Panel Vision - No Man's Land

As you probably know Puerto Rico recently suffered devastation at the hands of Hurricane Maria.  It’s a natural disaster of incalculable scale made infinitely worse by the federal government's point-blank refusal to help Puerto Rico in the manner that would befit our so-called leaders.  If you’re at all able to give please consider donating to organizations like United for Puerto Rico, Americares, Convoy of Hope, Direct Relief, Catholic Relief Services, International Medical Corps, or Unicef.  The people of Puerto Rico are in desperate need of help and it’s painfully clear that it’s going to have to come from us because those in power are too cruel or incompetent to take action. 

This idea of being abandoned by our own government has been a running theme in 2017, especially with the way the natural world seems to be coming apart at the seams.  More and more, the organizations we once trusted with our basic safety and day-to-day concerns have turned on us with, at worst, a predatory maliciousness and at best a blind idiocy.  

In that power vacuum citizens have had to rely on one another to fight the battles we can’t as individuals, be that in the form of mass demonstrations and call-in over healthcare or the civilian fleet that went to Houston after Hurricane Harvey.  This blend of federal abandonment with the greater need for joint community action seemed fairly familiar to me because it’s also the core of my favorite Batman comic of all time- No Man’s Land. 

Panel Vision - The Hacker Files

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It seems these days that cyber-warfare and computer hacking have become newly popular plotlines.  A lot of that is just a reflection of the real world- as the amount of data we generate in the virtual space grows in concordance with our reliance on outdated security systems we’re going to keep seeing things like the Equifax data breach, the Russian cyber attacks on the US election, and major state secret leaks like those made by Chelsea Manning.  It’s only natural that parallels to these events have formed in the narratives of shows like Homeland, Berlin Station, and most pertinently Mr. Robot. 

However, this is hardly the first time hacking has come to grip the public imagination- that was in the ‘90s.  Stuff like The Net and Hackers were capitalizing on the public’s fascination with cyber shenanigans at the very dawn of the information super-highway.  A lot of these ‘90s offerings are pretty cheesy and dated in hindsight, much like the ‘90s flirtation with early VR, there is, however, one exception- 1992’s The Hacker Files.

Batgirl Film to be Directed by Joss Whedon

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Well, call me Captain “I told you so.”  Granted I didn’t predict Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and director of Avengers, would walk into WB and pitch a Batgirl film but on the topic of the DCEU transitioning to more of a Batman shared universe my predictions have been well documented.  Hell, I’m the guy who pitched a Batman-centric shared universe back in June of last year, before Suicide Squad had a chance to come out and thoroughly cement the irredeemable nature of the DCEU.  Even then, the clues were there for anyone to see so long as they were looking. 

Regardless of your own opinions on the DCEU thus far it can’t be denied that Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman, and Suicide Squad have resoundingly failed at their respective tasks of launching a popular new Superman brand, starting the DCEU, and continuing interest in the DCEU.  Given that failure, it makes sense DC/WB would start drawing down the scale and cost in these superhero ventures and low and behold, before Batgirl, of the 5 announced DC films with actual directors 3 of them were Batman-centric.  Now that number’s jumped up to 4 making it 2/3rds of DC’s upcoming projects that are likely to actually happen so let’s dive into this announcement and see what it could add to the blossoming Batmaniverse. 

Lego Batman Trailer Round-Up

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Edited by Robert Beach

One of the peculiar twists of fate in the modern era of superhero media is that despite DC Comics many, many terrible adaptations in the 2010s, their animated adaptations are incredible.  Seriously, Teen Titans Go is the sharpest superhero satire ever; Young Justice was a milestone hit; Batman: The Brave and the Bold was incredible, and the Green Lantern CGI show almost redeemed the franchise. Now, they’re making a new Adam West animated adventure. 

The real gem in DC’s animated crown, however, has to be Lego Batman, voiced by Will Arnett and ushered into our collective hearts through 2014’s breakout hit The Lego Movie. Arnett is honestly the best Batman of the 2010s, a brutal scathing takedown of the overly macho psycho-thug Batman that dominated the character’s identity from 2008 to about 2013. Now, Lego Batman is getting his movie, and it looks amazing.  

Cover Story - Top 15 Suicide Squad Covers

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Edited by Robert Beach 

Suicide Squad is finally upon us, and surprise, surprise, it’s pretty bad. I haven’t seen it yet, but the critical consensus has been overwhelmingly negative, to the point where Warner Bros. is already gearing up to damage control on Wonder Woman and talk up more Harry Potter spin-off movies. This move is all in the case this whole DC Entertainment Universe thing is a giant boondoggle. It’s a shame because I’m quite a fan of the Suicide Squad comics. 

Not the New 52 series, rather the late ‘80s series by Ostrander or the 2000s comic from Keith Giffen. Given that, and my pathological obsession with topicality, it’s Suicide Squad day here as we dive into the shallow end and get the cover story on the top 15 Suicide Squad comic covers.

Panel Vision - Batman Incorporated's Nightmares in Numberland

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Edited by Robert Beach

At the time of writing, Barbara Gordon is back in the news thanks to the complete bungling of The Killing Joke’s animated feature, and we’re all joking about the new film Nerve, a cyber-thriller about Internet dares; the time is right to revisit Batman Inc.  Batman Inc. was a 23-issue comic run from superstar author Grant Morrison that closed off his run on Batman.

It’s one of my all-time favorite Batman comics and probably the best Batman book of the decade. I’m not going to be reviewing the comic in full, mainly because the first eight issues are neatly broken up into individual short stories. I only need to focus on one to fulfill my pathological desire to be topical, a Batman and Oracle team-up comic entitled ‘Nightmares in Numberland.’

Comics Rainbow - Gotham Central

Edited by Robert Beach 

Hello, and welcome to Comics Rainbow. This week has marked the return of Gotham, Fox’s well-intentioned if not terribly great Batman prequel show, to the airwaves. Though I’m not a huge fan of Gotham, I do get the impetus to do a show like it. Cop shows have been around more or less since the idea of “shows” came about. 

Batman’s relationship with the G.C.P.D. has always been fertile ground for storytelling. This has left the comics with a pretty expansive roster of cops to fill the ranks of Gotham’s character sheet, thanks in no small part to Greg Rucka’s excellent Gotham Central comic. So I decided today we’d get the full spectrum on the many members of the Gotham P.D. in all their shades, shames, and successes. 

Panel Vision - Thrillkiller

Edited by Robert Beach

It’s time once more for everyone’s favorite genre of Panel Vision: topical oddities. One of the curious attempts by modern TV to remain relevant in an era of streaming and binge watches has been a revival of live performances. This has seen a mixed bag of success and interest, but last weekend, the format saw a fairly major success when NBC produced a live performance of Grease.  I don’t really care for Grease myself, though the production did give me cause to remember a very good Elseworlds comic that DC produced called Thrillkiller.

 In case you’ve never heard of them before, Elseworlds were an imprint of DC comics that re-imagined classic characters in situation that couldn’t fit into standard continuity. They’d take a character like Superman and show us what might’ve happened if he had landed in Soviet Russia or Gotham City instead of Kansas.  Thrillkiller, written by comics legend Howard Chaykin and illustrated by the eclectic but striking Daniel Brereton, takes the familiar Batman mythos and drops right in the middle of 1961. 

Comics Rainbow - Batman Family

So, this past week Gotham revealed the central mystery around its new villain Theo Galavan.  The “big reveal” of was that Galavan was actually a radical revision of the Batman supporting hero Azrael and the Order of Saint Dumas, now reimagined as a disgraced Gotham family returning to seek revenge on the Waynes.  It’s a pretty dumb idea that got me thinking about how much I hate Gotham, but also how much I love Azrael and Batman’s extended roster of fellow heroes.  Batman has one of the largest rosters of supporting heroes out there and the idea of Batman working alongside other heroes has been furrowed into the character almost since the beginning.  As much as people like to believe Batman is a deadly lone squirrel he’s definitely a pack animal, as best demonstrated by the major success enjoyed by both the Bat Family comic line and the Brave and the Bold comics and shows that paired him with fellow heroes.  So, this is your full spectrum look at the Batman Family in all their shades, shames, and successes.  

Week of Review - Beware The Batman

And so we come to the end of the first ever Week of Review and the final time Batman was on TV prior to Gotham.  If you’re interested in my thoughts on Gotham I already reviewed the entire first season and will be reviewing the premiere as well all for Front Towards Gamer so just follow the link right here.  For now, however, we’ll be focusing on the shockingly short-lived CGI Batman show from 2013 Beware the Batman.  In 2013 Batman: The Brave and the Bold had been off the air for about 2 years after the disastrous year of 2011.  While 2008 had redefined the superhero landscape 2011 showed that this wasn’t going to be a static game as DC saw its dominate market share slip with the awful Green Lantern and realized that there was legitimate competition thanks to smash hits like Thor and X-Men: First Class. 

More than anything, 2011 was the year that sent DC/WB scurrying back to the safety of the Batman umbrella and confirmed to them the importance of sticking with dark, brooding, quasi-realistic heroes.  By 2013, they’d more or less expended that particular capital in films with Dark Knight Rises concluding the Nolan Batman trilogy the year before so the decision was to pull the lighter and more accessible Green Lantern: The Animated Series and replace it with a dark, brooding new Batman show; Beware the Batman.

 

Week of Review - Birds of Prey

Edited by Robert Beach

Yesterday, I talked about one of DC/WB’s more successful endeavors to preserve their television presence into the 21^st century; today, I’m focusing on a less successful example. Before we discuss Birds of Prey and what I think of it, we’ve got to go back and talk about a little show from 1997 known as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer took the world by storm in 1997 with its winning combination of genre tropes and aesthetics and girl power. Buffy was the last of the popular genre trinity that had started with Star Trek: The Next Generation in ’89 and been cemented by The X-Files in ’93. 

There had been plenty of genre shows before like the original Star Trek in the ‘60s, 6 Million Dollar Man in the ‘70s, and V in the ‘80s, but these three shows demonstrated there was a chance for widespread, mainstream appeal within previously geek genre markets. When DC decided to re-enter the realm of TV after the conclusion of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1997, they decided to stick with the Buffy aesthetic, which is how we got Smallville. With Smallville’s success, WB wanted to create a sister show that was more female centric as they’d had a lot of success from that mold with Charmed. In 2002, they created The Birds of Prey, one of my all time favorite superhero shows. 

Week of Review - Batman Beyond

Edited by Robert Beach

In 1999, DC and WB were staring down what could’ve been the end of their television dominance. Throughout the ‘90s, they had dominated awards shows and ratings with hits like Batman the animated series and the Superman show; a powerhouse combination that was easily able to compete with Marvel’s plethora of animated offerings at the time. As the ‘90s dwindled and both Batman and Superman capped off their individual runs, DC needed a new way to stay in the television game and maintain their grip on the cultural landscape. 

It’s worth remembering this comes 2 years after Batman & Robin basically torpedo DC’s movie holdings and only 1 year after Blade burst onto the scene to prove Marvel had movie capital to expend as well. DC set out on a number of attempts to reassert themselves. They produced the Gotham Girls web series I touched on a couple days ago and eventually settled into their epic Justice League series while on the live-action side they produced Smallville in 2001; however, the first of these attempts came in 1999 with Batman Beyond.