Actress/dancer Yvonne Craig has passed away at age 78, following a battle with breast cancer. Her official site has her obituary. Of course, she will always be known for playing Batgirl in the Batman TV series, but she was also a dancer (as shown by her role as the Orion slave girl Marta in Star Trek) and a lovely person who made many appearances at conventions over the years. Reading her obituary makes it clear that she lived a very full life.

[Image stolen from The Outhousers]

Two years ago DC celebrated “Man of Steel Day” — great promotion that worked for stores and libraries.

Last year, it was Batman Day, with a stamp and other celebrations during SDCC.

So if you were thinking this year it would be a NEW hero, rounding out the trinity….

SURPRISE! It’s Batman day again! But it’s a great promotion and adds another holiday to the Comics Calendar. Celebrate by brooding and going to a charity ball.

DC Entertainment is bringing back the fan-favorite event celebrating The Dark Knight. “Batman Day” is back by popular demand and will take place on Saturday, September 26, 2015, kicking off what has become an annual event honoring one of the most popular and iconic Super Heroes and celebrating all things Batman from comics to video games and more. Fans everywhere are invited to partake in festivities with thousands of comic book shops, bookstores, schools, libraries and other retail partners participating in the bat-centric event.
 
Those who visit select comic stores, libraries and bookstores on “Batman Day” will also have the opportunity for meet-and-greets with premier DC Entertainment talent including legendary artist and DCE Co-Publisher Jim Lee, Grant Morrison, Scott Snyder, David Finch, Brian Azzarello, Cameron Stewart, Pat Gleason, Dustin Nguyen, Tim Seeley, Tom King, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Parker, Matthew Manning, and Daniel Wallace with many more to be announced.
 
In addition to DC Entertainment, “Batman Day” partners include Warner Bros. Consumer Products with licensees Capstone, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, and DK Publishing, as well as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television, with additional partners to be announced. Partners will provide unique retail and digital promotional tie-ins across multiple media to celebrate the Caped Crusader.
 
The official “Batman Day” event kit will include activity sheets, trivia, and games and will be available for download on http://www.dccomics.com/batmandaykit.

Here’s a real picture of the #Batmobile. http://t.co/47beaZqr6f pic.twitter.com/Ez1ILa8JeE

— ZackSnyder (@ZackSnyder) September 11, 2014

Director Zack Snyder tweeted the new Batmobile from Batman V Superman last night. He lated added a photo credit: Photo Credit @ClayEnos RT: iPhone photography is great but some things deserve more. (Nikon D800 ISO 500 24mm f/11 1/25th sec)

The image cme after a fake batmobile has circulated on the nets earlier in the day.

I’m no expert in Batmnobile design but this one looks like even more of a tank than the one from the Nolan films.

What do y’all think?

Just to prove that the Bat office is going WILD with art, Becky Cloonan posted her Monster variant cover for Batman for October, which will have “Horror” as a variant cover theme. Me likey!

I shot this with my @Leica_Camera M Monochrom. #Batman #Batmobile #Gotham http://t.co/WPHKLxgBLM pic.twitter.com/p5DEf6fLzJ

— ZackSnyder (@ZackSnyder) May 13, 2014

Over on twitter Batman vs Superman director Zack Snyder has helpfully passed along a photo with some lens information to help you get that moody gritty look. Another aid in getting just the right note of rage and vengeance is including Batman and his Batmobile in the shot! So this is our first look at Ben Affleck as Batman and it’s clearly the Dark Knight Batman of Frank Miller with a fat Batman symbol (thanks Jock) and the ears of the Miller years. GIven Znyder’s pre-existing Miller relationshp—he directed 300—this is no big surprise.

Also a bigger older Batman.

What do you think?

I think this statement from the family of Bill FInger, the long uncredited co-creator of most of the Batman mythos speaks for itself. The long memories of comics aren’t just for issue numbers, people.

During a recent WonderCon Anaheim panel for Batman’s 75th anniversary, an audience member asked panelists for opinions about the fact that writer Bill Finger does not get a creator credit alongside Bob Kane, who is credited as the legendary character’s sole creator even though Finger came up with defining qualities for this character before Kane ever signed his first contract to produce the Dark Knight’s adventures. Finger wrote the first Batman story, his tragic origin, and hundreds upon hundreds of comic book stories for more than a quarter of a century. He named both Bruce Wayne and Gotham City, he created Commissioner Gordon, he developed many other supporting characters, he created or co-created one fantastic villain after another, and yet he died broke and relatively unknown more than 40 years ago.

After a moment of silence following the audience member’s question, panelist Brian Buccellato joked, “Crickets.” The panel’s moderator, DC Comics’ Larry Ganem, then said, “We cherish what Bill Finger did and his contribution to creating Batman, and we’re all good with Finger and his family.”
The aforementioned Finger family, which consists only of Bill Finger’s granddaughter and her son, later learned about this exchange and did not agree with Mr. Ganem’s “all good” assessment.

ATHENA FINGER RESPONDS: “75 years of Batman! No one could have predicted the longevity and the continued relevance of this comic book hero that has become a cultural icon when my grandfather, Bill Finger, collaborated with Bob Kane back in 1939.  My grandfather has never been properly credited as the co-creator of Batman although was an open secret in the comic book industry and is widely known now.  It is now my time to come out of the shadows and speak up and end 75 years of exploitation of my grandfather, whose biggest flaw was his inability to defend his extraordinary talent.  Due to what I feel is continued mistreatment of a true artist, I am currently exploring our rights and considering how best to establish the recognition that my grandfather deserves.”

In his autobiography, Bob Kane acknowledged, “Now that my long-time friend and collaborator is gone, I must admit that Bill never received the fame and recognition he deserved. He was an unsung hero.” Regarding the issue of giving Finger official credit, Kane specifically said, “I often tell my wife, if I could go back fifteen years, before he died, I’d like to say, ‘I’ll put your name on it now. You deserve it.’”

This fall, the Warner Bros. television series GOTHAM will feature many Bill Finger creations, including the city itself. Will the series that carries the name he gave to Batman’s city credit him in any way?

Oh no!  Batman’s dastardly diabolical villains have stolen the creator credits from DC’s Batman75 standee display at C2E2 in Chicago!

Can you identify the creator(s) who created each iconic portrait of the Caped Crusader before the show closes on Sunday, guaranteeing each gets the credit they deserve for making Batman such an iconic figure for 75 years?

Extra Credit: “Dark Knight Detective” achievement unlocked if you can identify the issue, story, page, panel where each image originally appeared!

Batman A and Batman B

Batman C and Batman D

Batman E and Batman F

Batman G and Batman H

Batman I and Batman J

DC has announced its latest month of cover variants and the topic is Batman, in honor of his 75th Anniversary. Artists include Kevin Nowlan, Klaus Janson, Jim Steranko, Walt Simonson, Graham Nolan, Cliff Chiang, Sean Murphy, Dave Johnson, Dan Jurgens, Mike Kaluta and more!

Previous variant theme months included Scribblenauts in January, steampunk in February, Robot Chicken in March, and MAD themed covers in honor of Alfred E. Neuman’s Birthday this month. In May it’s Batman ’66 and Bombshell’s in June.

I never see these covers! Where are they!

The first Batman cover for July released was by Jim Steranko, above

Here’s the list of books with Batman covers that aren’t Batman:

ACTION COMICS #33
AQUAMAN #33
BATGIRL #33
BATMAN #33
BATMAN AND ROBIN #33
BATMAN/SUPERMAN #13
BATWOMAN #33
DETECTIVE COMICS #33
EARTH 2 #25
GRAYSON #1
GREEN LANTERN #33
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #33
HARLEY QUINN #8
JUSTICE LEAGUE #33
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #33
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #3
SUPERMAN #33
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #10
TEEN TITANS #1
THE FLASH #33
WONDER WOMAN #33

So, I finally saw THE DARK KNIGHT RISES…yes, yes I know. In my defense, I tried seeing it twice and it was sold out and then I had a hard time finding three spare hours. And also…well, I’m not the biggest fan of the Nolan Batman trilogy. I get why it is so beloved and all, but the filmmaking is often sloppy to my tastes. (The horrible sound editing in DKR being one example.) Anyway, I did enjoy it, even though it was so lax in its storytelling. And I kept getting distracted by things. Like Catwoman’s high heels. As soon as she appeared, I wondered “How is she running in those high heels?” And as if to answer my question, some hapless gunsel asks the same question in the film and Catwoman shows that they are really fearsome weapons. Got it.

However, I was amused to note that whenever an action scene showed Anne Hathaway and/or her stuntwoman doing something with their feet showing (not very often) they were actually wearing more sensible footwear. The same thing happened with Watchmen and Silk Spectre, too. In this regard, I have to give the nod to Gwyneth Paltrow, because in IRON MAN I there is a scene where she is actually running for her life in high heels.

And as if by magic, Sarah Ditum in the Guardian wonders the same thing about Catwoman:

That does not happen, though. Because in fantasy comic book world, it’s not that high heels are universally useful, it’s just that all their hobbling effects have been cancelled out, making it possible for Catwoman to be both sexy and supertough – even though they make you stick your arse and tits out, making you look more vulnerable (but also powerful, if you consider waggling your secondary sexual characteristics to be a power). Look, it’s Batman, it’s just morally complicated.

Also, Bruce somehow absorbs the force of the fall on a hemp rope tied around his waist without sustaining massive internal injuries, not once but twice.

 There’s a lot of the French Revolution in the film: the massive oubliette, built as an inverted panopticon tormenting prisoners with hope, in which Bane discards Batman, paralleling Les’ Misérables‘ Bagne and A Tale of Two Cities’&n

15 Comments on Comic Book Movie Summer ends with The Dark Knight Rises, last added: 8/20/2012

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The Beat said, on 8/20/2012 9:02:00 AM

I doubt it was ever Nolan’s plan to focus the entire third movie on The Joker. No doubt he would have bene in the story though…and if there’s one thing THE DARK KNIGHT RISES needs it’s another complicated character.

Thomas Baumbidell said, on 8/20/2012 9:21:00 AM

Much like INCEPTIOON and TDK, it was a big, dumb action movie masquerading as a heady think-piece.

These movies are stupid as the dickens, but they can be fun, when they’re not being ponderous and overwrought and depressing. Bane was a fun villain and the bat-helicopter was stupidly awesome.

It’s a perfectly good diversion, too long, but with fun moments. Is it a great movie? Of course not. But that’s okay.

RDaggle said, on 8/20/2012 11:37:00 AM

DKR was pretentious as hell. It wanted to get drama and importance from raising questions about money, politics, and class without doing the hard work of figuring out how to integrate the ideas into the story. That’s why the audience is sitting there wondering who to root for.

And nitpicking small things like highheels, etc. — 90 days trapped underground? Those cops looked pretty healthy — means we are bored and uninvolved.

Eat The Babies! said, on 8/20/2012 12:08:00 PM

I am so totally with you on the “who’s side should i be on” thing, though maybe Nolan’s message is “everyone is bad.” If that’s the case, even better.

But wait… is that really the last of the big releases to come? I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess you are right. I am crushed.

Apollo9000 said, on 8/20/2012 1:05:00 PM

My takeaway from the DKR is that it is the most comic booky of Nolan’s Bat films. I found Bane ( and his voice) interesting for number of reasons. I think the character sums up most if not all terrorists- master bs artists. Some people have asked what was the point of trying to blow up Gotham. That was the point- there was none. “Some people just want to watch the world burn” indeed. Another point of interest about Bane is that he pretty much is a Bond villain. Between the Bat films and Inception, it’s clear as day that Nolan would love to make a Bond film.

Some critics complained that there disappointment with the film stems from Bruce and Alfred acting “out of character” by pretty much quitting. To me, that criticism comes off as being a little petty as opposed to raising an eye brow at Bruce’s seemingly superhuman recovery capabilities from a broken back when the prior films looked to ground that aspect of the story.

It’s easy to see how some will think that the film has a bog statement to make in regards to the current economic climate. In truth, only one scene really addresses that – at the Gotham Stock Exchange when the trader says that Bane can’t steal money leading to Bane’s response, “Then why are you here”.

All in all, really interesting film.

MBunge said, on 8/20/2012 1:27:00 PM

“if there’s one thing THE DARK KNIGHT RISES needs it’s another complicated character.”

My point is that if Nolan had Ledger’s Joker to work with, he almost certainly comes up with a different story for the 3rd film.

Mike

What-Ev said, on 8/20/2012 1:45:00 PM

It’s a great movie! Similar to people who believed The Matrix to have been complicated, I think you were not paying attention. I don’t really know the answers, but I’ll offer my take on your issues.

The spine injury–herniated disc, I believe? It’s a serious injury where the spine is out of alignment. To solve this, they used the pull of gravity on the lower half of his body while supporting the upper half to elongate the spine and stretch the undoubtedly tense muscles surrounding the spine. Eventually, it is possible that it could slide back into place. It makes sense as a solution, but I am unsure about the medical accuracy. If I were writing a script, I’d have asked that question of a chiropractor. Maybe Nolan did.

The falls–I don’t think he fell very far. And I don’t think the rope was specifically around his waist. I’m not in the business of complaining about stuff the way bloggers are, so I wasn’t looking. So, I’ll just say that I don’t think he fell very far but it looked that way for dramatic effect…because it’s a movie. It’s called “realistic” not “real.”

The french revolution–why is this a problem? Our actual economic and social environment is starting to mirror the french revolution, so why is it a problem for a movie to do it?

The Bat–this has already been covered by another commenter. It had propulsion and directional propellers. It at least tried to use a practical design unlike the batwing in Burton’s Batman which would never fly.

Who to root for–really? “Rich people” didn’t support orphanages and free energy… Bruce Wayne did. The other rich guy was supporting Bane so he could get richer. It’s not so difficult. You support Batman and Bruce Wayne and by doing so you support the people of Gotham because that’s what Batman and Bruce Wayne do. It sounds like you’re sitting there moaning about a movie that gives realistic complexity to its characters and even its extras when all you want is someone to blow something up. I’d prefer the complexity, thanks. That’s why Dark Knight Rises is the best film of the summer.

complaints of commenters:

“Not to mention that the plot essentially did not advance for months while Batman healed in the middle of the movie. Really? NO ONE ELSE could do anything about the situation except some guy with a spinal injury who was trapped in a deep hole half a world away? REALLY?”

What movie were YOU watching? All kinds of stuff happened! LOTS of people did something about the situation, but they were thwarted…and when Batman did return, he wasn’t the only one that did anything about the situation. He had a shitload of help. He were only the catalyst for the uprising. Haters gonna hate.

Too long?–not long enough.

batsuit protection–it has kevlar plating. you know… the same stuff cops and soldiers use.

missing Joker–He would’ve been the judge, but they used Scarecrow instead. You can’t recast that one. Richard Harris died after the second of a 7 (8!) movie series. Recasting him was unavoidable.

Inception was awesome! Best movie of that summer.

healthy cops–they were being fed or did you miss that part because you were too busy composing complaints in your head? Also, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t 90 days.

and finally…the running in heels–as stated, it happens. It’s even supported by pointing out Gweneth did it, and she’s not a superhero (yet?). I am not supporting the wisdom of clothing your superheroes in impractical outfits (like high heels), but if you’re in them and you have to run, then it certainly is possible as evidenced by the many that have done so. As a writer, there are 1000 justifications for putting Catwoman in heels while being fully

The Beat said, on 8/20/2012 2:08:00 PM

What-Ev: My dislike of running in heels goes back to a wedding a few years back where I had to run in moderate heels to catch the last ferry home. I made it…but I also broke my foot.

Thomas Baumbidell said, on 8/20/2012 2:11:00 PM

It wasn’t complicated because people weren’t paying attention… It made no sense because the script was a mess.

It can still be fun and entertaining, but let’s not kid ourselves that it was anything more than silly schlock. And hey… silly schlock can be awesome!

likefunbutnot said, on 8/20/2012 2:18:00 PM

@What-Ev:

“What movie were YOU watching? All kinds of stuff happened! LOTS of people did something about the situation, but they were thwarted…and when Batman did return, he wasn’t the only one that did anything about the situation. He had a shitload of help. He were only the catalyst for the uprising. Haters gonna hate.”

I was watching a movie where absolutely the only effectual human being in all of the Nolan Universe was stuck in a hole while a bunch of idiots did nothing to impact the situation except suck and die. There’s probably a pretty good movie plot underneath “terrorists hold a major city hostage with a nuke for four months” but that movie wasn’t Dark Knight Rises.

george said, on 8/20/2012 3:58:00 PM

I had a hard time believing the US government would just write off Gotham/New York, and forget about it. It also wasn’t believable that Catwoman would end up with Wayne at the end.

My favorite Nolan movies are ones that don’t involve Batman: Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige, and Inception.

Jimmie Robinson said, on 8/20/2012 4:23:00 PM

For me, the movie was okay. It didn’t raise any bar for me. It did pretty much everything by the numbers. It crossed all the *T*s and dotted all the *i*s, and still I walked away unsatisfied.

For me, (personally speaking because some of the Dark Knight apologists demand that the film is perfect) I think Nolan was trying to ride a fine line of making this a gritty reality style film while making this a superhero film. He wants his cake and eat it, too.

And honestly, it’s not entirely his fault. Batman, who is simply a vigilante in a bat suit has been raised to near-god status. A person who *with enough prep time can beat Galactus*. Look, I don’t mind if Bruce Wayne was beaten with a broken back and came back – I’d expect that of my superhero films. But Nolan wants to paint this in a gritty semi-reality on one side and superhuman on the other. Since I didn’t accept that fine line I was left unsatisfied at the end. Basically, I wasn’t in the tent.

What-Ev said, on 8/20/2012 5:30:00 PM

The Beat

08/20/2012 at 5:08 pm

What-Ev: My dislike of running in heels goes back to a wedding a few years back where I had to run in moderate heels to catch the last ferry home. I made it…but I also broke my foot.

–Ouch. I can’t imagine that doing anything in heels is enjoyable. My girlfriend doesn’t wear them at all.

Thomas Baumbidell

08/20/2012 at 5:11 pm

It wasn’t complicated because people weren’t paying attention… It made no sense because the script was a mess.

–I disagree. Made sense to me.

likefunbutnot

08/20/2012 at 5:18 pm

@What-Ev:

“I was watching a movie where absolutely the only effectual human being in all of the Nolan Universe was stuck in a hole while a bunch of idiots did nothing to impact the situation except suck and die”

–Sounds like a terrible movie. You should’ve watched Dark Knight Rises instead.

george

08/20/2012 at 6:58 pm

I had a hard time believing the US government would just write off Gotham/New York, and forget about it. It also wasn’t believable that Catwoman would end up with Wayne at the end.

–They didn’t forget. Again, people seem to have watched a different movie. They were going to nuke it if they noticed any attempt by outsiders to cross into Gotham so every effort had to be subtle. They also didn’t know there was a countdown to it happening anyway, so they weren’t in any hurry. Also, it’s not only believable that Bruce ends up with Selina it’s the only thing that makes sense. It might not make sense to people that read those comics every month, but it makes absolute sense when you treat the Nolan films as a standalone trilogy. It’s the end, and it ends perfectly.

Jimmy–Nolan can have as many cakes and eat them as he wants because he earned it. The trilogy was fantastic. Bar none.

Phil said, on 8/20/2012 6:43:00 PM

Put me in the camp as one who thought it was too long. There’s a lot to like in the movie but also parts where I was left thinking, ‘why did Nolan do it that way?’. Like matthew modine’s character. He was useless and not deserving of his own arc.

That aside, I think that I would’ve enjoyed the movie a lot more if bane and talia’s fates were different and that they were defeated by, oh I don’t know, batman. Having the two main villains being defeated by a gunshot from out of the blue and a car crash left me cold. There was no catharsis. No bane v. Batman round 2. Bane was batman’s clubber lang and I wanted to see that TKO.

Jesse said, on 8/20/2012 7:45:00 PM

Damn now that I know Marie Cotillard is in the film I have too see it. I wouldn’t run away even if I was wearing high heels.

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