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The first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns hit the stands on this date in 1986.

Four full decades later, it remains perhaps the most definitive tale of Batman’s persona as a human being.  Watching an older Bruce Wayne turn his back on his age and embracing his heroic persona once more is nothing short of magnificent… and also engenders much reflection on the part of the reader.

I first read The Dark Knight Returns in June of 1989: the “Summer of Batman” when the Caped Crusader was seemingly everywhere.  It was unlike any comic book I had yet experienced.  It totally changed how I perceived Batman and his world and it forever raised my expectations on what graphic novels should deliver.

Frank Miller, thank you for bringing us this story.  It will always be my favorite Batman story and no doubt it is for many other fans ...

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Got back a little while ago from seeing The Batman.  It may take a while to process this thoroughly.  It’s definitely a change-up from what we’ve come to expect from Batman on film.  Director Matt Reeves has crafted what is easily the most jagged, grim and dirty Batman story we’ve seen on the big screen ever.  And though some of his choices to slaughter some of the mythos’ most sacred cows are disconcerting, even so I found myself completely enthralled by this movie.

It’s not perfect.  There will never be such a thing as the perfect Batman movie.  But I would rank it right up there with Batman Begins (2005) and Michael Keaton’s Batman from 1989....

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So let’s get the obvious out of the way first:

YOWZA!!!!  Maybe the greatest Star Wars trailer in all of history.  But ahhhh… will the movie deliver the goods come next month?  No other way to be honest about it: some days I find myself loving The Last Jedi and others, I find it sorely lacking.  There’s just more that could have been done with the sense of pacing and time.  And spending that much time looking for one guy in a casino on the other side of the galaxy (which makes NO sense given the Resistance fleet’s situation) should have been excised completely from the script.  But, it is what it is.  And this far along in the game I’ve gotta be loyal to the end.  The tickets for opening night of The Rise Of Skywalker were already in virtual hand two hours before the trailer premiered.  Bought
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First it was the news that Frank Miller is making ANOTHER sequel to his legendary graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns.

And now tonight it’s this: the first look at Jared Leto as the Joker in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie:

Disney shareholders, be of good cheer.  Your Marvel Cinematic Universe need not fear any competition from DC.

Romero.  Nicholson.  Hamill.  Ledger.  Leto.  One of these is not like the others.  One of these just doesn’t belong…...

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I rarely watch television.  A show has to be very good for me to invest any of my valuable time toward.  As things stand now the only shows that I can think of that I indulge myself in are Doctor Who and The Walking Dead.

It is much rarer still that I will watch the pilot episode of a new series when the show has its premiere.  In fact, I can probably count the number of times that I’ve done that, across my entire life, on one hand.

It is almost inconceivably extremely more rare that I will watch a premiere episode and find myself impressed.

All of that said, having just watched the premiere of Fox’s new series Gotham, this episode wildly exceeded all possible expectations.

This is potentially the finest and most faithful take on the Batman mythos than anything we’ve seen yet, including the Christopher ...

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An awful lot of the homegrown cinema lately seems to have more heart and soul than most of the big studio productions.  These two fan-created films are some of the best that I’ve seen lately.

First up, it’s a sequel to the original Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”.  “Pilgrim of Eternity” has Michael Forest reprising his role as Apollo from the 1967 episode.  The script was written by Jack Treviño (who wrote the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes “Little Green Men” and “Indiscretion”).  Christopher Doohan – son of James Doohan – plays Scotty and Marina Sirtis herself is the voice of the Enterprise computer.  And not being content with just one Apollo, “Pilgrim of Eternity” also has Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica‘s Lee Adama) as a redshirt security officer!




And then we have this: Arkham Rising.  Set during the events of The Dark ...

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A few weeks ago I came across a religious broadcasting station that runs episodes of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids on weekday afternoons.  I’d forgotten how awesome this show was!  My DVR has been set accordingly, so I can once again watch the wacky adventures of Fat Albert and his gang during the evenings or whenever.

From the show’s start, its creator/producer/narrator Bill Cosby intended for the series to teach and enlighten as much as it entertained (it eventually became the basis of Cosby’s doctorate in education).  As the show progressed, Cosby and his staff began to take on bolder issues, such as racism and guns (interestingly, that particular episode did not condemn firearms entirely, it just cautioned young people to be extremely careful with them).

So it was 1984 and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids was finally winding down after being on Saturday morning television for twelve ...

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There goes whatever plans I might have had for that day…




GameInformer.com has news and details about Batman: Arkham Origins: the follow-up to Rocksteady’s Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.  However this is a prequel to those games, taking place “years before both of the previous Arkham titles when a young, unrefined Batman encounters many supervillains for the first time”.

Rocksteady won’t be developing this new game however.  They’ve handed the baton to  Warner Bros. Games Montreal, but have made all their tools and resources available so that the series’ look and feel remains consistent.  Given how Arkham Asylum garnered universal acclaim as one of the best video games of all time – and that Arkham City received even greater praise – WB Games Montreal has a high mark to hit, much less surpass.  But after seeing that trailer I’ve confidence they can pull it off.

Now if we ...

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