House Ads 3- Vengeance of Bane

After introducing Azrael, who would go on to become the new Batman, it was time to introduce the man who would create a need for a new Batman. Enter: Bane, the man who would break the Bat!

Vengeance of Bane is a cool one-shot story that introduces Bane and tells his super effed up backstory growing up in an island prison in the horribly corrupt nation of Santa Prisca and does a serviceable job establishing why a man from this corner of the world would give two craps about Gotham City or the Batman.

It’s a pretty cool ad, too, as it gives Bane a sense of mystery and menace and teases his look without giving the whole thing away. Also, “the man who will finally break the Batman”? What could that possibly mean? No way some new guy takes out the Batman, right? They wouldn’t do that after just doing to Superman, would they?

WOULD THEY?!?!

5 Coolest Moments From… Batman: Knightfall

We already discussed some of the more awesome moments from the most famous of the early 90’s DC epics, the Death of Superman, but somehow, we have yet to touch on the best of the early 90’s DC epics, Batman’s ‘Knightfall’!

Generated originally as a cool idea to really hammer home to fans why Bruce Wayne is Batman, and why it’s important that a guy like Bruce is Batman, it quickly grew into a monster of a story that spread across all of the main and ancillary Bat-titles in 3 massive parts: Knightfall, Knightquest, and Knightsend. As each of these chapters of this bonkers big story have a LOT going on, we are just going to focus on the first (and most famous) chapter: Knightfall!

So put your Batman soundtrack tape in your walkman, put on your most comfortable Hyper Color t-shirt, take the house phone off the hook, put your feet up and bathe in glorious early 1990’s nostalgia with me as we delve into 5 of the very coolest moments from Batman: Knightfall!

Continue reading →

Top 100 Villains 40-31

4427-wizard_lms_dc_villains_vs_marvel_vi

Everyone knows nothing makes a good hero like a great villain. Sherlock Holmes needed Moriarty, G.I. Joe needed Cobra, the rebels needed Darth Vader, etc. Nothing makes a story better quite like an interesting, intriguing, and yet hated adversary. Readers tend to flock to the villains they love to hate. The best villains bring something out of the hero that nobody else does, or force the hero to push themselves further than before to find a way to win.

We wanted to make a top 10 list, but that’s impossible. There are just too many good choices, and we couldn’t agree on any of it. So we increased the list, and increased it, and increased it (honestly we probably could have kept going, too). So, before it gets too out of hand, here are our choices for the 100 best villains in comics.

(Click here for our Top 100 Heroes List!)

Continue reading →

Podcasters Assemble – S8: “BATCASTERS ASSEMBLE!” (Episode List)

Season 1 covered the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Iron Man to Endgame, Season 2 reviewed the Star Wars saga, Season 003 tackled all 24 James Bond films, Season 4 was an epic countdown to Godzilla vs Kong, Season 5 reviewed the Mortal Kombat movies / games, Season 6 was all things Ghostbusters, in Season 7 we plugged into The Matrix, and for Season 8 we watched every live-action Batman movie!

  1. Podcasters Disassembled: “BATMAN: The Movie” (1966)
  2. BATMAN (1989)
  3. BATMAN RETURNS (1992)
  4. BATMAN FOREVER (1995)
  5. BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)
  6. BATMAN: Mask of the Phantasm (1992, Animated)
  7. BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
  8. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
  9. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)
  10. THE BATMAN (2022)

Bonus Episodes (coming soon to Patreon) :

  • Batman Video Games (4 parter)
  • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
  • Lego Batman: The Movie (2017)
  • JOKER (2019)
  • The Best / Worst of Animated Batman Movies
Continue reading →

Comic Zombie Podcast #20: THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY

Issue #20: THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY (w/ Justin Ache)

“You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” – Harvey Dent 

This week, with the upcoming release of Matt Reeves’s “The Batman”, Chris and Erik are teaming up with graphic designer Justin Ache (from Podcasters Assemble and Significant Otter Co), to revisit and discuss Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy, starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne! 

The Dark Knight Trilogy:

  • BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
  • THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
  • THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

Be sure to listen to our previous episodes on the MCU Phase One w/ Zack Derby as well as our very first episode on the Burton / Schumacher Batman movies! Check out our blog at ComicZombie.net for more – including Erik’s recent articles on his Top 15 DC Movies, Every Batmobile Ever, and Zack Snyder’s DC Trilogy! 

And join in on the upcoming season of Podcasters Assemble where we’re talking about all things Batman! #BatcastersAssemble

(Episode edited by Erik Slader)

Continue reading →

Comic Zombie Podcast #12

Comic Zombie – Issue #12: The Not-So-Great Debate: BATMAN Edition!

On the latest (and greatest?) episode – Erik and Chris argue over the questions that really matter… to comic fans.

  1. Who’s the best Robin?
  2. Should Batman even have a Robin?
  3. Should Batman be in the Justice League?
  4. If DC were to kill off the Joker, who should do it?
  5. Which Batmobile is the coolest?
  6. Who is the best on-screen Batman?
  7. Best movie villain, besides the Joker?
  8. What’s the best bat-comics event storyline?
  9. Best Joker actor?
  10. Most underrated Batman villain?

Do you agree with our picks? Who won? Let us know and feel free to debate us on social media! (@ComicZombie2 on Twitter!)

For more random shenanigans, check out our blog at ComicZombie.net – Including our “Not-So-Great Debates”!

*Also listen to us on Podcasters Assemble!

Network Info

This podcast is a production of the We Can Make This Work (Probably) Network. Follow us below to keep up with this show and discover our many other podcasts! The place for those with questionable taste! Twitter | Facebook| Instagram: @probablyworkwww.probablywork.com Email: ProbablyWorkPod@gmail.com—This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Top 50 Moments from “Events”

Secret_Wars_1.jpg

Both Marvel and DC (and really most publishers) from time to time will throw a lot of their characters (sometimes nearly all) together for a really big story. These have been dubbed ‘event’ titles. Books like Final Crisis, Blackest Night, Metal, Civil War, Spider-Verse, and many, many others have their fans and detractors, but you can’t deny that they provide some of the coolest, most intense, most unforgettable moments in comics history.

Everyone has their favorites, but here are 50 of the best moments (in no particular order). If you have any favorites that we neglected to include, sound off in the comments.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Continue reading →

Holy Bat-movies! – Part 3

We did it! We made it! I was worried for a second…

In Part One – we covered Batman ’66, Batman ’89, and Tim Burton’s Batman Returns…

Then in Part Two – we tore apart Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever and the god awful Batman and Robin…

Now it’s time to review Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy!

Batman Begins

Batman Begins (2005)

Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale (Batman), Liam Neeson (Ra’s Al Ghul), Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow), Ken Watanabe (fake Ra’s), Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes), Michael Caine (Alfred), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon), Tom Wilkinson (Carmine Falcone), Rutger Hauer (Mr. Earle)

Batmobile:

untitled16

Plot: A true origin story following Bruce’s life periodically from the murder of his parents to his travels around the world making himself into Batman, one step at a time. He becomes a member of, and eventually turns against, the League of Shadows, who come to Gotham to get their revenge and destroy the city. As Batman, he must face the Falcone mafia, the Scarecrow, and Ra’s Al Ghul, while trying to rekindle his relationship with childhood friend turned assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes, establishing a relationship with Jim Gordon (one of the only honest cops in Gotham), and working to get his company back from Mr. Earle.

Continue reading →

Holy Bat-movies! – Part 2

Last time, in Part One: we covered Batman ’66, Batman ’89, and Batman Returns, now for our descent into Hell…

BATMAN FOREVER poster

Batman Forever (1995)

Directed By: Joel Schumacher

Starring: Val Kilmer (Batman), Chris O’Donnell (Robin), Jim Carrey (Riddler), Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face), Nicole Kidman (Dr. Chase Meridian), Michael Gough (Alfred)

Batmobile:

imagesNL3LDO4K

Plot: Batman and his new sidekick Robin must face the combined forces of Two-Face (former district attorney Harvey Dent, who blames Batman for the courtroom incident that scarred his face) and the Riddler (Edward Nygma, a former employee of Bruce Wayne seeking revenge for being justifiably fired), and their device that is going to steal all of the information from all of the brains in Gotham. Or some stupid crap.

Continue reading →

Holy Bat-movies!

All the Batmen

Batman has had a number of incarnations over the 75 years he’s been around, and many of them have been captured on film in the last 50 years. Depending on which movie you watch, he can be either part of the campy, ridiculous dynamic duo to the dark, brooding, badass dark knight. Depending on which version you prefer you can find at least one film that is to your tastes and is a totally valid interpretation of the character. Unless you like Batman and Robin, in which case go fuck yourself.

Erik and I will break down each of the Batman’s feature films, beginning with the 1966 adaptation of the television show and ending with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises, and will attempt to convey what is good and bad about each, and which ones we liked (Batman), loved (Dark Knight) and straight up went into murderous hatred over (Batman & Robin).

Animated features were left out this time, as there are so many we feel like they deserve their own article.

Batman '66

Batman: The Movie (1966)

Continue reading →