Category Archives: Geekery
A Batman for all Seasons
Regular readers of my blog will know that I’ve already pre-ordered Batman: Arkham City at Best Buy in order to get Robin. That’s set in stone. Ain’t nothing changing that. But everybody else has the option now of different pre-order variants in order to get different Batman costumes. These are freakin’ amazing! My God! It’s like a geek drool collection machine! Hopefully these will be available as DLC someday.
It also means that at some point, somewhere in the world, there was a group of people who spent the day deciding what alternate Batman costumes they should include in this game. Those people are the luckiest human beings on the face of the Earth.
So who are we looking at here and how do you get them? Well this picture comes courtesy of arkhamcity.co.uk, and they break it down for us. Some of these pre-order options may change, since I think it’s only the England options have been announced.
From left:
1. Batman Beyond: A popular cartoon show set in the future after Bruce Wayne has retired. A young man named Terry McGuinness discovers Batman’s secret and teams up with the aging Bruce to become a new Batman for a new, futuristic Gotham City. I didn’t watch this cartoon much, but it was alright. Though I absolutely hate a later retcon at the end of Justice League Unlimited that altered the story so that Terry was actually a pseudo-clone of Bruce instead of just a regular guy who becomes Batman, that someone had taken Bruce Wayne’s DNA and injected it into Terry’s sperm so that when he and Terry’s mom had a kid, the dad-half came from Bruce. That’s just DUMB! I will not be bothering with this outfit.
How to get it: Pre-order the game from gamestop.co.uk or MightyApe.
2. The Dark Knight Returns: A beefier Batman from Frank Miller’s classic tale from the 1980s. Again set in a future Gotham City, but this time the aging Bruce Wayne decides to put the costume back on in order to reclaim the beast that resides within his soul – and rescue Gotham City. This was one of the comics that changed Batman from the silly 1960s Adam West variation into the gritty dark knight! And I’m all the happier for it. This would be an awesome costume to play the game in.
How to get it: Pre-order the Collector’s Edition of the game.
3. Earth One: My bad. I thought this was the current Bruce Wayne costume, when in actuality it’s a costume based on the Batman: Earth One series…that hasn’t been released. Superman: Earth One came out, and it altered a few things in the classic origin and made Clark Kent more of a Twilight-esque brooding young man. It sold really well. I have no idea what they plan to do with Bruce Wayne. I’m pretty sure there’s only ever been a single preview image release…which this costume is based on. Lame. But it looks kind of cool.
How to get it: Pre-order at MightyApe.
4. 1970s Batman: Back in the day, before Frank Miller and the ‘Dark Knight’, Batman was the Caped Crusader. He was a member of the Dynamic Duo with Robin. Those names are still used, I suppose, but back then they stood for an entirely different Batman. Back then he wore a light gray suit with a bright blue cape and cowl. That was back when Robin dressed in green shorts and pixie boots. So there, everybody! Batman didn’t dress for the shadows either! It’s an alright costume, and would probably look really funny in Arkham City.
How to get it: Pre-order from Toys R Us.
5. Batman: The Animated Series: Oh my dear and holy Lord. That is amazing! I hope somebody got a promotion for both coming up with the idea and pulling it off so well! I have no idea how it will look in gameplay, but it looks like sheer geek gold in that picture. If you don’t know about Batman: The Animated Series from the 90s then shame on you!
How to get it: Pre-order from MightyApe.
6. Arkham City Batman: That’s just what Batman normally looks like in the game. Not an alternate costume.
How to get it: Just buy the game, fools!
Getting a Job in the 21st Century
My dream jobs are pretty unobtainable. I want to write comic books for Marvel and DC, or I want to just write novels for a living. I also wouldn’t mind writing for a TV show or a movie. But the reason I’m only a newspaper reporter right now with personal writing on the side is because DREAM JOBS ARE HARD TO GET! How many people do you know are working at their dream job?
For that matter, how do you even apply for your dream job? Well, this girl is using the power of the Interwebs to apply for her dream job! More power to her, I say. I just don’t have to have these sorts of skills. Not even the singing voice.
San Diego Comic-Con Wrap-Up
I already wrote about the epic return of Stilt-Man, but I wanted to add a few more exciting developments to come out of the San Diego Comic-Con. It’s the largest pop culture event of the year, with big news in comics, movies and TV. Someday Henchman-4-Hire will have a booth there, or I’ll personally have a booth there. But for now, I enjoy cruising the comic blogosphere and reading up on news from my favorite sites.
Here are some key tidbits, both good and bad.
1. The Return of the Scarlet Spider: At one panel, Marvel released the following teaser image for an upcoming Spider-Man story for the end of the year. No news, just the picture. And it’s a very exciting picture featuring the Scarlet Spider’s iconic hoodie.
Hopefully the comic won't just be Scarlet Spider on fire
Everybody knows about Spider-Man. Well a big story in the 90s Spider-Man comics was the Clone Saga, in which an evil scientist made a clone of Peter Parker who had all of his memories and all of his spider-powers. The clone named himself Ben Reilly, and he adopted his own spider-identity: The Scarlet Spider. Everybody hated the Clone Saga. It started small but it just kept dragging on and on for years. Marvel kept going back and forth over who was the real Peter Parker and who was the clone. Eventually Spider-Man was revealed to be the real deal, and Scarlet Spider was revealed to be the clone – then he died.
Poor guy
I loved the Clone Saga, but then my brother and I came into it at the very end. We weren’t around for the story dragging on and on. Some of our first comics were from the Clone Saga, when we used to go to the comic shops in Syracuse and cruise the back issue bins. Cippy loved Scarlet Spider, and I definitely enjoyed the exploits of Ben Reilly. For a brief period, he filled in as Spider-Man. The Scarlet Spider costume is my absolute favorite alternate Spidey costume.
So the prospect of Scarlet Spider coming back in some way is kind of exciting. He’s appeared in some side comics, but Ben Reilly hasn’t come back from the dead or anything. Another character started using the name, but he has his own costume and his own deal. Having the real deal back, hoodie and all, would be pretty sweet.
2. Incredible Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.: Everything about this is brilliant, from the idea to a title that should have been thought up ages ago. Except that it’s not for me. I hate the idea, it’s just brilliant. I don’t even want ‘S.M.A.S.H.’ to stand for anything. It’s awesome as-is. This is going to be a cartoon show starring the Hulk and all the recent Hulk-esque characters from Marvel.
Crappy image, but such is con-stuff
Over the past few years, the Incredible Hulk cast has ballooned from just Bruce Banner and his jade giant alter ego. There’s Red Hulk She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Skaar: Son of the Hulk, another She-Hulk and A-Bomb, who is a Rick Jones that can turn into the Abomination. It’s dumb and I haven’t been reading. I prefer my Hulk to be a loner, where he’s the only Hulk around. Like in the classic TV show. So I don’t know what sort of bull is going to be flying in this cartoon show.
I just love the title.
3. Trailer for the new Airbender cartoon: Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best cartoon series ever. It’s a three-season story that spans one long tale from beginning to end, about a 12-year-old boy who must embrace his destiny and save the world. It’s not just a kiddie show. You will be hard-pressed to find such an epic tale anywhere else short of books. If you have kids, make them watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. Watch it with them. You will not be disappointed.
That being said, here’s the trailer for the sequel!
4. LEGO has Marvel and DC licenses: Soon we will live in a world with LEGO X-Men, Avengers, Superman, Spider-Man, Hulk and Deadpool. It’s a nerd dream come true. All my hopes and dreams from childhood come to life! I already proudly displayed my LEGO Batmobile on my Geek Wall. To have other superhero LEGOS is just giddy fun.
Problem is, aside from Batman and his various vehicles and cave, few other superheroes have actual models to build. So we’ll see what they can come up with. I have faith.
Tiny little bits of awesome
Cosplaying is for Awesome People
And you know that because of this music video. The song is from Pink, but the video is from a bunch of pure geeks.
Squirrelpool and the Upcoming Comic-Con!
The San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner! It’s Nerd Mecca, essentially. Everything from comic books to TV shows to the latest movies use Comic-Con to promote. I’ve been to a few conventions in my day, but never San Diego. It doesn’t help that I live in New York. Regardless, even though I’m not going, a lot of other geek blogs and news sites will be going! So expect to see a lot of traffic on this site as I pass along some cool comic news!
For example, those who go to San Diego have the option of buying this exclusive statuette!
Yes, this is a thing that exists in the world.
Henchman-4-Hire 