The Dark Knight Rises

I finally got around to watching the third movie in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. I am not a big fan of the first two films. They are too long and complicated to satisfy my tastes. This one was no different in those respects.

I watched it over three consecutive nights. I watched 40 minutes the first night, 40 minutes the second night, and the remaining 85 minutes on the third night. I liked what I saw on the first night but after the second night I wasn't as optimistic about what my overall judgement if the would be. The third night confirmed my feelings from the second.

The best thing in the movie was Anne Hathaway. I thought she did a great job in the role of Selina Kyle, I don't remember them referring to her as Catwoman at any point in the movie. Both as adversary and then ally of Bruce Wayne and Batman she added something to every scene she was in.

The only other thing that I really liked about the movie were the little moments that occurred here and there. Some of them were nods to the comic book history of Batman, others were character moments that helped to flesh out the people and relationships that existed on the story.

My biggest problem with the movie is that it doesn't feel like a Batman or superhero story to me. What it feels like is an action/adventure story. The main character is named Batman but it feels like a story that wasn't written with the Batman in mind. It doesn't feel like an Elseworlds story where the writer takes an existing character of situation and changes them or the situation they are in somehow. Rather it feels like they slapped Batman's name on a story that wasn't written with him in mind. He doesn't remind me of the Batman that I grew up reading or the one from the cartoons or the Tim Burton films.

Quite often the action scenes felt very generic. Batman, Bane, Selina Kyle, etc. (characters I am familiar with from the comic books) were in them but it felt as if they could have been be easily swapped out for some other no-name action story archetypes with out missing a beat or changing anything.

I really wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did.

Free Comic Book Day - May 4, 2013

I went to two stores today. Both had sales, one had big name comic book creators. Guess which one was mobbed and had a block-long line just to get in the store? Guess which one I didn't get in to?

Store #1: Third Eye Comics (Annapolis, MD) - I had heard of but never been to this store before today. The line to get in the place was incredibly long and was barely moving. As I was walking past the front door towards the end of the line I saw that they were closely regulating how many people they would allow in the store at a time. I waited for five minutes at the end of the line before deciding I would rather be at a less crowded store.

Store #2: Barbarian Comics (Wheaton, MD) - The atmosphere was considerably more subdued at this store. There were no comic book artists or writers to meet and there was no line to get in the store. It was a little busier than usual but for the most part I had no difficulty moving around the store. I can only imagine what it must have been like inside Third Eye Comics.

My Dalek t-shirt sparked Doctor Who talk with the owners. We basically agreed to disagree as to who was the best Doctor from the new series. I prefer David Tennant and don't care for the Matt Smith era. I characterize it that way because the person on the show who really brings the show down is Amy Pond.

I wanted to buy Scalped Vol. 6. They didn't have it in stock so I asked them to order it for me. I looked around for a long time before I found something else on my short list of books to read: The Spirit Vol. 2 by Darwyn Cooke. All trades were 20% off. I considered also buying Powers Vol. 14: Gods, but decided one book was enough.

The Spirit v1: Batman/The Spirit

Crime Convention
by Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke (storytellers), J. Bone (inks), and Dave Stewart (colors)

Batman and the Spirit travel to Hawaii to save Commissioners Gordon and Dolan from a gang of super villains.

The story looks great. Cooke, Bone, and Stewart do not disappoint. There are some beautiful splash pages.

It feels as if there is a little too much in this crossover special. At 40 pages it is almost double the length of a standard comic book. Every one of those pages is crowded with words, plot, and characters.

Even though it won an Eisner Award, this story doesn't compare favorably to the other stories in this collection. It is a jumbled mess. Some plot points are over explained. Not all the transitions work. On the whole the story feels very rushed.

The Spirit v1: #6

Almost Blue
by Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone (inks), and Dave Stewart (colors)

This story breaks the mold, if there was one. It doesn't feel like any of the previous stories or even like a typical Spirit story. It feels like noir blended with science fiction.

Despite the heavy use of narration, especially in the first few pages, the panels do not feel crowded. Cooke has done a great job of balancing the text and the pictures. They don't clash with one another, they sing together.

Once again the Spirit takes an unexpected detour in his continuing search for Alvarro Mortez. Even though this series is a collection of one-shots they each have their own special flavor. This is possibly, probably the most satisfying story to date.

The Spirit v1: #5

Media Man
by Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone (inks), and Dave Stewart (colors)

The spirit battles gangsters who are using his image to sell cans of pork & beans.

There has to be a hidden message beneath this story. It is a little too weird for there not to be. Possibly it is a comment on the advertising industry.

The visuals towards the end feature some smashingly great sequential art. Cooke out does himself with the last 7 pages. Most if not all of the word balloons (sparsely distributed as they ate) are unnecessary as the pictures tell the story.

The Spirit v1: #4

Silk Satin
by Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone (inks), and Dave Stewart (colors)

This story is all kind of awesome. From the first page to the very last the story unfolds. There is no padding or filler. There is a fair amount of dialogue and narration which is paired with appropriately sized panels and drawings. Dave Stewart uses different color palettes very effectively as the story changes tone and setting.

The Spirit captures Hussein Hussein in Central City. After the con man escapes police custody the Spirit teams up with CIA agent Silk Satin to recapture him.

The Spirit v1: #3

Resurrection
by Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone (inks), and Dave Stewart (colors)

A tip jars the Spirit's memory and he thinks back to the day Denny Colt died and was born again as the Spirit. This is his origin story. It unfolds as he digs up the grave of Alvarro Mortez, another man who is rumored to have come back to life.

Most of the story is a flashback. It is narrated by many people: the Spirit, Ebony, Commissioner Dolan, Ellen, an unnamed villain. The look and feel of the flashback are quite different from the bookends that surround it. The lines seem thinner, but harder and angular; and there are more pastels and day-glow colors.

On the whole this story it has a very different feel than the first couple in this series but is no less gripping, intense, or thrilling. It is an open-ended one shot. The ending is both satisfying and frustrating.