Brave & the Bold Teaser Trailer from david brothers on Vimeo.
Gavok got you with the youtube, so I figured I”d hit you with the high quality. I got this on the 24th, but forgot to post it yesterday.
I’m at the black panel right now, so peace!
Direct link to my videos! I recorded this this morning, but have been away from internet and am just now able to get it up!
Now, though, I’m going to get some food.
A couple quick things, first–
–Augie De Blieck’s Pipeline this week is really good. He makes a good point about the Manchester Hyatt thing– most things are owned by complete and total jerkoffs. The trick is to find your limits, embrace them, and don’t be afraid to speak up when things go past them. He also has a fun review of Mini-Marvels.
–Tor.com is the new sci-fi blog from, er, Tor. This post on piracy is dead on. Comics should take note. In a nice bit of synergy, Augie has tips on that in the link up top, too.
And the main event– the extremely rough copy of my first video podcast. I left off the URL like a genius (holla), and the editing is kind of an accidental bite of IllDoctrine, but I’m getting my legs under me. Enjoy the rough, and look for more polished joints later this week.
And if you see me at SDCC, holler at me.
I’m out, I’ve got exactly five minutes before my shuttle gets here. Peace!
I only have two requests.
1) Show more of Gotham city and how they react to the Batman.
2) Make Edward Nigma the villain, and make sure it’s this version. Have the media call him the Riddler before he’s revealed.
The past two films have been all about villains trying to kill other people. Nigma isn’t after that. He’s just heard stories of the “Dark Knight Detective” and he wants to see if he can outsmart him. He pulls off complicated heists, tricky kidnappings, and generally causes high impact, but low danger, crime to get Batman’s attention. He leaves behind a clue or two, maybe a green question mark on a postcard with a rhyme on the back.
He doesn’t want to kill. He doesn’t want to murder. He’s just a thrillseeker who happens to be super-smart. Also, he doesn’t wear a stupid costume. He’s dapper and slick, and probably knows Bruce Wayne in real life, but hasn’t made the connection between Bruce and Bats yet.
Get on it. 2010.
Also, my brother-from-another William points out something fun– Eddie should be black. Just because.
Who should I be reading on the internet? I need to update my blog roll and RSS feeds.
Comics preferably, but I’ll take not-comics, too.
Jay Smooth has some dope advice for you if you don’t know how to talk about things like actual people, instead of like mobile talking points attack vehicles.
You know, I was going to detail my San Diego con schedule here in excruciating detail. What panels I was going to (the ones with black people talking, obviously), what parties I got invited to (none, all of you suck), and what I was planning on eating (if SDCC is like E3, the food is expensive and terrible), but then I decided against it. Other sites are going to do it better than I will, and if you’re swift enough to be reading 4l! and going to E3, you’re swift enough to be able to look at a schedule and see what interests you.
Instead, I’m going to post the beginning and the end of The Immortal Iron Fist #16, the official end of the Brubaker/Fraction/Aja era of Iron Fist. They revamped the character, turned him into something viable and interesting for the first time in ages.
It’s nice to see a socially conscious superhero, innit?
This one goes out to Cheryl Lynn.
There’s a lot of stuff at San Diego Comic-con. This’ll be my first, but I’m comfortable putting on my boss cap and telling you what you should go see.
Scroll down below to see which panel I’m on, too. Surprise!
10:45-11:45 Reinventing the Page: Stan Lee and Grant Morrison Talk Virgin Comics— Two of the most important creators in the history of comic books team up to discuss the bold new frontiers being explored in the art of storytelling. Legendary creator Stan Lee (Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, X-Men) shares his insights on the world of comics and presents never-before-revealed hints of his new superhero universe with Virgin Comics. Joining Stan is prolific creator Grant Morrison (New X-Men, All Star Superman, Final Crisis), contemporary comics’ most active mind, who will discuss his new Virgin Comics animated online series MBX while offering his own insights on comics and engaging with Stan in a once-in-a-lifetime conversation about the long history and boundless future of their beloved medium. Ballroom 20
Categories: Animation | Comic Books | Webcomics | Writers & Writing
C’mon, it’s Stan the Man and GMoz. I don’t have a chance of seeing this one for a number of reasons. One: it’s gonna be packed. Two: my flight lands at 9:45. I bet it’ll be interesting, though.
1:00-2:00 Modern Masters: Live!— Modern Masters editor Eric Nolen-Weathington brings together three of the greatest artists in comics—Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows, Mighty Avengers), Michael Golden (Micronauts, The ‘Nam), and Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales, Superman: Man of Steel)—for a conversation about art, comics, and beyond! Room 5AB
Categories: Art and Illustration | Comic Books
I figure by this point, I’ll be at the convention, checked in, and ready to see something cool. I love the Modern Masters books, so this sounds like the bomb.
1:00-2:00 Mark and Sergio— The world’s fastest cartoonist joins forces with the Comic-Con 2008 weekend record holder for panel moderation! Yes, it’s Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés together again. Expect lots of talk on Groo and anything else these two whirlwinds are conspiring to bring us in the near future. Room 8
Categories: Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances
If you hate Sergio Aragones, you are a filthy Commie and possibly a zombie.
1:00-2:00 The Future of the Comics Pamphlet— Are serialized comics in a death-spiral? Is the graphic novel the sole shape of comics to come? Retailers including Carr D’Angelo (Earth 2 Comics), publishing representatives including Joe Keatinge (Image Comics), and cartoonists discuss the state of the periodical with moderator Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics). Room 32AB
Categories: Comic Books
Trades up, floppies down! I mean, this should be interesting!
2:00-3:00 Science Fiction That Will Change Your Life— A discussion of science fiction stories intended to make you rethink your whole life or alter your perceptions. With Annalee Newitz (editor-in-chief, io9.com; contributor, Wired), Austin Grossman (author, Soon I Will Be Invincible), Charlie Jane Anders (news editor, io9.com; contributor, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet), Graeme McMillan (weekend editor, io9.com, contributor, Newsarama), and Patrick Lee (editor, Sci-Fi Wire). Room 2
Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy | Writers & Writing
Graeme is family, so I’ll try to check this out. I don’t really like sci-fi, though, so we’ll see where it goes!
2:00-3:00 The Middleman— Creator and executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost) and The Middleman actors Matt Keeslar (Dune) and Natalie Morales (CSI: Miami) discuss the bizarre world of The Middleman. Based on the graphic novels by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, The Middleman follows the surreal life of twenty-something Wendy Watson as she gets recruited by a top secret agency to fight comic book-esque criminals under the guidance of her straight-laced boss, The Middleman. Room 5AB
Categories: Comic Books | Television
The Middleman is the bomb. I’m really impressed with that show, so I’ll check this out.
It gets bonus points for using Dub to abbreviate W and the Wally West/Barry Allen joke in the first episode.
3:30-4:30 Entertainment Weekly’s The Visionaries: Comic Creators— Jim Lee (All-Star Batman & Robin), John Cassaday (The Astonishing X-Men), Matt Fraction (Casanova), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Colleen Doran (A Distant Soil), and Grant Morrison (Final Crisis) are the writers and artists blazing a path into the future of comics. Coming from both the mainstream and the independent worlds, these men and women can provide unique insights into the comics landscape. Moderated by Entertainment Weekly staff editor Nisha Gopalan. Room 6A
Categories: Comic Books | Comic-Con Special Guest Spotlights & Appearances
Chances of me getting into this panel: less than zero.
5:00-6:00 The Third Annual Comics Podcasting Panel— The best of the best in comics podcasting returns to San Diego for the third annual discussion of comics podcasting and how it’s affected the comics media. A no-holds-barred discussion with comics podcasters Bryan Deemer and Peter Rios (Comic Geek Speak), Charlito and Mr. Phil (Indie Spinner Rack), Joe Gonzalez and Jimmy Aquino (Comic News Insider), Josh Flanagan and Conor Kilpatrick (iFanboy), and John Mayo and Bob Bretall (Comic Book Page). Room 32AB
Categories: Comic Books | Fandom
Josh and Conor from iFanboy are good buddies, so I’ll check this panel out. I’ll even stick around for the end, in part because–
6:00-7:00 The Comics Blogosphere— The blog explosion has opened up a new frontier for comics criticism. This lively (and inevitably bloggable) discussion features David Brothers (4thletter!), Jeff Lester ( The Savage Critic(s)), Laura Hudson (Myriad Issues), Tim Robins (Mindless Ones) and moderator Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics). Room 32AB
Categories: Comic Books | Fandom
my panel is next in the same room! I am going to talk about… I do not know. Possibly comics, blogging, or some combination of the two. it should be interesting. I’ve actually been reading the blogs of everyone else on the panel for a while, so I’m feeling like the odd man out. Still flattered, though!
6:30-7:30 So You Want to Do a Graphic Novel— Writer and publisher Larry Young assembles a team of writers and artists to unlock the secrets and unveil the mysteries of completing your own graphic novel. Panelists Adam Beechen (Final Crisis), Steven Grant (Two Guns), Kirsten Baldock (Smoke and Guns), Matt Silady (The Homeless Channel), and Manny Bello (Dugout) kibbitz, cajole, and inspire you. Room 3
Categories: Comic Books | Writers & Writing
Wrapping up Thursday is this panel. Matt and Kirsten are Writers Old Fashioned cohorts and Larry Young is a good friend. I’ll sprint from my panel to this one, I think! It should be interesting, though I bet I’ve already heard a few of these stories.
Tomorrow, I’ll go over Friday and Saturday. I’ll hopefully have some hi-content posts for y’all later this week.
Basically, my interpretation of Batman is this: Batman loves his job. There’s more to it, of course, but that’s the most important bit.
Part of Batman enjoying his job means that the “Bruce Wayne is the mask” interpretation is both true and false. In the sense that Bruce Wayne is overall expendable and exists solely to provide income for Batman, it is definitely untrue. As Jon Bernhardt says in this piece for Funnybook Babylon, Bruce Wayne as Mask is a drastic misreading of Dark Knight Returns, and antithetical to the idea of Batman.
In essence, Batman wears two masks. One is the Batman mask– it’s an urban Zorro. The other is Playboy Bruce Wayne, and that one is an exercise in theatrical distraction. Playboy Bruce Wayne provides the perfect alibi. Who’d believe that this flighty guy could ever do anything worthwhile? This is part of the reason that Bruce Wayne hasn’t had a lasting relationship. The Playboy role is a barrier against that.
The Batman mask, though, is the interesting one. Bruce Wayne is, at heart, damaged goods. When his parents were murdered in front of his eyes, Bruce Wayne immediately went from innocent to lost. He can’t make the same emotional connections that other people do. Look at his best friends– all costumes. Does Bruce Wayne have non-costumed, or non-costume related, friends? Lucius Fox, perhaps.
Bruce is incapable of sustaining a regular relationship. He connects best with the other people who wear costumes, or run in those same circles. Look at his long-term on-again/off-again relationship with Catwoman. Look at Zatanna and Wonder Woman. Maybe it’s just a side effect of the job and shared experiences, but he tends to hang with super-women.
Anyway, going from innocent to lost doesn’t mean that you stop being a kid inside. The Batman mask and persona, if you think about it, are the reaction of a kid who had his childhood stolen from him. He puts on a mask and a cape, emulating his favorite hero, and fights the thing that hurt him when he was a child. He goes out at night and plays at being a hero. Look at Batman’s conduct. He puts on a gruff voice and uses parlor tricks to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, who are “a superstitious and cowardly lot.” He’s acting like something he thinks criminals would be afraid of.
Though, this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love his job. Being Batman is what Bruce Wayne uses as an outlet for his aggression. One thing Frank Miller does in All-Star Batman that I love is that he writes a Bruce Wayne who has a childlike glee at being Batman. Everything from the dialogue to the inner monologue speaks to a man who is a) acting (he’s deciding which persona to put on before he strikes), b) acting poorly (Dick Grayson sees through him immediately), and c) loves doing it anyway (“Every inch of me is alive“). He strikes with a laugh, rather, “the laugh” because he knows it scares criminals. He makes it a point to use theatrics when he fights. It gives him an advantage in the fight and it lets him playact.
I mean, for real, though. That giant t-rex and all those other trophies were in the cave before Robin got there. That’s Brucie at work.
Batman is a dark, serious, brooding, and violent knight, but he’s also someone who has to enjoy what he does. He likes getting out there, acting gruff, and breaking bones. He likes being able to make people safe and striking terror into the heart of criminals. In DKSA, this is best shown by the scene where he’s relaxing and leaning back in his Batplane, hands behind his head and feet up on the console. “Striking terror. Best part of the job.”
Batman is also that guy who is scarily competent at everything. It isn’t that he’s a genius. He’s just a person of maybe slightly above-average intelligence who applies himself. He studies and practices and trains with a fervor most people don’t ever employ. He can place the origins of accents by simply hearing them, give you the etymology of certain words and which poems they were used in and why, and even track a wolf eighteen miles through the underbrush. Why? Because he thought it’d be a good idea to know all these things.
He’s the ultimate jack-of-all-trades. In hindsight, he essentially spent the remainder of his childhood studying to become the Batman. He travelled the world, studied martial arts, science, and who knows what else solely so that he could be the best at his job. He turned himself into a detective of incredible skill just in case he needed it later. He’s an obsessive amongst obsessives, if that makes sense. Capo di tutti capi.
Finally, Batman has to have Robin. Robin is the perfect foil for Batman. Where Batman is the guy who lost his childhood, but never really left it behind, Robin is the child that came close to losing his, but managed to find it again. Batman isn’t so much a father figure to Robin as a big brother. They go and hang out together and play all the same games.
Robin existing gives both of them a chance to win back some lost humanity. They can use each other for moral support, since they are so similar in origin, and when that doesn’t work, they can go out and bust heads together. For Bruce, Robin is in danger of going down the same path he did. He’s lost his parents in a tragedy, just like Bruce did, but being Robin gives him a chance to cope. It gives him an outlet for his grief.
Alfred keeps Bruce honest. When he sometimes slips a little too deep into the Batman persona and starts to walk his talk, Alfred is there to call him out on it. His constantly sarcastic wit reminds Bruce that he is still a human being, and an adult at that.
The somber, super serious, depressed, hates-to-live Batman that was popularized a few years back is a mistake. Batman gives Bruce Wayne a reason to live and enjoy life. He likes being Batman. He feels that it’s right. Robin provides a balance to his darkness, and Alfred keeps him honest.
That’s the way it should work, anyway.
Hellcat is the best comic you didn’t get last week. Kathryn Immonen and David LaFuente a comic that’s best described as “delightful,” and Stuart Immonen’s cover is pretty awesome, too. Here’s a bit from the comic to convince you to rectify your sin and go back and get the book. Brian Hibbs reviewed it, too.
Go buy it.
