Tag Archives: batman

Ain’t dead.

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You might have noticed wolverina.net has been a little quiet the past few months. Traveling and blogging was a little too much after becoming quite ill while in New York. I decided I wanted the rest of my holiday to be just a holiday.

So what has been taking up my time since returning to Perth between Weddings and Various Family Engagements.

To start with, Lego Batman 2: DC Superheros.

Lego Batman 2

I think I prefer the first Lego Batman, but I would like to review this properly when I have finished it. 100% is still a hard goal to reach when you have absolutely no skill at console gaming!

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My cat took a liking to my copy.

Polished off Chicks Dig Comics over the Christmas holidays. It’s fun reading, basically a series of light essays by ladies discussing an aspect of comics and the geek culture that they love. From crushes on Aquaman to adventures in growing up in Snowtown from Ellis’s Fell to Sandman fangirling to Simone’s inspiring first essay, the book keeps you amused. It’s great to see the variety of personal stories every woman uses to describe her experiences.

The book does mention the discrimination in the industry regularly, it doesn’t dominate the discussion throughout the book (which is pretty refreshing, to put it mildly). The interviews add a lot to the discussion, and I particularly loved the perspectives of Rucka and Conner.

I’m curious to see more in this series, but Timelords and Whedon fangirling aren’t really my thing. Maybe they’ll have a Batman or a computer games book soon. Or Stargate. Hmm.

My only other holiday news is that I have taken to collecting HeroClix, or at least, the DCU ladies created. My partner is laughing as I now have over 30 of them.

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Yes, I am a Stephanie Brown fangirl. I prefer her as Spoiler over Batgirl, but she is amazing as both.

Assuming I don’t melt from the heat in the next few days, I’m hoping to get this blog running a lot more regularly in 2013. We are in a severe heatwave here though.

Episode 18: The Jetlagged Edition

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You’ve guessed it, another round of How I Got My Boyfriend to Read Comics, with the return of Chris, the regular boyfriend! Unfortunately it was very late in the evening for Chris and I was incredibly jetlagged as I’d only been in Seattle a day. This was recorded before Girl Geek Con, I haven’t had a chance to do anything since then.

In comics news we discuss:

What We’ve Been Reading:
Zoe read Little Brother by Cory Doctorow on the plane to USA. She also went shopping in Seattle and bought two Harley Quinn-related trades and also the Deathstroke GN, by Kyle Higgins. Chris hasn’t read anything except his Honours work for ages, but can talk about Bond movies and feminism for ages.

This episode, Chris and Zoe discuss The Dark Knight Rises because neither of them can talk about anything else.  The flaws in the film they discuss include the treatment of Catwoman, Miranda Tate, Bane, as well as the treatments of race and class that are used to provide the setting. The plot and dialogue of the film are also nit-picked over, and while the arguments are spoiler-heavy, and they struggle to define what it is that made the film so goddamn enjoyable, they do agree it was a very good film.

You can send us feedback in several ways. Leave a message on this blog post or our Facebook page. You can also tweet to @thewolverina or email thewolverina@gmail.com.  If you enjoyed listening, you can even leave a comment on our iTunes page. You can also receive notifications for all our podcast updates via RSS on the How I Got My Boyfriend To Read Comics homepage.

DCnU in October

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Last month, I did a summary of my opinions on the #1’s released in September. I didn’t really rank them properly, just tried to get a vague order of what I enjoyed – tricky at the best of times, and the whole retelling-the-origin thing made it harder. I felt like I was rating an author on their ability to pitch a story quickly, and their ability to do an origin and ‘quick’ start, rather than quality story telling. Therefore, have another list! Again, vaguely ranked from most enjoyable to least, and again, I can’t be fucked reading all of the #2’s especially given how dreadful some of the #1’s were. But anyway:

Cover of Nightwing single issue 2

I look at this cover and all I can think is "too easy"

Top Tier
  • Batman #2: Amazing, if a little text-heavy.
  • Nightwing #2: This one. Woah. Wow. #1 dealt with the introduction and this dives headfirst into all the fun and games.
  • Wonder Woman #2: Still bitter about the daddy issue, but otherwise awesome.
  • Batgirl #2: Still feeling a bit rushed.
  • Justice League Dark #2: I am REALLY enjoying this. NFI where it is leading though.
Middling
  • Batwoman #2: Not bad, just the lack of Rucka is showing.
  • The Fury of Firestorm #2: Every time I read or hear the word ‘terrorism’ in something American I just start to tune out. :/
  • Stormwatch #2: Cheerfully bizarre in a British way. Still not sure on the Apollo and Midnighter thing.
  • Superboy #2: Can’t wait for them to give Superboy some personality here. Rose is awesome though.
  • Demon Knights #2: No idea what’s going on, but it’s fun, so who cares.
  • Birds of Prey #2: Still feels like it’s missing the point of what BoP was.
  • Deathstroke #2: Lots of silly fun and action. It’s not bad, just not really my thing. Very much adolescent-female territory.
  • Teen Titans #2: Some creativity, yet so much lazy shit.
Awful
  • Green Lantern – New Guardians #2: Still fucking awful, even my huge crush on Rayner isn’t helping.
  • Green Lantern Corps #2: I didn’t actually mean to read this, and I’m completely regretting it. Not even Guy was cool. 🙁
Cover of Huntress #1 The DCnU mini

In a wise move, DCnU Huntress is 'No Belly Window' Huntress.

Huntress #1 and #2 are pretty awesome too. It felt wrong to put them on the main list, but if they were they’d be in the top tier, maybe because it’s a mini or maybe because the author and artist had an extra month to get their shit sorted. Either way, much higher quality than the bulk of the other DCnU titles.

So October was, on the whole, a lot more enjoyable in terms of DCnU. This is partly due to the fact that I knew what I wanted to avoid, but also a lot less of the work is choppy or looks like the author just didn’t know the best way to introduce the story. Props have to go to Nightwing for being easily the most improved title. Not that the #1 was bad, I suspect it just erred onto the side of too much introduction, which for Dick fans like myself wasn’t necessary.
For the record, no – I don’t think this just because there was a lot more of Grayson’s arse and flesh on display. I’m a lady that likes plot with her pretty pictures, thank you very much.

Rating the DCnU

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I’ve finally finished reading most of the new DC titles that I was interested in. I could wank on and on about my opinions, but honestly, you’ll hear most of it anyway if you listen to the podcast, and the internet is already full of opinions.  Instead, I’m just going to rate them in order from most enjoyable to least.  I’ve added some detail with the following key:

*  –   I’ll keep reading or buy the GN when it comes out (as I remain annoyed by buying singles).
B  –   Boring and pointless
S  –   Slow start but has potential
C  –   Confusing
GA  –  Great art
WTFFUCKEDUPSHIT  –  Insanely terrible content that editorial people should be shot over allowing into such a high profile event without realising how bad it makes comics look as a medium and genre

Most at the top:

Wonder Woman #1 (2011)

Diana managing to land herself on top of the shitheap otherwise known as DCnU

  • *Wonder Woman – GA
  • *Batman 
  • Justice League Dark
  • *Batgirl 
  • Demon Knights 
  • *Nightwing – S, GA
  • Fury of Firestorm – C, S
  • Batwoman – C, GA
  • Birds of Prey –  C, S
  • Superboy – S
  • Supergirl – S
  • *Teen Titans – C
  • Static Shock  –  S
  • Stormwatch – C
  • Deathstroke – S
  • Green Lantern New Guardians – B, C
  • Mr Terrific – C, B
  • Swamp Thing –  C, B
  • Superman – B
  • Justice League – B
  • Suicide Squad – B, WTFFUCKEDUPSHIT
  • Catwoman – WTFFUCKEDUPSHIT
  • Voodoo – WTFFUCKEDUPSHIT
  • Red Hood and The Outlaws – WTFFUCKEDUPSHIT

It’s funny, titles mostly wound up at the bottom of this list for being either horribly offensive or just really boring. It’s also quite difficult to rate these things. I mean, there’s plenty of average but decent-enough books that are pretty meh, but how do you rate that against a book that seems incredibly uneven, with terrible plots next to some cute lines or character interactions?  Also, introductions that are also entertaining stories on their own are hard to do well when you basically already know everything about the character. Most of the characters haven’t really changed that much outside of the WTF group.

I’ll probably keep reading Teen Titans, less because it seemed that good: Kid Flash looks awful, though Cassie is at least being given more personality than the girl who crushes on Superboy. I can’t stop laughing at Tim’s swan wings. Seriously? Aside from that, while I can appreciate great artwork on a book, I’m a character-and-plot kind of person, so while terrible art might put me off a book, great art won’t necessarily sell it to me, unless it’s doing something unusual in the comics medium.

It’s pretty awesome seeing Wonder Woman at the top of this list. It’s amazing to see that DC has got at least one thing right, and put her where she belongs.  Shame she doesn’t have a lot to compete with.

Where I declare undying love for Greg Rucka

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… Or a more accurate title would probably be: “Episode Two of How I Got My Boyfriend To Read Comics is out!”

In this episode, we discuss the feedback we received and thank those that recc’ed us to others. News is discussed in the news section, while we still bitch about Flashpoint. I talk about why I haven’t had a chance to read any comics while Chris decides to act like he has taste by talking about Batwoman: Elegy. As for our two main reviews, we discuss the older Gotham Central series and then the Batman: Child of Dreams manga style comic we borrowed from Chris’s friend and fellow warhammer nerd (who incidentally, has amazing painting skills). I hope you all enjoy!

We welcome comments, questions and general feedback! We welcome suggestions on what to review as well!

We are now on the Itunes Store!
I forgot to post about this earlier but How I Got My Boyfriend To Read Comics is also available through the itunes store and can be subscribed to over here! So free to leave feedback on the itunes store!

Unfortunately I managed to crash and virus up my laptop the other week. So while I have it back up and running, everything has been re-installed, I’ve lost a fair number of unfinished blog posts. So apologies if you were desperately hoping to hear my opinions on the books I’ve been reading lately, it’ll be probably a little while longer before I start pumping out posts again.

Post podcast

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Woah. So apparently if Gail Simone retweets your podcast your site suddenly starts getting a hell of a lot more hits. So er, hi, new visitors! Feel free to make yourselves at home in the comments section.

It figures that now this site is actually being read by more than just my friends, I don’t really have any material for a useful and significant post to showcase my brilliance and wit. This is because podcasting took up a fair chunk of time and energy and I promised to save talking about Gotham Central for the next one. If all goes well, that is, if Boyfriend ever decides on the other comic we will be reviewing, will be in about a fortnight

So instead, let me relate news that interests me today.

Ars Technica had an article that caught my eye today about a new game, Gotham City Impostors.

Gotham City Impostors logo

Warning: does not appear to be containing all that much Batman

My thoughts on this aren’t particularly meaningful or complicated. I like FPS’s. I like Batman and  I like Gotham City. It’ll have my money and I’ll probably have a fair amount of fun with it, before returning back into another Quake-playing phase. However good it is… it probably won’t manage to replace the game that got me through high school. So that’ll be the cycle.

For the interested, the game website.

The other Bat-game ‘news’ item I came across, is an article with the nerdiest, campiest trailer video I have ever seen. It discusses the development of a game I am actually counting down the days to: Arkham City.

I’m still holding out hope that Nightwing will make an appearance, but for those of us that like nice arse in a game and want it combined with the Arkham Asylum experience, it’s not looking good. I guess I’ll have to stick with DCUO and old comics.

FUCK YEAH

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I think I’m a couple of days late but the latest Batman: Arkham City video trailer made me shout out with glee when I saw it, scaring the shit out of my neurotic cat in the process. Topless Robot is right on the money when he says:

I think it’s safe to say that Batman: Arkham City won’t just be the greatest Batman videogame of all time, or the best comic videogame of all time, or even the best videogame of all time. I think we can go ahead and call it THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT MANKIND HAS EVER OR WILL EVER PRODUCE. Although even that seems to be short-selling it a bit.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlET0kb5pmw]

In the past six months  my gaming time has been split between three games on the PS2/PS3. Those games are LEGO Batman, Batman: Arham Asylum and DC Universe Online. So, you can probably see the pattern and tell why I’m so excited. This has been partly mostly because I’m a massive Batman nerd, but also partly because I decided to learn how to console game (after over a decade of only really PC gaming) and partly because my access to the desktop machine in the house was reduced when my partner discovered playing LoL, leaving me with only my laptop. And well, playing FPS’s on a laptop? Is arse.

According to the Arkham City website Australia’s release date is the 19th of October. So people won’t see much of me for a few days after that.

[via Topless Robot]

Where comics are mentioned for the first time

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First post in awhile! Apologies, I got distracted by other projects and actual comics!

So… Batgirl: Rising

I’ve been avoiding a lot of post-RIP bat-comics lately, due to lack money and my dislike Grant Morrison’s writing. So when my musically-inclined neighbor told me that the new Batgirl series was awesome I was a bit wary. Stephanie Brown (when written well) is one of my favourite characters, but Batgirls seem to have a long and glorious history of being shitted all over and I didn’t want to read another War Games style shitting on. Still, he insisted on lending me Batgirl: Rising, the first trade of the new series.

I was then a little reluctant as  Bryan Q. Miller was someone I’d only heard of attached to this and Smallville which…well, has anyone other than Ollie Queen come out of Smallville looking good?

Fortunately everything that I love about Stephanie has nailed in this series. The similarity to Huntress in her determination and lack of Bat-vigilante approval is there, but without the ‘killer’ instinct that Huntress has. The girl is bloody stubborn, and doesn’t let fuck-ups slow her down, and most importantly doesn’t let any other character intimidate her into not being herself.

Miller manages to handle her rather mixed background well. The comic refers to her past enough to be believably the same character as Spoiler, but there are some changes for the better: her relationship with her mother and the college start are quite sweet. Her relationships with Tim and Cass are absent but obviously things that were there. The ‘re-adoption’ of Steph by Barbara is also handled well, and they have a snarky, fun dynamic.

Occasionally it does fall into some tropes that are irritating and a little old. The most obvious example being the melodrama around Steph hiding her Batgirl identity from her mother – like we haven’t already seen this storyline play on and on and on… with a bat-sidekick *cough* Tim Drake *cough*. Still, Miller’s fun writing style tends to mean you forgive the weaker points, focusing instead on Steph’s flirtation with that detective, and her fucking wonderful dialogue with Damian and Babs.

I have one real complaint with Batgirl: Rising though. What the hell is with the penis vehicle? I mean, duh, she’s always had more balls than male characters like Drake, but does she really need that added level of visual Freudian compensation?

Anyway my entire point of this review? I realise I was slow to here but: Go. Read this. Now. If you don’t read bat-comics, find a good starting point. Read that. Then read this.

Hello there

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Looks like all I have left to do is give this blog some content. So! Have a picture of my latest toy while I get distracted by the DCUO beta crashing on my PS3 and fail to write something more substantial.

Photo of my copy of my Batman Beyond limited edition set. Against carpet.

Batman Jnr

 

The latest package that arrived on my doorstep (and my finishing my degree present to myself). I only saw this show recently, and while I’m not usually a fan of kid’s shows, the Batman vs cyberpunk feel to it made it a hell of a lot of fun. The conversations between an old Bruce Wayne and Terry McGuinness was just icing on the cake.

This sits in the top shelf of my lounge room shelves next to matching set of Batman: The Animated Series and my (not matching but still awesome) JLU set and Farscape dvds. The special shelf of awesomeness awesometimes.