Welcome to Geeking Out. This is me, geeking out. It’s pretty self explanatory.
The second season of Young Justice (subtitled Invasion) premiered this morning, and it pretty much blew my mind to useless bits of nerdy gray stuff. I thought nothing could get better than the already stellar first season, where we were introduced to the Team, a group of former sidekicks running special ops missions for the Justice League. Now that already sounds pretty bad ass right? The original team consisted of Robin (Dick Grayson), Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Superboy, with new members Artemis and Miss Martian joining shortly after.
I believe I’m one of many that very much enjoyed Dick Grayson’s tenure as the Batman. He lived, he learned, he kicked some major ass. He overcame his doubts that he could be a great Batman and I’m sure should Bruce ever need him to step up again he will take the call. That being said, The Gates of Gotham is one of the last handful of stories we will see with Grayson as the Dark Knight and it’s a little bittersweet, but they brought us one hell of a story with this one.
I’m really becoming a fan of Bat-comics where they alternate between the story in the present time and one from times past. I’m not so much a fan that I want them to wear the whole thing out, but it really works for some of the stories. More recently it was used in the Penguin: Pain and Prejudice series. In Gates of Gotham it is used to present us with a bit of Gotham’s past that none of us were ever aware, least of all Dick and the rest of the bat-gang.
Basically,Gotham was financed and brought to prominence by the wealthiest families of power and influence: The Waynes, the Cobblepots, and the Elliots. Together they tasked two brilliant architect/engineers, the Anders, with turning Gotham into the most modern and fast growing cities in the country. The Anders take great joy in this job, but eventually things begin to turn sour and the problem presented in modern-day Gotham somehow links back to this era inGotham’s history during the late 1800’s.
Enter present day Gotham and the start of the story: Someone is blowing things up in Gotham with semtex explosives. And they’re not just blowing up petty stuff, they’re going after landmarks such as the Gotham City Trigates among others that you’ll be treated to in the trade paperback. “The Families Will Fall by the Gates of Gotham” is the only inkling Batman and Commissioner Gordon have to go on. Thus starts a race against time investigation before any more lives are lost to the mysterious bomber. Along the way Batman will unravel the mystery ofGotham’s past and a couple of his rogues gallery as well. Since the families involve the Elliots and the Cobblepots, expect to see both Hush and Penguin popping up in the trade. Hush was my favorite of the two in this storyline, though his presence was brief it gives you an indication of how utterly twisted Tommy Elliot is as the villain Hush and his undying hatred for Bruce Wayne. His fixation on him being the only one to kill Bruce Wayne is akin to Joker’s insistence that no one can kill “his” Batman except for him.
As I said before, the story was very well done. The whole trade had a very gritty, noir feel to it and the art was melded perfectly with that. Not only do I enjoy seeing Dick Grayson as the Batman, but I love it when several members of the Bat Family work together to run down a case. This one in particular had the quartet of Dick, Red Robin, the ever annoying (But likeable!) Damien Wayne and a surprise visit from Cassandra Cain back briefly from her Batman Inc. duties overseas as Black Bat. The interactions between Damien and Cassandra were amusing, as Damien always tries to berate someone over how his father wouldn’t approve of them and how he is going to be the heir of Batman. Eventually Red Robin gives Damien a sobering statement pointing out that his father only recently started giving a rat’s ass about him. It was all great banter that made the book flow as it reached a great reveal to the climax.
*Minor Spoilers Below*
I have always enjoyed seeing new and twisted villains that Batman can square off against, such as Professor Pyg, and I’ve heard that the DC Comics New 52 is doing just that with some of their newer villains. The villain in this story, ‘The Architect” was pretty awesome I thought. His suit reminded me of Mr. Freeze’s in a way and the fact that the pressurization slowly kills the person wearing it and makes them delusional was both cool and a little disturbing. There’s no telling if the Architect will show up in Batman’s future anytime soon but I’d be welcome to a return anytime. Overall I give the trade a 5 out of 5 grizzlies. The art, the story and the characters were all masterfully done in this Bat installment. I urge any Batman fan to give a whirl.
These five issues were a fairly fast read and they were quite excellent. In this limited series we are treated to quite the introspection of one of Batman’s more prominent rogues; Oswald Cobblepot A.K.A The Penguin. The whole thing almost read like a non-crappy version of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns movie, showing us bits and pieces of Penguin’s birth and childhood intermingled with some of his more ruthless crimes against the people of Gotham, all for the sake of a piece of Oswald’s past that I wasn’t even aware was still around. Yes in this series, Penguin had not only a mother and a father, but three older brothers as well. Oswald was born a bit ugly for his father’s taste, but his mother treated him like her spoiled baby until the day she died, which is much later than you’d think.
Oswald Cobblepot is shown as a ruthless Gotham crimelord in the series and one who takes great pleasure in taking away the things closest to those who slight him. And by slight I mean slight. He completely ruins the lives of a couple people just for saying the wrong thing to him. He is a far cry from the information source to Batman that he has been portrayed as over probably the past decade. Oswald is essentially a bully, taking his aggression out on others just because he has the means in some twisted way of paying back the world for his brothers and others picking on him as a child. He’s one sick puppy this time around, save for the biggest bully of all who Oswald still fears and hates with a passion… Batman. It’s not clear if the Batman in this series is Bruce Wayne or Dick Grayson but it almost doesn’t matter. To almost the degree of the Gotham Central series, Batman is more of a plot device and background character that anything.
Most of the story focuses on Oswald’s past and his present with a certain woman named Cassandra who is, wouldn’t you believe it, totally blind. Who else could legitimately get with the Penguin besides a blind woman? Cassandra thinks the world of Oswald in this book and it’s actually a little tragic how the whole thing ends up.
Oswald’s mother was also a very interesting part of the story, as several of Penguins brutal crimes in the story revolve around getting his dying mother gifts of jewelry. The art and story of the series were both brilliantly executed, though sometimes I had to look hard at what was drawn in a couple panels. Some of the art like the subject matter itself was very dark. I can’t actually believe I’m saying this, but is it possible that a Batman story be too dark? Though this was a great character study of the Penguin through his own eyes, it was ultimately depressing and a little sick at times. Like in Batman Returns, Penguin targets children with his rocket weapons and has multiple people executed for world famous jewelry. The flashback scenes where it was revealed what really happened to the other three Cobblepot brothers was just downright twisted, but made for a damn good bit of story telling.
I guarantee that you’ll never look at the Penguin the same again when you read a Batman comic. I give Penguin: Pain and Prejudice a 4.5 out of 5 grizzlies and recommend it to any bat fans out there. As long as your old enough to handle the violence. Maybe the younglings can stick to Batman animated comics. I would have given it a 5 out of 5 but it was just way too dark, even for a Batman comic.
Welcome to Dark Knight Station, the Hero Express‘s main stop for all the news onThe Dark Knight Rises.We’ll keep you up to date on all the biggest bat-news coming straight from Gotham City.
Mind the gap and avoid the shadows; This stop is the Dark Knight Station for January 25th, 2012.
Batman, Bane and Catwoman Toys Revealed – (Superhero Hype)
At the U.K. Toy Fair, DC Direct unveiled a slew of action figures being added to their toy line and chief among them were prototypes of DKR Batman, Bane and Catwoman figurines in various sizes. Toy news site Idle Hands has scanned images of the toys from DC Direct’s catalog, and they offer perhaps the clearest look at the characters’ design, particularly Catwoman’s, which has been the least prevalent in Dark Knight Rises‘ marketing.
This is the latest of a whole series here at Grizzly Bomb. For each feature we will examine an individual genre and the quality of its films. These lists will be compiled from a point system determined by votes from each member of the staff. It’s very scientific, we used Excel.
For this topic, in addition to my list, I asked all the other members of my staff to give me a list of their “Top 15 Comic Book Movies”.
Anyhow, as for the results: From the other 16 people asked to make a Top Ten list, plus my own Top 10, it resulted in 60 different movies being named. I’ve tallied up the points, and I now give you the Top 25 of them…
25. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
24. Red (2010)
23. Dick Tracy (1990)
22. The Crow (1994)
21. Thor (2011)
20. Captain America: First Avenger (2011) 19. X-Men: First Class (2011) 18. Blade (1998)
17. X-Men (2000) 16. V for Vendetta (2006) 15. Kick Ass (2010)
14. A History of Violence (2005)
13. 300 (2006)
12. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
11. Superman (1978)
And the TOP 10….
*Something new this time around is the AFI Box Office, which is ‘Adjusted for Inflation’…
10. Watchmen
[The Wozz] When one of the Watchmen is brutally murdered, Nite Owl attempts to bring the old team of retired crime fighters back together for one last job. But the public outrage against vigilantism forces the aging superheroes to question their morals and in some cases, even their sanity.
A lot of controversy and polarization came along with Zack Snyder’s adaptation of what is arguably the best comic book story ever told, but no one can deny that Watchmen is one of the most faithfully adapted stories to ever see the silver screen. Punctuated by Snyder’s trademark stylized action, Watchmen feels more like a hypnotizing motion comic than a traditional action movie, yet it still hits all the narrative beats of Alan Moore’s somber graphic novel, which is why it makes our top ten.
Best Quote: “Rorschach’s Journal. October 12th, 1985: Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout “Save us!”… and I’ll whisper “no.” “
Trivia: The trailer features the song “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” by Smashing Pumpkins, which was originally a B-Side for the single “The End is the Beginning is the End”, the theme from Joel Schumacher‘s Batman & Robin.
9. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
[The Wozz] Scott Pilgrim is a jerk. He plays bass for an awful garage band and he’s dating a high school girl. But when he meets Ramona Flowers, a mysterious American girl with purple hair, he instantly falls in love. Scott will do anything to win over the literal girl of his dreams – and unfortunately for him, that means defeating Ramona’s Seven Evil Exes.
No other movie of this generation has simultaneously parodied and embraced popular culture like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The nerd culture, the indie music scene, hipster-pretentious teens and our superhero obsession all get a jab and an embrace in this gorgeous and hilarious take on the typical guy-meets-girl flick. Scott surrounds himself with about a dozen characters who all manage to come across as endearing, whether they’re charming, obnoxious, or just plain douchey, making this the flashiest, most over-the-top hangout movie of our time.
Best Quote: “He punched the highlights out of her hair!”
Trivia:Edgar Wright obtained permission to use the famous theme song from the SNES game, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, by writing a letter to Nintendo, saying that it is considered to be “the nursery rhyme of this generation”. He was also allowed to use the Seinfeld theme song for a sitcom-style sequence.
8. X2: X-Men United
[Supascoot] A team of mutants hated and feared by the rest of the world are brought together by professor Charles Xavier, a powerful telepath dedicated to training the youthful mutants under his care to protect themselves and the world. This time they find themselves under attack from the government and William Stryker, who has past connections with Prof. X, Magneto and Wolverine.
Building on the success of the first movie, Brian Singer created a sequel that many consider to be far superior to the original. With one of the greatest opening scenes of any superhero movie out there, X2 changed how many of us looked at the comic movie medium. A realistic look at a fantastical world that was easy to relate to and touched on so many themes of both reality and the X-Men mythos. Featuring an ending that left us all excited for the next one, until we actually saw it and realized the flip side of what good movies are.
Best Quote: “You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about in the news? I’m the worst one. “
Triva: On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Hugh Jackman related a story about something that happened during the filming of the Weapon X flashback scene: while he was filming the corridor run (in which he is nude and backlit), he turned the corner and saw the female cast members, including James Marsden’s mother, waiting for him, hooting and waving dollar bills.
7. Spider-Man
[Supascoot] High School Nerd Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive genetically engineered super spider and infused with powers making him the Amazing Spider-Man. After refusing to stop a thief, he is horrified to learn that the thief went on to murder Peter’s Uncle Ben, and embraces his final lesson that “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.” Also Norman Osborn goes crazy, becoming the Green Goblin and setting up a villain that will torment Spidey for 3 movies.
Said to be the movie of the 70’s, and then the movie of the 80’s, and the movie of the 90’s, Spider-Man had a spot on the big screen reserved just for him. It wasn’t until Sam Raimi was given the job that the movie finally started moving forward. Fans were unsure of what to think of the film, with many changes and unsure casting, but the moment the movie hit it was well received and provided hope that we may see other heroes getting the same kind of treatment by a director who loved and respected the characters and stories.
Best Quote: “Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: “With great power comes great responsibility.” This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I’m Spider-man. “
Triva: In addition to both Peter Parker and Norman Osborn wearing their enemy’s costume colors during the Thanksgiving dinner scene, Harry Osborn is seen wearing all of the colors. He’s wearing a green shirt, red tie and blue coat.
6. Batman
[Supascoot] Tim Burton’s Batman focused on the darker tone recently exhibited by DC Comics, in large part due to Frank Miller’s time with the character. The film followed the urban legend that is Batman creating and fighting his nemesis Joker, while dealing with the complicated life of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, who is falling for reporter Vicki Vale.
The 1st of 3 Batman movies in the Top 10, it’s a clear indication that when comparing any and all comic book movies, you look to Batman first. What worked, what didn’t and how we can make it as awesome as the first true Batman film in Hollywood. Keaton delivered an amazing performance as a slightly older Batman, while Jack Nicholson wowed audiences with his portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime, a role left untouched until Heath Ledger… but we can talk about that later.
Best Quote: “Tell me something, my friend. You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?”
Trivia: The Joker’s line “Take thy beak from out my heart” (said at Vale’s apartment) is from Edgar Allan Poe‘s “The Raven”. The full line is ‘Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!’ (the “beak” being of the raven)
5. Iron Man
[Supascoot] Tony Stark is a Billionaire Playboy Inventor Entrepreneur Wunderkind who parties hard and profits big for his company, Stark Enterprises. But when he is kidnapped by the Ten Rings, a terrorist cell in the Middle East, he is gravely wounded. Forced to build a powerful weapon for the Ten Rings, he instead chooses to create a suit of armor to not only save his life, but escape his captors. And iron Man is born.
When news hit that Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark, everyone accepted that this movie was actually happening, and that it just may be good. When some of the first footage was seen, fans were apprehensive but excited, and when it hit theaters it was just that; a hit. Spectacular special effects, great acting from Downey and cast and the villain; played by The Dude Jeff Bridges, who taught me to never try to enter the world of big business. Or make my own suit of armor to take on Iron Man. Jon Favreau delivered a realistic and acceptable world where we could see all our favorite Avengers characters existing, and proved to be the jumping off point for one of the biggest comic book movie epics to ever hit the big screen; The Avengers.
Best Quote: “They say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That’s how Dad did it, that’s how America does it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far.”
Triva: Stan Lee, the creator of Iron Man, had originally based Tony Stark on Howard Hughes, whom he felt was “one of the most colourful men of our time: an inventor, an adventurer, a multimillionaire, a ladies man and finally a nutcase.”
4. Spider-Man 2
[The Wozz] Peter Parker’s new career as a web-slinging superhero is starting to get in the way of his education, his family and most important of all, his relationship with Mary-Jane Watson. As his priorities start to shift, Peter begins to question his responsibilities as a vigilante crime fighter and eventually he hangs up the costume for good. But when Dr. Otto Octavius has an experiment go awry, killing his wife and binding four mechanical arms to his spine, Pete is forced to accept his role as a superhero and take back his true role as Spider-Man.
Spider-Man may be heralded as the movie that ushered in Hollywood’s superhero craze but it’s the second one that became the shining light of the franchise. It just feels the most like Spider-Man, because it perfectly nails that balance between thrilling acrobatics, lighthearted fun and a charming, somewhat corny moral center. Doctor Octopus is unquestionably the best villain of the trilogy, providing some of the best action sequences in all three movies, and this is the movie where Spidey feels most recognizable – none of that whiny, dancing B.S. that would come a few years later.
Best Quote: “We need a hero, courageous sacrificing people, setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero, people line up for ’em, cheer for them, scream their names, and years later tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who told them to HOLD ON a second longer.”
Triva: Stan Lee originally filmed the cameo of the man who shouts: “Hey, Spider-Man stole that guy’s pizza!” But because of problems with the shot it was re-filmed with another actor, and Lee was given a different (but heroic) cameo.
3. Sin City
[The Wozz] Three (Technically four) intercepting vignettes tell the tale of violence, corruption, death and vengeance in the streets of Basin City: Marv seeks revenge for the murder of a caring woman, killed as she slept by his side. Dwight gets into hot water when he punishes the wrong abusive boyfriend. Hartigan comes back from the dead to save a girl from a monster.
Sin City features more style and visual flair in some scenes than most movies have in their entirety. The gritty, unforgiving noir is punctuated with bursts of vibrant color amid the gorgeous blacks, greys and whites of the simulated graphic novel, and it features one of the biggest casts you’re likely to ever find. Other films have tried to jump onto Sin City‘s dark, exaggerated aesthetic but their failure serves as evidence that there’s more to this movie than simple eye-porn. Sin City is in a world all to itself and delivers something entirely unique, which is why it’s number three on our list.
Best Quote: “Most people think Marv is crazy. He just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century. He’d be right at home on some ancient battlefield swinging an axe into somebody’s face. Or in a Roman arena, taking his sword to other gladiators like him. They woulda tossed him girls like Nancy back then.”
and
” It’s time to prove to your friends that you’re worth a damn. Sometimes that means dying, sometimes it means killing a whole lot of people. “
Triva: Despite appearing in all three of the major stories, Brittany Murphy filmed all of her scenes in one day.
2. Batman Begins
[The Wozz] Believe it or not, there was a time when most of us weren’t looking forward to a new Batman movie. Joel Schumacher took the franchise out at the knees with Batman & Robin, and it was hard to believe any revival could undo the damage. Then we found out the Memento guy was directing it, and shortly after that Christian Bale would play Bruce Wayne. Clearly things were going in a new direction, but no one had any idea what was coming.
Batman Begins is about about Bruce Wayne. If you break down the movie, you can see it all the way through. Even in the third act, when Bruce is almost always under the cape and cowl he is still the man, not the symbol. It’s not until The Dark Knight that Batman truly becomes a second identity and that is what makes Begins such an engaging story. No other Batman movie has given so much attention and importance to the person who became the Bat. Begins is about other things, too – fear, corruption, justice – but this is the most human the character has ever been, and it delivers an origin story befitting to the greatest superhero of all time.
Best Quote: “What chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing? “
Triva: Christian Bale lost his voice three times during filming after altering his voice while playing Batman.
1. The Dark Knight
[The Wozz] After the success of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight might have become one of the most anticipated movies ever, but that didn’t keep it completely free from scrutiny. The decision to bring in The Joker after Jack Nicholson’s beloved performance, combined with the casting of Heath Ledger in the role was baffling to most of us. And the IMDb page showed clear as day that between Ledger, Cillian Murphy and Aaron Eckhart, there would be three different villains in the movie (Just months before, Spider-Man 3 had crumbled under that weight). On opening weekend, The Dark Knight absolutely shattered any doubts.
As opposed to Batman Begins, in The Dark Knight Batman no longer exists as a man in a a suit; Bruce Wayne has completely transformed the caped crusader into a symbol, elevating him far past the limitations of a simple vigilante. The Joker’s brand of chaos isn’t a threat to Bruce, or his loved ones, or even to Gotham, at least not directly. Joker represents something far more destructive than that. He threatens to dismantle the legend of Batman, kill the icon instead instead of the person. In actuality, The Dark Knight has nothing to do with two men on either side of the law. It’s about the manifestations of good and evil, the struggle between order against chaos. That’s what elevates The Dark Knight beyond the ranks of a simple superhero movie and makes it the best comic book movie of all time.
Best Quote: “Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
Triva: Nestor Carbonell who plays the mayor coincidentally also played “Bat Manuel”, a parody of Batman, in the comic-based live action The Tick TV series. And Michael Jai White who played the Batman-inspired character Spawn in Spawn plays a gangster.
Grizzly Bomb 