I love comic geeks. I got some email defending Batman. Hush now. He’s a big rodent and can look after himself. Besides… I kinda like the guy. Especially when you dig deep enough into his origin:

American comics circa 1979:

A generation using Robin as a role model. The horror.

2000AD the same year:

That’s how you grab a kid’s attention. I was seven years old when I started reading 2000AD.

And my favourite panels from The Judge Child Quest the following year:

The Joker was a fucking amateur.

Saw The Dark Knight. Moments of brilliance (mostly due to Ledger), but a horribly mixed bag of tricks overall. Not a patch on Iron Man despite all the fan boy genuflecting. Will have more to say on it after I’ve seen the IMAX version – couple of things I wanna clarify with a second screening – but in the meantime this kinda sums up the faults that in retrospect were right there in the trailer:

Which kid is having the most fun? Batkid or the one with lollipops and knives?

Thankfully Nolan recognises what a knob Batman is and keeps him off screen for most of the movie. Having Bale rasp his lines in that ridiculous get up for the first time on set must have lead to a similar revelation as Spielberg’s when he realised that Bruce wasn’t going to float…

I don’t normally just repost an entire blog entry from elsewhere, but this one is special. I’ve been avoiding all the Batfreak jism sticking to the Internets this week and I’m still only luke-warm to the idea of seeing The Dark Knight at all, even this didn’t rise much of a smile. Then Sean’s post popped up in my RSS reader:

Every superhero movie ever – including Hellboy 2, Iron Man, Superman 2, and the fantastic-looking Watchmen film coming soon to a theater near you – can suck Heath Ledgers dead cock. Screw giving the man an oscar, that would be way too nice a thing to give this performance. I want parents groups speaking out against it. I want copycats.

Seriously, it’s like A Clockwork Orange, but with less rape and more rocket propelled grenades.

I’m seeing it again.

Should probably go book some IMAX tickets… They did film this scene, right?