Comics | the m0vie blog

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Darren

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up occupies a strange place in Marvel canon. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by a rake of top-tier talent, it was essentially a series designed to showcase these impressive artists while adding a bit of depth and breadth to the then-fledgeling Ultimate Marvel Universe. Essentially a continuity that had been launched from scratch, with the goal of attracting new fans put off by decades of back story in the regular shared universe, Brian Michael Bendis had pioneered the line with his superb Ultimate Spider-Man, a book that he is still writing today (albeit in a slightly different form). Due to its nature, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up is a somewhat disjointed effort, where quality varies almost from issue-to-issue, but it’s still worth a look for anybody with any interest in Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man work.

Who says there aren’t crocodiles in the sewer?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: avengers: disassembled, bendis, brian michael bendis, captain america, Frank, Garth Ennis, iron man, joss whedon, mark millar, marvel, Marvel Comic, MarvelUniverse, nick fury, punisher, Saint Patrick's Day, spider man, The Punisher: Frank Castle, ultimate comics spider-man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, ultimate marvel, ultimate spider man | 4 Comments »

Dan Slott’s Run on The Amazing Spider-Man – Spider-Island (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Darren

Dan Sott’s Amazing Spider-Man run has been pretty well received by fans. Credited with giving the title a sense of fun after the continuity-tangling mess of One More Day, Slott has managed to inject some fun back into the franchise. Or so I’ve heard. Despite being a fan of Slott’s Mighty Avengers, I remain somewhat disappointed that there’s been no effort made to collect his Amazing Spider-Man run into either an omnibus or an oversized hardcover collection. Still, I recently had the pleasure of devouring Slott’s Spider-Island plotline in a nice oversized hardcover, and I have to admit that I was more than a little impressed with Slott’s epic “event” comic book.

New York, New York, it's a hell of a town!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Amazing Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield, arts, avengers, Bank of America, clone saga, Dan Slott, Flash mob, Flash Thompson, green goblin, J. Jonah Jameson, luke cage, marc webb, peter parker, Randy Robertson, Slott, spider man, Spider-Island, the amazing spider-man, ultimate spider man | 2 Comments »

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man – The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Darren

It’s hard to believe that Spider-Man first appeared fifty years ago. The character is arguably Marvel’s most iconic comic book creation, and his appearance and iconography is instant recognisable all around the world. As such, fifty years after his first appearance, it’s fascinating to look at just how much of Spider-Man is firmly rooted in the initial thirty-eight issues of the title, written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Steve Ditko. While I am normally quite wary of older material (Will Eisner’s The Spirit being the exception that proves the rule), it’s amazing how well Lee and Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Man holds up.

Animated by Kerry Allen.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Amazing Spider-Man, AndrewGarfield, Ditko, Doctor Octopus, EmmaStone, fantastic four, green goblin, Human Torch, J. Jonah Jameson, jack kirby, Kirby, lizard, marvel, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, mysterio, peter parker, sinister six, spider man, stan lee, Steve Ditko, thor | 14 Comments »

The Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Darren

The Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane Omnibus is a fun comic book collection. Todd McFarlane was one of the rising stars at Marvel in the late eighties, and it’s no exaggeration to suggest that his work on The Amazing Spider-Man (along with Jim Lee’s work on Uncanny X-Men) had a massive influence on how the company would develop during the nineties. McFarlane’s artwork still looks absolutely superb, but it’s easy to forget that McFarlane worked for an extended period with author David Michelinie, crafting stories for the iconic web-crawler. While the stories and characterisation might not have been as strongly influential as McFarlane’s artwork, they still remain impressive until today. This might not be the finest or most important collection of Spider-Man adventures ever collected, but it reads incredibly fluidly and has a great sense of fun behind it.

Itsy-bitsy Spider...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Amazing Spider-Man, David Michelinie, Erik Larsen, General Strike 1926, history, image comics, jim lee, justin hammer, marvel, Mary Jane Watson, Mary-Jane, McFarlane, Miners' Strike 1984-5, Peter, peter parker, Red Skull, Seth MacFarlane, spider man, Strike action, Todd McFarlane, Venus Butterfly, Working Class | Leave a comment »

Batman: Earth One (Review)

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of The Dark Knight Rises, July is “Batman month” here at the m0vie blog. Check back daily for comics, movies and television reviews and discussion of the Caped Crusader.

I think it’s fair to say that I approached Batman: Earth One with a reasonable amount of skepticism. After all, Batman already has two almost perfect origins. Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins is really the perfect introduction to the character and his world, but Frank Miller’s Year One is also still a hugely iconic piece of work on the character. Miller’s Batman origin has, for example, withstood multiple re-examinations of Superman’s origin. (John Byrne’s Man of Steel, Mark Waid’s Birthright, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Superman: Secret Origin and Grant Morrison’s Action Comics among others.) So Batman: Earth One, a modernised “reimagining”of Batman’s origin story, does feel a tad unnecessary. However, despite the sense that it’s not really needed, it’s actually a fairly interesting take on the mythology judged on its own merits.

Yes, father… he shall become a bat…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alfred, Arkham, batman, batman begins, Batman: Earth One, Bruce, ChristopherNolan, dark knight, Dark Knight Rises, DarkKnight Rises, gary frank, geoff johns, gotham city, Lucius Fox, nolan, superman: secret origin, Wayne | Leave a comment »

Peter Tomasi & Patrick Gleeson’s Run on Batman & Robin – Born to Kill (Review)

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Darren

DC’s “new 52” was a fairly massive success. Hoping to re-energise their line, the company launched a massive retooling following their crossover Flashpoint. Some characters had their history radically reworked and altered – Morrison’s work on Action Comics standing as perhaps the most obvious example. However, some characters transitioned through the change with relative ease. Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern pretty much continued from where War of the Green Lanterns left off, and the entire Batman line was pretty much business as usual, save for the return of Bruce Wayne to the centre of the stage and Dick Grayson’s return to the role of Nightwing.

Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason took over as the regular creative team on Batman & Robin, a book that had been launched by Grant Morrison only two or three years earlier. The book originally focused on the dynamic between Dick Grayson as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin, so there’s a fairly fundamental shift in the tone of the book as Bruce Wayne is teamed up with his own son. While the set-up might seem to take a while to find its feet, there’s certainly no shortage of intriguing ideas here.

A Boy Wonder…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, Bruce, bruce wayne, caped crusader, damian wayne, Dark Knight Rises, dick grayson, frank miller, gotham city, Grantmorrison, patrick gleason, peter tomasi, robin, year one | Leave a comment »

The Batman Archives, Vol. 1 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Darren

This is where it all began. The Batman Archives collect the stories originally published in the Detective Comics anthology series that introduced the Caped Crusader to the world. It’s interesting to look back at these initial adventures featuring the character, as you see artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger really figuring out how the character and his world should work. Although there’s quite a lot of generic plotting, and some bizarre Golden Age craziness, it’s fun to watch the creators establish the elements that would define the character and the world he inhabits. From the sleazy corruption of Gotham City to the supervillains to the Boy Wonder himself, these stories provide an interesting template for the evolution of the Dark Knight.

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Bruce, caped crusader, Crass, Dark Knight Rises, DarkKnight Rises, detective comics, Doctor Death, gordon, gotham city, Hugo Strange, murder, robin, Tony Zucco | 4 Comments »

Recommended Batman Comics 104: Adam West’s Batman!

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Darren

I know that movies traditionally have a minimal impact on comic book sales, but to celebrate the release of The Dark Knight Rises, I thought I’d make a list of accessible jumping-on points for fans of Batman in mass media. There are several wonderful things about Batman. There are two especially relevant to this article. First, Batman is an infinitely adaptable character. He can literally be anything to anybody. It is entirely possible for somebody to love one interpretation of Batman while loathing others. So I’ll be breaking down my recommendations by source, so you can look at your favourite interpretation of Batman and find the most thematically and tonally relevant jumping-on points:

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman: The Animated Series
Tim Burton’s Batman Films
Adam West’s Batman

The second factor is that Batman is one of the few characters blessed with a back catalogue of accessible runs and stories, so there’s quite a few recommendations for each. It’s as simple as finding one that works for you.

Finally, we’re going to take a bit of a leap backwards and dig into one of the first truly iconic representations of Batman outside of comics. No, I’m not talking about the film serial. I’m talking about the camp-tastic Adam West Batman! television show.

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: adam west, arts, batman, batman begins, batman: the long halloween, christian bale, Christopher Nolan, ChristopherNolan, comic book, Comics, dark knight, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rise, Dark Knight Rises, Dark Knight [Blu-ray], frank miller, gotham city, nolan, tim burton, tim sale, two face | Leave a comment »

Batman: Mad Love & Other Stories (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Darren

If you asked me to name the best adaptation of the Batman mythos, I would hesitate. I think Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy does a wonderful job of distilling the character to his core, and contextualising him within the cultural landscape of the twenty-first century. However, I’d also argue that Batman: The Animated Series is the most wonderfully comprehensive examination of the Caped Crusader’s mythology, and so perfectly captures a large volume of what the character is, has been and should be. Paul Dini would be on any shortlist of my personal favourite Batman writers, and Bruce Timm among my favourite Batman artists. So there’s something quite appealing about Mad Love & Other Stories, a collection of the pair’s work on comic books related to the nineties animated series.

Happily never after...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Arleen Sorkin, batman, Batman Adventures: Mad Love, batman: arkham city, Christopher Nolan, Dark Knight Rises, Harley, Harley Quinn, joker, Montana, paul dini | 4 Comments »

Recommended Batman Comics 103: Tim Burton’s Batman Films…

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Darren

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy
Batman: The Animated Series
Tim Burton’s Batman Films
Adam West’s Batman

And now we’ll take a trip back in time to the late eighties and early nineties, when Tim Burton’s take on the character (with his films Batman and Batman Returns) seemed to dominate pop culture’s impression of the character.