Category Archives: Robin
Robin Watch: Batsgiving
There hasn’t been too much Robin news lately – other than that day everybody mistakenly thought the new Robin was going to be black – but I’m still keeping a close watch on who might be the next Robin. As you may recall, the leading contenders are Carrie Kelley, an alternate reality version of the female Robin that appeared in Frank Miller’s classic The Dark Knight Returns, or Harper Row, the street-smart electrical engineer groomed by DC Comics’ current golden boy Scott Snyder.
Speaking of Snyder, he Tweeted a picture yesterday teasing the upcoming new weekly series Batman Eternal.
Why did they invite freakin’ Professor Pyg to dinner!?
The picture is full of Easter Eggs, like the little robin sitting on the back of Titus the dog, Alfred in a straight jacket, possibly a blonde Nightwing, and the first look at New 52 Stephanie Brown (she’s the one in the purple hoodie). So it’s definitely a neat picture. But our interest is in what it means for the new Robin.
If you look at everyone in the picture, you’ll see Harper Row plain as day in a very important position. I think Carrie Kelley might be that orange-haired woman sitting between Catwoman and Batwing, but it’s hard to tell. She’s not wearing her normally signature glasses. Heck, that might not even be Carrie Kelley.
But that’s definitely Harper with the blue streak in her hair sitting next to Red Robin. She’s the one sitting directly behind Batman. She’s also holding a drumstick in her hand, making her the only other person eating Thanksgiving dinner with Batman. She’s also sitting among Red Robin, (a possibly blonde) Nightwing and Stephanie Brown, so clearly that’s the ‘Robin Table’, as it were.
Maybe I’m reading too much into the picture, or maybe I’m reading exactly what Snyder wants me to read. His Tweet was bragging about all the Easter Eggs in that picture, after all, Easter Eggs for the Batman books in 2014. So I suppose we’ll still just have to wait and see.
This has been another edition of Robin Watch!
Will We See a Kingdom Come Batman in the Man of Steel Sequel?
Rumors are swirling left and right about the upcoming Batman/Superman movie, everything from Wonder Woman and Flash having cameo appearances, to the batsuit being based on Jim Lee designs. Normally I wouldn’t write about these kinds of rumors, but now that they involve the possibility of Dick Grayson appearing in the film, I am all over them. I can’t help it. I want Robin to appear in this movie more than I want a low calorie french fry.
Today’s new rumor comes from Warner Bros. producer Daniel Alter who sent out a Tweet about the film this morning that makes me think the Ben Affleck Batman will be based on the comic book series Kingdom Come.
It’s not as religious as you might think
I’m saving the Tweet until after the jump so that you don’t have to be SPOILED if you don’t want to be. There’s also the possibility that this is a total lie and none of it’s true. Such is the problem with rumors. But if that’s the case, who the heck does Daniel Alter think he is that he can make up lies about the new movie?
All thanks to ComicBookMovie.com for finding this Tweet.
About Those Nightwing Rumors…
Frequent readers of my blog know that I am a huge Robin fan. Super huge. Distractingly so. I legitimately like the Robin parts of Batman Forever, so that’s telling you something. Being such a Robin fan, I feel it’s kind of my duty to comment on the rumors that Dick Grayson might appear in the upcoming Batman/Superman movie. What’s the point of a pop culture blog like this one if I don’t talk about pressing pop culture rumors that interest me?
According to both Latino Review, which has a good track record about movie rumors, and The Wrap, which I assume considers itself a legitimate news organization, Dick Grayson is going to appear in the Man of Steel sequel. He’s going to be older, and he and Batman won’t have spoken to each other in a few years. I don’t usually like to comment on these types of rumors because there’s always a million of them. How many of us believed that the Riddler was going to appear in The Dark Knight Rises? Or that Philip Seymour Hoffman was going to play the Penguin?
But I don’t care about Riddler or Penguin. I care about Robin. Or Nightwing, as the case may be.
When sidekicks grow up
So what do I think? First of all, like I said, these are only rumors at this point. Likewise, there are rumors that Wonder Woman’s going to appear as well. I don’t cotton to rumors, and this could easily be disproven within a week. If that’s the case, so be it. But as of right now, if we take these Internet news reports for fact, then Dick Grayson might appear in the Batman/Superman movie, and that is awesome!
Seriously, this is the best possible news! This is something I never thought possible, like something from my wildest dreams. The world still thinks Robin is silly. Not even Christopher Nolan’s take on the character could truly save Robin from his embarrassing reputation. But this? This would be a dream come true! That backstory screams respect and seriousness, and of course, why bother setting up a split between Batman and his sidekick if you’re not going to resolve it in the movie?
I even like the look of the actor rumored at the top of the short list to play Dick: Adam Driver.
I think he forgot how to person
I’ve never seen him in anything, but he looks the part, at least mostly.
I don’t know if these rumors are going to come to pass or not. I don’t know what the future holds. But if they’re true, if Dick Grayson makes a respectable appearance in Batman/Superman, then I will be one happy geek. Please, universe, do this for me. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.
Review: Batman: Arkham Origins
He is the terror that flaps in the night! He is the hang nail that annoys the finger of crime! He! Is! Batman! And wouldn’t you know it, he’s back for a threequel prequel in the Batman: Arkham series, which I think is safe to call the greatest superhero video game series of all time. Batman: Arkham Origins once again puts us deep into the mind and fists of the Dark Knight with an awesome story, a bigger playground and even a new multiplayer mode. But things are a little different this third time around. Original series developer Rocksteady is gone, replaced by Warner Bros. Montreal. The change isn’t noticeable, though, because Warner Bros. Montreal does not fix what isn’t broken – for good or ill.
Batman: Arkham Origins doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it just gives us more of that awesome Arkham action we love.
Game Rating: 9/10 – Great!
Batman: Arkham Origins has been our for two weeks now, and I know my review is late to the game, but I wanted to get my thoughts down anyway. This gives me the opportunity to reflect on what other reviewers are saying, and a lot of them are complaining that Arkham Origins doesn’t do anything new to move the series forward in any significant way. I completely agree with that statement, but I don’t think that makes for a bad game. Far from it. Warner Bros. Montreal took everything that worked in the previous two games – Arkham Asylum and Arkham City – and just keeps the ball rolling.
Batman: Arkham Origins follows the same fun rules of sequels to superhero movies. The first games established the world and the mechanics, and Arkham Origins gets to play around in them. And considering how much fun it is to play around in the Arkham games, what more could we really ask for? How does one improve upon perfection? Just throw a new coat of paint on it, add in a few neat Easter Eggs, and it’s off to the punchfest!
Join me after the jump for my full review. There will be plenty of SPOILERS for the game’s storyline, which, personally, I consider to be the best of the series so far.
Review: Teen Titans Annual #2
According to the infinite wisdom of DC Comics, the Superboy we’ve been getting to know all along in the New 52 is going to die. Though I don’t know for sure, because I’m not reading the Superboy series or any of the Superman comics, for that matter. And because I don’t read those, Scott Lobdell hates me. At least that’s the impression I get reading Teen Titans Annual #2. Almost everything that happens in this issue ties closely to the events of Superboy and whatever strange concoction of clones and time travel Lobdell and DC have been building over there.
Teen Titans Annual #2
Not that it really matters, in the end, because Teen Titans Superboy is barely a character in the first place. Just like Teen Titans is barely readable.
Comic Rating: 3/10 – Bad.
I have always felt that the decision-making in the New 52 is haphazard at best. DC changes directions on characters and series at the drop of a hat. If something isn’t working, they will go to extreme lengths to try something else and just kind of hope it all works out in the end. No thought is being given to the bigger picture or the long run, and nowhere is that clearer than in the fate of Superboy. Lobdell said at a recent comic convention that Superboy is going to die. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t joking. Instead, DC are going to forge ahead with someone named Jon Kent, the future son of Superman and Lois Lane. It seems the Superboy we’ve been reading about in Teen Titans is a clone of this Jon Kent fella. Again, I think this is all covered in the Superboy series, but I understand that comic is generally unreadable, so I haven’t bothered.
But it’s apparently required reading if you want to try and understand Teen Titans. I would complain more, but then Teen Titans has always been a dumping ground for tenuous connections to other comics. Multiple storylines and characters from Teen Titans have been shuffled off to other comics for no explicable reason; just another example of why Teen Titans is a terrible comic book.
Teen Titans Annual #2 is the issue where Jon Kent replaces Superboy on the Teen Titans. The switch involves time travel, an editor’s note to read Action Comics Annual, and the Teen Titans being played for chumps. So all-in-all, it’s your typical issue of Teen Titans in the New 52. It’s bland, the characters are wafer thin and more effort is put into exposition and clunky dialogue than actual character building.
I would say that it’s sad to see Superboy go, but it’s really not. The character has been as dull as a brick since Teen Titans began, and his recent hook-up with Wonder Girl was the exact opposite direction I wanted the story to go. So see you later, Superboy! You existed, and that’s probably all that can ever be said about you.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Henchman-4-Hire 