Kryptonian Thought-Beast

Watched:  Part 1 - 10/02, Part 2 - 10/03 Format:  HBOmax Viewing:  First Decade:  2020's Director:  Chris Palmer I've not kept it a secret that I haven't thought all that much of the narratives of DC Animated films in several years.  There's been some winners, and some mediocre stuff, and a certain bit of leaning in to the "edge-tacular" stuff that was kicked off by Flashpoint .   Hence, I haven't really wanted to give anyone any money to watch any of the animated features.  I've paid for a Superman and Wonder Woman movie here and there, and I know I caught a Bat-film or two, but none of it knocked my socks off.  Including some adaptations of some favorite stories straight from the comics. More out of curiosity than anything, Jamie and I decided to check out Batman: The Long Halloween (2021) on HBOmax.  She also read the comic maybe 15 years ago, so we both had a bit of knowledge about what to expect.   Frankly, for me, i...

Watched:  10/03/2021 Format:  HBOmax Viewing:  First Decade:  2010's Director:  Sam Liu Look.  This... should never have been a movie.  I know what DC/ WB Animation was thinking, but I have no idea what DC/ WB Animation was thinking. Winding it way back, in 1988 I would have been about 13 when I stumbled across The Killing Joke  as a comic book.  And, yes, at one point I had a first printing of the comic, which rises and falls in value on a regular basis.   It's worth noting - Moore and Bolland were commissioned to do the comic en route to the Keaton-starring  Batman  movie.  Moore now distances himself from the comic as he has all things DC.  It was, I assume meant to be something of the moment and to give people curious about Batman and the Joker and modern comics something they could pick up as a "graphic novel" at B. Dalton Booksellers.   This was the era just before 1989's Batman movie, and DC was...

Polygon recently ran an oral history of the New 52 effort from DC Comics .  It features then DC Co-Publisher, Dan Didio, as well as a number of writers from the era.  It's a fascinating article for a lot of reasons, in part because of what those interviewed considered success and good ideas, and it seems that at least one person seems to have some difficulty separating fact from fiction on a few points. A lot of talent - writers, artists and editors - seem to have turned down Polygon's request for an interview, some even citing that working on the New 52/ Nu52 was so unpleasant, they'd rather not talk about it.  So the number of voices that you'll see represented are minimal and probably well insulated from being seen as "difficult" or "willing to talk" by the current folks in charge.  After all, it's a tiny industry, and speaking out of turn even about deposed rulers can still label you as a problem. In my opinion, reading the article, it's ...