Batman Dark Knight Rises talking figures and the caped crusader bouncy house

Long hot weekend of parenting means I had very little time for much blogging. But I did introduce my son to the music of 13th Floor Elevators front man Roky Erickson and we built some killer cars from play dough. So I have been busy, never fear.

My forays into toy stores has given me the opportunity to provide readers with this unintentionally hilarious video of the latest Batman toys. I’m not exactly sure what happened at the factory, but I can clearly understand both Batman and Bane… which cannot be right. And check out Batman’s action moves!

I also attended a 4 year-old’s birthday today and saw another casualty of Bruce Wayne’s funding of Batman as a corporation.

It was what his parents would have wanted…

Batman The Killing Joke 20th Anniversary

Batman The Killing Joke has become such a part of the Batman mythos that it’s hard to imagine what the initial reception was like. A Prestige Format release in the vein of The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Killing Joke had a massive impact on readers immediately.

A sophisticated tale from the British comic team of Alan Moore (fresh off of the Watchmen) and Brian Bolland (a stunning 2000 AD artist relatively unknown in the US), Killing Joke took the contemporary Batman universe and twisted it into a hard unrelenting knot. The character of the Joker was humanized for the first time with a full origin. Shown as the fall guy member of a gang of thugs, The Joker is conned into wearing a strange red hood to give their heist a more dramatic flair. The Red Hood is also a sure way to distract Batman who is drawn to outrageously dressed villains. As we all know, the heist goes sour and The Joker falls into a vat of chemicals that bleaches his skin and dyes his hair, turning him into the maniacal Joker.

The surprising part of Killing Joke is that for all the humanizing of the character of the Joker, it is without a doubt the most vicious and horrifying tale to feature the Clown Prince of Crime. The abduction of Commissioner Gordon and wounding of his daughter Barbara (formerly Batgirl) is just a first step in the torture of the forces of control that the Joker despises so much. I don’t want to spoil anything for those who have not read this classic, but it contains some truly unpleasant moments that added a new level of insanity and danger to the Joker that vivified a character who had become frankly tired (and just in time for the 1989 Batman movie).

The deluxe 20th Anniversary Edition of Batman The Killing Joke is hitting the shelves this Wednesday. Be sure to check it out and see why it is looked upon as the definitive Joker story and one of the most important Batman stories of the last 25 years… wait… it’s been 20 years!?

Dark Knight Joker press kit

Over at comicbookresources.com is a great article on a superb press kit delivery for The Dark Knight.

Roll up, roll up!

New Batman Dark Knight poster

The second film stresses the introduction of the Joker over everything else, it seems (no pressure, Heath). Star Christian Bale has said that after Batman‘s development in the first Batman Begins film, he has no problem stepping aside to share the stage, as it were. The first Nolan-helmed film shared many beats and elements from the excellent Frank Miller/David Mazzuchelli story Batman: Year One which drew in Bale. In Bale‘s eyes, this was one of the few comic book stories that really allowed Batman to shine as a character.

Now that the franchise has undone the tremendous damage done to it by the Shumacher films, it’s time to bring in the big guns, starting with the Joker.

The official site also has an interactive carnival game that visitors can play which also reveals little hints at the film.

Heath Ledger’s Joker

Michael Caine is quoted at Digital Spy what he thought about Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. “Now, we have had Jack Nicholson, who is one of the greatest Jokers and one of the greatest characters in this kind of movie,” Caine said. I have worked with Jack and I know him really well. You do not really want to follow Jack into anything. Unless it’s a nightclub … Heath Ledger stunned me. Jack played The Joker as sort of a benign nasty clown — like a wicked uncle. Heath plays him like an absolutely maniacal murderous psychopath. You have never seen anything like it in your life. He is very, very scary. I turn up every month or so and do a couple of bits then go back to London. I had to do this bit where Batman and I watch a video which The Joker sends to threaten us. So I’d never seen him, and then he came on the television in the first rehearsal and I completely forgot my lines. I flipped, because it was so stunning, it was quite amazing. Wait until you see it, it’s incredible.”

In just two weeks the first trailer will be live at the beginning of I Am Legend.

Do I HAVE to see that movie, though?

The Joker revealed!

Probably the sickest depiction of the character to date, Heath Ledger’s Joker from the upcoming Batman: The Dark Knight looks like he’s ready to give the caped crusader a real run for his money rather than stealing a parade or defacing paintings to an immediately dated Prince soundtrack.

… not that I’m biased or anything.

(not exactly) Dark Knight

Just a quick post today since I’m distracted with kidney stones… anyone know an appropriate emoticon for that?

The fellas over at this site started taking elements from Frank Miller‘s classic ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ comic book series and typing them over images fromn the 1966 Batman TV series.

Genius.

west_dkr_1

more here

Batman Cooper costume I think I mentioned before my great love for the Adam West Batman TV program. I watched it almost constantly to the point that I had no idea it was intended to be camp comedy entertainment. I got visually upset whenever my brother laughed at it and kept my Cooper Batman Halloween costume in my closet year round (just in case I needed it).