Horrible, horrible things

[teddog]

Yeah. Watchmen crap. I was looking at the Hot Topic site for something - I was looking to see if I type of earring I wanted was popular enough to be carried there, apparently not - and found Watchmen shirts already! There's two Rorschach shirts, two general logo shirts and one Comedian shirt

WHAT?

Okay, am I the only one who doesn't get this? Mind you, I never understood the big fandom storm about the new Joker nor this fixation that superheroes must be dark and moody to be understood by us as a society. Here's a thought - wasn't this obsession with enforcing the extremes of society's ills what killed off the comic market in the first place? There was no room for younger, newer fans to jump on and they were forced to deal with the scraps.

Which I think can come full circle with Batman Begins and the Dark Knight. One was dark but planned out to be watchable by the older end of the childern market. The Dark Knight, not so much... Won't somebody think of the children?! D: They're going to be your next big market in 5 years! I thought you people liked money!

Not to be said that a Watchmen movie shouldn't be made, although I'm still in the camp of "Story was designed especially for one medium. Crossover of medium is going to pose headaches". That said...

Who really likes Rorschach?

REALLY?!

It's hard to describe the character without spoiling the whole plot, but there's people who can sit back and go "Wow, that is an awesome and kickass character! That's the type of person I'd want to be if I was a superhero! It's the personality type that matches my conflicted soul!" ...did we read the same book? Really, is there some other version of Watchmen that I didn't read?

Beside, we all know that everyone wants to be Nite Owl. HE'S KING OF THE NERDS. King, I tell you! Total dork, is best buddies with his hero, has a garage full of toys AND manages to score with an attractive woman who likes him because of who he is! But, of course, he's the dork and moral-compass-of-sorts of the cast, so I guess that lowers his "coolness" factor.

Also, more mocking of Sawyer, because it made me laugh.


[15:21] pyatmouse: SAWYER.
[15:21] pyatmouse: Ptooie!
[15:21] pyatmouse: "Greek mythology invoked me"
[15:21] pyatmouse: I got ye invocation right HERE..."
[15:22] CommanderTeddog: That's how they summoned him, you know
[15:22] pyatmouse: A dark ritual, involving the blood of a 45-year-old virgin?
[15:23] pyatmouse: "Satan, give us a Canadian Nebula-winner!"
[15:23] pyatmouse: And then Sawyer appeared in a flash, and they realized that deals with Satan always come with a curse...
[15:23] CommanderTeddog: Yep. That's why all of the geek stores left Queen street. They fled before the darkness could suck them in.
[15:24] pyatmouse: The gathering Sawyer Wave!
[15:24] pyatmouse: This Present Dorkness!
[15:25] CommanderTeddog: Sadly, my first reaction to the mention of a 45-year-old virgin was "Commander Rick, NOOOO!"
[15:25] pyatmouse: *LOL*
[15:26] pyatmouse: Now, now... I'm sure he and NANC-E consummated their relationship one long and lonely night, with the aid of a parallel port adaptor.
[15:26] pyatmouse: *hangs head in shame* I'm sorry, that was a terrible thing to write. ;)
[15:27] CommanderTeddog: Well, if I was drinking something, it would have come out my nose right then.
[15:27] pyatmouse: *grins* Excellent

Comments

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

I don't see the allure of "The Watchmen" either. But I do have to admit that Rorschach's character design is neat.

While they went dark 'n' gritty with The Dark Knight, DC is going for kid-friendly awesome in their other media outlets too - or maybe I'm biased because I think "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" is really, really cool.

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

Watchmen is a very good book if you take it in the context that it's a novel about flawed people living in the shadow of the end of the world and how they struggle with this on a personal and social level. That they're crime fighters is just a plot device that allows some of the events to play out. If you haven't read it yet and have interest in superheroes, I'd strongly suggest getting a copy. Not so much for the plot presay, but after each chapter, there's materials that are supposed to be from the media of the world - sections of biographies, newspaper clippings, business plans. The level of detail in the world building is astounding.

That said, Rorschach's character design is kinda neat, but the man behind the mask is really messed up. IIRC, he's supposed to play the role of the right-wing extremist in the plot. How he has become the darling of "liberal" fandom is beyond me.

How is the Brave and the Bold, anyway? I still think that the 1990s Batman cartoon is one of the greatest cartoons of all time, given how many people it can appeal to at once. And yeah, there are some nifty comics coming out aimed at kids, but it still feels like there's two different worlds going on here in terms of who they're marketing to. To say that The Dark Knight was dark 'n' gritty is an understatment, but I think I'm the only person in the world that thinks that the movie itself only really started towards the end with the Dent/Two Face story arc and all of the crap with the Joker was simply padding.

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

I'll keep an eye out for it. I've been a bit wary because people keep saying "heroes with feet of clay" which usually seems to be code for "full of pointless angst." Though I do like "Manhunter" so maybe I'll like this.

I think that The Brave of the Bold is a good, solid cartoon. It's probably not as good Batman: The Animated Series, but I think it's one of the best cartoons being produced at the moment. While it does have a fun, upbeat tone it does have a serious bent though it, and even have some character continuity. Other than the news, it's the only must-see-tv I have.

I think you're the only person who thinks that too. = ) But while I agree that Harvey Dent was the most important storyline in the movie, but the Joker was a good adition to the movie. I think he he helped highlight the characters of Harvey and Bruce in the limited the amount of time the movie had verus the two working to bring down the mob.

PS. I can hook you up with BTBTB? Some kind soul had put it up on Youtube.

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

I didn't think that the angst was pointless. There is some angst in there, although I would more side with it being called "extremely bleak". Most of the characters grow out of it in the end through some way or another, as does the rest of the world. Plus given the histories of some of the characters, it's understandable. Mind you, I'm not going to say "Greatest comic EVER!" or "It's so gritty and true to life and therefore better!", but it is a very interesting book to read through.

I wasn't keen on The Batman. Is this built off of that or is it a fresh reboot?

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

From what little I saw of The Batman, it looks like it's a fresh reboot.

[krwalker.livejournal.com]

I saw these comments and I had to comment, as I've been watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold, myself.

Of course, my first impression was "OMG, Diedrich Bader is Batman?! Diedrich Bader is Batman!" And, of course, after the waves of awesome crashed over me, I was able to get a fair look at the show.

I like the fact that Bats can team up with someone new every week. This gives the lesser-known characters an opportunity to get at least a little of the spotlight. Have I been impressed with all of the team-ups? Nope, of course not. But, the majority of them have been fair.

My only real beef with the show is that Batman has become a bit of a wise-crackin', joke-slingin' dude. Aside from the 60's television show, this is almost the antithesis of the Batman. He's just not the type.

The saving grace is the fact that a 60's television show did exist (thus paving some of the way,) and that Bats is voiced by Diedrich Bader. Without him, I don't think the concept would have worked well at all. With him, it feels quite a bit more acceptable.

Larry did bring up a good point, though: You could almost accuse the Batman of stealing Spiderman's thing, what with the jokes and the funny and the happy(ish.)

On a side not, if you haven't managed to check out the new Spiderman series, give it a look. They moved it to 7.30 AM here in AZ, but it may be worth getting up early for. The episodes I saw (while taking a little getting used to,) were supurb.

And, since I'm already here, I have to agree that some of The Dark Knight seemed... lacking. I thought that there was probably about 45+ minutes of that movie that were completely unnecessary. For me, the movie didn't start until the Joker was in jail and Rachel and Hervey were already captured.

And Katie Holmes ruined that movie for me, but not being in it. Maggie "Uninspired" Gyllenhaal should have been axed the first day on set. Or, at least stopped from performing the worst characterization I've ever seen.

Anyway, there's my $.02

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

Most of Batman's jokes never makes it out of his head, which helps a little too.

[mbehemoth.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to pick up the Watchmen trade to read it. Since I've never actually read anything Alan Moore.

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

Alan Moore is.... uh... a very special person. Watchmen is a decent read, though, and you can get it on the cheap side now.

ALSO! The BMV by World's Biggest closed!