Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
The ghost of Batman watches his funeral, his allies and enemies eulogizing how he lived and died, with each version a different incarnation of Batman. Alfred’s vignette is particularly intriguing. A solid, stand-alone story that deftly reiterates Batman’s essence, but ultimately with little that we haven’t seen done before (and better).
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva (2009)
Story by Akihiro Hino, screenplay by Aya Matsui; directed by Masakazu Hashimoto
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Based on the popular Nintendo DS video game series, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva was released on video in the U.S. in November 2011. The movie follows the same basic format as the video games: amateur detective Professor Layton (Christopher Robin Miller) and his apprentice Luke Triton (Maria Darling) must solve a series of puzzles to crack a mysterious criminal plot.
It starts out with Professor Layton receiving a letter from his former student, opera singer Janice Quatlane (Emma Tate) inviting him and Luke to see her perform. It turns out that the patrons at the opera were there to receive the elixir of eternal life. The only catch is that only one person can win—whoever solves the puzzles presented by a mysterious voice—and everyone else will be killed!
Similar to the video games, the plot becomes more and more convoluted to the point of almost incomprehensibility. However, plots are not the main features of the Professor Layton series, it’s the puzzle solving in exotic locations among eccentric characters, and the movie provides these in abundance. The art direction and character design are identical to the games, with Miller and Darling reprising their roles. Fans of the games will get the in-jokes, and non-fans will enjoy the over-the-top action and humor, too.
If you’re a fan of the Professor Layton games, definitely check out the movie. If you haven’t had the pleasure of Professor Layton’s acquaintance, I encourage you to try out this movie.
Finishing up “The Edge” group of DC’s New 52:
Blackhawks
Here’s another high-tech super-secret paramilitary mercenary group, where every member has a cute nickname like “Canada” or “Irish” just so we can tell them apart, I suppose. Whether writer Mike Costa can differentiate Blackhawks from S.H.I.E.L.D. or G.I. Joe (for which he has previously written at IDW) remains to be seen. The first issue establishes Blackhawks as the custodians of every weapon known to mankind, and then some. The story arc looks like it will involve them fighting enemies who use nano-biotechnology to infiltrate their ranks. Artists Graham Nolan and Ken Lashley present a style well suited to this type of story—clean, modern, and dynamic. There is nothing that demands the reader’s continued attention, but they drop some intriguing hints that may pay off in the long run.
Voodoo
Voodoo was created by Jim Lee and is part of the Wildstorm imprint that DC is trying to integrate into its mainstream line. With a title like Voodoo, you would expect something supernatural, but it looks like it will be more science fictiony, which could cause marketing problems. Voodoo is a shape-shifting alien who takes the form of a stripper to “…learn about people. Men, especially. They have their defenses down [at a strip club].” A quick look at the first issue might give the sense that this is an unnecessarily sexist story, but writer Ron Marz gives us a shocking ending that, at least temporarily, assuages that kind of assumption. Nevertheless, there’s not much else to the first issue, other than a brief scene of a badass woman detective or federal agent named Fallon who is tailing Voodoo. The art by Sami Basri is very good—though tending towards the cartoonish. If Voodoo stays away from the cheesecake and delivers a compelling story, it could have potential and be worth revisiting when the trade edition comes out.
Continuing “The Edge” group of DC’s New 52:
Suicide Squad
The high concept for this book is something like The Dirty Dozen with psychotic supervillains instead of psychotic soldiers. In other words, join the Suicide Squad for impossible, covert missions, or rot in prison. This version of the Suicide Squad features Deadshot (super-assassin) and a tarted-up version of Harley Quinn (Joker’s long-suffering “girlfriend”), with C-listers like El Diablo (fire powers), King Shark (a man with a shark head and big teeth), Savant (unknown powers; he’s a red shirt), Voltaic (electrical powers), and Black Spider (unknown powers; he’s only in a couple of panels).
Writer Adam Glass and artists Federico Dallocchio, Ransom Getty, and Scott Hanna bring us twenty pages of torture porn interspersed with a few short flashbacks of the protagonists’ backgrounds. It turns out that Amanda Waller, the government agent who is the brains behind the team, is conducting this enhanced interrogation drill to weed out the members who are not 100% committed to its success. So, not a sympathetic soul in sight. Nevertheless, despite the unrelenting depravity, Suicide Squad is more interesting than some of the generic superhero titles like Green Arrow. Not interesting enough to keep reading, but at least DC is trying.
All Star Western
Jonah Hex, the surly and disfigured post-Civil War bounty hunter, is the featured character of All Star Western. Hex has been around since the early 1970s and has a strong, established cult following, perhaps because of his unwavering personal code of honor to defend the innocent and punish the guilty. Previous stories have taken place almost exclusively in the Old West, but this set of adventures sees Hex summoned to rough and tumble Gotham City to help solve the mystery of a sadistic serial killer. His investigation leads to interactions with businessman Alan Wayne and Mayor Cobblepot (ancestors of Batman and the Penguin, of course), along with Amadeus Arkham, founder of infamous Arkham Asylum.
Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray pen a violent, yet engaging mystery with echoes of the Jack the Ripper case. Moritat’s clean, compelling artwork is alone worth buying the book. Forget about the lamentable movie with Josh Brolin—pick up All Star Western for a great looking, well written police procedural starring a ferocious, yet charismatic tough guy.
Posted in Comics
Tagged All Star Western, comics, DC, New 52, Suicide Squad, superheroes, The Edge, westerns
Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011)
Written by Russell T. Davies, Doris Egan, Jane Espenson, Jim D. Gray, John Shiban, Ryan Scott, and John Fay; directed by Bharat Nalluri, Bill Gierhart, Guy Ferland, and Gwyneth Horder-Payton
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Torchwood is a spin-off from Doctor Who (“Torchwood” is an anagram of “Doctor Who”). Torchwood is a quasi-governmental agency created in England in the late 1800s to find and neutralize alien artifacts. Torchwood’s leader is the immortal Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) who has been a companion of Doctor Who and has lived through thousands of years of history, both on Earth and on countless other planets.
The first two 13-episode seasons of Torchwood (2006-2008) were monster-of-the-week type stories. The third season (2009) was a 5-episode, week-long event that was a single story titled “Children of Earth.” Seasons 1-3 were BBC productions. By the end of season 3, Torchwood had been disbanded. At the beginning of Season 4, events transpire to reunite Captain Jack and Torchwood agent Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) to work with the American CIA. Season 4, a 10-episode mini-series, was co-produced by the BBC and Starz and had the overall title of “Miracle Day.”
“Miracle Day” begins with the execution of unrepentant child killer Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman). But Danes fails to die and soon the world realizes that no one has died that day. And then no one dies the next day… or the next. CIA agent Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer) is mortally wounded in a car crash, but doesn’t die. Rex recruits CIA analyst Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins) to dig up information on the mysterious Torchwood that somehow seems to be involved. Captain Jack eventually contacts Esther and Rex, just as mystified as they are about the undead. Rex and Captain Jack fly to Wales to bring Gwen into the action, and the Torchwood/CIA alliance is born.
Meanwhile, the world goes berserk as the numbers of undead begin to mount. Riots, stock market crashes, and loss of utility services are just the beginning of the chaos. The team uncovers a link to a pharmaceutical company called Phicorp, which evidently knew that Miracle Day was coming and had stockpiled vast amounts of painkillers and other drugs. Phicorp PR flack Jilly Kitzinger (Lauren Ambrose) manipulates Oswald Danes into becoming a motivational speaker endorsing the unrestricted use of their prescription medicines.
The governments of the world, in an attempt to control the burgeoning population, set up overflow hospitals that are secretly doing the unspeakable with the undead, as discovered by Torchwood ally Dr. Vera Juarez (Arlene Tur). Because they are now clashing with powerful governments, Torchwood has to go undercover, beginning a covert guerilla operation with scant resources.
Torchwood finally links the Miracle Day events to someone from Captain Jack’s past. Will they be too late to find the masterminds and stop their fiendish plans? Will creepy Oswald Danes get what’s coming to him? Will obnoxious Jilly Kitzinger be put out of my misery? What will happen to the undead if Torchwood finds a way to reverse Miracle Day?
Despite some preposterous gaps in logic (for example, concocting a poison antidote using airplane service fluid, or infiltrating high-security corporate and military installations several times), some clichés (CIA moles working for the conspirators), and a story that should probably have been 4 or 5 parts shorter, I enjoyed “Miracle Day.” Barrowman and Miles have a nice chemistry together, and the other actors generally did good jobs. Pullman was disturbing yet charismatic. The grim family predicaments that several of the characters faced in light of the death camps added a nice bit of tension and urgency to their actions. Torchwood upped the ante with “Children of Earth” and upped the consequences even more in “Miracle Day.” I don’t know how they will be able to continue to keep topping the dreadfulness of the disasters in future seasons, but the ending of “Miracle Day” more than hints at further worldwide catastrophes to come.
“Miracle Day” was perhaps not the best incarnation of Torchwood, but was still better than most of what’s on TV. I hope there will be a Season 5, but I strongly suspect it will be at least another year if it happens at all. Torchwood creator Russell T. Davies is busy making another series for Showtime, and it is unlikely Torchwood would go forward without him. In the meantime, I hope that “Miracle Day” will show up on BBC America sometime soon so that those who missed it on the pay service Starz will be able to have the benefit of seeing it.
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Screenplay by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish, based on the comic book series by Hergé; directed by Steven Spielberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Steven Spielberg’s first animated film is a loving and respectful adaptation of the much-loved Belgian comic book that chronicles the adventures of Tintin (Jamie Bell), a young journalist, his feisty dog Snowy, and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), an alcoholic seaman. The film seamlessly merges elements from three Tintin stories: “The Crab with the Golden Claws,” “The Secret of the Unicorn,” and “Red Rackham’s Treasure.”
The film’s breakneck pace and far-flung locales might lead one to think of Tintin as Indiana Jones, Jr. In fact, only after Raiders of the Lost Ark was released did Spielberg notice the similarity of it to the spirit of the Tintin adventures, whereupon Spielberg obtained the rights to Hergé’s works. It languished in development hell all these years until Peter Jackson (who served as a producer and second-unit director) convinced Spielberg that the motion capture process from his Weta Digital company could successfully translate Tintin into a viable project.
By and large, the motion capture process is successful. It is certainly orders of magnitude better than Robert Zemeckis’s dead-eyed motion-capture movies (The Polar Express [2004] and A Christmas Carol [2009]). The characters’ facial expressions and eye movements are close to something resembling reality. But the human brain is finely tuned to recognize human faces, and there is still a subtle unnaturalness that prevents this film from being a complete winner. It’s a hybrid of almost-realism and almost-cartoon that doesn’t quite satisfy either form. And, after seeing the magnificent 3D presentation of Hugo earlier this week, the 3D of Tintin left me underwhelmed.
It doesn’t help that Spielberg retains the essential blandness of Tintin from the comics. Tintin doesn’t have a strong personality—we don’t discover his flaws the way we did with Indiana Jones (fear of snakes, daddy issues, etc.). This is why the existence of Captain Haddock is so crucial to the success of the Tintin series. Haddock is the anti-Tintin, providing an emotional counterweight. Tintin’s dog Snowy rounds out the characterizations with his sense of humor and expressiveness (Snowy is absolutely wonderful).
Another area where this film falls a little short is the music. John Williams provides a nice, but somewhat generic score, as if he is deliberately trying not to copy his previous themes. There is no rousing fanfare as in Raiders of the Lost Ark or Star Wars, and I think this contributes to the mutedness of Tintin.
Despite these imperfections, I think that The Adventures of Tintin is a delightful film. It smartly omits Tintin’s origin, choosing to quickly show his credentials through newspaper clippings on his office wall, and through subtle bits of dialog, such as when Tintin’s landlady casually mentions, “there’s a dead man on the porch… again.” The action starts early in the film and maintains a frantic pace through almost the entire movie. The unbelievable motorcycle chase near the end is right out of a theme park simulator such as Universal Studios’ The Simpsons ride. The whole movie has an animated dynamic that could only be achieved through the motion capture process.
This is a film that is packed with adventure and action the likes of which we haven’t seen perhaps since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), certainly not since Saving Private Ryan (1998). It more than washes out the bad taste left by Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). It’s a film that can be enjoyed by diehard fans of Tintin as well as those who have never heard of him.
The film ends with a big, implied “To Be Continued,” and I look forward to seeing more of the animated adventures of Tintin.
Hugo (2011)
Screenplay by John Logan, based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; directed by Martin Scorsese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Snapshot: A well-acted, thoroughly engaging movie for grownups with some astounding 3D cinematography.
The following is as spoiler free as I can manage, but for pure enjoyment, I advise you to see the movie without preconceptions—make your experience as magical and surprising as you can—you won’t be disappointed.
Going in, I didn’t know what to expect from this PG-rated film from Martin Scorsese. I was unfamiliar with the source material, and from the trailer it could have been almost anything; all I knew there was some boy clambering through the insides of giant mechanical clocks. Would it be a children’s story? A fantasy? It turns out to be an enchanting family drama that pays tribute to the pioneers of cinema—not surprising, considering Scorsese’s love of film history.
Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is a tough and resourceful 12-year-old boy living by himself in the nooks and crannies of the massive Paris train station in the early 1930s. His widowed father (Jude Law) was a clockmaker and tinkerer who died in a fire, leaving the boy in the care of his neglectful, alcoholic uncle (Ray Winstone), the station’s maintenance man. Hugo’s only tie to his father is a strange mechanical man they had been restoring. Hugo haunts the hidden recesses of the station, keeping its clocks running on time while searching for components to bring his automaton to life.
Hugo becomes a stealthy thief of not only tools and clock parts, but also of food, always wary of the vigilant eyes (and comic relief) of the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his Doberman. Hugo tries to steal some food and trinkets from the crotchety old man (Ben Kingsley) who runs a toy store. The man confiscates Hugo’s notebook, which has, among other things, sketches of the mechanical man. Desperate to retrieve the notebook, Hugo follows the man home. There, Hugo meets the man’s ward, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), who promises to help him get the book back.
Over the next few days, Hugo and Isabelle’s friendship begins to flourish. Isabelle is the ideal companion for Hugo, providing him spirited support and a large vocabulary, while he provides her with adventure outside of her precious books and a chance to clandestinely see Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last (whose signature scene Scorsese lovingly emulates later). Isabelle goads Hugo into standing up to her “Papa Georges” who eventually gives Hugo some odd jobs to do when he realizes how gifted Hugo is at repairing small toys. Hugo becomes determined to discover the secret of Georges’ mysterious past.
Beyond the masterful performances by Kingsley, Butterfield, and Moretz (along with a small but significant role for Christopher Lee), the film’s cinematography and set design are jaw dropping. This is the best 3D since Avatar, perhaps even better than Avatar. Scorsese’s camera thrillingly sweeps through the train station and the dizzying heights of the clock tower—no kidding, take your Dramamine if you’re subject to motion sickness. The panoramic shots of the Paris skyline are simply beautiful.
The third act turns into a loving tribute to the founders of movies, complete with a remarkable recreation of a 19th-Century movie studio in a flashback sequence. Scorsese has crafted an ode to the groundbreaking filmmakers he cherishes, and does it within an engaging, thrilling, and uplifting story for grownups. It’s a film that children will also love.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
“Mitefall!”
Written by Paul Dini; directed by Ben Jones
(Click here to read my previous comments on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold finished its three-season run with one of the oddest half hours of animation ever produced. Depending on your preferences, it’s either embarrassingly self-indulgent or creatively brilliant.
The pre-credits teaser has Batman (Diedrich Bader) traveling not just back in time, but into an alternate reality to help Abe Lincoln (Peter Renaday) defeat Robo-John Wilkes Booth (Dee Bradley Baker). Not like this sort of thing didn’t 
happen regularly during the series. Batman has inexplicably teamed up with the likes of Space Ghost, Kamandi, Jonah Hex, and other heroes past and future many times. Doesn’t Batman have enough crime to fight in present-day Gotham City (and it’s never explained how he travels through time)?
But then things get weird—Bat-Mite (Paul Reubens) appears. In a series typified by an unending succession of little known DC characters, Bat-Mite has to be one of the craziest and campiest. A magical imp from the fifth dimension, Bat-Mite is capable of almost unlimited mischief in his quest to emulate and “help” his idol Batman. When Bat-Mite decides that Batman: The Brave and the Bold is not dark enough, he sets out to get the show canceled. Some of his antics include replacing the bat-suit and bat-gadgets with the awful ones only seen with toy 
action figures, such as the Neon Talking Super Street Bat-Luge, and replacing John Di Maggio’s blustering baritone Aquaman with Ted McGinley who Bat-Mite believes is the episodic “kiss of death.”
Then Ambush Bug (Henry Winkler) joins the fun (and yes, Ambush Bug is a real DC character dressed in a green, skin-tight suit with two yellow antennae), 
helping the show “jump the shark” (get the joke?). Ambush Bug runs a short preview of the in-production Beware the Batman CGI series slated for 2013, proving that in a grittier version of Batman there would be no room for Bat-Mite’s juvenile tricks. Bat-Mite slowly fades away as Batman and his many co-stars stand on stage waving good-bye.
After 65 episodes, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is mercifully over. It’s rare for cartoons to have finales, but Batman: The Brave and the Bold has never been a conventional series. With its emphasis on simple action and humor, featuring some of the more obscure heroes in the DC inventory, it was not afraid to dismantle the invisible fourth wall in its final minutes. Love it or hate it, this is a series that will not be duplicated.
Posted in Animation, Comics, TV
Tagged Ambush Bug, animation, Bat-Mite, Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, comics, DC, superheroes, TV
Two more books in “The Edge” group of DC’s New 52:
Deathstroke
Marv Wolfman and George Pérez created Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke, as the primary adversary of the Teen Titans back in the early 1980s. Although featured in a number of comics since then, Deathstroke has become somewhat overshadowed by Marvel’s mercenary Deadpool. This new series apparently aims to bring back Deathstroke’s status as the premier metahuman mercenary in the comic book world.
To a large extent, I think that writer Kyle Higgens and artists Joe Bennett and Art Thibert were successful in the first issue by establishing Deathstroke as a wholly unredemptive villain who is nevertheless an engaging protagonist. However, can they meet the challenge of keeping up interest in a sadistic monster like Deathstroke over the long haul?
Deathstroke’s brutality is shown in the first couple of pages, with a double-page splash panel that is literally splashed with bloody decapitations. The rest of the story involves Deathstroke being forced to team up with a trio of mercenary wannabes who variously call themselves the Alpha Dawgs and the Harm Armory. It’s pretty clear they will end up as red shirts; the only question is how. Filled with crosses and double-crosses, the first issue sets up some intriguing mysteries. This could be a book to watch, but I’d wait for the collected trade edition.
Grifter
The improbably named Cole Cash is a former special operations soldier turned con artist extraordinaire. On his way to rendezvous with his partner Gretchen in San Juan after a big score, Cash is accosted in the airplane by what seem to be inhuman creatures in human form that are bent on his capture. Cash eventually wakes up with 17 minutes unaccounted for, the telepathic demons still after him, and his brother, from his former military unit, assigned to make him “go away” for what his superiors perceive as an act of terrorism.
One of the characters from the Wildstorm imprint imported into the DC Universe, Grifter has the potential to bridge the supernatural, military, and espionage genres. Cash is not a traditional superhero—just a guy trying to understand a world that is suddenly out to get him. Depending on how writer Nathan Edmondson handles it, this could be a fun romp—a supernatural version of The Fugitive starring a Sawyer-esque con man. Cafu and Jason Gorder provide a serviceable, but unremarkable style of artwork. The first issue is not enough to really tell how this series is going to evolve, so I would wait for the collected edition before getting too involved with it.
I now start in on the books in “The Edge” group of DC’s New 52. (I should note that I mistakenly put Stormwatch in “The Dark” group; it should be in “The Edge” group.)
Men of War
Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert created Sgt. Frank Rock in 1959. Kubert was especially tied to the character and Our Army at War, drawing it for many years. Rock and his Easy Company were inhabitants of World War II. Attempts to update them to modern times inevitably failed. With the New 52 we are getting Frank’s grandson, Joseph Rock, and a new team in modern-day warfare.
The first issue by writer Ivan Brandon and artist Tom Derenick focuses on how Corporal Rock gets recruited for an elite covert operations team and how he earns a battle promotion to sergeant. It is a gritty and realistic tribute to real soldiers, told in a straightforward manner with clean and detailed artwork. This is the kind of story that would be accessible to anyone. My only criticism is that Superman (well, presumably Superman—the character is in silhouette the whole time) flies in to perform some heroics to help out Rock’s team. I would have preferred this kind of reality-based book to be free of a superhero connection, but I suspect DC isn’t confident enough that this title will sell to a general audience and are including a superhero angle to entice the fanboys to give it a try.
Men of War will also include back-up stories that will feature a rotating series of characters and creators. The first issue presents the first part of a story about a Navy SEAL team on a covert operation. Writer Jonathan Vankin and artist Phil Winslade have produced a tense and exciting scenario that nicely complements the main entry.
Men of War is a well-crafted book that I hope finds an audience.
OMAC
Jack Kirby created OMAC, the One-Man Army Corps, in 1974. Like much of his DC work at the time, it was bombastic and unconventional, and lasted only eight issues. Over the years, though, Kirby’s OMAC has earned a nostalgic following. OMAC has been revived over the years in a number of guises, but nothing compares to Kirby’s version.
DC apparently felt a need for a larger-than-life, brutish transformation-type character in the New 52, and OMAC is it. “Krackling” Keith Giffen and “Daring” Dan DiDio (DC’s Co-Publisher) have written an over-the-top narrative jumble, full of terse exclamations and people smashing things. Giffen’s pencils, as inked by “Sensational” Scott Koblish, faithfully channels Kirby’s bold, angular lines, exaggerated perspectives, and square heads.
If your tastes run to big, rampaging blue guys with a limited vocabulary, OMAC is for you. It’s a throwback to the enthusiastic, freewheeling comics of the Silver and Bronze Ages. Whether this will catch on with readers is a question. It depends on whether readers want a coherent story or one with crazy, manic energy. It worked for the Hulk; it could easily work for the new OMAC.
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