Do we NEED A New Batgirl? The Case For, and Against, Stephanie Brown
It’s sitting beside my outstretched legs right now, propped slightly against the couch cushion. She’s staring at me, from behind her cowl, batarang slightly off the page. Yep, Batgirl is officially staring me down, daring me to write this article. I’ve just finished reading her latest issue, Batgirl #3, and I’m pretty ambivalent about it. Not the issue on its on necessarily, but the concept of this Batgirl. Stephanie Brown, the current wearer of the cowl, started out in the early 1990’s as Spoiler, vigilante daughter of the “super” villain Cluemaster. She’s had a long road from those early days to where she is now, but two questions are begging to be asked; does she deserve to be Batgirl and, perhaps the most important, do we need a Batgirl right now? Read more
Comic Book Previews for September 16th, 2009
Where does the time go? It’s already time for a look at what will be hitting store shelves this week from the producers of your favorite four-color adventures! DC Comics unleashes Blackest Night #3, the next chapter in the saga of Earth’s heroes against the super-powered dead! Can the Green Lanterns and the Justice League begin to figure out what’s causing long-departed friends, family and villains to rise and attack? The newest Batgirl spreads her wings in Batgirl #2 and a showdown in Fawcett City takes place in JSA vs. Kobra #4! Action Comics #881 picks up immediately with the aftermath of Codename: Patriot, and Supergirl finds herself under added pressure. Famed writer J. Michael Straczynski takes helm with issue 27 of The Brave and the Bold, as Batman teams with, wait for it, Dial H for Hero!! Also be sure to check out Batman and Robin #4 and Streets of Gotham #4! Read more
Battle for the Console: Some Good (and not so Good) Batman Video Games
Zipping into stores near you on August 25th is the buzzworthy video game Batman: Arkham Asylum. Playable on the Playstation 3, XBox 360 and Microsoft Windows, the game has received some good early reviews, even though not that many are published yet, and many are praising the new features of the game, such as Batman being able to operate in “predatory” mode, the open exploration available to the player as they roam all over Arkham and the inclusion of villains such as Mr. Zsasz and heroes like Oracle.
While this is certainly not the first, and probably not the last, Batman video game to hit our screens, it’s measuring up to be one of the best. With that, it’s time to look back at some other Batman games from over the years, measuring their playability, fun level and overall “battiness” from one to four batarangs! Read more
Comic Book Previews the Week of August 19th, 2009
Another Marvel character hits a milestone issue this week! After joining the 600 club this summer, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Spider-Man will welcome Daredevil into the multiple-hundreds club when Daredevil #500 bows this Wednesday. Lady Bullseye and Kingpin will continue to make Matt Murdock’s life complicated as Ed Brubaker crafts this tale, with another creative team set to pick up after this issue. Joining Luke Cage, the Punisher goes dark with Punisher Noir #1, a tale set in the 1920’s with mobsters aplenty! Look for a very Rogue-centric issue of X-Men Legacy #227, as she struggles with the burden of carrying the mind and power of a god! Read more
Miley Cyrus as Batgirl in Dark Knight Sequel?!?
While this is perhaps one of those items that is best thrown into the “complete rumor” bin, apparently word has spread that teen sensation Miley Cyrus, most known for her breakout stardom as teen singer Hannah Montana, had a “stunning” audition for the role of costumed heroine Batgirl in the next Batman movie, a follow-up to The Dark Knight. Read more
Top Female Costumes From HeroesCon Comic Book Convention
There were a ton of great costumes at the recent HeroesCon comic book convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Here are some or our favorite female costumes from HeroesCon. While the Bruce Wayne version of Batman might be dead, the Bat-ladies live on. First up is Batgirl in a tattered bat skirt, followed by the Catwoman, in the costume popularized by Halle Berry in the Catwoman movie.
It’s a Comic Book Summer! DC Comics Sizzles!
In my previous article I laid out for you eager readers many of the delicious treats that Marvel has in store for the summer. Not to be outdone, DC has several big events and happenings on the not too distant horizon. Just check out this sampling of big storylines and events sure to make you sit up and take notice during the hot summer months!
Total Blackout After giving us a taste of bad things to come in a Free Comic Book Day issue, Green Lantern and its tie-ins will launch the highly anticipated Blackest Night storyline, the follow-up to the smash Sinestro Corps. It’s safe to say that this will be the epic DC event of the year, as the story will cross over into the worlds of heroes such as Superman, Batman and the Teen Titans. Promising visits from recently and long-deceased members of the DCU, Blackest Night is expected to pack quite an emotional punch on members of an already-shaken hero community.
Barbara Gordon, Oracle or Batgirl: Who Will Emerge?
While it’s no secret that DC Comics is planning something with Barbara Gordon, until recently head of the crimefighting Birds of Prey, what that plan exactly is remains a bit of a mystery. The last pages of Birds of Prey’s final issue showed Barbara in an old storehouse, staring up at her old Batgirl costume in a glass case. The back-up feature ends with her staring at that same costume, now lying flat on a bed.
Hmmm…what might this mean?
Any reader who has any knowledge of Birds of Prey knew that Barbara’s role as Batgirl, even though she had “retired”, was forever ended when the Joker shot her in the spine in the one-shot The Killing Joke, part of an attempt to drive Commissioner Gordon insane. It almost worked. After a time of recuperation, she retrained herself into the super-hacker Oracle. She became an often-called upon resource for DC heroes due to her skills, and even proved herself in hand-to-hand combat when the time called for it. One recurring element though for part of the series, mostly after the departure of writer Gail Simone, was Oracle being shown in a state of doubt and regret about her role as Oracle; it became a constant theme during the last several issues, perhaps to set up Oracle: The Cure, DC’s three issue limited series featuring her.
Holy Impact! Why Batman Today Owes TV’s Batman
Quick, how many Batman related projects can you think of in five seconds? Do things such as The Dark Knight Strikes Back, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan’s Batman films and a host of supporting characters come to mind? They are probably just the tip of the iceberg, and in many, perhaps surprising ways, a part of this is due to none other than Adam West.
Not Adam West on his own, but the three season, 120 episode high-camp TV series of the late 1960’s, starring West as the titular Batman. Comics as a whole were about a decade removed from the scare of Dr. Fredric Wertham’s alarmist book about the “dangers” of comic books, Seduction of the Innocent. Batman had slowly devolved over the course of the 1950’s and early 1960’s, mainly due to silly costumes, adventures in sci-fi, outer space and various other machinations, including the odd additions of Batwoman and Bat-Girl as heterosexual supports for the supposedly, according to Wertham, homosexual heroes.
Star-Crossed? Comic Book Characters and Potential Mates
If you’re a busy hero web-slinging across town or a villain who has way too many bombs to place and set off, then finding a date can often take a backseat. Plus the whole dual-identity thing can really be a hard thing to ease into on just the third date. To help alleviate these potential hardships, consider the suggested list of mates, mostly real, some fictional, for various heroes and villains of the comic book universe.
Bruce Wayne and Paris Hilton: Ok, so maybe this one in name only is a bit of a stretch, but consider the beauty of it. Batman: dark avenger of the criminal element. Bruce Wayne: somewhat flippant party-goer with a penchant for casual relationships. What better cover than the ultimate party girl? Paris is quite at home with the rich and powerful, and they don’t come any richer in the DC Universe than Bruce. She loves going out at night and controversy, and his inability to keep those late night date commitments to her can only help to solidify the persona he wants some to believe about him. Who knows! It could work! Both better have a pre-nup however!
