Batman and Robin's leather thong...

from BATMAN #83 (April 1954)

A friend of mine posted this to a Yahoo! group, then I found it at Scans Daily.

It just doesn't get any better...

Lookin' at DC Covers for October 2008

SUPERGIRL #34
by Josh Middleton
The actual figure of Supergirl doesn't really do much for me, but I love the design of this cover, and the real-look 3D newspaper. It's just kinda cool looking.

WILDCATS #4
by Neil Googe
I don't know what it is about this cover. Maybe it's that even with all the detail in the drawing it's still a very clean piece of art. Maybe it's the detail in the coloring technique. Maybe it's the color palette and lighting. I don't know. But this is a great cover. And if I cared one lick about the Wildcats, I might even buy it.
But I don't, so I won't. LOL

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS VOL. 4 TP
by Adam Kubert
You couldn't pay me enough to buy this again (okay, that's not true...If you paid me or even offered it for free, I'd take it!). But for some reason I really like this cover. It's kinda cool.
And look, there's Donna! Hi Donna!!

THE AUTHORITY #3
by Simon Coleby
The thing about this cover that struck me is how familiar it looks. Not like an homage (although I suppose it could be), but just the design layout. Is it just me or does it look like a throw-back to the late sixties/seventies? Like something Neal Adams might've done. I don't know why I think that, but that's the vibe I get from it.

WONDER WOMAN #25
by Aaron Lopresti
I really don't like this cover much. The WW-Eagle looks too flat, which is something I've noticed a couple of times in the book, too. It makes her look completely flat chested. It should curve around her breasts, not just sit there. There are lines around it that imply breasts are there, but I just don't see them.
And what the hell is that little girl pointing at!!?

THE ALEX ROSS COVERS
I'm definitely fan of Alex Ross, not the obsessive he-can-do-no-wrong fan, but I really like his work. For awhile he was doing this weird (experimental?) stuff where he'd use light colors for large shadow-y areas. Didn't work for me. Shadowed areas should be dark. Light colored areas should show detail. But that's just me.
This month he hit 3 covers out of the park. BATMAN #681 is I think the best. I love the layout and design of this one. It would make a cool poster (not limited edition giclee -- poster). Although I do like the design and execution of SUPERMAN #681 and JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA ANNUAL #1, I think it's more what's happening on those covers and the excitement of what it means that grabs me with those two.

And when did Superman and Batman's numbering start running in tandem? I must've missed that...

Legion of FOUR Worlds

If you think that FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS is the only place you can catch Geoff Johns playing around in the 31st century -- you'd be wrong.

According to Newsarama, later this year he'll be playing with those toys on a TV screen near you...

There's also a video interview with Johns at Comic Book Resources!

Batman Returns as Terminator Begins

I'm so out of the loop!!
There was a time when I would've known about this movie as soon as the script was being written. Now I find out not only after it's half filmed...but after the teaser trailer has been released!! I suck!

Batman's got another film in the pipeline with Christian Bale taking over the role of John Connor in Terminator Salvation!!
Unlike the first three movies that took place in the present, this one takes place in the future. Judgment Day has happened and the machines are taking over. It's set 3 years before the first Terminator is sent into the past.

Here's the trailer:

You can see it in HD at the Terminator Salvation blog.

The Return of Donna Troy!

You can't imagine my excitement when Donna popped up in WONDER WOMAN #22!! Not only because Gail Simone is writing her, but, damn, Aaron Lopresti makes her so beautiful. You can add him to the short list of artists (George Perez, Phil Jimenez & Jose Luis Garcia Lopez) who get Donna right! Okay, the choker is wrong, but I'm not gonna nit-pick that!
Of course, her "what the hell is going on here" line fits the story...but it's also the thought that went through my head when I saw the costume she's wearing! Don't get me wrong, I detest the Ian Churchill travesty, but if that's the costume she's supposed to be wearing, she should be wearing it everywhere.

And then something wonderful happened (no pun intended):

The DC Solicitations for October came out. And amongst all the goodness was this...

The cover to TITANS #6:
The REAL Donna Troy is back (at least visually...). And even if Starfire looks like a trainwreck, Gar looks better than he did in the past couple issues. Now if only they could get a writer who understood the characters...

Catch up with it!

Well, I've fallen behind on posting and keeping track of my headers! Loser!

Anyway, here's the banner I used in June to celebrate Superman's 70th anniversary.
I never did finish the celebration, got kinda bored with it. But I'll get back to it. Whenever I get the bug, I'll put up a post until I get through all the stuff I was planning on doing. You'll get over it.

Here's the banner I did to celebrate (again) the DVD release of Birds of Prey.
Unfortunately, Warner Home Video screwed the DVD release the same way the WB network screwed the series. No love for the birds...

And the current header:
Because you just gotta love Donna. I hope Gail keeps the "kick-ass" attitude Donna picked up during the sucky COUNTDOWN series. The only good thing that came out of that!

Okay bye!

Birds of Prey - Amazon Sales Rank

At 10:15, July 15, 2008.

BIRDS of PREY - On Sale Today!

BIRDS OF PREY: The Complete Series DVD Set is on sale today!!!

In the third episode of Birds of Prey, Lori Loughlin (Full House, Summerland, 90210) guest-stars as Carolyn Lance aka Black Canary. Carolyn has a past with Catwoman...so she's not keen on Catwoman's daughter: Helena Kyle - The Huntress!! Or Helena's involvement with Dinah and Dinah's crimefighting!

Here's the episode description:

Barbara and Helena learn the truth about Dinah and Dinah learns the truth about her own past when her mother, Carolyn Lance, comes to New Gotham in search of the daughter she abandoned years before. Dinah is shocked to learn that Carolyn was once Batman's protege: the Black Canary. Meanwhile, Helena learns that Detective Reese has family issues of his own when he becomes secretive about a ruthless gangster.

Photo gallery:

Episode preview:

70 Super Years: 1988 - Re-Animated

From Superman Homepage:

Coinciding with Superman's 50th anniversary, Ruby-Spears Enterprises produced a Superman cartoon show which debuted September 17, 1988. It ran on CBS on Saturday mornings. Superman was a half-hour show with each show having one 18 minute Superman adventure, and one 4 minute segment - a continuing series called Superman Family Album that chronicled Clark Kent's life between his actual adoption by Ma and Pa Kent and his public debut as Superman. The idea for the Superman Family Album segments was CBS children's department head Judy Price. The head story editor for the Superman series was Marv Wolfman who had worked as one of the Superman comics writers with writer John Byrne in 1986's revamping of Superman. With Wolfman in charge, the cartoon series would reflect the new comic book version of Superman, while also influenced by the 1940's Fleischer cartoons style. Character design was by long time DC Comics artist Gil Kane. Although well made, this series lasted only one season, in part due to poor scheduling and the high licensing fee being charged.

Here are a few clips from the series (which has yet to be released on DVD):
1. Opening credits
2. Scene from episode 8 "Superman and Wonder Woman vs. The Sorceress of Time"
3. "It's Superman," the final Superman Family Album episode.

Linky-dinks:
Ruby-Spears Superman Episode List @ Superman Homepage
Superman (1988 TV Series) @ Wikipedia
Superman (1988) @ TV.com

70 Super Years: 1986 - Byrned!

THE MAN OF STEEL #1 (July 1986)

In 1986, using the history-altering effects of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS as an explanation, DC Comics decided to give Superman an updated look and feel by completely

SUPERMAN v2 #1 (Jan 1987)

rewriting his history.
Writer/Artist John Byrne was handed the task of recreating the Superman mythos.
The guiding principle of this revised version was that Superman was the last son of Krypton: gone were Supergirl and the Super-pets, along with Superman's career as Superboy. Perhaps the most effective change, however, was made to Lex Luthor: the mad scientist was replaced with a brutal capitalist.
Byrne began with THE MAN OF STEEL, a 6-issue mini-series, retelling Superman’s story beginning with his origin.

ACTION COMICS #584 (Jan 1987)

Each issue focused on a different time in the early years of his career.
After a 6-month break, the Superman titles returned in

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #424 (Jan 1987)

January 1987.
SUPERMAN began with a new series beginning with issue #1. The original SUPERMAN series was retitled THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN and continued the original numbering, starting with #424. ACTION COMICS picked up where it left off at issue #584, converting to a team-up series featuring different guest-stars in every issue. Byrne handled the writing and art on SUPERMAN and ACTION COMICS, while THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Jerry Ordway.

Links:
The Man of Steel @ Wikipedia
Superman: John Byrne Era @ The Continuity Pages: Superman

70 Super Years: Superman in the Eighties

	MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #28 (1981)
	ACTION COMICS #544 (June 1983) 45th Fabulous Year!
	SUPERMAN #400 PORTFOLIO (1984)
	CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7 (Oct 1985) The Death of Supergirl!
	AMAZING HEROES #96 (June 1986)
	SUPERMAN #423 (Sept 1986) Historic Last Issue!!
	TIME (March 14 1988) The world recognizes Superman's 5oth Anniversary!
	ACTION COMICS #600 (May 1988) Golden Anniversary Issue!!
	ACTION COMICS WEEKLY #601 (May 24 1988) Action Comics goes weekly and returns to the anthology format from which it originated.
	ACTION COMICS #643 (July 1989) Superman returns as Action Comics' headliner!

70 Super Years: 1978-1987 - Believing a Man Can Fly

Three years after the disastrous TV-musical (were they in a hurry to get rid of the bad taste?), Warner Brothers got it right.
Casting relative-unknown Christopher Reeve and creating new visual effects techniques for the flying sequences, Warner Brothers' Superman: The Movie made people believe a man could fly.
It didn't hurt that, except for being on the skinny side, Reeve was pretty much a dead-ringer for Superman, and played the role perfectly. The success factor was multiplied by Reeve's chemistry with co-star Margot Kidder as Lois Lane.
In 1980, Superman II amped up the action and adventure by delivering Superman three super-powered Kryptonian villains. And introducing the world to a new superpower: the cellophane "S" (!!!?).
The franchise took a step back in 1983's Superman III by casting a comedian (Richard Pryor) as a quasi-antagonist, and playing the game too much for laughs.
The less said about 1987's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace the better...

Here are the movie trailers for all 4 movies:

Linkorama:
Superman on Wikipedia
Superman II on Wikipedia
Superman III on Wikipedia
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace on Wikipedia

Available @ Amazon:

Superman: The Movie (4-Disc Special Edition)
Superman II (2-Disc Special Edition)
Superman III (Deluxe Edition)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Deluxe Edition)
The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection