A Handy, Anti-Troll Guide to Marvel NOW!

It’s no big revelation that the online comic book community is overpopulated with trolls. The combination of online anonymity and staunch viewpoints can turn ordinarily timid, shrinking violet fanboys into raging, foaming-at-the-mouth lunatics at the very mention of a change of the status quo in their favorite funnybook. I use the word "favorite" lightly, because you'd be hard-pressed to get one of these jokers to name something they actually enjoy.

And to a certain extent, that’s OK. We all have opinions. Some of us are just better at voicing them without opining about our childhoods being “raped” while our Dorito taco shell crumbles into the keyboard and Mom yells downstairs about that Code Red Mountain Dew stain on the couch.

The biggest problem with trolls is that they are very often just plain wrong. Despite the wealth of knowledge available on the net, some people reach conclusions based on whatever first impression their Hot Pocket-fueled brain manages to muster.

Such is the case with Marvel NOW!. There’s been a great deal of speculation about what it’s really all about. There’s a common assumption that this is basically Marvel’s version of DC’s New 52 reboot – a reset button for the entire Marvel Universe. The scope of the event is also somewhat unclear to some. Which books with this affect? How long it will last? Will Emma Frost still have a big rack?

So, to combat the misinformation, I’ve compiled this handy, dandy Marvel NOW! overview. Next time you encounter an anti-Marvel troll, feel free to throw this link at them, tell them to defog their coke-bottle glasses and read a few facts for once.

Or, you know, just tell them that every character in the Marvel Universe is getting adamantium claws and watch their heads explode.

So, what is Marvel NOW?

In essence, it’s a new jumping-on point for current and potential readers wherein Marvel’s creative teams have been shaken up and the characters enter the next great chapter of the Marvel Universe.

Axel Alonso, Marvel’s editor-in-chief, offers this concise, informative response on Marvel.com: “Marvel NOW! is the next chapter in the ongoing saga of the Marvel Universe. From October through February, we’ll provide at least one great reason for readers—old, lapsed or new—to go into a comic store each week: a new issue #1, featuring an exciting new creative team and driving concept, that’s an easy entry-point into the Marvel Universe. Each and every one of these launches is built to last”

Like I need another reason to go the comic shop every week.

DC's New 52 was a very mixed bag of cats for me, but I really enjoyed its launch. There were many, many books that piqued my interest and I loved being able to finally “jump on” DC books with great characters, writers and artists at a new #1. The problem was, when I picked up those new numero unos, I discovered that they didn’t play by the same rules. Batman kept most of his continuity, Green Lantern kept it all, Superman kept none. Action Comics focused on a different time period that Superman. Now there’s Earth 2. This was meant to simplify the DCU? It wasn’t a complete and clear reboot and I’m sure it lost new comic readers quickly. I mean, it lost me and I love comics more than any other media. Marvel NOW! will accomplish all of the fun of the New 52 launch without the confusion of mixed continuity. To top it off, we’ll get all the fun of the launch for over four months!

Time will tell if “each and everyone” is built to last. I have little doubt that Avengers and X-Men will thrive due to their fan-base and new creative teams (Rick Remender and John Cassaday on Uncanny Avengers, Brian Bendis and Stuart Immonen on All-New X-Men and Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena on Avengers). However, there are smaller books focusing on more obscure characters with less established writers and artists that will struggle to find an audience that can sustain them. I’m looking at you Journey Into Mystery (starring Lady Sif by Kathryn Immonen and Valerio Schiti) and X-Men Legacy (starring Professor X’s jerk son Legion by Simon Spurrier & Tan Eng Huat).

So, this is a total reboot of the Marvel Universe, right?

Nope. No. Not at all. But you might think so if you get all your info from your tweeps. If you trust what Marvel says, then it’s clear:

“Marvel NOW! is the next step in Marvel story evolution and character evolution. It’s not a reboot.”  - Joe Quesada, Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer. Marvel.com

“… because we are not wiping the slate clean—we’re just trying to tell these stories from a clean point of view and allowing a good jumping-off point for new readers.” – Joe Quesada, Marvel.com

"Everything's going to be one nice melting pot of Marvel Universe goodness," says (Tom) Brevoort (Marvel’s executive editor), who insists that Marvel NOW! is not a reboot. "This is the same Marvel Universe you were reading about the month before and the same characters. They haven't gone back to square one — all of that history isn't out the window." – USAToday

"With Marvel NOW! everything that happened yesterday and the year before STILL happened.” – Dan Slott, Amazing Spider-Man writer via Twitter.

 “It is not a reboot.”  - Axel Alonso, Marvel.com

If you don’t trust what Marvel says, it’s still clear. Just check out the October and November solicitations for the first round of Marvel NOW! Nary an origin story in sight. It’s all new stories for well-established characters, with a lot of new elements mixed in. In short, IT’S NOT A REBOOT, DUDE!

Will this affect the entire line of Marvel Comics?

Yes. Well, OK, just the Marvel Universe proper (i.e. 616). Starting in October and running until February of next year, another Marvel book will be assimilated into Marvel NOW! every week. Many of the titles focusing on Marvel’s bigger characters (i.e. Avengers, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, X-Men) have been announced for October and November releases.

Interestingly, Daredevil and Spider-Man are noticeably absent from that list. With the popularity and critical acclaim of Mark Waid and Dan Slott’s runs, it will be interesting to see if they keep them on those titles once they become part of the event. I would not be surprised if Daredevil and Amazing are some of the few titles that won’t get the “creative team shake-up” part of Marvel NOW!, but you never know. The precedence that has been set thus far is new creators on every new title, so maybe Mr. Slott and Mr. Waid will be moving on.

What’s important is that this event does not start off strong and go out with a fizzle. Marvel’s “architects” have already staked their claims on one, if not more, big Marvel titles. Will there be enough talent to go around? This remains to be seen.

Here’s a list of Marvel NOW! titles that have been confirmed as of August 21: 

October

MARVEL NOW! POINT ONE (64-page one-shot)

Various Writers and Artists

UNCANNY AVENGERS
RICK REMENDER & JOHN CASSADAY

November

INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK
MARK WAID & LEINIL FRANCIS YU

ALL-NEW X-MEN
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS & STUART IMMONEN

IRON MAN
KIERON GILLEN &  GREG LAND

THOR: GOD OF THUNDER
JASON AARON & ESAD RIBIC

CAPTAIN AMERICA
RICK REMENDER & JOHN ROMITA JR.

A+X  (A book that I’d imagine will rotate artists and writers in and out every month)
Various Writers and Artists

X-MEN:LEGACY
SIMON SPURRIER & TAN ENG HUA

FANTASTIC FOUR
MATT FRACTION & MARK BAGLEY

FF
MATT FRACTION & MIKE ALLRED

DEADPOOL
GERRY DUGGAN & BRIAN POSEHN &  TONY MOORE

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (The only book mysteriously retaining its current numbering …)
KATHRYN IMMONEN & VALERIO SCHITI


Beyond

AVENGERS

JONATHAN HICKMAN & JERONE OPENA

NEW AVENGERS

JONATHAN HICKMAN & STEVE EPTING

I’m salivating for the release of Uncanny Avengers, Hulk, X-Men, Thor and Captain America. Fantastic Four will most likely be necessary since I’m a sucker for a new take on Marvel’s first family and with the brilliant comedian Brian Posehn on Deadpool, I may finally become a fan of the merc with a mouth. I’ll admit that I have very little interest in the others, but the good looks to far outweigh the bad.

No doubt Marvel has more up its sleeve, but this first round of books is pretty damn impressive.

The Wrap
So there you have it, a brief summary of all things Marvel NOW! with a little color commentary thrown in for good measure. I hope this goes a little way to give you a better understanding of just what Marvel is up to with this relaunch (not a reboot).

Remember, this article makes the perfect gift for the online, anti-Marvel, mouthbreathers in your life. Maybe we can make Marvel NOW! into a kind of 12-step troll recovery process. Hmmm … that sounds like another article entirely ...

‘Til next time, loyal reader. In the meantime, make mine Marvel (NOW!)!

5 Easy Guidelines For Sporting Geek Apparel

I was talking to a friend about a beautiful X-Men shirt he wanted to buy. It was a really nice shirt with great art, but he said he just couldn't buy it. I asked him why not? He replied "Because that would be a little too geeky, and I’m not sure I want to go down that road." While I understand his hesitation of being branded a geek, I'm here to tell you that geek is the new chic. And that's why I'm writing this post. You can be you. You can dress in geek clothing and make it look good if you follow The Jason Wasulko Fanboy Attire Guidelines^®.

Now, I'm normally the last person to dish out fashion advice, but I know when it’s okay to wear certain shirts in public, and when it’s time to pretend someone planted it in your dresser.

1. It’s All About Percentage
When selecting a shirt, look at the proportion of the logo or print compared to the size of the shirt. This is the first trick in learning if it’s okay or not. I own shirts that take up 80% of the front, while others take up 30%. You've heard of less is more, right? Well I'm here to tell you that while 30% may be acceptable, 80% is taking it just a little too far.

Now you’re saying to yourself, “Self, you own shirts with massive screen prints on the front of it. What am I supposed to do? Toss them?” No! Simply, look to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Just as Indy cannot take the cup of Christ past the great seal, you cannot take that billboard you call a tee past the front door. If it has a massive print on the front, like my Civil War shirt with the every single Marvel character emblazoned on the front of it, then it must not cross the seal of my front door. It’s a sleep shirt. It’s a lounging around the house shirt. The print is waaaaay too big and it takes attention away from my handsome, geek-face. It’s also a black hole of branding myself an UBER-Geek, from which there is no escape. You know, the kind of person that lives at home with his mom and hasn't had "relations" with anyone other than... well... that drawing of Jean Grey.

2. Wear the Brand, Not the Man
So what kind of shirt can see the light of day? Stick to symbols and logos. No faces. Superman's, Batman’s, Spiderman’s, the Fantastic Four’s – these logos are all okay, permitting they only take up to (say it with me now) 30% of the real estate on the front of the shirt.

A Punisher logo that takes up then entire front and looks like a 3 year old splattered paint on it and magically arrived at a skull, is a sleep shirt. DO NOT LEAVE HOME WITH THAT. Yuck.

Additionally, the more obscure the symbol, the better. It’s fun to pick out the hardcore geeks out of an average crowd. I have two Star Wars shirts, one with the rebel logo, and one with Boba Fett's bantha skull on it, and it’s great. It’s like that scene in Fight Club, where people in fight club recognize each other outside of Fight Club. They're not allowed to talk about Fight Club (see rules 1 and 2), so they just nod to one another. A real nerd will nod at your shirt and keep walking. He or she just acted cool by acknowledging the awesomeness at your obscure reference, but decided not to declare it in public.

This brings up another good point. Please don’t shout, "Hey, nice shirt!” when wearing the same one as somebody else in the room. You might as well dress up like a twin in matching clothing with your significant other. You just crossed the line in every culture – much less geek culture. You don't have to call it out. Unless they're an idiot, they'll see you're wearing the same shirt. Be Cool.

3. Size Matters Alot
It’s true – size does matter. I don't think I need to go deep into this, but some geeks are bigger than others, and that's okay. We all come in different shapes and sizes, but it never looks good to wear a shirt that two sizes too small. I don't care if it has your favorite cover of the Silver Surfer on it. I'm sure it looks retro and all, but if it’s not in your size, it was never meant to be. Stick to an appropriately-sized polo until you find something that fits. Leave the spandex to our favorite comic book heroes and the high-end cosplayers.

4. WASH IT! (Especially before Cons)
To be fair, most of these guidelines can be thrown out when attending Comic Con. This one absolutely, 100% can NEVER, EVER be skipped. Just because you’re dressed like Wolverine, doesn’t mean you have enough reason to smell like him after taking down three Sentinels. Are you wearing your favorite Yoda shirt? You don’t have to smell like Dagobah. Good hygiene is just part of living in society. Don’t go to cons if you want to smell like the Thanksgiving dinner rotting in the garbage can a week before the garbage men dispose of it. Be respectful to your fellow nerd. Wash the shirt/costume.

5. WWHD?
Okay - stay with me here. Who is the coolest of all genre characters? Who is suave, confident, good with the ladies, charming and handsome as hell? Han Solo - that's who! So when picking out that shirt, whether it’s that vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles logo shirt, or that full torso (abs included) Captain America shirt, I ask myself, would Han Solo wear this? Probably not. He’s too cool for any of it. But would he smile and wink at you? If the answer is no - then this is the not the shirt you’re looking for. Move along.

Pop Quiz!

Q. I own a schematic shirt of the Millenium Falcon. The schematic takes up about 90% of the shirt. Based on the Jason Wasulko Fanboy Attire Guidelines^®, should I wear this?

A. Based on the percentage rule, the answer is no. But based on my first rule - would Han Solo buy this? Probably not. He's too cool to wear any geek shirt. But if Chewbacca buys it for his birthday, I'm certain he wouldn't be upset that he owns a shirt of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

Summary

So there you have it, 5 easy guidelines for sporting geek apparel. To sum it up, ask yourself these five things. Does the print take up most of the space on the front? Yes? Fuggedaboutit! Is it a  picture of the Joker smiling at you? The jokes on you. Never wear the character, only the symbol. Is it in your size, or would it hold you in like a pair of spanks? I don't think I need to provide you with an answer to that. Does it have a mustard stain from SDCC ’07? Take a trip to the Laundromat! Would Han Solo say "I have a bad feeling about this?" If so, drop it in the rancor pit. 

So next time you see your version of that beautiful X-men shirt, buy away! Let your geek flag fly – just please remember to wear it responsibly.

Jason Wasulko
Contributing Writer
http://www.jasonwasulko.com/

Max Power Teams-up with Burton’s Batman: Part the Second

As I stated in my last installment, Nolan’s epic vision, (and let’s speak plainly, it is an epic) is grounded in realism or at the very least cloaked in a storytelling that feels to our brain like realism. If we really want to split hairs it’s about fifty to sixty-thousand miles north of realism with its neutron bombs and ninja-terrorists. I digress. Clearly our boy Chris was going for something hyper-serious and filmic to the teeth.

On the other end of the spectrum, Tim Burton was telling the story of a superhero. His films were depicting the adventures of a man firmly rooted in the pulp tradition that spawned him. In the lore of Batman, his love interests were either fawning socialites waiting to be rescued or femme-fatales, with an emphasis on the fatal. He could have a boy sidekick, a rocket car, a rocket-submarine, a rocket-rocket, a life-size T-Rex and an enormous penny; all stashed in his subterranean hangout and regularly dusted by his English butler. Batman can be expected to snap a drug dealer’s wrist Monday and then find time to make Superman feel stupid on Tuesday which is when I assume the Justice League comes together for game-night and Batman just absolutely wrecks ass at Clue. Batman the superhero is not bound to any one genre and better than any character in fiction he can cross from the fantastic (punching parademons with electrified gauntlets) to the more mundane (dangling a crooked cop off a high-rise in search of a kidnapped child).

Tim Burton gave us a Batman that lived in the cardboard boxes of Happy Meals and on juice glasses destined to become collectibles. Namely, the Batman I grew up with. Fan-boys who opine about the perfection of Bruce Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series would do well to remember that it was heavily influenced by the Burton films. Oh and if we can’t agree that Timm’s Batman is the absolute perfect Batman in any medium, then we should probably part ways here. Also as a result, I now hate you. But if we are restricting this debate to the realm of live-action feature films, than I must argue that Batman Returns gave us what is arguably the best Batman film to date. (Please understand that my definition of Batman is a superhero that fights crime and therefore that is the character model I come to see when I watch a film about a superhero crime-fighter)

Over the past few years I have made it a point to watch Batman Returns every Christmas, usually in a double bill with Die-Hard.  Yearly viewings began to impress upon me something I had felt but never before articulated. Simply put, Batman Returns offers us a damn near perfect representation of Batman. Gone is the strange inclusion of pop music and the wonky characters of the previous outing. The legwork of establishing the world was done in the bombastic yet flawed Batman. Now, Burton is allowed to offer us a dark, Christmas fairytale in a gothic city of stone and snow.

Burton has taken a lot of heat by a faction of the fan-base for not really understanding the character while Nolan is genuflected to as the savior of all things bat. I think Burton had a better grasp on the notion that Bruce Wayne needed to be Batman and was at best impatient and at worst uncomfortable actually being Bruce Wayne. An absolutely perfect Batman moment occurs early on in Returns when the Bat-Signal is first lit. The signal is reflected down into Bruce’s study by various spotlights positioned on Wayne Manor until it reaches Bruce. For this scene Burton bathes Bruce in shadow, portraying him as a brooding, lonely soul, but as soon as that light hits him, he is born again, as we imagine he is born anew each time the signal is lit.

 

Burton understood that there was pathology at work in Bruce and that being Batman was the only healthy outlet for him. For Batman there is no cure for his pain, only treatment. The treatment is to stalk the criminal underworld and to protect the innocent. Bruce‘s pain cannot be cured, only held at bay; Batman is the medication for what would otherwise be a terminal illness. Nolan saw the Batman as a curse, something Bruce needed to endure and then ultimately get out from under. He envisioned that there would be peace for him when his work was done. Doesn’t this effectively limit him to his conflict with the League of Shadows? Didn’t the Joker thoroughly prove that there will always be another threat? Burton understood the idea of the rogues gallery; there will always be another threat. Portrayed by Keaton, we see the classic Batman dynamic at work; Bruce is but the mask Batman wears in the day and there will always be a need for The Batman.  

Returns also shows us a Gotham that belongs to Batman. When things go awry, the commissioner and the mayor both immediately turn to Batman as though he were the city’s one man SWAT team. When the Penguin successfully frames the Batman, Gotham is shown in a real state of terror because they have seemingly lost the man on the wall keeping the forces of chaos at bay. The confidence and authority Batman brings to each of his confrontations with the Red Triangle Circus gang is invigorating and since this was before every action scene needed to be filmed with a shaky-cam and cut against five other scenes taking place simultaneously, I can’t recall an action set-piece where Batman comes off better. This is the Batman that has planned ahead, that has three moves for every one of yours.

This rare sequel is also elegantly, a film of juxtaposition. Both hero and villain are orphans yet rather than have his parents ripped from him as Bruce did, The Penguin was exiled instead by his parents. Bruce became a freak as a result of being orphaned; Oswald Cobblepot was orphaned as a result of being a freak. Another nice duality is Keaton’s Bruce Wayne being positioned against Walken’s Max Shreck in a battle of the billionaires each fighting to preserve or establish their vision of a future Gotham. Perhaps, the best oppositional dynamic is that of Selina Kyle and Catwoman. Pfeiffer ably walks the tightrope of this role showing us a victim, a predator and somewhere underneath both, a comingling that could lead to a whole and healthy woman if only fate and circumstance would allow.

If I were to run a list of what was right with this film, I could triple the size of this article. I will admit that some may feel The Penguin is too jokey and just a retread of what Nicholson was doing. While others may find the villain’s ultimate scheme with rocket bearing penguins a little foolish. But melt it down to its core and what do you have? An exiled misfit, so broken by his mistreatment at the hands of the world that has now twice spurned him, he is happily willing to snuff out the life of every one of Gotham’s firstborn sons and then some. As the film races to its end all the threads weave together; a doomed romance, a victim’s revenge and a city’s fate decided by individuals it neither accepts nor fully understands. This is a film about people so broken that not only will they not fully integrate into society, but they cannot even fit with other misfits. Only Batman in accepting that his trauma has marked him for something special can take peace in knowing that he stands out society so that he can protect it.

In closing, I will say this vision of Batman so deeply appeals to me because I do not want a Batman who wants to be free of the burden of protecting me. I invested my hopes and child-worship into him because he so willingly gave everything to make sure no child or parent suffered the fate of his fractured family. Nolan has done something special with his films and honored a character we all love with a worthy interpretation of him. Understand though, that is all it is, his interpretation. It is not the ultimate offering of Batman; it is not the final say. Ask yourself, a man who dresses up like a bat, lives in a cave, has a rocket car, a boy sidekick and can spend his weekends on a satellite orbiting the earth with demigods, how real do you want that to be? Be very careful with the realism you court, because real can often times be another word for mundane.

Max Power

Contributing Writer

Did The Dark Knight Rises Sink?

The Dark Knight Rises is an epic finish to a nerdtastic trilogy, but it’s not without fault. Out of the three movies, The Dark Knight Rises has the weakest story and situations that felt lazy. The climax, though action-packed and worth the price of admission, felt like it was torn straight from the pages of a comic book. It feels out of place in a trilogy so meticulously grounded in reality.

My biggest issue with The Dark Knight Rises was that it leaned too much on its predecessors in order to make the movie work. Batman Begins was a standalone movie. It didn’t set up a sequel and the story was contained to one film. The Dark Knight was another Batman adventure, but you didn’t need to watch Batman Begins to understand it. The Dark Knight Rises relies on events from those two movies in order for the film to work. Unlike the first two movies, you need to know about Harvey Dent to understand Bruce Wayne/Batman. You need to know who the League of Shadows were and what role they played in Batman’s origin. The Dark Knight Rises drags because of it. It calls back to both previous movies. It doesn’t explain things because it hopes you remember them. In essence, the story isn’t as self-contained like the first two.

I hate to say this, but the script wasn’t as sharp as I hoped it would be. Don’t get me wrong, the dialogue was great, but I felt things happened for convenience. For example, I didn’t like how characters magically knew when to show up in a scene. How did character X know character Y was under the bridge? And how did character Y know that character Z needed help at that precise moment when he was all alone? Pretty random and it broke the scene for me. This happened a few times. Also, some dialogue felt like it was wedged into the beginning so they could get the emotional response the filmmakers wanted in the end. It felt out of place and would have fit better in Batman Begins.

I didn’t see it on an IMAX screen the way it was intended to be seen. A good chunk of the movie was shot on 70mm film and for me, this slowed things down. IMAX is about four times bigger than regular film. The cameras are clunky and cannot be hand-held due to their size. They have to be on tracks or attached to a helicopter. I don’t think the average movie-goer could see this, but I could tell which shots/scenes were in IMAX. The action was slowed down. Fist fights weren’t as impactful as they should have been. They seemed slow and choreographed to me. I think I know why. With IMAX, you have to spend a few hours setting up a shot just to get a few seconds of footage. When the shot is complete, you have to spend a few hours moving the camera to set up another shot. There isn’t a lot of time to waste when filming like this. You can’t be as flexible as you might wish to be. I’m sure the filmmakers took careful consideration when setting up these shots, but to me, some of the action came across to me as tired and slow because of it.

Also – I’ve been here before. The climatic situation. The weapon. The villain’s purpose. Wasn’t this in Batman Begins?

But I’ll push that aside because I did like the movie. It’s better than Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and, most importantly, Batman & Robin. So what did work in the movie?

“…as a man I'm flesh and blood. I can be ignored, I can be destroyed, but as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting.” – Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins

This line from Batman Begins is most important when watching The Dark Knight Rises. This was the theme that carried the movie along. If you break the man, you also break the symbol. And when that happens, the villains are able to run loose without any opposition. What does it take to break Batman? How far can they go in breaking Bruce Wayne down? Where do you strike hardest to inflict the most pain? The answers to these are what make the movie interesting. 

What rogue in the Batman cannon is capable with inflicting this much pain? Bane, of course. Bane doesn’t have much back-story here, just the essentials to get you up to speed. Bane is a monster that wears a face mask over his nose and mouth, and has the muscular structure of the Hulk. He is brutishly strong. He is there to break Batman anyway possible. He is cunning too. He can out-think Batman. He’s usually one step ahead of him. And when he’s not, he can go toe-to-toe with the caped crusader and come out on top. This gives something Batman needs to rise up against. It helps us cheer him on throughout the movie. We want Batman to overcome Bane because he’s such an ominous and powerful villain.

Anne Hathaway portrayed my favorite Catwoman to date. She was smart, dangerous, and able to protect herself against Bane and Batman. Like all villains in the Batman/Nolan universe, Catwoman is smart and able to take care of herself. I liked her sketchy nature. But there is a big problem with her. Catwoman, while a pleasure to watch, was just “in” the movie. She served no purpose to me. If you cut her scenes out, the movie wouldn’t suffer. Nothing was at stake. It might have been better if they went with The Long Halloween version of Catwoman where she was the illegitimate daughter of Carmine Falcone (Tim Wilkinson in Batman Begins). That could have given her a reason to bring down Batman. Instead they didn’t, and Catwoman was just a burglar.

Finally, Christian Bale has been one hell of a Batman. He has given Bruce Wayne three personalities; all seem very real and plausible throughout this trilogy. His Batman is menacing and real. The public persona of Bruce Wayne as a billionaire playboy was spot on. No one in their right mind would ever suspect this is Batman. Then there is the real Bruce Wayne. One marked by the tragic death of his parents. This is the Bruce Wayne only Alfred sees. It’s the one we’ve been rooting for since the beginning. 

The ending is as perfect as I expected from Christopher Nolan. I had a giant nerdgasim when I saw it on screen. Fanboys everywhere will, or should have, rejoiced in what they saw. Maybe it was little forced and wrapped up too nicely. I can see that argument. Personally, I was hoping for more of an ending open for interpretation like Inception. But in the end, as I’ve said, it’s a perfect end to the trilogy. I just wish the rest of the movie was at that caliber. As a whole, this trilogy will go down as one of the best “comic book movies” arcs ever made, and The Dark Knight Rises will be held up only because it’s a sequel to The Dark Knight (the greatest movie of the superhero genre). Overall, this fanboy gives The Dark Knight Rises three Batsigns out of four.

Jason Wasulko

Contributing Writer
http://www.jasonwasulko.com/ 

Max Power Teams-Up with Burton's Batman

As Christopher Nolan’s epic trilogy comes to a close, it dawns on your old pal Max that a generation of Bat-fans will have come up knowing only Mr. Bale as their Batman. While it’s certainly not a bad thing to have weaned yourself on Nolan’s vision of Gotham city, it would be a shame if that’s the only Gotham you ventured into because I truly believe in a great many ways, Burton’s was better.

First let’s start with the unassailable truth. 1989’s Batman was the most important superhero film ever made. While Richard Donner’s Superman before it was indeed a commercial success, Batman proved that a film based on a superhero could become a financial juggernaut. It wasn’t so much about the box office, which was hefty enough for its time, but the sheer cultural impact the film had was staggering. The bat-signal was everywhere that summer and it goes without saying that the film moved a great deal of merchandise off the shelves. This film is the reason why Warner Bros. and every other studio kept returning to the well of superhero filmmaking, albeit with varied degrees of success through the coming decades. Batman proved that if you did it right, there was a rabid fan-base waiting to throw money at you for your efforts.

But why was the film so successful? Simply put, it works. It’s a strange film and in many ways dated, but it manages to impress a feeling upon you that is darkly magical. There is a whimsy infused in the gothic-noir overtones that is richly satisfying. This is not Nolan’s hyper-real “this could actually happen” vision of Batman. This is Batman the superhero. If the Batman from Super-Friends were to represent that character in childhood, then this is Batman in his third year of college, more mature with better taste in music.

Here are some points to mull when considering the merit of Burton’s vision:

• Keaton’s Batman is confident and sure. He lacks the confusion and uncertainty that plagues Bale’s portrayal. Bale would be lost without Lucius Fox, the real superhero of those films, while Keaton is stalking the steamy alleyways of Gotham like a panther.
• The suit design was a revelation. It’s sleek and powerful and made you believe that the guy who played Mr. Mom could kick your ass. Twenty years later and Bale’s first suit was hardly that different.
• No moment in any of these films has yet to surpass the moment when Batman raises the mugger up and tells him “I’m Batman” as Elfman’s score rises and swells.
• Hans Zimmer’s work on the Nolan trilogy has been wonderful. Danny Elfman however created a score that stands alone as one of the greatest character themes of all times.
• Batman actually does some detective work in this film, deducing the identity of the Joker as well as the intent of his scheme.
• The Batcave is on full display and the fact that the mansion is bugged for sound and video is a wonderful touch that shows a great understanding of the character.
• With few careful scenes we are shown that Gotham has become a grimy city on the decline, as opposed to constantly being beat over the head with the fact that Gotham is a city in decay ala Nolan.
• “Where does he get those wonderful toys?”
• Michael Gough’s Alfred is perfection. Though, so is Caine.
• In not being a slave to realism, Burton’s Gotham is permitted to be some ingenious mash-up of art-deco 40’s noir and filthy 70’s crime film, Manhattan.
• When he flies in on that batwing, all is right with this world.
• Nicholson’s Joker is a force in every way Ledger was. Ledger was the boogeyman. He came from nowhere with no discernible motivation beyond chaos. Jack on the other hand, played the mad artist, the sociopath obsessed with the gratification of self who embodied the empty vanity of his time with lethal charm.
• The moment of understanding that passes between Keaton and Nicholson when the Joker fist asks, “Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight” is powerful stuff.
• The unveiling of the Bat-signal at the end is the stuff of fanboy pixie-dust.

What I grudgingly admit does not work:

• Several scenes are basically Prince music videos and on every level that is awful.
• Commissioner Gordon’s role is minimal and Pat Hingle just doesn’t have the chops.
• Vicki Vale is a screaming, whiny annoyance. Also she is an idiot.
• The mayor really wants this festival to happen but he should please stop talking.
• The Joker dresses his gang in nicely coordinated outfits and I am left to wonder how he ordered these accoutrements that even sport a Joker logo. He either made them himself or bought them at the place where little league teams get their jerseys made up.
• Robert Wuhl, Robert Wuhl, Robert Wuhl. His portrayal of Knox the reporter is an open wound in a rainstorm of lemon juice. I like the notion of an investigative reporter tracking the urban legend that is Batman, Wuhl’s Humphrey Bogart meets Jerry Seinfeld approach does not work for me though.
• Bruce Wayne is less a playboy and more a billionaire weirdo who likes to collect armor and trick hot chicks into thinking he isn’t a billionaire. Bruce you have it backwards. We tell them we ARE billionaires then let them find out we are weirdos who collect shit.
• The fact that Bruce Wayne sleeps upside down is a little too on the nose.
• The Joker being his parent’s killer just doesn’t work for me. 

Well there you have it, my examination of the movie that made this all possible. For more, check out this follow-up post ,where I discuss the greatest Batman movie ever made. Batman Returns.

Max Power

Contributing Writer