
Finally the new Batman costume is revealed. While the one designed for Batman Begins was quite good, it still shared the problems of every Batman costume since the Adam West cloth ensemble… bad mobility. This is a big no-no given that our hero spends at least 50% of his time Boffing and POWing enemies on screen.

Finally someone addressed this and it looks like the new suit will allow Bale to truly fight on the streets of Gotham.
Here’s a glimpse of Michael Keaton in his first costume (notice the oddly redesigned bat insignia on his chest) with Batman creator Bob Kane. I don’t mean to take anything from the 1989 movie as it set a new standard for super hero flicks, but the thing is basically a gigantic heavy rubber boot. A landmark, yes, but it also cemented in place an obsession with rubber that has been married to comic book movies ever since.

Keaton must stink to high heavens of petroleum products and body odor and you can see how his face is just pushed through the opening. If this is supposed to scare criminals, why isn’t Meg Ryan a vigilante?
If you look at poor Michael Keaton in Batman Returns you’ll see that not much progress had been made from the previous model. Designed by Anton Furst, it is a beautiful costume, yet it looks like torture on the human body. His field of vision and lack of physical movement turns the Red Triangle Circus fight into an unplanned slapstick routine.
Val Kimer (who?) was at least a more dashing figure than Keaton in the stinkburger film, Batman Forever. A much more sculpted design lead to absolutely no mobility at all, aside from my own… out of the theater.
The costume is less body armor and more erotic male night thief. With a sculpted texture that begs the straightest of men to run his fingers lovingly over Val Kilmer’s cartoon contours, there ain’t much time for fighting.
Doesn’t George Clooney look fab as he tries to hide his shame in Batman & Robin?
In Batman & Robin the nipples introduced in the previous Shumacher film had taken center stage and became as much a part of Batman’s logo as the bat symbol itself.

Finally, Adam West’s Batman costume from the 60’s TV Show. This suit could really mooove, be it fighting crooks or doing the batusi.

I doubt there will be any dancing in the next Batman film, The Dark Knight, but then I look at Spider-Man 3… so who can ever be sure?
Check out the Batman Section other cool stuff at the Daily P.O.P. Shop!


A series that started in the 60’s on the back of monster comics by Kirby, Ditko and Ayers, the Fantastic Four is an odd mixture of a family sitcom, fisticuffs, super heroics and mind-bending sci-fi. In the olden days you’d have to actually go to a comic book store for back issues or steal them from some nerdy kid who bagged and boarded them all.
1. Essential Fantastic Four #1- Obvious choice, sure, but if you have to get one book, this is the one. A great read by Stan and Jack as they stumble along the path of greatness creating a mythology of heroes and villains. In this collection you’ll find the first 20 odd issues of the series including the introduction of Doctor Doom, the infamous time travel/Blue Beard story, the introduction of the Skrulls and other fan faves as Marvel’s first family gallantly marches into fame.
3. Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules – Independent comic book fans got taken by surprise by this one. James Strum (The Golem’s Mighty Swing ) and Guy Davis (The Marquis, Sandman Mystery Theater) collaborated on a very odd tale that sits the comic book fantasy next to the twisted and socially awkward Fantastic Four in a story that was so amazing that I feared it might be terrible. To me, that’s always the sign of a great work of art.
4. Maximum FF – Stan and Jack’s issues are analyzed one panel at a time by mystery novelist Walter Mosley. With the panels blown up to the size of an entire page, the experience is completely altered. If nothing else, the oddest FF bok ever produced (unless you count the Marvel Fitness Book).
6. Fantastic Four Vol. 1- by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo arrived in 2002 to revitalize the ailing title and boy did they achieve their goal! A thrilling and exciting series that returns the characters to their rightful place as a dysfunctional family fighting alien menaces, this collection is a neat coffee table book and Wieringo’s art looks outstanding blown up on the oversized pages. The closer story is, in my opinion, one of the best Doctor Doom tales ever.