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Tag Archives: Bruce Timm
The Death of Superman and the Reign of Supermen – Lightning did not strike twice !
Posted by Mykal K Grimm in Animated Features, Books, Hobby, Movies, review, Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Bruce Timm, Clark Kent, DC Comics, Duane Capizzi, Graphic Novel, Green Lantern, Hal Joran, Jerry Siegel, Joe Schuster, Justice League, Kalel, Krypton, Lois Lane, Nathan Fillion, Nerd Dimension, Paul Dini, Rebecaa Romjin, Reviews, Rosario Dawson, Steel, Superman, The Death of Superman, Timverse, Warner Bros, Warner Brothers Movies, WB Animations, Wonder Woman
Having grown up in the 90s I was lucky to have watched some of the best-animated features and series in the history of television and got to read some of the runs in comics. To me, it is my favorite era of comics because of the sheer volume of content being produced when it came to comics and action figures and kids of my generation really had a lot to see and pine over. One of the big things of the 90's was also something that rattled comic book fans all over the planet as we first heard that DC comics were going to kill Superman! The comic itself is said to have contributed to the subsequent downward spiral in comic book sales as at the time there was a boom in which niether publisher lost time capitalizing on. To speak on this we must also discuss when this orginally came to be to compare previous installments.
Cover of the Graphic Novel
The comic, titled 'Doomsday' (Dan Jurgens & Roger Stern) was discussed on national television and in the press when it dropped in 93 and apart from flying off the shelves Warner Bros and DC comics would fail capitalize, waiting until 2007 with it arriving on DVD in 2008 called Superman: Doomsday. Fun fact Kevin Smith has a cameo playing himself poking fun at the time he worked on a Superman script. Even the talent of legends Bruce Timm (Batman Animated Series and Justice League) and Duane Capizzi ( Transformers: Prime, Darkwing Duck, and The Batman).The animated feature was well-drawn but differed from the source material which is a pattern that would follow in the decades to come. The problem was that Warner Bros should have released this movie in the early 90's when the comics were out to have fully capitalized as Superman: Doomsday was not released to rave reviews and was not making anyone's top 10 list anytime soon. Superman dying is a big deal and coming late to the party may have affected the interest of the masses in this animated film but it was a decent release and if you can find it somewhere for cheap it is a decent addition to any collection for the sake of nostalgia.
It would be more than a decade later before DC and Warner Bros would revisit the storyline, this time opting to remain closer to the source material by including Superboy, the Eradicator, and Steel. I am reviewing the combo pack release in which you have the option of watching both titles back to back in on sitting. My buddy and I from the board game club watched it and though it felt like it dragged on. We were two different demographics watching this movie, for him, it was his first time watching or hearing about Superman dying. It then hit me that the younger generation have grown up with blockbuster movies and loads of shows and movies and comics themselves were not mainstream for ages. This means my friend Lenny never really got into comics growing up and now in his late teens is diving deeper into the history of these characters he grew up with.
The casting of talent was spot on with Hollywood names such as Nathan Fillion (Firefly & Castle) voicing Hal's Green Lantern, Rebecca Romjin (X-men Trilogy, Punisher & The Librarians) as Lois Lane and Rosario Dawson (Daredevil and Iron Fist) as Wonder Woman. I have no complaints on their voiceacting and the dialogue proved to be convincing enough but it did not have the style and look of the 2007 adaptation. I was pleasantly surprized when I sutmbled upon the BluRay Double Feature release where you could get and stream both movies back to back.
As someone who is a huge Bruce Timm and Paul Dini fan I would have preferred if they tried to keep some of the original look from the 90s and early 00s but I will not hold it against them. Warner Brothers have been consistently releasing at least 1 animated feature a year if not more while continuing to support live action shows such as Super Girl, Green Arrow and Titans. Despite their major motion pictures earning big bucks at theaters but the negative critiques and feedback from fans following the Justice League movie and the how Aquaman failed to capture the the interest of many older viewers. With a new man in charge and at the helm of future Warner Brothers releases with a growing interest in appealling to the Chinese market the studio needs to be wise to avoid the blunders of the past and the mistakes other corproations are making in appeasing the Eastern market.
Warner Brothers are wise to keep the fans happy with content over the years and this release will scratch an itch and does give you a story worth watching. The first part of the story (The Death of Superman) will have you watching Supes give it all his all as the Justice League struggle against the arrival of Doomsday. They carnage and desperation is paced well throughout and the inevitable ending does leave you wondering what would happen next. The Regin of the Supermen would see our first itiration of the comic series where in the absence of Kalel other 'Supermen' would rise up and attempt to fill that void. As to not spoil too much of it but we get to see Luthor still angling to be the most powerful man on the planet by introducing Superboy as other 'versions' of the former hero rose up including the Eradictor and Steel weaving an interesting narrative. The more adult tone of the story does well in immersing the viewer in what is going on. You have Darksied appearing and watching the heroes and citizens try to make sense of this new era where heroes compete over the top spot while new evils find their way to our blue marble with villianous intentions.
Cover for the Graphic Novel
The second part of the arc plays out better than the previous installment and watching the dynamics between the different characters and the attention paid to the minute details of each of the 'supermen' added more to the feature. The writers and producers attempted to include as much as they could from the source material and do not make it a campy feature and touch on issues such as self belief, betrayal and revenge in a way we have not experienced in their perevious animated features. I can warmly recommend watching these two features back to back when you have 3 hours to kill however I sadly will not recommend it as a purchase.
Despite being different to what most fans have grown accustomed and used to from WB Animations it does not go deep enough for me to want to re-watch it any time soon. For that reason I would have to give it a 6.5 out of 10 as it is a double feature package and it would be unfair to judge them as standalone releases (which you still can get seperately). It is good fun for Superman fans and fans of the genre in general but not worth the money as I do not see it adding much value or replay value to most collections.
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..not as good as the comic
Posted by APPOLLO in Comics, Movies, review, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Adam Gifford, Adrienne Barbeau, Arleen Sorkin, Atlas Oceanic Sound & Picture, Batman, Batman:Hush, Batmnan The Animated Series, Bruce Timm, BTAS, Catwoman, Comic Arc, Comic Book, Comics, Damian Wayne, DC Animation, DC Comics, Dick Grayson, Ernie Altbacker, Harley Quinn, Harvey Dent, Hush, Hynden Walch, IGN, Jason O'Mara, Jason Spisak, Jean McCurdy, Jennifer Morrison, Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Justin Copeland, Kevin Conroy, Loren Lester, Mark Hamill, Maury Sterling, Mitch Brian, NE4U, Nightwing, Paul Dini, Peyton List, Richard Moll, Salami Studio, San Diego Comic-Con, StarReel Entertainment, Stuart Allen, Teen Titans The Judas Contract, The Death of Superman, The Joker, Thomas Elliot, Warner Bros Animation
BATMAN: HUSH Film Review
by Talon
Batman: Hush is an animated film by Warner Bros. Animation based off an 8 issue Comic Book story arc of the same name written by Jim Lee & Jeph Loeb which ran from 2002-2003, the feature directed by Justin Copeland was premiered at San Diego Comic-Con of 2019. The leads of the film are voiced by Jason O'Mara, Batman, & Jennifer Morrison voicing Selina Kyle aka Catwoman.
Right to Left: Jeph Loeb, Justin Copeland, Jim Lee, Jennifer Morrison & Jason O'Mara
This adaptation leaves much to be desired by true fans of the source material but will likely appeal to those new to the story as the writer and film team have taken liberties and creative licenses as with most movie adaptations today, especially comic related ones. Judging the film on its own merits Batman:Hush is good but not as good as the comic.
For those who are not familiar Batman: Hush is one the most popular and critically praised graphic novels of all time but most certainly of the last two decades (IGN Ranking it 11th in their top 25 list) evidenced by the first issue having 113,061 pre-orders in October 2002 placing it at the peak of the Top 300 comics charts. Going into the project Loeb, a fan favourite having done justice to the character in previous iterations, this time teamed up with maestro artist Jim Lee by both shaking up the status quo and making a few unexpected decisions creatively they succeeded in creating buzz and controversy .
Original Comic Book Cover of Batman: Hush
Returning to the animation, DC has been consistent with its art style since the Flashpoint offerings creating a sort of baseline to illustrate the connectedness of the different films. This isn't bad, but the style isn't up to snuff compared to Batman: The Animated Series or Jim Lee's masterful pieces in the original comic. This movie like countless other adaptations and reboots of the last decade plus suffers from the animation writing staff putting their own touches on the story. This approach hasn't made great projects where possibly Teen Titans: The Judas Contract and The Death of Superman are exceptions which reinforce the rule. Unfortunately most writers make big alterations to great stories in an attempt to keep the story 'fresh' to fans who know the original story, whilst this can work in seldom cases it did not by and large in the New 52 era or for writer Ernie Altbacker in the case of Batman: Hush.
Left to Right Box Art of Teen Titans The Judas Contract, Batman The Animated Series & The Death of Superman
The film begins with Bruce Wayne making an appearance at an evening banquet where he bumps into an old school friend Thomas Elliot (Maury Sterling) and sees Selina Kyle which gets him thinking about giving their relationship a shot again.
Shortly thereafter he stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a kidnapped young boy who is being held by Bane (Adam Gifford), as he foils the plot Catwoman makes away with the ransom money promptly delivering it to Poison Ivy (Peyton List).
As Batman attempts to catch Catwoman his grappling line is torn by a sniper shot from the titular villain sending Batman crashing to the street. Luckily there are some good people to stave off encroaching threats.
Bruce decides to begin dating Selina, and when they attend the Opera the are met by Harley Quinn (Hynden Walch) who claims that she must kill Bruce Wayne in order to free her boyfriend The Joker (Jason Spisak).
To spare you readers as many spoilers as possible I ll just add that yes Catwoman and Batman get involved, yes.
Left to Right: Ernie Altbacker, Jason Spisak, Maury Sterling, Adam Gifford, Peyton List & Hynden Walch
In essence the viewer is treated to large portion of the classic Batman rogues gallery thanking to the stratagem of Hush, a new player on the scene who is mind controlling the lot of them. The cast is solid but both leads would have been better served if they were voiced by Kevin Conroy & Adrienne Barbeau respectively. Other welcome voices to the troop to reprise their roles would have been Arleen Sorkin as Harley, Mark Hamill as The Joker, Loren Lester as Dick Grayson/Nightwing and Richard Moll as Harvey Dent.
From Top Left to Right: Adrienne Barbeau, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin & Loren Lester.
Fans of the source material will not be thrilled by certain changes made to the story, most being trivial and unnecessary (like switching Killer Croc with Bane or Huntress with Batgirl which basically ends Oracles role in the story) which eat away at the robust story itself but one which probably does detract from the story is the love affair between Bruce and Selina taking centre stage more so than in the comic books. Whilst this is the only aspect which is perhaps an improvement on the source material, the movie is not called Catwoman & Batman but Batman: Hush. That being said Damian Wayne's (Stuart Allen) response to the pairing is probably the most memorable moment of the feature. Most changes feel to have been done to make the film fit in the current DC Animated universe, much like what Marvel has been doing the last decade or so, but with source material as strong as this is clearly not the best idea.
Screenshot of Damian Wayne played by Stuart Allen
The animation does feel a little generic and the above average fight scenes do not mask the misstep. Another thing I feel old school fans will be disappointed by is the seemingly forced use of profane language in an attempt to make the feature edgier, as is the sexual innuendo which feels static as it suggests O'Mara and Morrison lack adequate chemistry to pull off the romance in a believable manner.
The ending itself feels rushed and leaves one feeling anticlimactic and that the huge choices Batman made throughout the film are insignificant, which they are not. This story arc could have been better served if they spread the story into a two feature series or even three, instead we are left with numerous red herrings and you simply don't feel Hush is a worthy opponent of the caped crusader.
This movie, unlike the beginning of Warner Bros. Animation, suffers from what most movies suffer from – too much meddling with what works. Batman: The Animated Series was a watershed moment and a classic which stands out today just because Jean MacCurdy (the company in this instance) allowed the creative team of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini & Mitch Brian to do what THEY felt was BEST.
The Warner Bros Animation Dream Team Left to Right: Jean McCurdy, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini & Mitch Brian
This feature much like most films inspired by comics feels like making money was far and wide the top priority which there is nothing wrong with but by banking on an existing fan-base to support it without giving any fan service in return doesn't seem fair. It is likely a sign of the times where everything must appeal to as many consumers as possible disrupting the organic quality of the storytelling in the process.
The animation is crisp and presented in 2160p in the Blu-ray and the DTS-HD 5.1 audio is just as quality so that is alright.
In closing its nice to see that DC continues to bring back some classic stories into the animated realm, unfortunately like others they are guilty of trying to 'fix' a working recipe. The original comic arc was built on a clever detective story, provided interesting plots twists and intelligent characterization from the writer and stellar artwork by the illustrator making it a classic which is still impressive today.
Worth praising is DC's attempt to create a semblance of a continuity but I feel most fans would rather not have this done at the expense of the source material. The worse thing I felt upon finishing the film, and days later, was how generic it felt. As a big fan of Batman this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Batman: Hush will most likely appeal most to casual fans and a public which have no foreknowledge of the comic, as it is a good animated feature but for true fans of the original work who have been waiting for it to grace the small screen format it will very likely be a serious disappointment.
We give this film a score :
All images used are property of DC Comics, StarReel Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, Atlas Oceanic Sound & Picture, NE4U, Salami Studios and their associate/affiliates as well as numerous media outlets and I claim no rights over them.
Gotham by Gaslight Review
Animated Film, Batman, Brian Augustyn, Bruce Timm, DC Comics, Gotham by Gaslight, Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russel, Sam Liu
GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT (Film Review)
Review by Talon
DC Comics Promotional Poster Digital
The Gotham Knight in a Victorian setting? Sounds interesting, but how well do DC with Sam Liu manage to pull this off.
For those who do not follow 'The Nerd Dimension' podcast, I have to provide a slight disclaimer – I am a big Batman fan, primarily his depiction by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini of Batman The Animated Series (BTAS) era. That being said I hope to be critical as I should be.
The concept of putting Bruce Wayne in Victorian Era comes from a somewhat cult classic One Shot of the same name from 1989 which was the result of a strong team up of Brian Augustyn, Mike Mignola with inks by P. Craig Russell. It focuses on the Caped Crusaders fictional battle with the infamous Jack the Ripper the notorious never identified serial killer of 1888 London. The notion is an interesting one and I definitely was curious to see how faithfully the story transitioned to the film format.
Cover of the Original One Shot
I believe the team were attempting to recapture the feeling of BTAS to a degree and I feel finding Bruce Timm as an executive producer of the project lends credibility to the idea. Having mentioned all this, unfortunately, I feel that unlike BTAS the story falls back into the realm of simplicity with less character development making it more skewed to younger viewers. That being said, it is most definitely an enjoyable watch and one of the best-animated transformations of a comic book to a film which has been a strong trend the last decade or so. The previous statement comes with a disclaimer though if you are not into the Victorian setting and into the Dark Knight this may not be the most enjoyable move you could choose to watch.
The original Elseworld´s one shot piece was a quick read at 52 pages, and was for of a sparring or testing of an environment and its mechanics, specifically a Victorian Era Gotham. In my humble opinion, it was a well-done piece, albeit lacking the usual level of mystery and suspense I enjoy but that is in kind due to the aforementioned length of the piece itself. This I feel would have been an interesting direction the Dark Knight could have went down, a graphic novel would have been interesting to see. *
The animated incarnation I feel attempted to add to something cosmetically using, in my humble opinion, commonplace or fairly used mechanics and tropes to 'beef up' a shorter story with a somewhat predictable ending. Though I enjoyed how they added certain characters which weren't in the original piece, I feel it did little for the whole especially the addition of classic love-hate relationship of Selena Kyle for political correctness or 'playing it safe' but detracted from the focus of the material which was I feel the exploration of a different type of Gotham.
A different Gotham not just geographically per Se but I would imagine rather contrasting to today's more neo-liberal politically correct society. This piece could have been a form of study of the different ways our characters could have come to be in their positions, the different vocations they might be engaged in even expected gender role examinations with clever twists would be welcomed in my view.
All in all the video carnation of Gotham by Gaslight is definitely worth a watch and compared to most animation being released today the more mature rating is welcomed as the film overall quality when measured against similar comic book animated releases. This being said it could have been better, adding maybe more time to the film or simply removing the (I feel forced) characters who were added post source material which would have allowed possibly for more time to allow the environment to be explored and for us to gain more for a feel of the different characters.
All in all, this is probably one the best animated incarnations of our beloved Batman and is a strong 8/10
* The One Shot came with two stories from that Era in the edition. This tale is a little longer is called Master of the Future and is set 11 months after the events of Gotham by Gaslight.
All images used are property of DC Comics and associate/affiliates and I claim no rights over them.
Joker Film Review
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