The City That Spawned Him...

Everyone knows that I'm a major Batman fan. I don't dismiss other members of the DC Universe pantheon of heroes (or Marvel's pantheon for that matter!), but ever since I was a child, there was always something that spoke to me about the Dark Knight. It wasn't just the symbolism, even though the Bat symbol is really cool. It wasn't just the science and technology used, even though toys like the Batmobile and the Batarang are really cool. It isn't even the superior intelligence and tactics that Batman employs to survive in a world full of super powered beings. In really thinking about it, the underlying quality that really speaks to ME and supports my intense love of the Batman mythos is the endurance of the man, Bruce Wayne. Making the choice to fight crime as a child, having the strength of will to stick to that choice and enforcing that change, and then standing up against the never-ending assault of crime. Those qualities were exceedingly appealing to my younger self trying to survive the household in which I lived. And so, I read the stories, watched the TV shows. Yes, even that horrible excuse for entertainment that was the 70s Batman show. Blech!

Thoughts On... Ben Affleck As Batman

The problem with being a vocal fan of anything is when something big happens everyone reports it to you and then they sit back and wait to see if you explode (either positively or negatively). I am a vocal fan of Batman. While I'm smart enough to see past the haze and recognize the comic character's flaws, there is still an attractive quality about the story of the man who would be a superhero. Since Warner Bros. announced the news yesterday, a whole slew of my friends have taken it upon themselves to let me know that Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in Zack Snyder's "Batman Vs Superman" movie.

A Chill Falls Over Gotham....

There's two months left and my anticipation builds with each passing day. So far, every thing I've heard & seen for Arkham City makes the game look even more awesome. Yesterday, they jumped to a new level of awesomeness!!!! They revealed a new boss and he looks off the HOOK!!! To modify a phrase from a tv show I'm watching:




THE FREEZE IS COMING!!!


Now, I have to admit, when I first read Mr. Freeze in the comics, I wasn't too impressed. He just seemed like a blank slate villain of the week to me. But when the people creating Batman: The Animated Series re-wrote him, he became much more fascinating. They maintained the hard-nosed aloofness of the comics version, while simultaneously adding a layer of tragic sadness & misery to him that made me empathize with Victor Fries's plight. These same people are working on the Arkham City game and they are carrying on with Dr. Fries's story in excellent fashion. Check out the trailer:







Wasn't that amazing? And I noticed a few things. One (and this is really awesome) they managed to get Michael Ansara (the voice actor who played Freeze in Batman:TAS and Batman Beyond) to reprise the role!!!!* Second, in terms of game mechanics, it looks like the boss fights in B:AC are going to be more customized to the style of the villains you're facing, which is amazing considering that the repetitive nature of the boss fights in B:AA was one of my pet peeves with the game. October 18th can not come fast enough!! What are YOUR thoughts on Mr. Freeze?

*NOTE: Turns out I was wrong on the actor playing Mr. Freeze. It's actually Maurice LaMarche.Another great veteran voice actor. 

Return To Gotham...

And so it begins.. The final chapter of the Batman film franchise that will be under the helm of the genius film director known to us mere mortals as Christopher Nolan. In this chapter, Batman will take on Bane and most likely Catwoman in another battle for the soul of Gotham.

The film is coming out July 20th, 2012. Check out the teaser trailer by clicking on the link below:

The Dark Knight Rises

New Info on Batman Arkham City...

See, this is why I love E3. So much awesome information comes out in such a short period of time. And I've been really looking forward to what is coming up next for all my interests!!! And so far, I haven't been disappointed at all!!

For all my fellow Bat fans, we get a new look at the gameplay for Batman: Arkham City. This includes some in game cinematic footage of the man (or men?) himself (themselves?): Two-Face!!  They show off a little more of what you can do as Batman, including interrogating a Riddler informant!! And they start it off with a surprise reveal!!! Check it out:

Tags: GameTrailers.com, E3 2011: Catwoman Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Talk about awesome, right? I can't wait till this game comes out!! It is SO going to rock! And with 25+ hours of gameplay, it's going to allow for a longer trip into the world of Batman!

Today, A Legend Was Born....

On April 25th, 1939, Detective comics debuted a new super hero. Created by Bob Kane, and intended to be the dark, weird counterpart to Superman, it was 72 years ago today that the legend of the Batman was born.

Here's to 72 years in publication!!! Go Batman!!!

Re-Examination of Batman Gameplay Trailer...

So, I am anxiously awaiting the new Batman: Arkham City game. As such, when the first gameplay trailer came out, I watched it OVER and OVER and OVER again!! And I thought I had caught every detail there was to see...

Then I watched IGN's Rewind theater and realized how much I really missed! If you haven't already, watch the Arkham City gameplay trailer first. Then, check this out:

More Batman: Arkham City Videos

See?? I didn't even pick up on the possible cameo of Black Mask! But that level of detail is the thing that I liked about Arkham Asylum and what I'm liking so far about Arkham City! It really shows that this game was made definitely for the fans!

This Ain't No Place For A Hero...

For those of you who don't know, one of the greatest superhero games ever released (Batman: Arkham Asylum) is getting a sequel: Arkham City. The first game covered the events that happened when the Joker broke out of custody and took over Gotham City's most notorious mental health facility, Arkham Asylum. Batman, already on the grounds since he's the one who brought the Joker to the asylum, immediately takes steps to deal with the issue.

The sequel takes place a year after the events of the first game. The former warden of Arkham Asylum, Quincy Sharp, took credit for the defeat of the Joker and parlayed that credit to get elected as mayor of Gotham City. Sharp then initiates a plan to wall off the slums of Gotham and dumps all the inmates of Arkham & Blackgate prison into the newly created Arkham City. In this new region, the inmates can do whatever they want, so long as they don't try to escape. To run Arkham City, Sharp appoints the psychiatrist Hugo Strange, who seems to have his own agenda, according to the trailer.

Bats, of course, keeps an eye on the place knowing that eventually hell is going to break loose. Which happens when Two-Face, newly arrived to Arkham City and looking to gain clout, decides to kidnap and publicly execute Catwoman. Batman enters Arkham City to stop the execution, which is (presumably) where the game starts.

Today, video game developer Rocksteady Studios released THE FIRST actual game play trailer for Batman: Arkham City on IGN!! I've been DYING to see this ever since I saw the full trailer for the game. Seeing this trailer, made me put in my pre-order within mere SECONDS of finishing it. Check it out:

More Batman: Arkham City Videos

Rocksteady claimed that Arkham City was going to take what was good about the first game and expand on it, and seeing this trailer, they have done an EXCELLENT job! You have more areas to explore, more abilities and gadgets, and rumor has it that they are adding even more Easter eggs through the game! I can't wait to get this!!!

My good friend, David, has been virtually orgasmic about this new show coming to HBO called Game of Thrones, based on one his favorite series of books. While I'm not at his level of enthusiasm (I haven't read the books.), I do find the show appealing. Normally, I would be making fun of his excitement, since he's normally a very stoic person. But, in this case, I can't. Because, I know EXACTLY how he feels, because I feel the same way... about Batman: Arkham City!

Difference between Thought & Action...

I finally finished Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and it was a good game. The ending was really interesting and I'm eager to see what the DLC packs that Konami are going to release this year have to offer! This past weekend, I started a new video game: Batman: Arkham Asylum.

I bought the game because everyone told me how awesome the game was. (I wish I could have afforded the collector's edition with the Batarang!) It got game of the year, and tons of people (including a large subset of my friends) absolutely loved it. Now that I've finally played it, I can see why. Like Bioshock, Arkham Asylum engrosses you into the events of the game in such a subtle way that I didn't realize I was hooked until I checked the clock and realized that what had felt like 20 minutes of playing was actually THREE HOURS!! And as I played the game, I realized that as much as I love Batman, I had no idea just how difficult it is to be in his shoes.

I remember tons of arguments I've had with many a Superman fan, arguing about the quality of Batman's mind. Not just about it's alleged superiority, but also the subtle manipulations that Batman engages in almost every encounter that allow him to perform as he does. Yet, for all my vaunted knowledge and in depth reading, actually having to perform those same manipulations is another challenge all together. While I'm still just in the beginning of the game, the aspect of the game that I absolutely LOVE is how the game puts you in Batman's mind.

The last part of the game I played was in the Asylum's medical facility where a couple of my choices backfired on me. I had been given a couple of upgrade options and, in typical gaming fashion, I upgraded my armor first, thinking that it would be an advantage in any fights I get into. But that's not Batman's style. If Batman is in the middle of a shoot out, he's lost his main advantage: stealth. At the height of his ability, the only time someone gets to see Batman is when HE wants you to, not before.

And I paid for that mistake, time and time again as I tried to take out 5 guys and ended up getting killed over and over. But rather than frustrate me (as what would happen in most games), this setback actually gave me a deeper understanding of my favorite comic character and just enhanced my enjoyment of the game. It's most likely going to take me awhile to complete Batman: Arkham Asylum, but I'm going to LOVE every single instant of it and when I'm done, I'll have a much greater, more delicately nuanced understanding of Batman and the way he sees the world. 

Top 5... Greatest Batman Stories

With this post, I'm starting one of two new running threads in my blog, the Top 5 list. In this case, here are my top five greatest Batman stories.

5: No Man's Land - This story was just amazing. The death of Gordon's wife, the virtually endless amount of work to re-take Gotham City. This was an epic read, and I didn't even read all of the issues! Plus this series introduced both Lex's bodyguard, Mercy Graves & Joker's sometime girlfriend, Harley Quinn.

4: The Long Halloween - Following in the footsteps of Batman: Year One, this story is great because it delves more into the life of Harvey Dent before he became Two-Face and also because it takes most of Batman's Rogue's Gallery and changes them from mob-enforcers & thugs to true super-villains.

3: Death In the Family - The death of Jason Todd. 'Nuff said.

2: Under The Hood - The power of this story comes from Batman having to face the decisions he made after Jason Todd's death. As well as facing the brutal consequences of Batman's most harshly kept rule: Never to kill.

1: KnightFall - For me, this is the single greatest Batman story told. No other story goes so deeply into the primal psychology of why Bruce Wayne chooses to remain Batman, how Wayne kept from crossing over into evil, and how incredibly difficult taking up the Mantle of The Bat really is.

Eternal Arguments: Batman Vs Superman

There are a couple of eternal arguments going on in my life. These arguments are everlasting battles of will against any who stand opposed to my beliefs in the particular subject matter. These get so involved that most people who get into these arguments with me get to the point where we just agree to disagree on the topic and leave it at that, with a possible re-visiting of the topic at some future point in time when either of us are bored.

One of these arguments is who is the better character: Batman or Superman? Before I get started let me be perfectly clear: I'm not going to be going over the history of these characters. They are both so ingrained in American mythology that practically everyone knows some version of their history. If you don't know, look it up. There's some good story lines there!

In DC comics, there are three flagship characters. These three are the core of the DC universe, both in the comics and in the company itself. They are, in order: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman. You might wonder why the Amazonian princess isn't in contention here. The simple answer is comic books were/are/will be created mostly for boys. Girls have much more important things to do than read comics and argue about the relative strengths of the lead characters in those comics. Since Wonder Woman was created to appeal to girls, she has the privilege of being an undeniably awesome character and enjoys the presence of no real rival, whereas the rivalry between Superman & Batman has existed since Batman first came on the scene.

Let's start with the Man of Steel. To be fair, my position isn't that Superman is a bad character. There are a great many compelling story lines in his saga. I've enjoyed reading his comics, watching SOME of his shows, and some of his movies. Not to mention that Superman represents the unconscious fantasies of most American males. I will give all that to Supes. But the man is still an idiot. Superman grew up in a world that could never touch him. Granted, it took time for most of his flashy powers(like heat vision or flight) to develop, but he was invulnerable & super strong pretty much from childhood. This colors his perceptions now as an adult super-hero. Since nothing can ever hurt him, he always favors frontal assault style tactics. Bullets start flying, he gets in front of them. Lasers start flying, there he goes jumping in front. A bad guy shows up, Supes flies in through a wall and just starts breaking stuff. For someone who is loaded with so much supposedly advanced knowledge (all his training and learning from Krypton), Superman's thinking is remarkably limited. He's like a sledgehammer. There is rarely a time where he actually stops to think about what would be the most effective use of his powers in a given situation.

His greatest villain, Lex Luthor, has survived against the most powerful man on Earth for years simply by outsmarting him at every level. For all his power and personal charisma, Superman's greatest vulnerability (aside from the skittles rainbow of Kryptonite available) is his mind. The worse part is, he does NOTHING to improve himself, or expand his mind. In his mind, his strength comes from his abilities and so his abilities are the answer to everything. Superman isn't a bad character, he's just an idiotic one.

Then there's the Dark Knight. In essence, my position is that Batman is just better than Superman. I've always found it amazing, funny and exceptionally cool that the hero ranked second in the DC pantheon and biggest rival to Superman is a man who is a "super hero" (I debate that classification, but I'll use the term for ease of reference.) with no super-human abilities of any kind. Where Superman represents the ultimate fantasy of American males (some would argue males in general), Batman represents the height of human capability. No one could ever BE Superman, but with proper training, and enough money, a person can actually BE Batman. And that's a major key to the character. He represents the current pinnacle of what humanity can ACTUALLY achieve, should we CHOOSE to do it. Batman is a super hero because he DECIDED to be one. When he made that decision, he knew he would do whatever it took, make every necessary sacrifice, all to reach his goal. That decision colors everything in Batman's world.

Batman looks at every situation from a cold, pragmatic standpoint, picking and choosing his options with precision and doing exactly what is necessary to get the job done. Even DURING encounters, he's evaluating, assessing, adapting. Where Superman is a sledgehammer, Batman is a sword. Focused, subtle, yet powerful. A lot of people ridicule Bats because of all the gadgets he uses. But, look at it this way, every encounter Batman has, he learns from and makes himself better for his next encounter. He gathers information, and whatever he couldn't accomplish on his own, he designs & builds a tool to HELP him get the job done. It is my belief that the best way to beat Batman is to kill him during the first encounter. After that, he'll adapt and be able to overcome in the next encounter. It's also telling, that with all the knowledge that Superman possesses, he still goes to Batman for advice (and assistance). Ironically, Batman's greatest weakness is the very thing that defines him: he is only human. Mind-to-mind, Batman is virtually unbeatable.

At the end of the day, that cold focused determination, the determination to face the darkness of the world with the darkness inside him, the willingness to conceive of things other people, even other HEROES, don't want to see... those things are what makes Batman so appealing to me. Superman will never compare to that in a million years. Even to step on that playing field, Supes would have to become darker than he would ever allow. At heart, Superman will always be the Big Blue Boyscout and Batman will always be The Dark Knight.