The Official Site for the Lackluster Goings-On of Michael Kaiser
Posts tagged batman
Funny Books
Mar 19th
It smells like comics today. I say or think that often, especially around this time of year. I’m not sure what comes first, me thinking about comics and then the smell, or the other way around. It’s probably the weather. It’s comic convention weather. It’s “riding my bike to the local comic shop after school with my backpack straps digging into my arm pits and my no-longer-needed jacket tied around my waist” weather. Most days I’m cool with my decision to quit, but some days I feel the jones. Days that smell like this, in particular.
So just for fun, here are the first two comics I remember owning: Detective Comics #527 and The Flash #257. (I just realized right now that the numbers are virtually the same, only the first two inverted. Crazy.) I did not buy them. I believe they were given to me by an aunt or some other collateral relative. I also think there were more than just these two, but these are the only two I remember with any sort of clarity. They had a bumpy, water damaged feel to their covers. I remember really digging Batman art, but was confused by why Robin was a blond (didn’t understand there were more than one Robin and the Robin featured in this issue was an up and coming Jason Todd). I also remember thinking the super power of the Golden Glider was fairly weird and no match for the Flash. (But what is?)
I do not think either of these comics were my first exposure to superheroes. I watched Superfriends like every other kid. I played “Super Mike” in the backyard sporting the cape my mom made me from extra fabric she had lying around. I woke up at 5am to watch reruns of the West/Ward Batman tv show. (Which I took quite seriously at the time!) But I’m pretty sure these were my first comics, not counting some kiddie Disney stuff or something. When did I get them? No clue. On or after June of 1983 (Detective cover date), which would have made me 8. Sounds about right.
Who’s Watching the Watchmen?
Mar 9th
I am. Or was. Or did. However it works. It was okay. I’d like to see it again, now that I know what it is and isn’t, to see if any of my objections are simply from divergences they took from the original material or if they actually have merit. All my comic loving brethren seem to love it, but then I didn’t love Dark Knight, and I thought Spider-Man I was better than II, so maybe my homes and I don’t see eye-to-eye on these things. I was going to go into my objections further, but eh, I don’t feel like it. If you love it you love it. No one needs me explaining why they shouldn’t. And like I said, I’m not sure what I think of it, so itemizing its “faults” might be premature.
One of the reasons I went was to catch the new Trek trailer on the big screen. (I would have seen it anyway, but yes that was a motivating factor – I am lame!) Of course, my theater was one of the many that did not show it, so thanks for that. I have and had seen it online of course, but I wanted to see it biiiig. Oh well. Again, like the last trailer, I’m torn between “oh god that looks awesome!” and “hmm…that plot point might be dumb…”
Lots of people are saying, “Finally Trek with a budget!” and I guess I agree, although I have to admit, not counting New Frontier, I never noticed Trek needing a budget before. I guess I’m old school. But comparing what has gone before to the shots in these new trailers, the differences in effects is staggering. IMAX here I come. But…is it just effects?
I’m intrigued by the Kirk story the trailer hints at, but will it be all that? I’ve read the movie adaptation is a whopping 197 pages. Hopefully the font is small! The line, “We have no Captain or first officer to take his place” appears dumb to me without context as ranking takes care of situations like that. It’s called a Second Officer, Bones… If they bump Kirk up from nothing to Captain I will probably hiss and boo a bit. But no no, let’s not judge until we see it. Stay the course. As you were.
Tight Washing
Dec 15th
I should really be posting about real life stuff, but here’s something more interesting instead. On Facebook, they have “pages” for products, organizations, people, etc. I think the idea, at least for people, is for the page to be run by the actual person, or at least that person’s rep, but of course everything from Homer J. Simpson to Mr. Magoo has a page because anyone can start a page. And once you start a page, other people can be fans of that page. So I looked up Batman and Superman, and of course they are there, but in terms of fans, Batman is winning 143,999 to 104,831. That’s a pretty big margin. I always thought it was Superman and Jesus in terms of national recognition, but I guess Batman started wearing Kryptonite underwear. I generally like Batman characters and stories better than Superman, but for some reason I’m bummed Superman is not winning, all the same. Maybe because Supes was first, so should get props. Maybe because it means this world prefers cynical to optimistic. Whatever, here’s a funny picture:
