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08-17-2013, 11:17 PM | #1 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
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So I've decided to have a little fun here and I'm going to be posting one of my top favorite DC super heroes each day for the next 10 days (at least, it is planned to be my top 10 heroes at this time).
So without further ado, let's cover the first and most obvious choice: I was first introduced to Batman back in 89 by the Adam West series and I thought it was terrible even at 7 years old. I loved the Burton movie and it was the very first VHS tape I bought with my own money. And then came The Animated Series, which just blew me away and was what truly made me a Batman fan. I was there when Knightfall occurred and enjoyed it, but then I kind of fell out of the comics in the late 90's until Batman Begins hit the scene and I went all out with HUSH, The LOng Halloween, No Man's Land and Cataclysm, Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, Tales of the Demon, etc. I love many things about each era of Batman, but the version from the 70's has become my absolutely favorite. I just absolutely love the stories Denny O'Neil and Len Wein have written, and the artwork by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano is just gorgeous. I love the history of Batman, his tragic backstory, and the fact that he is brilliant. He has a back up plan to go with a back up plan that is covered by another back up plan. His gadgets are cool and how can you not like the concept of a man who dresses up as a bat to fight criminals? Sometimes they do seem to make Batman over powered these days, as it seems like he is invincible at times rather than just using wit to win a fight, but when he is done right, he is done extremely right. I don't really think there is anything else I can say about the man that nobody does not know about. Finally, he has probably the most diverse and memorable cast of rogues out of anyone in the DC universe, or even the comic universe next to Spider-Man. Everyone knows the Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, and Mr Freeze. However, I consider Ra's al Ghul to be his greatest nemesis as the man is the exact opposite of what both Bruce Wayne and Batman together stand for. I also consider Talia to be his true love. Even the lesser rogues such as Scarecrow, Black Mask, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Clayface(s), Killer Croc, Scarface and Wesker, and Calendar Man to mob bosses like Falconi and Thorn are such rich characters you can't help but enjoy what they have to offer. So with that said, Batman is the first of my top ten favorite heroes of the DC universe. Check back tomorrow for my next choice. |
08-18-2013, 12:57 AM | #2 |
Sentai of the Ages
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 16,715
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Except recently he's gone from being human, to being this unstoppible icon that DC refuses to allow to show weakness in any way shape or form. The perfect example is DC Universe Online.
When you choose Tech Villian you're mentored by The Joker. Now, in the other scenarios (Meta and Magic) at the end of the classic story you fight your arch. For Magic it's Wonder Woman and for Meta it's Superman. But in Tech? Oh no. No No. You have to help The Joker fight off a Brainiac version of Joker. Because you can't beat Batman... He's Batman! |
08-18-2013, 06:22 AM | #3 |
Kawaii 5-0
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Cardiff, United Kingdom
Posts: 12,851
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He hasn't at all been like that in the New 52 comics (at least not Synder's Batman anyway, can't comment on the others), or the Nolan Batman films.
Yes, Miller's interpretation has bled through into a lot of other Batman fiction but not EVERY Batman comic suddenly defines him as that.
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08-18-2013, 09:59 AM | #4 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
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Quote:
Except recently he's gone from being human, to being this unstoppible icon that DC refuses to allow to show weakness in any way shape or form. The perfect example is DC Universe Online.
When you choose Tech Villian you're mentored by The Joker. Now, in the other scenarios (Meta and Magic) at the end of the classic story you fight your arch. For Magic it's Wonder Woman and for Meta it's Superman. But in Tech? Oh no. No No. You have to help The Joker fight off a Brainiac version of Joker. Because you can't beat Batman... He's Batman! |
08-18-2013, 10:04 AM | #5 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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I once heard "Batman fans should not write for Batman" And that seems to ring true, considering how far DC is making an effort in current comics to not make him the Batgod he's been for the past 20 years.
As a character, I can understand liking him, but when you get paid to write for your childhood hero, it's hard to make them fallible and beatable, which can break your mental image of how you perceive the character. So yeah. Batman is cool, but needs to be toned down for me to want to pick up another Batman title.
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08-18-2013, 10:14 AM | #6 |
Rider War Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 430
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Batman is also my fave DC hero. I got on the Batman titles proper during the No Man's Land story arc and followed all the way through the end of Morrison's run.
I'm...not the biggest fan of Morrison's concepts but I guess he shook up the title enough to make the character feel fresh. By the way, the character has been beaten many times before. Often by his own paranoia. Tower of Babel, War Drums, the OMAC Project all show Batman's biggest fear is being betrayed by the people he thinks he trust most. The story in Identity Crisis (which has probably been retconned at this point) shows the possible root of this paranoia. Different people have different views of what should be the ideal Batman. The lone-wolf Batman, or the Dynamic Duo concept, the fairly friendly Jim Aparo-era Batman, or the complete douchebag dark narrow-minded vigilante type as he's shown in Batman Absolution. Perhaps my favorite interpretation of Batman came from the Batman Anime DVD feature which shows a young Bruce Wayne travelling to India. Here' the clip: And of course The Dark Knight Returns Pt.1 is just as defining. |
08-18-2013, 11:51 AM | #7 |
Fights for Justice
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Flo Rida
Posts: 1,381
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Just like Kain, saw the reruns of Adam West Batman, and then the '89 movie. I even saw a live action stunt show at an amusement park based on it...think it was Dorney Park? Can't remember.
Last edited by Crown Athlete; 08-18-2013 at 08:11 PM.. |
08-18-2013, 06:50 PM | #8 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
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And now it is time to reveal another of my top favorite DC characters, this time I look at the good ol’ scarred cowboy:
I was first introduced to Jonah Hex through “Batman: The Animate Series.” The episode he was featured in was pretty awesome and is in my top favorite episodes of the series. One of the things I love about Hex is that he was a confederate soldier but his sense of honor would not allow him to betray the side he had been enlisted in. Not to mention that he has no shame in it and does not care to hide it even years after the war had ended. His back story with his father is tragic, but it is the origin with the scarring of his face that really help drive his character (despite its exact time frame of when it happened changing over the years) as it shows his ruthlessness when it comes to those who do wrong. I also find it interesting to see a man who acts like such an ass also go to lengths to help those he does care about without having to get melodramatic over it. While Hex does not have the huge rogues that other characters do, I definitely love his confrontations with both Quentin Turnbull and El Papagayo, as they really feel like true villains, especially Turnbull, who wants revenge because he blames Hex for the death of his son. It is also worth noting, that while the series was ultimately a failure, I did like the concept of Hex being taken out of the Wild West and brought to a post-apocalyptic future. If for nothing else, for the great comment Bruce Timm and gang had him make in Justice League Unlimited when they were fighting against technology from the future. Finally, another thing I love about the way the comics are written is that the stories are told out of order similar to the way Howard wrote Conan, so one issue you might be reading about Hex in the early 1860’s when he was first starting out as a bounty hunter, while in the next issue, could take place after he married Mei Ling in the late 1870’s to even having issues before that in 1899 with Hex learning from his son that Mei Ling is dead. OH yeah, and there is NO Jonah Hex movie!!!!!!!! |
08-19-2013, 09:58 PM | #9 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
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It is getting hard to hold these back to one a day.
I am a 90’s kids for the most part. Yes, I was a child in the 80’s, but most of what I know about outside of cartoons is from the 90’s, which I feel had superior cartoons compared to the 80’s. However, comic books, are another story. Nevertheless, when I was growing up, Wally West was the Flash, but his stories were not the first Flash comics I read. I started to read Flash right around 89-90, but my dad had bought me several issues of Flash that were from the late 70’s and early 80’s, so they all featured Barry. He is the Flash I came to know and love, and the live action TV show helped cement Barry as the Flash for me. While I do not remember much about the TV show outside of the Trickster episode being interrupted because the president had a heart attack or something (and it was so annoying at boring at 8 years old), I remember Barry and nothing but Barry. It was not until Justice League and a few comics throughout the 90’s that I really came to know Wally. As such, Barry is the Flash to me and I am glad to have him in the spotlight once again in the comic world despite his sacrifice in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” being diminished because of it. Then again, when you think about it, being dead in comic books is like calling in sick in the real world. You call in dead for a year or two so you can come back in top notch shape later. Now Flash has an interesting set of rogues because unlike Batman, whose rogues tend to have some type of tragic past, or even Spider-Man whose enemies seem to be science experiments gone wrong, most of Flash’s rogues are just bank robbers. They just want to rob a bank and reap the rewards from it. Outside of a few like Grodd and Reverse Flash/Thawne/Zoom/whatever you want to call him, his enemies are jut petty criminals. Captain Cold is just a man wearing a coat. He does not have the body of ice. He does not have a dying wife frozen forever. He is just a normal person. Heat Wave is just a psycho path that plays with fire. Mirror Master is just a scientist using his talents for his own greed. Same goes for Weather Wizard. Captain Boomerang is just a man with an abusive father when he was a child who found relief in tossing boomerangs. Trickster is… well Trickster. Another reason I fell in love with the Flash from the start is because of his powers. It would be so cool to just run at the speed of light and always get there within seconds!!! The time traveling aspect, however, can get hokey if it is not written well, especially during the Silver Age with Flash’s Cosmic Treadmill. That was a little awkward and is something I am glad does not happen in the current comics. Nevertheless, it was a neat idea for the time. |
08-19-2013, 10:26 PM | #10 |
Charging Up!
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Easton,Pennsylvania
Posts: 2,463
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Batman has to be one of my favorites,he's very high up there.Not only does he have that human factor,but the fact that he's so meticulous and always thinking.I personally like the new 52 Batman because its starting semi fresh.It shows how even him,with no powers,could hang with the JL.My favorite part is this.
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