Batman: Under the Red Hood

Batman: Under the Red Hood came out last Tuesday, and me being the geek I am bought it on the first day and watched it.

Overall, I thought it was good but there were definitely some flaws.

First up was Joker's voice. He sounded more like Lex Luthor than the Joker, and it was obvious they were going for a Heath Ledger motif which didn't work well in animation (my friend, who feels about Joker the way I do about Batman, took particular issue with this).

Secondly, Dick Grayson's character design wasn't right. His hair was way too short and he was too buff for a lean acrobat.

The ending, while close to the one in the graphic novel, could have benefited from taking more from the original. A lot of the original punch was missing from this watered-down version.

The movie did have it's high points. The animation on the fight scenes and acrobatics was excellent, better even than some of the Justice League stuff. And Joker (however messed up they may have made him) had a fantastic scene with the Black Mask that made both me and my fellow comic nerd laugh for a good thirty seconds.

All in all, I rate this one around a 6.5/10.

Once I get a digital voice recorder (or figure out how to turn off the camera part of my webcam), me and Hanz, the fellow comic nerd, will be doing a full commentary on Under the Red Hood. This will serve as either the first or second episode of the podcast we're working on.

Ellis' Authority vs. Millar's Authority

Recently, I discovered that I'd read ever Batman book the library had. Since the Marvel universe looks completely confusing, and most of the other DC titles were checked out, I began my first foray into non-DC Comics titles. one of the first I picked up was The Authority.

Now having consumed the first run (all the library has, dang it), I'm chiming in on the Ellis-vs-Millar debate. I'm a little nervous to do it on a forum (have you heard some of the crazy people there? And I thought I was an uber nerd), but hey, that's what a blog is for.

Personally, I thought that while the Millar issues were a little clumsy, and definitely inelegant compared to Ellis' run, Millar's plots weren't as formulaic as Ellis'.

Millar might have been hampered by the fact that Jenny Sparks--the most kick-ass heroine ever--was dead, but that doesn't excuse his liberal use of dues ex machina at the end of issue #29. Also, Millar was sincerely lacking in character development for every one except Jenny Quantum, Midnighter, and Jack Hawksmore. I felt that he was too wrapped up in an awesome plot and accidentally painted himself into a corner.

However, he gets props for having a Apollo-cares-for-Midnighter scene, as opposes to the other way around (one of Ellis' big follies, and not unlike the case of them always depowering Superman in the first season of JL--Apollo simply came off as weak).

Ellis had his own share of problems. The first three or so storylines of the run ran basically along the same lines, and I even think the same Apollo-gets-beaten (sorry to harp on it but it seriously annoyed me) happened twice. Midnighter was pretty badass, though.

All in all, I think I preferred Ellis run. Millar's run was too problematic and a little too hamfisted for my tastes. The execution, ultimately, was shaky compared to Ellis' sure grasp of the characters. While Millar seemed to ignore all characterization in favor of his plot, but ultimately undermined himself because of the book's incomplete feel.

Why I Still Don't Trust Grant Morrison

My friend and I have been having an ongoing conversation (read: argument) over whether Grant Morrison should be forgiven, by virtue of Batman and Robin of the sin that was RIP. She say yes (she's a really big Damien Wayne fan) and I disagree.

10 reasons I still don't trust Morrison:

1. Final Crisis. I've never understood the whole New Gods thing, and this didn't help.

2. The whole need to put 70+ years of Batman stories (the good, the badm and the ugly) into a supposed 10 years of Bruce Wayne's career. Please. That's just not possible, even for a ninja.

3. Ever since he went on the Batman books, every other story arc has been The Event of the YEAR!!! I'm starting to get event fatigue from all of these Revolutionary! Important! Vital! stories

4. I never liked Talia/Bruce.

5. A shiny, happy Batman and an emo Robin. It was fun for awhile, but its getting old now.

6. He can't make up his mind on how to portray the Joker.

7. The Authority debacle. (Speaking of the Authority, I had a dream about Midnighter and Apollo last night. It made my day).

8. He seems to be stuck inside his own head. A five year long meta story? Seriously, dude?

9. Barbra and Dick stull aren't married. Not his fault, I know, but methinks that if Dick wasn't busy being Batman there would have been a little more on the romance front. Their engagement seems to be completely forgotten by DC at this point.

10. I still have no clue what the heck that was supposed to be at the end of Return of Bruce Wayne #2.

Decoding Brightest Day

DC just released this Brightest Day poster, which appears to be along the same lines as the Final Crisis  posters that were in the comics a few years back (wow, do you realize its been two years since Batman RIP?). I'm really crappy at the whole decoding symbolism thing, and quite frankly I was still scratch my head when the Final Crisis pages were explained. Still, if anyone wants to take a crack at it...

Green Lantern Team to Write Batman & Robin

Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason the creative team on Green Lantern Corps will be moving to Grant Morrison's creation Batman and Robin come November (for full story, see here).

I don't see this as an entirely bad thing. Morrison has done some great things on the book, but Tomasi and Gleason have made an interesting, enjoyable book out of Corps, if not a flagship title like Batman and Robin is.

I'm eager to see their take on the Dark Knight, especially since Bruce Wayne may be back in the book at that time. Tomasi's writing is crisp, although maybe a little light for Batman, and Gleason is a solid artist (definitely better than Kelly Jones).

Who Love the New Look?

I was fooling around with the CSS and I discovered how to make a background image. I'm still tinkering with it, but I think this is better then those robots, don't you?

P.S. If anyone has a comic-related picture send me the link and I'll put it up as the background. I have a feeling I'll be playing with this quite a bit.

'Inception' is Now Playing!

Even though its not a superhero movie, go out and support Christopher Nolan! Also, with 85% positive reviews it'll be a fun night.

WE'RE MOVING!!

Attention readers: On July 15th, 2010, The Batman World Blog will be changing names and URL's. The new name is Real Men Wear Tights (yes, you got that right) and the URL will be realmenweartights.blogspot.com (note--URL will not work until 7/15/10). All posts and comments will stay on the new blog.

The reason for the switch? Basically, I'm going to be covering the wider DCU and comics in general, though I'll still be all over anything Batman. Starting July 15, I'll hopefully be posting much more frequently and on a greater range of comics topics including a multitude of graphic novel reviews, upcoming movie news, and of course rants about DC (have you seen Wonder Woman's new costume? I don't care if it is Jim Lee, I give it two years, max).