CG Superhero Art of the Day: Thor

Thor looking like a proper Norse hard-arse by Hugues Thibodeau.

Batman vs. Batman vs. Batman

I only discovered this last night but the editing in this video is done so brilliantly that it kept me impressed the whole way through so I thought it is definitely worth sharing. Wouldn't you agree?


By YouTube user, senorbudL24

Wonder Woman TV Pilot

(close the annoying ad in the middle to see the video and click the icon in the player to get full-screen)


Here you can watch the pilot for the Wonder Woman TV show written by David E Kelley and not bought by any network. A weak script, a story like Swiss cheese and a complete and utter misunderstanding of the main character and what makes her work.

Review: Batman Live - A Mixed Bag

At 5:10pm yesterday, a colleague revealed that he had a spare free ticket to go and see Batman Live in Virgin Atlantic's box at the O2. The show was that night and we were meeting the people with the tickets at 6:30 at the venue. That meant we had to leave immediately (first getting permission from my boss to leave early) to race from almost the furthest point West on the tube map over to the docklands at the East end of the tube map. Of course it helped that I used my Bat-card:

It's how I roll

Unfortunately, Australians have a different sense of time so, although we arrived before 6:30, waiting for the guys with the tickets meant we'd missed the first 20 minutes of the show by the time we went through. Then there was another problem. Apparently one of the tickets had already been used so we spent a further 10 minutes with security verifying we were entitled to our free VIP member tickets (the closest I've come to ever using any Virgin service was going to V Festival once). Eventually we got into the show and this is what happened.

CG Superhero Art of the Day: Catwoman

I've recently been getting into 3D CG art, checking out sites like CGSociety, 3dtotal and raph.com. I particularly enjoy photo-realistic interpretations of comic book characters. In the interest of sharing cool superhero and supervillain art as I find it, here's a timely piece by Sven Juhlin (also known for this ugly old Captain America and this maniacal Red Skull).

Catwoman holding Batman's cape and cowl like a trophy:

Is that Megan Fox under there?

I wonder whether Anne Hathaway's final Dark Knight Rises Catwoman costume will look anything like this.

DC's Open Letter to Fans: What Could Have Been

At first I was a little cynical about DC's so-called relaunch, "Another continuity-changing Crisis,". Then I realised that it could actually be a good thing, or at least interesting to see what happens. There were a few things in current continuity that always struck me as odd, like how Batman has had about a dozen different sidekicks, some of which are now pretty grown-up so just how old is he supposed to be and how long has his career been? Sliding timelines are one thing, but marked events like characters coming in and out and aging just tear it to shreds.

Anyway, the vocal few on the Internet have been going crazy and the stupid buggers even planned (and let bottled it) to protest at SDCC. Dan DiDio published an open letter to DC fans in response to the outcry, which you can see here. Here's how I like to imagine it could have gone:

Open letter from Dan DiDio - first draft

Folks, as you wonder and wait for the new series of announcements to unfold, you are revealing yourselves as COMPLETELY F**KING APES**T CRAZY.

We are spending an extraordinary amount of time and energy on this and you are just being a big bunch of whining babies. Every time there's a continuity-updating event, all the toys get thrown out of the pram, don't they? Sorry that you're all feeling disenfranchised but look, either continuity gets updated or Batman dies of old age. Even when you accept that things need refreshing, you can't stand a world where your favourite events "didn't happen". As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and there are a lot of great things that don't need fixing, but what's the point of relaunching just to repeat old stories? And, seriously, none of this ever happened because it's all imaginary! Are you kidding me? I'm reading blog comments where guys are literally saying, "What, so you just expect us to accept that none of the stuff from before ever really happened?!!!!11!!" No sh*t. Anyway, people get far to hung up on what's in or out of continuity and what is or isn't "imaginary". The main thing whether you like the stories and if you don't, don't waste your money with us! Your old comics aren't going to fade into the Nothing. You'll still be able to read them and stay in your convoluted, nostalgia-driven creativity-stunted old universe. We will not stand idly by and let series run on inertia and let the industry fade around us.

There's nothing complicated about it. DC are clearing the slate and relaunching all 52 of our lines starting back at issue #1. This gives people more creative than you an opportunity to start a fresh and create something wonderful and modern while keeping the true spirit of comics alive! We are trying to create a place and story where older fans can point for new fans to start, whether in periodical, graphic novel or digital. A place where everyone can share in the excitement of the DC Universe.

best,
DD

Note: Dan DiDio didn't really write this. I did.

First Official Photo: Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Hot on the heels of the first official shot of Henry Cavill as Superman comes this shot of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman in the next and final installment in the Nolan Batman films, The Dark Knight Rises. Batman's kinda getting screwed in Batman 3, with Catwoman apparently stealing his Bat Pod and those earlier shots of Bane standing on top of a pre-Batmanned up tubmler. Hathaway's costume is that of a high-tech thief but is this her final Catwoman costume? Maybe not given the image turned up on the official movie site with the file name, "selina_kyle.jpg". You may also recall Bruce Wayne's first outfit was also quite different to his eventual Batman costume:

First Official Look at Henry Cavill as Superman

Above is a brighter, sharper version of the image below. I'm not sure on its authenticity (think maybe someone added texture and changed hue) but below is the official shot released by Warner Bros.

An old-school "S" shield, no red briefs, no leather boots and the now ubiquitous textured superhero suit. What do you think? Is it good? How long is that cape? Where are Superman's eyebrows?

Issues Web Series: Well That was Different

From Crackle: Captain Magnificent