Posts Tagged ‘Batman Begins’
8 items.
Sep15
By now you’ve probably heard that Christian Bale will be taking up The Mantle of The Bat in the next Warner Bros. film adaptation of The Caped Crusader.
I think it’s a smart move to pick Bale. The guy is a perfect mix of dark and light and he’s got the W.A.S.P.y demeanor of Bruce Wayne down cold. And if they decide to go all camp again like they did in Batman & Robin, he can roll with it. I mean, did anyone see Reign of Fire? Ugh!
Actually, I’m pretty sure they’ll stay away from the camp stuff as long as Memento director Christopher Nolan is in charge… and he is. I just hope he remembers to take the damn nipples off the costume first.
Today’s comic is an apt progression in my personal interests as of late. Right now, I’m in full geek-out mode. I’ve been hovering around comic book shops lately – something I haven’t done since before I went to college. I used to be a hard core collector and I’ve kind of been missing it. So I’m picking up books here and there. I snagged the 20 years due JLA/Avengers crossover. I just needed to see it for myself.
Maybe subconsciously I’m gearing up for the big Minneapolis FallCon I’ll be attending with my good buddies from No Pants Tuesday, Nothing Nice to Say and Movie Punks. As they say in the movies, “It’s on like Donkey Kong!” We’ve got a booth and everything. You’ll have to come see us on October 4 and 5.
But I guess I’m getting away from the movie stuff aren’t I? Well, I saw Once Upon A Time in Mexico and American Splendor this weekend. One of them I loved and the other one I hated. I’ll leave it up to you to guess which is which before I come back with the details later.
Ciao!
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Be sure to come back later this morning for a detailed blog discussing Batman Begins – released today! – as well as some original art I’ve placed up for auction on eBay.
No linky for you just yet! But if you were a member of our mailing list, you would have known about it already! Now might be a good time to sign up so you have the inside track on these things!
Sign up using the form to the right of the blog if you’re interested on receiving direction communication from me in the future!
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After drawing today’s comic, I sat and wondered just how effective Donald Trump would be as a super hero? My guess? Not very.
First thing’s first. I want to let everyone know about the art auction I currently have running over at eBay. Click here to see the auction listing. Here’s an image of the artwork.
It is a rendering of Tom cast as Anakin Skywalker as he appeared through all three Star Wars prequels. From his days as a snot-nosed brat on Tatooine, through his pouty teenage-years, into his mulleted twenties and onto the grim visage of evil – Darth Vader.
The art is a one-of-a-kind original, done in pencil and finished in ink on a sheet of 11″ x 14″ Bristol board. The winning bidder will have the art shipped to their residence in a re-enforced cardboard shipping tube to prevent creases, bends or folds.
This artwork was something I originally intended on auctioning off last month to coincide with the release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. But those plans got sidetracked and I’m auctioning it off now. Better late than never, right?
I plan on following up this auction very soon with a piece inspired by Batman Begins. So if you don’t win this auction, look for the next one to come down the pike in the next week or so.
As previously mentioned above, people who have signed up for the Theater Hopper mailing list were tipped off early to the auction last night. In fact, I let them know as soon as I posted it to eBay and there has already been a handful of bids. You don’t want to be left out of the loop for next time, do you? Sign up for the mailing list today and be the first to know about auctions, new merchandise and possibly be given the opportunity to cash in on discounts for advertising and stuff in the store! It takes literally seconds and you’ll only be getting e-mails from me. We do not sell your information to anyone else!
Regarding the comic, I really wanted to do something closer in the spirit of the new Batman movie opening today, but when I sat down to conjure something up, the idea of the wealthy transforming their lives to become super heroes just stuck in my brain. Paris Hilton as “Tanorexia,” specifically. The only way to get it out was to put pen to paper.
Incidentally, this isn’t the first time Uncle Moneybags has appeared in the comic. Enjoy him in his utter 1920’s carpet bagging glory in these two strips from the archive.
When you stop to think about it, Bruce Wayne did a pretty amazing thing taking his family’s fortune and using it to avenge his parents murder. Whenever I think of a spoiled rich kid from the East Coast, I’m thinking of some coked-out yuppie yachting with his blue-blood girlfriend Mitzy. Most people don’t have the drive or determination to use their resources to become better than what they are.
I suppose that’s why Batman resonates so well with people. He represents the potential we could reach if we had deep, psychological issues, unlimited supplies of money and a flying rodent fetish. (Young wards optional.)
I have high hopes for the new Batman film. It’s been getting positive reviews out the wazoo. But it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to go to the theater any time soon. Cami is getting her Master’s degree and started her summer semester this week. She’s taking an accelerated course, so she’s in class tonight and almost every day this week. Even Saturday!
Of course Sunday is Father’s Day, but(unfortunately) my Dad isn’t into these kind of geek-fest cinema offerings. Oh, man! When I have kids, they’re gonna pay on Father’s Day.
“But Dad! We want to take you golfing!”
“Screw that! We’re going to see Batman 15: Bat Attack! starring Haley Joel Osment!”
Dumb kids…
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Jun17
A PERFECTIONIST WITH ACCESS TO THE NECRONOMICON
June 17th, 2005 |
(7 votes, average: 8.71 out of 10)
When people go to see Batman Begins this weekend, there will be rave reviews of how the undead Laurence Olivier knocked it out of the park with his cameo appearance. Mark my words.
Quick note: Be sure to place your bids on the auction I’m having for an original piece of artwork over on eBay. There are only 2 days left, so be sure you don’t miss out on the action. I was really pleased with how this piece turned out and hopefully it will make one of you very happy to own it.
Now, onto the comic!
Is it relatively clear that the angry director in today’s strip is Christopher Nolan? I’m always a little paranoid when it comes to my celebrity caricatures. Especially when it comes to celebrities people aren’t very familiar with. EVEN MORE ESPECIALLY when it’s a director with only 3 films under his belt.
That’s why I’ve included this handy picture for reference. That, kids… is Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins. See? We learn something new every day!
It’s insane the level of talent Nolan has attracted to his relaunch of the Batman franchise. Who cares if Morgan Freeman admitted to taking the role strictly for the money? This film has Oscar winners and nominees littered all over the place like used bubble gum.
I suppose Nolan’s pedigree directing and writing the extremely intelligent Memento and his confident handling of the remake of Insomnia would inspire some confidence. But wouldn’t David S. Goyer’s name on the script raise a few eyebrows of suspicion? Let’s face it – Blade: Trinity was not Bridge of the River Kwai.
Of course Goyer brought us good films like Dark City, but I would say that was more a success for director Alex Proyas, whose amazing visuals sold that film to me lock, stock and barrel. Meanwhile, Goyer’s credits are more bad than good. After all, this was the man who penned the Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV movie starring… wait for it… David Hasselhoff. So Goyer has some sins to answer for.
Still, from the sound of things, his Batman Begins script is very strong. All the feedback I’ve been hearing since it opened to $15 million on Wednesday has been positive. MORE than positive, actually. “Enthusiastic” would be more like it.
This has been pure torture for me, though. Because I am trying to stay away from spoilers. I accidentally read a preview that gave away the ending shot between Gary Oldman’s Detective Gordon and Christian Bale’s Batman – naturally setting the stage for the sequel. But even with that nugget of information, I’m far more interested in the unfolding of the mythology – just to see if they get it right.
The reason I haven’t seen the movie yet is because Cami is pursuing her MBA and started her summer semester this week. She’s taking a condensed course that will rocket her through her workload in something like 7 classes. The bad news is, she’s been out of the house most of this week. An evening class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5PM until 10PM, plus an ALL DAY class from 8AM to 5PM tomorrow, then back to the evening class routine next week and she’ll be done.
In the meantime, she’s too exhausted to go out and see movies. Understandably so! So I am left patiently waiting from her to come down from her education O.D.
She’s told me to go ahead and see the movie without her. And even though I will probably see Batman Begins multiple times, I don’t roll like that. I’ll wait. For me this isn’t a movie that it would be nice for her to see. I think it’s a movie she SHOULD see. If it’s as good as everyone says it is, maybe it’ll open the door a little wider for her to understand my adolescent admiration of these characters.
And a little understanding between husband and wife never hurts, right? ;D
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Even when they post the warning in big, red labels; leave it to Tom to ignore it.
Gotta say I was really happy with the way today’s comic turned out. I spent a little extra time on the shading, background lighting and smoke effects to get the mood right. I don’t usually give myself a pat on the back, but this one makes me a little proud.
Feel free to knock me down a few pegs. Keep me humble.
Another reason I liked today’s comic was because it kind of follows the emerging Theater Hopper tradition of using a wrist-mounted delivery apparatus to douse Jared’s face in dangerous chemicals.
Keeping the blog short for now, but I’ll be back later with some thoughts about Batman Begins.
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My apologies for not coming back to the site Monday afternoon or all day Tuesday to give you my thoughts about Batman Begins. Perhaps the incentive sketch you get for voting for Theater Hopper at the Web Comics List will go a little ways toward appeasing you?
I’m pretty happy with the way the sketch turned out. At least happier than how today’s comic ended up. Maybe I’m just a little down on myself on the moment, but it doesn’t feel very inspired.
I’ll be truthful and let you know that my day job has been demanding a lot of my attention as of late. Since it pays the bills, that’s where my focus needs to be. At the end of the day, there hasn’t been much left for the site. I know I haven’t been responding to e-mails, so I’ll try to catch up on those.
But hey, for those of you that ordered shirts, I put those in the mail yesterday! So hopefully you’ll see them in your mailboxes in the next 3 to 5 days!
By the by, if you want to order a shirt, feel free to do so. I have a bunch in stock right now ready to ship out the door, so delays should be shorter for new orders.
Thanks to everyone who was patient in this last round of pre-orders.
Things have been kind of stressful all around. Something that I’ve announced in the THorum, but not out here on the “public-facing” side of the site, but Cami and I are moving to a new home on July 12. So there’s been a lot of stress getting ready for that. Packing, transferring services, rerouting mail, all that rig-a-ma-roll.
The move is nothing drastic. We’re not packing up and leaving the state. In truth, we’re moving about 5 minutes away from our current house into something with a little more room. We’re looking forward to it, but there are a lot of balls in the air right now. So I appreciate your patience and understanding.
Since I kind of put the moving thing out there, I suppose now is as good a time as any to ask people for guest strips?
I’m going to need at least 3 strips to get me through the move the week of July 12. If anyone is interested in a little extra coverage for their own web comics, feel free to e-mail me and I’ll hook you up. Full credit and a link to your site, of course.
I know we just had a round of guest strips back in April when Cami and I went on vacation to Texas, but this move is pretty unavoidable and it’s more than likely I won’t have access to my computer for a little while. Any support you can lend will really go a long ways.
So long as we’re talking about the future, I wanted to let you all know that I’ve sent in my registration for Wizard World Chicago August 4 – 7. That’s going to be one hell of a show. A bunch of us web comic guys are getting together and taking up a big block of tables on Artist’s Alley in hopes of promoting each other and the medium as a whole.
I heard Scott Kurtz was supposed to be at the Image booth this year. Maybe he’ll swing by Artist’s Alley and say “Hi.” to all his web comic brothers and sisters still slugging it out in the trenches. The closer we get to the actual event, the more I will suggest this scenario!
I suppose I have a few moments left before I totally collapse for the night. Maybe some reflections on Batman Begins are in order after all.
First off, Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine all turned in superb performances. It’s been writing in a thousand other places, but Bale really does a good job of portraying both Bruce Wayne and Batman simotaneously. Previous actors were really only good at playing one or the other – if they were any good at all.
I really liked Gary Oldman as Detective Gordon. Although it kind of took me out of the movie for a second to see him console the young Bruce after his parents were murdered. I’ll buy Oldman playing someone middle-aged, but if you do the math, you’ll figure out Gordan had to be a beat cop in his early 20’s about the time Bruce’s parents were murdered and it didn’t look right. Would have been better to leave that little coincidence of fate on the cutting room floor.
I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of Ken Wantanabe. He’s really not in the movie very long and that kind of bummed me out. Of course, I’m kind of glad that the character he plays really wasn’t who he says he is. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I mean.
Liam Neeson was good, but my impression of his performance has been slipping in the last few days. Not that I can’t remember what he did. Far from it. I thought he did a good job, but it was basically the flip side of the Qui-Gon coin. Playing a twisted mentor instead of a positive role model.
Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow was VERY effective when it came to the creepiness factor. This has probably been one of the best portrayals of the character outside of the comics and possibly the Batman: The Animated Series cartoon. Even though he was the “B” villain, I appreciated that they were able to weave him into the larger storyline without competing against the other threats in the picture.
Katie Holmes? Nothing but filler. The token female character inserted into the plot to prevent the picture from becoming a sausage party. She only seemed to show up when Bruce was due for a lecture. Anytime she was on screen, I was ready for something else to happen.
Maybe this is part of the TomKat backlash talking, but can anyone explain to me why she’s attractive? I think she has googley eyes. They’re REALLY obvious on the big screen. Plus, I think she has a lop-sided face.
No wonder she wasn’t invited back for the sequel.
Overall, I have to give kudos to the art direction and sound editing crews for making Gotham City this dark and pulsing environment for the Dark Knight to crawl around in. Gotham isn’t a place you want to be day or night and the design teams GOT THAT. What’s better is that you get several great shots of Gotham from the sky. You’re really allowed the opportunity to soak in all of it’s crapulence.
Like most people I’ve talked to, I’d enjoy seeing Batman Begins a second time. Although, I don’t know when that will be in the coming months, looking ahead at my schedule!
Still, it’s one of the better super-hero movies out there and as far as I’m concerned, Christopher Nolan has earned a place at the table with some of the most competent directing talents currently working in the industry. After Batman Begins, I’ll be sold on any film that has his name attached to it.
That’s all for now.
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Jul16
GUEST STRIP – DAN BEESTON
July 16th, 2005 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(6 votes, average: 5.67 out of 10)
I try to think that if this was a comic I would have written, I probably would have stopped at the domestic punchline of Cami ripping Tom out of his fantasy world to do some mundane chore and leave it at that. But Dan added the cherry to the Sunday when he included Truman (on leash!) in silhouette soaring high above Gotham City. Well played, good sir! I especially like the coloring. Kind of looks like watercolor, doesn’t it?
Dan has a regular web comic gig called Invisible Spiders, but he asked me to take a moment to tell you about his new project called Genesis 2. I said “Sure, Dan! Anything for a friend!”
…’cuz that’s how ∗I∗ roll.
Thanks again, Dan!
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Dec28
When you’re married, you’ll put up with a lot of crap in the name of love.
Today’s comic is kind of true and kind of false. Yes, I did score an awesome haul in Christmas DVDs and yes I did receive all those mentioned. Cami’s reluctance to watch is where the comic embellishments come in.
All weekend long I kept talking about how awesome Sin City was when I saw it back in April. But I didn’t run out and buy it when it came out on DVD in August because I knew that it wasn’t the full version. There would be another version released before Christmas with tons of behind-the-scenes extras and deleted scenes added back into the movie. I knew I wanted the FULL experience, so I patiently waited.
I get the extended edition for Christmas and I’m chomping at the bit to see it. But here’s the thing – I don’t want to half-ass this. I don’t want it on in the background. I don’t want it to be part of the din in our holiday festivities. When I sit down to watch this thing, I want to totally dedicate my attention to it. I want to study it.
Plus, it’s not like people getting their heads cut off and their intestines ravaged by wild dogs is really the kind of holiday-themed entertainment we want penetrating the bubble of a Rockwellian family gathering. Sorry, we’re just not that kind of clan.
Imagine my surprise yesterday when Cami e-mailed me at work on a couple different occasions asking me "So, do you want to watch Sin City tonight?" What a gal!
Part of today’s comic that’s half-true deals more specifically with Fantastic Four – a movie I didn’t see when it was in the theater, but was curious enough to ask for this Christmas. I guess there was a bit of eye-rolling involved when Cami saw the film on my Wish List. She was with her parents when they bought it for me and she said "I don’t know why Tom says he wants that. He said it was lame when it came out this summer."
It’s strong logic. Why would I want my own personal copy of a movie that I’ve never seen? One that could potentially ruin the good memories I have of a comic book franchise I grew up with? The honest answer? I don’t know. Morbid curiosity, I suppose. I mean, maybe it’s bad – but it can’t be any worse than the Roger Corman version from 1994, right? And I’ve seen that one at least twice. I guess if there was a movie out there that I wanted REALLY badly, but couldn’t justify spending the cash on, Fantastic Four would be that movie. THERE’S a ringing endorsement for you!
Anyway, after I get back from working out at 7:00 o’clock tonight, Cami and I are going to settle in for some stark-contrast and watch Sin City together. It’ll be her first viewing, so I’m very interested in her reaction. I’ll let you guys know what she thinks.
Later!
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