Arkham Origins Review

Batman: Arkham Origins Review

         Although I was initially put off at the idea of a prequel after so much sequel setup in City, and skeptical about a company other that RockSteady working on it, Arkham Origins quickly allayed my concerns. I'm trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible, although I've included the names of some bosses, a couple of gadgets, and features in the game, but avoided all major plot points.

Dark Knight Trilogy Revisited

Nolan Batman Trilogy Revisited.

Here thar be spoilers.

         The DC Cinematic Universe inexorably lumbers forward, and a new Batman is on the horizon, but lest we forget, the Christian Bale trilogy was an amazing self-contained Batman tale, worthy of the following recap. Foremost among the trilogy's strengths is that it had a beginning, middle, and end, all solid contributions to the mythos. We got a solid telling of Bruce's journey from shattered childhood to Gotham's protector.

Spotlight On: Vibe

Spotlight On: Vibe

          If you have a deficiency of Puerto Rican break dancing superheroes in your diet, look no further! The New Fifty Two has re introduced Francisco Ramon in his own standalone title as well as Justice League of America. Who is this Vibe, you ask? Read on.

Geoff Johns Green Lantern Reading Order

         Since Geoff Johns just finished his run on Green Lantern, I thought it would be nice to have a complete rundown of his stories. Below I've listed in fictitious chronological order, his entire run and the trade paperback that the arc is collected in. If I missed any, let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to update it. Also, if anyone is reading the new run on GL, and the Lights Out event, let me know what you think of the new creative team. Hope this helps!

Updates

Updates

As a quick update for my readers, 

1.        I've changed the format of my blog to make sure everyone can comment, whether you have a Google account or not. 
2.        I'm also working on finding the right layout for the site so its easier to access all of the articles. I'm open to suggestions, if anyone has more experience with blogger than I do. 
3.        Now that comments are open, I'd be glad to take requests on Spotlight On articles or reading orders. Let me know what you would like to see on the blog.
4.        I've also added a DC Animated Movies page to the right.

Comic Cons in South Georgia

Comic Con Comes to Macon!

             For someone who has always wanted to attend a 'con, but didn't want to drive to San Diego, I was very pleased when a friend brought me a flier from the Perry Fair advertising the first Middle Georgia Comic Con. Set to be held in Macon, Georgia in the Macon Coliseum, this 'con will be accessible and located in a central area of Middle Georgia. The Middle Georgia Comic Con is owned and operated by Heroes and Villains Comics and Games based in Warner Robins, Ga. Although there's not a lot of information on admission and the guest list is short as of now, this 'con is still in the planning phase. Check out their website http://mgacon.com for updates and information on registration(people who register pay less for admission than those who buy tickets at the door).

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Third Party Publishers

Get To Know Your

Comics Companies

In my research into the growing industry of  Creator Owned Works and Companies outside of the big two, I've learned more about these companies and decided to share. Enjoy my research. Depending on my further reading, I may publish a followup article including other companies. As of now, I've included the top non-Marvel, non-DC companies.

NERD NEWS:TV Series Discussion

Nerd News Report

Comics TV Series

        Although admittedly superhero movies are very big right now, with the advent of shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Arrow, some comics fans are beginning to think that perhaps television serials are the better medium for these stories, since they are adapted from serialized books.

DC Animated

DC Animated 

What's In Store

          As per usual, in the special features included on the Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox movie, we got a sneak peek at the storyboard of their next movie that was in the works. Justice League: War based on Jim Lee and Geoff Johns first 6 issues of Justice League collected in the Graphic Novel Justice League: Origin which featured the first appearance of Cyborg as a member of the League. The storyboards suggest that the story will be expanded to include Shazam, as well as possibly Steppenwolf or some other Apokaliptans. 

DragonCon 2013 Photo Gallery

DragonCon 2013

       DragonCon is our native Con here in Georgia, held every year in the capital, Atlanta. The show is comprised of a parade, signings, music and several contests. If you're interested in attending one year, check their website, dragoncon.org, for details.

Updated Art Gallery

I recently updated the Earth-19 Art Gallery with some of my older freehand work. They're mostly comics characters and they're inked and shaded. Click the link to the right to check them out! There's more on the way, too, so keep checking in.

Flashpoint Paradox Guest Review

Justice League: The

Flashpoint Paradox

Guest Review

       There's a new DC Animated movie out, and one of my contacts offered to write an in depth review. Give it up for Mr. Brooks Cannon, guest reviewer extroardinaire.

 

     What if one day you woke up and realized that everything had somehow changed? Oh, and you’re the Fastest Man Alive, the Flash?  Well, DC answers that in an enjoyable, though not perfect, full-length animated movie, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

   As I just mentioned, the general idea behind the story revolves around Barry Allen, the Flash, waking up one day to a world that’s very different than the one he knows.  Different, in this case, meaning wrong.  Very wrong.  In this world, there is no Flash, an important event in Barry’s life played out differently, and the superheroes that we all know are either merciless warlords, missing entirely, or totally reimagined, as is the case with Batman.  Batman is introduced early on and is the biggest supporting character in the movie.  This version of Batman puts a fantastic spin on the character that changes the hero in ways that I don't want to spoil here, suffice to say I would love to see more of this version of the character and thought he was handled really well.

   Unfortunately, this brings me to my first problem with the movie.  Almost all of the other characters, especially with Batman right there to compare them to, seemed very shallow.  None of the other heroes’ motivations go beyond, “Bad guys! Get ‘em!” and the villains only strive for the worn out clichés of world domination, revenge, or a mixture of both.  I feel like most of these characters could have been replaced by any other hero or villain with almost no effect on the story.

   That’s not to say that the story’s not good though, because I really did enjoy the trip from point A to point B.  Although the plot didn’t have much in the way of surprises, it moved at a quick pace - plenty quick enough to keep me engaged - and had a satisfying, though not Earth-shattering reveal towards the end that I appreciated.

   The art and animation have the usual amount of quality and polish that we’ve come to expect from DC’s animated movies, with only a few exceptions.  The biggest of these, and the one that really bothered me, was the tacked-on computer generated super-speed sequences.  It’s been a trend at DC over the past few years to render all the vehicles in their cartoon movies and television shows as computer generated 3D models, and the 3D models on the cartoons’  2D plane has never looked quite right to me.  I feel the same way about the Flash in those few scenes, and I really hope that this doesn’t catch on the way that CGing the vehicles has.

   My biggest problem with the movie as a whole, however, is with the several scenes with surprisingly graphic violence.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a great fight scene as much as the next guy, but when a man gets hanged, as happens in an early scene in this movie, I’d rather not see every single moment of it.  Pan the camera away, just show his feet leave the ground, or use any number of tasteful ways to show it, but please don’t keep the frame on his face while the blood gushes from his mouth as he dies.  At times it just seemed a bit excessive.

   As I said, overall I enjoyed Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and although in might not be the perfect movie to watch with your small children, the fast-paced and engaging plot, awesome spin on the Batman, and generally more serious tone don’t quite make it a must see, but it’s definitely worth your time if you’re interested.

   My score: 8 out of 10

   What do you think? Have you seen the movie? Love it? Hate it? What did you think of my review? Please comment below! Any input is greatly appreciated! And thanks so much for reading!

Marvel Events Reading Order

Marvel Event Reading

For anyone interested in Marvel NOW!, or the Age of Ultron event, this is a list of catch up material in chronological order that should fill you in on some of the big universal shifts in the Marvel Universe. As a warning, there are spoilers in the summaries. If you are only interested in the titles, they are in bold, just don't read the summaries. 

House of M
      An insane Scarlet Witch's powers go out of control, altering all of reality, leaving the mutants as the dominant species. In the end, Scarlet Witch blames her father Magneto, before reverting all the changes, and uttering the words, "No more Mutants", leading into the Decimation storyline during which the X-Men discover that nearly all of the worlds mutants were depowered, leaving the mutants an endangered species.








Civil War
     Superhero Reality Show team The New Warriors takes on more dangerous villains in a bid for better ratings, leading to a fight with Nitro the Exploding Man, who detonates, leveling Stamford, Connecticut. The Government calls for Superhumans to register their identities, and become government agents. Iron Man backs this decision, while Captain America rebels, leading to a superhero civil war. Iron Man builds a prison in the negative zone to hold the revolting heroes. In the endgame, civilians begin attacking Captain America's team, which causes Cap to question his actions, and surrender. After this, Stark is appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., with his co-director being Maria Hill.(Maria Hill had been director after Nick Fury went into hiding after his disastrous Secret War) This story leads into the Death of Captain America storyline.





World War Hulk
       After the Illuminati (Professor X, Namor, Iron Man, Black Bolt, Mister Fantastic, and Doctor Strange) send the Hulk into space for the safety of Earth, Hulk crash lands on the savage planet Sakaar, is made a slave and a gladiator, and eventually becomes the Emperor of Sakaar. After fathering a child, the ship Hulk came in explodes, killing Hulk's wife and many of his subjects. Gathering his team, the Warbound, Hulk swears vengeance on the Illuminati, and declares war on Earth, forcing the Illuminati (except for Professor X who Hulk says had been punished enough already) to fight as gladiators, leading to a final fight between Hulk and Sentry. Hulk defeats the Sentry before one of his Warbound, Miek, kills Rick Jones, and reveals that he (Miek, not Rick) had sabotaged the ship, because he believes Hulk could only be content with something to fight. Tony Stark activates a satellite to revert Hulk to human form. Banner is imprisoned. This leads into the Red Hulk/Green Hulk storyline







Secret Invasion
     The Illuminati make a pre-emptive strike on the Skrulls, who capture and study them, then release them. After the skrull homeworld is destroyed by Galactus, the Skrulls invade earth, replacing an unknown number of Earth's superhuman community. After several clashes between skrull and superhero forces, Norman Osborn makes a bid for power, intercepting information Deadpool was hired to collect, and using it to kill the Skrull Empress Veranke. This storyline leads into the Dark Reign, during which Norman Osborn becomes director of S.H.I.E.L.D, now rechristened H.A.M.M.E.R. and brings together his own team of Avengers.






Siege
      Loki manipulates Norman Osborn into laying seige to Asgard, now floating over Oklahoma. The attack culminates in Thor's return and the death of the Sentry, as well as the outing of Norman Osborn as a psychopath, and the Green Goblin. This storyline leads into the Heroic Age shift of status quo, that saw the reorganization of the Avengers. Also the direct followup entitled Avengers Prime shows the mending of the wounds left over from Civil War between Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor.
     







Fear Itself
       The Asgardian God of Fear, the Serpent, returns to take over the Earth with his emissaries. Odin decides to abandon the Earth to its fate, even proposing using it as a trap to kill the Serpent by razing the planet to the ground. Thor objects, insisting on defending the Earth. Tony Stark meanwhile, begs Odin to give the humans a chance. Odin cedes on both counts, providing Thor with the Odinsword, and allowing Tony Stark to forge weapons from Uru for the heroes. Thor manages to kill the Serpent, but is mortally wounded in the process. Odin returns to Asgard with the corpse of the Serpent, his brother, sealing Asgard off from the Earth and stranding some Asgardians there. This storyline leads into Shattered Heroes, which explores the consequences and implications of Fear Itself, including the introduction of the new God of Thunder, Tanarus

Schism
        After a U.N. mutant peace summit is attacked by Kid Omega, many countries begin mobilizing Sentinels. Cyclops begins taking a more militaristic stance, believing that the many mutant teens in his care should learn to defend themselves, while Wolverine feels that the children should not be made to fight, but should be able to count on the X-Men to defend them. Wolverine ends up threatening to detonate the island of Utopia to destroy an attacking Sentinel, while Cyclops stands his ground, preparing the young mutants to fight. The two men begin arguing about Jean Grey, and a fight breaks out. Cyclops and Wolverine end up destroying the Sentinel, but part ways over idealogical differences, with the former remaining in Utopia to head up his team, while the latter returns to New York to open the Jean Grey School for the Gifted. This storyline leads into X-Men Regenesis, a re-branding of the X-Men titles, depicting the two factions of X-Men.





AvX and Marvel NOW!
        This should bring you up to speed on major events up to the Avengers Versus X-Men event, which I didn't want to spoil because its pretty recent. After that storyline, the fallout is dealt with in the rebranding Marvel NOW!.  Marvel NOW! relaunched a lot of Marvel titles in the wake of AvX to reflect the new status quo, for example, Uncanny Avengers features a team composed of mutants and Avengers, and A+X features a team up of one X-Man and one Avenger each arc. Hope this helps people who want to pick something up without wading through ten years of continuity. I did the wading for you, because that's what I do.

Spotlight On: Bane

Spotlight On:

Bane

        Introduced in 1993 in Batman: Vengeance of Bane, the character was designed as a counterpoint character to Batman, intended to be his mental equal, and physical superior. Bane was born in the Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca, the son of revolutionary soldier for hire Edmund Dorrance. Dorrance, better known as the blind master martial artist King Snake, fled the country after being arrested, leaving his unborn child to serve his sentence. Bane was born inside in the walls of the Peña Dura prison, learning at an early age to kill or be killed. After the death of his mother, Bane was released into general populace, and during a prison brawl, fell off of a walkway, and ended up in a coma for a month. During the coma, Bane saw a visage of his future self, warning him against fear, which in the vision took the form of a giant bat.  After coming out of the coma, Bane murdered a fellow inmate, and was thrown into la Cavidad Oscuro, a dark crevasse that flooded with each high tide.

     

     However, Bane refused to die, living off of fish and rats, and developing meditation techniques to avoid going insane in the ten years he was confined to the pit. After the warden released Bane into general populace again in the hopes that someone would kill him, Bane met an inmate known as

Bird, from Gotham. Bane became intrigued by the idea of a place ruled by fear of one man and believed the Batman was the incarnation of fear he had seen in his vision. Bane became convinced that destiny had put the two of them on a collision course. Being a natural intellectual, he began incessantly reading all the books available in the prison, learning to read in six languages. After reading all of the books available to him in the prison, he began using his network to smuggle more in. He began conditioning his body, pushing it to its limits. He stopped sleeping, instead going into a recuperative meditation for four hours each night.

A young Bane in the Cavidad Oscuro

         Around this time, scientists came to the prison to experiment on inmates, and choosing Bane for his strength, they began administering the super-steroid known as Venom, a highly addictive compound originally employed by Batman to surpass his physical limitations. After becoming addicted, Batman was able to kick the habit. The steroid took Bane, who already possessed peak human strength, to superhuman levels. Bane then escaped  Peña Dura and left for Gotham to confront his nightmare.  After observing Batman for some time, Bane saw that even his enhanced strength would not be a match, and realized he would need to wear the Batman down. To this end, Bane blew up the outside wall of Arkham Asylum, releasing the inmates. After more than a month of going nonstop, Batman was exhausted, and becoming sloppy. allowing Bane to follow him back to his cave, and in turn, deduce his civilian identity. Bane broke down the door of Wayne Manor, and beat Batman nearly to death in the Batcave, before breaking his back over his knee. 

Batman on Venom

         The story goes on and is mired in continuity, but we'll stop here. This is to give you an idea of what Bane is like, since there is yet to be a movie, videogame or animated series that does him complete justice. If I had to pick the closest interpretation, the Dark Knight Rises version was very true to the comics version. That version was a master strategist, terrorist, and trained by Ra's Al Ghul, much like Bane in the comics. As far as the drug Venom goes, at no point has it ever caused Bane to instantly increase in size, although this has become a staple of the character. Rather than increasing his size, it maintains his superhuman level of strenght, and has a calming effect. The drug was actually conceived to be Bane's weakness, because it was so addictive. Bane later beat his addiction, but retained his size. Bane has been shown  to be highly intelligent, even beating Ra's Al Ghul at chess, and being able to understand when Ra's and Talia attempted to conceal information from him by speaking in various dead languages(i.e. Dhari, Urdu, and Farsi) . Even after ceasing to use Venom, in Bane of the Demon, he is shown as able to rend steel bars. 

        As a quick update, as of the New 52, Bane has been shown preparing an invasion forc

e to march on Gotham, as well as moonlighting as muscle for the Court of Owls

Nerd News; Spider-Man Sequels

NERD NEWS!

Amazing Spider-Man 2

         If you're like me, and you like what Marvel Studios has been doing, you would probably love to see them get their hands on Spider-Man, X-Men, or the Fantastic Four, and roll them into the rapidly expanding Marvel Movieverse. Looks like other people are holding on to those movie rights though, so we have to deal with it. That said, I'm becoming very intrigued with the direction the Spider-Man movies are taking. The subplot about Peter's parents made the first film seem less like a re-hash of the previous movies, and the man in the shadows who paid Dr. Connors a visit in prison and disappeared in a flash of lightning instantly had me interested. My theory is that they are building up to a Sinister Six movie and that the man in the shadows is actually Gustav Fiers, the criminal mastermind known as the Gentleman, who is known to have brought Spideys's villains together. Adding to the interest I already have is the fact that Columbia Pictures has released specific dates for installments 3 and 4,* and 2 isn't even out yet(set to come out May 2 2014). As far as 2 goes, I already like Jaimie Foxx's Electro, though I'm a little iffy about Paul Giamatti's Rhino, who admittedly would be difficult to get right, since the character is based on such a goofy concept. The shots I have seen of Giamatti show him in some sort of mech or robot suit, but it doesn't remotely resemble a rhino. Another intriguing bit of information, Dane Dehann, bad guy from Chronicle, will be playing Harry Osborn, who comes back into Peter's life after being away at boarding school since they were young. I'm interested in how this will affect Peter, and what kind of relationship the two will have. Chris Cooper has been cast as Norman Osborn I'm curious to find out more his mysterious life-threatening condition, which was hinted at in the first film.

       Altogether I am excited to see what direction they are planning to take this franchise.

       The attached image gives us a look at Spidey's new, more traditional costume, and some other production photos.

*On June 17 Columbia announced that installments 3 and 4 of the Amazing Spider-Man series would be out June 10, 2016, and May 4, 2018 respectively.

 

Comics Review Section

COMICS REVIEWS

Check out my new comics review section! I put up my first review today. Click the link to see it!

http://waynescomicsreviews.blogspot.com/2013/08/blog-post.html

Spotlight On: The Sentinels

SPOTLIGHT ON: The Sentinels

A First Look At A Sentinel From Days of Future Past

In honor of the new X Men Days of Future Past film due out next year, I decided to publish an article to catch everyone up on the Sentinels, Since they seem to be a focal point of the plot.

First Appearance 1965

Premiering in X-Men Comics in 1965, the Sentinels typically have the ability to project energy blasts from their hands or eyes, have some manner of mutant detecting device, and are around 3 stories tall. Their height is subject to variation depending on the builder. Two notable humans to utilize Sentinels are Bolivar Trask, their creator, and Henry Peter Gyrich, an anti mutant activist, and government official.

Originally created to protect the human populace from the emerging mutant minority, Sentinels have figured heavily into X-Men comics over the years. While usually portrayed as mindless robots, some notable Sentinels have emerged, among them, Bastion, a human sized Sentinel, Nimrod, a 12-15 foot tall time traveling Sentinel from the future, Master Mold, the original Sentinel, and the Oracle, a fusion of Bastion and Nimrod employed by the Church of Reverend William Stryker*.

Notable actions of the Sentinels include killing Wolverine (in an alternate timeline along with

Modern Sentinel

Bastion

many more original X-Men) and the slaughter at Genosha, Magneto's island nation, where Sentinels under the sway of Professor X's twin sister Cassandra Nova massacred 16,000,000 innocent mutants and left the island in ruins.

I'm definitely interested to see the movie interpretation of the Sentinels. Leave any comments or questions below!

Nimrod

*Outside of the movies, William Stryker killed his mutant son at birth and began a religious crusade against mutantkind. His followers became known as the Purifiers. In comics he had no connection to Wolverine.

Master Mold

My Top Writers: Second Installment

August 7, 2013 at 1:03am

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My Favorite Writers
•Second Installment

Jeph Loeb

Why he made it to this prestigious list:


         Loeb tends to enjoy throwing piles of established villains at a hero while simultaneously introducing a new villain, who often has a connection to the hero. He's a master of murder mystery, and great with suspenseful scenes and mind blowing plot twists. His comics tend to be less action heavy than some but the story is so solid you won't notice. If you're a fan of the Dark Knight Movies, 2 of his comics, Long Halloween and Dark Victory, we're called on for plot material.

Essential Reading:

Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: Hush
Red Hulk/Green Hulk
World War Hulks
Batman/Superman: Public Enemies

Scott Snyder

Why he made the list.

         To be fair, I admit that I have only read 3 trades by Snyder. He's on this list for one reason. Batman: The Court of Owls. I read this trade four times waiting for volume 2 to come out. It portrays Batman as an established superhero, and we get scenes of him doing detective work, using gadgets, breaking faces, interrogating thugs using a train, and even some history of Gotham and the Wayne ancestry. Snyder seems to enjoy adding elements of steampunk to his stories, and some of the antagonists are highly stylized, like the Architect from The Gates of Gotham, one of my favorite villain designs ever. Snyder uses a lot of monologuing, especially at the beginning of chapters, which doesn't bother me personally, but may annoy some people. Of all the New 52 titles I've read, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman is my absolute favorite.

          His style of storytelling explores unknowns from the past and how it affects the present. There may be moments that you have to read a couple of times before you can wrap your head around it, but I don't mean that in a bad way. I would honestly buy anything with his name on it.

Essential Reading-

Batman Vol. 1 The Court of Owls
Batman Vol. 2 City of Owls
Batman Vol. 3 Death of the Family
Batman: The Gates of Gotham


Joss Whedon
   
Why he made the list.

       Of course, after Avengers, everyone is a Joss Whedon fan, but some of us used to watch his shows and read his comics before everyone went nuts about him. Whedon's writing can be simultaneously serious, and funny. He knows the characters he's writing and therefore writes them well. If you liked the character interactions in Avengers, you can expect the same from his comics. He's one of the most talented writers I've had the privilege to read.

Essential Reading

Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1 Gifted
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 2
Dangerous
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 4


Frank Miller
 

Why he made the list.

      So you like Batman? Send Frank Miller a thank you card. We've all seen how, for better or worse, pop culture affects comics. Did you know that in comics Magneto's helmet is just for show? It in fact doesn't protect him from Xavier's telepathy. He protects himself through innate ability. See what I mean? Well, back in the 60s, the Batman Show, with Adam West, bled into comics, leaving us with a campy, goofy Batman. Well, in the 80s, Frank Miller came up with a dark future for Batman that shaped the hero we have today. He showed us an aging, violent Batman, still haunted by his parents death and feeling that, for all his work, things haven't changed. After that, he went back in time to show us Batman's first year back in Gotham after his journey of training. Told side by side with the story of James Gordon's first year in Gotham, we get to see a gritty, realistic take on the corruption of the city, and the determination of those two men, and the lengths they're willing to go, and the lines they're willing to cross to clean up Gotham City. Its also worth mentioning that the books noted below were both used to am extent as reference material for Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Many give Miller the credit for making the Dark Knight dark again. Of course I only included books I've read, but Frank Miller has been writing for a long time. Look him up to find more great titles.

       It's also worth mentioning that Miller is an artist as well. His art is often black and white, and very distinctive. I've included a sample above.

Essential Reading 

Batman: Year One
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

The First Step Program

First Step Program

The entire purpose of starting up this page was to either communicate with other comics enthusiasts, or create new ones. If you happen to be an "adult" who thinks comics are for kids, don't. Most comics are aimed towards adults. In fact, children's comics is really more of a subgenre. So I decided to help newbs by providing a jumping on point. Fortunately the renewed Superhero Movie craze has given nerds common ground with the cool kids, so that's where I'll start. Superhero movies are often based on certain story arcs in comics, so below I'm going to connect those dots.

Lets start with,

THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY!

Nolan's films drew heavily on certain books. For instance, Batman Begins takes a lot of plot lines from BATMAN:YEAR ONE by Frank Miller as well as the duology, THE LONG HALLOWEEN and DARK VICTORY, by Jeph Loeb. Year one has Batman fighting the well established criminal element in Gotham as well as the corrupt police force, and details his early challenges as he settles into his role as Gotham City's protector. It also introduces us to his first allies, Lt. James Gordon and Harvey Dent. The Long Halloween picks up with Batman still early in his career, and tracking a serial killer called Holiday. Dark Victory ties in to the Dark Knight and shows us the growing relationship between Batman and Dent, and also shows us the transformation of Dent into the psychopath, Two-Face. The Dark Knight Rises takes some plotlines from Frank Miller's THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and also from the KNIGHTFALL SAGA, though I don't recommend either of these for a first time read. The Dark Knight Returns shows us a retired Batman getting back into his musty old tights to resume his war on crime, and also shows us his losing fight with younger enemies, though Bane does not make an appearance (If you're interested in this, DC released a 2 part animated movie adaptation). The Knightfall Saga is where Bane made his first appearance, and we see concepts like the prison where Bane grew up, and Bane beating the living crap out of Batman, as we saw in the movie. That said, the Knightfall saga is super long, and though it pains me to say it, just run to the library and grab the novel by Dennis O'Neil instead of the huge trade paperback.

If I get even one like on this article, I'll publish a followup. Research nerds unite!

Spotlight On: The Guardians of the Galaxy

Spotlight On:

The Guardians of the Galaxy

          When I first heard that Marvel Studios was planning a Guardians of the Galaxy movie, I almost didn't believe it.  At any rate, I became more exited for it than for any of the other projects Marvel had in the works, simply because it seemed like more like a long-shot than any of the other projects. That made me believe that they must have had something good planned. I've so far been keeping up with all the news about the movie, but the other day I realized that I know next to nothing about these characters. I hate going into a movie blind, so here's all my compiled research in the first ever amalgamation Nerd News/Spotlight On Crossover Article! Enjoy.

Chris Pratt as Peter Jason Quill/Star-Lord

Star-Lord is the leader of the Guardians. A Human/Spartoi hybrid, Quill joined NASA after his mother was killed in by his plotting great uncle. From his post on the Eve space station, Quill jumped at an opportunity presented by the Master of the Sun who accepted Quill as the Star-Lord, granted him a sentient ship and helped him come to terms with his need for vengeance on his mother's killers. He originally used his alien father's element gun, which was later destroyed in battle with the Fallen One, and after his service to the Kree(an alien race I'll be doing an article on soon) he receives a heat dampening espionage battle suit and helmet, and Kree submachine guns. This uniform has become the norm for the Guardians. After Star-Lord witnessed battle on a galactic scale during the Annihilation Wave, he decided to found the Guardians of the Galaxy, a group of cosmic heroes who try to foresee threats and prevent disasters.

 David Michael Bautista Jr. as Arthur Sampson Douglas/ Drax the Destroyer
When the Mad Titan Thanos beleives he has been seen by a family of Earthling, he kills them. The spirit of the father, Arthur Douglas, however, is captured by Thanos' father Mentor, and Kronos and put into a powerful new body, to be used as a weapon of vengeance against Thanos. Now known as Drax, he has increased strength, and durability and fights with knives.








 Zoe Saldana as Gamora, The Most Dangerous Woman in the Universe

After her species, the Zen Whoberi were wiped out by the Badoon, Gamora was left as the last of her kind. Taken in by Thanos and trained as his assassin, Gamora became the most dangerous woman in the universe. She went on to later join the Guardians. Gamora possesses enhanced strength, speed, endurance, agility, and healing, and has at times wielded a knife that could kill almost anything.

 

Michael Rooker as Yondu UdontaA Centaurian archer, with connections to the Guardians, Yondu is highly trained and has sound sensitive arrows that he can direct by whistling. He also has a spiritual connection to nature, allowing him to locate things, or people, and replenish his energy by communing with nature. 












Groot
The Monarch of Planet X, Groot is a highly intelligent plant based life form. He is very durable, and even if destroyed, can regrow himself from a single sprout. He can also absorb other trees as sustenance or command them to attack. Although Groot only ever utters the words "I am Groot", Maximus the Mad claims that his tone and inflection varies and that he is actually saying a wide range of different things. Rocket Raccoon seems to be able to understand him. Although Groot may appear brutish, he has been educated by the best tutors of his race, and has a working understanding of quasi-dimensional super-positional engineering. He will be voiced by Mark "Vin Diesel" Sinclair.









Rocket Raccoon 
Rocket comes from an asylum planet for the mentally challenged called Halfworld, where animals were slowly evolved to bipedal form to help care for the patients. He is a gifted tactician and expert marksman. He usually wields two laser pistols, and has an affinity for heavy weaponry, he may also suffer from excessive-compulsive disorder. He has all the abilities of a normal earth raccoon, but on an                                                                                                                   enhanced level.