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I listened to the podcast interviews with Grant and Kevin from several years ago always a good listen, I'll listen to the above video after work it's a few hours long.
Nice find! I have a few DC metal signs myself a Batman one and a few Superman. I have the Batman Rogues Gallery sign...
Bought some bath sponges in the likeness of Elvis and Diana Ross for the kids.
I buy and sell collectables and antiques, it's fun finding random items.
In tone this is probably most similar to the 60s tv show, but much more entertaining.
That certainly plays into the political climate of the time during WW2
The Jap hood leader Prince Daka has a huge black, sinister Buddha statue in his headquarter.
I have never seen the serials properly, I have vague memory of watching them when very young though don't remember anything about them. Will have to see if I can buy them
Another interesting thing-there is no Gordon here, just a Captain Arnold who is a completely different type.
Really cool I'll have a look
If WB are going to adapt these stories right they really need to take inspiration from the source and translate the look and feeling of the story faithfully. Look at how their take on The Dark Knight Returns was able to do a fine job of presenting a Milleresque visual experience with all the grit and consequence of the actual text. I want to see them adapt things like The Long Halloween and do an actual R-rated film like TKJ was supposed to be, but I won't hold my breathe. I just don't want them to screw up any other adaptations that could be faithfully done with more time and effort. I don't want to see Tim Sale's art recreated with the same old style most WB animations are put in. They should get creative, really invest in the production and marvel us.
I might be misunderstanding your comment, but for my money TKJ was a more profound examination of Joker and Batman's dueling philosophies than any Bat-story before or since. The laughing nihilist meets the stoic guardian of the law, and in one brief moment they acknowledge the importance and the absurdity of their struggle.
Though even in that case I prefer the animation of the TDK segment in the Batman animated series episode "Legends of the Dark Knight." Perhaps the difference between cell animation and computer-aided animation has something to do with that, but the "Legends" segment was also trues to Miller's angular, flat style. Plus all the recent DC films have a sort of creamy coloring that really puts me off...
I'm not a fan of Jeph Loeb's writing, but I like Sale's artwork and think it will be much easier to adapt to budget animation than Bolland's.
TKJ film had a lot of stuff lacking in it that deflated the adaptation it could have been, and that sadly extends to even Hamill and Conroy's voice work. I kid you not, the final scene (yes, that one) is the most undersold and bland thing you could imagine which is a horrible thing to say about some of the coolest pages in comic book history. Hamill and Conroy seem to be bored with the lines as they throw them out, and the animation is the same grey, mucky mess that adapts none of the amazing and captivating colors of the panels as the story comes to a close. I didn't expect a film to nail Bolland's style perfectly, as it would be impossible, but they could have at least used a color palette for the animations that was more than just hues of gray, brown, mud brown and pale green. Utterly disappointing.
The original comic is everything you say it is, but this adaptation is not. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it if you ever see it, but I know that things about it will bug you as they did me. The first half is a joke that deserved all the backlash it got, and the adaptation of the comic's most famous scene is shockingly poor. It has none of the impact, drama or consequence of the source. TDK brought that, in spades. @Revelator, I don't entirely disagree, but I still put favor in the film's corner animation wise. I love BTAS as you know, and love that episode, but there is more for me to like in the film than the show's take and I'm sure that has everything to do with budget. The film animation has depth and shadow to it that gives it a great mood, and the team weren't afraid to show the blood and grit of Miller's style while still keeping his blocky and bulky style in faithful check.
That being said, there are things about the show's adaption that I wish were in the film version. For one, parts of that mud pit scene were amazingly well adapted, like that great shot of Batman with mud running down his face as the rain kicks it off him. And the biggie for me: Michael Ironside, the ultimate Miller Batman voice for me. I like Peter Weller, but at times his performance was very lacking for me and his deliveries could undersell themselves. A particular moment that deflates, unfortunately, is when he tells Superman that he's beat him in their final battle. He just doesn't adapt the kind of impact and drama you'd hope at times. Ironside, however, has that same gritty and rough voice, but can also inject some amazing drama and theater into it that Weller couldn't do as consistently. As much as I love the film as it is, I could only love it more if Ironside was put in for Weller. A big missed opportunity for me, and I think I'd even take him over Conroy!
I'm just happy the comic got the adaptation it deserved, and that it was given two parts to really tell its story faithfully. I think it's the best thing WB has done in the most recent animation era of films, as I look back.
To be frank, this is the only classic DC animated film I've never re-watched, and I thought it suffered from the absence of Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, and Bruce Timm. It also committed the cardinal sin of
I have the dvd I'll definitely buy the Bluray, I bought Mask of the Phantasm on Bluray I was happy with the remaster on that movie.
Always thought the Ventriloquist was quite sinister.
Agreed about how great Strange is too. The new films would screw him up by giving him to depth or motivation, but I'd have loved to see what someone like Nolan could do with him. I really loved how Paul Dini wrote him in Batman: Arkham City.
Ben Kingsley.
@DarthDimi, Superman too, but he cheats, doesn't he? I'm sure Lex is on that list too.
And I can't remember precisely, but didn't Tim Drake become Robin partly because, as a civilian, he investigated Batman and concluded that Bruce Wayne was the likeliest candidate?
He did more than that in the comics which brought him back from oblivion. I'm referring to the legendary issues of Detective Comics by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers (#469-476), acclaimed as a near-definitive version of Batman. Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams had returned the character to his roots, but it was Englehart and Rogers who created a fully modern Batman, influencing not only subsequent writers but also Batman: The Animated Series.
It was Englehart and Rogers who resurrected Hugo Strange, who hadn't appeared since the 1940s, and turned him from a generic scientist into a psycho psychiatrist obsessed with Batman and his secret identity.
The Englehart/Rogers comics were collected in the paperback Batman: Strange Apparitions, which DC has shamefully let go out of print, but it can be easily found in libraries, and the individual issues are easily obtained online through various illicit channels...
I managed to secure a good copy on eBay several years ago. Both Strange Apparitions and Dark Detective are great books in my opinion! I'm also pleased to see Silver St. Cloud show back up in Kevin Smith's Batman comics.