Category Archives: Batman
Nightwing to Appear in Arkham City
The game developer Rocksteady is doing their darndest to keep the secrets under wraps for the upcoming game Batman: Arkham City. But leave it to random websites to casually reveal these secrets as if they didn’t think they were secrets at all. First, Best Buy revealed that Robin would be a playable character. Now some website that lists video game achievements has revealed that Nightwing will also be a playable character. We’re less than a month away from the game’s release and Rocksteady was able to keep the secret this long.
Well no more! Check out these two achievements:
Rather skimpy proof, but proof nonetheless!
This definitely explains why Robin will be Tim Drake (my favorite Robin). I also think this more than makes up for the lack of any Robin references at all in Batman: Arkham Asylum. As a Robin fanboy, that really ground my gears at the time. But Rocksteady is making up for that fan faux pas by making Robin and now Nightwing playable! Not in the campaign, only in challenge maps, but I’m more than fine with that! Bring it on!
For those who don’t know, Nightwing is the original Robin, Dick Grayson. He’s the circus acrobat whose parents were killed, and he was adopted by Batman. He was in Batman: The Animated Series and was played by Chris O’Donnell in the mid-90s Batman movies.
Well in the comics, Dick eventually grew up into a young teen and rebelled against Batman. He struck out on his own and created a brand new superhero identity: Nightwing.
Still has that boyish Robin charm
That eventually cleared the way for Tim Drake to become the new Robin. And that’s your comic history lesson for today. Thanks to the website www.PS3Trophies.org for the spoiler.
My Thoughts on Catwoman’s Movie Costume
UPDATE: New theory about Catwoman’s mask added to story. Look for the blinking .gif.
New images of Anne Hathaway in full Catwoman costume have been circulating the Interwebs over the past day or two, taken candidly by onlookers at the set of The Dark Knight Rises. I didn’t want to comment on the costume because, first of all, we don’t yet know if it’s the final version, and second of all, I’m not a fan of these types of candid set shots. I wanted to wait for an officially released photo. But it’s a slow day for geeky news, so I figured there’s more than one way to skin a cat, so I’m going for it.
I don’t like the costume. It’s too glam.
She's a Barbie girl, in a Batman world
This picture is terrible. Anne Hathaway looks like a Barbie doll, walking around as if she were made of plastic. That’s why I wanted to wait for the official shots. But other than just the creepy, thin sort of look, the costume just isn’t good. There are parts I like. I definitely like the style it’s going for, with the leather and the zipper. The costume definitely invokes a more utilitarian look than spandex superhero. It’s the mask I don’t like.
Read more after the jump, as well as my thoughts on the Bane costume.
Comic Reviews: DC Should Have Done a Full Reboot
Another week has come and gone, leaving me with another stack of new DC titles to read and enjoy. So far, my general opinion still hasn’t been changed by what I’m reading. I become more and more convinced each week that DC should have done a hard reboot right from the beginning. They should have set all of their characters back to Square One. None of this crap where some characters have been fully rebooted and some haven’t been touched at all.
I think the fans would accept a full reboot.
Just look at the evidence in sales so far this month. Justice League sold over 200,000 copies and is going back for its fourth reprint. (To you non-comic fans, that’s a big deal). Even books like Hawk and Dove have sold out and are going back for a reprint. People are buying these new DC titles in droves!
"Hey Marvel! Come at us, bro!"
So clearly DC’s strategy of getting people excited for just their revamp/soft reboot has worked. They did a great job over the summer preparing people for the changes. Comic book fans were ready and willing to accept the new continuity. Yes, there have been some grumblers (like me!) who have complained about some of the changes. But we’re still buying the comics. Which leads me to believe that we’d all still be buying the comics if DC had gone for a full reboot. They’re already retelling the origins of Superman and the Justice League in their respective books. But with the second story of each, they’re going to jump ahead five years. It’s a weird storytelling strategy.
They should have done a full Ultimate DC.
Just not this Ultimate DC
Why not retell all the origins of the characters with exciting new twists and focus? Look at the success of Ultimate Spider-Man. Have DC’s best writers plot out the birth of a new DC Universe. Weave characters together from the ground up into the Justice League and into the Teen Titans. Get rid of characters you don’t want anymore. Give new origins to some characters. Do whatever you want, but do it with some consistency.
But this would never work. I don’t know if comic book fans would have the patience to sit through everything again already knowing what’s to come. While I’d be happy with Dick Grayson back as Robin, with DC retelling his origin, I’d constantly be looking ahead for Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. Plus some comic fans would definitely be bitter about losing all the continuity. I don’t know if they’d be pacified by the idea that all of that was still around and they could reread it whenever they like. Just DC is going forward with some new ideas.
Oh well. What do I know? This is probably why DC hasn’t given me a job yet. Click the jump for my reviews of DC’s Week Three, including Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Nightwing.
Batman: Year One is On Its Way!
The next DC animated movie, Batman: Year One, comes out next month. DC released this cool teaser scene this week. The scene is absolutely badass in the comics…but I think it loses a bit of its cool in the transition to animation. Like with All-Star Superman, the book was definitely better. However, I like the animation, I’m cool with Batman’s voice and I’m definitely looking forward to this movie.
It’s just a shame DC won’t make anymore Wonder Woman animated films, or feature characters other than Batman and Superman.
Sex Sells at DC Comics
Wow. DC Comics is really taking the whole ‘sex sells’ thing to new heights with their relaunch. Issue after issue so far has featured their heroines and female characters either stripping naked, nearly naked, already naked or having casual sex. Not every issue has done this, but enough to stand up and take notice. I realize there is the unfortunate belief that comic book nerds are all lonely, depraved men living in their parents’ basements, but come on! Why are they doing this?
Because boobies, that’s why!
Bewbs, tits, tatas, melons, mammaries, jugs, etc.
Is this getting out of hand? Are readers titillated or irritated?
I haven’t read all of the new issue #1s, but I’ve read enough to notice this sexy trend. DC seems to be going out of their way to oversexualize their female characters, even the popular, famous characters. And it’s not like the nudity or sex adds anything to the specific scene or character. Most of these scenes could very easily be skipped or drawn with clothes on. And the sex is as gratuitous as possible. At least one superheroine, Starfire, was flirty and sexy before relaunch, but her new incarnation is that of a total slut who hops into bed with Roy Harper just for kicks and giggles. It’s practically the first thing she does once she appears in the issue.
And Starfire’s not alone. Check out the oversexualized moments I’ve found in just three weeks of new releases. There will be spoilers:
Henchman-4-Hire 