What Happens When Batman: The Animated Series Meets The Dark Knight Rises?

Awesomeness. That’s what.

Over on The Mary Sue, Jill Pantozzi, who you may know as @TheNerdyBird on Twitter, recently shared this video mash up of Batman: The Animated Series and the sound footage of The Dark Knight Rises trailer (via Geek Tyrant):

It’s weird, but I somehow understand Bane better in this version. Maybe because I don’t have to look at the weird face mask/grill thing he wears in the movie:

That's some head gear! You need to look into other orthodontists.

The Dark Knight Rises is set to be released in US theaters on July 20, 2012.

How To Terminate A Terminator In One Easy Step – Rob Liefeld To Take Over Deathstroke At DC

According to Comics Alliance, comics illustrator and mangled foot enthusiast, Rob Liefeld, is set to take over both art and writing duties on Deathstroke from the current team of writer Kyle Higgins and artist Joe Bennett beginning with issue nine. This is a very interesting turn of events, particularly in light of the fact that DC also recently turned the writing of Hawk and Dove over to Liefeld from Sterling Gates (best porn name ever, by the way), a title on which Liefeld already had penciling duties, only to then turn around and cancel the whole damn thing. So, in order to save the title, it was necessary to destroy the title. Apparently.

Seems auspicious for Deathstroke, eh?

But, on the off chance DC decides not to send Slade Wilson off to the great Retirement Home In The Sky For B List Villains, how does Rob Liefeld plan to ruin plot the book that I’ve currently been enjoying for the past five issues?

Look, Ma! Deathstroke! No feet! After the jump.

Dave Dorman Gets Upset Because Of Boobies. It Must Be Opposite Day On The Internet.

1/10/12 Update – Dave Dorman has taken down the post and comments linked to in this article. For now, you can see the cached page with the quote and comments in question here.

Dave Dorman, an artist known for his work on Star Wars and Heavy Metal, took to his blog today to decry the artwork of Fiona Staples published in USA Today to promote her upcoming comic book Saga, which will be written by Brian K. Vaughan. Saga will follow the story of two soldiers from opposite sides of an intergalactic war who fall in love, start a family, and then get pursued by bounty hunters (among other threats).

Here’s the artwork in question:

His beef? After the jump.

It Came From The Past – Revisiting Jamie Delano’s Outlaw Nation

Back in 2000, Jamie Delano, wrote a nineteen issue series for Vertigo called Outlaw Nation with co-creator Goran Sudžuka. In 2006, Image and Desperado Publishing released a 456 page bound edition of the collected issues, printed in black and white. The series is inspired by the idea of “Johnsons”, not a cock euphemism here but, rather:

Derived from a 19th century slang term for hobos and petty thieves, “Johnsons” were characterised by Jack Black in his 1926 autobiography as a society of “yegs” – outlaws and small-time crooks – who were nonetheless honorable in their dealings with one another and always ready to help out those in trouble. Black’s concept of the Johnson Family was inspirational to William S. Burroughs, who developed his own inimitable version in The Place of Dead Roads . . . to Burroughs, a person is either a “Johnson” or a “shit”. – Delano, from the introduction of Outlaw Nation, Collected Edition

“Shits” are lawmakers, “busybodies who persecute those engaged in victimless crime”. The “Johnsons” would see that put to an end.

Delano takes this idea and creates a vast collection of characters in an extended Johnson Family, outlaws and anti-heroes carved from every conceivable American cultural icon from the past 100 years and then some – Old Time Western Law Man, Hippie Chick (Now Older And Wiser), Biker, Saloon Owner, Lost War Veteran and more. They’re all here and all seemingly related.

In a week in which Marvel continues to drag out Fear Itself: The Phantom Menance The Fearless, in which I finally was subjected to saw the Green Lantern movie, and, in which the newly rebooted DC Universe has decided that it’s already so bored with itself that it needs to begin crossovers among its books to try and keep its readers interested and buying them, it’s safe to say that this five year old graphic novel was far more interesting than anything else that was in my pull pile or other viewing this week.

More, with spoilers, after the jump.

Brain Bleach: Marvel Legal Department Edition

Look out! Next he'll be after your wimmenz!

Sherry Singer and Indie Sing were the two international trade lawyers working for Marvel Comics in the ’90s (and they were ladies, we feel obligated to mention by the mandate of the site), who took a look at the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, a book full of customs regulations, and realized that “dolls” were taxed 12% on import, while “toys” were taxed only 6.8%. The difference between the two was that a doll “represented only a human being,” while “toys” were ”monsters, robots, angels, basically anything that isn’t “only representing a human.” Probably, at some point in the past, some American doll manufacturer had felt threatened by overseas competition, and had lobbied the government to put a tax on imported dolls.

There’s also a link at The Mary Sue to a podcast that explains how the case turned out, so click on over there to find out the resolution.

Come For The Hex; Stay For The Ghost – Review Of All Star Western #4

When Rob reviewed All Star Western #1 back in October, his summation that the book was neither “all star” nor “western”, beyond the fact that it includes the character of Jonah Hex, was pretty accurate, even despite the entire fifth of Jack Daniels I personally watched him put down his head shortly before he wrote that review. The man is a fucking machine, I tell you. However, what Rob may have overlooked is that All Star Western is not just about the saga of Jonah Hex as some kind of ass kicking fish out of water in an 1800’s Gotham City. The books also have been including an 8 page mini-story in each issue that fleshes out some of the other Western characters in the historical DCU. Issues #1-3 followed a neat little arc centering around El Diablo. Issue #4 begins the story of a newly created character called The Barbary Ghost. More on her later. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti seem to be using these issues to tell not only Jonah Hex’s story, but to develop a detailed past history for the DCnU. Maybe All Star History Lesson was a less compelling title than All Star Western? Either way, in an interview with Newsarama, both Gray and Palmiotti express their desire to use All Star Western as a platform to explore the past and plant seeds that will have a bearing on DCU’s future – particularly in the Batman titles:

Jimmy Palmiotti: We are always researching and talking to the editors and other writers of the Batman books to see what’s going on and how we can interact and plant seeds in the past to make the whole picture make more sense. Currently, you’ll be seeing things in All-Star that have everything to do with what’s happening in the Batman titles right now.

Justin Gray: The good thing about it is that we’re working with the idea that Gotham existed long before Batman and it has a rich history to be developed and explored. Like Jimmy said, we’ve been working with Mike Marts and Scott on making sure there are elements from the past that tie directly into Batman’s time.

So, now that we’re four issues in, has this direction positively or negatively affected their stories?

Answers, with spoilers, after the jump!

Neil Gaiman Helps Save Free Speech At The University Of Wisconsin

Brendan Connelly of Bleeding Cool reported yesterday on the case of University of Wisconsin professor James Miller. Miller was targeted by Stout, Wisconsin police chief, Lisa Walter, over his choice to hang a poster of Nathan Fillion, as Firefly‘s Mal Reynolds, outside his office door. This is the poster in question:

More on the police chief’s rationale and how censorship was defeated after the jump.

Quick Hits – Wolverine And The X-Men #3, Green Lantern Corps #4, And Ghost Rider #7

Call this post “The Good, The Bad, and WTF”. Here are some books we’ve talked about before. Let’s check in to see how they’re doing now.

The Good

Wolverine And The X-Men written by Jason Aaron with pencils by Chris Bachalo, Duncan Rouleau and Matteo Scalera wraps up the opening story arc of Wolverine’s first day trying to run a school for young mutants. I enjoyed the first issue. Aaron continues to bring humor to this tale, now up to issue #3. He pens an engaging story that reminds the reader that your typical teen can be an obnoxious handful who believes deeply that they are the hero of not only their own story but everyone else’s. Still, all the kids want to do is fit in somehow, in his or her own way.

More goodness, badness and wtf-ness after the jump…and spoilers.

Batman And Bane Use Their Words

Howdy, folks! Crisis On Infinite Midlives is recovering from an overdose of holiday cheer here in the home office. Did you know that no matter how many times you put a bottle of Poland Springs vodka through a Brita filter…it still tastes like burning death? And if you drink the whole bottle, you’ll find yourself sharing your Christmas wishes with the porcelain god rather than Santa. It’s true!

However, the internetz were still busy compiling awesome geek goodness while I was fetal in the bathroom. Comics Alliance reported that Christopher Nolan doesn’t care if you can’t understand Bane in the new Batman movie.

The filmmaker has acknowledged that the dialogue may be difficult to understand at times, but told Heat Vision earlier this month that the visuals are meant to help carry the load, “Otherwise it’s just a radio play.” An unnamed studio executive elaborated, saying, “Chris wants the audience to catch up and participate rather than push everything at them. He doesn’t dumb things down. You’ve got to pedal faster to keep up.”

In a follow up interview, Nolan was asked, “Well, has anyone come forward and told you that Bane’s voice is awesome and you shouldn’t change a thing?” to which Nolan replied, “Yeah, your mom. While I was doing her in the sound editing room! Boom! Sick burn!”

Ok, that might have been funnier in my head when I thought of it. Stupid Poland Springs vodka.

Here’s something that’s funny though, after the jump.
Really. It’s funny. I promise.

Merry Christmas! I Bring You The Gift Of Cinema (Sort Of)!

Christmas celebrations are in full swing here at the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office today. There’s a good chance you’re probably busy today with holiday related drunkenness celebration yourself! Good for you! However, if you’re not and home alone today, looking for something to take your mind off that fact, I have just the thing to make you feel better about yourself. Go get a beer or twelve and come back. You’ll need it for what I’m about to show you.

Have you guessed our little surprise yet?

Our Christmas present to you, after the jump!