The Dark Knight Prologue/Teaser With IMAX I Am Legend?

Just a quickie, and it’s pretty much like the title says – John Serba’s Project Mayhem blog is reporting a rumor that there will be a seven-minute Dark Knight prologue shown with the IMAX version of the Will Smith-fueled remake of I am Legend

Serba’s source says that the clip is not a traditional trailer and will be Joker-centric, like most of the promotions have been so far. And as it should be.

I was already planning on checking out Legend, but now it looks like I’ll have to find an IMAX theater around here somewhere. Somehow I don’t think that will be a problem in the land of The Mouse.

Posted in Batman, DC, Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Batman Is Going Nowhere

Batman: Under the Red Hood

Batman: Under the Red Hood (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve read the latest Batman rumor on Rich Johnston‘s Lying In The Gutters column, on Fortress of Fortitude (Both blogs/columns I trust pretty much completely), and several other places that I can’t remember.

For those who haven’t heard, the rumor is :

In June/July, DC are killing off Batman. Or rather, Bruce Wayne. Robin will inherit the Batman cowl. One of the Robins anyway. Tim Drake. Jason Todd. Or possibly Red Hood. Hey, maybe Jean-Paul Valley, it has been ten years since Azrael.

Either way, the book will relaunch with a nice shiny #1.

The blinking yellow light at Lying in the Gutters indicates their skepticism, The Fortress of Solitude outright states their skepticism, and I’m skeptic as hell.

I just can’t bring myself to believe that DC would be stupid enough to kill off one of their marquee characters at roughly the same time that a major motion picture focusing on that marquee character is being released. It just does not make any sense.

The only thing that even remotely makes sense is that they’re positioning a new Batman for the JLA movie, since Christian Bale will not be in that movie’s cast.

That would still be incredibly stupid, though.

Comic fans, what say ye?

Posted in Batman, DC | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

An Update in the Gordon Lee Case

English: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund tab...

English: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund table at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan. Photographed by Luigi Novi. This photo may only be used if the photographer is properly credited. (See Licensing information below.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In an update to the Gordon Lee case that I wrote about earlier today, the Rome News-Tribune reports that the District Attorney’s office plans to retry the case:

“We hope to get this on the next available misdemeanor trial calendar,” said District Attorney Leigh Patterson. “I don’t know exactly when that is, but I gather it’ll be after the first of the year.”

Just how many “do overs” does the prosecution get?

Posted in Comic Books | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Joker’s Dark Knight Debut and Boss Maroni/Two-Face – Spoilers Ahoy

The Joker, after emerging from the canal of ch...

The Joker, after emerging from the canal of chemical-waste from Batman: The Killing Joke. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kellvin Chavez of LatinoReview.com has a scoop on the Joker’s first scene in The Dark Knight, apparently from having “dinner with an executive high up on the Warner Bros. food chain.”

According to Chavez and his anonymous source, Joker will rob the bank holding all the Gotham City underworld types’ money, holding the money “for ransom”. Joker tells all the crooks that if they help him take down Batman, he’ll give the money back. If they refuse, he’ll burn the money. This is where Joker gets his army to go against Batman.

There is speculation, unconfirmed by this anonymous source, that this is also where Joker utters the line “Starting tonight, people will die. I’m a man of my word.” heard in the teaser trailer seen here:

In other The Dark Knight news, Batz over at the Super Hero Hype forums has scanned an excerpt of Eric Roberts‘ (Boss Maroni) interview with FHM magazine wherein he discusses his character’s role in creating Two-Face and ultimate fate. Click here for the post.

Posted in Batman, DC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Prosecution Misconduct In Gordon Lee Case Results in Mistrial

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund booth at Won...

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund booth at WonderCon 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For a history of comic store owner Gordon Lee‘s case as well as some context to the prosecution’s misconduct, you can view the CBLDF’s summary here.

What follows is the official press release from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF):

The case against Gordon Lee took another in an ongoing series of bizarre turns this afternoon when statements made by State prosecutor John Tully during opening arguments led to a mistrial.

Lee and his legal team, paid for by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, appeared in court this morning for jury selection and returned in the afternoon to begin the actual trial. Before the jury was brought in to begin the trial, lead counsel Alan Begner argued an oral motion in limine asking the judge to instruct prosecutors that they could not admit statements from their witnesses alluding to Lee’s character and previous legal actions Lee has been party to. Prosecutors assured the court that they had instructed their witnesses not to address Lee’s previous conviction for selling adult comics to an adult. Then during opening statements in front of the jury, prosecutor Tully said witnesses will testify that Gordon was defensive and that Gordon had told police, “I’ve been through this before,” a clear reversal of his earlier statement to the judge that prosecutors would not be entering such statements into the record.

When Tully made his statement, defense counsel stared at each other in disbelief before Begner leapt up to demand a mistrial. Judge Larry Salmon put his head in his hands and called a 15 minute recess.

Upon returning to the courtroom, as a result of Tully’s statement, Salmon declared a mistrial, because the statements alluding to the prior incident contaminated the jury beyond repair for a fair trial.

“This is a victory, but we wish it was over,” said CBLDF lead counsel Alan Begner. “We believe that prosecutors induced this mistrial on purpose, because we had a jury that looked more defense oriented. We’re prepared to quickly file a motion to argue that no new trial should be scheduled because this mistrial was intentional and constitutes prosecutorial misconduct.”

Begner adds, “Time and again we’ve been here and have been told to go home because of the prosecutors’ actions. Meanwhile, it’s Gordon who suffers. It’s been three years since this case began, and for three years Gordon has had this hanging over his head. Today his good name is still not cleared.”

Lee’s trial comes after three years of legal action arising from the Halloween 2004 distribution of Alternative Comics #2, a Free Comic Book Day sampler which featured an excerpt from the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Salon that depicted Pablo Picasso in the nude, and was allegedly handed to a minor. The CBLDF has spent over $80,000 on Lee’s defense since taking the case in early 2005, and expects costs to reach six figures by the end of the trial. The case has been ready for trial three times – the first, in April of 2006, when prosecutors dismissed and re-filed the charges because their facts were wrong; the second last August when the judge’s illness led to a rescheduling; and today when statements made by the prosecutor led to a mistrial. To date the Fund has spent over $80,000 on the defense.

“Never in the Fund’s history have we seen prosecutorial conduct of this nature,” says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “We’re dumbfounded by prosecutors assuring the court that they weren’t going to do something, and then doing exactly that thing five minutes later. Every step of the way they have been adding further expense to Lee’s defense, first by changing their facts, then by entering new indictment after new indictment, and today by contaminating the jury. Nobody, especially a small retailer, can bear this kind of expense on their own. Today’s action is clear evidence of why the Fund needs to be around to protect comics.”

The next step for the case is uncertain, but could see trial again in 2008.

And thus you have the reason that the CBLDF exists.

Join now, Donate often.

Posted in Miscellany | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why I Back The Hulk

I suck.

I had an amazing review of Powers #26 written up.  I had a nice breakdown about the story so far, why it was necessary to have a recap because of the months between issues, and all that.

I was smart, witty, concise… I was awesome, people.

And then I somehow deleted it.

Then I cried.

Then I decided I lack the energy to do it again.

hulk smashSo now you just get my argument for why Hulk is totally justified in killing the entire Illuminati.  I hope you’ll survive the disappointment.

Iron Man and his cronies decided that, through accidents and collateral damage, Hulk has caused too many deaths.  They trick Hulk into getting into a spacecraft and then sending him, against his will, to another planet.

Transporting a person against their will is known as kidnapping, by the way.

When the Hulk arrives on the –  wrong – planet, he is beaten, enslaved, and forced to engage in fights to the death.  Through skill, cunning, and exemplary leadership,  Hulk escapes his slavery and leads an army of former slaves to overthrow a tyrannical dictatorship and unite an entire planet in peace.

Hulk has finally attained the peace he has sought his entire existence.

And then…

AND THEN…

The ship the Illuminati used to abduct Hulk explodes. Not only Hulk’s  wife and unborn child, not only every resident in the surrounding city, but the entire. Planet

Dies.

Let me repeat that. They didn’t blow up a town the size of… I don’t know, let’s say Stamford, CT.

They ANNHILATED AN ENTIRE PLANET!

Hulk may have caused a lot of deaths, but he never destroyed an entire planet. I can’t think of any super-villains that have done that, besides Galactus or Darkseid.

That’s not mass genocide, people.  There’s not even a word for the scale of  massacre for which Tony Stark is responsible.

Considering what the Illuminati did to the Hulk because of the deaths he caused, considering the regulations that have been put on the entire superhuman community as a result of Stamford, is it even possible to go “too far” to punish the people who have done this to Hulk and his people?

Some will argue that the Illuminati didn’t intend for Hulk to end up on that planet or for the ship to blow up.

Hulk never intended anyone to die because of him, either.

Robbie Baldwin and the New Warriors didn’t intend for the children in Stamford to die.

In fact, let me give you a scenario here.  A bank robber is leaving the scene of a crime and hits a woman and her baby, killing both.  Is that bank robber responsible for those deaths?  I think we’d all agree that he is.

So why would the Illuminati be any less responsible for the deaths caused by their kidnapping of Hulk?

They’re not.

Hulk may be unreasonable, he may even be a monster, but he admits that.

Tony Stark is an even bigger monster who tries to hide behind “The Public Good.”

Just another Lex Luthor who needs a beat down.

Posted in Comic Books, Hulk, Marvel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Image Confuses Me…

who is red hulkI’d heard that the Hulk was going to turn red, but I’d never heard any speculation that it was going to be someone else turning into the Hulk. I’d always assumed that something would happen to Bruce Banner (Is it telling of my generation that I had to pause and make sure I didn’t type “David Banner“?) to make him turn into a red, bulkier, more rage-fueled Hulk.

That idea is lame enough, but if they’re going to make it a new person too, that’s double lame.

On the bright side, that will probably give me another comic to drop, since this “One More Day” crap is shaping up to be the worst idea in the history of Spidey, even taking into account the Clone Saga and the six arms and alllllllllll that shit.

So, with One More Day ruining Spider-Man, if they ever get the last two issues out, and this Red Hulk crap looking to ruin Hulk, I’ll be saving money.

Thanks Quesada, I guess.

Posted in Hulk, Marvel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments