Tim Burton's Joker

MTV.com has pictures from the Tim Burton Museum Of Modern Art Exhibition going on in New York, which includes artwork the director created for his Batman movies and his never-made take on Superman. You can also read their related article here.

Batman #1 logo

As you may have guessed, we're big fans of the Logo Studies feature letterer Todd Klein runs over on his blog, where he looks at various comic book logos and how they evolved over the years. Yesterday he shared a bit of history about the original Batman logo from the 1940s, which was designed by comics legend Jerry Robinson.

"One of the things I expected when I started doing my Logo Studies was that I would never be able to find out for sure, or at all, who designed many of the original comics logos from the 1940s," Klein wrote on his blog. "Today I proved that expectation wrong when I spoke to Jerry Robinson, one of the first Batman artists, and involved with the character almost from the beginning."

Klein had originally gotten in touch with Robinson to ask about the Robin logo that appeared on the Boy Wonder's first appearance, and Robinson told Klein he also designed the original Batman logo, seen above.

Check out Klein's complete rundown of the Batman logos over the years here and here, and his commentary on the Robin one here.

Batmobile by H.R. Geiger

The essential Super Punch has more images and information on Giger's rejected designs for the Batmobile from Batman Forever.

from Frank Miller & Lynn Varley's The Dark Knight Strikes Again

It started with a dare. Here at Robot 6 a week ago, I posted about how comics legend Frank Miller has been posting comments at the blog of neoconservative pundit Victor Davis Hanson. This inspired a comment by James B. Elkins II that casted skepticism on my bonafides as a Miller fan. Since Miller is in fact my all-time favorite comics creator, I responded by daring any and all comers to challenge me to defend what is, to many readers, Miller's most indefensible work: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Miller and colorist Lynn Varley's sequel to their seminal revisionist-superhero classic The Dark Knight Returns. I've always loved that book, but I'd never written about it at length. Well, David Brothers of The 4th Letter went ahead and took the dare and laid the challenge at my feet.

The result? I wrote a review of The Dark Knight Strikes Again for The Savage Critic(s), another one of my blog-homes away from blog-home. The piece, part of series of posts I'm doing on my all-time favorite comics, places Miller & Varley's much-maligned, much-misunderstood comic in the context of similarly bright and brash works by cartoonist Ben Jones, comedians Tim and Eric, the "glo-fi" subgenre of indie rock, and more. Do check it out--then swing by The 4th Letter for David Brothers's own two-part review of the book, which tackles it from a very different yet equally positive angle.

Batman & Robin #6

DC's The Source blog shows us Frank Quitely's cover to Batman & Robin #6, which features Batman's "most dangerous, psychopathic, murderous foe," The Flamingo, according to editor Michael Marts.

Now all the motorcycle-riding killer needs is a string of one-word named "apprentices" of the female persuasion ...

Ali Stephens by Thierry Le Gouès for French Revue de Modes

Hey look, more fashion/comic book action today ... the blog Fashion Gone Rogue has pictures from a photo shoot featuring model Ali Stephens and a guy in a Batman suit. The pictures are from the latest issue of French Revue de Modes (caution: their home page may cause a seizure and is potentially NSFW).

Via Super Punch

Zatanna and Batman

One of the fun things about comic conventions is checking out all the sketches that artists drew and post on their blogs afterward -- such as Cliff Chiang, who posts not only this Batman and Zatanna sketch, but others featuring the Doom Patrol, Power Girl and more. Go check'em out.

It's Wednesday again and here we are for another edition of Send Us Your Shelf Porn. Our guest this week is Batman devotee Julian Smoger, who has accumulated quite the caped crusader collection and wanted to share some of his more interesting finds with Robot 6 readers.

Once again, let me encourage any and all of you who'd like to submit your collection to please do so. Just send any pictures and commentary to cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet and I'll try to get it up on the site in a few weeks time.

In the meantime, I'll hand the virtual mic over to Julian ...

I like Batman. I like Batman a lot. I like Batman so much that I plan on opening my own Batman museum one day. On top of the toy and doodad collection, I've accumulated a few thousand Batman only comic books.

These are my first Batman toys from when I was a kid in the early '80s. The SuperPowers toy is actually a replacement for the original, which I lost when I was young and cried for ever about. The bed comforter was used until I was in college or something ridiculous like that. The 2 Mego toys were bought for me by my parents when they went on a vacation (it's at the point now where, when on vacation, my mother just buys me Batman stuff from antique dealers).

This is probably one of my favorite pieces in my collection. My mom made this from scratch for Halloween when I was mad young. Notice the muscles sewn in to make my scrawny ass look beefy! Eventually, I want to get a maniquin and a plexiglass case to house it in, just like the Batcave!

The story behind this one is a bit funny. I was living in NY and saw the promotion. I did not, however, want Domino's. I just walked in and asked for the box, got odd looks from the staff, then demanded a box. Eventually, they just wanted to get rid of me, so now I have it!

This is a custom piece I had done at the famous Six Flags amusement park! Ha ha. I had originally gotten it for my Grandmother as a present but since she's moved, I've re-inherited it, which is ok with me!

I got this at NYCC2009. I had never really met any big names before, and as I was walking through the aisles, I saw a little unassuming old man at an empty table with a sign that just said "I created the Joker". I walked up and met Jerry Robinson, a very pleasant gentleman who signed this print for me. It was great to be able to meet a piece of history.

These pics are about 2 years old as I now live in a tiny apartment where I'm unable to set everything up. As you can see, my obsession runs deep. If Batman's on it, I'll buy it; spaghettios, shampoo, bubble bath. Since I've moved, I cataloged everything individually. If you want to see more (a LOT more), check out The Batman Museum.

Seriously, look at those necks

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a new direct-to-DVD film set in an alternate DC universe where everybody takes ungodly amounts of steroids.

Seriously, that's the only conclusion I can come to as to why every single character in this movie, even the civilians, has a neck -- when they have a neck at all -- that's wider than their goddamned skull. Seriously, their heads look like they've been bolted on. And that's to say nothing of the endless oceans of muscles that ripple across everyone's bodies. The entire planet is obviously juiced to the max.

But the display of over the top physiques really shouldn't surprise me. At it's heart, Public Enemies is your typical uber-macho buddy action movie, and just as dumb and sexist as most of them to boot. It's the comic nerd's version of Tango and Cash.

Man, Lex Luthor has big eyebrows

The plot involves Lex Luthor becoming president. The U.S. populace, you see, has become desperate. How desperate? Why they're destroying poor, innocent newspaper vending machines just to collect the loose change!! Obviously the parking meters are charging a fortune in this universe. Perhaps the steroids are needed just to smash the vending machines.

Anyway, Lex promises hope, or evil, or something, and gets elected. He then manipulates the media into thinking that Superman is public enemy number one and puts a billion dollar bounty on his head. Can Superman, with the help of his bestest friend Batman, clear his name, reveal Lex's treacherous machinations and prevent a radioactive meteorite from destroying the planet. Do I really have to ask that question?

Is it good or bad that I don't know who most of these folks are?

All this plot stuff though is really just an excuse to show one action scene after another. If you're a devoted DC fanboy, who has waited all your life to, say, watch Hawkman, Captain Marvel and DC's two biggest mainstays play Smack My Bitch Up, then you'll be in hog heaven. Numerous second banana villains and heroes make cameo appearances here, but only for the express purpose of getting hit. There's actually a scene where Superman and Batman should sensibly attempt to get out of Dodge quickly and Superman says "Naw, I want to stick around and hit some more people." Or words to that effect.

Why doesn't Capt. Atom have nipples?

Honestly, it's a bit unfair to the actors who've been paid good money for these meager supporting roles. What's the point of hiring LeVar Burton to voice Black Lightning if he's only got one line? And it amounts to something like "Yes, I can do that thing you ask of me."

I've found a clue as to why this movie sucks

Actually, I take back what I said two paragraphs ago, the battle scenes are nowhere near as important as the insufferable, uber-macho dialogue that Superman and Batman must constantly banter about in order to show that beneath their tough exterior they really, really care about one another maaaaan. The constant Lethal Weapon-style teasing set my back teeth on edge. (Bat: "Why don't you do me a favor and lose the sense of humor? Supe: "Why don't you do us both a favor and get one?" Oh, the hee-lar-ity.)

My eyes are for some reason drawn to the center of this image

The best example of the boys club mentality that pervades this movie is its depiction of Power Girl. Apart from showing off her Everest-sized breasts (and seri0usly, even compared with her depiction in comics, those are some big melons) she has absolutely nothing to do. Her main role in the film consists of fretting a lot, biting her bee-stung lips and acting all indecisive. You know, just like a girl. The one moment she manages to actually use her powers she ends up inadvertently killing someone. So she's incompetent as well as whiny.

There's other examples of the sort of dumbed-down adolescent attitudes on display, like the bleeped swear words in the opening segment (Oooo! Suggested profanity! How edgy!) or the fact that despite all the excessive violence there's not a single drop of blood. I mean, Superman gets shot in the freakin' chest and there's not so much as a trickle of hemoglobin.

Metallo!

The movie is fanboy pandering at it's most base and basic level. Even the special features, like a dinner where the actors and producers engage in a game of "No, you're way more awesome than me," or a pseudo-documentary on the characters where they actually get a psychiatrist to come out and say there's nothing wrong with Batman's psychological make-up, no siree, smack of of that sort of over-the-top justification that grown men sometimes offer up to justify reading Teen Titans.

Like a lot of recent DC animated movies, Public Enemies wants it both ways. They want to appear edgy and ever so slightly "adult" in order to appeal to the older fan base that wants to see Superman and Batman high-five each other without feeling childish about doing so. Unlike the past films, it fails to be entertaining enough to forgive that huge flaw. It's a shame really, because this could have made a really good kids or all-ages film. If it weren't for all the 'roid abuse that is.

Great scott! Another vending machine in peril!

A panel from "Question & Answer," by Dustin Nguyen

As a big fan of Dustin Nguyen's chibi-esque renditions of Batman's friends and foes  -- they pop up regularly on the artist's DeviantArt account -- I'm thrilled to see this morning's announcement that the "Lil' Gotham" characters will appear in October's Batman Annual #27 and Detective Comics Annual #11.

The two-page backup stories, titled "Off Rogue Racing" and "Question & Answer," are written by Derek Fridolfs and Nguyen with art, of course, by Nguyen.

On DeviantArt, the artist writes that the characters began as a hobby when, "for the hell of it," he'd "draw a character every few days on my lunch break, after work, end of the night before I turn in and see how many I can fill up on this big paper."

That turned in to something more, though, as he sent posters -- this one, presumably -- "to almost everyone at the DC office. Taking my chances, walking the line of it to see how far I could push it. Doing the inside attack -- right?"

It seems to have paid off, though, as Nguyen hints the "Lil' Gotham" characters could see life beyond the two annuals.

"Baby steps," he writes. "And if it gets enough of a positive reaction from readers, fans, viewers, and internally -- we will be doing more. ... We already have bigger plans ready at the gate should they give us the okay. Now, it's all up to you guys, if you love it -- show your love. Pick up this year's Detective and Batman annuals for our two short stories in each. Raise hell and please let them know you want more."