Affleck Batman Revealed

We finally got our first look at Ben Affleck as Batman, or "Battfleck" as he's more affectionately known. Looks pretty badass to me, I want to see him in action now though.

 

 

Gotham Trailer

Free Comic Book Day 2014

 

That's right kids, tomorrow (Saturday, May 3rd) it's time for...

 Free Comic Book Day 2014!!!

 

As per usual, I've already gotten all of my free comics, and I'm here to give you a list of what I think are the highlights. Let get to the comics...

 

 

 

As you can see, there's lots of great stuff to choose from. Of course, these are just the books I picked up, you can see the full list here. Make sure and hit your local comic shops tomorrow, get yourself or your kids of a loved one a free comic book, and while you're there maybe spend a couple bucks. Support comics!

 





Batman : Strange Days

Here's the brand new animated short produced by Bruce Timm. Obviously set in the past, based on the Batplane and Batman's costume, this is a really cool little Hugo Strange tale. I know we'll never get Batman the Animated Series back, but I'd love to see more of these short films in the future.

Happy 75th Birthday Batman!

March 30, 1939...the world was given the single greatest gift in the history of mankind, the Batman. Yes friends, it was a mere 75 years ago today that Detective Comics #27 hit the comic racks and introduced young readers to the most important character ever conceived. Join me in wishing a very happy birthday to the Dark Knight, here's to 75 more!!!

I don't allow myself to splurge very much. Most of my modest income goes toward providing the bare essentials for my two ungrateful, mooching children. That said, the allure of DC Direct's Batman Black and White statues is often too much for me to ignore, particularly when based on a design by an artist I like. Now, I've got probably close to 20 of them, and almost NO shelf room whatsoever left for new ones, however when I flipped through the new Previews at work Thursday and saw this...

well, the rest of this blog post pretty much writes itself then, doesn't it? The third statue in the series based on a Neal "God" Adams design, and it's the Zombie Batman design! This beauty is limited to 5,200 pieces, so if you want one for yourself, and of course you do, pre-ordering in the way to go. I've of course already got mine ordered. It will be a few months before it actually ships, and I have it here in the Batcave, but rest assured there will be more pics coming when it does. 

Holy Hellboy and Batman tatoo, Batman!

I get asked every now and then to design tattoos for people. For some reason, folks like to think that just because you like to draw or doodle, that you have a magical pencil somewhere at home that can produce these amazing pieces of art, worthy of being permanently applied to another person's body. Me? I don't have anywhere near that level of confidence in my abilities. To these people, I normally give a "sure, maybe I'll give it a shot" or something along those lines, never actually intending to even make an attempt.

There have been a few instances over the years though, when I've been asked to draw something for somebody that I've actually gone through with it. Not for tattoo purposes, but just sketches for friends. To my amazement, some of them have even ended up getting framed and hung up on walls. I would never hang anything I drew on my wall, as again, I don't have that much confidence in what I do.

One friend in particular, who was the first person I really ever sent a sketch to, has done more to boost my confidence over the years that just about anybody except my mother. His name is Brandon, although I affectionately refer to him as Binky, and we met on an Xbox Live message board.  It started with a Batman drawing I did for him, which he seemed to genuinely love, as he sent me back a photo of it hanging on a wall in his basement. I followed that up with another Batman sketch for him. Earlier this year I got an email from him, asking me to design a tattoo from an idea he had. I was skeptical at first, as again, I'm not crazy about drawing things that might end up branded permanently on people, but I actually LIKE this person, and I'd hate to draw something and him end up being disappointed with it. When I heard the idea though, I knew I had to at least give it a shot.

The idea was to mix the animated universes of both Hellboy and Batman, which obviously share special places in my tiny black heart. The short version of this brilliant idea is that Joker somehow got ahold of some of Rasputin's books and accidentally summoned a giant monster, and Batman and Hellboy had to put a stop to it. Brandon gave a much more detailed story, which after I read it, I immediately wish actually existed in comic book or movie form. It immediately put an image into my head, and the next day I set out to try and get it on paper, which isn't always easy for me. I decided that seeing as how I didn't have any idea as to what kind of room the artist would have to work on Brandon's arm, that I would do two images, and he could resize and put them together the best way possible.

For Hellboy, I wanted him to be in the middle of the fight with the creature, I figured between he and Batman, he would be the muscle of the two, who would run head first into battle, ready to punch this thing in it's tentacled face. I used lots of reference material online for Hellboy, but the tentacles I just randomly threw in there, figuring the tattoo artist could add, delete, or change as needed. I also just for reference purposes crudely sketched in where Batman's arm would enter the image, grabbing Hellboy by the jacket.

Batman I assumed would be more interested in figuring out a way to get rid of the creature, sending it back to where it came from. Heading into battle head on with this tentacled beast might not be in his best interest. Knowing he would need Hellboy's assistance, I wanted him trying desperately to pull him from the fray to regroup and come up with a plan. For Batman, I didn't need much help, as I normally at some point or another sketch him daily. Animated Batman is especially fun and easy to draw. I envisioned him hanging off a gargoyle from a building in Gotham, with his grapple extended in one hand, and the other grabbing Hellboy. Again, not knowing what kind of room the artist would have, or how much of his arm Brandon was going to get inked, I decided it was probably best to focus on the characters and not so much with the other stuff. You can see again a basic placement of where Hellboy would enter the image.

Here's the two of them, only obviously separated.

I can honestly admit to being pretty happy with them, but I was very nervous when I went to send some pics to Brandon. I knew he had put a ton of thought into this tattoo, and if he wasn't happy with what I produced, I knew he'd be disappointed. I sent him the pics, and thankfully, he seemed to love what I had done. I can't even begin to describe how relieved I felt. I couldn't wait to see what the tattoo artist, a real artist, was going to do with them. 

I'd have to wait a while, as these things tend to take time to set up and actually do, but when I woke up this morning I had another email from Bink, with the completed work. I've been looking at these pics all morning. It's absolutely amazing to see something I did transferred to another human being, permanently. The colors are fantastic, and really improved upon the pencils I sent. I asked to share the photos here on the blog, and was given permission. Here's the finished product:

I'm assuming he will be reading this at some point, so to Brandon, I want to extend the biggest possible thanks for believing I could pull this off. Seeing the sketches I did end up looking so amazing has made me ridiculously happy this morning. I hope you enjoy the tattoo for years to come, it's truly incredible, and I'm insanely jealous of both your brilliant idea and your ink.

Never been a big Archie fan, in fact I think the only Archie book I own is the crazy Punisher crossover from a few years ago. The extent of my knowledge of Archie comics comes mostly from Kevin Smith's brilliant scene in Chasing Amy, in which Hooper X insists to Banky that Archie and Jughead were lovers. Still, my love for all things horror, and more importantly Francesco Francavilla's art, prompted me to give Afterlife With Archie a shot, and while there's only been one issue so far, I'm damn glad I did.

This book is just pure FUN. Jughead's dog gets hit by a car and dies, and in his distraught state, he visits Sabrina the Teenage Witch to ask her to get her Pet Sematary on and revive his beloved canine pal. She denies him in front of her Aunts, the older witches she lives with, but then secretly visits Jughead later and agrees. The spell works, but Hot Dog isn't exactly himself when he returns from the dead. He's a nasty, more aggressive version, and eventually takes a bit out of Jughead, which then begins to turn Jughead into a zombie! Just in time for the Halloween dance at school too...

I tell you, if Archie has always been this fun of a read, then I hang my head in shame as I have been missing out. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa handles writing chores, and while I know I've read a few of his books, nothing stands out in my mind as being particularly great, aside from his adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. He also recently wrote the script for the movie remake of Stephen King's Carrie. The real star of the book though is Francesco Francavilla's beautifully creepy art. I'm so in love with Francavilla's work, it's ridiculous. The guy is a machine too, as he is somehow capable of not only drawing mutliple books monthly (his own Black Beetle, Afterlife with Archie, along with random Marvel books), but he's constantly throwing up sketches online. To say I'm a fan of his would be a gross understatement.

Check this book out!

Fans of AMC's Comic Book Men may remember during the show's second season that there was an episode centered around the gang at the Secret Stash pitching their very own comic book to Dynamite Entertainment. Of course, the show was edited and played up as this big dramatic thing, with the meeting with the powers that be at Dynamite, and attempted to have viewers believe that there was some chance that they would say no. Those of us who are "in the know" could easily see through the charade, being that their boss, Kevin Smith, was currently writing for Dynamite. The show also wanted us to believe that the book was the crew's first attempt at making their own comic book, and thus their "dreams were coming true", which was also a dramatic bunch of bullshit. Bryan and Walt have both worked in comics before, with two mini-series from IDW, Karney and War of the Undead respectively, and Bryan even went on to pencil two Batman mini-series written by Kevin Smith. Still, I guess it makes for good television, so I digress.

Last week, the very first issue of their Dynamite series, Cryptozoic Man arrived, and of course I was all signed up in advance to make sure I got it. Not because I'm a fanboy of the show, which I am, but no, I got it because I loved Karney and War of the Undead. Admittedly, it's hard to judge from a single issue, but Cryptozoic Man feels a little flat when compared to those two. The story centers around a man named Alan Ostman, who after suffering a great tragedy, was transformed by aliens into an amalgamation of cryptids from around the world. This first issue shows a battle between Crypto and the Pig Man, with a bit of origin thrown in via somewhat confusing flashbacks. I don't expect to be give the whole story in the first issue though, so while admittedly not having much of a clue as to what was going on, I dug it enough to keep going. If nothing else, I dig Walt's art and will buy it for that alone.

Cryptozoic Man may surprise fans of the light hearted television show Comic Book Men, as there's a bit of adult content, including some pretty nasty looking monsters, it's definitely not a book for kids. Only one issue out so far, so if it sounds like something you'd dig, or you're just a big fan of all things Comic Book Men, be sure and track down a copy and get signed up for the rest of the series. Don't know where it's going, but I know it's going to be one hell of a strange ride.

I'll be the first to admit, comics are pretty dark these days. There have been way too many times that I've had parents come in the store with young children, asking about age appropriate comics for them, in the hopes that the kids will take interest in reading. Sadly, I usually tell them there really isn't anything other than a handful of books based off of animated series. The thing is, comics have grown up. There's no denying it. 

Still, just because we're all grown up, that doesn't mean all we want to read is hyper violence, death, dismemberment and foul language. We had a Batman comic in which he asked someone if they were retarded because they didn't know he was, and I quote, "The Goddamn Batman". Mature comics have their place, imprints like Vertigo and Max, and other companies like IDW or Avatar. That kind of content really doesn't need to be in our Batman, Spider-man, or Green Lantern comics. Enter DC's latest Batman title, a book based off of the Batman television show from the 60's, complete with all the innocence, and BAM!s and POW!s that come along with it.

Batman '66 is another of DC's "digital first" titles that is finally seeing print, which for people like myself who aren't fans of digital comics and still prefer print comics, is exciting news. Taking the reins on the title is writer Jeff Parker, who throughout his career has primarily been a Marvel guy, which means that while I'd heard tons of great things about him, I'm not too familiar with his work. After reading this first issue, which was a Riddler story that easily could've been an actual episode of the show, I can completely understand the praise.  There's nothing dark, the plot isn't overly convoluted, every character acts as they should, and to put it simply, it's just a fun read.

Joining Parker on Batman '66 is artist Jonathan Case. The only other thing I've seen that he did was a comic adaptation of the Green River Killer novel, which I haven't read. His art is a suitable fit for the book, as he has fully embraced the 60's look of the hair and costumes. Their was some strange coloring in the first half of the book, the characters were surrounded by weird outlines, but that thankfully went away. 

Being as these are digital first stories, it appears as if the print versions will be taking 3 parts at a time and putting them together, which basically works well because it's like getting a full episode in each issue. Provided the digital stories don't go past three parts, of course. While it's admittedly a little early to be singing this book's praises after only one issue, the simple truth is that I'm just that in love with it already. It's a fun, refreshing breath of fresh air, and is a reminder of what comics were like when most of us were first discovering them. I'll read this forever.

Free Comic Book Day 2013

Today is Free Comic Book Day! Support your local comic shop by stopping in, grabbing a free comic and spend a little money too. As per usual, I've gotten all of my books already, perks of working part time in a comic shop and all, and I'm gonna post up what I think is worth checking out from this year's sponsors.

Lots of great stuff as usual this year. For more info on Free Comic Book Day, including how to find a comic shop in you area, visit the official site here.