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I've been re-watching all the old DCAU films lately, including the ones edited together from TV episodes, and I was surprised by how well World's Finest holds up. It's been a long time since I last watched it – maybe more than a decade – and it was a lot better than I remembered it being. As far as animated Batman/Superman films go, I'd rank it up there with Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009).

Using Lois as the emotional lynchpin to connect Batman and Superman's civilian lives was a good way of streamlining things and keeping the plot focused on those three characters, although it is a little strange hearing Conroy's Batman woo a woman voiced by Delany who isn't Andrea Beaumont. The acting is good across the board, and it's particularly enjoyable to hear Hamill's manic Joker playing off Brown's calm and reserved Luthor. The movie does a good job of contrasting their very different personalities, just as it does a good job of visually contrasting Gotham City against Metropolis. I hope one day we'll see a live action Metropolis that looks as interesting as the S:TAS version.

There's a bit of an "I won't kill you but I don't have to save you" moment towards the end where Batman saves Harley and tells Superman to save Lex, but then leaves the Joker to perish on the exploding wing. Ok, so the Joker had a parachute. But it was Batman's fault the exploding marbles spilled onto the floor in the first place, and he could've easily told Superman to save the Joker as well as Lex. This leads to what is arguably the funniest one-liner ever spoken by Conroy's Batman.

Good stuff. I'm sure we've already discussed this film before, but I can't find a thread on it anywhere on the site. So I figured we ought to have one.

Here's the second of NC's reviews for Dark Knight month.

Predicting box office returns with any accuracy is a virtual impossibility at present. I have no idea how much The Batman could make, but it's off to a very respectable start with an opening weekend haul of $248.5 million worldwide.

Factors working against it: Covid, a lengthy running time and the fact it has a higher age rating in some territories than most superhero films. It's also got the Batman Begins problem of following a divisive screen version of Batman that failed to meet box office expectations (Justice League only grossed $657.9 million, and that was pre-pandemic).

Factors in its favour: strong reviews (85% on RT) and positive word of mouth (high user ratings and an A- CinemaScore). It's also got a more grounded tone than the DCEU movies, and gritty grounded Batman films tend to gross over a billion dollars (e.g. The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises and Joker). Though of course they were all pre-pandemic.

It should have better legs at the box office than BvS. Here's hoping the second weekend drop will be small.

We can create a proper scene-by-scene analysis of this film at a later time, but for now I've quickly thrown together this basic rundown of some of the more obvious elements of The Batman that were lifted from the comics. This is by no means comprehensive. I'm going off my memory of the film having only seen it once, and thecolorsblend has also pitched in with some references he spotted. But there are bound to be things we've forgotten or overlooked, so feel free to add anything we've missed.

Obviously this thread will contain SPOILERS, so if you haven't seen the film yet then stop reading now.

BATMAN AND HIS ALLIES

Batman's voice over narration and journal are strongly reminiscent of the narration in Frank Miller's stories. The prominent neon signs covering Gotham might also be a nod to David Mazzucchelli's art in Batman: Year One (Batman Vol 1 #404-407, February-May 1987).

The characterisation of Batman as a rookie who occasionally makes mistakes is indebted to Geoff Johns' Batman: Earth One series. The look and characterisation of Alfred, with his walking stick, beard and cockney accent, are also derived from this series.

The scenes of Batman and Gordon following the Riddler's trail of clues might have been influenced by similar scenes in Batman: Earth One Volume 2 (2015).

Likewise the scene where Batman finds and investigates the Riddler's lair.

Earth One Volume 2 contains a scene where Batman fails to prevent one of the Riddler's bombs from going off on a train, similar to how he fails to save Gil Colson from the Riddler's explosive collar in the movie.

In the film Thomas Wayne was running for mayor at the time of his death. He was also depicted as running for mayor in Batman: Earth One Volume 1 (2012).

Bruce and Alfred are shown living in a penthouse in the centre of Gotham. Batman operated out of an apartment when he first appeared back in 'The Case of the Chemical Syndicate' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #27, May 1939) and later moved into a similar penthouse during the Bronze Age.

When asked who he is, Batman answers "Vengeance". This is a nod to Batman: Earth One Volume 1, in which he said the same thing when Oswald Cobblepot asked him who he was.

At one point Batman punches Gordon as part of a plan to escape from the GCPD. He also slugs Gordon in Earth One Volume 1, although the context is very different.

Instead of a cape glider, Batman has a wingsuit similar to his very first glider in the comics, way back in 'Punch and Judy' (Batman Vol 1 31, October 1945).

When he attempts to land he crashes in the street. An earlier draft of the Batman Returns script had the Michael Keaton Batman crash landing in a similar manner after using his cape glider.

Batman's lenses in the film can record what he sees and process the data through facial recognition software. Batman: Hush (Batman Vol 1 1 #608-619, December 2002-November 2003) showed him scanning his opponents using similar tech built into the lenses of his cowl.

Throughout the film Bruce is shown riding a motorcycle around Gotham and wearing a hoodie when not in costume. He also rode a motorcycle in his civilian guise in Year One and made prominent use of a motorbike in Batman: Zero Year (Batman Vol 2 #21-27 & 29-33, June 2013-July 2014). The latter story, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, also showed Bruce wearing a hoodie when not in costume.

Batman's gauntlets resemble those worn by the Talons of the Court of Owls.

In the film Bruce discovers that his parents had a connection with the Falcone crime family when the Riddler implicates his father, Thomas Wayne, in the death of a journalist named Edward Elliot. The word 'Hush' appears on screen when the Riddler posts his exposé on the Waynes, which could be a reference to the comic villain Hush.

Hush's real name is Tommy Elliot, and one of his ancestors was named Edward Elliot, as revealed in Batman: Gates of Gotham (July-October 2011) by Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins and and Trevor McCarthy.

Martha Wayne's maiden name is Arkham in the movie. In most comics Martha's maiden name is given as Kane, however in the Earth One series it is Arkham. In the film she is revealed to have suffered from mental health problems. Mental health problems also ran in Martha's side of the family in the Earth One series.

In the movie the Riddler alleges that Thomas had Elliot killed to cover up Martha's history of mental illness. There have been several comic stories in which Bruce faced the possibility that his parents were not the saintly people he believed them to be. One example would be Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P. (Batman Vol 1 #676–681, May-November 2008), in which a dossier is unearthed alleging that Martha was a promiscuous drug addict who was violently abused by her husband. In the comic this dossier is eventually revealed to have been fabricated, while in the movie the allegations of Thomas Wayne's involvement with Elliot's death are confirmed by Alfred. Alfred surmises that Falcone might have had Thomas and Martha killed to prevent them revealing the truth about Elliot's death, similar to how mob boss Lew Moxon had them killed in the comics as originally depicted in 'The First Batman' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #235, September 1956).

Bruce meets Carmine Falcone at the funeral of Don Mitchell Jr. and Falcone recounts how Thomas Wayne once saved his life by patching him up after he was shot. The Roman describes how the young Bruce watched this from upstairs in the Wayne household. The opening scene of the ninth chapter of Batman: The Long Halloween (December 1996-December 1997), 'Father's Day', depicts an identical incident, right down to the detail of Bruce watching from upstairs.

In the comics Falcone later mentioned this incident to Bruce at the funeral of his parents, as depicted in Batman: Dark Victory (November 1999-December 2000), similar to how he references it at Mitchell's funeral in the film.

The film ends with Batman expressing his desire to become more than a mere symbol of vengeance, and instead to become a symbol of hope for the people of Gotham. This recalls the end of Darwyn Cooke's Batman: Ego (2000).

RIDDLER

The Riddler's real name in the film is Edward Nashton rather than Edward Nigma/Nygma. In the Post-Crisis comics Edward Nashton was the Riddler's birth name which he later had changed to Edaward Nigma, as revealed by Commissioner Gordon in 'Riddles' (The Question Vol 1 #26, March 1989).

In the movie he was raised in an orphanage, while in the comics he was raised by his abusive father.

His costume in the movie is a more militaristic version of his comic book suit. He still wears a green jacket and trousers decorated with a question mark motif, only in place of a green domino mask he wears a US Army cold weather mask.

As in the Earth One timeline, Reeves' Riddler is depicted as a serial killer who targets corrupt city officials.

The shot of Nashton sitting in the cafe would appear to be a reference to the 1942 painting 'Nighthawks' by American painter Edward Hopper.

This painting was also referenced in Year One, only there is was Gordon and Sarah Essen sitting in the cafe. Also note the rain that featured prominently in Year One's art work, as it does in The Batman.

The scene where Batman talks with the Riddler in Arkham might have been inspired by a scene from the final chapter of Batman: Hush. In both stories Batman visits the Riddler at Arkham and they discuss the mystery of who Batman is under his mask.

At one point Batman loses his temper and lashes out. In the movie he strikes the glass between them, while in the comic he strikes the Riddler himself.

The Riddler uses vans loaded with explosives to destroy retaining walls along the waterfront and flood Gotham. This plot point is adapted directly from Batman: Zero Year, which also depicted the Riddler flooding Gotham.

The Riddler uses vans loaded with explosives to start the flood in the film. He tried to blow up a GCPD precinct using a van loaded with explosives in Earth One Volume 2.

The apocalyptic imagery of the damage caused by the flood might also have been influenced by the No Man's Land (1999) storyline, in which Gotham was devastated by an earthquake.

CATWOMAN AND FALCONE

Kravitz's physical appearance matches that of the Year One Selina, and the leather outfit she wears during the scene where she tries to kill Carmine Falcone is identical to one she wears in that story.

Some fans argue that Selina's race is ambiguous in Year One. However, Miller wrote an unproduced screenplay for a Batman: Year One movie adaptation in which he explicitly stated that Selina is black.

Like Year One, the movie depicts Selina living in an apartment filled with stray cats and cohabiting with another female character who is a victim of male abuse (Holly/Annika).

Selina's familial connection to Carmine Falcone is a reference her storyline in Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory and Catwoman: When in Rome (November 2004-May 2005), in which Selina came to suspect that Falcone might be her biological father.

Selina scratches Carmine's face in the movie, which she also did in Year One and 'When Animals Attack' (Batman Eternal Vol 1 #10, August 2014).

Batman Eternal Vol 1 #10 also features a scene where Batman stops Selina from killing Falcone, much like he does in the film.

The image of Batman and Catwoman kissing with the Gotham cityscape in the background recalls a memorable scene from Batman: Hush, as drawn by Jim Lee.

At the end of the film Selina mentions Bludhaven as somewhere she might go after leaving Gotham. In the comics Bludhaven is the stamping ground of Batman's former sidekick Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing.

OTHER REFERENCES

In the movie the Penguin runs a nightclub called the Iceberg Lounge. He's been running this club in the comics since 'Odds Against' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #683, March 1995).

There's a corrupt cop in the movie named William Kenzie. Bill Kenzie was also a corrupt member of the GCPD in the Gotham Central comics.

I didn't spot this, but apparently there's a bust of Shakespeare in Bruce's office. This is likely a nod to the sixties TV show and 1966 movie.

The presence of an elderly female housekeeper, Dory, who helps Alfred look after Bruce might be a nod to Aunt Harriet from the Silver Age comics and sixties TV show. Incidentally, the actress who plays Dory, Sandra Dickinson, had previously appeared in a small role in Richard Lester's Superman III (1983).

Crime boss Sal Maroni is mentioned several times throughout the movie. In the comics, Maroni was the mobster who scarred Harvey Dent and triggered his transformation into Two-Face.

Arkham Asylum is referred to in the film as Arkham State Hospital. When Arkham first appeared back in 'Threat of the Two-Headed Coin!' (Batman Vol 1 #258, October 1974) it was called Arkham Hospital.

And on the subject of Arkham, the other inmate that speaks to the Riddler at the end of the film is obviously the Joker.


Well that's about all I've got for now. Like I say, I threw this together very quickly so I apologise for it being a bit rough. Obviously we can revisit this topic when the film's out on DVD and then we can add screencaps for visual comparisons. If anyone can think of anything else to add now, then please do. I'll come back at a later time and add some quotes from the filmmakers concerning which comics they were influenced by.

With all the live action Batman films coming out this year, this animated feature risks getting eclipsed. But if you're looking for a more family-friendly Batman film to entertain the kids, then this one might do the trick. Keanu Reeves provides the voice of Batman.

I can't say I'm a big fan of the Nostalgia Critic, but it might interest some of our site members to know that he's doing a 'Dark Knight Month' in which he'll be reviewing Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Batman 89 and Mask of the Phantasm. Here's the first video.

I just watched Jack Frost on TV (I was bored, it was on, I figured why not?) and decided to make a thread about the tenuous similarities between it and Batman & Robin. For one thing, both movies were massive critical and commercial successes that are now regarded as high points in the careers of their respective stars.

All right, let's get serious. Both movies had pretty big budgets for the time. B&R's was $160 million, while Jack Frost's is estimated to have been as high as $85 million! And this was back in 1997 and 1998. Both movies underperformed at the box office, in Jack Frost's case flat out bombing and losing a lot of money for the studio. Thought I expect it's recouped those losses over time through Christmas reruns and video/DVD sale revenue.

Both films have an icy setting and contain plenty of ice puns. They both feature hockey teams, characters who are vulnerable to heat and require sub-zero temperatures to survive, and scenes in which a Batman actor goes surfing/snowboarding with his young male co-star.

Both films utilised cutting edge special effects for the time, and both are now generally remembered with a mixture of nostalgia and disdain. Though in Jack Frost's case, it has at least entered the annual circulation of Christmas films and a lot of people seem to feel a strong affection towards it.

On the trivia front, if you take away the eyebrows from the Jack Frost snowman he doesn't really look like Michael Keaton. Instead he more closely resembles another Batman actor.

Apparently the reason for this is that Clooney was originally meant to star in Jack Frost and the artists at the Jim Henson workshop designed the snowman puppet to look and move like him. Then Clooney quit the project to make a different movie and Keaton stepped in, whereupon they added the eyebrows to try and make the snowman look more like the new lead actor. You might be thinking that Clooney dodged a bullet by not starring in Jack Frost, but you may change your mind when you learn what movie it was he quit JF in favour of. I'll give you a clue – it came out in 1997, and it wasn't The Peacemaker.

So Keaton and Clooney effectively swapped roles. Keaton inherited Jack Frost from Clooney, and Clooney inherited Batman from Keaton by way of Kilmer. The same year Jack Frost came out, both Clooney and Keaton appeared in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight.

One final Batman connection to mention is that in Jack Frost the title character's son has a Batman: The Animated Series bust on his bedside table. Well actually, it's the B:TAS Batman's head on the S:TAS Superman's body for some reason.

Believe it or not, this has actually inspired some fan art on the internet. Probably as a result of the Nostalgia Critic pointing it out in his review.

This really wasn't worth creating a thread about, but like I say, I was bored.

I discovered John Carpenter's films at a young age and developed a particularly strong interest in them throughout my teenage years. Much as I enjoy a lot of his work, I would never go so far as to describe him as a great director. Not great in the way Murnau, Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Bergman, Kubrick or Tarkovsky were great. Instead I'd compare him to cult filmmakers such as Bava, Romero, Argento and Raimi. With that said, I would argue that The Thing (1982) is the closest Carpenter ever got to making a truly great film. I love Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog and Big Trouble in Little China, but The Thing stands head and shoulders over any other Carpenter movie as far as sheer quality of filmmaking is concerned. It's a legitimately good picture and a classic of the science fiction horror cross-genre.

Is the film a remake of Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks' The Thing from Another World (1951), or is it a re-adaptation of the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr.? The answer is it's both. I read the book about ten years ago (however I have yet to read the extended version that was discovered in 2018), and one thing that struck me about it was how much closer it was to Carpenter's version than the 1951 film. Both pictures take liberties, but the 1982 movie is a far more faithful adaptation. For one thing, the original book and Carpenter's film both take place in the Antarctic, while the 1951 movie takes place in the Arctic.

From what I remember, the 1951 film presents a completely different cast of characters from those featured in the book. That's not the case in the 1982 movie, where most of the protagonists – including MacReady, Blair, Clark, Garry, Norris, Kinner and Copper – are based on characters from the novella. Certain scenes in Carpenter's version are also directly based on events from the book. These include the sequence where the Thing tries to assimilate the dogs in the pen and the humans have to use the flamethrower on it, and the scene where the outpost crew devise a blood test to determine who is and who isn't a Thing. In short, the 1982 film is the more accurate adaptation.

That's not to say the 1951 film isn't good too. It's a classic in its own right and Carpenter's film pays homage to it in a number of ways. We never get to see the spaceship take flight in the original film, but we do in the 1982 version. It retains the basic flying saucer design of a typical 1950s spaceship, albeit with a post-Star Wars sheen of glossy eighties special effects.

The brief scene of the ship crashing on Earth is followed by opening titles that carefully recreate those of the 1951 movie.

Later in the film the outpost crew reviews the footage shot by the Norwegians that discovered the wreckage of the crashed ship. This black and white recording recreates the memorable scene in the 1951 film where the members of the American expedition stand in a circle to outline the shape of the buried vessel.

Both films contain the sinister image of the hollow block of ice from which the Thing was thawed.

The full body burn stunts in Carpenter's film pay tribute to one of the most impressive scenes from the 1951 movie.

Carpenter assembled an impressive cast that includes genre favourites Kurt Russell, Keith David and Wilford Brimley. The movie is all about paranoia and distrust, and it's the intensity of the acting that sells the group fear dynamic. This film was made one year after Russell first played Snake Plissken in Escape from New York (1981), and both films helped cement him as one of the leading men of eighties action cinema. His alpha male presence among the ensemble cast is similar to that of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator (1987). He manages to bring star power to the movie while also delivering a terrific performance that complements those of his cast mates without ever overshadowing them.

The director of photography was Dean Cundey, who cut his teeth working on various classic John Carpenter films before going on to serve as cinematographer on major Hollywood productions such as the Back to the Future Trilogy (1985-1990), Jurassic Park (1993) and Apollo 13 (1995). His work on The Thing ranks among his finest, and I always feel physically cold whenever I watch the film. Admittedly that's largely because I tend to watch it in the dead of winter each year, but the movie itself amplifies any real cold with a chill factor of its own. Cundey's lens work favours an icy colour palette that emphasises blues, whites and greys, interspersed with occasional flashes of heat in the form of pink and fiery orange. The film simply looks cold.

The editing also plays a part in this. During the night-time scenes, editor Todd Ramsay uses fade-to-black transitions to convey the passage of time, and this gives the impression of the weary protagonists succumbing to exhaustion as sleep overtakes them. By contrast, the daytime exterior scenes use fade-to-white transitions instead of dissolves, and this creates the whiteout impression of the snow overwhelming the camera lens and blinding the viewer. It all contributes to the overall sense of cold and isolation. The same editing technique was used during the Hoth scenes in The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

Audio also contributes to the chill factor. The Foley ensures the wind can be heard howling in the background at all times, persistently reminding the viewer of the frozen expanses that lie beyond the outpost's walls. As someone who was raised on Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, I was a little disappointed by Ennio Morricone's low-key score for The Thing the first time I heard it. I think I was expecting something more epic and sweeping. But on repeated viewings, the music has grown on me and I now think it suits the story perfectly. The minimalist heartbeat theme that runs throughout the main title (which I'm fairly sure was composed by Carpenter himself) is chillingly atmospheric, and the synthetic pulse motif reflects the film's central concept of a nonhuman entity trying to imitate the functions of the human body and not quite getting it right.

As for the special effects, what can I say that hasn't already been said a thousand times? They're magnificent. Everything you see in this movie was captured in camera. Rob Bottin built these creatures for real and they were photographed just as any other live action element would be. 

To wrap up my thoughts, I'd say The Thing is John Carpenter's magnum opus. It's a survival horror story about isolation, paranoia and distrust set against one of the most remote and inhospitable backdrops on the planet. The performances, cinematography, audio, editing, music and special effects are all top notch. These dark cold winter nights are the perfect time to revisit it (although technically an Antarctic winter like the one depicted in the film would be summertime for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere).

Here's Carpenter promoting the movie on the David Endocrine show.

As far as recommending related films or television episodes, the one to start with is obviously the 1951 movie The Thing from Another World. Without that, we wouldn't have Carpenter's version.

There's also the Tom Baker Doctor Who serial The Seeds of Doom from 1976, which was clearly heavily influenced by The Thing from Another World. Episodes III-VI take place in England, but the first two episodes are set on an Arctic base where the British crew discover a vegetable-based extraterrestrial pod buried beneath the ice. The ending of the second episode, where the Arctic base is blown up, foreshadows the ending of Carpenter's movie.

I've also got to mention 'Ice', one of the best episodes of The X-Files' first season. The plot sees Mulder and Scully joining an expedition to investigate the loss of contact with a team of geophysicists in Alaska. When they get there they learn that the scientists had found a parasitic organism frozen in the ice, which somehow drove them to kill themselves and each other. This episode was very consciously influenced by Carpenter's version of The Thing, and it plays on many of the same ideas of paranoia and distrust. If you like the 1982 version of The Thing, you'll certainly like this too.

Finally there's the 2002 videogame The Thing which serves as a sequel to the 1982 film. I got this when it first came out and at the time I loved it. The NPC fear/trust system was unlike anything I'd ever seen in a game, and the squad-based gameplay and cold environment mechanics made it incredibly challenging. It's very dated now, but I loved it back when i was a teenager. I think it's about time we had a new game of The Thing made in the style of Alien: Isolation.

What does everyone else think about this film? Do you agree that it's Carpenter's finest, or was the original critical mauling it received justified? Did anyone bother watching the 2011 prequel? Any observations, analysis or opinions related to The Thing, or connected books, movies, games and TV episodes, are welcome in this thread.

As a broader question, was 1982 the greatest year ever for genre films? That year saw the release of The Thing, Blade Runner, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Rocky III, Creepshow, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Dark Crystal, First Blood, Poltergeist, TRON, 48 Hours, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Secret of NIMH and many other classic action, sci-fi, fantasy and horror movies. Compare that to how starved we are for good genre films nowadays, and the audiences of 1982 were truly spoilt for choice.

Mel Gibson has confirmed he's directing Lethal Weapon 5. Speaking at a recent event in London, he said:

"The man who directed all the Lethal films, Richard Donner, he was a big guy. He was developing the screenplay and he got pretty far along with it. And he said to me one day, 'Listen kid, if I kick the bucket you will do it.' And I said: 'Shut up.' But he did indeed pass away. But he did ask me to do it and at the time I didn't say anything. He said it to his wife and to the studio and the producer. So I will be directing the fifth one."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/bizarre/16729949/mel-gibson-direct-lethal-weapon-5/

I assumed this franchise had died with Donner. But with Mel taking the reins, LW5 stands a credible chance of being decent. I know I'm always arguing that old film and TV franchises should be allowed to rest in peace, but this is one of those rare exceptions where I'm open to the possibility of a continuation. This isn't some young Hollywood hack reviving an IP he/she didn't create just so they can churn out an unimaginative nostalgia-porn retread or appropriate it as a platform for their political views. This is Mel and Danny following Donner's original plan for the final chapter (one rumoured title is Lethal Finale), and with Gibson directing there's no chance of it being woke. This is the old guard wanting to finish what they started on a dignified note. In that sense, it has less in common with The Force Awakens or Indiana Jones 5 than it does with Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rambo (2008). If they get Russo and Pesci back, it might just work.

What does everyone else think?

With this being the month of October, and Halloween just around the corner, I figured a horror comic thread was seasonally appropriate. It's difficult for comics to be scary, and even the classic EC titles are more funny and gruesome than frightening. But if there's one comic creator whose work comes closest to being genuinely unsettling, it's Japanese mangaka Junji Ito. I wouldn't say I was a fan of Ito, as his signature brand of horror isn't really to my personal tastes. But I do find his comics effective and interesting, in the same way as I find Clive Barker or H. R. Giger's work effective and interesting (I wouldn't call myself a fan of Barker or Giger either, though I have read/seen a lot of their work through sheer morbid fascination).

Ito's brand of horror ranges from subtle psychological scares to nasty Human Centipede-level body horror that makes you feel physically sick. His disturbing art work perfectly complements his simple writing style, and the weirdness of his tales reflects a creative tendency to shun logical storytelling in favour of blunt visceral or psychological effect. Whereas western horror comics typically contain a moralistic element, whereby the protagonist's unhappy fate is a direct consequence of his or her moral failings, the horrific misfortunes that befall Ito's characters are usually no fault of their own. Horrible things just randomly happen to people that don't deserve them, and not even children, cute animals or babies are spared. Some of it's really messed up.

His most famous work is Uzumaki (Spiral), a twenty-chapter epic about a small seaside town that's rapidly transforming into a hellish netherworld themed around a ubiquitous spiral motif. Many regard Uzumaki as Ito's magnum opus, and a live action feature film adaptation was released in 2000. I haven't actually watched this yet, but I'm planning to sometime in the next week.

There's also a new animated TV series which is scheduled for release next year. Based on the teaser, the animation style looks very promising and accurately reflects Ito's art.

Ito's also written and drawn countless short stories over the years. I'm surprised more of them haven't been adapted into films. A few stories that I would recommend as being particularly frightening or unsettling, and which offer newcomers a good place to get acquainted with Ito's style, would be:

•   The Hanging Balloons
•   The Enigma of Amigara Fault (this one's particularly bad if you're claustrophobic)
•   The Human Chair

Normally I'd write a little about each of these to explain why they're good, but when it comes to Ito's stories I think the less you know about them in advance the more you'll enjoy them. His best tales really get under your skin.

If anyone does decide to check out his comics, then post your thoughts about them here. Or if anyone is already familiar with Ito, what's your verdict? Good? Bad? Scary? Gross? Do you have a favourite story of his?

I don't know if there are any fans of the game Rocket League on this site (I've never played it myself), but apparently some Batman-themed content is being added for its annual Haunted Hallows Event starting tomorrow. This will include the Batmobile from the Tim Burton films, the Tumbler from The Dark Knight Trilogy and Batfleck's Batmobile from the DCEU. Here are the details:

• New Event Challenges - Players will complete Haunted Hallows Event Challenges to unlock Batman Super-Villain themed items such as the Joker Dominus Decal and Boost, Gotham's Finest Merc Decal, Harley Quinn Wheels and Topper, Poison Ivy Boost, and more.

• Gotham City Rumble LTM - Rumble mode is being transformed and power-ups are now themed after Batman and his enemies. Players can use Joker's Boxing Glove, Harley's Hammer instead of the Boot, Poison Ivy's vines instead of the Grappling Hook, and more.

• Batmobiles & Bat-Signals - The Batmobile (1989), The Dark Knight's Tumbler, and the Batmobile (2016) will be available in the Item Shop during Haunted Hallows. Additionally, there will be three Bat-Signal Goal Explosions that show off the Bat-Symbol from three different eras. All Batmobiles and Goal Explosions will be available in the Batman Halloween Bundle for 2000 Credits, alongside individual Batmobile Bundles, plus the ability to purchase the Reel Life Decals and Goal Explosions separately.

• Beckwith Park (Gotham Night) Arena Variant - This new limited-time Arena has been transformed by the Super-Villains of Gotham City.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/10/batman-returns-to-rocket-league-for-halloweens-haunted-hallows-event

The trailer for Stallone's director's cut of Rocky IV has been released.

I'm looking forward to this, but I'm also slightly apprehensive. Rocky IV isn't the best entry in the Rocky series, but it is my personal favourite. There isn't much I'd want to change about the theatrical cut (except have 'Sweetest Victory' play over the end credits). But Sly's put a lot of effort into this, and I trust he knows what he's doing.

A re-edit of Rocky V is more warranted IMO. Here's an alternate version of the final street fight taken from an earlier work print. Most fans seem to consider this superior to the version in the finished film, and I'd have to concur.

In this version of the fight Tommy Gunn comes across slightly more sympathetically, and Rocky's patience and compassion towards him are touchingly demonstrated when he helps him up after the fight. The flashback footage of Clubber Lang is a welcome addition, as it emphasises the psychological scars their first match left on Rocky. In general, Rocky's behaviour here is also more consistent with his usual characterisation – he initially refuses to fight back against Tommy, and he doesn't rise to Duke's provocation the way he does in the theatrical cut. Hopefully Sly will turn his attention to fixing Rocky V next.

The Incredible Hulk (1977-1982) TV series ran for five seasons before being cancelled in the early eighties. To this day the show is regarded as a classic of the genre, and much of the credit for its longevity must go to its creator Kenneth Johnson. Johnson developed a take on the material that eschewed many of the comics' more fanciful elements in favour of a grounded approach that emphasised characterisation and psychological depth over effects-driven action sequences. No small feat when you consider the premise of the series involves a man transforming into a rampaging green monster.

Several years after the show's cancellation, the franchise returned for a series of TV movies that saw the Hulk teaming up with other characters from the Marvel canon. However Johnson himself was not involved with any of these, and consequently the mature psychological tone of the original programme was sidelined in favour of a more cartoonish approach which fans generally regard as being inferior to the TV series.

The 1988 film The Incredible Hulk Returns saw the not-so-jolly green giant team up with Thor, while the 1990 film The Death of the Incredible Hulk gave audiences a tearjerker finale that offered closure to the entire saga. But in between these two films was a TV movie that showed the Hulk joining forces with another Marvel hero to do battle against a classic comic book villain. That film was The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989).

There's not an awful lot of documentation about the making of this film, so it's impossible to tell how much research the writers did with regards to the comics. I'm just going to go ahead and list a few similarities I've spotted between the comics and the film. Whether they were intentional or not is anyone's guess.

The opening scene reunites us with Dr David Banner, played once again by Bill Bixby. Interestingly, Bixby also directed both this film and the one that followed it. In the comics the Hulk's human alter ego is called 'Robert Bruce Banner', but in the TV show he was renamed 'David Bruce Banner' to avoid the alliterativeness of his original name (or the possible homosexual connotations, if certain sources are to be believed). While Banner was a physicist in the comics, the Bixby incarnation is a medical doctor specialising in radiation therapy. Like his counterpart on the printed page, he was exposed to a dangerously high dose of gamma radiation that afflicted him with a monstrous alter ego driven by pure rage.

Banner is meant to be 5'10 in the comics, with brown hair and brown eyes. Bixby's height is listed by various sources as having been anywhere between 5'9 and 5'11. He had brown hair and his eyes were either green or brown. When we catch up with him in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, Banner has grown a beard and is working as an itinerant labourer.

Dr Banner first appeared in the comics in 'The Hulk' (The Incredible Hulk Vol 1 #1, May 1962). Bixby played the role in over 80 TV episodes and several TV movies spanning 13 years in total, so there's a lot more to be said about this particular incarnation. However a more in-depth analysis is probably best saved for a separate thread.

At the beginning of the movie Banner is trying to keep a low profile while earning his keep on a farm, but some of the other workers persist in provoking him. He gives notice to his employer and leaves in the hopes of avoiding a confrontation that might awaken the Hulk. To this end he journeys to an unnamed city situated close by.

Already living in this city is blind defence attorney Matt Murdock, played by Rex Smith. At 6'0, Smith is around the same height as the Murdock in the comics. His chiselled jaw line and slim athletic build evoke the look of the eighties Daredevil. However his curly blond hair is at variance with the source material, as is the fact he never wears the character's signature red glasses. But overall he's a decent match for the comic book Murdock. Matt first appeared in 'The Origin of Daredevil' (Daredevil Vol 1 #1, April 1964).

Instead of 'Nelson & Murdock: Attorneys-at-Law', Matt works at 'Murdock & Klein: Attorneys-at-Law'. His two colleagues, Christa Klein and Al Pettiman, seem to be this film's answer to Karen Page and Foggy Nelson. Only Christa is Matt's partner and Al is their secretary, which is a reversal of Karen and Foggy's roles in the comics. Christa is played by Nancy Everhard, who that same year appeared in another Marvel Comics movie starring one of Daredevil's greatest rivals: The Punisher (1989). Her short haircut is similar to the one Karen had in the nineties comics.

Pettiman may have been inspired by the comic character Willie Lincoln. Both are African-American allies of Matt Murdock who had previously served in the US Army. The main difference between them is that Lincoln was blind, while Pettiman is sighted. Lincoln also wasn't a legal secretary in the comics, though he did occasionally help out Matt and Foggy during the latter's tenure as district attorney. Willie Lincoln first appeared in the classic Silver Age story 'Brother, Take My Hand!' (Daredevil Vol 1 #47, December 1968).

Banner rents a room in the middle of the city. Dominating the skyline outside is the Fisk Tower, the edificial abode of business magnate Wilson Fisk.

Fisk first debuted in the comics in 'Spider-Man No More!' (The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #50, July 1967) and is better known by his alias 'Kingpin'. In the TV movie he is played by John Rhys-Davies, who lacks both the baldness and humungous physical proportions of the comic book Fisk. He also doesn't smoke cigars, wears mirror shades and is never directly referred to as the Kingpin.

He is shown to have an obsession with cameras and surveillance equipment, which he uses to coordinate crimes throughout the city. This may have been inspired by David Mazzucchelli's artwork in Daredevil: Born Again (1986), which depicted Kingpin sitting in front of multiple television screens in his office.

Fisk oversees a robbery at a jewellery store, following which his henchmen scatter with their ill-gotten gains. Two of these crooks take refuge on the subway where they begin harassing a female commuter named Ellie Mendez. The situation escalates to the point where the two crooks attempt to rape Ellie, prompting Banner, who also happens to be present on the train, to intervene. During the ensuing skirmish, Banner transforms into the Hulk. It may be a coincidence, but there's a Daredevil/Hulk crossover story illustrated by Frank Miller in which Banner also Hulks out on a subway train. The issue in question is 'Blind Alley' (Daredevil Vol 1 #163, March 1980).

Unlike the computer animated Hulks we're accustomed to seeing in modern films, this version is a live action beast played by two-time Mr Universe Lou Ferrigno. In the comics the Hulk's height and weight vary depending on how angry he is. In real life Ferrigno is 6'5 and weighed almost 300 lbs in his prime. He's about as close as a real human being can get to the Hulk's comic book proportions.

Curiously, Banner's beard disappears when he becomes the Hulk, only to return when he reverts to human form. Thus one of comic fandom's most enduring philosophical questions is answered.

The Hulk attacks the two crooks and one of their guns is accidentally discharged, firing a shot through the window of the train that hits a bystander on the platform outside. The Hulk flees the scene and changes back into Banner. Shortly afterwards he is discovered and arrested by the police, who charge him with attacking Ellie on the train and shooting the bystander on the platform.

Matt Murdock suspects David is being framed by Fisk and decides to offer him legal representation. The plot about Banner being put on trial was perhaps inspired by 'The World, My Jury!' (The Incredible Hulk Vol 1 #153, July 1972). Only in the comic it was the Hulk that was on trial, not his human alter ego. In both stories he is defended by Matt Murdock.

During his first meeting with Banner, Matt references his internal lie detector: "I know the truth when I hear it. It's a... compensation." He also makes a subtle allusion to the comic character's religiosity when he tells Banner to "Have a little faith."

If I may digress from The Trial of the Incredible Hulk for a moment, it's worth mentioning that Matt was not the first blind martial artist to be encountered by Bixby's Banner. Japanese actor Mako had made several appearances in the original TV series as a blind stick-wielding martial arts instructor named Li Sung. This character has obvious parallels with Daredevil's comic book mentor, Stick.

Li Sung's first appearance in the episode 'Another Path' (s2e6) actually predates Stick's debut in 'Hunters' (Daredevil Vol 1 #176, November 1981) by over three years. It's possible Frank Miller was inspired by Mako's character when he first created Stick, though I think it more likely both Li Sung and Stick were inspired by the more famous character of Zatoichi. If Marvel ever decides to publish a Hulk '77 comic similar to their X-Men '92 line, it might be an idea to explore connections between Li Sung and Matt Murdock, perhaps even having the former character serve as this universe's version of Stick.

A time-honored Batman tale is coming to the screen with the animated Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One. Supernatural's Jensen Ackles leads the cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne after previously voicing Jason Todd/Red Hood in 2010's Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Among the ensemble voice cast is Naya Rivera, the late Glee star who died in July. Rivera completed her voice work as Catwoman/Selina Kyle for The Long Halloween, which will be a two-part project, with Part One expected to bow this spring or summer.

Other stars include Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, Billy Burke as James Gordon, Titus Welliver as Carmine Falcone, David Dastmalchian as Calendar Man, Troy Baker as Joker, Amy Landecker as Barbara Gordon, Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent, Jack Quaid as Alberto, Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy and Alastair Duncan as Alfred. Other voice work was performed by Frances Callier, Greg Chun, Gary Leroi Gray and Jim Pirri.

Chris Palmer, known for Superman: Man of Tomorrow, is directing from a script that reteams him with Man of Tomorrow screenwriter Tim Sheridan. Jim Krieg and Kimberly S. Moreau are producing.  Butch Lukic is the supervising producer, with Michael Uslan and Sam Register serving as executive producers.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/batman-the-long-halloween-part-one-sets-voice-cast-exclusive

Warner Bros. is rebooting Superman yet again. This time the movie will focus on a black Superman, which presumably means Calvin Ellis rather than Ka-El. Novelist and comic book writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is penning the script and Jar Jar Abrams is producing.

"To be invited into the DC Extended Universe by Warner Bros., DC Films and Bad Robot is an honor," said Coates in a statement to Shadow and Act, a website dedicated to the African diaspora in the arts. "I look forward to meaningfully adding to the legacy of America's most iconic mythic hero."

"There is a new, powerful and moving Superman story yet to be told. We couldn't be more thrilled to be working with the brilliant Mr. Coates to help bring that story to the big screen, and we're beyond thankful to the team at Warner Bros. for the opportunity," said J.J. Abrams in the statement to S&A.

According to sources, the project is being set up as a Black Superman story. This is something that the studio has been trying to wrap its head around for months, if not a year or two. Michael B. Jordan tried to develop a Black Superman project when he first arrived at the studio with his deal in 2019, but that did not go very far at the time, according to sources. It is possible that the studio could return to him to star down the line.

Coates is a superstar author whose books include We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, The Beautiful Struggle, The Water Dancer and Between the World and Me, the latter of which was adapted by HBO. In the comic book space, he has worked on Captain America and Black Panther, with Disney's Bob Iger crediting his influential run on the latter in the decision to greenlight the groundbreaking film starring Chadwick Boseman.

Superman first flew onto the big screen with filmmaker Richard Donner's 1978 film Superman: The Motion Picture, which starred Christopher Reeve. The actor appeared in three subsequent films, with Brandon Routh donning the cape for 2006's Superman Returns and Henry Cavill stepping into the role for 2013's Man of Steel, 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017's Justice League.

This is the first DC feature known to be in development under Abrams' expansive WarnerMedia deal, but he has several DC series in the works for streaming service HBO Max, including Justice League Dark and Constantine.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/ta-nehisi-coates-to-write-new-superman-movie-for-warner-bros

So far the only cinematic Superman to get more than one solo movie was Reeve. I wonder if this new version will break that trend.

Written by Sam Hamm and drawn by artist Joe Quinones, this new comic book series promises the return of Pfeiffer's Catwoman, Bill Dee Williams' Two-Face and the debut of a new Robin. This more or less confirms the reports that the upcoming Keaton movie(s) will separate the Burtonverse from the Schumacherverse. The comic launches digitally on July 27th and will be published in chapters, followed by a hardback collection in October.

With filming on The Flash scheduled for spring and the new comic launching in summer, I think it's fair to say that the second era of the Burton Batman is about to begin!

I'm sure most fans have already seen this, but I thought it deserved its own thread. It was basically a short mini episode of the sixties TV show produced as a test run for Yvonne Craig's Batgirl. Anticipating the character's TV debut, the writers of the comics introduced the Earth-One Barbara Gordon Batgirl that same year in 'The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!' (Detective Comics Vol 1 #359, January 1967). Both the comic and the unaired pilot depict her battling Killer Moth in her first costumed outing. I believe this marks Killer Moth's only live action appearance to date.

The pilot was obviously done on the cheap, so his costume is very basic. But it references the green and purple colour scheme from the source material, and he's still got his antennae, his cape and cocoon gun like the comic version. Considering this was a low-budget unaired short, it's not a terrible depiction. The storyline about him and his gang trying to extort money from Gotham's millionaires has parallels with the plot of Batgirl's debut story in Detective Comics Vol 1 #359, and both feature a scene where Batgirl has to help Batman and Robin after they've been incapacitated by Killer Moth. To an extent, the pilot can be seen as a very loose adaptation of that issue.

The pilot is also notable for depicting the first time Barbara meets Bruce and Dick in the Westverse, as well as the first time Batman and Robin encounter Batgirl. It's not essential viewing, but it's a fun little slice of overlooked bat-history. There's a better quality version of it on the DVD, but here's the bootleg version that was in circulation for many decades.