Batman

Michael Caine distinctly remembers the morning Christopher Nolan turned up at his English country home with a screenplay for the two-time Oscar-winning actor to read. “My instant thought was, I’m going to be in one of these wonderful little dramas, murder thrillers. I’d love that,” Caine recalled during an interview late last week. The screenplay, of course, wasn’t for a film like Nolan’s time-bending indie “Memento” or his crime drama “Insomnia.” It was for 2005′s “Batman Begins,” which ultimately would include some of the same hallmarks as those moody, evocative thrillers — precision, tension, mystery — the signature qualities that would carry forward into “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” the last of which comes to DVD and Blu-ray this week. “I thought to myself, I’m a bit old for Batman,” Caine said. “So, I said, ‘Who am […]

Bruce Wayne must be deaf. Seconds into a ride in the hulking Batmobile from Christopher Nolan’s Gotham City trilogy – holy earplugs, Batman! – this thing is loud, even at 30 mph. It gets a lot louder. “It’s geared for 110, and we took them there,” says Andy Smith, the man who built the Tumbler, during a recent ridealong. “You couldn’t do it without earplugs and a full-face helmet.” One of several Batmobiles used in “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” the Tumbler’s late November trip with a journalist through the streets of Sylmar was among its last runs before the beast was boxed up and shipped to L.A. Live. There, it joined another Tumbler and other Batmobiles from previous films, along with the original modified Lincoln Futura from the Adam West TV series, as part of a […]

Batman and Robin are facing a ravenous new enemy in the pages of comics — a horde of flesh-eating zombies. Or so it seems to the citizens of Gotham in a new “Batman and Robin” storyline by Peter J. Tomasi. Hero Complex readers get a sneak peek at “Batman and Robin” No 14., in stores Wednesday, the second installment in the story. In issue. No. 13., a solar eclipse ignited a feeding frenzy among a group of cultists called the Saturn Club. Batman was summoned to investigate an attack at a cemetery in which the victims were chewed on and several graves were opened, seemingly from the inside. Meanwhile, Damian Wayne — Bruce Wayne’s son and latest crime-fighting sidekick Robin — was overcome by bloody-mouthed cultists chanting, “Eat to live!” Issue No. 14 picks up where No. 13 left off — […]

“Batman, Incorporated” No. 4, which features the talents of acclaimed Scottish comic writer Grant Morrison and slickly drawn panels by artist Chris Burnham, arrives in stores Wednesday. In the series, Bruce Wayne heads up a global corporation devoted to taking Batman’s crime-fighting operations worldwide; he’s aided by a team of vigilantes including Robin, Red Robin and Black Bat. The previous issue — “Batman, Incorporated” No. 3 — was postponed this summer in the wake of the shootings that took place during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo. The issue re-introduced the character “Matches” Malone, a gangster and arsonist, and a few scenes in the story were “too close for comfort,” Burnham said at the time in a series of tweets. Hero Complex readers can get a first look at “Batman, Inc.” No. 4. Click through the […]

The Joker is wreaking havoc in his first major story line since DC’s relaunch, and “Batman” writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo have horrifying plans for Gotham’s most twisted villain. “Batman” No. 13, the first installment in the new “Death of the Family” arc, is out today, revealing the smiling psychopath as a calculating villain who has been quietly plotting revenge on the Caped Crusader and his closest allies for a year. The story will cross over into multiple Bat-family series, including “Catwoman,” “Batgirl,” “Nightwing” and “Red Hood & the Outlaws.” The first issue includes several nods to “A Death in the Family,” the infamous 1988-89 story line in which readers voted to kill off the new Robin, Jason Todd, and the Joker beat him to death with a crowbar. Hero Complex caught up with Snyder and Capullo to […]

“Batman Live” kicked off its Los Angeles run last night, bringing Gotham’s heroes and villains to the Staples Center for a stunt-filled arena show that runs through the weekend. The production, which began in Manchester, England, last year and toured the United Kingdom, Europe and South America, features elaborate sets including a 105-foot bat-shaped LED video wall, pyrotechnics and fight scenes, performed by a cast of 43 actors and acrobats. The story follows the meeting and teaming up of billionaire Bruce Wayne and circus performer Dick Grayson (who becomes Robin), who are up against all of the Arkham Asylum regulars: Catwoman, the Joker, Harley Quinn, the Penguin, Poison Ivy and the Riddler, Two-Face and Scarecrow. Scottish actor Sam Heughan, whose previous credits include roles in British television, plays Bruce Wayne and his caped alter-ego Batman. Hero Complex caught up with […]

For comic book fans of the 1960s and 1970s, the name Neal Adams was an especially electrifying signature to see on a cover — there was no artist in the era that was more distinctive or dynamic than the man who brought an especially evocative commercial art sensibility to Batman, Green Lantern and the X-Men. For the newest episode of “Hero Complex: The Show,” we talked to Adams about some of his most memorable covers and the unpredictable art of superhero iconography. The interview, the first of two parts, was conducted on the floor of Comic-Con International in San Diego – it was on the convention’s second day in the hour before the show opened, in case you were wondering why the crowd was so thin. – Geoff Boucher RECENT AND RELATED Women in comics and the tricky art of equality Joe Kubert, the good soldier […]

Tim Burton has watched plenty of world-class actors while directing 15 feature films, but he sensed there was “something really special happening” when Michelle Pfeiffer played the practically purr-fect Catwoman in “Batman Returns,” which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer. “I don’t really go back and look at the movies but her performance in that was one of my favorite performances of anything by anyone in any movie that I’ve worked on,” Burton said recently. “It was just the best. Really, I’ll never forget her in that.” “Batman Returns, ” released in June 1992, is one of the seven films in the Warner Bros. Home Video collection “The Tim Burton Blu-ray Collection,” which arrives on store shelves Sept. 11 (but is already on sale at Amazon.com through a special exclusive arrangement). The film is also a timely one to revisit with […]

The most famous supervillain in comic book history — the Joker –  returns to the pages of “Batman” in a big way later this year, DC Comics has announced on its website. The new story, “Death of the Family,” which begins in October with issue No. 13 of “Batman,” was planned long before the movie-theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. The timing of the Joker’s return to the pages of the bestselling DC comic may discomfit some in the wake of the shooting during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” Suspect James E. Holmes reportedly referred to himself as the Joker during questioning by police. Representatives of DC Comics did not respond to questions about the timing of the Joker’s return to the Batman story line. DC Comics has more or less kept the Joker on a shelf in recent […]

DC Entertainment has asked retailers to delay the release of its comic book “Batman Inc.” No. 3 due to sensitivities in the wake of the Colorado movie-theater shooting. The company behind Superman, Wonder Woman and “Watchmen” sent a letter to retailers Monday requesting that they withhold the issue, which has already been printed and shipped with a scheduled Wednesday shelf date. “Out of respect for the victims and families in Aurora, Colorado, DC Entertainment has made the decision to postpone the release of ‘Batman Inc.’ No. 3 for one month because the comic contains content that may be perceived as insensitive in light of recent events,” the letter stated. “We request that retailers do not make this issue available as previously solicited.  Its new on sale date is August 22, 2012.  Please contact the DC Entertainment sales team if you […]