MultiVersus

 

Couple thoughts:

I think that WB forgot that cartoon romance requires one unwilling participant because, problematic as it is, that's what separates cartoons from Rule 34.

I'm afraid that Harley and Taz might fuck.

Dean Pelton voice: Oh, Tom and Jerry are in this?

I forgot Steven Universe could be here.

I don't care about fighting games and I don't really buy shit just because [LIKABLE FRANCHISE] is on it. It's got the Smash Brothers problem where you're just manipulating digital action figures of those characters without any of the real qualities that make them interesting or likable.

It doesn't make you a little sick to make Superman fight The Iron Giant?

I might be interested if there's a story mode that uses the fighting skills in an interesting way with a story that's tailored to each character. I mean, I don't even play Dark Souls, but I'd totally play Dark Souls with Pearl.

 

Kevin Conroy Sings "Am I Blue?" (Full version)

Vlog Series - Batman

Batman Beyond - Seeing Double

I never saw Batman Beyond. Some of that is because it mostly took place during The Great Pop-Cultural Blind Spot. My general lack of interest makes up the rest.

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a Batman fanboy; I like a selection of very good Batman stories. Good Batman stories tend to be very good stories in general (Good Green Lantern stories, on the other hand, tend to induce slightly less vomiting than other GL stories.). I love the potential in seeing what happens when Batman gets too old to be Batman^[1]. His whole deal is that he is just a man and like all men must face decay and death^[2]. To paraphrase The Bible, how Bruce Wayne faces life at an old age is at least as important as how he faces death.

Nerd Overload Videos

These came up yesterday, but even posting them now, you'll probably have seen them by now.

The Dark Knight Rises Review (Part 4 of 4)

Over the past few weeks, I've been tearing down Batman, discussing major foibles built into the character by the different creators and times in which he has existed. It's not because I don't like Batman; I've found that a good rule of thumb when encountering things I don't like is to just walk away and get on with my life. If I truly thought Batman was as fundamentally flawed a concept as these last few posts might imply, I wouldn't care enough to talk about it.

This series isn't even a critique of these variations of the concept; I'm painting with some pretty broad brushes here. Most of the time, these issues are part of the general, grating background noise of an imperfect universe that I alone haven't learned to tune out in an effort to go along and get along. If life experiences are a pile of burritos with mud in the middle, Batman's foibles are the ones where the mud's been replaced with onions; still awful, but better than most.

Which is why Nolan's version of the Batman concept—the concept being the sum total of the characters, the setting, and the central conflict—is the best that has ever been created^[1].

What's Wrong with Batman, Part 3 of 3

I love Batman and I'm not alone. Batman is more beloved by the internet than a Jesus made of bacon. The concept of Batman has changed a lot over the last 75 years, but its core quality is that it adapts to the culture of which it is a part.

Batman does have some problems though. While some of these are products of their time, many are the result of concepts executed without considering of the implications. I'm no Batmanologist, but I'd like to take a few days to look at these problems.

The more modern interpretations of Batman take the violence back a notch. He starts the Martha Wayne Foundation. He helps street urchins get jobs. His equipment gets upgraded. He gets a son.

It's during this period that his one sort-of superpower hits its stride. It's a contextually supernatural ability to "use his fucking brain," which is apparently equally as rare as being the last surviving member of an alien world 100s of light years away and from an alternate universe. This boils down to his superpower being common sense, which is narratively executed so that Batman isn't smarter than everyone else so much as he makes everyone else dumber by being in the same comic.

What's Wrong with Batman: Part 2 of 3

I love Batman and I'm not alone. Batman is more beloved by the internet than a Jesus made of bacon. The concept of Batman has changed a lot over the last 75 years, but its core quality is that it adapts to the culture of which it is a part. 

Batman does have some problems though. While some of these are products of their time, many are the result of concepts executed without considering of the implications. I'm no Batmanologist, but I'd like to take a few days to look at these problems.

After Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns came out in 1986 the image of Batman changed. Maybe it was backlash from the 60's camp which abandoned earlier pretenses to realism. But by including a more granular look at the Batman universe, the Dark Age of Batman covered a few of the Robin issues. The Boy Wonder got his own family, some distance from Batman, and even some pants.

During this time, Batman becomes calculating and emotionally detached, because in order to be strong, writers believe you have to be an impersonal dick as some kind of virtue. Only weak people have fundamental social skills, apparently. Common courtesy, smiles, and even trust become incompatible with this Batman, with no exceptions made, not even for the man he raised, the woman who conducts his command and control, his surrogate father figure, or the boy who idolizes him.

What's Wrong with Batman: Part 1 of 3

I love Batman and I'm not alone. Batman is more beloved by the internet than a Jesus made of bacon. The concept of Batman has changed a lot over the last 75 years, but its core quality is that it adapts to the culture of which it is a part.

Batman does have some problems though. While some of these are products of their time, many are the result of concepts executed without considering of the implications. I'm no Batmanologist, but I'd like to take a few days to look at these problems.

Early Batman was built in the mold of pulp heroes; an extraordinary man who has set out to fight crime with his extraordinary abilities. Compared to later superheroes, and even many of his contemporaries, Batman has no powers. He eschews most technologies, relying wholly on the physical and mental capacities of humanity, even decades later when he's matching wits with immortal aliens boasting entire war worlds. That's not the best approach; someone who wears circus tights and a tool belt is worthless in a world where villains can punch through metal, control minds, or have guns. After all, what can a guy do that even a second-rate hero like Hawkman--who is literally a guy plus wings--can't?

****** Roulette

This Scene Had to Have Happened

Gross Dreams Lately, You Guys

Below the cut.

Blog in 1000 Words: Batman

 

Page 26 of The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller

Image is from BigOther.com and Part Six of their review of the series. 

Comics: Stormwatch, issues #7-12

Four months ago, I did a brief write up on the first six issues of the new Stormwatch series launched in the wake of the DC New 52 initiative. Those issues were written by Paul Cornell, the guy behind Knight and Squire, the Batman and Robin arc Sum of Her Parts, the run of Action Comics which features Lex Luthor as a protagonist while he fucks a robot Lois (aka, Superman: The Black Ring), all of which were awesome.

But if Cornell smoothed the felt, racked the balls, then broke and sunk half the solids, the subsequent work has been largely continued with pogo sticks used as pool cues and half the balls hermaphroditically swapping their color patterns. By the time #12 slides across the line in preparation for #0[1], the score is 15 to X with each camouflage ball counting for half a parsec, depending on its quantum state.

It's not that I have no idea what's going on; it's that the book doesn't know and isn't paying attention.

1,012 Word Brief Review of The Dark Knight Rises

I've been running late on this and I haven't felt much like writing lately, but here's a quick review of The Dark Knight Rises:

Awesome

To mark my embargo on the internet which is in effect from today until I actually see The Dark Knight, I'm sharing a video put out by The Hub to mark their Batman: The Animated Series Rises marathon.

Of course, I only know about this courtesy of Comics Alliance's Andy Khouri.

Comics v Terrorism

As you might have heard, convicted terrorist Tarek Mehanna credits Batman for inspiring him to plot against American forces (and allegedly against American civilians here in the states).

I've made passing reference to the similarity of superhero ethos and terrorism before (something that's hard not to do when talking about Marvel's Civil War). Quite simply, the desire to punch the world until it behaves is common to both superheroes and terrorists.

Both of them tell the world it's not good enough. Both want to use their power to bend it to their will. Both break the law to do what they think is right. 

You could argue the difference is scale. Terrorists seek to affect political change through fear; constructing like-minded governments, removing foreign influences from their territory, suppressing criticism, and/or simply dictating the social structure of the world around them. Superheroes usually punch out the guys that regular governments and law enforcement can't handle.

Playing Favorites excerpts, pt 50 - The Verdict

Every Most Tuesdays I post excerpts from best selling at not selling super blog, Playing Favorites. 

Spider-Man

Jenny Sparks

The Batman

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)

Lindy Reynolds (Dark Avengers)

Captain America

Gauntlet

Superman (All-Star Superman)

Elijah Snow

Cable (Cable & Deadpool)

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Playing Favorites excerpts, pt 47

Every Most Tuesdays I post excerpts from best selling at not selling super blog, Playing Favorites.

Alright, let’s consider Dick Greyson instead of Damian Wayne, Captain America instead of Ultimate Captain America, Katy Kane instead of The Midnighter, the Blue Beetle instead of Booster Gold, Spider-Man instead of Deadpool, and instead of Rorschach, Crusader. Tentatively, of course.

Penny Reviews: 2011, Part III

I got a lot of comics in 2011, and as people often do at the end of a year, I've taken a moment to reflect on my purchases and share the resulting insights with you, the unwary reader. This is the last day, so if you’re visiting for the first time, I’m afraid you’ll have no idea what’s going on.

Midnighter, Vol 1 & 2 by Garth Ennis

The Midnighter and Garth Ennis do graphic, fun violence. Volume One was The Midnighter versus Hitler and time cops. The concept is so high that when high gets a long weekend, it gets Ennis’ Midnightered for three days straight. On paper, it’s diet pepsi and pop tarts.

The execution was pop tarts and the star Rigel. This analogy doesn’t work because those two things don’t “mix” and don’t make bad comics. Maybe it’s not Ennis’ fault. The Midnighter is admittedly a two-faceted badass character; it’s possible that he needs an ensemble to contrast with, or at least a straight man.

#1 Worst