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Got a question..I used to love dark horse, do they still make Aliens or Predator comics?

I don't think there are any current on-going series. There was stuff last year for the movie tie-in. Check out DH's own catalog:
http://www.darkhorse.com/Search/Browse/predator/PpwNwkt8

I started reading Batman with R.I.P. and Batman was running around in that purple/yellow/red outfit. That's Zur-En-Arrh, right? Whatever that is.

Cacophany? Do you mean the Kevin Smith story? I kinda liked that, but there don't seem to be a lot of people who share this oppinion.

Cacophany was gak. After writing Widening Gyre, Kevin Smith said it was the second-best Batman story he could possibly write. Given that Widening Gyre may be the worst Batman story ever written ... well, yeah. It was bad. There's a review out there on the web somewhere that makes a great point about Smith's Batman obliterating the line between fanfiction and professional work.

Remember this, for example?



Seriously.

Thank goodness this was all just a bad dream. "Out-of-continuity" is a precious, precious phrase! OTOH, I think Smith did one (and only one) thing really well in that book: the dialog between Bruce and Selina is as good as it has ever been and maybe better. Everything else ranges from serviceable (his portrayal of Deadshot and Tim) to flat-out awful (the "humor" is particularly painful).

Kevin Smith's Spider-Man work was also not good. Every joke fell flat. And Green Hornet was just boring. I guess he's just not a comic book writer.

So Wydening Gyre was the story after Cacophony, I wasn't sure, it's called "Der Teufelskreis" in Germany. Did he ever finish that storyline? Because the first Tradepaperback ends with

What I noticed about Wydening Gyre is that Smith likes to make a lot of jokes about comic contiuity. Like Selina talking that she wore her old stupid costumes just for him.
It also has that one scene we're Batman gets knocked out, tied up and has to be saved by Nightwing, which is just embarassing.

Give me a minute...

*skips through Cacophony again*

Okay, I can see what some people don't like about it. Smiths characters are very vulgar, which is unusual for the Joker and really off for Batman. I do however like the finale


I'm not sure I ever read Smith's Spider-Man, but I liked his Green Arrow story Quiver and I think I enjoyed his Daredevil as well, but it's been a while since I read those.

I thought the talk between Bruce and the Joker was entirely off. It didn't feel like either of them were handled anywhere near to correctly -- as with the rest of both books, excepting only those two conversations between Bruce and Selina in Gyre. I think Smith is writing Batman and the rest as if other people than Bruce, etc, are in the costumes and trying to figure out how the real characters might think and feel -- and there's a lot of the author inserting himself or, if not himself, then people who are definitely not the real characters. It's almost as if the cast of Friends was doing a Batman episode. Everyone is way too happy with being vulnerable and out there but that's just the most obvious problem. (This is probably why the Catwoman scenes work well -- it's well-established that Bruce allows himself to be a little open around her.)

And Morrison does the reference thing. The trouble is that he knows comics so well that the vast majority of his readers miss the references completely -- like the Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh, for example. Smith may have read a lot of comic books but he can only seem to remember ones written by Alan Moore, which he obviously loves enough to try and force into Batman. That and Star Trek, apparently.


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It also has that one scene we're Batman gets knocked out, tied up and has to be saved by Nightwing, which is just embarassing.

You mean where Tim has to save Bruce? That was another example of why Smith is more of a fanfiction author than a professional one. These are stories about detectives. Batman getting knocked out and then saved is a great narrative structure: for telling the story of how Robin, following in his mentor's footsteps, fit the pieces together to save him in the knick of time. But with Kevin Smith all we get is Tim scolding Bruce. What? What kind of guy writes Tim Drake as casually telling Bruce Wayne how to handle himself? We get no detective story and not even a fight scene (just a box saying that Tim handled Stirk with no problems -- how exciting is that?); just melodrama that doesn't even apprehend the established contours of the characters.

This is what one would call bad fanfiction. I'm surprised that scene between Bats and the Joker didn't go full-out slash. And I don't mean in the good ole Joker-slits-somebody's-throat sense, either. Yuck.

Well, my problem wasn't so much with Batman being the one who has to be saved, but more how Smith seemed to be referencing Pulp Fiction in that scene. Batman with a ballgag just looks... wrong.

But I gotta admit, I liked the idea of Bruce finally setling down. I mean, it was obvious from the beginning that it wouldn't work, but after all these years it seemed like something he deserved.
Then again, it is a pretty strong contrast when compared to his other "relationships".

I want to read Hush again. Still my absolute favourite.

Really? I didn't like Hush that much. Just felt like "let's get Jim Lee to draw everyone. Everyone!"

Anung Un Rama wrote:I started reading Batman with R.I.P. and Batman was running around in that purple/yellow/red outfit. That's Zur-En-Arrh, right? Whatever that is.

It's a reference to an old, old, OLD, batman story from the 1950s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_of_Zur-En-Arrh

which is one of those...kooky.... old stories they used to do -- cf : http://atomic-surgery.blogspot.com/2010/05/robin-dies-at-dawn-batman-1963.html -- back when the Comic code introduction, the red menace et al pretty much destroyed the superhero comic industry.

One of Morrisons' goals was to try and fold into continuity , as much as possible, as many of the Batman stories as he could. So most of these err..... zany.... tales it was hinted at were in fact hallucinations/similar, caused by one of the many,many, foes he fought/fights who use drugs or chemicals in their arsenals.

This was folded neatly into the modern background by having Bruce, as the worlds ultimately prepared man, having prepped up a back up or emergency "copy" of the Batman personality, which would kick in.

The Zur - en - arrh being taken now to be a reference to "Zorro in Arkham" which was pretty much the last thing his father ever said to Bruce before being killed.

The Zur-en-arrh Batman, originally, had superman like powers, so this ties in nicely to the back up personality being both some Nietzschesque ideal and a combined idealised father figure/reference.

there's a tip of the hat to it in the Brave and the Bold as well

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/02/18/kevin-conroys-zur-en-arrh-episode-of-batman-the-brave-and-the/

.. I gotta say I LOVE Pro. Pyg as a villain too

what's not too love ?




I can only concur with the general consensus on Smith. I dug his Green Arrow work, and some of his films very much. But he does have a tendency to write all his characters as extensions of what he wants to say and/or needs for the plot, past history and characterisation be damned.

Just got this weeks DCnU titles. I had Stormwatch, Men of War and JLI on my pull list and decided what the heck and grabbed all the others (Yes, even the crappy Liefeld Hawk and Dove). Well all save Detective comics, Batgirl and Animal Man which were sold out. Comic guy said he could get them for me though.
I figure the 10-12 I have on my pull list I'll collect for six months before deciding on whether to keep or dump. The others I grabbed to see what they're like and if I really want them.
Have to wait until I go home to read them though.

I'm looking forward to Batgirl, Batman, Batman & Robin, Batman: The Dark Knight, Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, Detective Comics, Catwoman, Nightwing, Red Hood & The Outlaws, and Teen Titans.

That last title especially has already raised some eyebrows for its cover preview. I'm buying in mostly for Tim Drake (if you couldn't tell by my pull list ).

Somewhere, DC execs are doing backflips. Should be very interesting to see the sales figures over the next few months.

Yeah, I've been boycotting DC for a long time now, but I might have to look at the reboot. There again, it's been no time at all since the last reboot, so I'm not all that convinced this'll be any good.
I also don't seem to be the target demographic for Marvel or DC comics anymore. Oh well, plenty of other things to spend money one I guess!

Yeah, I'm going all out comic ho for this month. Saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. hard back at the store as well. Told the owner if it comes in soft cover he has a sale.

Red Hood and the Outlaws has been tempting me just because I like Starfire, but sadly have no idea who the other two are. Does anyone have a recommendation on them for being interesting characters?

Well the Red Hood is POTENTIALLY extremely interesting. I strongly recommend hunting down the animated movie "under the Red Hood" and watching it MDS, and judging from there.

Da Boss wrote:Yeah, I've been boycotting DC for a long time now, but I might have to look at the reboot. There again, it's been no time at all since the last reboot, so I'm not all that convinced this'll be any good.
I also don't seem to be the target demographic for Marvel or DC comics anymore. Oh well, plenty of other things to spend money one I guess!

Who do you think the target demographic is now?

I thought Under the Red Hood was thoroughly okay. The guy who did Joker's voice left me pretty unimpressed. Otherwise, it does a good job of condensing Winick's arc. Jason is truly awesome by the time Morrison gets a hold of him in B&R, a much more sympathetic, faux-media-saavy nutjob. That comes out somewhat in the movie (although the movie is about Winick's arc rather than Morrison's) and Jensen Ackles is perfect for the role. One key thing to know about Jason is that he is exactly opposite to Batman in at least one respect: he employs guns and lethally so.

As to the other dude -- that's Arsenel (f/k/a the first Speedy), who is Ollie Queen's adoptive son Roy Harper. Like Jason, Roy is his adoptive father's ex-sidekick. The Green Arrow cast him out when Roy got addicted to smack. He was one of the original Teen Titans and a founding member of the Outsiders. He eventually joined the JLA as Red Arrow but he got his arm chopped off and his daughter gets murdered -- so it was back to the heroin and calling himself Arsenal. He shows himself to be pretty cold-blooded in his vengeance.

Between Jason and Roy, there's a lot of gritty, complicated, violent potential. I'm not totally sure what role Starfire plays (group conscience? weirdo love interest?) but hey, sounds good to me.

They should pass a law where only Kevin Conroy can be Batman and Mark Hamill Joker.

Those guys are definitely the tops but I like Diedrich Bader better for the more humorous (and thoroughly excellent) BTBTB cartoon. Bruce Greenwood did a pretty good Batman, I thought.

The Animated Batman series is the iconic one for me. Batman, Joker, Mr. Freeze, Riddler; all these guys are who I think of when I think about the characters. It also introduced Harly Quinn, who I'm so PO'd that they made such a radical change of her look for the relaunch. Now she looks psychotic with her bustier and sledge hammer instead of her fun loving pyscho persona with tights and a mallet.

Well you sold me Manchu, I justed added Red Hood to my subs, going to see how the first few play out and decide from there.

...but he was talking about the movie.

Well, yeah I talked about the movie a bit but it's really the potential of the characters mixed up together that sold me on the sub. So, MDS, if I've lead you astray then I'm in the same box, too.

Yeah I weas just literally reacting about Manchu's description of Arsenel and Hood characters, I didn't know anything about them, I'll also try and catch the movie, but I like the sound of characters with serious issues. How does Starfire fit in with that, colour me intrigued.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:They should pass a law where only Kevin Conroy can be Batman and Mark Hamill Joker.

Mark Hammil stated that Batman: Arkham City will be his last gig as the Joker. He wants to go out with a bang, so to speak.

Da Boss wrote:Well the Red Hood is POTENTIALLY extremely interesting. I strongly recommend hunting down the animated movie "under the Red Hood" and watching it MDS, and judging from there.

Agreed. The movie brilliant.
And I enjoyed Jason Todd more in Battle for the Cowl than in the Morrison arc where he donned the classic Red Hood costume.

Should get my new titles today, heard good, good things about Animal Man and the new Swamp Thing is generating good press too.

.. and I am now officially intrigued by Detective Comics, especially the last page

.. which you can see here -- this is a MAJOR spoiler and a genuine WTF moment http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/09/07/spoiling-the-ending-to-detective-comics-1/

... DC sales people must be happy indeed.


Batgirl has had excellent reviews too, yesterday copies of this were selling on ebay for $16.. for a comic that's not even out yet ? !

..roll on the Aquaman release !

In a comic related movie plug : you should all see "Super" ASAP, t'is very good, better than Kick Ass IMO.

reds8n wrote:Batgirl has had excellent reviews too, yesterday copies of this were selling on ebay for $16.. for a comic that's not even out yet ? !

What?! I'm super excited to see Babs walking (and swinging, and gliding, and doing backflips, etc) again. Still, that's kind of a rip off. So what's sold out so far? I've heard Batgirl, Justice League, and Action Comics.

http://www.themarysue.com/batgirl-1-on-ebay/

Justice league is going to a 3rd print run, aside from the above JLI, Batman and Robin, .... and Hawk and Dove (!?! ) have all sold out as well.


..scuttlebutt at the moment is that Swamp Thing and Animal Man are also going to be hard to find as pre orders have snapped up most of the print run.


.. seems all the titles are selling out, and at a fast rate too.


given that JLA had pre orders of over 200K, and at least 6 other titles had over 100K orders each..... Dc are shifting some product this month for sure !