Holy Crap! Bat-Mite's Back -- and he's in continuity!

Writer Grant Morrison has returned Bat-Mite to the pages of Batman, in issue #672. Of course, like Batman himself, he has been updated for the times....



I picked the wrong day to quit comics...

The real reason Robin is not in the Batman sequel?

From the second and last Legend of the Superheroes NBC TV special from 1979. I recommend this link for lots of screen shots and good summaries of the horrendously bad plots.

Adam West IS The Dark Knight

Clips from the 1966 Batman movie set to the audio of the latest Dark Knight trailer. Fun stuff...

Scorcese to direct Rolling Stones documentary

Here's a trailer to Shine a Light, a documentary about the Rolling Stones, directed by Martin Scorcese, due in theatres on April 4, 2008

Jack White as Elvis in "Walk Hard"

You wouldn't Like Him when He's Angry

If there was any doubt that the new Incredible Hulk movie, due June 13 and starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt, was goingto be taking more cures from the 70s TV show than the 2003 movie, look no further than this photo of norton as Bruce Banner in a remarkkably familiar looking machine. here's how Universal describes the non-sequel The Incredible Hulk:

"The Incredible Hulk" kicks off an all-new, explosive and action-packed epic of one of the most popular superheroes of all time. In this new beginning, scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) desperately hunts for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk. Living in the shadows--cut off from a life he knew and the woman he loves, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler)--Banner struggles to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt), and the military machinery that seeks to capture him and brutally exploit his power. As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk's creation, they are confronted with a monstrous new adversary known as The Abomination (Tim Roth), whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk's own. And on June 13, 2008, one scientist must make an agonizing final choice: accept a peaceful life as Bruce Banner or find heroism in the creature he holds inside--"The Incredible Hulk."

Here's hoping it's better than the Ang Lee-directed travesty.

Spider-Marriage No More

I haven't been reading mainstream Spidey comics for awhile now. In fact, I stopped reading right around the time writer J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) started taking the book too far into the supernatural (Dr. Strange should not be a regular in a Spidey book). After several years of revitializing the title, JMS this week wrapped up his 6+ year run on Amazing Spider-Man with an editorially driven story called "One More Day" that ended with a twist that fans knew was coming, but were outraged nonetheless -- in a deal wth the Marvel version of the devil, Mephisto, Peter and his wife of 20 years (real time -in the 1987 Spidey annual on the left) erased their marriage in order to save the life of old, dying Aunt May. And apparently that's exactly what happened -- some yet-to-be pinpointed moment in the past was changed so that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson never got married. It apparently has also undone the recent public unmasking of Spider-Man from the recently completed Civil War storyline and took awy the organic web-shooters he had recntly developed to keep him more in line with his movie counterpart. Not to mention probably every other Spidey story JMS wrote. And Civil War, and tons of other stories from the last 20 years, including some non-Spidey title ones.

Why? Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada (who also drew the 4-part storyline) has been complaining for a long time now how bad an idea the marriage was -- that the appeal of Spidey as a character was in his being single and struggling in his personal life, not married to a former super-model/actress. So he got his wish, and while there are many who may agree that the marriage was not a good idea, virtually nobody is happy with the way Marvel chose to end it, including apparently JMS himself, who wanted to have his name removed from the last two parts of the story.

With the conclusion of this story. Marvel will be launching "Brand New Day" in the three-times-a-month Amazing Spider-Man, now the only mainstream Spidey title (as opposed to the Ultimate and Marvel Adventures versions, where it should be noted, he has never been married), which will explore the new status quo with new crators who promise to bring a sense of old school fun back to Spider-Man. How successful this "reboot" turns out to be is still to be determined, but regardless of this new status quo, how they got there is what has fans up in arms -- Spidey made a deal with the devil?! Save his old, decrepit aunt who already said she was ready to die by undoing his marriage?! This is an incredibly stupid idea that puts DC's continuinty-punch (don't ask) storytelling to shame.

Does that mean I'll never buy a Spider-Man or Marvel comic again? Of course not. I'm just joining the throngs of angry readers who recognize that this was a bad story idea that betrays the core concept of the character as a quick easy, deus ex machina fix to restore that core concept of the character.

Lazy storytelling, and another justification for my not buying monthly (or weekly, or thrice-monthly) comics anymore. Boo Marvel! Boo Quesada!

R.I.P. Ike Turner, the First Rock 'n' Roller

Ike Turner died last week, his musical accomplishments overshadowed by his spousal abuse of Tina Turner. on the event of his passing, let's remember Ike for his contribution to what is considered the first rock 'n' roll record, "Rocket 88", from 1951.

From Newsweek:

Among those eulogizing Turner, who died Dec. 13 at age 76, were music producer Phil Spector and rock 'n' roll pioneer Little Richard, who described his friend as "one of the greatest musicians I have ever met in my life." Richard said that Turner's breakthrough rock 'n' roll hit, "Rocket 88," "shook my soul." "I took that same introduction and made `Good Golly, Miss Molly,'" he said. "I took that same thing and made a huge hit."

Rest in peace, Ike, and thanks for helping to create rock 'n' roll.

Hellboy 2 trailer

Here's the trailer for Hellboy II The Golden Army, due in theaters on July 11, 2008.

The Dark Knight Trailer

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the latest trailer for The Dark Knight, the Batman Begins sequel opening in July 2008. The trailer features Heath Ledger's Joker prominently. No Nicholson impressions here. Getting psyched....

New trailer for Justice League: The New Frontier

Cloverfield preview

Holy crap!

Farewell Evel Knievel, a real life action figure

On Friday, November 30, 2007, the world lost a real life action figure: Evel Knievel.

As a kid, I loved the stunt cycle with the revving sound to launch him. I remember the Snake River Canyon jump, but for me it was all bout that cycle toy.

Speed Racer trailer online

See the trailer for Speed Racer , directed by Matrix trilogy's Wachowski Brothers.

Ahhhhh!!!!!!!! Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley

Marvel launches new online comics initiative

Today, Marvel Comics announced an expansive online comics initiative, designed to reach new fans by making an archive of more than 2,500 Marvel Comics available for viewing online for a nominal fee. Available comics range from the first appearances of Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Iron Man to more recent endeavors, including the Ultimate universe and Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

This initiative, called Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, provides readers access to its growing online archive in a high-resolution format on computer screens for $59.88 a year, or at a monthly rate of $9.99. The comics, which can only be read online, are not downloadable.

From Marvel's press release:

The easy-to-navigate Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited site presents each digital comic in the highest-resolution ever available and offers innovative viewing options, user-friendly search and recommendation features, and personalized reading list tools. Accessible by both PC and MAC users directly through Marvel.com/digitalcomics as well as via the www.marvel.com homepage, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited will have subscription rates as low as $4.99/month -- making it affordable to new readers and longtime fans.

So they don't cannibalize sales from comic shops, new comics will not be available online until six months after their release dates.

For more information, and for 250 free sampler issues, go to http://marvel.com/digitalcomics/hq/

New Iron Man trailer

Iron Man international teaser trailer

New TV Season Viewer Casualty #3: "Reaper"

The TV season started with a lot of promising new shows, but as my viewing schedule (and DVR) continued to get crowded, something had to give. Shows that got the boot shortly after their pilots were Chuck and Pushing Daisies.

I watched and mildly enjoyed the pilots of each, but about halfway through the second episodes of each, I realized I wasn't enjoying them, and just stiopped. Pushing Daisies has been called the best new show of the season, but I found it pretentious and annoying, neither funny nor charming, nor really that engaging. How long can you watch a couple not be able to touch each other at all? Plus be fake British.

Chuck had an interesting pilot, but seemed too similar, and not as engaging as Reaper -- Slacker guy has a secret, a really important mission that only a select few know about. But I thought the pilot of Reaper showed more promise. Plus, it had Ray (Twin Peaks) Wise. And I really like Ray Wise. Kevin Smith directed the pilot and the show seemed to fall into his sweet spot.

But the show became formulaic -- like early Smallville, it featured the "Freak of the Week", while the protagonist sought to learn ,ore about his calling. another similarity is its most annoying feature -- just like it was on Smallville -- unrequited love hindered by not letting the girl in on the big secret. but Smallville had one thing going for it for me -- it's about SUPERMAN. Reaper is about some guy.

Smith remains involved as an executive producer, but he is missed as a driector here. And besides for my Ray Wise fix, I can watch the Twin Peaks Gold box set I recently bought and just wrote about.

Apparently, I am not the only one who feels the potential of Reaper's pilot has not been lived up to, as an article in the SF Gate also notes:

Reaper has never equaled the excellence of its pilot, and, in many cases, the show has been its own worst enemy as it flailed to get the mix of thrills and laughs just right. ... Only recently - and only once - has this series veered off formula (an episode started in the heat of capturing a lost soul, which normally comes in the last 15 minutes). Reaper may be a thriller (though it's almost never scary) and it may be a comedy (that could be sharpened as well), but, ultimately, it's a procedural.

So, I'm done with Reaper, at least for now. Careful Bionic Woman and Back to You -- you're both on the bubble too. The only new show I'm consistently enjoying is Journeyman. I also enjoyed the recently conlcuded, and recently confirmed to be renewed for two more seasons, Damages on FX.

First look at Young Spock

Here is Zachary Quinto (Heroes' villinaous Sylar) as young Spock in J.J. Abrams upcoming Star Trek movie reboot. More photos can be seen at this link.

For rumored spoilers about the plot of the new Trek movie, click here. Fans will be happy to learn that the new movie refers back to an episode of the original series, and that it depicts a previously discussed historical event in young Kirk's life.

Beatles Remastered "Help!" hits this week

Apparently it didn't come out last week like it was supposed to, but the remastred Help! hits DVD this week. Director Richard Lester notes the direction they decided on for the new film - and why:

"We didn't want to repeat A Hard Day's Night. The next logical step would have been to show them in their real lives. But by that point their real lives were X-rated, or what would have been considered X-rated at that time. So the only thing left was to have them become the passive recipients of an outside threat."

The merits of the story can be debated, but the quality of the music of the film cannot. With the enhanced audio of this release, Help is indeed on the way.