I recently—finally—finished Arkham Origins, just watched Batman: Assault on Arkham, and have been reading Batman fics non-stop for the past two weeks. Needless to say, I’ve been a little obsessed. I can’t get enough of the Dark Knight. Unfortunately, Gotham doesn’t premiere until the 22nd, and that’s still like a whole week away.
A whole week.
So, I had some free time yesterday, and instead of pursuing my normal Saturday afternoon GTL (Gym Tan Laundry), I ended up in front of the TV on Netflix. Netflix has this new feature called “Max”, wherein the most annoying voice I’ve ever heard (keeping in mind that I’m a huge fan of Fran Drescher) takes you through a TV game show-type experience in an attempt to guess what you’d like to watch. It gives itself a number of chances to make a good guess, based on the info you supply. It almost didn’t find me anything I wanted to watch, mostly because I had seen everything it suggested, not that it was off the mark. I think it was on the seventh guess that it suggested Batman: Year One. I gave it a try.
(picture via dcwomenkickingass)
DC Comics recently stated that they will be releasing a free essentials guide to their graphic novels. This guide will be sent to fans, comic shops, and libraries. It is also notably lacking in women.
Certain characters have received multi-page spreads in this book. Most of these characters are the ones that you’d expect, such as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and, weirdly, Green Arrow. Perhaps Green Arrow was given his very own spread because he is currently a popular character due to the TV show Arrow, but Green Arrow has never been a part of the main lineup of DC superheroes.
You know who is, though? Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman, who is an Amazon, member of the Trinity, and one of the main leaders of the Justice League, does not get her own multi-page spread with her fellow superheroes. Neither do any other female superheroes—not even Batwoman, who is one of DC’s top selling female-led comics along with Batgirl and Wonder Woman (source).
So where are the women in this “essential” guide? In a two-page spread called “Women of DC”. The only women featured in this section are Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman, and Huntress. Yes, the ladies have been screwed over.
(picture via dcwomenkickingass)
Furthermore, no women or men of color are being featured. There’s no sign of Cyborg, Cassandra Cain, Mister Terrific, Static Shock, Katana, or Vixen.
This book says a lot about who DC Comics are trying to promote and sell to. Remember, this guide is going to be used not just by fans but by comic shop owners and libraries to determine what graphic novels they should order. It has often been said by creators and companies alike that ‘for some reason’ the comics which don’t feature white heterosexual male characters don’t do as well. Well, maybe that has less to do with what DC’s readers want and more to do with how they promote their characters. Just a thought, DC.
When it comes to geeks trying to save the planet, things can get complicated. It either tends to be really heavy-handed and naïve or to demonize anything involving saving the planet.
The big conflict is often between saving the environment and the march of progress, and many stories tend to proclaim one as good while demonizing the other, which is obviously problematic.
The DC Nation block on Cartoon Network has put out some pretty awesome things, and this set of videos is one of my favorites.
It reimagines Batman as a warrior in 1930s Shanghai, and if that weren’t cool enough, it also includes Catwoman and Bane. Check out this awesome trio of shorts:
Hit the jump for the rest!
It has been a while since we talked about getting into comic books, so let’s get started by looking at my first recommendation:
1. Watch the Movies and TV Shows
Chances are this is one thing pretty much all of you have already done, so congratulations! You are officially one step closer to being a regular comic book reader. For those of you that haven’t, I suggest you check some of them out.
“But wait,” you say, “I have heard many comic book fans criticizing the movies and TV shows. How do I know which will enhance my comic book knowledge and which will turn me off comics forever, or worse yet, make me stick out like an obvious comic book noob?”
Excellent question! I personally believe that all comic book knowledge is good knowledge. Even the worst movie will introduce you to the basics. Who’s the hero? Who is the villain? Are there any love interests? What’s the hero’s back story? Etc. It will also introduce you to what most hardcore comic fans hate and why they hate it. Most Batman fans hate the movie Batman and Robin and/or think that the Adam West Batman TV series was ridiculous, but you will still hear comic book fans talking about them and even quoting them. Sometimes you have to understand the bad things to understand the culture.
MadameAce: So this movie is okay. I like it. I certainly like it more than other movies for DC. But I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I would. Maybe that’s because I built it up so much in my head before watching it that it couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations. Or maybe it’s because the conflict is the exact same conflict in the previous films, only with an even drearier tone. Or it might just be the fact that I couldn’t understand Bane’s character at all. Among other things, of course. And that’s Bane, not Bain, dear Rush.
Lady Geek Girl: I was actually fairly pleased, probably because I didn’t build the movie up in my head. So it actually went beyond my expectations. Here’s the thing, if you were expecting the movie to be just as good or better than The Dark Knight then you were probably disappointed. I was so worried about being disappointed that I ended up liking it instead. That’s not to say that this movie isn’t without flaws though, because there are probably more flaws in this movie than in Batman Begins or in The Dark Knight.
Usually for Web Crush Wednesdays I post about a particular site, project, or person, but today we are going to do something different. There are a ton of awesome nerd videos out there and today I’m going to give my TOP 10 favorite videos.
10.
A sexy little video between Batman and Catwoman that captures their relationship better that many big budget Batman movies.
9.
Because there can never be enough raps about how awesome Firefly/Serenity is.
8.
So raise your glass if you are wrong, in all the right ways!!
7.
You don’t always need your own script or actors to make a good fan video. Sometimes simply the right clips and some good music is enough. “Supernatural bringing you more creepy children. Sigh!”
6.
This is why you don’t piss off the Katamari gods!!
5.
Spike sure has run into some creepy characters. This video actually won for Best Dramatic/Serious AMV at Otakon’s 2010 AMV Contest!
4.
Will the real sugar baby please stand up!?
3.
If this doesn’t make you tear up from Harry Potter nostalgia I don’t know what will.
2.
Darth Vadar plays an accordion! Nuff Said!
1.
I LOVE fake trailers! But this one most of all! It will have you screaming, “Why isn’t this real!”
I hope after seeing these videos you have as much of a web crush on their creators as I do!
So far I think I should mention that this is shaping up to be just as epic and badass as Arkham Asylum. The gameplay, from what I’ve seen, looks pretty similar, but Batman does take down quite a few henchmen in ways that he didn’t in the first game, such as smashing their heads together from behind. Then, there are also times when the player apparently fights as Catwoman, which looks pretty epic too.
Speaking of Catwoman, there seems to be a lot of characters making their first physical appearances in the series, such as Robin and the Riddler. The Riddler himself wasn’t entirely absent from the first game, but it’ll be nice to see him in person here. Unfortunately, both them seem a little out of character to me. I noticed this first in Arkham Asylum during the Riddler’s interviews. Edward Nigma was never someone who actively murdered people. Well, maybe on occasion. He’s a glorified bank robber. His OOC didn’t bother me that much and his riddles were fun—especially when he accused me of looking up the answers on the internet, which I was—so I let it slide. Robin, on the other hand, seems to suffer some character-identity crisis in everything he’s in. Whether this or Young Justice or otherwise, it’s as though the creators just can’t decide if they want Dick or Tim, so they use one name and slap on the personality of the other. Arkham City seems has gone the extra mile and added Jason’s personality to the mix.
And I have to wonder what everyone’s obsession is with putting Harley in a corset. A corset, really? Harley’s always had an air of naivety to her, but the newer versions just don’t want to capture that. Not to mention, in what way is a corset conducive to an acrobat? And why is Catwoman showing that much cleavage? As Lady Geek Girl said to me, her outfit is already skin tight. How much sexier are they trying to get?
Rants aside, the game looks well worth checking out. The graphics are good, the story intriguing, and a battle system that seems just as fun as the first game’s. After all, it wouldn’t be Batman without great violence, and I personally can’t wait to play it for myself.
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 