My review of the debut issue of Stalag-X, written by acclaimed novelist Kevin J. Anderson is here at Broken Frontier.
The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
Phew. That’s a mouthful. A feast for the eyes too.
Coming on September 24 for just under $100 is a collection of all three of Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed Batman films, with some pretty cool extra goodies. I’d love to watch the chat between Nolan, and fellow DC Comics adaptation director Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie). Official details below.
THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY:
ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION
BLU-RAY™ DEBUT SEPTEMBER 24
FROM WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT
All Three Films, New Special Features, and Memorabilia
Christopher Nolan’s reimagining of the Batman franchise beginning with 2005’s Batman Begins enjoyed phenomenal critical and box-office success.
Now on September 24, Nolan’s three Batman films – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight,and The Dark Knight Rises – will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment asThe Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition. The six-disc set will feature all three films with their existing extra content, two new featurettes and exclusive new collectible memorabilia. This must-own collection for fans of DC Comics’ Caped Crusader is available in premium packaging and will sell for $99.97 SRP.
About the Ultimate Collector’s Edition (UCE):
*Disc 1 – Batman Begins Feature and Special Features
*Disc 2 – The Dark Knight Feature
*Disc 3 – The Dark Knight Special Features
*Disc 4 – The Dark Knight Rises Feature
*Disc 5 – The Dark Knight Rises Special Features
*Disc 6 – Bonus Disc of New Special Features (details follow)
NEW Special Features:
- The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy –The inside perspective on the fascinating story behind the creation of one of the most celebrated franchises and how it changed the scope of movie making….forever. Full of never-before-seen footage, rare moments, and exclusive interviews with Guillermo Del Toro, Damon Lindelof, Michael Mann, Richard Roeper, Zack Snyder and others.
- · Christopher Nolan & Richard Donner: A Conversation – For the first time, Directors Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy) and Richard Donner (Superman) sit down to discuss the trials and triumphs involved in bringing the two most iconic superheroes of all time to the big screen, and how Superman influenced Nolan when developing Batman Begins.
- · IMAX® Sequences: The Dark Knight; The Dark Knight Rises – See your favorite scenes as they were intended in the original IMAX© aspect ratio
Exclusive NEW Memorabilia:
- · Premium Mattel Hot Wheels Vehicles: Batmobile, Batpod and Tumbler
- · Newly commissioned collectible art cards by Mondo featuring Scarecrow, Joker, Bane, Harvey Dent, and Ra’s al Ghul
- · 48-page hardcover book featuring production stills and behind the scenes images from all three movies
About The Films
Batman Begins (2005)
Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight’s emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents’ murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns toGotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.
The Dark Knight (2008)
The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker (Heath Ledger), who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Oldman, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
Dark Knight Rises (2012)
It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act.
But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane. Christian Bale stars, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Morgan Freeman.
Man of Steel Review
Here it is – my thoughts on Superman’s newest big screen epic. We here in Australia didn’t receive the film until about 2 weeks after most other countries, but it was worth the wait.
Read my full review here.
The Avengers in Perth
No, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth and co. aren’t coming to Western Australia, but The Avengers comics have been putting the spotlight on Perth for some time now. The always entertaining Fruitless Pursuits has a look at their visits here, and while we’re on the topic this weekend, Perth plays host to the annual Supanova Pop Culture Convention, with writers, actors and artists, including George Perez and Chris Claremont.
Neil Gaiman Doco
The team behind recent documentaries on some of comics’ greatest writers are focusing on British scribe Neil Gaiman for their next film. Official info below.
Sequart Research & Literacy Organization, in conjunction with Respect! Films, is honored and proud to announce that author Neil Gaiman will be the next subject in its expanding line of comics-centric documentaries.
In the tradition of Sequart’s Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods and Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts documentaries, the Neil Gaiman film will be an all-access look at the scribe’s illustrious, media-spanning career, from his first foray into published writing all the way up to the current signing tour for his new novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. This unique profile will include footage from Neil’s performances with Amanda Palmer, lectures and readings from across the country, as well as extensive interviews with Neil and his fans, contemporaries, and closest collaborators.
The film will be directed by Patrick Meaney, produced by Jordan Rennert, and executive produced by Mike Phillips and Julian Darius. More details will roll at Sequart.org throughout the summer, but for the time being, please enjoy this little teaser trailer.
In addition to the Gaiman documentary, completion is just a few months away on two other Sequart documentary projects. The Image Revolution, chronicling the founding and history of the world’s most successful independent comic book company, Image Comics, is extremely close to completion, and will be playing at festivals this autumn. Comics in Focus: Chris Claremont’s X-Men is also nearly complete. The film reveals the behind-the-scenes story of Claremont’s landmark seventeen-year run on the title. It will be released this autumn.
And check out our two previous films, Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods and Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, available on Special Edition DVD, each with over two hours of bonus material (or for download).
About the Publisher: Sequart Research & Literacy Organization is a non-profit devoted to the study and promotion of comic books as a legitimate art form. It publishes books and documentaries aimed at making comics scholarship accessible. For more information, click here.
The Victories: Touched Review
Writer/artist Mike Avon Oeming’s 5 issue mini-series, The Victories is now available as a Trade Paperback from Dark Horse.
I review the collection of the mature superhero tale here at Broken Frontier.
Eric Guzman’s Mash-Ups
Remember when Marvel and DC joined forces and created two series of one-shots that featured combinations of their characters? If not, go here.
Well, artist Eric Guzman has created a great series of similar mash-ups starring Batman and Spider-Man and their various villains, plus a few extras such as Shazam/Thor, and Superman/Captain America. Check out his gallery here.
Marvel Heroes Opening Cinematic
There’s some great animation here. This is the opener for the free Marvel Heroes game created by Gazillion, and written by comics scribe Brian Michael Bendis. It looks fluid, and sums up the origins of some great Marvel heroes beautifully.
You can check the game out here.
Comics Alliance Returns
There are a lot of comics related sites, but Comics Alliance is one of my faves, and I was one of many sad to see it suddenly switch off its lights. Now though, after a month of silence, it has returned. Yay!
Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale Review
In the current May Previews catalogue, for items set for release in July, is a beautifully realised OGN from indie publisher Improper Books.
Read my review of Porcelain right here, and you can find a trailer for Porcelain here.
Six-Gun Gorilla From BOOM!
It’s been a while since I’ve been excited about anything from BOOM! Studios. Not because they aren’t making good comics; just because I haven’t read any of them for a while. Next month, however, that looks to change. Six-Gun Gorilla looks and sounds very cool indeed.
BOOM! STUDIOS REVEALS SIMON SPURRIER’S SIX – GUN GORILLA
IN STORES IN JUNE
This June, BOOM! Studios launches a bold new mash-up of Western and Sci-Fi with SIX-GUN GORILLA. Because the only thing better than a gorilla in a comic book is a gorilla with gigantic, matching six-shooters.
Inspired by an obscure public domain character, SIX-GUN GORILLA is created and written by Simon Spurrier (X-MEN: LEGACY, CROSSED: WISH YOU WERE HERE) with interior art by Jeff Stokely (FRAGGLE ROCK, THE REASON FOR DRAGONS) and featuring a cover by Eisner Award-winning artist Ramón Pérez (A TALE OF SAND, WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN), SIX – GUN GORILLA is a pulpy mash-up of Western weirdness and lo-fi science fiction unlike anything else on the stands!
Welcome to “the Blister” — a bizarre other-world colonized by humans sometime in the 22nd century, which quickly became a hotly-contested source of fertile land and natural resources long ago exhausted on Earth. In this new frontier, a rogue gunslinger and his companion wander across a wilderness in the grips of a civil war, encountering lawlessness, natives, and perversions of civilization in a world at the crossroads between the past and the future. The fact that said gunslinger is a bio-surgically modified silverback gorilla toting a pair of enormous revolvers is neither here nor there.
“The words “Six-Gun Gorilla” have squatted in my psyche – as immovable as only a revolver-packin’ primate can be – since I first heard them. How could I pass up the chance to breathe new life into such an insane, evocative title (so sinfully neglected since its inception as a 1939 pulp serial)?” explained Spurrier, “In deference to its unknown writer, our new version has mutated into a comic unlike any other: a relentless blast of deconstructive weirdness, gunsmoke, surreal frontiers and Awesome Ape Action. Six-Gun Gorilla is a head-poppin’, civil-warrin’, wilderness-crossin’ epic with sly sci-fi notes: a love-letter to the Western genre, signed with a flourish by a black-furred and blood-drenched fist.”
SIX – GUN GORILLA #1 will arrive in stores on June 12th with a cover by Ramón Pérez and carries a retail price of $3.99 under Diamond order code APR130933. And don’t forget to ask your retailer about the incentive cover by James Harren (B.P.R.D.)!
Oh, and BOOM! are also the latest publisher to give us Robocop comics too.
Comics In Libraries
At the revamped Broken Frontier you can read a new blog post by me about comics in libraries. Ah, what an age we live in!
He-Man Comes To DC
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has had new series and one-shots from DC Comics over the last year or so, and now as suspected it looks like a cross-over with the DC Universe is on the way in August. Maybe the residents from Eternia will migrate permanently to Metropolis, Gotham, etc or this will be a temporary visit.
I’m not sure what to think about this though. I mean, the new costumes are bewildering and sexist. (He-Man gets more clothes, and Teela gets less). Well, here’s the only pic released so far, and here’s a brief interview with writer Keith Giffen.
comicbookjesus 