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LITTLE FACTS AND BLOOPERS
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
Here is a section that just points out various
little facts and bloopers that we have noticed
while watching BTAS and STAS countless times. If you have anything to
contribute, feel free to
do so! Enjoy!
CONTRIBUTED BY STAFF:
Alas, we here at the newsletter were unable to spot any new little facts OR
bloopers over the
past week. For that, we apologize. Really.
CONTRIBUTED BY OTHERS:
Na da. Rien.
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MERCHANDISING: WHERE THE REAL BAT-CASH IS MADE
(by anyone who cares to contribute)
Come on, contribute! Someone! Please? :-)
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COMIC REVIEWS
(BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
(BATMAN BEYOND by Tim Wan)
(SUPERMAN ADVENTURES by Dick Grayson)
NOTE: Tim Wan was unable to submit a review for
this issue of the newsletter, so editor Tim
"TWO-FACE" Leighton will be filling in for him.
BATMAN BEYOND (ongoing)
ISSUE: "The Most Dangerous Island" (#6)
WRITTEN BY: Hilary J. Bader
PENCILLED BY: Craig Rousseau
INKED BY: Rob Leigh
ISSUED: February 23, 2000 (cover date, April 2000)
RATING (out of 5): *
There is no such thing as a sure thing any more.
BATMAN BEYOND is a perfect example of this theory. During its first
season, nearly every single episode was superb. When the ongoing comic
series started up (I'm still trying to forget the miniseries), the grande
upswing continued. Sadly, with this issue, things came crashing right
back down again.
Ugh.
"The gang" from Hamilton Hill High
stranded on an island? We don't even know why they're here - that's never
explained. That would've helped advance the story a little - at least I think
so. I must say that including our lovely nerd-stereotype Howard in the
story didn't help much, either - his incessant whining made the comic far too
annoying and wordy. It was coming close to Larry Hama's take on BATMAN:
TOO MUCH INANE DIALOGUE.
Of course, this apparent "Jurassic Park"
homage - no, that was a good movie - this is a "Lost World" homage -
doesn't get any better when we find out that the island is inhabited by mutant
animals. Another SPLICERS story? I'm afraid not; we soon find out that the
Stalker has created these genetically-enhanced ultra-dangerous animals just so
he can hunt them down himself. I admit that some of the designs were creative,
though most were laughable; the hippo-rex was sooooo cute. I just wanted to
give 'im a biiiig hug. (It was an impressive design, yes - but I still
wanted to give it a hug, and maybe get my picture taken with it. Ya know?)
Agh. The story was awful. The art was above
par, as always, but even Rousseau and Leigh's work for this issue couldn't
pull it out of the realms of despair. I know Bader has it in her to
write some great tales - she's managed to do so on a number of occasions
already; I don't want to be ruthlessly mean or anything, but she just bombed
with this one. Thus, a one-star rating.
Here's hoping the series gets back on track with
next month's issue.
;-Y
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COMIC SCHEDULES & COVERING THE BASICS
This section gives a little bit more
in-depth look into each monthly issue of BATMAN: GOTHAM
ADVENTURES, BATMAN BEYOND, and SUPERMAN ADVENTURES. Below each comic listing
is a link to the
cover of that comic. TALK ABOUT SERVICE!
The price for any of these issues, unless otherwise posted, is
$1.99 in the US and...grrrrr...a whopping $3.25 in Canada. (Both our editors and many
subscribers are
Canadian, hence the "grrr".)
If we are unsure of the exact date of when an issue is being
released, just check out
"DIRECT CURRENTS" at
http://www.dccomics.com
for details.
BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #24
March 1st
Synopsis: Members of the Bat-team are being kidnapped one-by-one. But who is
behind it all?
Cover: Unavailable
BATMAN BEYOND #7 (ongoing)
March 22nd
Synopsis: The return of another popular BEYOND villain (we're not telling WHO)
makes Terry's
life a living hell.
Cover: Unavailable
FOLLOWING MONTH: Issue #8.
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #43
March 8th
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable
FOLLWOING MONTH:
Synopsis: Unavailable
Cover: Unavailable
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NEWS AND RUMORS
ALL-ENCOMPASSING/OTHER
-Terry Beatty has been and will be selling Gotham Adventures and Batman Beyond
original art on eBay. His Seller ID is:
beatty@machlink.com
Do yourself a favor and check out some great art!
-Craig Rousseau has been and will be selling Gotham Adventures and Batman
Beyond original art
on eBay. His Seller ID is:
cerousseau@aol.com
Feel free to check it out! You don't wanna miss
it!
-Wanna sign a petition to get the WB to hire Jeph Loeb as the screenwriter for
BATMAN 5? Go to
this site to have your say:
http://homepages.go.com/~fabio2_batcave/campaign.html
-The ONSTAR commercials featuring Batman are now on the air, and the website
has had an
overhaul as well. Check it out! The commercials will be available for download
shortly.
http://www.onstar.com
-KIDS'WB! will be making their fall schedule announcement within the next 3
weeks. They are
expected to announce it by March 15th, when FOX KIDS makes their fall
announcement.
-Mr. Eye has reported that YTV will begin airing THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN
ADVENTURES (or just
SUPERMAN) beginning March 10th at 6:30PM (et)! I'll have more info for you in
next week's
newsletter including episode schedule (hopefully) as well as airtimes!
SUPERMAN Fans rejoice!
-Beginning Saturday, March 4th, Kids'WB! will have a brand new spring
schedule:
8am - Batman/Superman
8:30am - Pokemon
9am - Pokemon
9:30am - Max Steel
10am - Pokemon
10:30am - Batman Beyond
11am - MIB
11:30am - Detention
ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS, STAS, BEYOND)
-A new series named "ZETA" may spin-off out of BATMAN BEYOND; the
episode titled "Zeta" is
coming up later on this season.
ANIMATED COMICS
-BATMAN BEYOND #7 and #8 will be written by both Hilary J. Bader AND Rich
Fogel. The cover to
#8 can be found here:
http://comicscontinuum.com/stories/0001/25/bmbeyond8.jpg
-BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #26, being released on May 3, will play out as
follows:
Everyone from the CIA and the FBI to the local Gotham mobs (Russian, Italian,
Jamaican,
Chinese) are in search of Kristov...and they're willing to kill to get it.
Batman doesn't know
what Kristov is, but he's not going to let anyone kill - or die - for it. Here
is the cover:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/
0002/22/BatmanGothAdventCvr26.jpg
-BATMAN BEYOND #9 will feature Batman's first comic-book battle against
Curare. Here is the
cover:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/
0002/22/BatmanBeyondCvr9.jpg
-The first six issues of BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES will be collected in
tradepaperback form,
being released on May 17. These six issues feature great stories by Ty
Templeton and great art
by Rick Burchett and Terry Beatty; characters in the spotlight are Batman,
Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Joker, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, the
Riddler, Clayface, Deadman,
and more. It will cost $9.95, and the cover will be the same as the cover of
GOTHAM ADVENTURES
#1.
OTHER COMICS
-Wanna see what DC has in store for May? Then click on the link below:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0002/22/index.htm
-An interview of Devin Kalile Grayson can be found at the CNN website. Here's
the URL:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/02/15/
comics.writer.batman/index.html
-William Rosado will do the art for DETECTIVE COMICS #747, and Phil Hester in
the following two
issues; Shawn Martinbrough will be back with #750.
-DETECTIVE COMICS #751-753 will focus on Gotham City's quest to take Robinson
Park back from
Poison Ivy, who has still controlled that area since the end of NML.
-The first ever 80 PAGE GIANTS for ROBIN and NIGHTWING will be released in the
near future;
Chuck Dixon is attached as the writer for both of them.
-The ongoing HARLEY QUINN series will commence in September.
-Yet another new villainess, ORCA, will be appearing in the pages of Hama's
BATMAN in 9. Here is the cover:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0002/22/BatmanCvr579.jpg
-DARK VICTORY #8 will feature the fateful night at the circus where Bruce and
Dick meet for the
first time. This issue also features the Joker trying to blow up Gotham City.
-A three issue mini-series entitled "IT'S JOKER TIME" will debut in
May. Written by Bob Hal.
-BATMAN: 80 PAGE GIANT #3, written by Chuck Dixon, will be one triple-length
story featuring
Batman and Robin vs. Calendar Man.
-Howard Porter has signed a two year exclusive contract with DC. Porter will
soon be the artist
for ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, taking over this fall.
-Also, Greg Land has signed a one year contract with DC. He currently pencils
NIGHTWING Batman
writer Larry Hama tells Newsarama that he’s "off Batman, as of
now." Hama cited "creative
differences" as the reason behind his departure, but stressed there were
no "bad vibes"
involved with his decision. "I'm still pals with Denny [O’Neil] and
I’ll be working with Bob
Schreck on a Green Lantern hardcover project," he said. There was no word
from DC on Friday
as to what Hama’s last issue will be or on possible replacements.
-Mike Deodato Jr. (NO MAN'S LAND) will be providing the art for BATGIRL ANNUAL
2000. The Annual
has no tentative shipping date, but expect it in the summer.
MOVIES
-BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER will now be released on October 31, 2000.
-Two more Batman Beyond videos are going to be released on May 16th, 2000:
volumes #4 and 5.
One is entitled "Spellbound", and the fifth is entitled
"Crush". The exact episodes shown on
each tape haven't been released as of yet. The cover of SPELLBOUND can
be found here:
http://www.geocities.com/bbeyond/bbvid.jpg
-Rumour has it that the second RETURN OF THE JOKER trailer - the one featuring
actual footage
of the film - will appear on the new BATMAN BEYOND videos being released on
May 16.
-For a picture of what the Joker will look like in the future, go to this pic:
http://www.geocities.com/bbeyond/bbjoker.jpg
-Rumour has it that the WB is scooting for shooting locations for the
live-action Superman
film. Is WB FINALLY moving ahead with this?
-The Hollywood Reporter writes today that Oliver Stone is intrigued by the
SUPERMAN project,
which reportedly takes a different look at the superhero - no tights and more
of a Matrix look,
apparently. Somehow we just can't picture Clark Kent in black leather
LIVE ACTION TV
-???
TOYS, BOOKS, AND OTHER MERCHANDISE
-Wanna see the new line of animated Batman figures? Most of them seem to just
be repaints and
variants, but at least the line isn't dead, right? (It looks like
there's a STALKER figure
there, but I could be wrong...) Thanks to HarleyQ for pointing this out to us!
(And thanks to
Matt Schutkowski for confirming it was a STALKER figure, not Shriek.)
http://www.primenet.com/~btn/2000tf/hasbrotf.html
-COLUMBIA HOUSE is releasing 10 more videos of BTAS episodes, bringing the
total of tapes
released to 20 (80 episodes overall). Here is what's coming soon:
Tape 11
"MONSTERS and MAYHEM"
1. Tyger, Tyger
2. Mudslide
3. Growing Pains
4. The Demon Within
Tape 12
"INTERNATIONAL MENACE"
1. Off Balance
2. Avatar
3. Night of the Ninja
4. Day of the Samurai
Tape 13
"SCARED STRAIGHT"
1. Judgement Day
2. Second Chance
3. Love Is A Croc
4. Double Talk
Tape 14
"STIR CRAZY"
1. The Ultimate Thrill
2. Lock Up
3. Beware, The CREEPER!
4. Baby Doll
Tape 15
"GOTHAM'S MEAN STREETS"
1. Appointment In Crime Alley
2. Sins Of The Father
3. Legends Of The Dark Knight
4. Torch Song
Tape 16
"COLD FEAR"
1. Deep Freeze
2. Cold Comfort
3. Nothing To Fear
4. Never Fear
Tape 17
"A Million Laughs"
1. Joker's Wild
2. Christmas With The Joker
3. Mad Love
4. Joker's Millions
Tape 18
"BATGIRL"
1. Batgirl Returns
2. Over The Edge
3. Holiday Knights
4. Mean Seasons
Tape 19
"SCRATCHES and OTHER WOUNDS"
1. Cult Of The Cat
2. You Scratch My Back
3. Animal Act
4. Old Wounds
Tape 20
"SUPERFRIENDS"
1. World's Finest (Pt. 1)
2. World's Finest (Pt. 2)
3. Knight Time
4. Girls Night Out
(any part 3 of World's Finest?)
