I find these superhero toy parodies of the PC/Mac commercials fairly odd yet engrossing. It started as a Marvel vs. DC Comics thing. It’s a tiny internet meme, but one who’s appeal seems tapped into a very dry geeky humor. We’re talkin’ champagne dry here.
So Hellboy’s been added to the mix, except he’s with Dark Horse Comics (Milwaukie, OR!). It would have been nice if they made a Hancock toy and he could have shown up all drunk and then it would have featured every superhero from this summer, excluding Wall-E of course. Maybe the creators of this could work on that.
Vermont’s senior Senator Patrick Leahy was so enamored with Batman as a child, that he’s turned his love into a mini side-career. The 68-year-old six-term senator has gone from a non-speaking role in 1997’s Batman and Robin, writing introductions for various comic serials, voice work in animated renditions of the character, to a full-blown speaking role in The Dark Knight.
“We tried it two different ways — one was authoritative, the other one was with a lot of fear in my voice,” Mr. Leahy said, of his speaking role. His scene is one where he confronts Heath Ledger’s Joker at a fancy dinner.
The senator donates all of his Batman proceeds to the children’s wing of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier.
Batman became his favorite superhero because “he has no superpowers,” Mr. Leahy said. “He had to use his own brains and his own knowledge. He could have had an entirely different life. As a billionaire, he could have done anything.”
You can watch the scene here. Sen. Leahy is at the end, the one who stands up and says, “We’re not intimidated by thugs.”
By James Furbush | February 18th, 2008 | 11:48 am PST
DC Comics has decided to bridge the gap between Batman Begins and this summer’s follow-up The Dark Knight with a direct-to-DVD anime styled Batman adventure.
The Gotham Knightwill follow six intertwining Batman adventures (from six different writers and animators). Among those writers participating are David Goyer (Batman Begins), Josh Olson (A History of Violence), Greg Rucka (Gotham Central), Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets), Jordan Goldberg (The Prestige), Alan Burnett (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm); with the whole shegang overseen by director Bruce Timm. Timm, who may recall, was responsible for what is revered as the purest incarnation of the Batman character ever - Batman The Animated Series. [opening segment]
The promo below really plays up Batman’s detective roots, which has been sorely lacking in all of the bigscreen adaptations of the character. However, it still makes it a point to indulge in the infamous rogues gallery. Christian Bale will be voicing this animated character.
Difficult to tell from the promo what the stories will be or if they’ll be any good, but the animation looks very cool. I’d actually be in favor of doing a bloody and violent cartoon rendition of Batman with this style of animation.
The animation for this series is being handled by three of Japan’s most popular animation production houses, which will create different looks for each short. These three companies are Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire), Madhouse (Metropolis, Paprika, Vampire Hunter D), and Studio 4°C (Mind Game, Tekkon Kinkreet, The Animatrix).
The DVD will come out sometime close to the July 18 release of The Dark Knight, but you can look forward to more info on February 26 when DC’s latest animated project Justice League: The New Frontier hits stores. It contains a sneak peek featurette on Gotham Knight.
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