The Joker takes over the Gotham underworld
I first mentioned the Batman: Black and White Motion Comic a couple weeks back and went on bit about how much I'm in love with ol' Bats and how we're getting married and planning our lives together. Hmmm, actually I may not have mentioned the whole marriage and lives together thing...until now.
Anyway, I finally got a chance to check out the first five episodes on iTunes and my initial reaction after watching all five is bring on more. Now.
Black and White is a motion comic developed by Warner Premiere, and is a direct translation of the Batman: Black and White comic book anthology from the 90's which featured superstar writers and artists, like Paul Dini, Alex Ross and Dave Gibbons. They've basically taken the art and added subtle and not so subtle animation here and there to mostly great affect.
My favorite episodes are "Good Evening, Midnight" (from episode four), which includes narration by Thomas Wayne (Batman's dad) and is juxtaposed with Batman's actions from that night. This episode makes me wonder if Blizzard was inspired by it to make the Wrath intro. Then there's "Two of a Kind" (from episode two) starring Two-Face in an interesting love triangle with twin sisters. Two-Face has always been one of my favorite Batman characters, and he's used brilliantly here. My favorite of all, though, was called "Case Study" (also from episode two) and focused on the Joker. It has a great back story and asked the question of whether he really is insane or not.
I have to put in the good word about the music here. Each story had its own score, and each does a great job at establishing the mood.
Each of the episode includes two stories and the episodes range from a little over 6 minutes to over 11. Unlike Watchmen, there are multiple voice actors used, including thankfully, real female actors. The voices are fitting for the most part, although Batman's voice did take some getting used to it as it sounded a bit too sinister at times. Also, I'm more a Kevin Conroy and Christian Bale man myself. It wasn't until another great episode, "Perpetual Mourning" (included with episode five) that the voice really started to grow on me.
Like I said, I can't wait for the next episodes. These are very well-done short pieces of entertainment. Perhaps a little too short, however. Some episodes are as short as 6 minutes, and although they include at least two stories, $0.99 may not be worth it for such a small morsel. Doing the math however, $0.99 per six minutes works out to be about the cost of a $20, two-hour DVD.
If you're a Batman fan, get them. All of them. Now. If you're just curious, I'd say the second episode is worth trying and if you like that, you'll at least like the others.
(Credit:
Warner Premiere)
Ever since I picked up an old, 1970s Batman comic when I was 12 years old, Batman has been my favorite comic book character.
While my first love was Wolverine, it was harder to relate to someone who could heal from any wound, and had an unbreakable skeleton and foot-long claws that could cut through anything. Even though Bruce Wayne was a rich boy, he had a childhood wrought with tragedy, and there is just something immediately endearing about a superhero with no powers who simply trained himself to be the best.
Since then I've been a fan of all things Batman. That is, when it's done well, i.e. The Dark Knight, and not offensively, i.e. Batman and Robin. Batman: Black and White was Batman done well. Originally published in 1996, it was a four-issue miniseries collection of short, black-and-white Batman stories written and drawn by some of comics greats like Paul Dini, Alex Ross, and Dave Gibbons.
On Tuesday, Warner Premiere announced the debut of its latest motion comic, Batman: Black and White. Warner Premiere is the same company responsible for the Watchmen motion comic that I've covered here and here. Motion comics basically take the original comic and add sound effects, music, and voice, as well as animation to a certain extent. So far, the results with Watchmen have been impressive.
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No, this is not a pic of Dave Gibbons doing what he does best. Or is it?
(Credit: Warner Premiere)Readers of Crave and fans of all things geek may have read my impressions of the Watchmen Motion Comics over the last few months. If not, well first off, shame on you, but through the magical powers I wield--and the Internets--you can check them out here and here.
Produced by Warner Premiere, the Watchmen Motion Comic is basically the original Watchmen comic, now animated with voice, music, and sound effects. If you're a comic book fan or you're just intrigued by Watchmen thanks to the upcoming movie's hype, it's worth checking out. If you don't fall into either of the aforementioned categories, check it out anyway.
The comic, which can be seen on iTunes, uses the original Dave Gibbons art from Watchmen to tell the story in a unique way. I recently got the chance to speak with Gibbons, who told me what he thinks about the motion comic and the Watchmen movie, and why he was able to draw a perfect Martha Washington.
Gibbons was calling from oversees, so please forgive the interference, which gets better as the interview progresses. I tried to pump the volume up, so my voice may be louder than his.
AUDIO
Chatting with Dave Gibbons
Crave recently spoke with the artist about the Watchmen motion comic, the upcoming Watchmen movie, and more.
Download mp3 (23.1MB)
Young Eddie Blake isn't someone to turn your back on.
(Credit: Warner Bros.)Warner Bros. finally released chapters two and three of the Watchmen Motion Comic a couple of weeks ago. I took a look at chapter one back in August and was impressed with the job Cruel and Unusual Productions was able to pull off, and chapters two and three continue this trend.
The new chapters focus mostly on the characters of Edward "The Comedian" Blake and Jon "Dr. Manhattan" Ostermann. We also get a few more clues as to why the world of Watchmen in 1985 is different from our own in the same year. For example, Nixon is still president only because of Dr. Manhattan's intervention in the Vietnam War, which because we won, he was popular enough to get reelected.
Unfortunately we still have just one voice actor, Tom Stechschulte, voicing every character, male and female. Females still sound weird and kind of disturbing in some cases. Fortunately, this guy hits it out of the park a few times over these two episodes. In particular Edward Blake's emotional breakdown and Rorschach's monologue in episode three and the reading of "The Black Freighter" in episode three.
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What a difference a day makes. The day I'm referring to is 7/18/08, when the Watchmen trailer debuted in front of The Dark Knight, which so far has grossed more than $400 million dollars in the U.S. alone.
In one day, people who'd never even heard of Watchmen were suddenly intrigued, and in some cases even eagerly anticipating the movie. My CNET colleague Bonnie Cha told me the trailer gave her "chills." This sort of reaction from Watchmen noobs was just the kind Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder were going for, I'm sure. As a longtime fan of the Watchmen comic, I'd already watched the trailer a good 20 times before sitting down to see The Dark Knight. And I'm sure I wasn't the only veteran who was giddy as a schoolboy when watching it on the big screen.
DC comics has also surely appreciated the interest the trailer sparked in the original collected 12-issue series of the comic. Today, it's No. 9 on the overall best-selling books list and No. 2 in fiction.
Over the next few months, until the movie's March 2009 release, anticipation will only grow, and Warner Bros. is capitalizing already. It recently released the first episode of the Watchmen motion comic, and already its popularity is impressive. It's currently listed as No. 2 on the best-selling TV shows on iTunes. The first episode costs $1.99, or you can buy the whole season for $19.99 and save four bucks. Either way, if you're curious about the story and don't mind spoiling the movie, this is a great way to (somewhat) see what the fuss is about.
Rorschach being his uncompromising self.
(Credit: Warner Bros.)Cruel and Unusual Productions--headed by one of the movie's producers--has taken the art from the comic and animated it, making it into basically an animated movie. Now, don't get too excited. They've only used the original art assets from the book, so don't expect Wall-e or anything up to Disney cel animation standards. The animation here is crude, but very effective.
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