Clark, this is the End...

This is the last post from Knight's Cross. Until we meet again...

Watching the Watchmen

The Warner Bros. movie Watchmen will be released on 6 March.

The movie is based on a 1986-7 Graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons which was 'revolutionary' for the superhero genre. It was was recently named one of the 100 greatest novels of the past century.

One blogger commented, "These types of stories turned the comic book genre on its head because of how human it makes its characters. As it turns out, none of these people really do what they do for truth, justice, and the American way...or at least not in the boy scout manner that Superman does. They aren't so noble and clean-cut. Their motives aren't so pure. Their actions aren't always so heroic. Watchmen was considered revolutionary because of all of this - it deconstructed the genre and explored a much darker, more conflicted side of 'masked adventuring.'"



'Watchmen is set in an alternate reality which closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s. The primary point of divergence is the presence of superheroes. Their existence in this iteration of America is shown to have dramatically affected and altered the outcomes of real-world events such as the Vietnam War and the presidency of Richard Nixon. In keeping with the realism of the series, although the costumed crime fighters of Watchmen are commonly called "superheroes", the only character who possesses obvious superhuman powers is Doctor Manhattan. The existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations. Additionally, superheroes have become unpopular among the public, which has led to the passage of legislation in 1977 to outlaw them. While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and the Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents, and Rorschach continues to operate outside the law.'



The title references a line by Roman poet Juvenal, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" – "who watches the watchmen?" – a question which occupies the regular folk in the film's world.

I think it will be worth a look and a good vehicle to spark discussion at least about the nature of man.

The Dark Knight comes to Wiesbaden

I'm back after a long, drawn out move; and still unpacking boxes. But, I will take a break and go see The Dark Knight. I hear it had a stellar opening in the US; we usually get the movies a week later. Of course, I could go and see it in Deutsch. I'm sure a comic book geek like myself will enjoy it.

HULK SMASH

Yesterday the new Marvel Comics movie, The Incredible Hulk opened. It is supposed to be better then the 2003 Hulk, which was considered a box office failure. I liked it but it's not one of my favorite Marvel Comic adaptations. This is generally what happens with origin stories (Spider-Man 1 is an exception).

The 2008 Hulk movie picks up where the previous on left off, with one noticeable difference...a new cast. Ed Norton plays Bruce Banner/Hulk, William Hurt as General Ross, and Liv Tyler as Betsy Ross, Bruce Banner/Hulk's love interest. New to the series is Tim Roth who plays a Special Forces soldier who turns into Hulk's arch-nemesis, Abomination.

Hulk was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and made his first appearance in May 1962. The character has appeared in a television series, with spin-off television movies, starring Bill Bixby as Dr. Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk; in animated series in 1966, 1982 and 1996.

In the first issue, the Hulk was gray. Writer and Marvel editor-in-chief Lee had wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group. Colorist, Stan Goldberg however, had problems with the gray coloring, resulting in different shades of gray, and even green, in the issue. Stan Lee picked the uncommon color, green. From issue #2 (July 1962) on, Goldberg colored the big brute's skin green.

Should be a good SCI-FI action flick.

"You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Iron Man - Launching May 2008

Iron Man arrives in theaters on 2 May 2008 from Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment, based on Marvel's best-selling Iron Man comic book character. The movie looks promising, although the Black Sabbath song 'Iron Man,' as heard in the trailer, is over the top.


The official movie website is here. It looks like part of the story is similar to the straight to DVD animated movie, The Invincible Iron Man that came out in January 2007.

Captain America first appeared in Captain America Comics # 1, in March, 1941.

Injected with an experimental super-soldier serum during World War II, frail Steve Rogers became the exemplar of human physical perfection. Armed with an unbreakable shield, he is now Captain America...Captain America is probably the greatest symbol of freedom, justice, liberty, and the American Way to ever live. He was the pinnacle of human existence-a good man who fought for what was right and did what he could to make the world a better place. When you think of justice and a symbol of America, the first person to pop into mind is him-the living symbol of America and freedom. Many heroes not only admire him for what he stands for, but look up to him as a role model. He basically sets the bar for not only what a hero should be, but what a man, and a true American should be.

In March of 2007, Captain America was assassinated on the steps of a Federal Courthouse in New York City. But don't shed any tears true believer, cuz Captain America made his triumphal return in January 2008. You just can't keep a good superhero down.

Judge Dredd of Mega-City One

I use to collect comic books. I started when I was in grade school (unfortunately none of those comics survived). However, I built my collection during high school and college. Yes, most of my spending money went to comic books. One of my favorite comic book characters was Judge Dredd.

Dredd is one of many so-called "judges" who maintain order in Mega City One, a vast, impossibly dense urban sprawl that covers the entire eastern portion of North America in the 22nd century dystopia in which he lives.

The judges of the Mega City don't merely pass judgment on citizens who run afoul of the law. They're also the uniformed cops who track down the perps, the juries who determine guilt, and the executioners who carry out the sentence — a perfectly efficient system that can have a criminal safely locked away in an iso-cube for life, within minutes of committing his crime.

Judge Dredd is the major star of Britain's weekly science fiction comic book, 2000 AD, which was launched by IPC magazines with a cover date of Feb. 26, 1977. But Dredd wasn't in it quite from the beginning, apparently because of a few glitches in putting together a finished story suitable for launching the character. He was created by writer John Wagner (who also had a hand in creating Strontium Dog and Ace Trucking Co. for 2000 AD and The Last American for Marvel Comics) and artist Carlos Ezquerra (who, aside from defining the look of Judge Dredd, is also known in America for his work on The Saint of Killers, a 1996 mini-series about DC Comics' Preacher). But the first story to see print (in the second issue, or "prog", short for "programme", as the publisher calls them for some reason, dated March 5, 1977) was written by Pat Mills (Marshall Law) and drawn by Mike McMahon (who has also done a few Batman stories for DC).

Dredd crossed the Atlantic in 1983, when IPC launched an American subsidiary, Eagle Comics, mainly to reprint Judge Dredd on a monthly basis for the U.S. audience. American reprints continued throughout the 1980s and into the '90s. Comics Review currently America's best regularly-published source for reprints of newspaper comics, ran many episodes of The Star's version. DC Comics licensed the character in 1994, and published American-made Dredd stories for the next two years, while at the same time running a reprint series. In oneshots and mini-series coming out between 1991 and '99, Dredd has done crossovers with Batman. He's also crossed over with DC's Lobo (1995) and Dark Horse Comics' licensed version of 20th Century Fox's Predator (1997).

The film version of Dredd, with Sylvester Stallone in the title role, was released in England on June 21, 1995, and in America nine days later. It wasn't much of a success, but many attribute this to its not being a close enough adaptation. For example, the movie Dredd was frequently shown in a full-face view, whereas comics readers almost never see his eyes — an important point in a no-nonsense law enforcement officer who, like Dredd, makes every effort to distance himself from the people he's supposed to be protecting.

For the past few years, Dredd hasn't been seen very often in the U.S. But in his country of origin, 2000 AD, now published by Rebellion A/S, mostly a game producer, is still coming out every week (even if the year itself has passed into history). And Judge Dredd is still its biggest star. When I was deployed to Sarajevo, Bosnia back in 1996 and part of 1997, and served in the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) under a UK commander, I would go to the British post exchange (operating out of a little pre-fab "hut") and buy the latest copy of 2000 AD magazine, hoping Dredd was featured.

He is the law!

The Dark Knight Returns - Summer 2008

The Dark Knight, a sequel to the 2005 release Batman Begins, which rebooted the Batman franchise after an eight-year hiatus, is scheduled for release Summer 2008. Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins, continues as the director of the sequel, which stars Christian Bale again as Batman and Heath Ledger as the Joker. The film follows Batman becoming more of a detective, dealing with the escalated situation from the end of Batman Begins as well as the dilemma of his vigilante crusade, and his friendship with district attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart.

This movie looks promising as was Batman Begins. The new series is a return to the psychologically dark character of his original 1930s conception; the Joker is certainly psychotic and scary, which keeps in step with the comic books.

Batman and Gordon find alliance with a newly appointed DA Harvey Dent to stop a vicious killer with a warped sense of humor known only as The Joker, the epitome of evil and a threat to Gotham City.

So, pretend the previous Batman movies never happened and get on board with the new series. And don't forget to cast your vote for Harvey Dent, District Attorney.