Action Figure-ing: Batman, Robin & Snikt!

There is no such thing as too many burgers.

Burgers are good for health, except for the occasional wounds. 

Some great fan-films and web series

Batman : Puppet Master
I couldn't care less for Nolan's Batman but this short film gets all the beats correct, goofiness in place. This is exactly how dark I want my Batman film.

Some great twists, a smooth flowing dialog, great acting make it a well-made Batman film, Nolan or not.
Film Blog


But I Don't Like Superhero Movies!
This funny short plays smart satire through geeky melodrama, and makes for a hilarious repeat watch with its rehab setting and its great actors. I loved that it doesn't try too hard and respects the geek.



H+
This is the new Bryan Singer web-series which may put its big screen counterparts to shame. Some great post-apocalyptic sci-fi in the vein of I Am Legend along with great potential for all the goods a web series can bring make this a promising and exciting venture to look forward to.


Some more...
Batman : A City of Scars
Y: The Last Man - Fan Film

Batman: The Widening Gyre (DC, 2009)

The Widening Gyre(TWG) is Kevin Smith’s oft-struggling Batman story. Having read Cacophony, I had no mood to approach TWG. Cacophony was outright bad comic book writing, uninspired, exploitative, repetitive, unoriginal. I could go on. TWG however is better fortunately(anything would be!) in a sense that it does spend some time on things comic books usually don’t (things like Batman introspecting on overdrive, Batman going soft-porn/trashy soap opera(almost), a new sidekick who is mostly a bag of nerves when he is around Batman etc.). It has Smith’s characteristic tone throughout, in the way characters are very now(whatwith Twitter, which is a scary thing IMO) and streetsmart and all that. If these facts don’t offend you enough, there is the so bold it’s disturbing elements, which for some reason Smith mistakes for an adult graphic novel, present throughout here. I would just suggest some Grant Morrison doubled up with some Alan Moore as a quick remedy to start with.

A comic does not get adult by show of blood or amputated limbs or frequent tough-guy-speak. The boldness, if you will, comes through the voice of narrative and characters, the panic in the town(comic universe) pervades your thoughts and takes your reception to a different level, as opposed to build on a provocation , much what Smith does here and few of his other initiatives(films, blogs etc.)

Reading TWG is almost like someone took a C grade pulp novel and spliced in Batman characters, while consciously leaving out a possibility of unintentional fun.

A good thing in this book? The Covers.

Superman: Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?(DC, 1986)

By now almost a cult book, this Alan Moore-Curt Swan- Julius Schwartz-George Perez team up is more of a reverential Superman tale than a shocking what-if arc. When I turned the last page(or screen page!)I wrote it off thinking of it as immature and not quite there. But in retrospect it does come out as a comic arc I would like to revisit, it is certainly important from Superman essentials point of view, and a must read for all Alan Moore fans(Moore offers his signature thought-provoking and existential crisis of superheores elements here, albeit a little underplayed). I think of the book as an ode to Silver Age and ever-geeky innocent charm one associates with the character and his universe(DCU).



10 Superman essentials



A great companion read for this would be For the man who has everything (DC, 1985) by Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons. While I was a little underwhelmed by Whatever happened, For the man truly satisfied me with its complex and evolved storytelling and in-depth treatment of the characters. The arc is essentially about Mongul attacking Superman with a mystery plant (catching him unawares on his birthday), Black Mercy that makes its victim go in a state of inertia/pleasant dream. It is only Moore perhaps who can handle so many themes in a mere 50 pages single issue – Superman’s dream of life at the El’s, his differences with father Jor-El, Krypton’s political upturns, Batman’s pleasant dream (a different version)of the event that changed his life and the dynamics between the holy trinity, this is some achievement.



It is a delight how the book captures both significant events and minor character dynamics with equal ease. There are the indulgent riffs at Robin(Moore hates Robin!), the sexual air of Wonder Woman, suitably placed humor, a unique look at Superman’s little road trip to Kandor crater with his son, Van-El, and the usual strong political world view in describing the events at Krypton(involving a rebel movement against Phantom Zone). Though at time Moore does get beyond the reader (typical of him) in his rendering of Mongul’s dream and encounter with Superman, but it stays a dilemma any fan loves to solve. Great, great classic tale, must say one of the best Superman tales that I have read.

Kingdom Come(DC,1996): Long back in Elseworld

I picked up a mini paperback of a DC book recently and realized it’s the opening part of Kingdom Come(the 4 parts are Never-Ending Battle, Up in the Sky, Truth and Justice & Strange Visitor). Taking it as a healthy omen, I went on to read the graphic novel. I could recognize the unique art by Alex Ross from Marvels and Daredevil/Spider Man. Mark Waid is the writer here, I remember him from DC’s JLA Tower of Babel & 52. Now for the style, termed as Gouache is definitely an eye-catcher and may influence your decision to pick up the book or not. I personally don’t mind it much (as much as complex visual styles of may be a Sandman or Arkham Asylum, which can tend to ‘distract’ the reader in a good way) and after some time into it, you start acknowledging its achievements. In KC, it was the spectacular shots, angular views of characters’ pov, and the overall grandeur it attributes to the events.



Norman McCay, the narrator, is a pastor fearing the apocalypse, thanks to the visions he has been having off late. McCay’s journey of the world as it fights with a global threat, superheroes vs the UN is what kicks the story off. Then there is Lex Luthor’s Man Liberation Front and its efforts to get Captain Marvel on board. The tone is uniquely mythological at once, and gripping whatwith the multiple character face-offs and arcs.



Like any other re-imagining, this one gives a clear priority to characterization, but the overriding themes here are superheroes as gods vs humanity, legitimization of superheroes, global crisis, political conferences, and religion for certain providing a certain mythological air to it all.
I must say I was a little disappointed towards the final part as there was certainly great potential in the way the book looks at Superman and Wonder Woman in their flesh and blood conversations, chemistry and relationship. So much is so beautifully unsaid that it feels a waste to divert your attention to the routine action finale.
Batman is a little less than a glorified prop and his legion looks unconvincing to ay the least.
On the whole, an essential comic book, but certainly flawed.
Character Origins from Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come Critical Analysis