Batman

Batman – The Last Laugh

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman: The Animated Series – The Last Laugh
  • wiki: link

Batman - The Last Laugh

In honor of Batman‘s 75th Anniversary we turn out attention back to the Dark Knight’s more memorable moments on the big and small screen with another episode from Batman: The Animated Series. Drawing on both the mix of a classic comic story and the set-up of the climax of Tim Burton’s Batman, “The Last Laugh” brings the Joker (Mark Hamill) back to Gotham on April Fools’ Day to gas the entire populace using an innocuous-looking garbage scow which allows the villain a free run at mischief, mayhem, and robbery.

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Robin Rises: Omega

/ / Comics

Robin Rises: OmegaHow much you like Grant Morrison and his work on Batman over the past few years will certainly temper your response to Robin Rises: Omega #1 which launches the storyline which will likely bring Damian Wayne back from the dead and re-install him as Robin once more. Much like Morrison’s own work, Robin Rises: Omega #1 is overly-complicated, clunky, and unnecessary long winded (can’t they just throw the kid in a Lazarus Pit and be done?).

The $5 comic features an extended highlight reel of Damian’s story up to this point which leads more than a little like writer Peter J. Tomasi’s Morrison fan boy wanking. With a fifth of the comic taken up with the prologue, the story finally offers us into the main conflict by introducing Glorious Godfrey and Apokolips into the question coming between the conflicted sides of Batman and Ra’s al Ghul‘s forces. Stealing Damian’s body for a magic crystal hidden inside (because why?), Batman looses the villains when the Justice League shows up (unnecessarily) and forces them to flee back to Apokilips – with Damian’s coffin.

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Batman – Pretty Poison

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman: The Animated Series – Pretty Poison
  • wiki: link

Batman - Pretty Poison

In honor of Batman‘s 75th Anniversary we turn out attention back to the Dark Knight’s more memorable moments on the big and small screen with another episode from Batman: The Animated Series. “Pretty Poison” introduces us not only to Poison Ivy (Diane Pershing) for the first time but also Gotham’s new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Richard Moll) who is dating Pamela Isley at the beginning of the episode unaware of the woman’s true motives. When Harvey is poisoned at dinner by an unusual toxin derived from an extinct rose, Batman (Kevin Conroy) begins taking a closer look at his friend’s main squeeze.

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Batman – Instant Freeze / Rats Like Cheese

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman – Instant Freeze / Rats Like Cheese
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

Batman - Rats Like Cheese

In honor of Batman‘s 75th Anniversary we continue to look back at the more memorable moments on the big and small screen. The seventh and eighth episodes of 1966 Batman TV-series starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin introduced Mr. Freeze (George Sanders) for the first time. Te show used the classic origin of the criminal scientist Mr. Zero (whose renaming here stuck in comics as well) as an evil scientist whose lab accident caused the cold-blooded scientist to need to wear a cryogenic suit in order to survive. In a twist, the show made Batman responsible for the accident (at least in Freeze’s mind). As with the Arnold Schwarzenegger version of the character in Batman & Robin, this version is also obsessed with stealing diamonds.

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Smallville Season Eleven: Lantern #4

/ / Comics

Smallville Season Eleven: Lantern #4Wrapping up the latest mini-series, Smallville Season Eleven: Lantern #4 features Green Arrow getting a measure of revenge against Prometheus and Superman calling on the help of Chloe and Tess to reboot the yellow rings and stop Parallax and his new army of brainwashed Yellow Lanterns who include John Stewart.

The final issue wraps up the various threads of the mini-series, although it does have to rely on a giant space whale fighting a giant space worm which began to make my eyes glaze over (as it did when Geoff Johns introduced the various space entities in charge of the color spectrum). Despite being impaled by a yellow-ring construct Superman comes out unharmed, and with the reboot of both Yellow and Green Lanterns rings he also says farewell to the responsibility of being a member of the Corps. Although Lex doesn’t actually get his hand on a ring he does learn the valuable lesson on the usefulness of allies which means we may see a legion or secret society in Smallville’s not-too-distant future. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

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