Episode 25: Batman Doesn’t Use Axe Body Spray

We are on the ground at SDCC 2014! We have completed our first full day at the show, bought some stuff, seen some panels, and have a few things to talk about, including:

• How the convention looks a little smaller in scale than it has for the past few years,
• The Batman In The 70s panel, and what our personal “our Batman” stories,
• The Geek Movies of 1984 Panel, and which movies of that year (when Amanda and I were each 13 years old) are our personal favorites, and:
• How you can’t get new comics at San Diego Comic-Con

And here be disclaimers:

• This show was recorded live to tape (on unfamiliar mobile equipment). That means a few more pauses and digressions than you might get in other podcasts, but it also means anything can happen (like a digression on finding dirty movies in the 1980s).
• We use adult, graphic language, and therefore this show is not safe for work. We know from traveling this week that you can buy earbuds for 10 bucks. Do it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:12 — 45.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Enjoy the show, suckers!

Episode 21: Bruce Wayne: Millionaire Playboy, Sexual Predator

It’s the 25th anniversary of the release of Batman in theaters, so this week, Amanda and I talk about what it was like being a geek in the years and months leading up to the flick… and whether it holds up now (Hint: in 1989, Batman was a terrible, terrible pervert).

We also talk about:

• The pilot for The Flash that leaked to the Internet this week,
• Superman #32, written by Geoff Johns with art by John Romita Jr., and,
• New Avengers #20, written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Valerio Schiti!

And, the usual disclaimers:

• This show is recorded live to tape. It means some more pauses and repeated thoughts than you might be used to, but it also means that anything can happen.
• This show contains spoilers. We try to warn ahead of time, but if you haven’t seen Batman yet, I’m not sure what you want us to tell you.
• This show contains adult, explicit language, and is not safe for work. It’s 2014; check behind your couch cushions. You’ll find ear buds.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:39:21 — 91.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Enjoy the show, suckers!

I Shall Become A Wicked Pisser Bat: First Photo of Affleck as Batman in Batman Vs. Superman

So we’ve been hearing about Zack Snyder’s upcoming Batman Vs. Superman since last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, where director Zack Snyder announced the flick by having an actor read Batman’s internal dialogue from when he defeated Superman in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. And since then, we have been excited by reports that Snyder has met with Miller to discuss the movie, and, depending on your point of view, have been dismayed or excited about Ben Affleck being cast as Batman.

And other than some other casting news, there hasn’t been a ton of news about the movie (other than the fact that we’re apparently gonna see Wonder Woman and Cyborg at least in this flick). And that drought continued today, when Zack Snyder pissed away his bully pulpit on Twitter to talk about his new fucking digital camera.

Huh. Okay.

Crisis On Infinite Midlives Podcast Episode 11: The Golden Shakeoff Caper

Yeah, I know that we mentioned the other day that we had subjects that we wanted to talk about in a podcast, but I also know that you didn’t even remotely think that we’d actually, you know, do one.

Well, the joke’s on you, because here’s Episode 11: The Golden Shakeoff Caper! In which we discuss:

• The ComiXology buyout by Amazon (in which I reference a piece I wrote about ComiXology’s licensing and lack of ability to back up your comics)
• The San Diego Comic-Con hotel registration process, and the anxiety-provoking processes around attending SDCC in general
• Deadpool #27
• DC’s new weekly comic, Batman: Eternal #1

And here is our usual disclaimer: this episode was recorded live to tape, meaning that other than adding the intro and outro music, it is presented exactly as we discussed it, with every, “um,” “uh,” cough and burp. Further, this podcast is not safe for work. Be advised that we liberally use explicit and vulgar language, although if you weren’t tipped off by the fact that our title this week includes the phrase, “golden shake-off,” you need more help than a friendly warning. Either way, use some headphones.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:15 — 53.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Enjoy the show, suckers!

Bruce Timm. Kevin Conroy. Batman. Animated. What Else Do You Want?

It is Batman’s 75th anniversary, which means that DC and Warner Bros. are gonna spend the next several months dumping out a bunch of promotional stuff that nobody really cares about – expect a collection of “essential” Batman stories that are all one-shots that nobody needs when affordable trade paperback editions of Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are available in every place in the world where the printed word is sold.

But the one division that gets these kind of things right is Warner Bros. Animation. For Superman’s 75th anniversary last year, they put together a killer montage showing the character as he progressed through the decades. For Batman, however, they did no such thing. They did something better.

When it comes to Batman and animation, all any discerning geek really cares about is Batman: The Animated Series and the work of animator / producer Bruce Timm. That cartoon kept Batman as The Dark Knight even as directors who will remain unnamed and unloved were facing Batman off with a punny Schwarzenegger with nothing but hard plastic molded nipples.

So it was kinda heartbreaking when word came out last year that Timm was leaving his supervisory position at Warner Bros. Animation… but he is back to supervise Batman’s animation one last time with a new short.

This one feature’s Timm’s style from the cartoon, only with a distinct feel and look of Batman from the 1930s, including short gloves, big ears, prop planes, and machine guns… and you can check out out after the jump

Happy Birthday, Batman, or: I Wish My Parents Were Still Alive

We need to keep things short again today – we spent a large chunk of yesterday at the hospital waiting for news about and the discharge of a member of one of our extended families who happened to fall ill while we were the only ones around. So after a Saturday evening spent in the emergency room of a major metropolitan hospital’s emergency room (which is where you meet not only the finest, but the cleanest and sanest, people) and a Sunday morning and afternoon spent watching said family member to make sure that the crisis had, in fact, passed, we are fucking fried.

But we are not too fried to acknowledge that today is a huge day in comic book history. Because it is today, March 30th, in 1939, that one of the most important comic books in history was first released for sale. That comic? Detective Comics #27.

The first appearance of Batman, yo.

Be Desireless. Be Excellent. Be Too Old For This Shit: Donal Logue As Gotham’s Harvey Bullock

I’m not gonna lie to you: I am a flat-out Donal Logue fan. From The Tao of Steve (which namechecks Steve Austin, which is always a way to make me sit up and pay attention) to Grounded For Life to Knights of Prosperity (which, if you’ve never seen it, you should really make an effort. The damn show was originally named Let’s Rob Mick Jagger, for Christ’s sake; how could you not give that a day in court?) to the much lamented Terriers, the guy is just someone I like watching on TV.

He’s just seems like a dude, you know? A regular guy who you could have a beer or ten with, shoot the shit about the Red Sox (sure, he actually seems to like soccer, but he’s Canadian, which means he’s probably polite and will try to talk baseball with you), and have a few laughs with. Because the guy is funny, in that kind of ironic, Generation X way that speaks to a generation who learned what was funny from Bill Murray and David Letterman.

But to be fair: the man is also concentrated death when it comes to television shows. Knight of Prosperity and Terriers each lasted only a season. He was on Life, which was also excellent, but that only lasted two seasons. Hell, even his “hit”, Grounded For Life, lasted five seasons… but it was cancelled by Fox  – Fox! – after two and a half seasons, and only survived another two and a half by being picked up by WB, who, in the parlance of Chris Rock, needed a hit like a crackhead needed a hit.

It’s a real conundrum: I’ve learned that when Donal Logue is cast in a show, it is likely to be good, and yet go away soon, like a common nitrous oxide high. So when I heard that he was cast as Detective Harvey Bullock on the upcoming pilot for Gotham, a series about life in Gotham City back when Bruce Wayne was training to be a detective using Blue’s Clues, I had mixed feelings. Because Logue’s involvement was anecdotal evidence that the show would probably be good… but it was also anecdotal evidence that it might not get past the pilot phase.

Which would be a shame, because the Warner Bros. has released the first promotional photo of Logue as Bullock, and I gotta tell you: the guy looks right. And you can see what I mean after the jump.

Yes, Father – I Shall Become A Sprite: Batman: Arkham Knight Trailer Released

I’m not gonna lie to you: I haven’t played the third Batman XBox game, Batman: Arkham Origins yet.

I haven’t played it for a few reasons, the first of which being that the property’s license was taken away from Rocksteady Studios, who did Arkham Asylum and Arkham City and which were simply the two best superhero video games I’ve ever played. And being someone who loved playing Spider-Man 2 and being disgusted by Spider-Man 3 by a different group of people, I have learned to be… cautious about sequels by different development houses.

The second reason being that I bought a plasma TV last year and I am afraid that, if Batman: Arkham Origins happens to be good, and I play it the way I did Arkham City, I will wind up watching episodes of The Walking Dead through a burnt-in image of Batman gliding in the middle of my screen.

However, I have made the snap decision that not only will I risk playing video games on (and possibly destroying) the new TV, but I will be obtaining either an XBox One or a Playstation 4. Or at least I will be obtaining one by early October. Because not only is a new Batman game coming out, but it reportedly will be by Rocksteady Studios again.

And not only that, but a new trailer for the game has been released… and it looks awesome. And you can check it out after the jump.

New Teasers And Clips From Upcoming DC Justice League And Batman Projects

For those of you bummed about the decision to delay the upcoming Superman/Batman sequel until 2016, Warner Brothers has released a new clip today from the upcoming Justice League: War animated film. Bonus – this film has a fully fleshed out Wonder Woman with no weird, forced Kryptonian origins, so that’s nice. Take a moment a be grateful that Zach Snyder and company may be taking this opportunity to actually get their shit together, and enjoy this animated clip.

Via io9.

Problem Child: Damian: Son of Batman #1 Review

Editor’s Note: Don’t overlook anything. Spoilers will be hard to find in this amount of carnage.

I don’t think I’ve made it a secret over the years that I was never a fan of Damian Wayne. He was a mouthy douchebag who was designed to irritate, and usually delivered. He was a ten-year-old in all the worst senses of the word: impulsive, opinionated for no good reason, and often disrespectful to his family… and any person with the unmitigated gall to be disrespectful of The Goddamned Batman? He and I can never be friends. So I didn’t shed too many tears when his creator, Grant Morrison, had him whacked a few months ago.

The thing is that Damian was that much of an irritant as a ten (or so) year old, and everyone knows if you want someone truly insufferable, you need yourself a teenager. That’s when kids take their original irritating personalities and add moodiness, mopeyness and just general emo. They start listening to Joy Division (or whatever the 21 Century version of Joy Division is; I’m old and picked all my bands years ago. Do kids go through a Doors phase anymore? Or are they truly fucking hopeless and deserving of being written off? No, I don’t have children, why do you ask?), and they cut their hair all funny and they yell stuff like, “You’re not my real dad!” and “No I won’t get in your fucking van!” and “Who the fuck are The Doors?”

But Damian was safely killed before he could hit those difficult years… which clearly disappointed writer / artist Andy Kubert, because in his new book Damian: Son of Batman, he gives us not only a teenaged Damian, but one with a marked lack of adult supervision. And while that story is generally beautifully illustrated, it is also a little exposition heavy where it’s not needed, exposition light where it really is needed, and retracts an important plot conceit almost as soon as it’s introduced.