‘The Batman Complex’: What If Batman Was Just a Figment of Bruce Wayne’s Imagination?

27 April 2011 Eric Kwun | Posted in: Eye Candy, Watch It!

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“themanbatman” must have had some time to think about this because I honestly had a hard time following after only a couple views. Titled, ‘The Batman Complex’, themanbatman took various clips from Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’, ‘Inception’, ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘The Machinist’, and more. The Batman Complex tackles the idea of whether Batman was only just a figment of Bruce Wayne’s imagination (I think I already said that… didn’t I… oh hell with it. It sounds good.)

The gist of the idea revolves around a few fun topics, mainly the whole “what is real?” train of thought, and also every fans desire, deep down or upfront, to be Batman at least once in their lives. And so, I tried to craft a story where we see what happens when someone takes their dream of being Batman a little bit too far. An idea, after all, is a truly resilient parasite.

While some of it is still left a bit ambiguous both unintentionally and intentionally – while there’s only so much that can be strung together – I often like to leave a little bit open so as to see what fellow fans are able to imagine/create. One aspect I tried to hint at was the paralleling descent of both Bruce and Cobb. As Cobb and the team go deeper into Bruce’s mind, they start to encounter the truly dark issues that his subconscious houses. As a result, Cobb himself gets caught up in the obsession of all that lingers in the mind of a Batman. There are a couple fun things in there that are best left to surprise, but all in all, I’m relatively happy with how it turned out. It’s fairly fast paced and doesn’t leave much room to breath, which helps amplify the tension I think. But that’s just me.

I swear. I was even more confused after reading themanbatman’s explaination of his concept for The Batman Complex. Regardless whether you “get it” or not, it still worth the watch. Especially, when a ton of work went into it by themanbatman (I wish I knew your name so I didn’t have to refer to you as “themanbatman).

Hit the jump and check out the fan-made trailer for ‘The Batman Complex’

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Illustrations: Mike Henry’s Incredibly Sinister “Batman Rogues Gallery”

20 April 2011 Eric Kwun | Posted in: Agents of G.E.E.K., Eye Candy, This is Epic!

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If you know anything about me, I am a HUGE fan of 2D artists. I think that beautiful pencil art is slowly losing the battle against digital art and I hold dear any artist that proves otherwise. Maybe that’s why the incredible art of Mike Henry AKA zatransis (@zatransis) of Big Menace Industries has me in awe and envy of his incredible talent. Hailing out of San Francisco, California, this professional 2D artist has worked in the video game, comic, and animation industry. His unique style of caricature-style art with beautiful use of vibrant and deep colors sets himself apart from the rest. The over-exaggerated facial features and embellished expressions oozes attitude and emotions from the drawing and gives it a life of it’s own. Everything from the Joker’s vicious grin, to Mr. Freeze’s cold stare, and the whimsical glimmer in Harley Quinn’s eyes are a testament to Mike Henry’s amazing attention to detail. While I have ranted over the years that Bruce Timm (@brucetimm) of ‘Batman and Superman Adventures’ fame is probably the best illustrator/animator to ever draw Batman, I would have to now say that Mike Henry has proven me wrong.

Hit the jump and check out Mike Henry’s amazing Batman Villain collection. You can see more of Mike’s work at his DeviantArt page!

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I Heart Gadgets: DC Comics x PENTAX Optio RS1500 Digital Camera Collector Pack

19 April 2011 Eric Kwun | Posted in: I Heart Toys

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Every geek loves to show the world how much of a geek they really are. One of the favorite ways to doing so is customization. A pin or patch here and there sets you apart from the rest. I guess this is the idea that DC Comics and PENTAX decided to run with. Introducing the PENTAX Optio RS1500 digital camera. The RS1500 will have a unique feature that will allow the owner to change the faceplate on the camera with a selection of seven different DC Comic characters including Batman, The Joker, The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Green Lantern. The limited edition collector’s set will also include a 4 GB SD Card and a protective case imprinted logo of the Green Lantern. Also, if you’re not a fan of the seven provided, you can use the PENTAX Personal Skin Designer software that will allow you to create your own and print out on a color printer. The camera will be the size of your standard credit card and feature a fourteen megapixel CCD, a three inch LCD monitor, and a wide-angle 27.5mm to 110mm lens with a 4X optical zoom. Cool! Unfortunately, from what I have read, the camera will be released in Europe on May 1st for only 129 Euros. Shucks!

Hit the jump for more pictures of the PENTAX Optio RS1500 digital camera!

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The ‘Batman: Arkham City’ Comic Will Explain What Has Happened Since “Arkham Asylum”

6 April 2011 Eric Kwun | Posted in: Eye Candy, Gamertrooper

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I know a lot of you can’t wait till October for the release of ‘Batman: Arkham City’ so until than, why not enjoy the comic? Starting May, DC Comics will release a six issue series bridging the gap between ‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ and ‘Batman: Arkham City’. Arkham City is set to take place one year after the events of Arkham Asylum.

The six-issue miniseries is slated to fill fans in on what happened between the games. The comic picks up roughly one year after the events of Arkham Asylum and finds Quincy Sharp, the former Arkham warden, being elected mayor of Gotham City.
Sharp’s first act as mayor is to shut the asylum down and establish a new maximum-security “home” for Arkham’s residents, Arkham City, near the heart of Gotham City.
The city takes a decidedly new approach to dealing with its residents, letting them roam free and do whatever they like so long as they keep it within the city’s walls. What could go wrong? Oh wait, did we mention that the new mayor appoints Hugo Strange, a genius psychologist who knows Batman’s true identity, to run the joint?

Whats really cool is that the infamous Paul Dini will be writing and the art will be done by Carlos D’Anda who also did the conceptual art on both games. From the looks of these “sneak preview” pages, the art is really stunning and insane. This is going to be a real treat before the release of the game. Expect the first two issues to release in May, followed by another issue every month after. ‘Batman: Arkham City’ is set to hit stores on October 18th, 2011 for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Hit the jump and check out five preview pages from ‘Batman: Arkham City’. Click image to enlarge.

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One Day, Warner Bros. Will Have to Realize That Christopher Nolan Cannot Make All Their DC Comic Movies

30 March 2011 Eric Kwun | Posted in: Originaltrooper, Watch It!

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Couple days ago, Ben Fritz of  Hero Complex (a geek feature in the Los Angeles Times) sat down with Warners Bros. executive head honcho Jeff Robinov for a profile piece and one of the interesting topics that came up was the future of DC comic movies. During the interview, a few things were mentioned.

1. After ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, the Batman franchise will get a reboot with Christopher Nolan as producer.

OF COURSE Batman will get a fucking reboot! So far, Batman has been the most profitable DC Comic based franchise for Warner Bros. and you would have to be stupid to let it die after Christopher Nolan leaves after ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ ends. It does make sense that Nolan would be brought in to oversee the direction of the new Batman films and considering what Nolan has done with it so far, I feel for the poor bastard that will have to come in and fill those giant billion dollar makin’ shoes. It will be interesting to see Nolan as producer and we will see what it might be like once Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ is out. With Nolan as producer for that film as well, we will see if there is a big difference between him directing and producing. There might be a huge difference as Nolan most likely won’t be writing the new Batman films, unlike Man of Steel in which he did. Just because Nolan is producing doesn’t mean the movie will be any good. Even Tim Burton was a producer on Joel Schumacher’s ‘Batman Forever’ after finishing ‘Batman Returns’ and that shit was a hot mess.

2. A Justice League film is being planned for a 2013 release

This is not going to happen. Warner Bros. will keep a eye on how Marvel’s ‘Avengers’ movie does and try to follow. Unfortunately, DC is not Marvel. While Marvel has been doing everything and anything over the last decade to produce more and more films based on their properties, DC has not. While Marvel has been developing blockbuster hits such as ‘X-Men’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Wolverine’ and soon ‘Thor’ and ‘Captain America’, WB has been riding on the coat tails of Nolan and the Batman franchise. WB’s attempt to reboot Superman with Bryan Singer was a bust and they are not even in the filming stages for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘Man of ‘Steel’. With release dates tentative for both movies at 2012 or 2013, I just don’t see it happening. You can argue that DC has a ‘Green Lantern’ movie in the can and a Wonder Woman TV show in the works, but that doesn’t mean nothing. From what is being said around the web, the interest in Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern flick is steadily declining and even hardcore Lantern fans think the movie will be crap. It doesn’t help that while DC and Warner is trying everything they can to promote Green Lantern, they are getting bombarded to non-existence by Marvel with ‘Thor’, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, and ‘X-Men: First Class’. Using cameo appearances, smart marketing, and a bit of cleverness, Marvel has set up Avengers when released. I just don’t see Warner Bros. being able to do something Marvel has been doing for almost a decade in less than three years. We have a better chance of seeing a “World’s Finest” style crossover movie between Batman and Superman than Justice League. Marvel built up the individual members of the Avengers to be it’s own franchise, but Warner Bros. is planning and hoping that Justice League will create new ones. It doesn’t seem like a smart move. If Justice League fails, any chances of a movie for Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, etc. dies with it.

Warner Bros. needs to get smart and figure out a game plan to succeed in a market that Marvel is king. They have to be bold like Marvel and create movies to promote their properties regardless if it is a hit or miss. Even though it flopped, millions of movie goers now know who Elektra and Ghost Rider is. How sad is it that there are millions of people out there that doesn’t even know who the Flash is. Warner Bros. needs to find directors that have a great vision and writers that understands the properties they are writing for. WB has the use of DC Comic’s amazing writers who can create an awesome treatment for a movie that can work. If Batman and Superman is the only thing in Warner Bros. future (might only be Batman soon…), there is no hopes for Justice League. As scary as it may be, Warner Bros. needs to try to make great movies for these amazing characters without Christopher Nolan holding their hands.

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I Heart Toys: Flashpoint Series One Action Figures by DC Direct

28 March 2011 Eric Kwun | Posted in: Epic Collectibles!, I Heart Toys

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Batman has ‘Arkham City’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Green Lantern got ‘Blackest Night’ and a movie. Superman got ‘Man of Steel’. Wonder Woman got a television show. Isn’t it about time that the Flash got the spotlight? Well, that is the case with DC Comics’ newest story arc, “Flashpoint”. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Andy Kubert, Flashpoint will be dropping the DC universe on it’s head. As excited I am about Flashpoint, I am even more thrilled about the new action figure series coming out of DC Direct.

EVERYTHING CHANGES IN A FLASH!
Comics’ next big event is not a dream, or an imaginary story, or an elseworld. But for Barry Allen? It could be his worst nightmare.
The world as Barry Allen knows it has changed. With humankind on the abyss’ edge of a cataclysmic war, Earth’s Greatest Heroes are nowhere to be found. It’s up to Cyborg, America’s last hope, to gather forces new and old from across the Universe.If The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the timeline, the world may have no future at all.

The first wave from DC Direct’s Flashpoint action figure line will include Cyborg (bleh), Barry Allen as the Flash, Flashpoint Wonder Woman, and Flashpoint Batman. I would have to say that I love every figure in this set except Cyborg. I am thrilled to see another awesome Batman from DC Direct and I would have to say this may be the best Flash action figure I have ever seen. Each of the figures will measure around 6.75 inches tall and will cost you around 18 bucks each. You can expect them to hit stores late July, but I would recommend that you preorder these early because as usual, DC Direct expects shortages.

Where to buy: Big Bad Toy Store

Hit the jump and check out more pix from the Flashpoint series one collection!

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Rumors Strike Back: Will Juno Temple to Play Holly Robinson in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’? Maybe Stephanie Brown?

25 March 2011 Eric Kwun | Posted in: Watch It!

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A new face has officially joined the star studded cast of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Earlier this week, rumors surfaced that actress Juno Temple (Kaboom, The Three Musketeers) will be joining TDKR. Well, now its confirmed and the web is rampant with rumors regarding who she will play. Described as “a street smart Gotham-girl”, the first name to pop up was Stephanie Brown. Stephanie Brown has been known in the Batman universe under many alias such as Spoiler, Batgirl (III), and even Robin (IV). This was a bit harder to swallow as it doesn’t seem that Christopher Nolan has any plans in adding a sidekick when hes trying to wrap up his Batman story. One likely role may be Holly Robinson. Introduced in  Batman #404 during Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One story arc, Holly was an ex-prostitute who becomes a loyal ally and sidekick to Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman. Even at one point, Holly is groomed to take up the mantle of Catwoman from Selina Kyle. That would be an interesting pairing with Anne Hathaway on screen. Considering all these speculations, the only common factor is that all three are blonde and that really doesn’t hold up. Until the official news is announced (for both Temple and Joseph Gordon-Levitt), we can only keep ourselves entertained with what ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ can be like. Unfortunately, only Christopher Nolan knows.

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