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!

Create Your Very Own Hero!

Allow me to introduce you to Captain Awesome! He's really awesome! What are his powers you ask? His powers are AWESOME! However I have not yet decided what his powers are!

He does, however, have swords and brass knuckles. And a utility belt.

You are now completely baffled I see, yet - by reading the title - by now you no doubt surmise the topic of this post. Yes, I did create this fancy little hero. All the detail you see here, all the stunning equipment features, the colors, everything was done in a completely painless and extremely addictive process.

This fine character was brought to you by the good people of Under Ground Online. Besides many other cool time-busters on their site, they have a hero creator. Whether you play Dungeons and Dragons or just wish to create a visual guide of some of your favorite characters from books, etc., the Hero Machine V2.5 is the way to go! In relatively no time at all I have created over 10 characters. And I still want to make more.

The program is flash driven and requires no downloading for the program (It's all online), short of the latest version of flash! It also features an easy print feature so you can show off your creation to your friends, and be the envy of all your questing buddies when the DM gives you bonus experience for that really swanky character portrait!

So get out there and create for yourself the superhero you've always wanted to be! Be imaginative! Goliath!? commands it!

Marvel Facebook, Part 2

Hey so I just went on there and was reading some Cable & Deadpool. When you begin to read, a pop-up shows up in the bottom corner, informing the reader of the comic's availability in your local comic store! How neat is that?

And just as a side note. A decent number of comics you can view completely free cover to cover. However, many of the newer ones are only half-available for online viewing. A subscription to the MDUU site, however, takes care of that. 60 bucks a year for unlimited reading of all the posted titles start to finish uninterrupted. Not shabby considering the amount of reading material.

Excuse me, I'm going to go read some and then quite possibly go and buy some!

Marvel on Facebook

Marvel Comics has entered into the Facebook App. fold. Yesterday, 'Marvel Digital Comics' came online for any Facebook user to add to their applications list. The app itself opens up the availability of over 3000 Marvel Digital Universe Unlimited titles (the collection of which ICv2 has posted here).

Another feature of the application is the "My Must Reads" option, where you may post your favorite comics on there for your friends to see. From there you may also note your friends and their recommended comics. Marvel news will also be posted on the app's home page, as well as image galleries, videos, and information on other marvel entertainment ventures.

I know what some are thinking: if comics are released online to read, won't purchasing go down and eventually be wiped out? Actually no! The titles that will be released on the Facebook app are all the titles that are released through Marvel Digital Universe Unlimited, as mentioned. However, comics are only added to that list 6 months after publication, leaving a very healthy amount of time on the store shelf before being available to view (but not own or download) online.

I think this is an incredible idea to draw back the readers of comics who have left over time, and also a good way for readers to catch up on their series before plunging back into a comic store to buy the newest one!

Here's the link to the MDUU website! Go! Read!