‘C’ is for Comic Books - An Encyclopedia Blitz!

I think it started sometime in 2006. Yes, that’s when the Marvel Encyclopedia was published by DK Publishing. I have a handy copy of it right here, and as I flip through I can tell you that this is a pretty in-depth look at the Marvel universe and her characters. More than a thousand articles in here.

I’ll agree with a friend of mine and allow that Deadpool doesn’t get nearly the page space he deserves... still a very comprehensive look, however.

The Marvel Vault, published by Running Press, followed suit in 2007. The ‘Museum-In-A-Book’ did extremely well during the holiday season, and traced the history of Marvel from the Golden Age all the way to present day. Nearly 70 years of history and over 30 pieces of removable memorabilia – such as old trading cards, reprints, artwork, etc. – all in a book. Makes you feel like a kid again just by opening it and exploring the treasures inside.

This is why Running Press will be releasing ‘The DC Vault: A Museum-In-A-Book’ this October! Following the success of its predecessor, The Marvel Vault, Running Press has ordered a huge first printing of 100,000 copies of this new Vault collection. There will be tones of extras to be found in this vault, such as exact reproductions of early sketches, memos and even a working model of a 1942 Junior Justice Society of America Decoder!

How cool is that?!

Look for that one in stores in October for roughly $50.00!

DK Publishing won’t be missing the boat this holiday season
either, as they will be releasing a thoroughly informative collaboration to follow up on the Marvel Encyclopedia! DK’s The Vertigo Encyclopedia ($30.00) will be a 240-Page, full color hardcover edition will be out for the holidays and will most definitely be a top seller. In here you will find all of the primary Vertigo labels such as Hellblazer, The Sandman, Preacher, Swamp Thing, Fables, and Y: The Last Man. That’s not all, there will be tones of other articles on other Vertigo properties. Look to the shelves this holiday for this one to add to your collection!

But DK’s not done yet! With the success yet again of its Marvel Encyclopedia, DK is coming back with Marvel Chronicle (roughly $50.00)! It’s a 352-page, year-by-year accounting of the history of the Marvel Universe! From its early days all the way up to the recent events of Civil War and Secret Invasion! Along the way it will also note the key events of our time to coincide with what comic books were being published in those years. This book will be a great idea for those who wish to find out just how Marvel found themselves in the position they are today – how they and their characters built up so much steam to become the true marvels they are today.

So a bunch of encyclopedic knowledge about comic books will be out for the holidays this year. So throw away your Encyclopedia Britannica – there wasn’t much in those anyways – and make some shelf space for a whole new set of books containing all you need to know about the comic book titans of history!

Batman: The Dark Knight

Hands down one of my most anticipated movies this year. After how incredible of a job they did on Batman Begins, I can’t help but think that this movie will be even better – if only for the addition of (the late) Heath Ledger as the Joker. I’m not sure if you have seen the Batman trailer, however I’m assuming if you’re reading this blog you must have by now. Watch it in QuickTime format here.

The thing I’m most impressed about in regards to this movie is the impressive (possible overload) of viral marketing. The campaign they have gone through to promote this movie has been nothing short of breath-taking. Let me see…

There’s Why So Serious, where currently you can take a personality test to see if you qualify to be one of the Joker’s thugs. There’s the Gotham Times, where you can go and read the Gotham newspaper to catch up on current events in Gotham. Ha Ha Ha Times goes hand in hand with this, where you can view a doctored, vandalized version of the same newspaper articles.

And then there’s a number of obscure and professional looking websites such as The Gotham National Bank website, The Gotham City Rail website and The Gotham City Police Department website. With that last one, there is also We Are The Answer – a website devoted to citizens of Gotham reporting claims of dirty cops and corruption.

Then there’s "I Believe in Harvey Dent" - the Harvey Dent campaign website! Harvey Dent, we all know, is the man destined to become Two Face, and is played by Aaron Eckhart.

Lastly there’s a very… realistic website devoted to a student reportedly killed by Gotham gang violence, called Remembering Gina.

How can you not look on all of these websites (all of which have offered so many different hints over the past few months) and not admire this massive marketing campaign? I mean sure, a lot of people don’t like to go on scavenger hunts in order to discover a little piece of information, but just the fact that there are so many ways to accidentally stumble onto a piece of their marketing is incredible.

Anyways.

If even the acting and script quality of the first film can remain intact for this second installment, then Batman: The Dark Knight will win the superhero opening weekend fight over Hulk or Iron Man. With the addition of Mr. Ledger as the Joker (and from what we’ve seen from the trailers – the best damned Joker EVER) and Mr. Eckhart as Harvey Dent, this movie promises to have a far more complex, and far darker plotline than any other Batman movie before. If they put even half the effort into the movie that they put into marketing... this one will be money.

See you at the theatre!

Iron Man vs. Batman

I know many others out there have already caught the eerie similarities between Iron Man and Batman. Alright, maybe not so eerie, however it is oddly coincidental for the top two grossing superhero movies this summer. Let me assure you, Batman: The Dark Knight WILL be a top grossing film this year. Sadly Hulk will have nothing on these two.

I mean let’s go over the facts, here.

Iron Man is a billionaire. Batman is a billionaire.

Iron Man is a playboy socialite. So is Batman.

Iron Man has Jarvis, his butler (though in the film they basically gave Pepper his role and made Jarvis into the AI in his suit and lab). Batman has Alfred, his butler.

Both don’t actually have superpowers. They merely… use their money and go traipsing around flaunting the fact they could become heroes because they were rich and had some time on their hands.

Iron Man lost his parents. Batman lost his parents.

Iron Man has his sidekick, War Machine. Batman has his sidekick, Robin. War Machine > Robin.

Iron Man has the Avengers. Batman has the Justice League.

The only thing Batman has that Iron Man does not is an extra 30 years and 4 more movies.

In total, Iron Man did 100.8 million dollars not including international sales. Indiana Jones nabbed 126.1 million dollars. How will the Batman sequel do in the box office? You can bet it will land somewhere in between. I doubt it will beat out the almost 3 decade’s worth of hype and anticipation of Indiana Jones, however it does have a lot of free advertising surrounding the death of Heath Ledger. My money down on 119 million, give or take 2 or 3 +/-.

A friend of mine showed this little clip to me a little while back. It’s basically everything I just talked about in the form of a PC vs. Mac commercial. Enjoy!

The All Powerful Loonie

Don MacPherson over at Eye on Comics posted yesterday a bit of interesting news from the DC front. Though a number of months behind Marvel's switch, DC has decided to begin reflecting Canada's stronger dollar into their periodical comic rates, making them effectively cheaper for Canadians.

Don continues on to contemplate on a number of issues revolving around the key word 'periodical' and whether graphic novels and volume compilations will also reflect the stronger buying power of the loonie.

I really do hope so. Graphic novels are pretty close to my main purchasing focus, as I highly enjoy filling my book shelf with things other than flimsy pamphlet issues. Regardless, pennies saved are pennies earned!


Also I'll take a second to point out the new Scott Pilgrim themed banner. Scott Pilgrim, created by Bryan Lee O'Malley is definitely on my favorites list and I'll definitely enjoy meeting the creator at the Calgary Comicon in April.

Free Comic Books!

While this may be old news for some of you, I recently stumbled upon Vertigo's recently released website which offers the first issue online for many of their current publications...completely free!

Ever since Vertigo was created in the 1980s by the masterful hand of DC, it has been a major contributor to the industry for some seriously edgy and controversial material. The all-star line-up has included such hits as V for Vendetta, Hellblazer, Sandman, and more.

Just today, I finally read the last issues of Vertigo's American Virgin and Y: The Last Man. While the former of the two had a lackluster ending, I was still thoroughly impressed by both stories. I'm still working on Transmetropolitan and 100 Bullets, and I'm interested starting Army@Love any time now.

Do yourself a favor and check out some of the great work. It might just spark your interest in something new and exciting.

Justice League Movie a Go

Variety has reported that now that the writer's strike has ended, DC's Justice League has come closer to earning time on the silver screen. Last month the project had been put on hold, for what everyone expected to be indefinitely.

The cast, however, has been notified to continue their training for their roles, as the Warner Bros. Studios prepares for the movie's intended debut in 2009.

Currently holding the main roles for the film are Adam Brody (The O.C.) as the Flash, rapper Common (Smokin' Aces) stars as the Green Lantern, Armie Hammer (Flicka) is Batman, and D.J. Cotrona (Venom) is rumored to play Superman.

Fans across the internet have not been overly impressed, however, in the decision to keep Batman and Superman in the movie. Some say that to include these two characters as different actors than who is currently being used in other films (Batman Begins, Superman Returns) is an unwise move. Personally I don't overly care, as a movie has the potential to be good regardless of who stars in it... sometimes.

Batman: Gotham Knight

From our friends over at ICV2:

Warner Bros. has announced a July 8th release for Batman: Gotham Knight, a new anime feature film that hopes to do for The Dark Knight what the Animatrix did for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Batman: Gotham Knight explores events that happened between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, which opens on July 18th. The creators of the new Batman film commissioned three anime studios, Production I.G., Studio 4C, and Madhouse and five noted anime directors (Shojiro Nishimi, Futoshi Higashide, Hiroshi Morioka, Yasuhiro Aoki and Toshiyuki Kubooka) to create a series of six interrelated Batman adventures based on stories by Josh Olson (A History of Violence), David Goyer (Batman Begins), Alan Burnett (Batman: The Animated Series), Greg Rucka (Whiteout), Jordan Goldberg (producer, The Dark Knight) and Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets)