TITLE: Batman Beyond #1 (of 6)
AUTHOR: Adam Beechen
PENCILLER: Ryan Benjamin (Cover by Dustin Nguyen)
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE DATE: June 30

 A throwback comic that takes place in the future? There’s a brain twister for ya…

Yes friends, Batman Beyond is back. Initially a 1999 cartoon developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and most of the Batman: The Animated Series crew, the series featured an elderly Bruce Wayne guiding teenager Terry McGinnis in his new role as Batman in the futuristic Neo-Gotham. The series itself was a big risk, but ultimately it seems to have paid off, as fans of the “Timm-verse” came to embrace Beyond, so much that the character would later make appearances in Justice League Unlimited.

Oddly enough, none of the crew behind the show appears to be involved in this miniseries DC has put together. Nevertheless, Adam Beechen manages to capture the vibe of the show pretty well. The story begins when a prisoner breaks out of Cadmus Labs, killing five people along the way. More murders follow, including one of Bruce Wayne’s lesser known villains, Signalman. The “style” of the murders leads Bruce to believe that Harvey Dent is the culprit. But by the final page, the true culprit is revealed…and it’s not Harvey.

Not much to complain about here. I’m not the biggest fan of Benjamin’s art, but that’s a matter of taste. We get a nice appearance from Amanda Waller at the start of the story. I was a bit thrown off when Terry kept calling Bruce “Mr. Wayne.” On the show they always just called each other “Wayne” and “McGinnis.” Sheesh, why so formal, Terry? The guy’s letting you hang out in his cave for cryin’ out loud…

The villain we end up with is definitely capable of carrying a miniseries (if you take a close look at the cover, you can probably figure out who it is), but part of me wishes Beechen was taking a different route with this story. The animated movie Return of the Joker gave us the ultimate “old villain returns” story. With this story they can strike some different story chords, but you’re still going to hear a lot of the same notes you heard in Return. I’m hoping this series gives us a little bit of insight into Terry’s life, as opposed to making it a big “old rivals fight again” story.

Either way, I don’t see Beechen failing with this miniseries. Obviously, there’s still a lot of interest in Batman Beyond, and that’s what he’s giving us. It’s hard to go wrong there.

TITLE: Edge of Darkness
STARRING: Mel Gibson, Danny Huston, Ray Winstone, Bojana Novakovic
DIRECTOR: Martin Campbell
STUDIO: GK Films/BBC Films/Icon Productions
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 117 min
RELEASE DATE: January 28 , 2010 (Theatrical), May 11, 2010 (DVD/Blu-Ray)

By Stephen McCarthy
Staff Writer, Evil Genius

It has been seven years since Mel Gibson’s last starring role in a movie, and I had questions about how he would perform after such an absence. After watching this movie, it was like he never stopped acting. This is vintage Mel Gibson in a role that resembles the ones he played in Ransom and Conspiracy Theory. It’s the type of role that suits Mel Gibson perfectly; a lot of emotional display with some tense action sequences.

Mel Gibson stars as Thomas Craven, a detective from Boston. His daughter comes to visit, and just as soon is murdered right next to him as they are leaving his house. He begins to look through his old case files to find someone who might want to take revenge upon him, but after looking through his daughter’s belongings it becomes apparent that she was the intended target. This leads Craven down the path of a huge conspiracy that he must uncover to get justice for his daughter.

Photo from RottenTomatoes.com.

The first half of this movie is a wave of emotions as we watch Craven transform. There is the grief and immense sadness over the loss of his daughter, the frustration and anger as he uncovers more of what has happened.  Mel Gibson nails it and while it all seems a bit familiar and not anything really new out of him, it is a very enjoyable and somewhat of a nostalgic performance in a way.  And while Mel does just as good of a job in the second half of the film, he can not carry this film across the finish line on his own.

The biggest problem with the second half was that it felt like Craven made no significant progress in his quest.  I think that this is probably a casualty of the adaptation process, as Edge of Darkness was originally a six part BBC miniseries in the mid eighties.  In addition to his quest slowing down, it felt like other important characters such as Senator Jim Pine, Jack Bennett (Danny Huston) and Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) lacked the screen time necessary to shift the focus to other areas.  While I have not seen the original award-winning miniseries, that is the impression that I got when watching the movie.

Even though both the television series and the movie were directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Mask of Zorro), I guess twenty years away from the material tends to alter the it in addition to cutting the screen time down to roughly forty percent of what it was.  Despite the problems with the second half of the film, I have always felt Campbell to be an underrated director.  When there is action there is always a clear shot of what is taking place and none of the shaky camera work that has plagued films like the Bourne series.  Campbell handles everything well enough and keeps the tension going but it just was not enough to over come the problems with this adaptation.

The DVD/Blu-Ray bonus features include a look back at the miniseries, a featurette on Gibson’s return to acting, a profile piece on Campbell, a look at how Boston was used in the film, and additional/alternate scenes.

RATING: 5/10

Image from DCComics.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

After almost 70 years in her familiar one-piece and tiara, Wonder Woman is finally getting a costume change in this week’s Wonder Woman #600.

DC Comics’ blog reported today that Co-Publisher Jim Lee has redesigned the Amazon Princess’ costume. In his design, Lee kept the character’s bracelets, tiara and magic lasso, but gave her pants, a jacket and gloves.

J. Michael Staczynski, the incoming writer for both Wonder Woman and Superman, said the character’s new look allows her “to be taken seriously as a warrior, in partial answer to the many female fans over the years who’ve asked, ‘how does she fight in that thing without all her parts falling out?’”

He continued: “It reflects her origins in both the outside world and the world of Amazons: tough, elegant…a street-fighter’s look which also incorporates elements of her classic design,” Straczynski further explained in the press materials. “It reflects the two sides warring for ultimate victory, and underscores the path she must take.”

The costume can also allow Wonder Woman to walk in public unnoticed, carry various accessories.

“It’s Wonder Woman for the 21st century,” Stracynski said.

Images from Wonder Woman #600 can be seen at the above link.

Front page image from comicfortress.com.

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

After nearly four years of free online services for the Playstation 3, Sony has finally unveiled their own form of subscription services, Playstation Plus. PS3 owners might have noticed the new service after today’s firmware 3.40 update in the Playstation store.

Gamers need not worry for now though, as this isn’t the same as the 360’s Xbox Live service plan. But if online gaming is still free, what exactly will gamers be getting?

In a manner of speaking, the plan will include various PlayStation Network games, DLC, PSone Classics and PlayStation Minis for free (for the duration of the subscription), as well as a number of free avatars and themes, features and discounts on various PSN items, as well as a free subscription to Qore, PlayStation’s online magazine, among other perks.

PlayStation Plus will also start offering “Full Game Trials” of some PS3 and PSN games, giving players the opportunity to download the full game and play it for sixty minutes. This also will allow the user to purchase the game, thus unlocking the trial, and continue where they left off should they choose to buy it. Currently, the first game in this format is inFamous.

The launch lineup of free downloads include wipEout HD, Rally Cross, Age of Zombies, and a bunch of free DLC. Keep in mind, these downloads only last as long as your subscription, which might be a point of contention for some players who are sitting on the fence.

For more information, go to Sony’s PlayStation site.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

A new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been released.

The film, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Ralph Fiennes, is scheduled for a November 19 release.

Image from RottenTomatoes.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

It’s been a big week for Jeph Loeb at both Marvel and DC Comics.

Photo from scienceadventurestudios.com.

Marvel Entertainment announced yesterday that Jeph Loeb has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Head of Television. This represents a new division of Marvel, where Loeb will help translate Marvel’s characters into both animated and live-action television shows. He will also oversee the distribution of direct-to-DVD features.

“It’s with tremendous pride that I announce the creation of our Marvel Television division and the appointment of Jeph Loeb as Executive Vice President,” said Alan Fine, Executive Vice President, Office of the President and Chairman of Marvel Studios’ Creative Committee via press release. “His work in the comic book field is in a class of its own, showing his passion and talent for bringing Marvel’s finest characters to life in an innovative manner.”

During his career, Loeb has worked in television, film and comics. He wrote the films Teen Wolf and Commando, and was a writer and producer for Smallville and Lost, and a writer and co-executive producer for Heroes. Some of his more famous comic works include Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Hush, Superman For All Seasons, Daredevil: Yellow, Spider-Man: Blue and Hulk: Gray. More recently Loeb introduced Red Hulk into the main Marvel continuity, and was at the helm of Ultimatum, a major arc that rocked the foundation of the company’s Ultimate line.

“I couldn’t be happier to accept this new position at Marvel Entertainment, working with both Dan [Buckley, Publisher & President of the Print, Animation & Digital Division] and Alan to deliver exciting, cutting edge television projects,” said Loeb. “Marvel continues to break new ground in storytelling in both their comic book and film ventures, so, along with everyone here, I’m excited to bring the same brand of excitement into homes across the globe.”

Image from MTV.com.

Meanwhile, DC Entertainment has announced that Superman/Batman: Apocalypse will follow Batman: Under The Red Hood as it’s next direct-to-DVD film. The film is based on Loeb and Michael Turner’s best-selling 2004 story arc, “The Supergirl From Krypton,” collected in the Superman/Batman: Supergirl graphic novel.

Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly, who voiced Batman and Superman in Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, will reprise their roles as the title characters, as they did in the Superman/Batman: Public Enemies film, which was also based on a Jeph Loeb story. Summer Glau will reportedly play Supergirl.

TITLE: Batwoman: Elegy
AUTHOR: Greg Rucka
ARTIST: J.H. Williams III
COLLECTS: Detective Comics #854-860
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
RELEASE DATE: June 30

Now this is good stuff, ladies and gentlemen.

Batwoman, Kate Kane, Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III, and pretty much everybody associated with the seven issues of content in this book come out shining like they just took a bath with Mr. Clean.

This incarnation of Batwoman made mainstream media headlines shortly before her debut in 2005, as Greg Rucka had created her as a lesbian. She appeared within the pages of 52, and later in stories headlined by The Question (her former lover). But this book represents the first time Batwoman has had some page time solely for herself. In a lot of ways, this is the first true Batwoman story.

When we open Elegy (a word that means “a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem”), Batwoman is hunting down members of a satanic, crime-based religion, and comes into conflict with their leader Alice. Interestingly, Alice speaks only in quotes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (“Didn’t anyone give you the memo? Gotham already has one Carroll-inspired freak.”) Little does our hero know that Alice is connected to her past in a way that she never could have imagined…

From there, we go into Kate Kane’s origin story, which touches on her father (a former army lieutenant), the terrorist kidnapping which led to the death of her mother, her own time in the military, and how she became Batwoman.

The art is what really pushes this book into the realm of spectacular. J.H. Williams handles the pencilling and the inking, with Dave Stewart as the colorist. When Batwoman is in costume, the reds REALLY pop, whether it’s her costume, her hair, or even her lipstick. It almost gives those portions of the book a Sin City vibe (I’m referring to the movie, of course).

Detective Comics #854, page 8. Image from Crave Online.

Some of the page layouts are also really cool. It almost looks like Williams turned the pages into cracked glass, and placed his art between the cracks. This works especially well during fight sequences.

As for the writing, there’s no one who’ll ever be better at writing this character than Greg Rucka. He created her, he knows her inside and out, and obviously no one is more qualified to put together her backstory, and her first run as a solo.

Rucka has always been good with gritty, noir type stories. His work on Gotham Central was phenomenal, and ironically, he was the one who turned Renee Montoya (now The Question) into a lesbian. So he’s created a nice little niche for himself amongst homosexuals and noir fans.

This story is all more or less self contained. At the end, you get the sense that certain plot threads might be revisited in the future, but this book definitely stands well on its own.

Rumor has it that Batwoman’s run on Detective Comics will lead to her own monthly series. So long as Rucka stays with her, I’ll be doing the same. And if J.H. Williams III is along for the ride, then we could have another masterpiece in the making.

RATING: 9.5/10

Front page image from Detective Comics #854, page 3.

TITLE: Daybreakers
STARRING: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Claudia Karvan, Sam Neill
DIRECTORS: Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig
STUDIO: Lionsgate
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 98 min
RELEASE DATE: January 8, 2010 (Theatrical),  May 11, 2010 (DVD/Blu-Ray)

By Stephen McCarthy
Staff Writer, Evil Genius

This is movie is a welcome move twist to the world of dull, predictable, cliché and needlessly violent vampire flicks. That isn’t to say that this film isn’t needlessly violent or cliché at certain points, but the story is a refreshing take on vampires. While vampires still require blood, burn in the sunlight and cannot take a massive splinter in the chest, it is their existence and world that is new and refreshing. This vampire movie moves away from the purely mythological aspects of the vampire and goes in the same direction that zombie movies have over the past twenty or so years. Vampirism is caused by a virus and it has spread across the globe.

While vampires and viruses more or less met in I am Legend and similar stories, the creatures portrayed in those movies lost their humanity and became brainless monsters with a rudimentary society. Daybreakers goes in the opposite direction; modern human society has morphed into a modern vampire society. The movie takes place roughly 10 years into the future and the technology seems to have advanced just about as much as it should. Instead of getting up at sunrise to go to work, everyone gets up at dusk. The evening coffee has blood in it to get that vampire on the go moving after a long rest. Windows on houses and cars can be turned completely black to prevent sunlight from getting in. This is a creative modern vision of what the world would be like with only vampires and it is a more than welcome into this sub genre.

But with the world nearly completely turned into vampires a problem arises: the blood supply is running out. A giant corporation treats humans like food, from hunting them down to keeping them hooked up to machines to draw a constant stream of blood from them. The blood supply is starting to be rationed out and smaller, poorer nations are falling into ruin. In this way the crisis seems to resemble a possible outcome if oil wells were to suddenly start drying up. This whole scenario would obviously begin to cause mass panic and the search for an alternative food supply/energy supply would begin to become all the more desperate.

Photo from RottenTomatoes.com.

Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawk) is a genetic scientist working for the corporation who has been working on trying to create a synthetic blood substitute and time is running out. Through a series of events he ends up meeting a human, Lionel Cormac (Willem Dafoe) who was a vampire, but was cured. This leads him to believe there is another way to save everyone and turn society back to its former self of nearly a decade ago.

This is an effective premise and Dalton is more than just the guy who can do the job. He has a brother who is a human hunter employed by the corporation and they do not see eye to eye on the profession. He talks of a humanity that he can barely remember and while his brother embraces the new world. An emotional roller coaster this is not, but Dalton is a good fun character rather than a stiff one dimensional one.

But what really dooms a movie with such promise is the final act. The last twenty minutes devolve into a pointless action sequence where many of the characters are killed and it feels like they felt they had to do this to appease fans of vampire and horror movies. The approach that was so fresh has devolved back into what it was attempting to separate itself from. I am Legend suffered a similar fate but the characters and message were strong enough to over come the big loud finale. On the other hand, Daybreakers needed the ending to complete itself and escape mediocrity.

Bonus features on the DVD include a “Making of Daybreakers” featurette, commentary with the directors and creature designer Steve Boyle.

RATING: 6/10

ARTIST: Jamie’s Elsewhere
ALBUM TITLE: They Said A Storm Was Coming
RECORD LABEL: Victory Records
RELEASED: February 16

Once upon a time, there was this band called Jamie’s Elsewhere, and they released a couple of EPs and got signed to Victory Records. They released a full length called Guidebook for Sinners Turned Saints, and a couple of months later, four of the six band members left the band.

The remaining two members, keyboard player Mike Spearman and guitarist Matt Scarpelli kept the name and regrouped. Now I haven’t heard their early efforts, but if they didn’t sound like They Said a Storm was Coming, I probably wouldn’t be too interested.

Maybe it’s because the album sounds like the logical next step from Underoath’s They’re Only Chasing Safety (had that band stayed in that album’s trajectory), but I have a soft spot for their brand of post hardcore. Jamie’s Elsewhere has a heavy, contemporary screamo sound with heavy emphasis on synths and dancy beats without the clichéd autotuned vocals which seem to be all the rage as of late, laced with some of the heavier undertones of metalcore.

About halfway through, the album’s heaviness hits a bit of a lull in favor of “The Prodigal,” a synth-laden song whose backbone wouldn’t sound out of place on a Depeche Mode, but this diversion doesn’t last long; it’s more of an interlude between the album’s first and second acts. That’s a shame, because it came completely out of left field, and the atmospheric, warm tones was a very nice contrast to the rest of the album.

“The Prodigal” could also be viewed as a temporary point where the band starts to lose track of exactly where they’re going; follow-up “Visions in Sleep” features a southern rock-tinged breakdown towards the end, another slight misstep in the album’s steady momentum. These are the only two moments on the album where the band’s identity really comes into question, though, and the album quickly rebounds after that.

The songs of They Said a Storm was Coming are said to be conceptually linked through a tale about a nineteenth century mapmaker written by vocalist Aaron Pauley, but the lyrics are way too vague to really be taken at such a value. Compared to strong concept albums like Mastodon’s Crack the Skye, it really doesn’t hold a candle thematically. Even still, the album is a decent little post hardcore album that does enough right to make up for its slight stumbles.

RATING: 7.5/10

Photo from fart-sounds.net

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

ComingSoon.net reports that a new stop-motion film starring The Addams Family is moving forward, with Tim Burton possibly sitting in the director’s chair.

Christopher Meledandri, producer of the upcoming Despicable Me film, told the site that the film would not be computer animated, but indeed a stop-motion feature. He also stressed that it would be based on the comic strip that ran in The New Yorker, as opposed to the television series or film adaptations.

“It’s all very, very early, but we are developing with [Tim Burton directing] in mind,” said Meledandri, “We’re just now at the story phase. Stuff has been written as though we are doing it in black and white, but that’s not correct. It’s not incorrect, but it’s not correct. We haven’t gotten to that point.”

Robin Williams Still Wants to be The Riddler

Robin Williams recently told Empire magazine that he would be interested in a role in Christopher Nolan’s next Batman film, possibly as The Riddler.

“I would do Batman in a second, playing anyone,” Williams said. “I’d play The Riddler in the next one, although it would be hard to top Heath [Ledger] as the villain and I’m a little hairy for tights… The Batman films have screwed me twice before: years ago they offered me The Joker and then gave it to Jack Nicholson, then they offered me The Riddler and gave it to Jim Carrey. I’d be like, ‘OK, is this a real offer? If it is, then the answer’s yes. Don’t pump me again motherf**kers.’”

Art from ComicArtCommunity.com.

Lauren Shuler Donner Wants Wonder Woman Film

Lauren Shuler Donner, who served as a producer for the X-Men films, as well as the upcoming X-Men: First Class, recently told Sci-Fi Wire about her great interest in overseeing a Wonder Woman film.

“I’m campaigning to produce Wonder Woman for DC and Warners,” Donner said. “They don’t want it, but I just think she’s the greatest character. She’s right up there, as you know, with Superman and Batman, the three of them. I want to produce Wonder Woman,” she said.

Donner said she’d like to cast an up-and-coming actor as the Goddess/superhero.

“I think so, because I’d like it to grow,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of Wonder Woman stories that would be great to tell. I see a couple of them.”