So, there you have it, folks, I set it all up, linked it to this blog and vice versa, and now all my new Batman posts will be there instead of here.
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batman. Show all posts
Friday, February 23, 2018
A New Place for Old Things
I started a new blog today. I've been thinking about moving like-minded posts into a separate blog for awhile now, and since I already have separate blogs for crown caps and gnome stuff, I figured why not also add all those Batman related posts to a separate Batman-themed blog?
Friday, June 6, 2014
Ghetto Gotham will be Televised
Fox announced a new television series about Batman, sort of. Gotham, a series about Gotham City before Batman will air sometime this year. Soon. I've seen the first trailer. This post is about what I'm hoping to see in this new show.
When I heard the plan was to do a show not about Batman, but about the city of Gotham and James Gordon, I dismissed it as boring. There were already comics written about this concept, and while Gotham Central, Gotham Nights, and Batman: GCPD may have been interesting, they didn't sell well because fans want to read about the Batman, not the police department.
However, after seeing the trailer, I changed my mind. This series could be interesting. This could be successful like Arrow. But it also could turn into Lois and Clark, or the Muppet Babies if realistic continuity is thrown out the window. This could be done well, though, and here is how...
In the comics, there is already a history of Gotham crime. This is pretty much laid out in Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, and The Long Halloween and Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb. The first thing I want to see is the rise of the Falcone and Maroni crime families. Jeph Loeb covers the fall of organized crime in Gotham, and when Batman arrives, they are already well established.
In the trailer, we get to see a few villains before they become villains. Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Catwoman make appearances, and so does the Penguin. The second thing I hope we get to see are some of Gotham's 1% families. The Penguin is Oswald Cobblepot, and the Cobblepots, according to the comics, are an old rich Gotham family, like the Waynes. Other families include the Elliots (Thomas Elliot aka Hush), the Kane's (Kate Kane aka Batmwoman), and the Sionis's (Roman Sionis aka the Black Mask). I hope to see all of these families at least mentioned.
The fact that certain characters are mentioned outright in the trailer, suggests that origin stories will be told throughout the series. But there are Batman villains who are far older. Therefore, the second thing I hope to see are the older villains. Jason Woodrue becomes the Floronic Man, but before that, he mentors Pamela Isley and is responsible for turning her into Poison Ivy. Ra's Al Ghul is ancient. Dr. Hugo Strange is an older man when he first encounters Batman. Amadeus Arkham founded Arkham Asylum, and went mad and died far before Batman arrived. All of these characters would be great to see, if only in cameos.
In conclusion, I just hope this show doesn't suck. And if it turns out to be awesome, I hope Fox doesn't decide to cancel it prematurely, like it has done to a bunch of potentially great shows.
When I heard the plan was to do a show not about Batman, but about the city of Gotham and James Gordon, I dismissed it as boring. There were already comics written about this concept, and while Gotham Central, Gotham Nights, and Batman: GCPD may have been interesting, they didn't sell well because fans want to read about the Batman, not the police department.
However, after seeing the trailer, I changed my mind. This series could be interesting. This could be successful like Arrow. But it also could turn into Lois and Clark, or the Muppet Babies if realistic continuity is thrown out the window. This could be done well, though, and here is how...
In the comics, there is already a history of Gotham crime. This is pretty much laid out in Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, and The Long Halloween and Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb. The first thing I want to see is the rise of the Falcone and Maroni crime families. Jeph Loeb covers the fall of organized crime in Gotham, and when Batman arrives, they are already well established.
In the trailer, we get to see a few villains before they become villains. Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Catwoman make appearances, and so does the Penguin. The second thing I hope we get to see are some of Gotham's 1% families. The Penguin is Oswald Cobblepot, and the Cobblepots, according to the comics, are an old rich Gotham family, like the Waynes. Other families include the Elliots (Thomas Elliot aka Hush), the Kane's (Kate Kane aka Batmwoman), and the Sionis's (Roman Sionis aka the Black Mask). I hope to see all of these families at least mentioned.
The fact that certain characters are mentioned outright in the trailer, suggests that origin stories will be told throughout the series. But there are Batman villains who are far older. Therefore, the second thing I hope to see are the older villains. Jason Woodrue becomes the Floronic Man, but before that, he mentors Pamela Isley and is responsible for turning her into Poison Ivy. Ra's Al Ghul is ancient. Dr. Hugo Strange is an older man when he first encounters Batman. Amadeus Arkham founded Arkham Asylum, and went mad and died far before Batman arrived. All of these characters would be great to see, if only in cameos.
In conclusion, I just hope this show doesn't suck. And if it turns out to be awesome, I hope Fox doesn't decide to cancel it prematurely, like it has done to a bunch of potentially great shows.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Batman Returns to the Trilogy Meter
Remember this?
The first act introduces characters, sets the stage for the other acts, and has an event that sets the rest of the story into motion. In a New Hope, the event is the Death Star rescue, which culminates in the Death Star explosion. In Batman Begins, the event is the attempted destruction of Gotham by the League of Shadows, which is foiled by the Batman.
The second act of a three act play, the middle of the story, sometimes called the rising action, and often the darkest of the three acts, finds the hero in distress. The hero will come up against an obstacle and will end with the hero at his lowest point. In Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, and Luke loses a hand after confronting his father and losing. In The Dark Knight, Batman is challenged by his greatest nemesis, loses the girl he most cares about, and becomes a symbolic villain as opposed to the symbolic hero that he set out to be.
In the third act, the play reaches climax, resolutions are found, and the action falls to a close. In Star Wars, the rebellion prevails, and Darth Vader turns back from the dark side. In Rises, Batman once again becomes the symbol of heroism, hope, and justice, the League of Shadows is defeated again, and Gotham is pulled back from the darkness.
Up until now, Star Wars had been the poster franchise for the perfect film in three acts. Unlike The Lord of the Rings which is based on books already written as a trilogy, and Back to the Future, which are essentially the same movie three times, Star Wars, is a unique story written as a three act screen play. I believe that now it can share that distinction with Nolan's Batman. Like Star Wars, it is a perfect example of what a film trilogy ought to be.
I wrote about film trilogies awhile back, focusing on Transformers, and the third and final movie in the series by Michael Bay. According to me, the Transformers trilogy meter would have a bar much like the first Superman, Jurrassic Park, or X-men, the second bar would look like Jaws 2, and the third bar would look like Rocky 3, or the Lord of the Rings.
I saw the last Christopher Nolan Batman movie the other day. Definitely not represented on the graphic above, the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy would mirror the Star Wars meter almost exactly.
The trilogy follows the rules of a three act play perfectly.
The first act introduces characters, sets the stage for the other acts, and has an event that sets the rest of the story into motion. In a New Hope, the event is the Death Star rescue, which culminates in the Death Star explosion. In Batman Begins, the event is the attempted destruction of Gotham by the League of Shadows, which is foiled by the Batman.The second act of a three act play, the middle of the story, sometimes called the rising action, and often the darkest of the three acts, finds the hero in distress. The hero will come up against an obstacle and will end with the hero at his lowest point. In Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, and Luke loses a hand after confronting his father and losing. In The Dark Knight, Batman is challenged by his greatest nemesis, loses the girl he most cares about, and becomes a symbolic villain as opposed to the symbolic hero that he set out to be.
In the third act, the play reaches climax, resolutions are found, and the action falls to a close. In Star Wars, the rebellion prevails, and Darth Vader turns back from the dark side. In Rises, Batman once again becomes the symbol of heroism, hope, and justice, the League of Shadows is defeated again, and Gotham is pulled back from the darkness. Up until now, Star Wars had been the poster franchise for the perfect film in three acts. Unlike The Lord of the Rings which is based on books already written as a trilogy, and Back to the Future, which are essentially the same movie three times, Star Wars, is a unique story written as a three act screen play. I believe that now it can share that distinction with Nolan's Batman. Like Star Wars, it is a perfect example of what a film trilogy ought to be.
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| Megan Fox has nothing to do with this post |
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
nana nana nana nana (g g f# f# f f f# f#)
Batman.
What a great character. Of all the super heroes created in the last 100 years, Batman is definitely the most intriguing. There are tons of other comic book superhero characters out there, some have more interesting premises and themes like the Wolverine, Hellboy, Spawn. Even lesser known characters from Batman's same publishing company (DC) on the surface have potential to be more interesting like Firestorm, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Doctor Midnite, and Deadman. However, Batman towers above everyone else in popularity in the comics universe, and in pop culture. The fact that until recently, Batman (Bruce Wayne) was one of the few DC heroes from the Golden Age (1938-1950) to not die or retire and be replaced by another younger character attests to his popularity and staying power. Boom Tron made him their Badass of the Week in July.
Batman's origin has been told by numerous writers in numerous mediums. Not only is Batman printed monthly in several comic titles, but he has also been the subject of 2 movie serials, a live action television show, 5 animated television shows, 5 animated films, 7 live action films, and 28 video games. Basically, a boy born into privilege has a traumatic experience when his parents are gunned down in front of him. Instead of spending decades in therapy, and for the rest of his life trying to recapture a ruined childhood, Bruce Wayne devotes himself to becoming the best crime fighter ever.
The ideals of justice, charity, community and intelligence coupled with individuality and kickass brute force appeal to everything that Americans hold dear. Bruce Wayne encompasses all of these things. I think the real reason the character is so well liked is this unwavering resolve for justice. Batman is the darkest hero without crossing the line to become a killer. This is the one rule of Batman. Some would ask why. After all, even the State decides some criminals are better sent to death row. Batman gives a great answer in the comics, stating that he doesn't kill because it is too hard to take a life, but because it is too easy.
A Christian interpretation may be that Batman views all life, even the depraved, criminal, sociopathic kind of life to be sacred and redeemable. But I'd like to think that Batman would much rather toe the line at murder rather than cross over into the world of the very things he fights. Keep this idea in mind for later.
Bruce Wayne decides though, that it isn't enough to just bring criminals to justice. The police do that everyday. Striking terror into the hearts of villains while bringing them to justice is way more effective. And so, he dresses up like a bat, which is a pretty scary animal. The fact that a grown man dresses up like a flying rodent doesn't seem to bother anyone, the other traits mentioned above make his wardrobe less silly.
On top of all this, unlike his peers Superman, and the Green Lantern who also uphold law, order, and justice, Batman has no superpowers or magical energy paraphernalia. He is just a man, a man with more wealth than some small countries, a good education, and the gift of being a good detective.
Great heroes are often complimented by great villains. This very idea is often a central theme for the Joker, perhaps the greatest comic book villain of all time. Batman's villains do not stop with the Joker, however. The Batman villains have the potential to be the most depraved, insane, dark, and twisted villains ever conceived. Even the more goofy villains created during the campy Silver Age like Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy and Calender Man have been written in ways that reveal how disturbing obsession can become.
These guys are not like Spiderman's mostly animal themed villains, or Hellboy's fairytale monsters, or even Superman's mostly super powered Earth threatening alien adversaries (this doesn't count Luthor, in fact, he would make a great Batman villain). Batman fights not just criminals, but fractured human psyche at its worst. These villains are not cliche cookie-cutter hero opposites bent on doing bad things for badness sake, they come largely from places of virtue... virtue gone insane. Plain crazy people are bad enough, but most of these Batman villains are also very intelligent. These are the insane scientists, professors, and doctors.
Among the long list of villains, Batman faces a variety of: deranged psychologists (Hugo Strange, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow), twisted scientists (Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, ManBat, Blockbuster), evil doctors (Hush, Professor Pyg), terrorists (Ra's Al Ghul, Bane), mobsters (The Falcones, Scarface, Black Mask, Maxie Zuess, the Penguin), thieves (Catman, Catwoman, Cluemaster), a district attorney (Two-Face) and egomaniacal fanatics (Mad Hatter, the Riddler, Calendar Man)...
and this guy...
the Joker, who often fits into all of those categories. The Joker has become the most well known Batman villain. All heroes have at least one well known anti-thesis. Superman has Lex Luthor, Spider man has the Green Goblin, Sherlock Holmes has James Moriarty, James Bond has Ernst Blofeld, and Batman has the Joker. The Joker makes much of this relationship with Batman. The Joker has passed on killing Batman when given the chance, his explanation being what would the Joker be without a Batman? The Joker seems to be his own study in madness. However, recently in the mythos, it has been established that the Joker may not be insane after all, which makes his character all the more intriguing and evil.
As suggested above, Batman has embodied fairness, and justice, which are virtues. Batman battles what happens to virtues twisted by madness. There is a line somewhere that these villains have crossed, and Batman continues to refuse to go there, keeping his own madness at bay.
What a great character. Of all the super heroes created in the last 100 years, Batman is definitely the most intriguing. There are tons of other comic book superhero characters out there, some have more interesting premises and themes like the Wolverine, Hellboy, Spawn. Even lesser known characters from Batman's same publishing company (DC) on the surface have potential to be more interesting like Firestorm, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Doctor Midnite, and Deadman. However, Batman towers above everyone else in popularity in the comics universe, and in pop culture. The fact that until recently, Batman (Bruce Wayne) was one of the few DC heroes from the Golden Age (1938-1950) to not die or retire and be replaced by another younger character attests to his popularity and staying power. Boom Tron made him their Badass of the Week in July.
Batman's origin has been told by numerous writers in numerous mediums. Not only is Batman printed monthly in several comic titles, but he has also been the subject of 2 movie serials, a live action television show, 5 animated television shows, 5 animated films, 7 live action films, and 28 video games. Basically, a boy born into privilege has a traumatic experience when his parents are gunned down in front of him. Instead of spending decades in therapy, and for the rest of his life trying to recapture a ruined childhood, Bruce Wayne devotes himself to becoming the best crime fighter ever.
A Christian interpretation may be that Batman views all life, even the depraved, criminal, sociopathic kind of life to be sacred and redeemable. But I'd like to think that Batman would much rather toe the line at murder rather than cross over into the world of the very things he fights. Keep this idea in mind for later.
Bruce Wayne decides though, that it isn't enough to just bring criminals to justice. The police do that everyday. Striking terror into the hearts of villains while bringing them to justice is way more effective. And so, he dresses up like a bat, which is a pretty scary animal. The fact that a grown man dresses up like a flying rodent doesn't seem to bother anyone, the other traits mentioned above make his wardrobe less silly.
On top of all this, unlike his peers Superman, and the Green Lantern who also uphold law, order, and justice, Batman has no superpowers or magical energy paraphernalia. He is just a man, a man with more wealth than some small countries, a good education, and the gift of being a good detective.
Great heroes are often complimented by great villains. This very idea is often a central theme for the Joker, perhaps the greatest comic book villain of all time. Batman's villains do not stop with the Joker, however. The Batman villains have the potential to be the most depraved, insane, dark, and twisted villains ever conceived. Even the more goofy villains created during the campy Silver Age like Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy and Calender Man have been written in ways that reveal how disturbing obsession can become.
These guys are not like Spiderman's mostly animal themed villains, or Hellboy's fairytale monsters, or even Superman's mostly super powered Earth threatening alien adversaries (this doesn't count Luthor, in fact, he would make a great Batman villain). Batman fights not just criminals, but fractured human psyche at its worst. These villains are not cliche cookie-cutter hero opposites bent on doing bad things for badness sake, they come largely from places of virtue... virtue gone insane. Plain crazy people are bad enough, but most of these Batman villains are also very intelligent. These are the insane scientists, professors, and doctors.
Among the long list of villains, Batman faces a variety of: deranged psychologists (Hugo Strange, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow), twisted scientists (Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, ManBat, Blockbuster), evil doctors (Hush, Professor Pyg), terrorists (Ra's Al Ghul, Bane), mobsters (The Falcones, Scarface, Black Mask, Maxie Zuess, the Penguin), thieves (Catman, Catwoman, Cluemaster), a district attorney (Two-Face) and egomaniacal fanatics (Mad Hatter, the Riddler, Calendar Man)...
and this guy...
the Joker, who often fits into all of those categories. The Joker has become the most well known Batman villain. All heroes have at least one well known anti-thesis. Superman has Lex Luthor, Spider man has the Green Goblin, Sherlock Holmes has James Moriarty, James Bond has Ernst Blofeld, and Batman has the Joker. The Joker makes much of this relationship with Batman. The Joker has passed on killing Batman when given the chance, his explanation being what would the Joker be without a Batman? The Joker seems to be his own study in madness. However, recently in the mythos, it has been established that the Joker may not be insane after all, which makes his character all the more intriguing and evil.
As suggested above, Batman has embodied fairness, and justice, which are virtues. Batman battles what happens to virtues twisted by madness. There is a line somewhere that these villains have crossed, and Batman continues to refuse to go there, keeping his own madness at bay.
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