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FRANK MILLER RETURNS TO BATMAN
Entered on: January 6, 2005 4:48 PM by Jackzilla
I just got this e-mail from DC COMICS and had to share the news:  
 
FRANK MILLER AND JIM LEE TAKE ON THE DYNAMIC DUO IN ALL-STAR: BATMAN AND ROBIN  
 
Superstar artist Jim Lee will be joined by legendary writer and Batman visionary Frank Miller on DC's upcoming ALL-STAR: BATMAN AND ROBIN. The series, scheduled to make its debut later this year, marks Miller's first work on the Dark Knight since 2001's acclaimed THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, and Lee's return to Batman following 2002's best-selling "Hush" storyline in BATMAN.

NEWS 250 - 18 Comments
From: Jackzilla Entered on: January 6, 2005 4:50 PM
the e-mail continued...  
 
Superstar artist Jim Lee will be joined by legendary writer and Batman visionary Frank Miller on DC's upcoming ALL-STAR: BATMAN AND ROBIN. The series, scheduled to make its debut later this year, marks Miller's first work on the Dark Knight since 2001's acclaimed THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, and Lee's return to Batman following 2002's best-selling "Hush" storyline in BATMAN.  
 
"If there was one creator I wanted to work with when I was a fan, it would have been Frank Miller," says Lee, "so after this project, I think I'm going to be ready to retire! Seriously, it will be the pinnacle of my career so far, and I can't wait to get started. Frank and I have had a couple of meetings about the story, and it's going to rock!"  
 
Miller says, "This is Dick Grayson's initiation and he's dealing with a very stern teacher. Batman is a hard teacher - unforgiving. Brutal. At the same time, Grayson is watching Batman come into his full power. Me and Jim Lee get to play with all of DC's toys. It'll be a romp. It'll be a lot of fun. I plan on raiding DC's treasury of characters. There won't be a Black Canary or a Wonder Woman unused."  
 
"This is quite an honor and, needless to say, a fairly daunting task that DC has bestowed upon me by handing me the helm of ALL-STARS," says Group Editor Bob Schreck. "Being able to help these incredibly talented creators bring their amazing tales to life on the comics page is going to be one heck of a ride, no doubt. I can't wait until the readers get to see what's in store for them."  
 
"Frank was instrumental in redefining Batman for a new generation, and I, for one, can't wait to see him bring that same level of clarity and interpretation to Dick Grayson and Robin," says Dan DiDio, VP - Executive Editor, DCU. "With the teams now set for the two ALL-STAR books, BATMAN AND ROBIN and SUPERMAN, everyone should agree that they meet the  
expectations set for these series: All Star creators working on iconic versions of our All Star characters - it doesn't get much better than this."  

 
From: Jackzilla Entered on: January 6, 2005 5:00 PM
Speaking of DC, Ross, you gotta check out IDENTITY CRISIS. It was a 7-issue series that just wrapped up last month and WAS SWEET! It's a murder mystery involving most of the DC Universe and shows some dark "behind the scenes" stuff that goes on (like Zatanna fuckin' with villains' memories).  
 
Unfortunately, DC won't be collecting the series into a trade paperback before September, so you have to hunt down the issues to read it (I have various issues at various times, but I can't get from the publisher anymore).  
 
That's it for Zilla's COMIC UPDATE.  
 
Oh yeah, Will Eisner died Monday (87 years old).  

 
From: Ross Entered on: January 6, 2005 5:32 PM
Sounds interesting, and I will definitely read it, but Robin? Never really liked him. Hopefully 'ol Frank will soup him up to my tastes.  
 
By the way, since we crashed yesterday we're missing Serba's post about The Wachowski Brothers making a movie out of V for Vendetta and it will star Natalie Portman! Double Schwing! I loved that comic but I was lamenting that I dont have it in trade paperback form, so if you have one of those laying around, set it aside for me, Jack.
 
From: Jackzilla Entered on: January 7, 2005 12:44 AM
V For Vendetta? Always in stock... :)  
 
I heard something about Miracleman finally getting back into print (both old and new issues). That was a cool title too.
 
From: Ross Entered on: January 12, 2005 4:09 PM
Holy shit!  
 
http://www.superherohype.com/news.php?id=2411
 
From: Ross Entered on: May 9, 2005 10:28 AM
More news on V for Vendetta: Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith) will be playing V. Sweet!
 
From: Ross Entered on: December 17, 2005 11:55 AM
2 trailers out for V for Vendetta. Watch them here:  
 
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/v_for_vendetta/tra
iler/
 
 
I'd heard that this movie was having problems, or wasn't going to be any good, and I know I always say this, but the preview doesn't look half bad. I'll definitely be seeing this one.  
 
But first, I have to find time to see Kong. Can't wait!
 
From: Ross Entered on: March 1, 2006 12:35 PM
First review I've seen for V for Vendetta. They liked it quite a bit (of course this is coming from a comic-oriented site):  
 
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/reviewsnews.php?id=1
3405

 
From: Swerb Entered on: March 2, 2006 7:44 AM
One of my critic buddies saw it last week in Detroit and said it's really good, and that's from a fairly objective, non-comic-geek source. It's also opening on IMAX. I'm excited...
 
From: Swerb Entered on: March 2, 2006 11:26 PM
Speaking of good movies, I saw Dave Chappelle's Block Party, and it's sweet! Bert, I know you're a fan of Chappelle's Show, and it's pretty cool to see him riffing off the cuff. Lots of concert footage of hip-hop artists, too, but it's all pretty inspired stuff for the most part. Just for Chappelle's hilarity, I give it the thumbs!
 
From: Ross Entered on: March 3, 2006 7:45 AM
That's exactly what NPR said this morning about it. Sounds good, then.
 
From: Ross Entered on: March 19, 2006 10:59 AM
Saw V for Vendetta last night - it was pretty good. It was as faithful to the comics as I could expect, I guess, as the comic book version is too long for a 2 hour movie.  
 
The best thing about the movie for me: Hugo Weaving. That guy has a voice that approaches James Earl Jones in terms of power. I thought he did a fantastic job for never being able to use his face.  
 
My main problem with the story isn't so much a problem with the movie itself as the original story: V is so incredibly competent, and his adversaries, for all their scary bluster, so incredibly inept, that the outcome is never in question. That's why I like The Long Run so much - not only do you have a protagonist as potent as V, but you have an antagonist who is just as good. Those are the best stories.  
 
Although the wispy knife scenes were tremendously cool to watch, they are a departure from the way combat was handled in the book, and I prefer the original version to be honest. In it, the violence was much more realistic and matter-of-fact. They talked about how fast V was, but he simply showed up and killed you. I'm not sure the the special effects fit the general tone here so well.  
 
I also didn't particularly like that whole domino scene. I understand what it means, but it just seemed silly.  
 
Anyway, it was enjoyable. Not perfect, but I guess it was about as good as I expected it to be.
 
From: Jackzilla Entered on: March 20, 2006 3:35 PM
Ang & I, Fatagious and The Roche Show all saw V last Friday. Thumbs all around! Angie was pleasantly surprised -- she really enjoyed it. I thought it was sweet. Fats gave it "3 thumbs".
 
From: Swerb Entered on: March 20, 2006 5:41 PM
The biggest difference, I think, between the book and the film is V's mental stability. You get a greater sense of V's insanity in the book, which works to the story's advantage, especially when explaining why he would torture Evey, or wear a mask all the time. The movie made him more human, more vulnerable, I guess to make him more relatable to audiences. V's "song" in the book was probably Alan Moore's strongest and most memorable piece of writing, and I would have liked to have seen it put into the film. Story-wise, I think the end is a bit muddled - it was satisfying seeing Parliament blow up, as well as all the people in V masks gathering en masse - especially compared to the ending in the book, which to me, is perfect, and can't be improved upon.  
 
I agree, Bert, the domino scene was a little too exaggerated, as was ALL those people gathering in Guy Fawkes masks at the end of the movie. By the looks of it, there were hundreds of thousands of them. A wee bit over the top, although it has pretty strong impact, symbolically speaking. That stuff, along with V's sweet knife tactics (although Roger Ebert has a point - his peripheral vision in that mask must be terrible), seems like crowd-pleasing visual indulgences inserted because that's what often happens in Hollywood movies. Not that I'm complaining - I was generally pleased by that stuff, too.  
 
Having said all that, I still think the movie is pretty taut thematically, especially after seeing it a second time. Evey's torture/imprisonment sequence was really powerful, especially when she realizes V was her captor. You know, they made a lot of changes going from book to movie, yet it doesn't seem THAT different, and not always a detriment or improvement - just, I think, updated and more relevant to current political goings-on, which is why I really liked the movie.
 
From: Ross Entered on: March 21, 2006 9:14 AM
Hmm... about the mental stability thing... I kind of agree with the spirit of what you're saying but as usual, I must quibble. Anyone who could pull off the plans of his magnitude can't be too mentally messed up. He clearly knew exactly what he was doing, and indeed could argue convincingly for why he was doing it.  
 
So I'm not sure that it's insanity, per se, that you're talking about. I agree that he's definitely eccentric, maybe even a bit on the nutty side, but I guess it boils down to how insanity is defined.
 
From: BigFatty Entered on: March 21, 2006 9:56 PM
Yep - here is my two cents. LOVED IT! The movie was awesome. I was a bit concerned going in because Rotten Tomatoes had a lot more bad reviews than I expected. I read some of them and compared them to Swerb's article. Some of reviews I questioned if the author *even* had a brain. This movie was made for the times we are in today. It makes you think. I have not enjoyed a movie like this one in a long time.  
 
The whole revolutionary/terrorist debate is always interesting. Its a but more complex, but I like to say it depends on what side of the government you are on. Hell, according to the British, America was built on terrorism.
 
From: Ross Entered on: March 22, 2006 1:17 PM
Is he a terrorist, though? Don't terrorists kill innocents or hold them hostage for political ransom? I don't think V quite qualifies. His targets were all political, never civilian.  
 
He would be an "enemy combatant" to be sure, but I have a hard time calling him a terrorist.
 
From: BigFatty Entered on: March 22, 2006 10:12 PM
I guess in this case, V is not a terrorist. He is going after people that were clearly bad and had wronged him. Real life is not so black and white. Yes terrorist can kill innocents. But with all the proporganda that governments pump out, can the general public really judge for themselves? V shows the extreme - a media that was completely controled by the government. I'd like to think our media is totally free, but sometimes I wonder. They can only report the information they are given. Government can control this to a point - and our government has had strict information control for a while now. Bush's admin has more classified docs than ever before.
 

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