WB Confirms New Batman Arkham Game for 2013
Words out that Warner Brothers will be adding to the Batman:Arkham gaming franchise later this year. During a recent financial review, Time Warner‘s CFO and chief administrative officer John Martin confirmed that:
“And we also have a strong games release this year, which will include the next release in the Batman Arkham franchise. So all in all, we expect Warners to post another very strong year in 2013. And with a little luck, the year should be as good or maybe even a little bit better than 2012.“
You might remember that earlier this year Warner Brothers registered 15 new domain names featuring the key word Arkham.
Arkham Universe
Batman Arkham Universe
Batman Arkham Arises
Batman Arkham Begins
Batman Arkham Dark Knight
Batman Arkham Knight
Batman Arkham Legend
Batman Arkham Legends
Batman Arkham Night
Batman Arkham Origins
Batman Arkham Stories
Dark Knight Arkham
DC Arkham Universe
DC Arkhamverse
The Arkham Universe
Any of these could be the future title of the next Batman: Arkham (Something) game. What really concerns me is that VG27 is reporting that Rocksteady, the company developer of the first two wonderfully successful games, won’t be developing the new game. That could spell trouble. Paul Dini, the writer for the first two game’s script content is also not involved in the new project. That’s strike two in my book.
How many successful franchises or businesses can you name that dumped all the talented individuals or companies involved in the creation of said success and followed up that move with even greater successes? I can’t think of any. That Batman: Arkham baby is going to be without bath water or bath tub after that move. Add in that the game is going to be released later this year, when other games have labored years before being released to lack luster reviews and you’ve got a mixture just waiting to blow up in Warner Brothers investors faces.
The rumored story line for the new game is a Silver-Age Arkham story featuring the first time Batman meets Joker. Although that could be an interesting look at both characters, that alone won’t carry the game through if the game play and visuals don’t surpass the already high bar set by the first two games.
What do you think about all of this? I was blown away by both Batman: Arkham games and would hate to see the franchise tarnished.
Via: Latinoreview
JOE KUBERT TRIBUTE – The Greatest Comic Book Artist Ever!
OK, I’m gonna try to get through this post without crying and I’m being completely serious. Yesterday, while goofing around on Facebook, I came across the tragic news that a personal childhood hero of mine, the legendary Comic Book Artist Joe Kubert, passed away. He was 85 years old. Mr. Kubert had a very long career working in comics and all of his artwork has become totally iconic. Once you see it you can never forget it. He is mainly known for his work on Tarzan & Sgt. Rock but my personal favorites were when he drew Batman. He just had an incredible style.
I never had the privilege of meeting him but about 2 months ago our friend in New Jersey, BatDave, went to a signing at a popular Comic Book Store in New York City. Dave said that Joe Kubert was one of the nicest guys he had ever met. He also said he was kinda shocked that Mr. Kubert was not even charging for Autographs, a rare thing in today’s greedy marketplace. But this doesn’t surprise me as I have always been told by other friends who have met him that he was always very down to earth & super friendly. Another thing I know is that his art will live on forever. In fact, it’s hard for me to even think about any other Artist even drawing Sgt. Rock. His style was so much a part of that character. He will be missed. My condolences go out to his friend and family. Please find peace & know that he will live on forever in the hearts of Comic Book Fans all over the world.
R.I.P. JOE KUBERT 1926 – 2012
Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor’s BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN To Be Published in Spain as “Arquitectura Mortal”
OK, This is pretty awesome bat-news! Over at the CHIPKIDD.COM website we just got the word that a book publishing company in Barcelona, Spain called “Ecc Ediciones” will be publishing Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor’s BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN (DC Comics) into a foreign language edition! The new title will be called, “Batman: Arquitectura Mortal”. They have even created a really nice Book Trailer Video which you can see down below. We’re not really sure of an exact release date but it is due in 2013 and I have seen some foreign reviews already.
Also, for more information, please be sure to check out their website, just CLICK HERE!
Fox Guru Mark Millar Justice League Movie Quip: ‘Excellent Way to Lose 200 Million Dollars’
Mark Millar isn’t one to keep his mouth shut about Mark Millar‘s thoughts and opinions about Mark Millar‘s own work and Mark Millar‘s thoughts and opinions about the work of others. (Sorry for all the Mark Millar‘s there, but for some reason, when ever I read something Mark Millar has said, I always imagine him talking in the third person, like the Queen of England’s royal manner of speaking.
While he’s been busy getting all of Fox Studios Comic book franchise characters, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to name a couple, in a row, Millar still had time to dissect what he thinks are Warner Brothers and DC Comics biggest problems in bringing the Justice League to the big screen.
Talking with SciFi Now, Millar started with a look at the groups powers and why the Justice League will have issues translating those powers and character traits to theater screens:
“Now the stuff I grew up with… I adored the DC stuff growing up but really, how do you do a movie about Green Lantern? His power is that he manifests green plasma from his imagination and uses them as weapons against someone? Even that in itself if you just imagine then watching a fight scene with a guy who’s like a hundred feet away making plasma manifestations fight someone – it’s not exactly raucous, getting up close and personal.
The Flash has door handles on the side of his mask and if he doesn’t wear that mask, I’ll be pissed off, you know what I mean? They’re in a weird, weird situation – if you’ve got a guy who moves at the speed of light up against the Weather Wizard and Captain Cold or whatever, then your movie’s over in two seconds. You can get away with stuff in comics that in live action’s just a bit sucky – the best one is definitely Aquaman. Aquaman can’t even talk under water. If you think about it in comics it’s fine, you just have a speech balloon, but how do you have Atlantis and people talking under water? Are they gonna talking telepathically? Is it going to be body forms?”
The core issues that Millar contends will bury the big budget DC Comics team up is:
“I actually think the big problem for them is the characters are just too out of date. The characters were created 75 years ago, even the newest major character was created 68 years ago, so they’re in a really weird time…
The actual logistics of each member of the Justice League is disastrous, and you put them all together and I think you get an excellent way of losing $200 million.”
Are you buying what The Millar is cooking, or is this just a smoke screen, an effort to muddy the waters just enough to make Warner Brothers Executives hesitant to swing for the fences with a Justice League Movie?
Are Millar’s points valid? I don’t agree that the powers of the Justice League won’t translate well on screen, but I do agree that the cost of getting those powers onto the big screen are expensive and time consuming. What is all boils down to for this NerdBastard is, will the story and characterizations work, or will we get 5 different characters with 5 different movie styles crammed into one two hour monstrosity?
Remember these gems from the past?
Via SciFi Now
Video – Batman’s NEAL ADAMS Talks About HIS Vision of the Batmobile Car
In this recent video posted by Neal Adams, he explains his thoughts on the Batmobile he designed for Batman and Robin in the BATMAN: ODYSSEY Comic Book and Graphic Novel. Also, did you know that Neal has his own website? Well, here’s a link to NEALADAMS.COM
Nerd Art Dump: A ‘Hobbit’ Crossover, Boba Fett, and a Dog From the Future!
Each and every week we scour the Internet for nothing but the best in nerdy art. We leave no digital stone unturned, we poke and prod every nook and cranny of the Interwebz. Why? Because we love you, and we love to bring you weekly feed of nerd art. On with the dump!
J-Estacado must really love the work of famed pin-up artist Gil Elvgren, so much so that he made his own tribute piece to Gil with DC Comics Zatanna in place of Gil’s girls. He really nails it too, right down to the black negligee she has on in the tribute piece. Now that’s some real magic. [Nudity and Nerdery]
Hit the jump for the abominable snowman, puppies in costumes and moar.
One of the most popular shows of the last few years, Game of Thrones has been integrating into so many fan bases that it’s hard to keep count. Luckily, Miguel Lokia has saved the day with his series of “Houses” based on famous pop cultures characters, including Jack Sparrow and the House of House. They’re all great sounding houses, but you can’t beat House Lannister and the mighty Tyrion Lannister. [Geek-Art]
Bioware had a smash hit with Mass Effect 3, but they would shatter all records if they borrowed from Amales and released a bit of Mass Ferret DLC content. Just the promotional material alone would sell a couple hundred of those after which the sea of hate towards the ending will last for years. [Game Freaks]
Back when I was really young I was terrified of the abominable snowman in the Rudolph Christmas special, this piece by Chirstine Larsen cements my fear. Just seeing the look in that blood covered monsters eyes brings back so many bad memories. Show this to your kids if you’re looking to scare them into good behavior. [Comics Alliance]
This Hobbit/Sherlock crossover by Irise is just one of many that have been popping up since Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch were cast. With their connection to both we can be sure there’s going to be thousands more like this popping up in the next few years. [Deviant Art]
Bobba Fett is the galaxy’s best bounty hunter, especially when it comes to hunting down the ladies. Am I right? [Nerd Sexin's]
Doctor Who is back in full force and ready for 2013 in a big way, so why not have ElectroCereal do amazing pieces for the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors just for the hell of it? With each drawing featuring it’s own Doctor, villains and famous companions each drawing is a refresher course in the who’s who of Doctor Who. Good luck saying that three times fast. [Geek Tyrant]
Skin-tight suit, check; Fuzzy white fur, check; the Black Cat is ready for another night of high class theft and criminal activity. Dan Don Fuga is pretty damn good at drawing the ladies of the Marvel universe. We’ll definitely have Don back on here again soon. [Tech Sergant Jenn]
Spoiler alert! This drawing by maruco sums up the first half of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit pretty nicely, lots of food and not enough action. If it wasn’t for the hope that The Hobbit will surely make up for itself next year, I would loath this piece.[Lado Inverso]
He’s come for Sarah Connor — and a squeaky toy. Brian Rubenacker must really like Boston Terriers, he’s featured the dog breed in a small series of portraits based on pop culture icons like the T-800 and Clockwork Orange’s Alex. Dogs love this man, but cats…we won’t even go there. [XombieDIRGE]
Updated! CW Reveals What Kind of Wonder Woman They Want for ‘Amazon’
With Arrow a sure-fire hit for the CW, it seems that the network is looking to its next superhero crossover hit, a new take on Wonder Woman called Amazon. Not letting themselves be deterred by David E. Kelly‘s recent attempt to make a Wonder Woman show, it seems that the project, this time being overseen by TV writer (Grey’s Anatomy, The OC) and comic book author (Young Avengers, Wonder Woman) Allan Heinberg, is ready and waiting at the casting phase, but with a twist….
Yes friends, they are looking for a young woman to play an Amazonian princess set loose on our mortal world, and yes, they want her to be a tall girl (5’8 according to the casting notice), and her name is Iris. Wait, did I just type “Iris”? Let’s go the rest of the casting notice:
She comes from a remote, secluded country and until now has spent most of her life as a soldier and a leader on the battlefield. Because of relentless brutality of her life at home, Iris looks at our world with absolute awe and astonishment. She’s delighted and just as often horrified by the aspects of everyday life that we take for granted: skyscrapers, traffic, ice cream. It’s all new and fascinating and sometimes slightly troubling to her. Iris is completely unschooled in our world, our culture, our customs. And she’s completely inexperienced at interpersonal relationships. She has no social filter, does not suffer fools, and tends to do and say exactly what’s on her mind at all times. She’s bluntly, refreshingly honest. She can tell when you’re lying to her. And she doesn’t have time or patience for politics or tact because she’s too busy trying to experience everything our world has to offer. There are too many sights to see and things to learn and people to care for. Hers is a true, noble, and generous heart. And she will fight and die for the people she loves. Iris is a fierce warrior with the innocent heart of a romantic and she will fight to the death to make the world safe for innocents and true romantics everywhere.
So is this another Warner Bros bungle? Perhaps, but perhaps not. Maybe they’re fudging the casting notice to that people don’t get hooked on the past failure of the previous Wonder Woman pilot, or maybe they’re saving the Diana Prince Wonder Woman for the big screen while having a Wonder Woman named Iris for TV. Either way, if Arrow is any indication there maybe reason to hope that this time TV might get Wonder Woman right.
What do you Bastards think? Do you have high hopes for the new Wonder Woman? Any hopes for that matter.
Source: Deadline (via Coming Soon)
UPDATE! Geoff Johns has since tweeted, clearing up any concern or worry about Wonder Woman being a woman named Iris,
If a WW show happens her name is of course DIANA. Codenames (like IRIS) are used in casting a lot to try and avoid speculation. #TV101
- Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) November 30, 2012
Whew! Thank, Hera!
Source: DC Women Kicking Ass
CW’S ‘Arrow’ to Bring in New DC Villain – Count Vertigo
After I got over my initial
“OhMyGodCWisDoingGreenArrowAndIt’sNotEvenCalledGreenArrow!”
and watched the show I found that the show has a lot going for it. It’s not Christopher Nolan’s Batman, but it’s not The Cape either. There is a great deal of Green Arrow and DC comic lore hidden in the story and characters just waiting to be told.
Another villain is going to appear on Arrow early next year, Count Vertigo. It isn’t clear if the character will retain the name, but word is that a new designer drug called Vertigo will start to flood Starling City. It doesn’t take a genius to see a clear connection between Oliver’s sister, nick-named “Speedy” who has her own drug problem much like the comic book version sidekick had.
The best bet out there at the moment is that Torchwood’s John Barrowman who is listed as “The Well-Dressed Man” will turn out to be the series’ new take on Vertigo. WHo knows, it could happen, Vertigo is described as, “Oliver’s deadliest adversary to date… He will be truly scary and nightmarish.” If Vertigo is to be the biggest bad guy then the role should be filled by someone like Barrowman.
You can catch Arrow Wednesdays at 8 pm on The CW.
Via: ScreenRant
VIDEO – LEGO® Batman 2: DC Super Heroes – Open World Trailer
Check out this fun LEGO BATMAN 2 – DC Super Heroes Video Game Trailer.
WB’s ‘Superman’ Copyright Win Gives Justice League Movie The Green Light
Wednesday afternoon Warner Bros. scored a major victory in the long running legal battle over the ownership of the Man of Steel. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright shot down the heirs of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster in their attempt to reclaim 50% of the rights to the Last Son of Krypton. The reasoning behind this that back in 1992 Shuster’s sister, Jean Peavy, struck a deal with DC Comics in 1992 covering her late brother’s debts (plus paying her $25,000 a year for the rest of her life). A deal that then DC VP Paul Levitz warned would ‘fully resolve any past, present or future claims against DC’ by the Shuster estate. Case closed.
Had the ruling gone the other way, WB and its DC Comics subsidiary would have lost the right to use key elements to the of the characters mythos, severely hampering any future projects. As it stands there is still the other creators estate to contend with, Jerry Siegel‘s heirs can still terminate half of Warner’s Superman copyright in 2013. This will be appealed on the 5th of Novemeber by the studio.
So what does this mean? WB/DC now firmly hold half of Superman and under copyright law can use the character however they see fit (just so long as they keep paying Siegel’s estate half of the profits.)
Wow, comic book law is exciting stuff, huh?
Without dropping into the abyss of the creator rights debate once more, let’s focus on the good things here. This now means the studio is free(er) to move ahead with little risk on projects like next summers Man of Steel and more importantly the long stalled Justice League movie.
Yes, that’s right. Justice League. Just one day after the ruling The LA Times is reporting that filming will begin next year and the DC Comics super team will hit the big screen in the summer of 2015. Apparently they have a script, written by Will Beall, ready to roll and are just looking to attach a director and cast the lead roles.
One word of caution, the source that the LA Times cites is described as ‘a knowledgeable person not authorized to discuss the matter publicly‘ – so if you had ‘Summer 2015′ in your Justice League release date office betting pool hold off on collecting your money till we get the official word.
You guys have a Justice League release date office betting pool too, right?
Source: LA Times, 1, title image via daniel-morpheus.deviantart.com
Wonder Woman Returns To TV In ‘Amazon’?
And luckily David E. Kelley has nothing to do with it this time. A little less than a year after NBC buried Kelly’s terrible Wonder Woman pilot comes word from Vulture that CW is looking to add the Amazonian princess to its roster of superhero based TV shows. Reportedly being developed by Allan Heinberg (Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C. with some comic book cred as creator of Marvel Comics Young Avengers) under the working title of Amazon, it apparently will be more ‘Wonder Woman Begins’ than any of the previous small screen outings for the character.
“It will focus on Wonder Woman as a young, budding superhero, rather than a fully formed defender of liberty. (Think Smallville, but instead of a ‘no tights, no flights’ rule, this show might have a ‘”no bracelets, no crown’ mandate.)”
I guess that is an ok plan. Actually, scratch that, it is a terrible plan. While Smallville had its fans, it always seemed stupid to me that they dragged the cape hate to long, not to mention all that ‘The Blur’ silliness. Why can’t they just have a superhero suit up like they are suppose to, He’s GREEN Arrow, damn it. GREEN!
…but I digress.
As Vulture points out, the CW is just developing a script. No pilot has been ordered and its far to early to speculate that one even would be. The question is though, how does this affect Warner Bros. plans to bring WW to the big screen or the characters involvement in the apparently still happening Justice League movie?
Source: IGN
DC Comics: Justice League
A fictional super hero power team, this Justice league of america first have Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Alternative Lantern (Hal Nike jordans), Aquaman, additionally, the Martian Manhunter as part of their power team list through the 1960′s. Subsequently, a number of other superheroes have got registered with their very own position among them Environment friendly Arrow, Leader Question, Dark colored Canary, all the Atom, Hawkman, Piercing Boyfriend, Reddish Tornado, Firestorm, Zatanna, several other Environmentally friendly Lamps, and others.This is often extraordinary. Heck, quite possibly Starro might be wonderful. As well as people requesting, Wonder Woman will be cosplayed by just Margie Cox, as a result please visit your ex Facebook . com and determine the initial photography in this case. I not really know from the cosplayers, however thumbs close to Sophistication Moss connected with BodhiTree Pictures on your brilliant photograph!
