be cool again. Until that happens, we will have to accept that according to them, Lindsay Lohan is the year's best actress. Riiiiiiight. The MTV of old would have gone with Uma Thurman in a heartbeat.
TOMMORROW:
Ticketbox allllllll durn day. To quote Darth Vader: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And because it is BATMAN BEGINS WEEK on my blog ...
I present to you:
The TOP 3 OBSCURE BATMAN MOVIES, WHICH MAY ACTUALLY BE THE ACTUAL 3 BEST BATMAN MOVIES EVER MADE ...
3.) The Batman / Superman Movie: Yep, forget the WB's axed big-budget live-action version that was going to be directed by Wolfgang Peterson. They already made this movie, in animated form, and it was actually pretty damn good. Done in the classic Paul Dini / Bruce Timm animated style, DC Comic's two biggest icons team up in an epic adventure that combines the best of both heroes' worlds. Check it out on DVD.
2.) Batman: The Movie: No, I don't mean the Tim Burton one starring Michael Keaton. I'm talking the classic ADAM WEST version. In this movie, widely and cheaply available on DVD, Batman and Robin set the bar for superhorics very high as they take on EVERY ONE OF BATMAN'S VILLAINS AT ONCE! Yep, the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, AND Catwoman (okay so it's not every villain, but hey that's quite a team!) all band together to combine their forces in a dastardly plan. And no, they aren't trying to take over Gotham or anything weak-ass like that. Nope, they are only trying to throw the WHOLE WORLD into chaos by turning EVERY MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTO DUST. Badass. This movie is action packed, freakin' HILARIOUS (it features the debut of the BAT-SHARK REPELLANT) and is psychedellic 1960's Batman at his Bat-best. Sure, it's not my ideal version of Batman, but just like how some days you can't get rid of a bomb, some days you just gotta watch Batman at his campiest.
1.) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: Shortly after Burton's movies came out, this animated feature-length film came out in theaters, but it only got a limited release and has since been seen mostly on home video and DVD. But whoah, hold the phone, this movie by the Animated Series team of Dini and Timm is awesome. This IS BATMAN AS BATMAN SHOULD BE. And guess what? This is, EASILY, the BEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER MADE. Hell, Batman Begins will have to be pretty damn good in order to be better than this underrated gem. If you want to see a dark, epic, adventure that delves into Batman's haunted psyche, pits him against a deadly cadre of villains, and features huge action, look no further than this movie. And I have to give a shout-out to my middle school English teacher, Mrs. McDonnell, who showed this movie to our class one day and made us write about it, one of the coolest things I ever did in school, and my first exposure to this awesome movie. Note: I hear that a couple of other animated Batman flicks, Batman: Subzero, and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, are pretty great as well, though I have yet to actually see 'em. So that's on the ol' to-do list. Thoughts?
Anyways ...
Must rest. Tommorow may suck, especially between the hours of 6 am and 11:30 am (my lunch break).
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Cruisin' for a Bruisin', and: the Greatest Batman Artist Ever
What a crazy day today was at work.
Not only was perhaps the biggest movie star of the last twenty years on the Tonight Show, but the show's outdoor concert series kicked off with country superstar Toby Keith. So we had a BIG crowd today, and a lot of people antsy about whether or not they'd get in. So the need for crowd control was paramount. And when Tom Cruise decided to spend the commercial break running up and down through the audience, shaking people's hands, hugging women, and saluting the military group in attendance, well, things got kinda crazy. Cruise really did have that larger than life persona though. Sure he tries to act like a regular guy, but I think him and John Travolta have been the only two actors I've seen on the show that have that old-school Hollywood megastar aura about them (maybe something about Scientology ... ?) where they seem like they're from another planet or something. And yeah, Tom Cruise's interview had many awkward moments when Jay tried to talk about all the Katie Holmes stuff. So weird - like Jay was asking Tom questions about the realtionship as if they are just some normal couple. Like how did they meet, what kinds of stuff do they do, etc? I mean, you can't ask that kind of stuff to Tom Cruise. They probably just like sit around all day and meditate on the tenets of Scientology or something. But when the inevitable questions did come up, Cruise started gettin' all crazy eyed again a la Oprah and then, in what I guess was supposed to be some kind of self-mocking reference to the earlier incident, he (in what turned out to be yet another reeaaally strange and embarrasing moment) JUMPED ON THE COUCH AGAIN! Wha!?!?! Dude, this guy is seriously losing it, or something. I mean I recall him being so subdued and calm and cool and collected in most of his interviews. Now his interviews are like some kind of dramatic interpretation of Robin Williams' schtick or something. Jay even had him acting like an ogre and doing Donald Duck impressions. NowI'm not gonna speculate about all the different rumors floating around, don't know if he's really in love or whatever, but this guy is living on his own planet. Or who knows, maybe he's just a pretty normal guy who's becoming less sure of how to handle himself with the media? Surreal interview, to say the least. In any case though, forget all that stuff and focus on what's important: War of the Worlds, without a doubt, is going to rock seven ways to Sunday.
Also psyched for MR. AND MRS. SMITH. Again, I don't really care about the tabloidy stuff behind the scenes. The important thing is that this movie looks pretty sweet.
Some Random Thoughts:
Ugh, what is with all the raves for COLDPLAY? I don't usually like to critique music, as it's so subjective, but a few things are annoying me about this band. One is that at least here in LA, they are getting played on modern rock radio way too frequently. Their new stuff is, if anything, EASY LISTENING that sounds like it belongs either in a hotel elevator or as the background music during a breakup scene on a WB teen drama. And secondly, they are being hailed as the "new U2." Now I'm no hardcore U-2 fan, but their early stuff in particular was pretty spectacular, and many of the songs had very provocative, sometimes political lyrics that still resonate to this day. I'm not quite seeing how Coldplay in any way measures up to old-school U2. If anything they are more reminiscent of the later-years of U2 - stale, derivative, and boring. And that's my opinion.
Honestly, who are the people following the Michael Jackson case so closely that it deserves the amount of coverage it's been getting? I think this is a case of the media going crazy over nothing, creating a self-perpetuating circus. I think we have a case of a pop star who lives in a fantasy world and is pretty delusional about the role that adults should play in the lives of children, and an accuser whose family is out to make a buck and knows that the media would love nothing more than to see Jackson go down hard. And note to Leno: ENOUGH WITH THE MJ JOKES.
Now ...
BATMAN BEGINS WEEK - PART 2
Presenting: The Top 20 Greatest Batman Artists of All-Time.
Batman has one of the greatest visuals of all time, but what is so great about his character is that the design and feel is so completely open to interpretation. Throughout the decades Batman has been drawn in wildly varied styles, and gone from being a cartoonish Superfriend to a shadowy dark knight. In Batman Begins, the art style seems to be veering towards a more realistic character, unlike the gothic noir cityscapes of Tim Burton's films, the art-deco retro stylings of The Animated Series, or the godawful acid trip craziness of Joel Schumaker's two abominations. The new movie seems to be taking a cue from the gritty, barebones style of Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's work on Batman: Year One, as well as Neal Adam's classic, realistic interpretation of Batman, which introduced Ra's Al Ghul, the main villain of the movie. So here are the twenty greatest Batman artists ever, in my humble opinion. Look up their works and see their stuff for yourself.
20.) Howard Porter - over the years, Porter's style seemed to get increasingly angular and less polished, but for a time he was drawing THE version of Batman in his modern-classic run as artist of JLA during writer Grant Morrison's red-hot run in the mid to late 1990's. Porter drew a Batman who could scare the crap out of his superpowered comrades in the Justice League and who could take down cosmic villains like Darkseid with his uber intelligence and sheer force of will. Porter's imposing, confidant version of Batman ushered in the modern take on the character as being more than just a detective and vigilante. Porter's Batman looks and acts like the most dangerous man on earth. see: JLA: New World Order
19.) Jim Balent - some call him nothing more than a cheesecake artist, but the bottom line is that Jim Balent can draw. In the 90's, following her prominence in Batman Returns, DC launched a Catwoman comic with art by Balent, and the results were if nothing else visually stunning. Balent drew one of the best versions of Catwoman ever, and his Batman was not too shabby either. Check out his splash page in Batman: Knight's End where Bruce Wayne puts on his Batman costume for the first time in months after being beaten by Bane and replaced by Azrael - awesome. see: Batman: Knight's End, early issues of Catwoman
18.) Barry Kitson - Kitson is a consummate storyteller who can draw dark, scary, and atmospheric while somehow maintaining a slick, clean, and highly detailed and nuanced style. Kitson has not done an abundance of Batman work, but when he has he has really shined, contributing many stories in the 90' and beyond including the definitive run on Azrael, the comic about the adventures of Batman's ill-fated replacement, which at it's peak had the best art going of anything out there. see: early issues of Azrael
17.) Frank Miller - sure, he hasn't actually drawn a lot of Batman. And sure, some regard his style as rough, sketchy, and even downright messy at times. But one work speaks for itself: Dark Knight Returns - the greatest Batman story ever told, written and drawn by Miller. In it, Batman and Gotham City are dark, scary, gritty, and intense. His scratchy lines draw you into the books surreal, dark atmosphere and never let up, and his splash pages from this series are some of the most iconic images of Batman ever.
see: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
16.) Jim Lee - Until recently, Jim Lee had never drawn Batman. He was mostly known as the guy who did X-Men in the 90's. But Lee revolutionized Batman a few years back, teaming with Jeph Loeb for Hush - the most talked-about Batman story in recent years. Lee's sleek, Japanese-influenced style is pure eye candy. It's no wonder that he is still the industry's hottest artist. see: Batman: Hush
15.) Graham Nolan - Nolan does classic Batman with a modern twist. He excels at action, but his clean images never become confusing. He had a long run on Detective Comic and Batman in the 90's, and he was always consistently dynamic, exciting, and the go-to guy to provide the best moments in the stream of big event stories that were occuring at the time. see: Batman: Contagion
14.) Scott McDaniel - In the last few years, McDaniel teamed with Ed Brubaker to do an amazing run on Batman, and also became the definitive artist for Nightwing, aka the original Robin. His unique, hybrid-manga style is pure speed and motion, with images that seem to fly off the page and action scenes where you can feel every punch. see: Batman: Bruce Wayne - Murderer?
13.) David Mazuchelli - Another artist who hasn't done a lot of Batman per se, but who did one story, Batman: Year One, with Frank Miller, that is one of the best ever. Mazuchelli's art is stark, realistic, and effective at telling a story. The images of Batman's origin in Year One are some of the most iconic ever drawn, and their influence has been seen in the original Batman movie, the Animated Series, and now, heavily, in Batman Begins. see: Batman: Year One
12.) Alan Davis - Davis is just an amazing artist who does a classic comic book style, but does it better than anyone, with a smoothness and scope that is still unrivaled. His Batman is a superheroic figure, whose emotion always shines through his mask. Davis also does Batman villains like few others, and his ability to fill a page with clean, dynamic action is unrivaled. see: Justice League: The Nail
11.) Tom Grummett: Tom blends the consistency and fluidity of Disney animation with the classic stylings of canonical comic artists like John Byrne and George Perez. While his Batman is impressive, Grummett also is notable for being the artist who really defined Robin for the modern era, along with a handful of others like Tom Lyle and writer Chuck Dixon. Grummett excels at teen characters, and his pages have the distinct look of animation cels. see: World's Finest: Superboy / Robin, early issues of Robin
10.) Tim Sale: Teaming with Jeph Loeb, Sale has created two of the defining Batman stories - The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, which stand as two modern classics in the Batman canon. Sale's stylized, deceivingly simplistic style lends a cinematic feel to his stories, and imbues Batman's rogues gallery of villains with a unique type of scary personality. see: Batman: The Long Halloween.
9.) Dick Giordano: One of the classic artists of the 70's, 80's, and beyond, who always delivered a classic, heroic Batman with an iconic style that along with the work of Jim Aparo would exemplify the house style in which Batman was drawn for a good twenty or so years. There's nothing fancy about Giordano, but his sheer staying power and consistency makes him a classic. see: Batman: A Death in the Family
8.) Brian Bolland: Again, here's an artist who is one of the absolute best ever, and on the special occasions that he has drawn Batman, he always turns in something memorable. Bolland's ultra-detailed style lends itself more to doing work as a cover artist, and Bolland has done some of Batman's most memorable cover images. Notably, his depictions of the Joker rank as arguably the best ever. The cover, along with his stunning interiors for Batman: A Killing Joke, are etched in the minds of Batman fans as the definitive version of Batman's greatest villain, The Joker. see: Batman: A Killing Joke
7.) Dick Sprang: Sprang embodied a different era, when a jovial Batman fought space aliens and cracked jokes with Robin, the Boy Wonder. Despite it's goofiness when compared to today's version of Batman, Sprang's art in the 1960's and beyond was amazingly fluid and along with other great silver age artists like Carmine Infantino, helped define the style of an era. The larger than life aspects of Batman, from Joker's elaborate death traps to the crazy array of Bat-gadgets, are in large part a lasting piece of the mythos due to Sprang's outlandish work on the character. see: The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told
6.) Marshall Rodgers: After artists like Sprang brought out the lighter side of Batman, others like Marshall Rodgers would help to bring back the Dark Knight in the 70's. Rodgers Batman was mysterious, conflicted, moody, and tormented. Along with writer Steve Englehart, Rodgers helped redefine Batman in the 1970's, creating definitive looks for his villains that are still evident today. see: Batman: Strange Apparitions
5.) Norm Breyfogle: In the late 1980's and early 90's, Breyfogle was the definitive Batman artist. His Batman was shadowy and dark. His stories had above all else a moody atmosphere that was never quite recaptured by other artists that would follow. Along with writers like Alan Grant, Breyfogle introduced strange new villains like Anarky, Scarface, and Mr. Zsasz. He somehow managed to do clear, dynamic storytelling while always emphasizing that in Batman's world, things were slightly darker, more shadowy, scarier than in our own. see: Batman: Anarky
4.) Bruce Timm: One phrase is all you really need to know - Batman: The Animated Series. With one stroke of genious, Timm along with cocreator Paul Dini reinvented Batman and defined an art style that is still being used today in various comic and animated series. Their angular, art-deco meets film noir meets Japanes anime style was unique but immediately a hit, somehow capturing everything great about Batman and his supporting cast in a deceivingly boxy, square-jawed shell. In addition, some of his character designs, notably for villains like Mr. Freeze, Two Face, and of course Harley Quinn, were lasting influences on the Batman mythos. see: Batman: Harley and Ivy
3.) Bob Kane: What can you say - this guy, along with collaberator Bill Finger, created Batman. While Bob Kane did much of the original artwork and plotting, Bill Finger apparently did much of the actual scripting, and their collaberation produced legendary results - one of the greatest fictional characters ever. Kane's designs for Batman's costume were spot-on, even if many refinements were later made throughout the decades. Kane's creation of and designs for villains like The Joker and Catwoman changed comics and popular fiction forever. The idea of a dark superhero combined elements of Superman, Zorro, The Shadow and other pulp heroes, but Kane's vision was like lightning in a bottle. The father of Batman. see: Batman: The Batman Chronicles Volume 1
2.) Jim Aparo: To many, he is THE definitive Batman artist. Aparo drew Batman throughout the 70's, 80's, and 90's, and when multiple generations of Batfans think of Batman, they envision him as drawn by Aparo, who seemed to know just how long to make the ears, how dark to make the shadows around the cowl, how sharp to make the gauntlets on the gloves. He just did Batman right, as he should be. His versions of Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, the Joker, Commisioner Gordon - all classic - he picked up on what Marshall Rodgers started and refined it until Batman simply existed as drawn by Jim Aparo - his Batman became THE Batman, to the point where any other artist's rendition looked a little off, because it could only be viewed in comparison with Aparo's. Nowadays Batman is drawn in a much more varied array of styles, but nothing beats that classic, elegantly simple Aparo style. see: Batman: Knightfall
1.) Neal Adams: More so than any other artist ever, Neal Adams showed the world that comics were serious business. While Marshall Rodgers showed the way and Jim Aparo carried the ball, it was Neal Adams who brought Batman out of the Adam West years and into the modern age. Adam's style is realistic, extremely so, yet never loses that classic comic book dyamism and sense of larger than life style. His Batman was simply amazing, and along with writer Denny O'Neal, Adams put Batman through some of his greatest adventures in the mid to late 1970's, pitting him against the fiendish Ra's Al Ghul, among other surprisingly intelligent and cunning villains. The bottom line with Neal Adams is that he was just that damn good of an artist, and Batman was the character he did best. Unfortunately Adams mostly left the comic industry in the 80's and today only occasionally contributes new material to the comics field. But Adams run on Batman is considered by many to be the best ever, and I agree. He simply did Batman better than anyone else before or since. see: Batman: Tales of the Demon
More later.
Peace out.
Happy Birthday (I suppose ...) to my brother Matt, who is now 19, and who though close, can still not beat me in basketball, videogames, hand to hand combat, or, well anything. That's my story and I'm sticking to it until proven wrong.
Not only was perhaps the biggest movie star of the last twenty years on the Tonight Show, but the show's outdoor concert series kicked off with country superstar Toby Keith. So we had a BIG crowd today, and a lot of people antsy about whether or not they'd get in. So the need for crowd control was paramount. And when Tom Cruise decided to spend the commercial break running up and down through the audience, shaking people's hands, hugging women, and saluting the military group in attendance, well, things got kinda crazy. Cruise really did have that larger than life persona though. Sure he tries to act like a regular guy, but I think him and John Travolta have been the only two actors I've seen on the show that have that old-school Hollywood megastar aura about them (maybe something about Scientology ... ?) where they seem like they're from another planet or something. And yeah, Tom Cruise's interview had many awkward moments when Jay tried to talk about all the Katie Holmes stuff. So weird - like Jay was asking Tom questions about the realtionship as if they are just some normal couple. Like how did they meet, what kinds of stuff do they do, etc? I mean, you can't ask that kind of stuff to Tom Cruise. They probably just like sit around all day and meditate on the tenets of Scientology or something. But when the inevitable questions did come up, Cruise started gettin' all crazy eyed again a la Oprah and then, in what I guess was supposed to be some kind of self-mocking reference to the earlier incident, he (in what turned out to be yet another reeaaally strange and embarrasing moment) JUMPED ON THE COUCH AGAIN! Wha!?!?! Dude, this guy is seriously losing it, or something. I mean I recall him being so subdued and calm and cool and collected in most of his interviews. Now his interviews are like some kind of dramatic interpretation of Robin Williams' schtick or something. Jay even had him acting like an ogre and doing Donald Duck impressions. NowI'm not gonna speculate about all the different rumors floating around, don't know if he's really in love or whatever, but this guy is living on his own planet. Or who knows, maybe he's just a pretty normal guy who's becoming less sure of how to handle himself with the media? Surreal interview, to say the least. In any case though, forget all that stuff and focus on what's important: War of the Worlds, without a doubt, is going to rock seven ways to Sunday.
Also psyched for MR. AND MRS. SMITH. Again, I don't really care about the tabloidy stuff behind the scenes. The important thing is that this movie looks pretty sweet.
Some Random Thoughts:
Ugh, what is with all the raves for COLDPLAY? I don't usually like to critique music, as it's so subjective, but a few things are annoying me about this band. One is that at least here in LA, they are getting played on modern rock radio way too frequently. Their new stuff is, if anything, EASY LISTENING that sounds like it belongs either in a hotel elevator or as the background music during a breakup scene on a WB teen drama. And secondly, they are being hailed as the "new U2." Now I'm no hardcore U-2 fan, but their early stuff in particular was pretty spectacular, and many of the songs had very provocative, sometimes political lyrics that still resonate to this day. I'm not quite seeing how Coldplay in any way measures up to old-school U2. If anything they are more reminiscent of the later-years of U2 - stale, derivative, and boring. And that's my opinion.
Honestly, who are the people following the Michael Jackson case so closely that it deserves the amount of coverage it's been getting? I think this is a case of the media going crazy over nothing, creating a self-perpetuating circus. I think we have a case of a pop star who lives in a fantasy world and is pretty delusional about the role that adults should play in the lives of children, and an accuser whose family is out to make a buck and knows that the media would love nothing more than to see Jackson go down hard. And note to Leno: ENOUGH WITH THE MJ JOKES.
Now ...
BATMAN BEGINS WEEK - PART 2
Presenting: The Top 20 Greatest Batman Artists of All-Time.
Batman has one of the greatest visuals of all time, but what is so great about his character is that the design and feel is so completely open to interpretation. Throughout the decades Batman has been drawn in wildly varied styles, and gone from being a cartoonish Superfriend to a shadowy dark knight. In Batman Begins, the art style seems to be veering towards a more realistic character, unlike the gothic noir cityscapes of Tim Burton's films, the art-deco retro stylings of The Animated Series, or the godawful acid trip craziness of Joel Schumaker's two abominations. The new movie seems to be taking a cue from the gritty, barebones style of Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's work on Batman: Year One, as well as Neal Adam's classic, realistic interpretation of Batman, which introduced Ra's Al Ghul, the main villain of the movie. So here are the twenty greatest Batman artists ever, in my humble opinion. Look up their works and see their stuff for yourself.
20.) Howard Porter - over the years, Porter's style seemed to get increasingly angular and less polished, but for a time he was drawing THE version of Batman in his modern-classic run as artist of JLA during writer Grant Morrison's red-hot run in the mid to late 1990's. Porter drew a Batman who could scare the crap out of his superpowered comrades in the Justice League and who could take down cosmic villains like Darkseid with his uber intelligence and sheer force of will. Porter's imposing, confidant version of Batman ushered in the modern take on the character as being more than just a detective and vigilante. Porter's Batman looks and acts like the most dangerous man on earth. see: JLA: New World Order
19.) Jim Balent - some call him nothing more than a cheesecake artist, but the bottom line is that Jim Balent can draw. In the 90's, following her prominence in Batman Returns, DC launched a Catwoman comic with art by Balent, and the results were if nothing else visually stunning. Balent drew one of the best versions of Catwoman ever, and his Batman was not too shabby either. Check out his splash page in Batman: Knight's End where Bruce Wayne puts on his Batman costume for the first time in months after being beaten by Bane and replaced by Azrael - awesome. see: Batman: Knight's End, early issues of Catwoman
18.) Barry Kitson - Kitson is a consummate storyteller who can draw dark, scary, and atmospheric while somehow maintaining a slick, clean, and highly detailed and nuanced style. Kitson has not done an abundance of Batman work, but when he has he has really shined, contributing many stories in the 90' and beyond including the definitive run on Azrael, the comic about the adventures of Batman's ill-fated replacement, which at it's peak had the best art going of anything out there. see: early issues of Azrael
17.) Frank Miller - sure, he hasn't actually drawn a lot of Batman. And sure, some regard his style as rough, sketchy, and even downright messy at times. But one work speaks for itself: Dark Knight Returns - the greatest Batman story ever told, written and drawn by Miller. In it, Batman and Gotham City are dark, scary, gritty, and intense. His scratchy lines draw you into the books surreal, dark atmosphere and never let up, and his splash pages from this series are some of the most iconic images of Batman ever.
see: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
16.) Jim Lee - Until recently, Jim Lee had never drawn Batman. He was mostly known as the guy who did X-Men in the 90's. But Lee revolutionized Batman a few years back, teaming with Jeph Loeb for Hush - the most talked-about Batman story in recent years. Lee's sleek, Japanese-influenced style is pure eye candy. It's no wonder that he is still the industry's hottest artist. see: Batman: Hush
15.) Graham Nolan - Nolan does classic Batman with a modern twist. He excels at action, but his clean images never become confusing. He had a long run on Detective Comic and Batman in the 90's, and he was always consistently dynamic, exciting, and the go-to guy to provide the best moments in the stream of big event stories that were occuring at the time. see: Batman: Contagion
14.) Scott McDaniel - In the last few years, McDaniel teamed with Ed Brubaker to do an amazing run on Batman, and also became the definitive artist for Nightwing, aka the original Robin. His unique, hybrid-manga style is pure speed and motion, with images that seem to fly off the page and action scenes where you can feel every punch. see: Batman: Bruce Wayne - Murderer?
13.) David Mazuchelli - Another artist who hasn't done a lot of Batman per se, but who did one story, Batman: Year One, with Frank Miller, that is one of the best ever. Mazuchelli's art is stark, realistic, and effective at telling a story. The images of Batman's origin in Year One are some of the most iconic ever drawn, and their influence has been seen in the original Batman movie, the Animated Series, and now, heavily, in Batman Begins. see: Batman: Year One
12.) Alan Davis - Davis is just an amazing artist who does a classic comic book style, but does it better than anyone, with a smoothness and scope that is still unrivaled. His Batman is a superheroic figure, whose emotion always shines through his mask. Davis also does Batman villains like few others, and his ability to fill a page with clean, dynamic action is unrivaled. see: Justice League: The Nail
11.) Tom Grummett: Tom blends the consistency and fluidity of Disney animation with the classic stylings of canonical comic artists like John Byrne and George Perez. While his Batman is impressive, Grummett also is notable for being the artist who really defined Robin for the modern era, along with a handful of others like Tom Lyle and writer Chuck Dixon. Grummett excels at teen characters, and his pages have the distinct look of animation cels. see: World's Finest: Superboy / Robin, early issues of Robin
10.) Tim Sale: Teaming with Jeph Loeb, Sale has created two of the defining Batman stories - The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, which stand as two modern classics in the Batman canon. Sale's stylized, deceivingly simplistic style lends a cinematic feel to his stories, and imbues Batman's rogues gallery of villains with a unique type of scary personality. see: Batman: The Long Halloween.
9.) Dick Giordano: One of the classic artists of the 70's, 80's, and beyond, who always delivered a classic, heroic Batman with an iconic style that along with the work of Jim Aparo would exemplify the house style in which Batman was drawn for a good twenty or so years. There's nothing fancy about Giordano, but his sheer staying power and consistency makes him a classic. see: Batman: A Death in the Family
8.) Brian Bolland: Again, here's an artist who is one of the absolute best ever, and on the special occasions that he has drawn Batman, he always turns in something memorable. Bolland's ultra-detailed style lends itself more to doing work as a cover artist, and Bolland has done some of Batman's most memorable cover images. Notably, his depictions of the Joker rank as arguably the best ever. The cover, along with his stunning interiors for Batman: A Killing Joke, are etched in the minds of Batman fans as the definitive version of Batman's greatest villain, The Joker. see: Batman: A Killing Joke
7.) Dick Sprang: Sprang embodied a different era, when a jovial Batman fought space aliens and cracked jokes with Robin, the Boy Wonder. Despite it's goofiness when compared to today's version of Batman, Sprang's art in the 1960's and beyond was amazingly fluid and along with other great silver age artists like Carmine Infantino, helped define the style of an era. The larger than life aspects of Batman, from Joker's elaborate death traps to the crazy array of Bat-gadgets, are in large part a lasting piece of the mythos due to Sprang's outlandish work on the character. see: The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told
6.) Marshall Rodgers: After artists like Sprang brought out the lighter side of Batman, others like Marshall Rodgers would help to bring back the Dark Knight in the 70's. Rodgers Batman was mysterious, conflicted, moody, and tormented. Along with writer Steve Englehart, Rodgers helped redefine Batman in the 1970's, creating definitive looks for his villains that are still evident today. see: Batman: Strange Apparitions
5.) Norm Breyfogle: In the late 1980's and early 90's, Breyfogle was the definitive Batman artist. His Batman was shadowy and dark. His stories had above all else a moody atmosphere that was never quite recaptured by other artists that would follow. Along with writers like Alan Grant, Breyfogle introduced strange new villains like Anarky, Scarface, and Mr. Zsasz. He somehow managed to do clear, dynamic storytelling while always emphasizing that in Batman's world, things were slightly darker, more shadowy, scarier than in our own. see: Batman: Anarky
4.) Bruce Timm: One phrase is all you really need to know - Batman: The Animated Series. With one stroke of genious, Timm along with cocreator Paul Dini reinvented Batman and defined an art style that is still being used today in various comic and animated series. Their angular, art-deco meets film noir meets Japanes anime style was unique but immediately a hit, somehow capturing everything great about Batman and his supporting cast in a deceivingly boxy, square-jawed shell. In addition, some of his character designs, notably for villains like Mr. Freeze, Two Face, and of course Harley Quinn, were lasting influences on the Batman mythos. see: Batman: Harley and Ivy
3.) Bob Kane: What can you say - this guy, along with collaberator Bill Finger, created Batman. While Bob Kane did much of the original artwork and plotting, Bill Finger apparently did much of the actual scripting, and their collaberation produced legendary results - one of the greatest fictional characters ever. Kane's designs for Batman's costume were spot-on, even if many refinements were later made throughout the decades. Kane's creation of and designs for villains like The Joker and Catwoman changed comics and popular fiction forever. The idea of a dark superhero combined elements of Superman, Zorro, The Shadow and other pulp heroes, but Kane's vision was like lightning in a bottle. The father of Batman. see: Batman: The Batman Chronicles Volume 1
2.) Jim Aparo: To many, he is THE definitive Batman artist. Aparo drew Batman throughout the 70's, 80's, and 90's, and when multiple generations of Batfans think of Batman, they envision him as drawn by Aparo, who seemed to know just how long to make the ears, how dark to make the shadows around the cowl, how sharp to make the gauntlets on the gloves. He just did Batman right, as he should be. His versions of Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, the Joker, Commisioner Gordon - all classic - he picked up on what Marshall Rodgers started and refined it until Batman simply existed as drawn by Jim Aparo - his Batman became THE Batman, to the point where any other artist's rendition looked a little off, because it could only be viewed in comparison with Aparo's. Nowadays Batman is drawn in a much more varied array of styles, but nothing beats that classic, elegantly simple Aparo style. see: Batman: Knightfall
1.) Neal Adams: More so than any other artist ever, Neal Adams showed the world that comics were serious business. While Marshall Rodgers showed the way and Jim Aparo carried the ball, it was Neal Adams who brought Batman out of the Adam West years and into the modern age. Adam's style is realistic, extremely so, yet never loses that classic comic book dyamism and sense of larger than life style. His Batman was simply amazing, and along with writer Denny O'Neal, Adams put Batman through some of his greatest adventures in the mid to late 1970's, pitting him against the fiendish Ra's Al Ghul, among other surprisingly intelligent and cunning villains. The bottom line with Neal Adams is that he was just that damn good of an artist, and Batman was the character he did best. Unfortunately Adams mostly left the comic industry in the 80's and today only occasionally contributes new material to the comics field. But Adams run on Batman is considered by many to be the best ever, and I agree. He simply did Batman better than anyone else before or since. see: Batman: Tales of the Demon
More later.
Peace out.
Happy Birthday (I suppose ...) to my brother Matt, who is now 19, and who though close, can still not beat me in basketball, videogames, hand to hand combat, or, well anything. That's my story and I'm sticking to it until proven wrong.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Holy Blog Updates, Batman! Batman Week Begins
Dude, I saw THE BATMOBILE today! The new, tricked-out one from Batman Begins! It was at NBC for a piece they were doing for Access Hollywood, right there, in the parking lot! The worst part is that as I took my tour group by it, practically nobody cared! Holy lord, I mean it's the frikkin' batmobile from a movie that's not even out yet. Plus even if you don't give a crap about Batman, it is like the most badass vehicle you've ever seen.
So now it is official. After reading a few reviews, notably over at Ain't It Cool News.com, seeing more of the hype, and seeing the durn Batmobile in person, I am HYPED for this movie. But more on that in a few.
QUICK ASIDE: Hmm, thought there'd be more of a reaction to my Ben Savage sighting the other day. What, people don't get worked up about beloved, D-list childhood actors from ABC's once-legendary TGIF lineup anymore?
So, on MONDAY:
Well in practice it wasn't all that exciting, but in theory it was pretty darn sweet that i got to MEET WILL FERELL and escort him along with his wife and son (hilariously and tragically named MAGNUS!) to his Tonight Show dressing room. Didn't really get to say much to him, as Leno came out to greet him personally. But hey, he was dressed in a bright orange suit. Also briefly met comedian George Lopez and his wife, who commented on how much she liked my NBC tie.
TODAY:
Saw the band The Bravery perform during their dress rehearsal before the show. Didn't recognize the name at first, but immediately knew their song from it's heavy play on K-Rock here in LA and presumably on other modern rock stations all over. Pretty kickass song and performance in the style of The Killers and other such neo-80's rock bands, so very sweet to see the band do such a fun and catchy song.
TOMORROW:
Mr. Jumpy Jumpy himself, Tom Cruise, visits NBC for the Tonight Show. Should be interesting. Still, setting aside all the tabloid-y stuff, which in truth I don't really care about, War of the Worlds, barring a major disaster, is locked and loaded and set to rock, so can't wait for that one.
And NOW ...
DANNYBARAM.BLOGSPOT.COM PRESENTS:
BATMAN BEGINS WEEK ... BEGINS!
WARNING: If you're not into this nerdy stuff or don't like my long, seemingly pointless rants, stop reading now.
READY? OK, LET'S DO THIS:
One week until the movie-going main event of the summer (sorry Star Wars), Batman Begins. Now I am a pretty big Batman fan. Okay, I am kind of a hardcore Batman fan. Sure, as a kid I loved the old Adam West TV show and whatnot, but what really got me hooked was the same thing that got me hooked on Superman - the comics. It all started in Camp Jewel in about 5th grade or so. Every week our counsellors would go into town, and among other things, they'd bring back the new issues of Batman and Superman, both of which were going through some major changes at the time. See, Superman was dead (!) and Batman, well, he had his back broken and was replaced by some other guy who became the NEW Batman. Suffice to say, I was hooked, and have been ever since. Now I've read some incredible Batman comics over the years. I've seen Batman brought to TV in an amazingly genious interpretation, in Batman: The Animated Series. But what I have NOT seen is a live-action movie that really, truly does justice to what is perhaps the greatest fictional character of all time. Sure, the first Tim Burton movie, known simply as Batman, was pretty cool at the time. Jack Nicholson tore up the screen as the Joker, and Michael Keaton was better than anyone expected in the title role. Burton's stylized, Gothic vision was perfect. But still, the movie leaves most real fans of Batman feeling kind of empty, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly why. It just felt too over the top, too corny, too concerned with STYLE to really focus on the SUBSTANCE. While the imagery was striking, the character was lacking. And character is a vital part of the equation. Plus with so much amazing history to draw from, it just felt like too much was MISSING. Where was Jim Gordon, for example? Only a few years prior to Burton's Batman, Frank Miller revolutionized the character with Dark Knight Returns and Year One, and yet his influence was nowhere to be felt in the move, which in retrospect is very disappointing. From there, it all went downhill. Batman Returns, again, had some good moments, but became so twisted and grotesque that it lost all dramatic gravitas and became altogether removed from reality. Batman Forever, well, this was the Joel Schumaker era, in which Batman, as a movie franchise, was utterly, completely, decimated, humiliated, and disgraced. Joel Schumaker made Batman into a joke. He turned the Dark Knight into a rubber suit wearing clown who was mere set decoration in some kind of crazy acid-trip parody. At least the Adam West series had a real sense of wry humor and inspired, campy lunacy. This was just unequivically terrible. And just look at the talent that was wasted. Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face, hell, even Ahnold as Mr. Freeze. All could have been good, if not great, in those roles. But the writing, directing, and overall vision was pure, unadulterated crap. Not to mention the awful turns by George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Robin, and (shudder ...) Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Batman had hit rock bottom. There was nothing left to do but hit the cosmic reset button and begin again.
Ironically, even as Batman limped along in movies, he was kicking ass elsewhere. The animated series under the guidance of Paul Dini produced several seasons of pure, classically told, artfully animated, and brilliantly voice-acted Batman stories - some of the absolute best ever, in any medium. In the comics, Batman's ongoing adventures were written by a continuing parade of some of the best writers out there, and drawn by some of the field's best artists. The Knightfall saga saw Bruce Wayne crippled, only to eventually return and reclaim the mantle of the Bat from his psychotic replacement, Jean Paul Valley, aka Azrael. In later years, great writers like Greg Rucka and Ed Brubacker enjoyed long runs on the Batman comics that will go down as classics. Jeph Loeb teamed with superstar artist Jim Lee to create the Hush saga, which returned Batman to number one on the sales charts. Loeb and artist Tim Sale also produced The Long Halloween, regarded as a classic tale of Batman's early years. Frank Miller returned to the fold to do a sequel to Dark Knight Returns. Chuck Dixon, Gail Simone, and others brought new life to Batman's supporting cast, fleshing out titles like Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, and Birds of Prey. You get the picture. The only thing left was the movie. The one we'd been waiting for. A new spin on classic Batman. One that incorporated the great stories like Year One and The Long Halloween. One that had the great supporting cast characters like Jim Gordon. One that was dark. That was serious. Dramatic. Intense. One that was true to the spirit of Bob Kane and Bill Finger's classic creation. A man who was born out of fear on one tragic night, who made a promise on his parents' grave to rid his city of evil. An ordinary man who nonetheless became a symbol of the peak of human potential, a dark knight on an endless, grim crusade. Now, finally, this could be it. More stuff to come ... potentially including: The Best Batman Writers, The Best Batman Artists, and The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told!
Tune in next time ...
(you guessed it ...)
Same Bat-Time. Same Bat-Channel.
So now it is official. After reading a few reviews, notably over at Ain't It Cool News.com, seeing more of the hype, and seeing the durn Batmobile in person, I am HYPED for this movie. But more on that in a few.
QUICK ASIDE: Hmm, thought there'd be more of a reaction to my Ben Savage sighting the other day. What, people don't get worked up about beloved, D-list childhood actors from ABC's once-legendary TGIF lineup anymore?
So, on MONDAY:
Well in practice it wasn't all that exciting, but in theory it was pretty darn sweet that i got to MEET WILL FERELL and escort him along with his wife and son (hilariously and tragically named MAGNUS!) to his Tonight Show dressing room. Didn't really get to say much to him, as Leno came out to greet him personally. But hey, he was dressed in a bright orange suit. Also briefly met comedian George Lopez and his wife, who commented on how much she liked my NBC tie.
TODAY:
Saw the band The Bravery perform during their dress rehearsal before the show. Didn't recognize the name at first, but immediately knew their song from it's heavy play on K-Rock here in LA and presumably on other modern rock stations all over. Pretty kickass song and performance in the style of The Killers and other such neo-80's rock bands, so very sweet to see the band do such a fun and catchy song.
TOMORROW:
Mr. Jumpy Jumpy himself, Tom Cruise, visits NBC for the Tonight Show. Should be interesting. Still, setting aside all the tabloid-y stuff, which in truth I don't really care about, War of the Worlds, barring a major disaster, is locked and loaded and set to rock, so can't wait for that one.
And NOW ...
DANNYBARAM.BLOGSPOT.COM PRESENTS:
BATMAN BEGINS WEEK ... BEGINS!
WARNING: If you're not into this nerdy stuff or don't like my long, seemingly pointless rants, stop reading now.
READY? OK, LET'S DO THIS:
One week until the movie-going main event of the summer (sorry Star Wars), Batman Begins. Now I am a pretty big Batman fan. Okay, I am kind of a hardcore Batman fan. Sure, as a kid I loved the old Adam West TV show and whatnot, but what really got me hooked was the same thing that got me hooked on Superman - the comics. It all started in Camp Jewel in about 5th grade or so. Every week our counsellors would go into town, and among other things, they'd bring back the new issues of Batman and Superman, both of which were going through some major changes at the time. See, Superman was dead (!) and Batman, well, he had his back broken and was replaced by some other guy who became the NEW Batman. Suffice to say, I was hooked, and have been ever since. Now I've read some incredible Batman comics over the years. I've seen Batman brought to TV in an amazingly genious interpretation, in Batman: The Animated Series. But what I have NOT seen is a live-action movie that really, truly does justice to what is perhaps the greatest fictional character of all time. Sure, the first Tim Burton movie, known simply as Batman, was pretty cool at the time. Jack Nicholson tore up the screen as the Joker, and Michael Keaton was better than anyone expected in the title role. Burton's stylized, Gothic vision was perfect. But still, the movie leaves most real fans of Batman feeling kind of empty, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly why. It just felt too over the top, too corny, too concerned with STYLE to really focus on the SUBSTANCE. While the imagery was striking, the character was lacking. And character is a vital part of the equation. Plus with so much amazing history to draw from, it just felt like too much was MISSING. Where was Jim Gordon, for example? Only a few years prior to Burton's Batman, Frank Miller revolutionized the character with Dark Knight Returns and Year One, and yet his influence was nowhere to be felt in the move, which in retrospect is very disappointing. From there, it all went downhill. Batman Returns, again, had some good moments, but became so twisted and grotesque that it lost all dramatic gravitas and became altogether removed from reality. Batman Forever, well, this was the Joel Schumaker era, in which Batman, as a movie franchise, was utterly, completely, decimated, humiliated, and disgraced. Joel Schumaker made Batman into a joke. He turned the Dark Knight into a rubber suit wearing clown who was mere set decoration in some kind of crazy acid-trip parody. At least the Adam West series had a real sense of wry humor and inspired, campy lunacy. This was just unequivically terrible. And just look at the talent that was wasted. Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face, hell, even Ahnold as Mr. Freeze. All could have been good, if not great, in those roles. But the writing, directing, and overall vision was pure, unadulterated crap. Not to mention the awful turns by George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Robin, and (shudder ...) Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Batman had hit rock bottom. There was nothing left to do but hit the cosmic reset button and begin again.
Ironically, even as Batman limped along in movies, he was kicking ass elsewhere. The animated series under the guidance of Paul Dini produced several seasons of pure, classically told, artfully animated, and brilliantly voice-acted Batman stories - some of the absolute best ever, in any medium. In the comics, Batman's ongoing adventures were written by a continuing parade of some of the best writers out there, and drawn by some of the field's best artists. The Knightfall saga saw Bruce Wayne crippled, only to eventually return and reclaim the mantle of the Bat from his psychotic replacement, Jean Paul Valley, aka Azrael. In later years, great writers like Greg Rucka and Ed Brubacker enjoyed long runs on the Batman comics that will go down as classics. Jeph Loeb teamed with superstar artist Jim Lee to create the Hush saga, which returned Batman to number one on the sales charts. Loeb and artist Tim Sale also produced The Long Halloween, regarded as a classic tale of Batman's early years. Frank Miller returned to the fold to do a sequel to Dark Knight Returns. Chuck Dixon, Gail Simone, and others brought new life to Batman's supporting cast, fleshing out titles like Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, and Birds of Prey. You get the picture. The only thing left was the movie. The one we'd been waiting for. A new spin on classic Batman. One that incorporated the great stories like Year One and The Long Halloween. One that had the great supporting cast characters like Jim Gordon. One that was dark. That was serious. Dramatic. Intense. One that was true to the spirit of Bob Kane and Bill Finger's classic creation. A man who was born out of fear on one tragic night, who made a promise on his parents' grave to rid his city of evil. An ordinary man who nonetheless became a symbol of the peak of human potential, a dark knight on an endless, grim crusade. Now, finally, this could be it. More stuff to come ... potentially including: The Best Batman Writers, The Best Batman Artists, and The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told!
Tune in next time ...
(you guessed it ...)
Same Bat-Time. Same Bat-Channel.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
But Where Was Topanga ...?
More craziness in LA.
So Friday was a big goodbye bash for longtime NBC page Mary, who is leaving LA and heading back home. But anyways, a large flock of pages assembled at Hollywood hotspot Barney's Beanery for the occasion, and a good time was had by all. But two things are of note to you, the curious reader:
1.) Even though I've been to the Beanery twice before, it wasn't until this weekend that I realized that - holy crap - Kendall from MTV's Road Rules works there as a waitress! Man I guess those checks from all those Real World / Road Rules challenges have yet to come through, but still, pretty crazy to be nudged out of the way in the crowded aisles by such a famous face, carrying a tray of drinks no less. I mean, I never usually watched Road Rules, but I did actually watch that season that she was on a few years back because of the great cast. Craziness.
2.) Guess who else was there? Well, some of you may remember a little show called BOY MEETS WORLD. Who am I kidding, if you're between the ages of 15 and 25, you know all about the fabled adventures of Corey Matthews, Shawn, Topanga, and Mr. Feeney. So yeah, BEN SAVAGE himself was at Barney's, just chilling out and chatting up his cousin (!), who happened to be one of our own NBC pages. Watching Fred Savage's little brother cracking jokes to a group of humble nbc pages? Yes, I would call that surreal.
What else?
Saw a free screening of CINDERELLA MAN at Universal. Excellent, excellent movie, maybe my favorite of Ron Howard's so far. Incredible acting by Russell Crowe and Paul Giamati, a classic but still inspired story based on real events, and some of the best and most intense boxing scenes I've ever seen on film. Some interesting historical context is given, and the film hits all the right emotional beats. Sure, it was predictable and a tad formulaic at times, but after the downer that was Million Dollar Baby, this was the boxing film, and the inspirational story, that I was ready and willing to see. Definitely worth checking out. My grade: A -
Met up with former Overexposed writer and current MTV Films intern Dan W for lunch today. Man, I have so many O/X sketches just lying around that could be filmed if some actors and crew were handy. I mean, the fact that such potential classics as The Translyvanian Zoning Board sketch remain unfilmed is, truly, tragic.
Why I watched tonight's return episode of THE 4400 is, like many of the show's plot points, a mystery. For some reason I keep feeling compelled to watch this just to see where they're going with it, since for all the show's faults they do set up some intriguing mysteries. But man, the acting, with a few notable exceptions, is totally bland, and the plot seems to blatantly rip off elements from a plethora of other sci-fi stories, movies and TV shows, including but not limited to The X-Files, Rising Stars, Terminator 2, Lost, X-Men, Planetary, Back to the Future, The Twilight Zone, and, god help us, K-Pax. But that ending wasn't bad, I'm a sucker for time-loop stuff, and sure it was right out of T-2, but kinda cool nonetheless. My grade: C
Looks like X-Men 3 could be in the hands of Rush Hour's Brett Ratner after the sudden departure of director Matthew Vaughn. I say let's give the guy a chance. The Rush Hour movies aren't bad, and the Ratner-directed pilot episode of FOX's fall show Prison Break looks kickass.
And let the hype machine for Batman Begins commence. I was VERY skeptical at first, but the reviews pouring in are overwhelmingly positive, if not downright gushing. And some of these are coming from hardcore fans like the guy who did the Batman: Dead End fanfilm. Now I officially cannot wait for this movie. More Bat-Mania to ensue in the coming days.
Oh by the way, this came as a huge surprise to me since I haven't really been watching any Comedy Central lately. But I'm reading some EW and I see that the comedy troupe STELLA, comprised of some of the comedic geniouses behind MTV's THE STATE and the hilarious WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, is getting its own, all-new scripted show starting this month! Whoah! Michael Showalter, David Wain, and Michael Ian Black on my TV on a channel other than Vh1? Sweeeeeeeet. Now PLEASE let this be a step towards getting The State released on DVD.
Tommorow:
CB for the Tonight Show, which means I'm escorting WILL FERELL to his dressing room. Now I am not a diehard Ferell fan like some of my friends. I wasn't crazy about Old School (thought Anchorman was much funnier) and never liked many of his SNL sketches like the cheerleaders. But there is no denying that the man is a comedic force, and the only proof you need of that is the legendary in it's own time COWBELL SKETCH, which is simply one of the funniest things ever.
Unless I join the witness protection program ...
Later.
So Friday was a big goodbye bash for longtime NBC page Mary, who is leaving LA and heading back home. But anyways, a large flock of pages assembled at Hollywood hotspot Barney's Beanery for the occasion, and a good time was had by all. But two things are of note to you, the curious reader:
1.) Even though I've been to the Beanery twice before, it wasn't until this weekend that I realized that - holy crap - Kendall from MTV's Road Rules works there as a waitress! Man I guess those checks from all those Real World / Road Rules challenges have yet to come through, but still, pretty crazy to be nudged out of the way in the crowded aisles by such a famous face, carrying a tray of drinks no less. I mean, I never usually watched Road Rules, but I did actually watch that season that she was on a few years back because of the great cast. Craziness.
2.) Guess who else was there? Well, some of you may remember a little show called BOY MEETS WORLD. Who am I kidding, if you're between the ages of 15 and 25, you know all about the fabled adventures of Corey Matthews, Shawn, Topanga, and Mr. Feeney. So yeah, BEN SAVAGE himself was at Barney's, just chilling out and chatting up his cousin (!), who happened to be one of our own NBC pages. Watching Fred Savage's little brother cracking jokes to a group of humble nbc pages? Yes, I would call that surreal.
What else?
Saw a free screening of CINDERELLA MAN at Universal. Excellent, excellent movie, maybe my favorite of Ron Howard's so far. Incredible acting by Russell Crowe and Paul Giamati, a classic but still inspired story based on real events, and some of the best and most intense boxing scenes I've ever seen on film. Some interesting historical context is given, and the film hits all the right emotional beats. Sure, it was predictable and a tad formulaic at times, but after the downer that was Million Dollar Baby, this was the boxing film, and the inspirational story, that I was ready and willing to see. Definitely worth checking out. My grade: A -
Met up with former Overexposed writer and current MTV Films intern Dan W for lunch today. Man, I have so many O/X sketches just lying around that could be filmed if some actors and crew were handy. I mean, the fact that such potential classics as The Translyvanian Zoning Board sketch remain unfilmed is, truly, tragic.
Why I watched tonight's return episode of THE 4400 is, like many of the show's plot points, a mystery. For some reason I keep feeling compelled to watch this just to see where they're going with it, since for all the show's faults they do set up some intriguing mysteries. But man, the acting, with a few notable exceptions, is totally bland, and the plot seems to blatantly rip off elements from a plethora of other sci-fi stories, movies and TV shows, including but not limited to The X-Files, Rising Stars, Terminator 2, Lost, X-Men, Planetary, Back to the Future, The Twilight Zone, and, god help us, K-Pax. But that ending wasn't bad, I'm a sucker for time-loop stuff, and sure it was right out of T-2, but kinda cool nonetheless. My grade: C
Looks like X-Men 3 could be in the hands of Rush Hour's Brett Ratner after the sudden departure of director Matthew Vaughn. I say let's give the guy a chance. The Rush Hour movies aren't bad, and the Ratner-directed pilot episode of FOX's fall show Prison Break looks kickass.
And let the hype machine for Batman Begins commence. I was VERY skeptical at first, but the reviews pouring in are overwhelmingly positive, if not downright gushing. And some of these are coming from hardcore fans like the guy who did the Batman: Dead End fanfilm. Now I officially cannot wait for this movie. More Bat-Mania to ensue in the coming days.
Oh by the way, this came as a huge surprise to me since I haven't really been watching any Comedy Central lately. But I'm reading some EW and I see that the comedy troupe STELLA, comprised of some of the comedic geniouses behind MTV's THE STATE and the hilarious WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, is getting its own, all-new scripted show starting this month! Whoah! Michael Showalter, David Wain, and Michael Ian Black on my TV on a channel other than Vh1? Sweeeeeeeet. Now PLEASE let this be a step towards getting The State released on DVD.
Tommorow:
CB for the Tonight Show, which means I'm escorting WILL FERELL to his dressing room. Now I am not a diehard Ferell fan like some of my friends. I wasn't crazy about Old School (thought Anchorman was much funnier) and never liked many of his SNL sketches like the cheerleaders. But there is no denying that the man is a comedic force, and the only proof you need of that is the legendary in it's own time COWBELL SKETCH, which is simply one of the funniest things ever.
Unless I join the witness protection program ...
Later.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
"We Snack on Danger, Dine on Death ..."
Dammit.
I didn't get the studios development assignment. So yeah, that kinda sucks. If I wrote this entry a few hours ago, I would have really had to restrain myself from going on a long, bitter rant. But time has passed and I can clearly see the stupidity in airing my own personal business-related complaints in a public forum, so I will not say much more here.
Suffice to say, the entertainment industry sure is a crazy place to try to make it in. It's just so random, so discouraging in so many ways. I guess other industries are not all that different, but in this business you not only have to really want it, you have to really want it after subjecting yourself to the inevitable torrent of rejections that will try to block your path to success. Yeah, I do believe without much hesitation that I was easily the most qualified and passionate person that applied for the development assignment. But that only gets you so far. Unless you know the right people, I guess the most important quality is just perseverence. So don't worry, they haven't heard the last of me yet.
Been feeling kinda sick since Monday. Finally feeling a little better tonight, but still suffering. Luckily tommorow is a much-needed DAY OFF, so hopefully I'll finally be able to overcome this cold that's been draggin' me down.
Yeah, it's hard enough going to work when you're not at 100 percent. But in the page program it's never easy to just check in and clock your hours. Nope, you've always gotta be on your toes, ready to deal with all the absurdities and melodrama that occurs on a daily basis. As much as it's nice in a way to be around so many people in my own age group each day, at this point I am really anticipating being in a real, professional environment where I can just concentrate on my job and be surrounded by adults who are mature enough to leave their personal issues at home.
I think that what I really have to do now is just concentrate on getting some writing done. Not sure what spec scripts I want to do yet, but I'm thinking of Family Guy, The Office, and maybe a drama as well. I have no idea how I'm going to find the time to do all this, but hey ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Also, after having talked about it with a few coworkers recently, I am starting to mentally revisit an idea I came up with a few years back called Monsterville, which I think could be really funny if I could pull it off. I can say no more at the moment.
and now, the return of ...
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- I hate when people ask "What do you do on weekends?" This to me is the dumbest question that people use to size you up in some weird way, but what the hell does anyone "do" on weekends? Do most people do the same thing every weekend? I guess if I took an aerobics class or something I could be like "well, I do an aerobics class. Every weekend." But yeah, I don't know what I do on weekends. It's like in The Big Lebowski when that weird German dude turns to The Dude and is like "what do you do?" and The Dude is just like "what do I ...? What do YOU do?"
- I also hate when people talk about plans that don't include you right in front of you. I mean this is so third grade.
- Today I saw Ellen in the parking lot talking with Portia de Rosa as I was hurrying from my car to the guest relations office for work. Pretty surreal, but I didn't have time to stop and stare, cuz, like I said, I was in a hurry.
- Great game tonight between San Antonio and Phoenix. Amare Stoudemire had some amazing plays, but it wasn't enough. I am now rooting for Miami in the east even more so than I was before, because a.) I don't like San Antonio or Detroit, and wouldn't mind seeing Miami whup the Spurs in the Finals and b.) Spurs vs. Pistons would be a pretty boring NBA Finals.
- I must commend myself on a damn good tour today. It started out slow, but I got into it at the end and despite feeling pretty crappy, I put a lot into it and ended by receiving an ovation from the audience.
- You know how some people on your IM buddy list always, like, every night, have some sepctacular away message saying how they are out partying or spending the week in Hawaii or whatever. For once I'd like to see one of those people have an away message that just says, like, "doing a buttload of laundry" or "doing the TV Guide crossword puzzle." I mean, who are these people?
Speaking of which, what is with so many people having totally weak away messages lately? Was having cool ones just a college fad or something? I mean, come on, it takes a few seconds to type up something other than "I am away from my computer." Lame. Show some creativity!
- Someone asked me today, seriously, "Have you EVER done anything interesting?" in a kind of half-joking, half-obnoxious way, stemming from a conversation we were having about how my hometown of Bloomfield, CT was, clearly, pretty boring compared to LA. But I was so taken aback with this question that I actually started to answer it seriously, trying to remember and then convey each semi-exciting thing I've yet done. In the future, if someone asks me this, I will just say "What have YOU ever done?" If that person happens to be, say, Mark Felt, then I would look like a complete idiot. For most people though, I'd have a pretty good point.
I didn't get the studios development assignment. So yeah, that kinda sucks. If I wrote this entry a few hours ago, I would have really had to restrain myself from going on a long, bitter rant. But time has passed and I can clearly see the stupidity in airing my own personal business-related complaints in a public forum, so I will not say much more here.
Suffice to say, the entertainment industry sure is a crazy place to try to make it in. It's just so random, so discouraging in so many ways. I guess other industries are not all that different, but in this business you not only have to really want it, you have to really want it after subjecting yourself to the inevitable torrent of rejections that will try to block your path to success. Yeah, I do believe without much hesitation that I was easily the most qualified and passionate person that applied for the development assignment. But that only gets you so far. Unless you know the right people, I guess the most important quality is just perseverence. So don't worry, they haven't heard the last of me yet.
Been feeling kinda sick since Monday. Finally feeling a little better tonight, but still suffering. Luckily tommorow is a much-needed DAY OFF, so hopefully I'll finally be able to overcome this cold that's been draggin' me down.
Yeah, it's hard enough going to work when you're not at 100 percent. But in the page program it's never easy to just check in and clock your hours. Nope, you've always gotta be on your toes, ready to deal with all the absurdities and melodrama that occurs on a daily basis. As much as it's nice in a way to be around so many people in my own age group each day, at this point I am really anticipating being in a real, professional environment where I can just concentrate on my job and be surrounded by adults who are mature enough to leave their personal issues at home.
I think that what I really have to do now is just concentrate on getting some writing done. Not sure what spec scripts I want to do yet, but I'm thinking of Family Guy, The Office, and maybe a drama as well. I have no idea how I'm going to find the time to do all this, but hey ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Also, after having talked about it with a few coworkers recently, I am starting to mentally revisit an idea I came up with a few years back called Monsterville, which I think could be really funny if I could pull it off. I can say no more at the moment.
and now, the return of ...
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- I hate when people ask "What do you do on weekends?" This to me is the dumbest question that people use to size you up in some weird way, but what the hell does anyone "do" on weekends? Do most people do the same thing every weekend? I guess if I took an aerobics class or something I could be like "well, I do an aerobics class. Every weekend." But yeah, I don't know what I do on weekends. It's like in The Big Lebowski when that weird German dude turns to The Dude and is like "what do you do?" and The Dude is just like "what do I ...? What do YOU do?"
- I also hate when people talk about plans that don't include you right in front of you. I mean this is so third grade.
- Today I saw Ellen in the parking lot talking with Portia de Rosa as I was hurrying from my car to the guest relations office for work. Pretty surreal, but I didn't have time to stop and stare, cuz, like I said, I was in a hurry.
- Great game tonight between San Antonio and Phoenix. Amare Stoudemire had some amazing plays, but it wasn't enough. I am now rooting for Miami in the east even more so than I was before, because a.) I don't like San Antonio or Detroit, and wouldn't mind seeing Miami whup the Spurs in the Finals and b.) Spurs vs. Pistons would be a pretty boring NBA Finals.
- I must commend myself on a damn good tour today. It started out slow, but I got into it at the end and despite feeling pretty crappy, I put a lot into it and ended by receiving an ovation from the audience.
- You know how some people on your IM buddy list always, like, every night, have some sepctacular away message saying how they are out partying or spending the week in Hawaii or whatever. For once I'd like to see one of those people have an away message that just says, like, "doing a buttload of laundry" or "doing the TV Guide crossword puzzle." I mean, who are these people?
Speaking of which, what is with so many people having totally weak away messages lately? Was having cool ones just a college fad or something? I mean, come on, it takes a few seconds to type up something other than "I am away from my computer." Lame. Show some creativity!
- Someone asked me today, seriously, "Have you EVER done anything interesting?" in a kind of half-joking, half-obnoxious way, stemming from a conversation we were having about how my hometown of Bloomfield, CT was, clearly, pretty boring compared to LA. But I was so taken aback with this question that I actually started to answer it seriously, trying to remember and then convey each semi-exciting thing I've yet done. In the future, if someone asks me this, I will just say "What have YOU ever done?" If that person happens to be, say, Mark Felt, then I would look like a complete idiot. For most people though, I'd have a pretty good point.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Space Mountain May Be The Oldest Ride In The Park ...
.... but it's still got the longest line! Whoooooooo!
Happy Memorial Day.
Well today wraps up a wild five days of total insanity. What could cause such utter exhaustion? You guessed it - a long weekend with the parents.
The highlight of the last few days was definitely Saturday's trip to Disneyland. I'd never been before, only to Disneyworld in Florida, and it was cool to go on some of the classic rides like Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Mansion, and the Jungle Cruise, plus some new ones like Indiana Jones, which was pretty freakin' awesome. But man, those old-school rides really are amazing, even after I've been on 'em multiple times at this point. I mean, the Haunted Mansion to me really falls into the category of art. The detail is just amazing, and the floating, transparent ghosts flying and dancing every which way still makes me wonder "how do they do that?" Same goes for Pirates, which is just too sweeet, a truly amazing ride.
But yeah, very tiring few days, as Thursday and Friday I had two long days at Universal, finishing out my week working at the LA Screenings there. While it was a week of long hot days, it was a fun experience. They really put us to work at times, whether it was moving boxes around or running carnival games (yes, finally my college education comes in handy!), but it was kind of a good bonding experience, and I got to get a caricature drawn of me, got my fortune told, got some cool pictures, saw a lot of movie sets at Universal (including Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives and a really cool crash site set from the upcoming War of the Worlds), and of course got to work with some great people. Sure there were long stretches without much to do but sweat in the glaring sun, and yes we were treated to the same BBQ food for six days straight (free, yes, but I couldn't even look at the catfish after day three ...), but overall it was a very positive experiecnce. So anyways, yeah, between working at Universal, the Tonight Show (featuring Matt Lauer, Carrie from Americon Idol, and Nikka Costa, who rocked!) and meeting up with my parents for food, shopping, and having them analyze every aspect of my new apartment, it was a very long and tiring few days. Since I know you're interested, my various shopping trips the last few days yielded such items as an area rug for my apt., a new shower head, a plant that really creeps me out for some reason, and some pretty cool vintage posters that I got at Disneyland. Riveting stuff, I know. (Hey with 24 and Lost done for the season I gotta fill up space somehow ...).
I also interviewed for another assignment - this one over at Universal in the Studios Development dept. Hopefully it comes through, should find out this week. It would definitely be a great opportunity to be around writers, producers, and execs so if I were selected for the assignment I'd be a very happy man. But since the Primetime Programming assignment did not come through, this one is my last chance to work in development or programming via the NBC page program for a while. No pressure or anything.
This week is probably going to be a little slow, which is definitely a good thing. But somewhow I got stuck with ticketbox duty tommorow, so I'm working from 7:30 am to 5. That start time is killin' me just thinking about it, so I'll save further musings for another time, since if I don't get some quality sleep I am going to really be screwed come tommorow morning.
Oh hell, who am I kidding. I am pretty much guaranteed to be cursing my alarm clock and clutching my pillow while prying my eyes open when 6 am comes around. The only thing that makes me feel any better is to remember that I have it better than my friend Bradd, who was telling me yesterday that his new job is going to rquire him to arrive to work each day by 5 am. Now THAT would make me cry.
Oh, and my first statement, as was oft said by Ric Flair, and written mostly for my own amusement, is, alas, a lie. Space Mountain, at least the one here in California, is temporarily closed for renovations. So, yeah, um, nobody's really in line for it.
Happy Memorial Day.
Well today wraps up a wild five days of total insanity. What could cause such utter exhaustion? You guessed it - a long weekend with the parents.
The highlight of the last few days was definitely Saturday's trip to Disneyland. I'd never been before, only to Disneyworld in Florida, and it was cool to go on some of the classic rides like Pirates of the Carribean, the Haunted Mansion, and the Jungle Cruise, plus some new ones like Indiana Jones, which was pretty freakin' awesome. But man, those old-school rides really are amazing, even after I've been on 'em multiple times at this point. I mean, the Haunted Mansion to me really falls into the category of art. The detail is just amazing, and the floating, transparent ghosts flying and dancing every which way still makes me wonder "how do they do that?" Same goes for Pirates, which is just too sweeet, a truly amazing ride.
But yeah, very tiring few days, as Thursday and Friday I had two long days at Universal, finishing out my week working at the LA Screenings there. While it was a week of long hot days, it was a fun experience. They really put us to work at times, whether it was moving boxes around or running carnival games (yes, finally my college education comes in handy!), but it was kind of a good bonding experience, and I got to get a caricature drawn of me, got my fortune told, got some cool pictures, saw a lot of movie sets at Universal (including Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives and a really cool crash site set from the upcoming War of the Worlds), and of course got to work with some great people. Sure there were long stretches without much to do but sweat in the glaring sun, and yes we were treated to the same BBQ food for six days straight (free, yes, but I couldn't even look at the catfish after day three ...), but overall it was a very positive experiecnce. So anyways, yeah, between working at Universal, the Tonight Show (featuring Matt Lauer, Carrie from Americon Idol, and Nikka Costa, who rocked!) and meeting up with my parents for food, shopping, and having them analyze every aspect of my new apartment, it was a very long and tiring few days. Since I know you're interested, my various shopping trips the last few days yielded such items as an area rug for my apt., a new shower head, a plant that really creeps me out for some reason, and some pretty cool vintage posters that I got at Disneyland. Riveting stuff, I know. (Hey with 24 and Lost done for the season I gotta fill up space somehow ...).
I also interviewed for another assignment - this one over at Universal in the Studios Development dept. Hopefully it comes through, should find out this week. It would definitely be a great opportunity to be around writers, producers, and execs so if I were selected for the assignment I'd be a very happy man. But since the Primetime Programming assignment did not come through, this one is my last chance to work in development or programming via the NBC page program for a while. No pressure or anything.
This week is probably going to be a little slow, which is definitely a good thing. But somewhow I got stuck with ticketbox duty tommorow, so I'm working from 7:30 am to 5. That start time is killin' me just thinking about it, so I'll save further musings for another time, since if I don't get some quality sleep I am going to really be screwed come tommorow morning.
Oh hell, who am I kidding. I am pretty much guaranteed to be cursing my alarm clock and clutching my pillow while prying my eyes open when 6 am comes around. The only thing that makes me feel any better is to remember that I have it better than my friend Bradd, who was telling me yesterday that his new job is going to rquire him to arrive to work each day by 5 am. Now THAT would make me cry.
Oh, and my first statement, as was oft said by Ric Flair, and written mostly for my own amusement, is, alas, a lie. Space Mountain, at least the one here in California, is temporarily closed for renovations. So, yeah, um, nobody's really in line for it.
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