Arkham Asylum Figures... IN COLOR!

The "Batman: Arkham Asylum Series 1 Action Figures" have officially been announced in DC Comics' full August 2010 publication. Included is this full color photo of the series. They look even better than they did in black and white except... for one thing. Why the hell is Batman's cape blue and black? His cape is clearly black in the game. DC Direct, please let this be an error and release Batman, the main character of the game, in his original color scheme. The game didn't take any shortcuts, why would you short change his action figure! Otherwise, all the figures look fantastic. I really like the word "series" titled in this line... it implies... more figures!

You can find the official announcement here.

Arkham Asylum Action Figures! Finally!

Not exactly sure where this picture originated from, but it looks like the critically acclaimed video game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, is finally getting a line of action figures. The character designs of the game is just as high quality as the game itself, I hope they maintain that same level on this figure release. So far, I'm impressed!

The Return of Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne's been dead (sort of) since Final Crisis, and has managed to stay out of current continuity for a little over a year. Gotham has changed since then: Dick is Batman, Damian is Robin, Tim is Red Robin, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl and Oracle's still in a wheelchair.

Yesterday, Bruce Waynes' whereabouts have been revealed with the first issue of "The Return of Bruce Wayne." He's in the stone age without any recollection of who he is. Imagine the old show "Quantum Leap" with a DC Universe twist. He's still Bruce Wayne from each leap, he's just unaware of who he is. (Did I just date myself with that QL reference?)

In this story, Bruce is unaware of who he is, with only fragments of subconscious memories of who he is was. His only material possessions are his utility belt, Superman's cape and his pants. I'm a little unsure how his material possessions were able to remain with him during time travel, but I won't hurt my brain attempting to think about it. I'm still not sure why he has Superman's cape. Bruce quickly finds himself in the middle of a territorial war among feuding tribes in the stone age. Like riding a bike, Bruce Wayne dives directly into the hero role helping those in need. In this case, the weaker tribe. In the process, Bruce manages to pick up a pseudo Robin along the way, who was coincidentally on his own journey of "becoming a man."

There were plenty of overbearing Bat references in this book, from the cave Bruce emerged from to the over-sized Bat hyde he found and later wore as a makeshift cape and cowl. The costume looked great, as if Batman and Conan had a collision course. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the dialogue. It was an amalgamation of caveman talk meets modern english. I understand that we as readers have to understand what's going on, but it would've been cool to see the dialogue much more primal with simple words. It would've forced them to be more creative with their artwork (not that it wasn't).

Overall, it's a good quick read. It gives you a very clear idea of where they are headed with this storyline. If you're a fan of Elseworlds books, this will definitely be up your alley.

Green Lantern: Hector Hammond

Here are some early pictures of Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond in the highly anticipated Green Lantern film:



If Hector Hammond doesn't seem to ring a bell, he's one of Green Lanterns' enemies with genius level intellect, including telepathic powers and telekinetic abilities.



Pretty good ressembelence if you ask me. So far, things are looking good for our protector of Sector 2814!

Wondering what cell phone the JLA doesn't use?

A little iPhone humor...



Bazinga!

Remember those dancers at the "Stark Expo?"

They've got a name... the Ironette Dancers! You can find the full set of photos here. Enjoy!

Iron Man 2 didn't break any box office records... so what?

I'll admit, I was secretly afraid that Iron Man 2 was potentially able to beat out The Dark Knight for highest grossing opening weekend. Not only because I'm a huge bat-geek, but because the first Iron Man film was a solid hit! Unfortunately, Iron Man 2 didn't come close to smashing any box office records... surprisingly!

Despite Iron Man 2 opening in 4,380 North American theaters over the weekend, the total weekend brought in $57.2 million domestically, which is not bad by any means. Worldwide, Iron Man 2 has earned $327.6 million since it began its international release on April 28th 2010. Again, a number that is not shameful by any means.

Seeing all these articles about Iron Man 2 not being a "record holder" in a box office monetary category almost gives the impression that the film was not good! Quite the contrary! Iron Man 2 was a fantastic film! Just because a movie doesn't stand next to the dollar signs Avatar achieved, it doesn't mean it's not a great film.

It would be great to see more articles on the quality of a film, rather than it's profitability. Although profitability is a measure for executives to make future sequels, these movies are being made for us, fans of film who want good quality movies!

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 has finally arrived! With the success of the first film, my expectations for the sequel were very high. I'm happy to say my expectations were met! Unfortunately, there was very little for surprise, storywise, considering most of the film was revealed in its trailers. This movie has already been showing internationally for a week.

The action sequences were definitely exceeded my expectations, literally placing you in the drivers seat of Iron Man's suit. There was noticeably more casual/non-action screen time with Tony Stark wearing the physical suit (non CGI). Kudos to the costume designers and builders. The build detail was absolutely stunning. The level of flexibility and mobility made the Iron Man armor really come to life on screen. In addition, the screen time transition between the CGI suit and the "real suit" was extraordinarily seamless adding more layers of great eye candy.

The campy one-liners was much more present in this film than the last, but they didn't go overboard. Nick Fury's "I got my eye on you" line made me roll my eyes a bit, but it was hardly something to shake a stick at. The one thing I could've done without was Favereau's fight scene. It seemed a bit out of place.

Micky Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Don Cheadle and Scarlett Johansson were fantastic additions to this sequel! Rourke and Rockwell in particular made a great villainous duo. If you didn't already know, Rourke time spent in a real Russian prison (for research purposes), and it absolutely paid off! Don Cheadle delivered as usual, making me wonder why he wasn't chosen in the first place to play Rhodey. [strike]Too bad, so sad Terrence Howard[/strike] Scarlet Johansson as black widow was a little misplaced if you ask me. Beyond being Iron Man 2's newest hottie, she didn't really play a significant role other than showing showing off her kick ass moves.

Overall, this is a great movie that carries the same excitement as the first. Explosive action, great dynamic cast and plethora of comic hints and nods! Two thumbs-up from this reviewer!

May the 4th be with you!

Did you know today was Star Wars Day? I sure didn't! Not sure how long ago this memo was passed around, but May 4th is Star Wars Day, which also goes by "Luke Skywalker Day." Here's how it all started.

Bringing you back to reality, here are a bunch of slave Leia's doing a charity car wash:

Free Comic Book Day 2010

It's that time of year, Free Comic Book Day 2010! This year, I took my eight year old nephew with me. This was his first comic shop experience and he had an absolute blast! Actually, he was stunned more than excited because beyond my collection room, he's never been surrounded by wall-to-wall "geek." I wanted this year to be about him than me, so I let him choose all of his own books and discover that brick-and-mortar comic shops have to offer. He walked away with Superman, Spiderman, Ironman, Wolverine and DC Kids comics. I also treated him to an action figure. He ended up choosing the Batman figure from Trinity. Hardly a toy than a collection piece, but he really liked it. I almost wanted it more than him. I didn't pick up much myself, just got some books I was missing that were in the sales section.

Overall, the shop I went to didn't have a lot going on as far as special deals. I was hoping this year would offer more freebies or at least a better sales selection for the day. I went to this shop the first time FCBD launched, and there were a ton of great deal. I miss those days.