Tag: Dark Knight

Batman Pin Mates With Camo Batmobile To Be SDCC-Exclusive

by Natalie Kipper

We have less than 40 days until San Diego Comic-Con 2017 and our friends at Entertainment Earth just announced the second of their exclusives (the first being a Pin Mates set that includes Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet and the super heroine herself in four different outfits). The new reveal is another Pin Mates set, this time featuring Batman in his Dark Knight costume along wth Bane and the Batmobile in camouflage mode. The wheels on the Batmobile even roll, which I think is pretty dang spiffy.

If you find yourself wondering, “What on Earth is a Pin Mate?,” we’ve got you covered! The product line, created by Bif Bang Pow!, was showcased at last year’s Comic-Con. The idea was to take a simple, nostalgic toy design (in this case, the wooden doll) and meld it with pop culture icons. Each doll’s features are handpainted.

Now, back to this particular con-exclusive. The set is limited in edition to 492 pieces and each one is numbered. The good news is that those not attending the con can tentatively pre-order one now and if there are any remaining after SDCC, those orders will be fulfilled. If they sell out, the pre-orders will be refunded. The Batmobile with Dark Knight Batman Pin Mate Set is priced at $24.99.

Those attending San Diego Comic-Con can find this collectible at Entertainment Earth’s booth, #2343.

Geekscape Comics: Weekly Reads!

by Karson

👎 – Skip, read at your own risk
👌 – Okay, not great, not bad, you might find something to like here
💪 – Great, highly recommended

DC

We have a quiet week in the DC Universe with Rebirth taking a week off. I didn’t jump into anything but the latest issue of Dark Knight III…

👌 Dark Knight III – The Master Race #5

I haven’t been a big fan of Dark Knight III, however, this issue is probably my favourite so far. Much like Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises, this doesn’t feel like it’s a Batman story, in fact, it feels much more like Snyder’s Man Of Steel. I wouldn’t say the story is stronger in this issue than the previous ones, but it was just a lot of fun seeing Kubert’s take on all the different characters of the DC Universe (Aquaman, Flash, etc.). I don’t think this book is ever going to earn must read status, or be on a lot of Best of 2016 lists, but there is some enjoyment to be had if you go into it with an open mind.

Marvel

Taking a much needed break from Civil War II…

👌 Black Panther #3

This is a title that lends itself to being read in trade. This book goes much deeper than what’s on the surface and, to be honest, I haven’t given Coates’ writing the time and thought it deserves. Even if you aren’t analyzing all the great writing, Stelfreeze’s stellar art ensures you are going to enjoy this title from issue to issue.

👌 Spider-Man #5

This might be the book with the most obvious tie in to Civil War II and yet it isn’t included as a Civil War II book!? What’s going on at Marvel!? The ending leaves us thinking that Spider-Man’s identity is going to be playing a crucial role as Civil War II develops. Spider-Man continues to be enjoyable read but nothing more. Seriously though, I saw more Civil War II tie in with this than any other Marvel Civil War II tie-in to date.

👌 Uncanny X-Men #9

The Archangel portion of Apocalypse Wars continues in Uncanny X-Men #9. From big action pieces to basic character expressions, I’m really starting to dig Ken Lashley’s art. Bunn’s writing is solid. Remember, you can ignore the Apocalypse Wars logo on these books, as there is essentially zero overlap. If you like Magneto, Mystique, Psylocke, Sabretooth, or Archangel this is the book for you, if you’re into other X-Men you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.

👌 Extraordinary X-Men #11

The X-Men continue to battle Apocalypse’s new horsemen in Extraordinary X-Men #11. I pretty much have the same feelings towards this book as Uncanny. If you’re a fan of Ramos, you’re going to love his art in this. Lemire’s writing is pretty tight. It’s just a matter if you are interested in the characters or not. We have Storm, Iceman, Jean Grey, Magik, Logan, you interested in them, this book is for you, otherwise, you’ll want to look at a different X-Men title.

💪 Captain America – Steve Rogers #2

Honestly, I probably like this series more because of how many people are complaining about it. In a time where Marvel’s mainstay characters are all being replaced, I’m not going to complain about any Steve Rogers story. This issue explains what happened to Roger’s to bring him to the side of Hyrda and I’m digging it. When all is said and done, I think this is going to be a great Captain America story.

Image Comics

💪 Outcast Vol. 2 and Vol. 3

If you are a long-time reader you’d know we discussed the first volume a few months ago. Despite finding it confusing initially, by the end of the volume I was into the book and wanted more… I just never went and got more. Well, after getting all caught up on Cinemax’s Outcast, I couldn’t wait to find out what happens next so I went and read the next two volumes. These books are a lot of fun and are full of plenty of “Holy F” moments. If you are watching Outcast (and you should be!) and want more, you’ll love the comics, if you just want to watch the story unfold on television too, I don’t blame you. Both are great!

Book of the Week

Nothing really stood out this week, so I have to give it to Outcast! Whether it’s the comics, the television show, or both, you have to check this series out!

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That’s all for this week, come back next week to discuss the rebirth of The Justice League, more Civil War II, and a bunch of other great comics!

Hey, who else is digging the new Blink-182 album!?

Geekscape Comics: Weekly Reads!

by Karson

Welcome to Weekly Reads! It’s your little dose of comic book goodness that focuses on some aspect of my comic book reading!

Ongoing Reads

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Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli conclude their Zodiac storyline in Amazing Spider-Man #11. Way back in our first weekly reads, I expressed my discontent with the state of Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. A few weeks ago I admitted that Bendis’ Spider-Man series was growing on me, and now, after 11 issues, I’ll admit I’m finally starting to enjoy Amazing Spider-Man again. Is this book anything special? Not really. Is this the Peter Parker I grew up with? Nope. But is this a bad book? Nope. It isn’t. Once I let go of my expectations of what I wanted this book to be, and accepted what it is trying to be, I started to enjoy it again. Regent is the next villain on Spider-Man’s list (meh) but the Doctor Octopus storyline is developing, ever so slowly.

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What to say about Dark Knight III: The Master Race… Meh. I don’t think Dark Knight III is worth your money right now (which is $5.99 on Comixology currently!). Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to look at, but I just can’t engage with the story. It’s probably not as bad as I think it is but I wouldn’t recommend this to any of my friends, especially anyone without a decent knowledge of the DC Universe. Wait until the series wraps out then find out if it’s worth reading in trade.

New Reads

… Well, like I said week one, sometimes there won’t be much new and this is one of those weeks. I didn’t have a chance to check out any new books so I’ll take this as an opportunity to remind you to check out Dept. H! Its second issue is definitely the most anticipated book on my pull list!

Next Time

The Punisher #1… Anyone want to guess what iteration of The Punisher series this is?
Black Panther #2!
Black Widow #3!
Amazing Spider-Man #12! … Already?
Uncanny X-Men #7!
Holy crap!
I wanted to check out Renato Jones: The One% #1 but that might have to wait.

… Don’t worry DC fans, Rebirth is coming!

The Saint Mort Show Episode 111: Brian Kelly Part IV – A New Hope

by Saintmort

Brian Kelly is back again. He visited me for Christmas and we shoot the shit and play a new game. Brian tells us the plot lines of movies he only watched when he was high and the results are pretty insane. 

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Geekscape Book Review: “Tell No Lies” by Gregg Hurwitz

by inaudible_mumble

Tell No Lies is the thirteenth novel by Greg Hurwitz, who has also written for Marvel and DC comics, including the likes of Batman: The Dark Knight. The story tells the tale of Daniel Brasher who is working for the city of San Francisco as a group therapist for parolees. Due to a series of events, Daniel finds himself thrust into the middle of a fast paced murder investigation aiding the lead detective of the case Theresa Dooley.

I’d recommend this novel to fans of fast paced, easy to digest crime thrillers. I wouldn’t classify this novel so much as a whodunit due to its premise of the story and the limited characters allowing the reader to make educational guesses throughout the story progression as to the culprit. The crux to the story instead relies on the inquiry of what is the series of events that lead to murder spree, and exactly why the protagonist (Daniel Brasher) seems to have gotten himself caught up in the middle of it.

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Gregg Hurwitz for his part as the author does fairly well with establishing the primary protagonist and then delivering the reader into the meat of the story without dragging his feet in overly constructing characters. Hurwitz keeps the chapters short in the beginning in order to keep the pace of the story moving forward and deliver the reader to the action in a timely manner.

Daniel Brasher is a well constructed protagonist who you have no trouble rooting for throughout the story. The secondary characters of the six parolees that are the main protagonist group therapy members are fairly well constructed. Hurwitz seem to understand the characters background and establish each of these characters with their own voice. The only characters I personally didn’t care for (but also didn’t quite hate) where the protagonist mother and main detective Theresa Dooley who at point had me thinking they where caricatures of character types that we have seen before.

The overall plot is entertaining, but it is also not without both strengths and pitfalls. The premise of the story to start had me questioning the validity of the protagonists involvement, but as the story progressed so did my acceptance of the situation. The authors decision to keep the chapters short I felt for the most part was the correct exercise in a novel of this type, however he could have benefited from not limiting himself to short chapters all the time. he should have allowed himself extra pages for action sequenced, because due to these short chapters it sometimes felt resolution came too swiftly. It was also obvious the author had personal ties to the setting of San Francisco which sometimes worked in his favor, but also had points where is was a bit to heavy handed and detracted from certain situations.

Overall, if you are a fan of this genre it would be in your best interest to check out this novel, as well as the rest of Gregg Hurwitz body of work.

Geekscape 295: ‘The Man of Steel’ Review And Analysis With Ian Kerner!

by Jonathan

The ‘Man of Steel’ has flown into theaters and geeks are as divided about it as two halves of an exploding Krypton! What was there to love? What was there to hate? How did it compare to the comics or earlier depictions of Superman? There is a ton to talk about! Luckily, our resident comics expert, Ian Kerner, is here to help us navigate all of the issues? Does ‘Man of Steel’ do a good job of setting up the future of the DC cinematic universe? If you listen to one assessment of ‘Man of Steel’, this one should be it! PLUS: We say a sad goodbye to James Gandolfini, beloved among TV and film geeks everywhere.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:51 — 25.2MB)

‘The Dark Knight Returns: Part One’ Gets A New Clip!

by Derek Kraneveldt

We’re fast approaching the release of The Dark Knight Returns: Part One: Warner Brothers Animation’s adaptation of the iconic Frank Miller book.

We first showed you a clip all the way back in August. It looks like a new clip has found its way online. Check it out below! Haven’t read it in awhile? The synopsis has this to say about the title:

It’s been a decade since Bruce Wayne hung up his cape, following most of the other superheroes who had been forced into retirement. Facing the downside of middle age, a restless Bruce Wayne pacifies his frustration with race cars and liquor – but the bat still beckons as he watches his city fall prey to gangs of barbaric criminals known as The Mutants.

The return of Harvey Dent as Two-Face finally prompts Wayne to once again don the Dark Knight’s cowl, and his dramatic capture of the villain returns him to crime-fighting – simultaneously making him the target of law enforcement and the new hope for a desolate Gotham City. Particularly inspired is a teenage girl named Carrie, who adopts the persona of Robin and ultimately saves Batman from a brutal attack by the Mutant leader. Armed with a new sidekick, and re-energized with a definitive purpose, the Dark Knight returns to protect Gotham from foes new…and old.

Looking forward to this one?


Check Out These Seven Minimal ‘Dark Knight’ Posters

by Shane O'Hare

A fan of the Dark Knight movies? Do you think The Dark Knight Rises is actually a bad movie? Regardless you will LOVE these minimalism posters for all the villains!

I’ll admit, I got these from an IMGUR album, but some digging and I was able to track down the artist. So PLEASE make sure to check out David Ryan Anderson’s page. His other work is just as cool as these!

Want To Have Your Own Batcave Home Theater?

by Shawn Madden

Got an extra two million lying around the house that you’re wondering what to do with? Well, wow about installing a replica of the batcave from The Dark Knight Rises?  Elite Home Theater Seating has done just that for one of their clients. The client has even gone as far as making their 12,000 square foot dwelling  mimic Wayne Manor down to the bust of William Shakespeare concealing a switch for elevators and a fingerprint scanner which allows access to the theater itself. The theater even includes a fifteen foot Batmobile, six batsuits, 180” film screen, winged gargoyles, private cylindrical stainless steel elevator with a glowing bat symbol, a secret tunnel exit, bat computers, and race-car inspired home theater chairs. Whoa.

Source: National Confidential

Official Teaser Trailer For ‘Man Of Steel’!

by Shawn Madden

If you haven’t seen The Dark Knight Rises in theaters yet you may not have seen this. Or maybe you just want to see it again. The teaser trailer for Man Of Steel is now online. If you like this…just wait until you see the stuff we saw at Comic-Con!

Kevin Costner voice over:

Russell Crowe voice over:

In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is a young twenty-something journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond his imagination. Transported years ago to Earth from Krypton, a highly advanced, distant planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question ‘Why am I here?’ Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner), Clark discovers having extraordinary abilities means making difficult decisions. When the world is in dire need of stability, an even greater threat emerges. Clark must become a Man of Steel, to protect the people he loves and shine as the world’s beacon of hope – Superman.

Man Of Steel hits theaters June 13, 2013.

Let The Games Begin! A Review Of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

by Shawn Madden

Prepare to have all your expectations met and more. Much like I stated in my piece that took a look back at the other films… some had their doubts about The Dark Knight Rises‘ casting. I am here to say have no worries. This is Christian Bales finest performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Forget about Heath Ledger as The Joker and do not try to compare  that performance to Tom Hardy’s Bane. This is an entirely different beast and Bane is both menacing and vicious. The muzzled voice due to the mask makes the character all the more real and for me made him even more threatening. Anne Hathaway is great as Selina Kyle and pulls the role off quite well. The standout performance to me, thought, is Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake. Going in, I underestimated the importance of the character. He brings humanity, decency, and probably a bit more physicality than you might be expecting to the story. The only person I expected more from would be Marion Cotillard, but I am going to avoid spoiler territory here. She is good but I expected a bit more from her.

Is the movie better than The Dark Knight? In some ways… yes it is. There definitely is more action in this one. That’s for damn sure. Some of the interaction between characters is really touching, especially between Wayne and Alfred. It’s really hard to compare the two because they truly are two different films that are going to be incredibly hard for many to pick between as the best chapter of the trilogy. It is a satisfying ending that lives up to all expectations. Whoever makes a Bat-film after Nolan is going to have their work cut out. That ending alone is going to be talked about for weeks on end. Whether it be praise of the whining of the internet purists who are never happy with anything. I hope they realize that this is an interpretation just like the many we have seen in the comics over the years and a damn good one. We can’t see the same stories and endings we already know because as cool as it would be…they’d grow stale and boring. I already expect that there are some out there cracking their fingers getting ready to type angrily. But let us move on past that and to the end here.

I cannot comment too much on the ending because I refuse to spoil anything. The last fifteen or so minutes of the movie are phenomenal. There was a really short period where I was almost angry at Nolan until the first plot twist eased my worries. You will get it when you see it. I am still thinking about it right now as I write this. Some have even gone on to state “Holy fuck!” after. No, really. The person that I went to the theater with absolutely did.

This movie goes out with the appropriate bang that was needed to conclude Nolan’s trilogy. I agree with those praising it and stating that this could be the first comic book movie to win an Oscar. Between the writing, the performances and the incredible visuals, the movie is on par with anything we can expect to see come Awards Season. So, why are you still reading this? Stop reading reviews (and definitely avoid spoilers) and just go see the damn movie, already!

5/5. Hands down. Bravo, Nolan and Company.

Hot Toys Reveals The Dark Knight Rises: Bane Collectible Figure

by Shawn Madden

Can’t get enough of these Hot Toys figures? Well, I’m sure your wallet has had enough. The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters tomorrow at midnight and Hot Toys has unveiled their figure for Bane that is sure to put a Dent Act into some of our wallets. Bad pun…I know.

The Dark Knight Rises: Bane Collectible Figure – The Dark Knight Rises, the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, is coming in just one day! Celebrating the launch of this highly expected movie, Hot Toys is proud to present the 1/6th scale Bane Collectible Figure from this movie. The Bane collectible is highly detailed, specially crafted based on the image of Tom Hardy as Bane, highlighting the movie-accurate head sculpt with mask, detailed costume and accessories.

Cartoon Network Announces “Beware The Batman”

by CrazyMustang

The next DC Comics superhero to join Cartoon Network’s DC Comics-based DC Nation block will be: the Dark Knight. It’s been too long without a “Batman” presence on television. Anyway, “Beware the Batman” will be a CGI show and feature obscure or relatively new rogues such as Anarky, Professor Pyg, Magpie and Mister Toad. Besides the villains, “Beware the Batman” will put sword-wielding DC Comics heroine Katana in the role of Batman’s sidekick, having previously appeared in the great “Batman: The Brave and the Bold.” Created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo, the sword-wielding Tatsu Yamashiro has a comic book history with Batman that goes all the way back to the beloved 1980s series The Outsiders, and recently joined the Gotham-based Birds of Prey as part of DC’s New 52 initiative. In addition to Katana, Batman will also have his gun-toting ex-secret agent/butler Alfred on hand to assist him. “Beware the Batman” wasn’t expected to hit airwaves until 2013, but the show will now hit Cartoon Network later this year at an unknown date, possibly in time for “The Dark Knight Rises” or quite possibly after, maybe?

The Dark Knight Reviewed

by Jonathan

I’m not going to hide it, but ever since I saw Adam West don the spandex, I’ve been a Batman fan. I’ve slugged through the good movies (Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Begins), the goofy movies (Original Batman movie) and the travesties (Batman Forever, Batman and Robin), all in the name of a love for the cape crusader. With this in mind, I eagerly as possible in a post-Phantom Menace world, I’ve awaited the release of Dark Knight, the newest movie in this linage of batman movies.

Its been 24 hours since I was let out of the movie, and all I can say is this:

The Dark Knight is amazing.

While there is no denying that the Dark Knight is an action film at its core it is really an ensemble film. Each core member of the cast, Bale, Ledger, Eckhart and Oldman in their respective roles of Bruce Wayne, The Joker, Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon are given equal screen time both together and alone. This results in the movie being as much a study in character as it is about exploding buildings. The biggest question addressed by the movie is of how these characters deal with their responsibility. Ultimately many of the characters, both major and minor, are shown to shy away form making any firm choices where they would ultimately be responsible. This is shown from the mob unleashing the Joker on the city to Dent’s reliance on his double headed coin.

The biggest part of this move that everyone will be talking about is the portrayal of The Joker by Ledger. Gone is the joke buzzers and mayhem of The Joker from his previous incarnations, and instead in its place is a calculating man who is severely left of centre. This Joker is an agent of Chaos who prefers to cut his victims instead of gassing them. The horror of this character is further strengthen by drawing from elements in the comic, The Killing Joke. Most notably is the idea of The Joker attempting to show that any man, no matter how good they are, can be destroyed by a really bad day.

Being a new take of the character, the film makers also made some interesting changes to his origin. The biggest being the refusal to give him any origin or motivation for his actions. As Alfred says in the movie, ‘Some men just want to see the world burn’, and The Joker is this man. While the rest of the cast is shown to struggle with the weight of responsibility and the choices that must be made, and lived with, The Joker is shown to be a primal force of nature. He comes in like a hurricane, causes his damage, and when he is finally dealt with, all are different for the experience.

Ledger, like Eckhart and Oldman owned their roles. I got chills watching the scenes where Ledger and Eckhart interacted with each other. Each monologue by Ledger is also a treat to watch, and the attention paid to the finer details, such as body language do nothing but build his case for an Oscar nomination this year. In general the casting for the film is strong, with perhaps the weakest point in it being the title character Batman. Bale is shown, and continues to be the best Bruce Wayne to grace the screen, but his Batman, and his raspy voice is at times distracting.

We cannot discuss this movie without addressing the one question on everyone’s mind, is the Dark Knight better then Iron Man? If you looking purely at the generation of money, then yes, Dark Knight will be the better movie. If you look at the question in terms of acting and story, then the answer becomes less clear. To compare Iron Man and the Dark Knight this way is like asking a father to pick between his two children.

And as comic fans, we are all the better for having two children then just the one.