Going Through The DCAU Part Sixteen

And we’re back with those wacky cartoon enthusiasts Tom and Jimmy for more of this feature.

This week, they’re covering the Batman the Animated Series episodes “The Man Who Killed Batman,” “Mudslide,” and “Paging the Crime Doctor”.

Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case Files #51: Danny Chase

Looks like a pre-teen, kinda evil version of Tim Gunn, doesn’t he?  Make it work, Danny.

Creating a credible kid sidekick isn’t an easy task.  The basic concept is always to give the younger readers a character they can personally identify with.  The problems there are legion.  For starters, readers want to be Batman, not Robin.  Furthermore, the sidekick has to have the correct amount of competence.  Too much and the character can outshine the hero and readers don’t like that.  Not enough and the sidekick will need too much constant rescuing.  And then there’s the issue of older writers trying to write “hip” dialogue for a character much younger than themselves, as was the disastrous case of Snapper Carr when he first arrived on the scene as the Justice League’s sidekick.

Good sidekicks and younger characters can be done.  But for every successful Robin, there’s probably three or four (at least) Danny Chases.

Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case File #31: The Huntress

Offhand, I could not tell you which Huntress is in this picture.

Superheroes, for the most part, don’t age.  Marvel and DC have their superhero universes set in some sort of sliding scale timeline, where almost everything that’s happened since the superhero line was created somehow only occurred over a ten to twelve year period.  That means that even though there are Fantastic Four comics depicting Reed Richards and Ben Grimm in the trenches of World War II, today neither of those gentlemen are that old.  Aside from a handful of World War II era heroes and villains who have managed to stay active and keep their ties to the war (Captain America, the original Justice Society), or even the rarer other type (Frank Castle is a Vietnam vet), heroes are pulled from eras they existed in to avoid explaining how Batman swings through the streets of Gotham without a walker.

But there are ways to allow heroes to age, and one of them DC used to have was Earth-2.  Originally the home of the Justice Society of America, Earth-2 was the place where the Golden Age heroes did their thing.  And while none of them quite reached the state we’d consider “elderly,” some of them did marry and have children.  One of them was the Earth-2 Batman, and he had a daughter, and oh man, is this one messed up history.

Going Through The DCAU Part Ten

Once more, Jimmy and Tom are continuing their rewatch of the DCAU.

This week, we’re covering the Batman the Animated Series episodes “The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy,” the two-part “Robin’s Reckoning,” and “The Laughing Fish”.

Going Through The DCAU Part Eight

Continuing Jimmy and Tom’s rewatch of the DCAU.

This week, we cover the Batman the Animated Series episodes “The Clock King,” “Appointment in Crime Alley,” and “Mad as a Hatter”.

Going Through The DCAU Part Seven

 

Continuing Tom and Jimmy’s rewatch of the DCAU.

This week, we’re covering the Batman:  The Animated Series episodes “Joker’s Favor,” “Vendetta,” and “Fear of Victory”.

The New Batman: A (Mostly) Spoiler Free First Impression Of Batman #41

While DC Free Comic Book Day offering Divergence actually gave us our first taste of the new Batman, this weeks Batman #41 gives us the first full blown appearance.  As I’ve mentioned on the site and in the Gabbing Geek editorial meetings, I’m very skeptical about the direction that DC is headed.  I don’t care how much you want to try to humanize him, putting Superman in a t-shirt and jeans is just dumb.  Granted, some might be fine with that, or the new “Canon over continuity” approach DC is taking with their books.  But I’ve mostly heard negative press about the new Robobat, Chappie-bat, Batman.

I’ll admit, if it wasn’t for writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, Batman would be another in a long list of DC books that I won’t be picking up post-Convergence.  But the duo has been rocking since the New 52 launched.  And Snyder has been one of my favorite writers since his excellent “Black Mirror” run on Detective Comics just prior to the New 52.  It features Dick Grayson as Batman and is well worth tracking down the trade paperback.

But back to this issue, after the break, my initial thoughts on this new approach to my second favorite character ever.  (Very minor spoilers inside.)

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Convergence: Week Five Part One

I’m back baby!  (Editor’s Note: Jimmy, you used that two posts ago.)  As Convergence continues its trek towards being the most forgettable crossover event ever.  The tie ins are not bad, but seem to have little to no bearing on the main book and vice versa.  If you like a particular DC character from a particular era, pick up those books.  Otherwise, just pick up the main mini-series, which may be of interest.

Be sure to catch up on all the Convergence happenings with coverage of:

Week One: Part One, Part Two
Week Two: Part One, Part Two
Week Three:Part One, Part Two
Week Four:Part One, Part Two

Read on for Week Five spoilers after break for Convergence #5, Convergence Batman And Robin #2, Convergence Superman #2, Convergence Nightwing Oracle #2, Convergence Batgirl #2, and Convergence Harley Quinn #2.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Convergence: Week Two Part One

Convergence #2

Welcome to Convergence Week 2.  If you read my coverage of week 1 of Convergence you saw that my Pre-Flashpoint DCU knowledge was nothing impressive.  Thanks to Tom Kelly for filling in some knowledge gaps and for an extensive comment on the Extremists of Angor.

Hopefully this week is a little more in my wheel house as the main combantants are Metroplis from the pre-Zero Hour universe and the world of Kingdom Come.  It’s been awhile but I have read Kingdom Come, and pre-Zero Hour would be right around the time I was actually collecting some DC books with the Death of Superman and Knightfall.  One of the side universes in the spotlight this week is the San Diego of Jim Lee’s Wildstorm universe, from which I read a handful of books back in it’s Image Comics days.  So things are looking up, time will tell.

Be sure to catch up on all the Convergence happenings with coverage of Week One: Part 1, Part 2

Read on for spoilers after break for Convergence #2, Batman Shadow Of The Bat #1, Supergirl Matrix #1, Green Lantern/Parallax #1, and Superboy #1.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Convergence: Week One Part One

Convergence #1

Let the multiversal insanity begin.  Spoilers after the break for Convergence #1, Batman and Robin #1, Nightwing Oracle #1, Batgirl #1 and Speed Force #1.