DC

WHAT DOES THE PROTAGONIST WANT? Bruce Wayne, orphaned at eight, wants to overcome his fears and honor his father. This turns out to be rather more complicated than he suspects it will be. Batman Begins presents a radically new vision (for the movies, anyway — this stuff had been around the comics and the animated series for many years beforehand) of the Batman story, grounds it in a startling new sense of reality, presents not just a caped crusader and a wacky new villain but a whole wealth of good guys and bad guys, all following their stars in increasingly complex and interconnected ways, all of it bound together with the one fantastic conceit of a young billionaire who dresses up like a bat. It strongly reminds me of the Casino Royale re-boot, which brought the James Bond character to a new level of immediacy while retaining enough of the series’ fantastic hallmarks to still qualify as escapism. There is still enough silliness in Batman Begins to make it a recognizable "superhero movie" (grand, outsized villains with colorful personalities and an ambitious scheme to destroy an entire city, spectacular action sequences that teeter at the brink of believability, production design that borders upon science-fiction) but it’s presented with a sober, straightfaced earnestness that’s nothing less than shocking after the garish camp of Batman & Robin. The Dark Knight would successfully develop all of Begins‘s good ideas into an even more complex, startling vision of modern urban justice.

We won't slap a "Tolja!!!" over this, but a memo this afternoon confirms what many had been predicting since DC's new regime took over...

by Marc-Oliver Frisch After unleashing a deluge of new titles in May, DC Comics' lineup of major periodicals was fairly restrained in June. There were...

A version of Wonder Woman aimed at teen-aged girls and not 40-year-old men? That will never fly. BTW for everyone who is always wondering "How should a pitch look???" Here's an example. Of course, being able to draw as well as Ben Caldwell really helps.

Funnybook Babylon has an interesting charticle looking at the runs of various Vertigo ongoing series over the years, following some speculation that books were being canceled there because of increased scrutiny from DC's new management. Chris Eckert suggests this is not the case, or at least not the only factor, by showing that the lowest selling titles are always canceled, although nowadays the best selling title is something that would have been canceled a decade ago. Eckert also runs a chart showing relative Amazon rankings for various Vertigo trades, a weak metric but all we have to go on.

A vigilant reader sent us this scan of an ad in the current edition of Women's Wear Daily, the bible of the fashion trade. The ad, for Green Lantern licensing opportunities, ran in a previews section for the upcoming 2010 MAGIC Marketplace, "the preeminent trade event in the international fashion industry." Obviously, Warner Bros. has BIG, BIG plans for Green Lantern licensing -- and based on the number of folks we see walking the streets of NYC in GL T-shirts, we'd say they might just be on to something.

Via Major Spoilers, the explanation of how, at least in Kevin Smith's world, Batman sometimes pees his pants when things get a little too...

With little fanfare, right under the noses of thousands of Comic-Con attendees, DC Comics, in partnership with Converse, announced the creation of five unique...

While we're gathering our thoughts, hydrating, and moving to a new secured location, Newsarama's Lucas Siegel has all the bullet points news from...

DC Peter David will be writing episodes of the upcoming cartoon Young Justice, which is based on the comic of the same name that he wrote for an almost five year run.

Marvel At the Saturday Cup o' Joe panel, Marvel teased fans with the hint that they would be doing something to do with Crossgen in 2011. After Crossgen entered bankruptcy, Disney bought up its creative properties. Now that Disney owns and operates Marvel Comics, it is seems natural for them to take advantage of the fact.

Marvel For those who love GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (and who doesn't), Rocket Raccoon and Groot are getting their own four-issue miniseries this January entitled (wait for it)... ROCKET RACCOON & GROOT.