dc comics | the m0vie blog

I’m A Marvel… or Am I A DC? I Can Never Tell…

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Darren

I’m about half-a-year behind on this, I must confess. Back in January, the wonderful Katie over at Stories That Really Mattered asked a bunch of bloggers to come out in favour of one of the two major comic book companies, with an open invitation for other members of the community to participate. I’d like to pretend that I took so long to consider my own response because I’m cool (and cool people arrive late to the hottest parties), but the truth is I’ve just been a bit run off my feet these past few months. I was never cool, but I’ve learned to accept that.

However, in this season of blockbuster comic book movies, I thought it might be interesting to reflect on whether I am a bigger fan of Marvel, or DC. Given how close both are to my heart, expect a fair bit of waffle. Okay, a bit morewaffle than usual.

Let's not cloud the issue...

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: comic, comic book movies, comic books, dc comics, fantastic four, Gail Simone, justice league, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, Movies, Paul Cornell, robert downey jr, spider man, superhero movies, wonder woman | 11 Comments »

Ex Machina: The Deluxe Edition – Volume V (Review)

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Darren

In an effort to prove that comic books aren’t just about men in spandex hitting each other really hard, this month I’m reviewing all of Brian K. Vaughan’s superb Ex Machina. And in June, I’ll be reviewing his Y: The Last Man.

If you follow any story to its real conclusion, you always get the same thing. Regret. Pain. Loss. That’s why I like superhero books. Month after month, they just keep going. So no matter what terrible things happen, you know there’ll always be another chance for wrongs to get righted. It’s like, without a last act, those stories never get to become tragedies.

I guess that’s why they call ’em comics.

– Mitchell Hundred, Vice

This is it. The end. The final run of issues where Brian K. Vaughan wraps up his second hugely successful and hugely acclaimed original comic book series, as we follow Mayor Mitchell Hundred through the final traumatic year in Gracie Mansion…

… and beyond.

Ex mayor?

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: brian k. vaughan, comic book, comic book review, comic books, dc comics, ex machina, ex machina (comic), Exmachina, Gracie Mansion, mayor hundred, mitchell hundred, new york, New York City, United States, wildstorm, y: the last man | Leave a comment »

A Knight by Any Other Name: Why We Don’t Need Nolan to Use Characters from the Comic Books…

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Darren

Read our in-depth review of the film here.

There was a bit of a ripple on-line last week when it was announced that Marion Cotillard was playing a Wayne Enterprise employee by the name of Miranda Tate and Joseph Gordon Levitt was playing a cop named John Blake in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. Both actors had been suggested for various and established characters (Cotillard seems a perfect fit for Talia Al Ghul, while Levitt was linked to characters as diverse as Alberto Falcone and the Black Mask). Still, it’s surprising how shocked everybody seemed that neither high-profile actor would playing a character established in the Bat mythos. Does it really matter that much?

I can’t Talia if it’s really an original character…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Alberto Falcone, Batman in film, continuity, dc comics, dc universe, Harvey Bullock, Henri Ducard, john blake, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, marion cotillard, miranda tate, original characters, Silver St. Cloud, Talia Al Ghul, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises | 6 Comments »

The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 6 (The Grand Guignol) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way. Earlier today we reviewed the New Krypton crossover, which was largely driven by author James Robinson, so we thought we’d end the day by taking a look at the final collection of Robinson’s work on Starman.

This volume represents perhaps my favourite stories that James and the wonderful group of artists he worked with created because it has something that nearly every on-going superhero series doesn’t have – a definitive ending – and a whole satisfying one at that.

– Geoff Johns’ introduction

We’ve come a long way, baby. 80 issues, six hardcover collections, countless extras (including supplements, specials and miniseries). A collection of diaries written by James Robinson documenting his time writing the saga, collected in the back of each collection. Starman has been collected nearly perfectly, and the sixth volume is no exception. It’s still something of a mixed blessing, because – no matter how much I appreciate the sense of closure – I’m still sad to see the series end.

Birds of a feather...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, blackest night, dc comics, geoff johns, guginol, jack knight, james robinson, lee s, starman, the grang guginol, Thom Kallor | Leave a comment »

Superman – New Krypton (Vol. I-IV), Last Stand of New Krypton (Vol. I & II) & War of the Supermen (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Darren

In fairness, it was too great an idea to ever ignore. At some point in the character’s publishing history, it was inevitable that Superman would be reunited with his people – the long dead planet Krypton. This storytelling opportunity forms the basis of the whole New Krypton saga, which crossed through the Superman line of comic books for well over a year. Unfortunately, despite having a rather wonderful core idea, it’s a ll a bit of a waste.

Up in the sky...

Note: This review contains what might be considered spoilers. But the title of the second sets of books in the header kinda give the game away.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Adam Strange, arts, brainiac, clark kent, comic book, Comics, dc comics, geoff johns, grant morrison, james robinson, Jimmy Olsen, kandor, krypton, Kryptonian, last stand of new krypton, Legion of Super-Heroes, legion of superheroes, man of steel, new krypton, paul dini, review, sterling gates, supergirl, superman, war of the supermen, world of new krypton, zod | 2 Comments »

Lex Luthor: Man of Steel (Review)

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Darren

Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo worked together on Joker, the rather wonderful reinvention of the Clown Prince of Crime which happened to almost perfectly synch up with the release of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. However, the pair had worked together before on a very similar story – an attempt to offer a more in-depth look at another iconic comic book villain. Lex Luthor: Man of Steel was originally released as a six-issue miniseries, but it has now been released as a graphic novel branded only Luthor, in an attempt to cash in on the success of the pair’s stand-alone Batman novel. In the form of a lovely hardcover with the covers relegated to the extras at the end, it actually makes quite a compelling read.

He needs to Luth-less to win this...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, brian azzarello, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book review, comic book reviews, comic books, dc comics, graphic novel review, joker, lee bermejo, lex luthor, lex luthor: man of steel, Lexluthor, luthor, review, superman | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Superman Returns

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way. I figured that, today, I’d take a look at Superman-related movies.

You know, Quentin Tarantino once boasted that he had a 20-page review of Superman Returns that the director had been drafting for some years now. This review is going to be long, but it’s – hopefully – not going to be that long. The film has divided fans, movie-goers and film critics since its initial release, killed an attempt to relaunch the “Superman” brand name in the new millennium, made a shedload of money (although not as much as Warner Brothers would have liked). It’s a movie that deserves a large amount of discussion and debate, and it sure has generated it. I’m not a staunch supporter of the film, but I don’t hate it, either. Superman as a character has endured far greater humiliation. Still, it’s a bit of a disappointing continuation to the on-going Superman mythology.

The weight of the world is on his shoulders...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bryan singer, christopher reeve, Daily Planet, dc comics, films, general zod, grant morrison, lex luthor, Movies, non-review review, quentin tarantino, review, richard donner, richard donner's supermen, superman, superman returns, United States, Warner Bros | 13 Comments »

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (Review)

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Darren

March is Superman month here at the m0vie blog, what with the release of the animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s superb All-Star Superman. We’ll be reviewing a Superman-related book/story arc every Wednesday this month, so check on back – and we might have a surprise or two along the way. In honour of the Scottish scribe, I thought I’d review the latest chapter in his on-going Batman epic.

It’s a testament to writer Grant Morrison how much I enjoyed his weird and fantastical six-chapter “Batman lost in time” adventure epic. Between this and his superb run on Batman & Robin, Morrison might have redeemed himself for the mess that was Batman R.I.P. That said, the collection isn’t for everyone, but it marks a rich exploration of the evolution of the Batman archetype through his various iterations – a meta-textual look at the elements which make Batman who he is, and why those elements are important to him. It also, of course, features Batman in a sword fight with Cthulhu.

You know you’re reading Grant Morrison’s Batman when something like this happens…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman r.i.p., batman rip, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book, comic books, Comics, Dark Knight [Blu-ray], dark night dark rider, darkseid, dc comics, final crisis, grant morrison, Grantmorrison, graphic novel, masquerade, return of bruce wayne, review, shadow of stone, superman, until the end of time | 7 Comments »

Superman: Secret Origin (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Darren

I have to admit that I quite enjoyed Geoff Johns’ run on Action Comics. Johns has been one of the most influential writers working at DC over the past couple of years, so it felt right to see him tackling Superman, after years of working on titles like The Flash and Green Lantern. It was an extra special treat because he brought Richard Donner with him for the introductory arc, which restored a sense of continuity between the comic book superhero and his cinematic iteration. You ask anybody to picture Superman, and I promise you that they will imagine Christopher Reeve with his cape flapping in the wind – it feels like the definitive version of the character. And I felt that Johns really tapped into that aspect of the icon. So, I have to admit that I was pretty excited when it was announced that Geoff Johns would be returning to tell the character’s origin story, his Secret Origin, if you will.

That's one super life he's lived...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, Christopher Nolan, christopher reeve, clark kent, Comics, David Goyer, dc comics, deluxe edition, gary frank, geoff johns, graphic novel, green lantern: secret origin, review, richard donner, secret origin, superman, superman: secret origin, wonder woman | 5 Comments »

Geoff Johns’ Run on The Flash – Rogues, Crossfire & Blitz

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Darren

What with Geoff Johns returning to write The Flash, I figured I’d dig out some of the old collections of his first run on the title – arguably the run which brought the writer to the attention of comic book readers everywhere. In a run spanning five years, Johns managed to not only offer a suitably impressive successor to Mark Waid’s run on the title, but also tell his own boldly unique story. In a way, the writer’s time on the title can be broken down into two distinct halves – in fact, the final issue collected here is consciously a transition, with the universe being massively re-written and the status quo irrevocably altered. This collection represents the end of that first half, in which Johns was paired with artist Scott Kolins. I think it’s fair to say that the pair made magic on the title.