The meaning of context and style in comics. The one and only Peanuts by Charles M Schulz and then Batman with knowing homage by Len Wein and Walter Simonson.
batman
Wayne Tower & Metropolis City Museum
by Chris Skinner / Facebook
13″ X 19″ giclee prints available individually or as in matching numbered set, numbered editions of 75. On sale from the Bottleneck Gallery HERE.
I LIVE, I DIE, I LIVE AGAIN!
Joker’s car is based on his Vaydor G35 from the upcoming Suicide Squad movie and the Gigahorse from Mad Max. Batman rides a Frankenstein Batmobile combining The Tumbler, 1989 Burton Batmobile and 60’s Adam West Batmobile.
Ride through the gates of Valhalla, shiny and chrome
withgreatpowercomesgreatcomics:
Zoe Kravitz Couldn’t Get An Audition For ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Because She’s “Urban”
In the past several years, Zoë Kravitz has been climbing up the Hollywood food chain, nabbing roles in X-Men: First Class, Divergent, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Dope. But there is one high-profile film she couldn’t even get an audition for: Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
“In the last Batman movie [The Dark Knight Rises], they told me that I couldn’t get an audition for a small role they were casting because they weren’t ‘going urban,’” Kravitz told Nylon. “It was like, ‘What does that have to do with anything?’ I have to play the role like, ‘Yo, what’s up, Batman? What’s going on wit chu?’”
Which “small role” is Kravitz referring to? Best guess: ‘Jen,’ the pickpocketing flatmate and best friend of Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), which eventually went to British actress Juno Temple (Horns).
Urban = Black
I feel like one of theses days the joker is gonna spray Gotham with laugh gas and NOTHING will happen. The citizen of Gotham will have built an immunity from all the chemical shit that gets thrown at them.
I don’t think that’ll happen. Immunity to chemicals/poisons tends to be built up in matters of small exposures (I think, not my field) and the villains would have to be using the same basic chemicals every time, not likely. You’d also have to survive the prior exposures which seems not very Gotham~y. — Besides, it’s a fictional city and that wouldn’t make for a good story precedent to set, the citizens as immune to such a common plot point.
Now what I’d like to see is the people of Gotham building an immunity to widespread media panic about said Joker Gas.
It becomes like a pollen count on the weather. “And today’s expected Joker Toxin index is listed at 15.4, so make sure to put those breakable objects away on high shelves and put the kids to bed early, because this is going to be a bad one.”
And then the next panel shows an average family just matter-of-fact, getting the seatbelts (that they’ve installed by now) and strapping themselves in while green and/or purple clouds start filtering in through the window, so they’re safely secured when they start to have painful hysterical fits.
Every time the Joker breaks out, sporting goods stores have a BOGO sale on mouthguards.
Yes.
And like certain cities I know of down South where there’s a chemical depot, many citizens actually own gas masks and there’s sirens for leaks.
You wanna help out Bruce? Those gas masks that you and the Robins don to such good effect (until a villain knocks it off mid-fight), have Wayne Enterprises “develop” a cost-effective public version to sell since it’s such a regular issue. How to keep your giant ass company in business and make your night job easier. Hell, given how regularly it comes up, the government would pay for it. They do in real life.
I’d love to see little things about how there’s water filters commonly purchased advertised by being “Gotham-Grade” or how it was tested and proven to filter out chemicals just like was used in the Scarecrow’s last attack. Stuff like that.
Immunity isn’t likely, but companies capitalizing on the commonality of the threat, locals being desensitized to the repeated same threat situations — that’s stuff I’d buy.
I grew up in North Alabama. — We are not going in the safe room yet, that tornado cell isn’t close and it’s gonna be really boring sitting in a closet with the battery operated radio. Just leave the weather coverage running on the TV and come help fix dinner. — You learn to read how much of an immediate issue commonly occurring dangers are and you take reasonable action without flipping out. It’s part of the routine.
“Honey, get back here and finish your dinner. You heard the radio; Killer Croc is two blocks south of here and going the wrong direction. Your food’s getting cold.”
This is exactly the kind of Gothamite I would expect.
“Channel 8 says the fight with Freeze is going on in Tribeca and headed towards the West Village, your school is not going to be closed tomorrow. Now go write your report. You’ll wish you had to deal with Batman if you bring home one more D in Mr. Jones class.”
People choose entertainment based on how nondescript the name and theme are, and places with giant smiling faces/puns of ANY kind quickly go bankrupt. Street and buildings have been quietly renumbered so there are less 2s. Restaurants close on holidays and everyone has quiet meals indoors – Takeout places triple their business. Restaurants adapt by offering unnamed parallel days of celebration –
‘Come in February 17th with your significant other. Enjoy a quiet, safe meal – our dining room features no unnecessary decorations, and our name has no unfortunate associations in the world’s 32 most common languages!’
yes i want a gotham not crushed by murder and fear where people have adapted and are rarely in too much danger where businesses no longer have themes because theme criminals are so bad for business
Elf, it got better.
“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called The Pledge.The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called The Turn. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call The Prestige.”
This quote fits in with the Nolan trilogy so damn much that I cannot even
The Dark Knight Rises
I really loved The Dark Knight Rises. One thing you may not know about me is that my icon up there ^ is true, I really do want everything I’ve ever seen in the movies. Bane and the Joker and R’as Al Ghul? Bring those fuckers on! Watching the last of a movie series I’d loved since my teens, I really did want everything it was showing, even the terrible things.
Then I got back home. And a terrible thing actually had happened. And there was, unfortunately, not a Batman in sight. But I don’t want to think about that, not really, I think I’d rather talk about the movie. For now.
- It passes the Bechdel test! Not exactly with flying colours- it just scrapes past, with a short conversation between Selina and her friend. (Girlfriend?) But it’s more than any of the other Nolan films have done.
- YES JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT IS ROBIN. It’s not revealed till the end that his character’s first name is Robin, but it is, and…yeah. If they’d revealed that at the beginning they could have almost gotten away with calling this film Batman and Robin.
- The misdirection with the child who escaped the prison and the true progeny of R’as Al Ghul was really well done. I suspected Miranda Tate wasn’t all she seemed, but then towards the end I began to wonder…but no, I was right. I liked her, I thought she was a pretty good villain. Well, and I liked the bit where the film reveals that the child who escaped (who did something even Batman couldn’t do at first) was a girl. As a feminist I kinda dug that. Especially since there’s not really much female representation in these movies.
- Liam Neeson is back for a cameo! But R’as is still dead, it’s all flashbacks and dream sequences. Oh! Oh! And the Scarecrow is back for a cameo too. I geniunely was surprised to see him there.
- Burn Gorman! Owen from Torchwood! Playing a nasty villain who meets an icy death. (not…not him…never mind.)
- A part of me wishes they hadn’t called it The Dark Knight Rises- it’s a really clunky title considering it comes right after The Dark Knight. I’d have gone for Gotham City. Or heck, even Gotham Rises. (Actually, that’s not bad.)
- Anne Hathaway was perfectly fine as Catwoman, but she doesn’t even approach the depth and sheer awesomeness of Michelle Pfeiffier’s take on the character, not for me. Although…if there was to be a spin-off movie…I’d definitely want her back.
- Between the length of this and the length of The Dark Knight, someone really needs to take Christopher Nolan aside and explain how bladders work. Loads of stuff could concievably have been left on the cutting-room floor- the whole opening sequence with Bane kidnapping the nuclear physicist from the aeroplane could probably have been covered in one line of dialogue. (“Holy kidnapping of nuclear physicists, Batman!”)
- Oh, back to Robin for a sec: when he was talking to Bruce and was all ‘we’ve met before’, I was SO SURE he was going to be that little kid from the first Batman movie, grown up, remember him? But he wasn’t. Boo.
- The fallout from The Dark Knight happened, and was done really well. Poor Gordon, as soon as Bane learned the truth about Harvey I knew he was in for a kicking. And although I was sad for him that his wife left him, took the kids and moved out of Gotham, I bet Gordon himself ended up relieved that happened- they weren’t there when the shit hit the fan.
- Also, one little bit I loved- Robin (he had another name throughout the movie, Blake, I think – which was the last name of one of the Robins, so I really should have guessed) was disgusted with Gordon for concealing the truth about Harvey and letting Gotham live under false hope. But then he does it himself, with the children at the end, telling them the bus will shield them from the bomb. And you can tell he’s just realised, what even false hope can do- I just thought that was really well done.
- Hooray, Fox managed not to die! There were times I feared for him. Also, he wore a bow tie. Bow ties are cool.
- Bane broke Batman’s back! Oh, you have no idea how much I’ve wanted to see that on screen, ever since they cast Bane- but I didn’t expect it to happen.
- ALFRED ALFRED omg ALFRED. He wasn’t in it much, but as soon as he returned, I knew how the film would end- and I’m so glad I was right. And I don’t think he walked away, I think he went right up to Bruce and hugged the crap out of him.
- Kudos to the guy (or girl?) in my theatre who stayed till after the credits and made a little bat-symbol in front of the projector with their feet for us loyal fans who stayed behind. You’re cool.
Sarah’s month of icons: Batman Begins and The Dark Knight
Credit if you want (it’s nice!), comment if you want, don’t hotlink, more stuff at Starlit Blue. :)
Screencaps by edele, phoenixothon, and ghost_goodthing
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