Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
killermoth's LiveJournal:
Tuesday, December 25th, 2007
2:34 pm
Merry Christmas Everyone!! Here's the last page of the BATMAN RETURNS Golden Books storybook, with a markedly more upbeat ending than the actual film...
And here's the classic 1968 Filmation Christmas episode, "The Cool, Cruel Christmas Caper"...written by no less than Bob Haney himself!
Happy Thanksgiving! To celebrate Thanksgiving, I'd like to share with all of you one of my fondest Thanksgiving memories...celebrity impressionist Fred Travelena singing Anthony Newley's "The Joker" at the 1989 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade AS the Joker!
Okay...maybe not so fond. Still probably better than Heath Ledger, though.
"You go, Alfred!" It's become something of a Bat-tradition for the actors playing Alfred to appear in commercials in character. For instance, here's Alan Napier shilling for Fact Toothpaste...
And here's Michael Gough in a Diet Coke commercial...
When I worked at the UA Movies at the Sunrise Mall-what-ten years ago, someone tried to tell me this commercial didn't exist. So all I can say now is IN YOUR FACE, PERSON WHOSE NAME I CAN'T REMEMBER!
Also, is the soundtrack to this commercial supposed to be Alfred's musical interpretation of the Diet Coke jingle? I'd like to think so.
And here's Michael again, years later, in an On*Star commercial with some random dude playing Batman.
So you may have noticed that there's someone missing.
Yes, supposed Great Actor Michael Caine has yet to do a commercial as Alfred. Now I'm no fan of Caine's Alfred (as Scipio has pointed out, he makes Alfred sound like Bert the Chimney Sweep) but my opinion of him may improve if he did a commercial as Alfred for Mountain Dew or something. So I challenge you, Michael Caine... ...DO A COMMERCIAL AS ALFRED!
Haven't really had time to post on here lately because of school and all, for which I apologize. I mean, somebody must be reading this blog, since my "translation" of Turkish Batman has hilariously circulated all over the Internet. I hope to do some posts over the Christmas holiday. I at least want to to share with everyone the vintage Batman children's storybooks Tim's been finding for me lately, since there's some really great (and funny) stuff in them.
Right now, though I'd like to give a shout-out to my favorite comics blogs.
The Absorbascon is without a doubt my favorite comics blog in the world. Anyone who cares an iota about DC Comics should be reading it. Scipio Garling is a genius and I sincerely hope he gets to publish books about our favorite characters one day because he understands them like no other. God knows I'd buy them.
Seven Hells!, by Devon Sanders, is also gold and consistently funny and insightful. Anybody who gives respect to Hawkman, Olan Soule, Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle is tops in my books.
Scipio and Devon both participate in the Big Monkey Podcast, which has everything that makes their blogs great, except in audio form. It also features hilarious dramatic readings, which brings me back to the good old days of Power Records.
Speaking of audio, you should also be listening to Destinies on WUSB 90.1/FM, hosted by my pal Dr. Howard Margolin. Howard's been doing this longer than anybody, and he still does it best. You can listen on WUSB's website or on Captphil Online. (I'm in the July 22nd episode, discussing the Fantastic Four and hot puppet love, in case you're interested.)
Mike Wieringo 1963-2007 Mike Wieringo ("Ringo") died Sunday at age 44 of a sudden, massive heart attack. He was a vegetarian, he was a fit guy. He had lots more work to do in the comic industry. So, to say the least, it's a shock.
I first encountered Mike's artwork in the pages of THE FLASH in 1994. I knew the character from watching "Super Friends" and the short-lived CBS TV series, but he had never really sparked my interest. But something about the cartoony art (and I say that in the best possible way) and this new character Impulse on the cover made me give it a try. I didn't know Mike or the writer, Mark Waid, from a hole in the wall.
This Flash wasn't Barry Allen, the boring police scientist I knew from TV. He was Wally West, a guy who came from an extremely dysfunctional family with an abusive father. Who had a girlfriend who was just a tad smarter than him. Who had to live up to the legacy of his mentor, Barry Allen, while at the same time having to be a mentor himself to Barry's grandson.
In other words, he was a fairly normal guy...who just happened to be The Flash...The Fastest Man Alive.
If you think that this would all lead to just some more rehashed Peter Parker-esque angst, it didn't. Waid 's scripts combined the fun and imagination of the Silver Age of comics with the sophisticated storytelling techniques of today, and Mike was the perfect guy to illustrate them. His artwork just personified the sense of wonder that superhero comics should have in my book.
It was Mark and Mike's run on THE FLASH that really made me realize just how crap the "grim 'n' gritty" comics of the late 80's and early 90's were. I've talked to so many people who've told me that they stopped reading comics in the mid-90's because they were "bad." Well, that's because they were looking for quality in soulless all-pin-up Image comics and the latest incomprehensible X-Men crossover. They should have been reading THE FLASH. In a way, Mark and Mike's run on THE FLASH paved the way for a resurgence of amazing books at DC, like James Robinson and Tony Harris' STARMAN, Doug Monech and Kelly Jones' BATMAN, Jerry Ordway's POWER OF SHAZAM, Grant Morrison and Howard Porter's JLA, and KINGDOM COME by Alex Ross and Mark himself. Hell, I'm still reading THE FLASH thirteen years later because of it.
I did get to meet Mike once at a convention in '95-'96 or so. I didn't know he was going to be at this particular convention so I didn't have anything for him to sign. Weirdly enough, I found a copy of a comic that Mike had done the cover for called SABRETOOTH CLASSICS on a nearby spinner rack. (yes, unbelievably, the industry was once able to support a comic that reprinted random appearances of an X-Men villain. And even more unbelievably, I bought an X-Men comic book.) He was a very gracious, charming guy and signed it for me. He had actually never seen the comic before, and jokingly mentioned that Marvel-ever the class act-had flipped the artwork without telling him.
Rob gave me a collection of recent Spider-Man stories that Mike had illustrated this Christmas. To be honest, I wasn't too crazy about the stories-I won't be becoming a Marvel Zombie anytime soon- but I was pleased that Mike's artwork was just as great as ever. He invested Spider-Man with a sense of buoyancy despite the rather bleak storyline he was involved in.
And now he's gone. And if you've finished reading this, I appreciate it. Because even though you never saw Mike Wieringo on the red carpet on E! like Tobey Maguire and Christian Bale, he touched lives just the same.
Not Reading Manhunter? Well, You Should Be! One of my favorite books is Marc Andreyko's MANHUNTER. Since it seems to be in danger of getting cancelled every five months, I thought I'd do a little to promote it. I'll give you a rundown of the first two issues (available in the MANHUNTER: STREET JUSTICE trade paperback) to give you a taste...
MANHUNTER focuses on sassy chain-smoking lady attorney Kate Spencer. A divorced mom, she's hardly the cookie-cutter bimbo that we see in most superhero comics. Frustrated when Batman and Starman's old nemesis Copperhead gets away scott free on a technicality, she steals an old Darkstar uniform and Azrael's gauntlets from holding and sets off to take him down.
Giddy from defeating Copperhead, she returns home and dreams of breaking into Arkham and killing Batman's Rogues-a dream that quickly turns into a nightmare when Batman arrives! Bats tells her that's no way for a hero to act, and a guilty Kate awakes in a cold sweat as issue #2 begins...
These next few pages are a prime example of why I love MANHUNTER...how many superheroines have to worry about nicotine fits and where to store their costume (all while wearing sensible underwear, no less? Okay, I'll admit I have a bit of a fanboy crush on Kate Spencer...) You got me. And what does she see in that jerk Green Arrow, anyway? (It's the beard. Chicks dig the beard.) But anyway...will Kate give in to her thirst for justice? Or will she rise to Batman's standards? Read MANHUNTER: STREET JUSTICE to find out!
Batman Meets Super King Batman appears on a cable wrestling show in the 1970's and encounters a new menace.
I think this video pretty much speaks for itself, but I would like to say if DC Direct released a figure of Undercover Batman with windbreaker, I would buy it.
OK, so nearest I can tell, Turkish Dick Grayson calls Turkish Bruce Wayne, who's in bed being watched by Turkish Alfred (who in Turkey is a woman) to tell him Turkish Batman and Robin are needed. Turkish Bruce then jumps out of bed in his tightie whities. Turkish Alfred is shocked. Fully dressed now, Turkish Bruce finds Turkish Dick, Turkish Barbara Gordon and a woman sleeping on his floor. Then Turkish Commissioner Gordon calls on the Turkish Bat-Phone, and Turkish Bruce and Dick turn into Turkish Batman and Robin and get into the Turkish Batmobile while the James Bond theme plays. Then we cut back to Turkish Police Headquarters where Turkish Commissioner Gordon (who has shaved off his moustache in the interim) gets a call from his doctor that he has a bad prostate. He is so upset by this that he tells Turkish Chief O' Hara to leave the room. Meanwhile, Turkish Egghead has captured Turkish Vicki Vale. Turkish Batman and Robin arrive at Turkish Egghead's mansion and fight a bunch of Turkish goons, but first they take their Turkish Bat-Capes off for some reason. Their punches are really loud. Batman saves Turkish Vicki from the evil Turkish Egghead. Turkish Vicki is in her underwear, probably because the script was written by Turkish Frank Miller. Turkish Batman takes his eyes off Turkish Vicki's Turkish Hanes Her Ways long enough to notice that Turkish Robin is getting his Turkish ass handed to him by the Turkish goons. Turkish Batman rescues Turkish Robin and then, just like in the American movies, Turkish Batman is so loopy from a woman making goo-goo eyes at him that he reveals his secret identity to Turkish Vicki. They kiss. The end.
...tvshowsondvd.com just announced that Warners is releasing Filmation's The New Adventures of Superman and The New Adventures of Batman on DVD June 26th, with commentaries from Mr. Lou Scheimer himself!
The New Adventures of Superman is the first superhero television cartoon ever. CBS, heady with the success of ABC's Batman as a mid-season replacement, ordered the series from the unproven Filmation studio for September of 1966. I first saw these cartoons on a videotape from Warners' "Super Powers Collection" that Tim duped from a rental copy in the mid-80's (remember, this is when videotapes cost a LOT of money.) Later, I was able to tape most of the series off of USA and later, the Cartoon Network as part of "The Batman/Superman Adventures" package WB put together to showcase the Filmation/Hanna-Barbera DC cartoons in the mid-late 90's.
These cartoons are pretty silly in a lot of ways, but they also accurately reflect the Mort Weisigner era of Superman. They also don't look very good, because 1) Filmation had never done an animated series before and they were still learning, and 2) these were the first Superman cartoons done since the Famous Studios ones from the 40's released by Paramount (though granted, if Paramount had kept making Superman cartoons, they probably would've ended up looking like these anyway.) Filmation, in a deft move, got the cast of the Superman radio show to reprise their roles-Bud Collyer as Superman/Clark, Joan Alexander as Lois, Jack Grimes as Jimmy, and Jackson Beck as the narrator (the actors probably had some say in the stories, too, as Beany the office boy, a character played by Jackson Beck who only appeared on the radio show, appeared in the cartoon.) The cartoon marked the first appearances of the Parasite, Brainiac (who comically was smashed to bits by Superman ever time they appeared!), Mr. Mxyzptlk, Toyman, and the Prankster outside of the comics. Fun overall, and a great opportunity to hear the vocal stylings of Bud Collyer, my second-favorite Superman after Christopher Reeve.
The New Adventures of Batman, however, is a series I've never seen on television. I've been able to get eight episodes over the years from tape traders (roughly half the series.) So this is a real treat for me.
The series is a bit of an odd duck, premiering when the Batman comics were going through a bit of a renaissance with the groundbreaking Englehart/Rogers run in 1977. Rather than try to replicate that era's sophistication and gothic atmosphere, Filmation went for the goofiness and fun of the early 60's pre-"New Look" period, with two of the most important characters of that era, the Matt Hagen Clayface and Bat-Mite making their outside-of-comics debut (unless you count Clayface's appearance in the animated opening titles of the live-action Batman show.) This was the first appearance of the modern "white handlebar moustache and black horn-rimmed glasses" Commissioner Gordon that we all know and love outside of the comics, though.
The episodes consisted of pretty straightforward stories of Batman, Robin and occasionally Batgirl going up against the usual rogues' gallery of Joker, Penguin, Catwoman and Mr. Freeze...but NOT Riddler and Scarecrow, since they were appearing as members of the Legion of Doom in Challenge of The Superfriends on a rival network. Filamation and Hanna-Barbera divvied up the villains. (Too bad, because I would have loved to have seen an Alex Toth-designed Joker on the Legion of Doom.)
The main draw of the series, once again, was the casting: Adam West and Burt Ward were back as Batman and Robin! This was the first time Adam and Burt had reunited and Adam had played Batman since the end of the TV series (Burt had appeared in an early 70's Women's Lib public service annoucement with Yvonne Craig, but Adam refused to appear, so Batman was played by Dick "Hymie The Robot/Rodimus Prime" Gautier.) This led to Adam and Burt appearing as B & R in the two live-action Legends of The Superheroes live-action TV specials. Afterwards, work began on a new Batman TV movie with Adam and Burt which would have captured the darker tone of the current comics, but sadly Michael Uslan scuttled this by buying the live-action rights to Batman. Adam took over the role of Batman on Super Friends and continued to appear as Batman in public appearances until Warners sent him a cease-and-desist letter, thinking kids would confuse him with new Batman Michael Keaton (rightttt.)
I don't like these as much as the Filmation Batman cartoons of the 60's (mainly because Lennie Weinrib plays all the villains, as opposed to Ted Knight) but it's still a gas to hear Adam and Burt play the Dynamic Duo again (even if they occasionally sound inebriated.) Now if only the LIVE-ACTION show would be released on DVD....
There's a lot of talk lately about Richard Donner's version of Superman II finally be released. Well, guess what...I was able to get my hands on a special advance copy! Everyone knows that Superman II is my favorite film, and getting the chance to see a never before seen version of it is a dream come true! I couldn't believe how different Donner's version is from Richard Lester's. Here's a few examples:
*The scene where Otis gets recaptured by the guards is longer. Now they make him "squeal like a pig."
*After the moon expedition's transmission to NASA is cut off by the Phantom Zone criminals, John Ratzenberger says "That's it. I'm going to Boston to become a mailman." He then gets up out of his chair and walks away. The camera lingers on the chair for a few seconds and then he walks backs into the scene and says "I'm also going to start going to a bar called 'Cheers'."
*The special effects during the fight between Krypto and Zod's pet cat Zreist are laughable, but up to 1980 standards.
*There's a scene of Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin in the Batmobile trying to get to Metropolis to help Superman. Unfortunately they're stuck on the I-95.
*After Superman reflects Zod's heat vision back on him, you can hear Chris mutter "Putz" when he throws the rearview mirror to the ground.
*Donner replaced Rich Little's dubbing of Gene Hackman's voice with dialogue from other Hackman films. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work. For instance, when Zod says "You had best not be deceiving me, Lex Luthor" Lex responds, "Tha dog took mah shoes, Clyde...tha dog took mah shoes!"
*The Donner Cut explains one of the biggest plotholes of Superman II-how did Clark get back to the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic without his powers? Well, now Clark gets picked up while hitchhiking. Later he gets out of the car and pretends to be sick. When the driver gets out of the car to make sure Clark's okay, Clark runs back to the car and steals it, leaving the driver alone in the middle of nowhere. Later we see the driver get killed by a band of roaming thugs.
*At the end of the Battle of Metropolis, instead of Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges saying "Superman didn't even do nuthin'! Let's go home!" when Superman retreats, we see a weary Phil Collins standing in the wreckage looking up at the sky and singing "Superman, where are you now....when everything's gone wrong somehow?"
*The scene where Zone, Non and Ursa fight the Secret Service guards at the White House is slightly longer. For instance, we now see Dick Cheney accidentally kill one of the guards.
*Lois doesn't say "You know what? You're a real pain in the neck!" to Ursa before she punches her at the end of the film. Now she says "Now you'll have to star in Return of Swamp Thing! Ha ha ha ha!!!"
*At the end of the "Look Mr. Kent, I got a new camera" scene, Jimmy Olsen's head disappears. A voiceover then announces "To be continued in Back To The Future."
*Remember Richard Donner's cameo as a patron at Don's Diner? It's also longer. Now he looks at the camera and says, "Eat me, Lester."
Wow! Amazing, huh? I have to say that Richard Donner's Superman II is a million times better than Richard Lester's! Make sure to buy it November 28th!
Last night in Barnes and Ignoble there was a guy wandering around in a Batman cape and cowl. He was giggling in a high-pitched, manic sort of way, so I said "He sounds more like the Riddler." To which a customer behind me responded, "Yeah. Or Mr. Freeze."
So last night when we were in King Kullen Tim showed me the picture of Dee Snider and his family in the new People magazine. Weirdly enough right after that a guy walked into King Kullen in a Dee Snider costume! And to make matters even weirder, he was with a guy in a Batman costume-but a really GOOD Batman costume, like the one in that "Dead End" fan film, not the crappy black rubber movie-based ones they sell in stores.
Customer at Midtown Comics tonight, staring incredulously at an action figure of Nightwing in his original, George Perez-designed costume: "THAT'S Nightwing?!? He looks....whack."
Read Grant Morrison's new issue of Batman on the train home and my God...I've been reading this comic for almost 20 years, and I don't think I've enjoyed an issue of it so much in...well, ever. Each scene builds on the other into an insane, hilarious crescendo. I'm laughing my ass off and gasping for air at the same time. Andy Kubert's artwork has finally thrown off its mid-90's Image shackles and inherited the beauty and grace of his father's work, with a cinematic Neal Adams quality that suits "Citizen Wayne" well. I never thought that the DC-AOL-Time-Warner-Turner-Hanna-Barbera Googleplex would ever have the balls to give me a Batman like this, but here it is. Hell, I didn't even mind that they killed the Spook. Buy it, read it, give it to your friends, then buy another one.
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