Comics | the m0vie blog

Absolute Sandman: Volume I

Posted on August 3, 2009 by Darren

I’m supposed to say that Sandman is a comic for people who don’t like comics. It’s not. It’s a comic for people who like stories.

Neil Gaiman created a series that ran for the bones of a decade following the resurrection and revival of Morpheus, the King of Dreams. DC Comics cleverly repackaged the entire collection as four slipcase Absolute Editions. I own all four and have read them cover-to-cover once (and occasionally going back and revisiting particular threads from time-to-time). I’ve decided to re-read the entire collection again from the very beginning. So, how does the first volume hold up?

"Mister Sandman, bring me a dream..."

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: absolute death, absolute edition, absolute editions, absolute sandman, Absolute Sandman: Volume I, comic book, Comics, dc comics, death, dream, dream country, graphic novel, morpheus, neil gaiman, preludes & nocturnes, sandman, the doll's house, the endless, the sandman | Leave a comment »

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Darren

I guess… I guess I always knew that this was how it was going to end. That we didn’t have him forever. That one day someone would say, ‘Hey, Jim. Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader?’ I’d tell them. ‘Pretty much what you’d expect. He’s dead.’

I just didn’t think it would be today.

– Commissioner James Gordon

I actually quite enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, even if I wasn’t overly in love with it. The prospect of doing a final, definitive Batman story – one not anchored in a particular event, but designed to encapsulate the history of the Dark Knight – must be daunting. Even Alan Moore’s sensational Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? served as a fond farewell to one particular iteration of the Man of Steel. Gaiman’s “last ever” Batman story is a tad more ambitious, bidding goodbye to alliterations of the character. I’m not entirely convinced that it succeeds, although it makes a more than valiant effort.

Clowning around!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alan moore, andy kubert, batman, batman r.i.p., batman rip, comic books, Comics, dc comics, grant morrison, joker, Martha Wayne, neil gaiman, review, riddler, superman, the riddler, whatever happened to the caped crusader | 8 Comments »

Grant Morrison’s Run on Batman – Batman & Son, The Black Glove & Batman RIP (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Darren

I want to love Grant Morrison’s run on Batman. I really do. And I quite possibly would if I didn’t feel like I wasn’t particularly welcome at this massive gala birthday bash. I’ve decided to review all of Morrison’s run on Batman – collected in the hardback editions of Batman & Son, The Black Glove, two chapters of The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul and Batman R.I.P. – as one, because it is all one story. In fact, I’m sure it’ll turn out to be the opening salvo of a gigantic story that Morrison is weaving where it all ties together, but it might be so massive it’s impossible to review all at once. So, how do I feel after the first act?

Who says parenting isn't tough?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: arts, batman, batman & son, batman and son, batman r.i.p., batman rip, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batmen of All Nations, bruce wayne, comic books, Comics, damian wayne, dark knight, dc comics, grant morrison, Grantmorrison, joker, morrison, retrospective, review, the black glove | 4 Comments »

Mon Capitan – Captain America and International Audiences

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Darren

With The Avengers universe building up – Marvel’s plan to introduce a bunch of comic book characters through solo films and tie them together into one big team-up movie -, there is one of the prequels (if we can call them that – they aren’t really prequels or sequels and some aren’t even origins) that I am really interested in. It isn’t Favreau and Downey’s Iron Man 2, nor is it Branagh’s Thor. I am most interested in how the Captain America movie comes about – particularly at the moment. This has nothing to do with the charmingly awful version we saw about twenty years ago. This is more to do with how the most blatantly American superhero will do overseas.

America, F%!& Yeah!

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: america, americana, avengers, barrack obama, captain america, captain america: the first avenger, Comics, films, indiana jones, iron man 2, marvel, Movies, obama, politics, popular culture, the avengers, thor, world war 2 | Leave a comment »

What we loved about the Nolan Batman movies…

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Darren

Don’t get us wrong, we did enjoy the two Burton films (I have a soft spot for Batman Returns, despite fandom’s opinion of it). It’s just that the Nolan films – Batman Begins and The Dark Knight – managed to perfectly capture what it was about the Caped Crusader that we really loved. There was just something about them that really worked, and we thought we’d take a look at five of the reasons why we liked them so much.

Reason #243: excellent cinematography...

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Filed under: Movies, Opinion | Tagged: batman begins, Christopher Nolan, Comics, film, Movies, The Dark Knight | 2 Comments »

I’m a Grinner, I’m a Lover, I’m a Sinner…

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Darren

… I’m a Joker, I’m a Smoker, I’m a Midnight Toker

What is it about the Joker that makes him such a great villain. He’s appeared in just about every media form where Batman has appeared since Batman #1 way back in 1940. He is one of only two villains to appear in both of the more recent Batman film franchises and he seems to be the only character in the history of the Batman family who has survived every era of the character unblemished. Be it the light comic relief of the Dick Sprang era reflected in the Adam West show (where Ceasar Romero is clearly wearing a mustache under his makeup), the darker sense of humour of the animated Joker voiced by Mark Hamill in The Animated Series through to the anarchist/nihilist terrorist portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight – none of these incarnations are any less in character than any of the others. What is it about the Joker that makes him one of the great villains of our time?

The world's leading cause of coulrophobia...

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Filed under: Movies, Opinion, Television | Tagged: batman, Christopher Nolan, Comics, grant morrison, heath ledger, jack nicholson, joker, The Dark Knight | 5 Comments »

Green Lantern… The Other, Other Hot DC Comics Property

Posted on June 13, 2009 by Darren

Everyone knows Batman and Superman. Those dudes – and their supporting casts – are the nearly the only ambassadors for DC Comics to the world of mainstream cinema. With the exception of the odd stand-alone project, such as Watchmen or Road to Perdition, DC seems to be having a hardtime transitioning its properties to film. Marvel has managed to secure franchises for many of their lights, both greater and lesser – ask the X-Men, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Blade, Iron Man, The Hulk and even The Punisher – leading me to wonder why DC has taken so long to get out there. Sure, perhaps Superman and Batman (and Wonder Woman) are the most iconic of their stable, but I’d also suggest that the Flash and Green Lantern also carry name recognition (though not to the same degree). I’m greatly anticipating Green Lantern as the second-biggest superhero event of next year (because Iron Man II has one of the best casts… ever), but I’m left to wonder: what the hell took you so long?

Doesn't he know that domino masks are sooooooo Silver Age?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, comic book movies, Comics, dc comics, emerald dawn, geoff johns, green lantern, green lantern movie, Green Lantern: First Flight, iron man ii, james bond, martin campbell, marvel, marvel comics, spiderman, superman, The Dark Knight, wolverine | 1 Comment »

Why Bruce Wayne as Batman Should Rest in Peace

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Darren

I’m not a comic book fan, I must admit. I own a few Absolute editions (Watchmen, Sandman, The Long Halloween) and a rare few prestige format books (The Green Lantern Archives and The Killing Joke), and I’m planning on bulk-buying Grant Morrison’s run on Batman in those nice hardcover editions to tide me over on my holiday this summer. So, what I’m about to say must be tempered with that little caveat. I’ve read relatively little of Batman lore, save what my parents would pick me up from the grocery store in Ghana when I was small (and – to further outline the differences between myself and your comics fan – I remember them merely for what they contained rather than by issue and series number; I fondly recall “the one where Swamp Thing meets Killer Croc” or “the retelling of The Riddler’s origin”). Still, on reading the coverage and preparing to jump headfirst into Grant Morrison’s magnum opus, one thought is running through my head: If they are threatening to end Bruce Wayne’s run as Batman, they should do it.