Comic News And Reviews

It's not like there was any doubt before, but it can't hurt to say again that the best/craziest Scott Pilgrim fans are those from Toronto, the setting of Bryan Lee O'Malley's canonized indie comics opus. Locations familiar to many Torontonians appear throughout the six-volume Oni Press graphic novel series, perhaps none more memorable than the terrifyingly long stairwell where Evil Ex-Boyfriend Lucas Lee meets his skaterly demise. In the best memorial for a comic book character since someone left a set of kicky go-go boots on the George Washington Bridge, a clever fan has left behind what's become known as the Ghost Board of Lucas Lee.

As part of a featurette created for Last Call with Carson Daly, Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O'Malley and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World director Edgar Wright visit the Ghost Board, as well as a number of other Toronto locations integral to the slacker saga. You can see it after the jump.

[Via Write Club]

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Nov 9th 2010 By: Caleb Goellner

Threads: It's good to have options, and the new "Pick Your Powers" tee from Threadless is overflowing with them. I think I pick radioactive spider. [Threadless]

Clichés: iFanboy takes a look at the lazy narrative of "Nerd Pride" in the wider media and wonders if even well-intentioned fans aren't part of the problem for embracing "Comic Book Guy" stereotypes. [iFanboy]

Anime: 75-year-old Space Battleship Yamato anime producer Hirofumi Nishizaki reportedly died after falling from a steamship called Yamato this past weekend. Our sympathy goes out to his fans, friends and family. [io9]

Gaming: It turns out Bowser makes a real good, feel good, meal. Just don't tell Pixel PETA. [CulturePopped] Threads: In a better, more bootlegged world, Spider-Man shows his affection for the smartest mammals in the sea. [Super Punch] Gaming: Until next Monday Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game is on sale for 50% off on Xbox Live. That's just $5. Nice! [Joystiq]
Good Vs. Evil: Counter protestors in Westin, Mo. create a human fence to block Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church from entering their town in one of the best moves we've seen since Comic-Con goers let loose on them this past summer. [The Daily What]
Travel: Remember that time Spider-Man went to Amsterdam and got accosted next to an ATM? No? Good. [Topless Robot]

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Nov 11th 2010 By: Chris Murphy

I always approach tie-in comics with an element of suspicion. Even when the comic in question is connected to an existing fictional universe that was designed as a story first and foremost, and has pre-existing, likable characters -- something like Farscape or Doctor Who or Metalocalypse or Fraggle Rock -- I'm not initially hopeful that it will to live up to the source material, often out fear that it will be a hastily thrown together cash-grab meant to either take more money from loyal fans of the franchise.

But his week's first issue of Assassin's Creed: The Fall was a pleasant surprise, but I was even more surprised by another licensed book, IDW's new Dungeons and Dragons series, which you would expect to be a completely phoned in book that's only read by diehard D&D fans who failed their intelligence checks. The thing is, apparently no one told writer John Rogers and artist Andrea Di Vito that, and as a result Dungeons and Dragons is way more fun than it has any right to be.

When I first heard that the Assassin's Creed video game series was getting its own comic, my expectations were not high, at least until I heard the creative team involved Cameron Stewart, creator of the Eisner-winning webcomic Sin Titulo and artist on such projects as Batman and Robin and Seaguy with Grant Morrison, and Karl Kerschl, creator of the Eisner-nominated webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher and artist on several DC projects.

I will admit that if any video game has the right ingredients to work as a comic, it's Assassin's Creed. If you haven't played any of the games,they tell the story of a centuries old conflict between the Templars, a secret organization controlling the world from behind the scenes and seeking to impose order at any cost, and the Assassins, a small group of highly-trained killers who use sophisticated weaponry and ye olde parkoure to strike against the Templars in order to preserve individual freedoms.

The main character exists in the present day, but uses a machine to re-experience the lives (and missions) of his Assassin ancestors in order to learn things ranging from nifty ways to kill people, to key facts about secret world history and ancient high-tech artifacts. It manages to pull in just about every key figure or group from historical conspiracy theories along the way, from the Templars to Tesla to Leonardo DaVinci to Jesus Christ to Houdini, and I'm going to stop there because some of you already have secret history bingo at this point.

I skipped the first game in the series but played the second, in which I got to play as a gentleman named Ezio who is Renaissance Batman and also Renaissance Spider-Man and also straight up kills people and at one point has a climactic fistfight with the Pope in the secret high-tech sub-level under the Vatican. I did not make any of that up and that is why Assassin's Creed 2 is one of my favorite current generation video games.

Because the series has the whole of history to play with, Kerschl and Stewart aren't limited to times, places and characters we've seen before, and they make good use of that freedom. The story is still framed around a modern character having flashbacks to an ancestor's life, but rather than taking you to the Holy Land of the Crusades or Renaissance Italy, the comic follows Daniel, a down-on-his luck recovering junkie living in the last years of the 20th century, and his flashbacks to Nikolai Orelov, an Assassin living in 1880s Russia tasked with killing the Tsar.

Both Daniel and Nikolai find themselves in over their heads and are troubled by grief about their past. Daniel can't seem to get over the fact that he bears some responsibility for getting his girlfriend killed, and Nikolai is plagued by doubt and guilt over family members who were killed in their previous attempts to assassinate the Tsar, even as he attempts make the same attempt himself.

The comic reads a little differently depending on how familiar you are with the game, and while the book is accessible to new readers, I imagine it's going to appeal more to people who are fans of the series already. The first issue of the three issue series leaves many questions unanswered, and still little is known about the pasts of Daniel and Nikolai and how they've come to be where they are. But Kerschl and Stewart set the mood and capture the tone of the games while finding their own story to tell within its world.

N onetheless, my favorite comic coming out of a licensed property this week is somehow Dungeons and Dragons #1, written by John Rogers with art by Andrea Di Vito and colors by Aburtov and Graphikslava. Dungeons and Dragons is not a property that has been blessed with adaptations into other media that could be considered "good" in the traditional sense of the word. Sure, we all have fond memories of the Saturday morning cartoon about the kids who went to a fantasy world after riding a magic roller coaster. Or something, I wasn't clear on that. And yes, there was that movie where Marlon Wayans and that guy who played Jimmy Olsen in Lois and Clark fought Jeremy Irons and also dragons. But most of those works were not being intentionally funny. This, on the other hand, is.

And it works. Rogers' dialogue is great fun to read. He manages to take the stock parts of snarky warrior lead hero, gruff dwarf, haughty elf, kleptomaniac halfling thief and sexy half-demon wizard and develop them all into interesting characters in the span of a single issue, largely through their interaction with each other and with the people they encounter as they're arrested, cleared, and finally tasked with finding the source of large-scale demonic possessions plaguing the town that had the nearest convenient tavern.

If you've ever sat down for a none-too-serious pen and paper RPG session with friends, you should strongly consider giving this book a try. If you've ever enjoyed a lighthearted fantasy adventure with plenty of action and comic relief, you should probably give this book a try. If you've been reading Image Comics' Skullkickers you probably give this book a try, because while the visuals are not as striking the writing and the characters are much stronger. And if you want to read a comic that features a beret wearing Gnome wizard with a handlebar mustache named Copernicus Jinx, who also happens to have one arm made of metal, you should definitely give this comic a try because that's not something I see happening with great frequency in any other book on the shelves.

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Nov 9th 2010 By: David Brothers

Hank Pym has had a hard time of it. A domestic abuse story written years ago involving his wife Janet has dominated his character, despite several redemption arcs that followed. And while this week's Ant-Man & Wasp #1 starts off with more redemption, as Pym founds a domestic violence clinic in Janet's name, this time it truly feels like an attempt to move Pym past the past and into a new era. Ant-Man Eric O'Grady, on the other hand, doesn't care about his legacy so much as hooking up with girls and having fun. They had to run into each other at some point, and that moment is now. Tim Seeley, creator of Hack/Slash, is writing and drawing this three-issue limited series, and you can check out five preview pages after the jump.

Two of Marvel's smallest heroes must join forces and get over one BIG elephant-in-the-room! Eric O'Grady once STOLE the Ant-Man suit from Hank Pym. But now, Eric is the only one who knows about a secret AIM plot to steal Pym's greatest invention! Can the two men get along long enough to save the soul of the former GOLIATH, Bill Foster? Tim Seeley, creator of "Hack/Slash" brings us the big story of the two smallest Avengers! And make sure you check out this adventure before the astonishing events of AVENGERS ACADEMY #7 next month!

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By: Mike Carey & Peter Gross (creators), Vince Locke (inks on a few pages), Chris Chuckry (colors), Todd Klein (letters) & Pornsak Pichetshote (editor)

The Story: Our heroic trio takes their act to the States and we get more confusing background on the mysterious organization.

What’s Good: Peter Gross does a wonderful job with the art in this series.  It seems sad that we don’t mention it more because this series just doesn’t lend itself to sexy splash pages very often, but the panel-to-panel art is just nice and tight linework.  Every so often, Unwritten brings in a guest artist just to change up the look a little bit.  So, the 5 pages inked by Vince Locke are a real change and really do jiggle the look of the book, making it clear that we’re doing something new in that scene and that the reader should pay attention.

The story is also entering a new phase.  Tom Taylor now accepts that he is some kind of magical construct created by his “father” for reasons unclear.  And he has magic, even if he doesn’t really know how to control it.  Presumably, we’ll learn more about this power and why Wilson Taylor created Tom to fight this mysterious organization.

What’s Not So Good: This is several issues in a row of The Unwritten where the story had been confused.  Some of it is due to the plot becoming a bit complex.  They could fix that problem by simply adding a recap paragraph at the beginning of the issue.  Just do it.  Does Dan DiDio’s proclamation against recap pages extend to Vertigo?

But, the pacing also seems to be a bit of a problem as well.  Part of the reason that it is hard to remember specific plot points from issue to issue is that the action is darting around between scenes.  Some information is covered very quickly whereas some rather mundane character development scenes are driven into the ground.  And, speaking of character, of all the characters in the book, the main character (Tom Taylor) is the one who elicits the least feeling from the reader.  He is just kinda there and to the extent that you feel anything towards him, you probably think he’s a bit of a dick.  His companions are far more interesting and for this reason, when [SPOILER] Lizzie makes romantic with Tom in their hotel room, it was a little cringe worthy.  We like Lizzie, but recognize that she is emotionally damaged and seeing her making out with Tom (who is just a blah character) felt like catching someone taking advantage of your little sister.

I’m a huge defender of the single-issue comic book, but this story is getting to the point where it might read better in trade.

Conclusion: The story is now confusing and the splendid art can’t save it.  This is the worst issue of Unwritten so far and is actually subpar when compared to the hypothetical “average comic on the shelf”.  It makes me sad because I’ve had a soft spot for this series since it launched, so I hope it improves.

Grade: C-

- Dean Stell Filed under: Vertigo Tagged: | Vertigo, Mike Carey, Chris Chuckry, review, Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, Todd Klein, Peter Gross, The Unwritten, Dean Stell, the Unwritten #19, Vince Locke, Pornsak Pichetshote, The Unwritten #19 review

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By: Grant Morrison (writer), Lee Garbett, Pere Perez (artists), Alejandro Sicat and Walden Wong (inks)

The Story: Bruce Wayne arrives at the end of time, where those weird-eyed, fuzzy archivists help him along on the last leg of his journey through time and into the final steps of Darkseid’s plan to use him as a weapon. Superman, Rip Hunter and Green Lantern are stranded there, only moments away from catching up with Bruce. In the present….the JLA is waiting.

What’s Good: I know there are a few readers who argue that Batman needs the setting of Gotham to be an honest depiction (I’m usually one of those readers). Some have pilloried Morrison for sending essentially a regular guy in leather and spandex through time. However, Morrison did drop some thematic markers throughout the mini-series that he picked up here to good effect (in Tim Wayne’s mouth): It isn’t really fair that a regular guy has to fight gods. This is a deep statement that can be read in any number of ways. I really like that Morrison said it. The issue of scale in superhero comics is usually ignored (“Go get ‘em Thor and…um…Hawkeye…” or “Superman, you check left! Wildcat, you cover right!”) which can really diminish a story in some ways. Morrison doesn’t solve the problem, but that nod to a basic flaw in comics made the end-of-time sequence really, really cool, as well as the psychedelic brushes with the New Gods mythos near the end. I also *loved* the nod to origin of Batman, with the hand on the bell, not knowing if he should ring or not for Alfred to come fix him up. This was very cool. It crystallized what Morrison had been doing with the bats throughout the series. There’s a lot more cool writing and story stuff, but we’re on word limits here, so I’ll stop for now.

The art was functional and occasionally evocative. I found the draftsmanship (proportions, texture, poses, clarity) a bit wanting in more than a few spots, and sometimes crude (check out the fight with the JLA). This was a bit surprising for me, considering how pleased I am with Garbett and Perez on Batgirl. Maybe it’s the difference in inkers? I’m not sure. I haven’t seen the work of Sicat and Wong before. Don’t get me wrong. The art got the job done, and made the end-of-time archivists interesting.

What’s Not So Good: Tim Wayne, the man with the plan, and the eternal optimist in terms of Bruce Wayne’s survival, was a bit strident in chalking up Bruce’s survival through time and stopping Darkseid’s plan to Bruce’s heroism. I read all six issues. Here and there, Bruce’s essentially stubborn and sleuthing personality helped him, but many of the decision points were a bit out of his hands. At many moments, Bruce was a passenger (and often a confused one), so Tim’s claims of Bruce’s awesomeness were a bit much for me. Let’s just say it’s pretty amazing that Bruce survived his trip at all.

On the writing, I’m not going to lie. A few moments confused me, especially near the end of the book. Morrison, so adept at evoking psychological mood in the Batman and Robin series, makes a good attempt here, but has to rely to a great extent on his ever-changing artists. He succeeds in some spots. He reaches for psychedelic, and while puzzling, I’m not sure it gets there, even after two reads. Partly, I think he wasn’t given artists capable of delivering the subtlety his scripts require. I would put money on the idea that Quitely or Frazer could have pictured what Morrison was imagining and it would have been good.

Conclusion: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 satisfied me emotionally (reunion of the family, victory of the heroes), almost satisfied me intellectually (the plot makes sense, everything was tied together) and left me unsatisfied on the art. Now that King is back, I want to see what happens to the Princes who ruled while he was gone.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

Filed under: DC Comics Tagged: | Batman, DC Comics, Wonder Woman, Grant Morrison, Superman, Green Lantern, Comics, DC, Comic Book Reviews, Darkseid, Pere Perez, comic reviews, Lee Garbett, Cyborg, DS Arsenault, Walden Wong, Justice League of America, Tim Wayne, Red Robin, The Return of Bruce Wayne, Rip Hunter, Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #6, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 review, Alejandro Sicat

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By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Dustin Nguyen (penciller), Derek Fridolfs (inks), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: We get a history of the Bat-world as a visually-cool expository lump at the beginning of the issue. Then, into Steph’s problems fitting into college life and then her action as Batgirl, chasing that nut-case grad student who made those sci-fi vampires last issue. Weird thing is, he’s being chased by some robed people and let’s just say that Steph gets a little too close.

What’s Not So Good: I thought I’d start on the negatives with this review, just because the visuals really make or break a story for me. It doesn’t matter how good the writing, plotting or characterization is; if the lines and colors on the page don’t work for me, the writer’s craftsmanship never even gets tested. I felt that was about this issue. We’ve been relatively spoiled on this series with some pretty consistent and competent artwork through the first year by Garbett and Scott. Nguyen and Fridolfs on the Batgirl art chores didn’t work for me. Stephanie became stylized, unattractive and older. In costume, her proportions seemed wrong (check out a couple panels of long, stick legs) and the faces and textures reminded me of Giffen’s work when he was inking his own pencils on the early Ambush Bug stuff– unattractive. I also found it a bit disappointing that there were a bunch of panels bereft of background. If I’m shelling out $2.99, please give me all the art I’m due, unless there’s a stylistic or storytelling reason not to do the backgrounds. I couldn’t think of any for this story, but I might not have all the answers.

What’s Good: Major’s color work was good, especially the red skies of Gotham and the lurid bat-signal. On writing, Miller has Stephanie Brown tone perfect and has reinforced the book by bringing Oracle back. These are, I think, the two important pieces to the vitality of this series: Steph’s self-deprecating thirst for acceptance and adulthood, and Oracle’s mentorship. I got pretty worried when Oracle took a powder. I’m ready to let Proxy go back to wherever she came from, although this issue she served as a handy excuse for Miller to make this issue accessible to new readers. Smart move, and it was fun enough that someone who’s been following Gotham’s news for a couple of years didn’t find it slow.

Conclusion: Miller has begun some clever story work. I’d say for now that it’s worth buying at this price, but if the current art team stays on, I may slide Batgirl off my pull list. Mike Marts: Please send back Garbett and Scott!

Grade: C+

-DS Arsenault

Filed under: DC Comics Tagged: | DC Comics, Dustin Nguyen, Guy Major, Derek Fridolfs, Comics, Reviews, comic books, Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, Oracle, comic reviews, Lee Garbett, Trevor Scott, Gotham, DS Arsenault, Bryan Q. Miller, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Mike Marts, Proxy, Batgirl #15, Batgirl #15 review

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By: Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Edgar Delgado (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

Spider-Girl back-up by: Paul Tobin (writer), Clayton Henry (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Nathan Crosby (editor)

The Story: Spidey enters the Big Time with Avengers action that was better than anything that has been in the actual Avengers comics, science prowess, love and a new job.

What’s Good: This is the perfect Marvel comic book.  It has everything: Iconic character?  Check.  Big action?  Check.  Guest stars that make sense for the story?  Check.  Good characterization?  Check.  Creative use of classic villains?  Check.  Outstanding art?  Check.  Friendly to a new reader while not dumbing it down for long-timers?  Check.   Absence of decompressed storytelling and endless talking heads?  Check.  And this is the biggie…  Feels tied into today’s Marvel Universe?  BIG CHECK.

This comic really has it all.  What makes Spider-Man special are the contrasts.  In this issue we see him function as an Avenger, issuing orders (in typical “aw shucks” mode) to Thor and Iron-Man and using his genius-level brain to solve a problem that is befuddling Reed Richards and Tony Stark.  But, after this reminder of what a powerful hero Spider-Man is, we see that Peter Parker is broke and has nowhere to sleep.  Not even his friends really want to let him crash because he’s gone to the well too often.

What makes Peter special is that he COULD be Tony Stark and have the riches and women, but his sense of responsibility to be Spider-Man requires him to make sacrifices that make his private life so painful.  When is the last time that Tony Stark stood up a dinner date because he was beating up muggers?  This is why we cheer for Peter Parker and love it when things occasionally go right for him.  And they do start to swing his way in this issue….in a big way.  Not that it’ll last, but we can enjoy the moment.  As we transition from the Spidey “brain trust” of rotating writers to Dan Slott doing all the writing, it is so nice to see how clearly Slott understands why Spidey is special.

Humberto Ramos’ art is up to the task of telling this story with Slott.  Between he and Cuevas (on inks) they have made a really nice looking comic.  The characters are very nicely drawn in a cartooning style that works so much better for superheroes than any sort of photorealism.  There is great variety of line thickness, perspective, panel and layouts.  It is also very nice how they do the little things like not abusing splash pages and breaking panel borders in effective ways.  Bravo.

But what really sets this issue apart is that it happens NOW.  The story references daylight savings time (which happened last weekend).  It references recent story lines in Avengers, FF and Doomwar.  It references material from earlier issues of ASM and has copious editorial boxes referencing earlier issues.  Among the many things killing single issue comics is that they do not feel like they’re happening now or even in the same universe.  Kudos to Slott and the editorial staff for making an effort to be current with other Marvel stories and connecting the dots!  That’s especially important as Marvel seems to be sticking with a $3.99 price, because they need to make their comics better.  Better means a more coherent universe and less decompressed storytelling.

Finally, the Spider-Girl back-up is in no way dwarfed by the excellence of the main story.  That seems a tough task, but if you’ve read Tobin’s work on the Marvel Adventures book, you know he is a very good story teller.  Make sure to check out that title when it debuts next week.

What’s Not So Good: Not much.  It’s a shame to seem Michelle (the roommate) exit stage left.  And why didn’t Norah have a tie on?  Thought that was her trademark?  Those are the biggest quibbles with this issue.

Conclusion: Perfect comic book.  For those bitching about $3.99 comics, you won’t mind if they are all this good.

Grade: A

- Dean Stell

Filed under: Marvel Comics Tagged: | Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, Marvel, Amazing Spider-Man, Chris Sotomayor, Edgar Delgado, Joe Caramagna, review, Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, Clayton Henry, Paul Tobin, Dean Stell, Stephen Wacker, Amazing Spider man 648, Carlos Cuevas, Nathan Crosby, Amazing Spider-Man #648 review

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My pull list is way too long, so every week there are at least a few comics that I read that didn’t get a feature review from me or my colleagues here at WCBR.  Nonetheless, they deserve some kudos (or a warning sign) as a service to our loyal readers.

Strange Tales II #2 - What a star this was!  It was my pick of the week in a really strong week.  What you have here is an anthology featuring a bunch of independent creators taking a whack at our favorite Marvel characters.  The stories are all complete one-off, out-of-continuity stuff, but boy are they fun.  Keep an eye out for a left over issue of this when you head to the comic shop this week.  Grade: A-

X-Men: To Serve and Protect #1 – Marvel should really just have a series called “X-Men Anthology” that allows a variety of established and new creators to tell quickie stories in the current X-Men continuity.  Fun stuff abounds: Rockslide and Anole taking a Dark Knight turn and fighting crime vigilante style, Emma getting her trip to the spa interrupted by an over-libidoed Mandrill, Cyper being heroic (with art by Pepe Larraz who I really like)….  It’s all good.  Grade: B+

I, Zombie #7 – This series took a few issues to get going, mostly because it took Roberson awhile to get all of his toys out of the box.  It is a complex world that he has created.  But, now that it is humming along I’m really enjoying the antics of Gwen the zombie and her band of friends.  It has an almost Scooby-Doo feel (think I may have heard someone make that comparison on a podcast, but can’t remember who).  I wish there was more of a connection between the monster hunters and Gwyn though.  Perhaps there is a connection and I’ve just misplaced it in my brain?  Also….Mike Allred art!  Colors by Laura Allred.  This is the softest style in mainstream comics (if you consider Vertigo mainstream) and I love it.  Kudos to anyone who can draw a pretty lady in gravedigger overalls without resorting to heaving bosoms or having the outfit unbuttoned down to her navel.  Grade: B

Punisher: In the Blood #1 – Now that he isn’t Franken-Castle any more, we can have plain, old Punisher back in the Marvel 616 universe.  What you have here is a pretty classic intro to a Punisher story.  The main villain is Jigsaw and that’ll probably please classic Punisher fans who didn’t like the monstrous turn that Remender took them on.  Boschi really nails it from an art standpoint.  It’s a little unclear if Punisher is going to have an ongoing in the Marvel 616 universe as this is only a 6-issue mini.  The economy is NOT being kind to sales of B-list characters, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Punisher went to a series of minis.  Grade: B-

Iron Man – Thor #1 - I was pretty excited about this because it is written by Abnett & Lanning, but for some reason it didn’t stick to me at all.  I had to pull the issue out of the bag just now to remind myself what the story was about.  That’s not a good sign.  But, that happens when the villain isn’t revealed until the final page and now that I’ve done my remedial homework, it appears to be a story about Thor and Iron Man getting caught up in some plot with the High Evolutionary.  This could be fun because Abnett & Lanning should write this sort of story well.  I didn’t love the art.  It isn’t even remotely “bad”, but Eaton’s work looks very Deodato-y and that just isn’t a style I care for much with harsh, dark shadows even in sunny scenes.  I’ll probably keep getting this out of my faith in Abnett & Lanning.  Grade: C-

- Dean Stell

Filed under: Marvel Comics, Vertigo Tagged: | Marvel, Vertigo, Mike Allred, Laura Allred, Scot Eaton, Andy Lanning, Rick Remender, Roland Boschi, Dan Abnett, review, Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, Chris Roberson, Dean Stell, I Zombie, Pepe Larraz, Punisher in the Blood, X-Men To Serve and Protect #1, Punisher In the Blood #1, Strange Tales II, X-Men: To Serve and Protect, Iron Man - Thor, Iron Man/ Thor #1, Iron Man/ Thor #1 review, X-MEN: TO SERVE AND PROTECT # 1 review, PUNISHER: IN THE BLOOD #1 review

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Nov 10th 2010 By: Alan Kistler

There was a lot of awesomeness to take in during last week's DC Universe Online press event at Sony's offices in Austin, Tx., but one of the highlights of the trip was sitting down with signature story writer Marv Wolfman. The prolific Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths scribe has contributed hundreds of missions to the upcoming MMORPG, which will pit players against everyone from the Scarecrow in the sewers of Gotham, to Doomsday in Smallville, to Trigon in DC's underworld. ComicsAlliance Editor-In-Chief Laura Hudson and contributing correspondent Alan Kistler caught up with Wolfman to learn more about his experience making one of the most anticipated games of 2011 accessible to both current comic book fans and new players.

When asked about the difference between his comic book and videogame work, Wolfman compared his storytelling goals to that of a travel guide steering road trippers across the country, suggesting all of the best monuments and sites with the knowledge that the choice is ultimately up to those behind the wheel.

Wolfman also broke down the importance of making the game and its characters accessible to non comic readers, emphasizing the importance of making each hero and villain's motivations clear through their actions in each story.

"I had the same exact problem when I did a book called Crisis on Infinite Earths. That was aimed, very much, towards Marvel readers at the time, to try and show them how many great characters DC had. And you have to walk a very fine line where you are not disappointing any regular DC fans, but you're trying to make the characters clear enough for others."

Watch our full interview below:

Disclosure: Sony Online Entertainment provided for airfare, hotel, and meal costs for this visit.

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Nov 11th 2010 By: Caleb Goellner

It seems like every time we turn around the folks at Mighty Fine are making must-have merch in the mighty Marvel manner. Just last week we oogled over the site's wonderfully nutty Squirrel Girl shirts and now they've expanded an already robust line of novelty tees with four new '70s style designs inspired by black light poster dreams and magic motifs. Mighty Fine's four newest Marvel t-shits designs include "Dinner for Galactus," "Doctor Strange," "Thor Asgard" and a Spider-Man clad "NOO YAWK." Check out the rest after the jump.

Each tee carries Mighty Fine's standard $26 price tag and come in a variety of sizes. While the first three tees more cosmic elements to them, I think the more street-level Spider-Man print would be the best fit under a contemporary black light, by which I mean a crime scene investigation set in Miami.

[Via Robot6]

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Writers: Ed Brubaker, Peter David, Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, and Mike Carey

Pencilers: Mark Silvestri, Billy Tan, Scot Eaton, Humberto Ramos, and Chris Bachalo

There probably will be spoilers in this about the entire Messiah Trilogy. Thou hath been warned!

Last week I wrote about Endangered Species and how it set the tone for Messiah Trilogy and everything that follows. Now it’s time to get into the real meat of the Messiah Trilogy with the crossover event Messiah Complex.  Rereading this for probably the 100th time, I can say this right off the bat—it still gets better with every read. Complex is simply one of the best stories to have come out in comics in years. Out of all the major events in the past ten years, I honestly hold Messiah Complex as the best. Does it have its faults? Of course. Every story no matter how well told will always have a few glitches, no matter how minor. But just looking at the entire Messiah saga, Complex has the strongest writing and the strongest art (Well, Messiah War has fantastic art, but it’s not exactly the same. Next week…next week). So before we get into the story and how it works in this trilogy as a whole—and the implications of some of the scenes/motifs—let’s look at this awesome creative team.

First off, did you see that list of writers? If that’s not a perfect group of writers, then I don’t know what is. Just going by these names, anyone who picks up this graphic novel should know that they’re in for a great read. Each writer is great—and more importantly, they’re consistent. Of course it’s important for a writer to stand out on their own, but in a crossover—especially one as big as Messiah Complex and the later Second Coming, consistency in style and tone is extremely important. It may be five writers, but the story should read one. The reader should not notice a change in writers, and the fact that Brubaker and company were able to do this not only proves how talented they are, but also show their ability to work with other great writers—knowing when to pick up traits or possibly give suggestions—and create a great story as one. In one of the two sequels to Messiah Complex, we’ll definitely see instances of one writer not wanting to play with the others because the abrupt shifts in characterization and tone scream at the reader (I’ll keep you guessing for now, but I’m sure most of you know which story I’m talking about).  I am all for individuality, and if you read all these writers’ respective books, you can get that. But seeing so many talented people working together is one of the biggest treats of the book.

A similar rule applies to the art, but not to the same degree. For the most part, I don’t think that new readers will see much a difference between Tan, Silvestri, Eaton, and Bachalo—but Ramos certainly sticks out. For new readers, this can be distracting until they’ve read it enough or have read enough comics to pick up the more subtle differences between the other artists. Once that distinction is made, the pairing of artist to series makes a lot of sense. Each series—New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and X-Men—had different functions. Uncanny set the groundwork for each act, and Billy Tan’s artwork is certainly the most defined. X-Factor developed the act and generally took it into darker territories, Eaton’s art and the inker carried that through. The New X-Men chapters always served as the penultimate to each act where something pretty crazy would build up, and Ramos’s style fits perfectly to that. And finally, in the X-Men chapter, we have the closure of each act, but left with a little uncertainty, Bachalo brings that feeling.

But let’s get into the actual story and how it works for the Messiah Trilogy. Obviously, Messiah Complex is the most important chapter as it gives the most important character—the mutant messiah baby, who as of right now, doesn’t even have a name (she gets her name in the Cable series). From Endangered Species, we know just how impossible a new mutant would be, so when Cerebra freaks out because of a mutant birth, then it’s a very big deal. And everyone is trying to get this baby. The Mauraders (Sinister’s folk) and Purifiers have an all out war trying to get the baby first, and the X-Men arrive at the scene barely 30 minutes late, after an entire town has been destroyed. But neither the Mauraders or the Purifiers have the child—Cable got to the baby first. He just needs to regroup with the X-Men and all will be well, right? Not so much. Before Messiah Complex, it turned out that half of his team were traitors. Oh, and then Bishop, one of his allies on the X-Men, begins to hunt him down to kill the baby. And then there’s that small matter of Cyclops—Cable’s own father—putting together a task force to reclaim the baby and kill his son. So, Cable’s trust in the X-Men is a little short. But everything is made clear to both Cable and Cyclops, and Cyclops decides to trust in his son, sending him and the newborn baby into the future. Oh, there’s also a giant metallic dinosaur thing hunting them the entire time too, not to mention Jamie Madrox and Layla Miller being sent to the future to investigate what the Messiah Child meant for mutant kind, and Xavier is shot in the head by Bishop.

So, Predator X—this seems like the most random element of the story, and it could easily be mistaken for something thrown in just to make the story more “cool.” It actually serves a very important purpose. No matter how much Cyclops prepares—and most people will remember this story as the story where Cyclops grew a pair—there will always be something he just can’t anticipate. Like a 2 ton metal dinosaur that eats mutants trying to snack on the newborn messiah baby. Every player in Messiah Complex has an endgame. Bishop wants to make sure his future doesn’t happen. Cable knows that the Messiah child will ultimately save everyone, and wants to bring her away from the madness. Sinister and Mauraders…well, it’s not entirely clear, but it’s obvious that this baby is going to be extremely powerful—why wouldn’t they want it? Mystique wants the baby because in a prophecy by Destiny, she learns that the baby will save Rogue, her dying daughter—and Mystique nearly kills the baby to do this. The Purifiers want to kill the baby so that they can squash the mutant species. And the X-Men want their savior. What does Predator X want? A snack. Predator X is chaos on four legs with some fierce teeth. There is no way to prepare for that except to fight it head on. Literally—Wolverine jumped into this thing’s mouth to gut it from the inside out.

About the future—this is actually an important theme to the Messiah Trilogy. In Endangered Species, Beast went to Forge who built a device to monitor the future, showing that in all futures, there are no more mutants. In Messiah Complex, two possible futures spring up. This is what gives Cyclops the hope he needs to make the impossible decisions (like sending Wolverine to kill his son). So why not take a man who can be in three places at one and send two of his dupes into the possible futures? Granted, they didn’t expect the ten year old (or however old she was at this point) Layla Miller to stowaway with one of the dupes. We only see one of the two possible futures, in which mutants are put in camps. It’s Bishop’s future, and after a horrifying experience, Madrox returns—without Layla—to the present to warn them. Of course he’s too late, but at least Cyclops knows it wasn’t his son who caused the sentinels guarding the mansion to turn on them (oh yeah, that happened too—seriously, a lot happens in this story). Going into the future will actually be an important factor in each part of the trilogy. Messiah War, takes place entirely in the future, and in Second Coming, X-Force must go to the future to save the present.  And of course, Messiah Complex ends with Cable and the baby going into the future. This is where a plot device works very well as a metaphor. What is the Messiah Trilogy truly about? The future. It’s about a hopeless cause finally having the chance to survive and actually have a future. In Endangered Species, where there was no hope, there were no futures. But now that there is hope, one can dream of the future. And in the comic world, why just dream of the future? Why not go there?

Finally, there’s the apparent death of Professor X at the hands of Bishop. Of course, he doesn’t die—but his body disappearing in the last frame is kind of weird. Cyclops actually declares at that point that there are no X-men anymore. But why? Why end this story of hope with the temporary disbanding of the heroes? Why end it with the father of the X-Men dead on the ground? Wasn’t this supposed to be a story about hope being rekindled? Yet here we have the heroes giving up, and the next page is Cable and the baby alone in the future with Cable telling her it’s only going to get harder. What happened to the hope? Yes, a mutant baby has arrived, and there is hope, but not much. Hope must be saved for later. The X-Men are only at the beginning of a very dark time. The ending of each story is very important to how we will feel when the trilogy does end. If Endangered Species, Messiah Complex, and Messiah War all ended with hope, then how could Second Coming actually end? The entire trilogy and lead-in was crafted in a very effective way to tease hope to us. That’s why Endangered Species ended with Beast literally burying his species and why Messiah Complex ends with the X-Men giving up on the dream that Xavier carried for so long. And Cyclops especially had to give up this dream if he was ever going to find a way to truly lead his people. As he eventually says to Xavier: “you had a dream, I have a plan.” Cyclops had to stop dreaming of the future and start planning for it. Next week, I’ll discuss the ending of Messiah War.

There are two more things that deserve mentioning, both having to deal with death. In the course of the events, Caliban, a mutant tracker who can locate any mutant, dies protecting Warpath. Again, the X-writers chose the best character for this. Sure, Caliban wasn’t the most important of X-men, but take a look at his power—he finds mutants. His death symbolizes that they are never going to find new mutants or a cure for M-Day, as Beast tried so hard to do. Instead, mutants will arrive unexpectedly as the baby did.

And lastly—and big spoiler warning if you haven’t read Second Coming—the first face that they focus on in the crossover is none other than Nightcrawler, who perishes in the third part of the trilogy. What’s amazing about this is it shows that the story was indeed writing itself. At this point, the writers weren’t planning on killing Nightcrawler—and we’ll talk more about his death in a couple weeks—but for some reason, Silvestri and Brubaker decided that the first face we needed to focus on was Kurt’s—who represents faith in the X-verse. It’s a bit of dramatic irony that it starts with Kurt. This also proves that the trilogy is worth rereading. There are a dozen little connections like this that maybe the writers planned and maybe they didn’t. But when you read the entire trilogy and open it up again to see the face of a beloved character that died? It ties it all together in a beautiful way.

Next week we’ll get into the heavily criticized Messiah War—the “Two Towers” installment of the trilogy. Until then, I’m going to ice my hands. I think this may have been one of the longest reviews I’ve written. Thanks for reading my crazy ideas.

-Roman Colombo Filed under: Marvel Comics, The Graphic Novel Reader Tagged: | X-Men, Humberto Ramos, Chris Bachalo, Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Craig Kyle, X-Force, Peter David, Christopher Yost, Cable, Billy Tan, X-Men: Second Coming, Roman Colombo, X-Men Messiah Complex, X-Men Messiah War, Mark Silvestri

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Nov 10th 2010 By: Caleb Goellner

Webcomics: Jess Fink's guest strip at Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant is so, so wonderful. Read it, won't you? [Hark! A Vagrant]
Geography: A neighborhood in Zaragoza, Spain is naming their streets after videogames, starting with the 25-year-old Super Mario Bros. Why? Because they're awesome, is why. [The Daily What]

Music: What's Bear McCreary's secret to scoring truly scary zombies from the south? Electric banjo. [MTV Splash Page]

Toys: New One Piece miniatures Give fans a look into the manga's future with detail aplenty. [Tomopop]
Animation: New clips from the upcoming "Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam" short from the new DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection are making the rounds online. Billy Batson is pretty great in them. [CBR] Tech: Hasbro has a Viewmaster-like pair of 3D goggles in the pipeline to augment iPhone content. Using them looks pretty goofy, but if they capitalize on their Marvel license, I can envision more than a few comic fans pressing them to their faces. [Yahoo]

Art: Illustrator Gene Gonzales sketches the classic Spider-Man love triangle. [Gene Gonzales] Technology: Could Hanvon's color E-ink tablets threaten the iPad for comic book supremacy down the road? [Bleeding Cool] Toys: Speaking of Hasbro, the toy company has revealed its upcoming 3.75" Iron Man 2 "Movie Series" Wave 1 For 2011, which primarily consists of repainted Iron Man and War Machine armors. Still, it's a good chance to score some new colorworks and that Hammer Drone prototype doesn't look too shabby. [MarvelousNews]

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Nov 10th 2010 By: Caleb Goellner

Back in June DC Comics took its first step toward a more digital future by releasing a signature digital comics sales app via comiXology on mobile devices like the iPad and iPhone. Today, as reported by DC's The Source, the publisher is taking its branding even further with a DC Comics online storefront powered by comiXology that further emphasizes DC's digital convergence at home and on the go. What's more, the new site is stocked with freshly digitized versions of classics like Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns along with free first issues of established series like The Authority to give new readers a convenient starting point.

While DC's new digital storefront itself doesn't seem to be a huge shift from its existing setup at Comics by comiXology, an emphasis on publisher-specific branding and a slate of high profile digital releases is a solid approach to getting new eyes into the DCU.

DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee sums up the benefits of the new system at The Source:

"We¹re thrilled today to announce the opening of our brand new DC Comics storefront. What does the latest development to our ongoing Digital Publishing Initiative mean for you, the ever-devout DC Comics fan? Well, for one--it¹s going to allow you all the ability to purchase and download comics from your desktop and laptop computers from our very own website. And because we want to make the purchasing, storage and management of your comics digital library as easy and convenient as possible, we¹ve made sure that our storefront is powered by comiXology which means if you buy a DC digital comic like the chartbusting Death of Superman on your Mac or PC at home, you can read the very same series on-the-go using your iPhone, iPad or laptop using our DC app without paying any a penny more or creating any new logins. Or vice versa."

Aside from The Dark Knight Returns and The Death of Superman story arcs, Lee also hails the digital release of Identity Crisis and Superman: For Tomorrow, plus titles such as Transmetropolitan, The Invisibles and 100 Bullets.

What's interesting about these selections is the fairly balanced number of releases from DC proper, Vertigo and the now shuttered Wildstorm. Of the eight items specifically mentioned in DC's announcement, four are from DC proper (three if you don't count TDKR, as it's an "Elseworlds" story) while three are from Vertigo and one is from Wildstorm. Despite whatever restructuring shakeups have occurred at the publisher in recent months, this balance sends a message about the kind of audience DC thinks or hopes will be attracted to spending money in the digital space at this point in time.

DC didn't list content pricing in its announcement, but it's likely that the $1.99 per issue precedent established on comiXology will stay in place in its new online storefront.

[Via The Source]

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Nov 9th 2010 By: Caleb Goellner

Having already had a "mass effect" on the Xbox 360 (*Haw!) some months back, the sci-fi videogame hit Mass Effect 2 is now headed to Sony's PlayStation 3 with more than 6 hours of bonus missions and an "interactive comic" from Dark Horse Comics. Is it a motion comic? A digital comic? Part of the game itself? Dark Horse had no official comment when we asked them, but one thing's for sure, it's not a re-skinned version of the publisher's successful Mass Effect: Redemption miniseries.

BioWare producer Jesse Houston confirmed the interactive comic on the publisher's forums a few days back:

We've talked briefly about the Interactive Comic. BioWare Edmonton (the group that made Mass Effect 2) teamed up with the fine folks at Dark Horse Comics to create an interactive backstory. While I can't release all the details about this yet, what I can tell you is that we want to create a stunning visual experience that not only tells the core story elements of Mass Effect 1, but also is fully interactive allowing you to be faced with some of the major choices which will have consequences your Mass Effect universe. This interactive comic's initial release will be exclusive to PS3 owners who would be otherwise unable to realize the full effect of choice in the Mass Effect universe and will be included on the Cerberus Network.

The game doesn't arrive until 2011, but this element could entice players who completed its 360 incarnation to seek the additional comic content. While Dark Horse has yet to officially comment on the nature of the interactive comic, considering the success of "Redemption" on digital devices like the iPhone, it seems like the new material (or something like it) could stand a chance of transitioning to other outlets like the PSP.

[Via Joystiq]

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Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali, one of the most improbable crossovers in the history of comics, has been reissued in a deluxe hardcover edition this week. Written by comics icons Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams with artwork by Adams and Dick Giordano and Terry Austin (superstars in their own rights), Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali finds the Man of Steel and Earth's greatest fighter battling for the right to defend our planet in a contest against a malevolent alien race. Yes! While many know of it, few have actually read this gem of 1978, and so we're happy to offer some exclusive preview pages from the remastered Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali, which you can check out after the jump (before going out and buying this book before it goes out of print).

Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali
Written by DENNIS O'NEIL & NEAL ADAMS • Art by NEAL ADAMS, DICK GIORDANO & TERRY AUSTIN • Cover by NEAL ADAMS

The legendary science fiction epic that brought together The Man of Steel and The Greatest is back in two spectacular hardcover editions!

In 1978, an alien race called the Scrubb demands that Earth's greatest champion battle their world's own greatest fighter. Both Superman and Muhammad Ali step forward - and to determine who is truly Earth's greatest fighter, Superman temporarily loses his powers and faces Ali in the ring. Ultimately, the duo must work together to defeat the Scrubb, with Ali taking on their champion while Superman battles their space-armada.

The deluxe edition hardcover is printed at 7.0625" x 10.875" and features a new cover by Neal Adams, previously unpublished artwork and more!

Superman 96pg. Color Hardcover $19.99 US

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Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Strange Tales II #2 – I love anthologies and seeing a bunch of indy creators get to play with our favorite Marvel characters from different eras was a real treat.  Runners-up: Taskmaster #3 & Scarlet #3

Most Anticipated: Amazing Spider-Man #648 – This is the first issue without the rotating team of creators that have entertained us for the last several years.  It will be very interesting to see what Dan Slott will do with this title as the primary creative force.

Other picks: American Vampire #8, Unwritten #19, She-Hulks #1, Halcyon #1, Avengers Prime #3

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Superboy #1 – This week was all about Jeff Lemire, as his two ongoings were the front runners for pick of the week.  In the end though, Superboy gets it, if only for the novelty of being new.  That said, this is a great book, one that combines Lemire’s idiosyncracies and unique talents with his clear love for the DCU.  It’s a thoughtful, high-quality product, but one that’s also written by a writer whose excitement is utterly infectious.

Most Anticipated: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 – I don’t know a damned thing about the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents property beyond what the solicitation text has told me about this issue.  What I do know a lot about are the creative team of Nick Spencer and CAFU, which is a ridiculously good one.  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent’s hook is a cool one but, more than that, I’m hoping that the fact that this is a relaunch of a long dormant property will allow Spencer and CAFU a good amount of freedom, as both are very, very good at what they do.

Other Picks: Amazing Spider-Man #648, Thor #617, Chew #15, American Vampire #8, Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #6, New Avengers #6, the Unwritten #19 Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, Avengers Prime #3, Amazing Spider man 648, She-Hulks 1, Thor 617, American Vampire #8, Unwritten #19, Halcyon #1, Chew #15, Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #6, New Avengers #6, the Unwritten #19, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1

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Nov 10th 2010 By: Laura Hudson

Peter Parker has had a rough time of it in recent years, notably selling his marriage to the devil and erasing significant portions of his past to save his dying aunt. While this irked many fans, the following "Brand New Day" arc has given us a slew of entertaining stories, and the upcoming "Big Time" storyline promised to help Parker will shake off his chronic underdog status and use his vast talents to achieve some tangible success in the world. It's been a lot of fun, not having to constantly tune our ears to the frequency of despair, say, or cross-reference by the longitude and latitude of a heart in agony.

So it was with trepidation and sighs that we greeted the new teaser cover of Marvel Previews, which reads: DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN. So is Peter Parker really going to die in February? That's certainly what we're meant to think, but we're banking on this being some sort of elaborate metaphor. Maybe the Spider-Man has to die... so the man can live. Or something. Your guess is as good as ours, at this point. Tell us what you think this means in the comments.

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By Gail Simone (writer), Alvin Lee and Adriana Melo (pencils), Jack Purcell and JP Mayer (inks), Nei Ruffino (letters)

The Story: Black Canary is forced to issue a challenge to Shiva, a fight Dinah is almost certain she won’t be able to survive. This crisis is replaced by another equally vexing one when Huntress steps in and makes the challenge in her stead.

What’s Good: First, let me say how refreshing it is to have a small, two-issue arc like this. Not that epic five and six issue arcs are bad, but it seems like every book I read lately is going that route, so a nice, simple short story (albeit one that I’m sure leads into bigger things) is very much appreciated.

I really enjoyed the way Simone handled Huntress in this issue. The way she sees herself vs. Black Canary is unexpectedly moving (although I really wish they had used a line other than the overly blatant, “you have people who love and need you…I don’t.” Wee bit oversimplified and emotionally manipulative for my taste), and it also nails Huntress’ protective and impulsive nature very well.

The climactic fight between Huntress and Shiva is quite good and very well scripted; it’s a great example of a comic book fight scene done right. Simone and Lee/Melo make sure that the reader knows where all participants are at all times, and that each panel flows logically from one to the next. That’s starting to feel like a lost art, and I’m glad to see it well executed here. Clearly, Simone and her art team are on the same page.

What’s Not So Good: Not many; this was a very solid and exciting issue. I have to say though, Huntress ordering, “go get me my work clothes,” followed by a panel of her zipping herself into her hilariously tight and skimpy costume had me rolling on the floor. Only in the comics do “work clothes” involve putting on less than what you are currently wearing. Batman can get away with a line like that; Huntress, not so much.

Conclusion: While it still doesn’t reach the heights of Secret Six or Simone’s early Wonder Woman issues, this is still a very well executed book filled with great character moments and an excellent fight scene. Despite the fact that this issue closes a story arc, it’s not a bad place to go if you aren’t familiar with the Birds of Prey; this issue is a better introduction to them and their various quirks than #1 was.

Grade: B-

-SoldierHawk

Filed under: DC Comics Tagged: | Gail Simone, Adriana Melo, Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, Nei Ruffino, Jack Purcell, Birds of Prey, Alvin Lee, JP Mayer, Birds of Prey #6 review, Birds of Prey #6

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As ComicsAlliance has reported, Batman Live, a big-budget live-action stage show, is coming soon to arenas all over the world, kicking off in Europe next year and making its way to America sometime in 2012. And as you might expect, I'm planning on being first in line to see this thing. After all, when I missed out on Pokemon Live ten years ago, I swore I'd never let an opportunity like this pass me by again.

Thanks to DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, we already know a little about what the show's going to include -- a cast of 45 characters including villains like the Joker and Catwoman, a hundred-foot stage with different sets including Arkham Asylum, and a story centered on the origin of Dick Grayson as Robin. But with 9 months before it debuts, I imagine there's still a lot of details up in the air. That's why today, in my capacity as the Internet's Foremost Batmanologist, I'm offering up ten things Batman Live needs to have to be as awesome as it oughtta be.

Let's be honest here, folks: As much genuine, completely un-ironic excitement as I have for this show, I'm at least a decade removed from the target audience. This is going to be a show for kids, and while I'm completely okay with that, I'm hoping that the creators of the show take the opportunity to do something special to make it memorable for them.

So since we already know the plot's going to revolve around Robin, why not go the extra mile and give one of the kids in the audience the thrill of a lifetime by bringing him or her on stage to become the Caped Crusader's stalwart sidekick?

This would, of course, come with a pretty hefty set of problems -- not the least of which being the stack of lawsuits you'd be inviting by dragging a child on stage and simulating the murder of his or her parents at a circus, let alone the hassles of getting the choreography right -- but I think it'd be worth the effort. After all, bringing kids into the magical world of super-heroics and then having an evil clown pretend to beat them to death with a crowbar in front of 10,000 people at the end of Act II?
That's the sort of memory that lasts a lifetime. No matter how much therapy you get.

At this point, we've been told several times that unlike Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark -- the other headline-grabbing super-hero adaptation for the stage, which is scheduled to hit Broadway last summer this month by 2011 sometime before the eventual heat-death of the universe -- Batman Live will not be a musical.

Really though, what's a stage show without at least one catchy tune? Even if it's just dramatic cues to highlight the action, there's bound to be music in this, so why not go all out with it? With the first round of tickets going on sale tomorrow it's a little late in the game to start writing songs, but here's the beauty of it: Ywu don't have to! From the 1966 TV show theme to the recent "Mayhem of the Music Meister," there are already plenty of songs to choose from!

Personally, I was strongly considering advocating for Prince's classic "Batdance" -- if only so thwat we can get that "Vicky Vale... Vick-Vick-Vicky Vale" sample etched into a new generation of minds -- but when it all comes down to it, there's really no choice. It's got to be Batman Beyond's "A Superstitious Cowardly Lot."

Heck, you could pretty much base the entire show around that video. That thing's good enough to get you a Tony, a Grammy and a Cable Ace award, and I don't think they even exist anymore. That's how awesome it is.

One of the nice things about a touring arena show is that you can adjust each performance to suit the audience, and I've seen enough pro wrestling in my lifetime to know that the easiest way to do that is to tailor lines to fit your location. Now, you could accomplish the basics pretty easily (say, by having the Joker claim to be behind the local sports team's losing season), but why not go a step further and actually change the way the characters talk to suit the regional dialect?

Batman is, after all, the character that any of us could be -- well, any of us who were born with a photographic memory, a preternatural aptitude for athletics and a trillion-dollar trust fund, anyway -- so keep the illusion up by making it seem like Batman's from, say, Boston...

The lines could be matched up to any city on the tour, and believe me, people would love it. I mean, I live in South Carolina, and I'd pay pretty much anything you wanted to hear Batman say he was fixin' to save Gotham City right quick, right after he finished up a glass of sweet tea.

All right, look: I don't want to hear Batman shill for anything but justice any more than you do, but this is a matter of economic necessity. Tickets to this thing are already going to be expensive, and I'll take pretty much anything that'll knock a couple bucks off, even if it involves Alfred tricking a reluctant Dick Grayson into staying at Wayne Manor by offering him a delicious delivery pizza... that's actually a DiGiorno. You guys can have that one for free.

Plus, if you're taking a kid to this thing, the fact is that you're going to be buying some merch. Wouldn't you rather it had an actual storyline purpose?

"Once again I've defeated you and saved the city, Joker! And I couldn't have done it without the help of this commemorative t-shirt!"

"Curse you and curse those shirts, Batman! They're the ultimate weapon in your anti-crime arsenal!"

"That's right. In fact, I'd say anyone who purchased one of these for $24.99 in the lobby (Visa and MasterCard accepted, no checks) wouldn't just be an ally in my fight against evil... but also my best friend."

Not gonna lie, folks: That's a sales pitch that would work just as well today as it would've when I was six.

According to the press release, the Batcave is going to be one of the sets featured in the live show, so odds are, they're building Batman's three most recognizable trophies already. Because really, nothing says "grim avenger of the night"...

...like an oversized penny.

Point being, if if we take Chekov's gun to its logically awesome conclusion, there's no reason at all to show us a giant robotic Tyrannosaurus without actually having it get involved in the action. Just borrow one from Walking With Dinosaurs. They won't even miss it.

And speaking of Walking With Dinosaurs, if there's one thing we've learned from that show and broadway hits like Avenue Q, it's that stage shows are the most perfect venue for puppet-based entertainment since PBS. And they're perfect for Batman.

Not only do I think it would be hilarious to see an actual live-action Batman on stage smacking the living crap out of a bunch of puppets, but they'd actually fit thematically as well. Considering the fact that Batman's villains tend to be the scariest and most psychologically challenging foes in super-hero comics, could there be any more appropriate way to represent them than with a series of creepy, dead-eyed marionettes?

No. No there could not.

Plus, the Ventriloquist and Scarface, a villain who speaks through a murderous dummy already?

That guy would be a puppet operating another, smaller puppet. Consider your mind blown.

In mass media, super-heroes tend to trade on recognizable imagery. If you watch the movies, for instance, it's a big deal when Clark Kent pulls open his shirt to reveal the Superman logo beneath, or when Spider-Man pulls on his mask. With Batman, though, things are different: If you want to get the crowd pumped, then you need the power of Bat-Chest-Hair.

Now that is some raw manliness that we can all enjoy. Quick note to the actors who plan on playing Batman: You guys need to start doing crunches, like, last year. So get to it.

One more note if you decide to go this route: Make sure that while the shirt comes off, the mask stays on at all times.

All. Times.

Further explanation should not be necessary.

Because seriously, I have been waiting to see this again since I was eight:

And if neither one of the two Batman-based adult films is going to step in and pick up the slack, somebody's got to. It falls to you, Batman Live.

Now, most of these points, I'm pretty flexible on, and I'm willing to accept that many of them may not actually make Batman Live a better show. But there's one element I have utter confidence in. If the creators of Batman Live want to succeed, then they must include this:

One of Batman's greatest strengths as a character is that he has some of the best villains in comics, and with the huge cast being promised, it looks like that's something the producers of Batman Live intend to take advantage of. But while the obvious choices like Two-Face and the crowd-pleasers like Harley Quinn are great, if you really want to do it up right, then you need one man: The KGBeast.

The KGBeast is not only the best idea anyone has ever had for a Batman villain, it's quite possibly the best idea anyone has had for anything, ever. And he deserves the kind of showcase that only a live-action arena spectacular can provide. Why? Because he is a Communist assassin luchador who cut off his own hand and replaced it with a gun that is also a knife.

And that will put people in the seats, my friends. Believe it.

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