Batman: 5 Years On - 2009
I'm 48 years old and I'm playing Batman: Arkham Asylum on the XBox.
At 2.30am in the morning.
I must be mad.
As a Batman fan and someone who still enjoys a well put-together computer game, it's maybe not that crazy, but it's certainly not what most people would call normal.
Good.
Can't be doing with normal. Overrated in my opinion.
But what it does prove is that I still have a fascination with the Dark Knight and his world after all these years, even after I wrote and documented in my eBook 'On the Bench: 65 Years of the Bat' in 2005 that my interest in the character - certainly in his true home of the comic book - had diminished greatly since the start of the new Millennium and, other than the superb 'Hush' series of 2002-2003, nothing DC Comics has come up with in the last decade is of any great worth in the continuing Bat History nor, in my opinion, an overly good representation of Batman.
On the Bench, much like 'A Personal Journey' (my eBook on the rock band Journey), was well timed in that it allowed me 'closure' on the comic book Bat association while acknowledging that even at 65 Batman was certainly not going to retire anytime soon.
Similarly, the original presentation of A Personal Journey in 2006 allowed me to express why my own (musical) journey ended a decade earlier, whilst acknowledging the Journey itself continued for the band and many fans.
Batman is of course still an immensely popular character in comic book super hero culture, but for me DC Comics have simply lost their way in regard to good storytelling, 'believability', definitive bat-artwork, and intelligent plot devices.
However the comic book market is hardly aimed at the over 40's, and part of my disassociation could well be age and simply 'growing apart', but as I still have an (un)healthy interest in the comic book world and specific writers, artists, and stories within those worlds I don't think so. I truly think DC have lost the (comic book) plot as regards the Bat, and where they try to add drama or controversy they only end up with either weaker stories or overly complicated plot lines.
And if they do become too complicated or poorly received, they can always remove it from continuity or revert back to a previous comic book thread with the 'multiverse' of DC's comic book world which allows for all sorts of deaths, rebirths, and redirected timelines within the DC Universe.
For me it's simply that in recent years new artists and newer styles of artistry, the more convoluted plot-lines, too many (second rate or new) characters, and even a stint of taking the great bat-criminals 'off-world' have been a step too far removed from Batman's last major re-imagining in 1986 when Frank Miller's seminal 'The Dark Knight Returns' mini-series put Batman well and truly back on the comic book - and real world - map.
I say that was his last re-imagining, but in 2008 DC took what would seem to be the dramatic and controversial decision of 'killing off' Batman and putting a new man in the cape & cowl. However I saw it more as a way of creating larger comic book sales and mainstream media interest than innovative storytelling - especially as (surprise surprise) Batman didn't die as initially thought, but ends up (via another convoluted storyline) in a distant past, albeit Bruce Wayne would seem to be very much dead.
The original Robin (Dick Grayson) takes up the mantle of the Bat, but any takers on the bet that the original Batman (Bruce Wayne) makes it back in some shape or form eventually?
Either way, I could care less.
'Batman R.I.P.' and the later related stories would have been more controversial or made more impact if not for the fact that Dick Grayson has played the part of Batman before (when Bruce Wayne was seriously injured in the Knightfall storyline of 1993), and a genuinely controversial killing had already taken place in 1988 when DC/ the Joker murdered Jason Todd - who was Robin at that time.
When DC later brought back the Todd character in a slightly different form it was seen by many as a 'cop out' and greatly diminished the genuinely bold decision in 1988 of killing off a leading character (which was done by a readers/ fan vote).
Not only that, but DC had already pulled a similar stunt with their 'Death of Superman' series in 1992, and as regards significant comic book deaths Marvel Comics and Captain America got there the year before Batman, although the 2009 mini-series 'Captain America: Reborn' tells you that the original 'Cap' will be also be returning, or be around, in some shape or form.
But that does seem to be part of the DC problem - Marvel have been stealing DC's thunder of late as regards quality comic book work, and are even leading the way in the quality and quantity of big screen adaptations of their heroes - with one notable exception...
'Batman Begins' put the Bat back on the movie map in 2005, and this reboot of the DC/ Warner Brothers ailing movie bat-franchise was a hit with the hardcore and passive batfan alike, as well as the general movie goers who just went to be entertained.
The sequel, 'The Dark Knight', grossed an incredible $1 billion worldwide and the late Heath Ledger picked up many posthumous Best Supporting Actor Awards including an Oscar for his remarkable performance as the Joker, doing the almost impossible of knocking Jack Nicholson's 1989 movie portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime into second place.
I thought the two Bat movies directed by Christopher Nolan, written by David S. Goyer and Nolan, and featuring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/ Batman were truly excellent, especially Begins with it's tip of the cowl to all the right comic books, and I very much hope there will be a third movie as is expected.
The future is still bright for Batman - but in widescreen. And, the small screen...
On Friday 28th August 2009 the XBox 360 version of Batman: Arkham Asylum was released, and I didn't just buy it, I made sure I got the Collector's Edition - on the day of release.
Hence the 2.30am stint described at the top of this piece.
It's a pretty damn good game too, with a number of nods to classic Batman mythology including all the usual suspects and high tech gadgetry, and although I personally could do without the fast action combat style that only kids with the reactions of typists who can touch type 60+ words a minute seem to have, I'm enjoying every minute of it.
I'm also pleased to say the 2.30am and still wide awake show was a one-off based on excitement and eagerness to play the game - my Late Knight escapades thereafter ended at far more sensible times - around 12.30 to 1am.
I'm 48 years old and I'm playing Batman: Arkham Asylum on the XBox.
At 1.00am in the morning.
I must still be mad.
"Dear Arkham Asylum - room for one more?"
Ross Muir September 2009
(A history of the Batman character from 1939-2004 including the Author's own take on the Bat and his career in (and out of) the comic book medium can be found in Ross Muir's eBook 'On the Bench! - 65 Years of The Bat')
I'm 48 years old and I'm playing Batman: Arkham Asylum on the XBox.
At 2.30am in the morning.
I must be mad.
As a Batman fan and someone who still enjoys a well put-together computer game, it's maybe not that crazy, but it's certainly not what most people would call normal.
Good.
Can't be doing with normal. Overrated in my opinion.
But what it does prove is that I still have a fascination with the Dark Knight and his world after all these years, even after I wrote and documented in my eBook 'On the Bench: 65 Years of the Bat' in 2005 that my interest in the character - certainly in his true home of the comic book - had diminished greatly since the start of the new Millennium and, other than the superb 'Hush' series of 2002-2003, nothing DC Comics has come up with in the last decade is of any great worth in the continuing Bat History nor, in my opinion, an overly good representation of Batman.
On the Bench, much like 'A Personal Journey' (my eBook on the rock band Journey), was well timed in that it allowed me 'closure' on the comic book Bat association while acknowledging that even at 65 Batman was certainly not going to retire anytime soon.
Similarly, the original presentation of A Personal Journey in 2006 allowed me to express why my own (musical) journey ended a decade earlier, whilst acknowledging the Journey itself continued for the band and many fans.
Batman is of course still an immensely popular character in comic book super hero culture, but for me DC Comics have simply lost their way in regard to good storytelling, 'believability', definitive bat-artwork, and intelligent plot devices.
However the comic book market is hardly aimed at the over 40's, and part of my disassociation could well be age and simply 'growing apart', but as I still have an (un)healthy interest in the comic book world and specific writers, artists, and stories within those worlds I don't think so. I truly think DC have lost the (comic book) plot as regards the Bat, and where they try to add drama or controversy they only end up with either weaker stories or overly complicated plot lines.
And if they do become too complicated or poorly received, they can always remove it from continuity or revert back to a previous comic book thread with the 'multiverse' of DC's comic book world which allows for all sorts of deaths, rebirths, and redirected timelines within the DC Universe.
For me it's simply that in recent years new artists and newer styles of artistry, the more convoluted plot-lines, too many (second rate or new) characters, and even a stint of taking the great bat-criminals 'off-world' have been a step too far removed from Batman's last major re-imagining in 1986 when Frank Miller's seminal 'The Dark Knight Returns' mini-series put Batman well and truly back on the comic book - and real world - map.
I say that was his last re-imagining, but in 2008 DC took what would seem to be the dramatic and controversial decision of 'killing off' Batman and putting a new man in the cape & cowl. However I saw it more as a way of creating larger comic book sales and mainstream media interest than innovative storytelling - especially as (surprise surprise) Batman didn't die as initially thought, but ends up (via another convoluted storyline) in a distant past, albeit Bruce Wayne would seem to be very much dead.
The original Robin (Dick Grayson) takes up the mantle of the Bat, but any takers on the bet that the original Batman (Bruce Wayne) makes it back in some shape or form eventually?
Either way, I could care less.
'Batman R.I.P.' and the later related stories would have been more controversial or made more impact if not for the fact that Dick Grayson has played the part of Batman before (when Bruce Wayne was seriously injured in the Knightfall storyline of 1993), and a genuinely controversial killing had already taken place in 1988 when DC/ the Joker murdered Jason Todd - who was Robin at that time.
When DC later brought back the Todd character in a slightly different form it was seen by many as a 'cop out' and greatly diminished the genuinely bold decision in 1988 of killing off a leading character (which was done by a readers/ fan vote).
Not only that, but DC had already pulled a similar stunt with their 'Death of Superman' series in 1992, and as regards significant comic book deaths Marvel Comics and Captain America got there the year before Batman, although the 2009 mini-series 'Captain America: Reborn' tells you that the original 'Cap' will be also be returning, or be around, in some shape or form.
But that does seem to be part of the DC problem - Marvel have been stealing DC's thunder of late as regards quality comic book work, and are even leading the way in the quality and quantity of big screen adaptations of their heroes - with one notable exception...
'Batman Begins' put the Bat back on the movie map in 2005, and this reboot of the DC/ Warner Brothers ailing movie bat-franchise was a hit with the hardcore and passive batfan alike, as well as the general movie goers who just went to be entertained.
The sequel, 'The Dark Knight', grossed an incredible $1 billion worldwide and the late Heath Ledger picked up many posthumous Best Supporting Actor Awards including an Oscar for his remarkable performance as the Joker, doing the almost impossible of knocking Jack Nicholson's 1989 movie portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime into second place.
I thought the two Bat movies directed by Christopher Nolan, written by David S. Goyer and Nolan, and featuring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/ Batman were truly excellent, especially Begins with it's tip of the cowl to all the right comic books, and I very much hope there will be a third movie as is expected.
The future is still bright for Batman - but in widescreen. And, the small screen...
On Friday 28th August 2009 the XBox 360 version of Batman: Arkham Asylum was released, and I didn't just buy it, I made sure I got the Collector's Edition - on the day of release.
Hence the 2.30am stint described at the top of this piece.
It's a pretty damn good game too, with a number of nods to classic Batman mythology including all the usual suspects and high tech gadgetry, and although I personally could do without the fast action combat style that only kids with the reactions of typists who can touch type 60+ words a minute seem to have, I'm enjoying every minute of it.
I'm also pleased to say the 2.30am and still wide awake show was a one-off based on excitement and eagerness to play the game - my Late Knight escapades thereafter ended at far more sensible times - around 12.30 to 1am.
I'm 48 years old and I'm playing Batman: Arkham Asylum on the XBox.
At 1.00am in the morning.
I must still be mad.
"Dear Arkham Asylum - room for one more?"
Ross Muir September 2009
(A history of the Batman character from 1939-2004 including the Author's own take on the Bat and his career in (and out of) the comic book medium can be found in Ross Muir's eBook 'On the Bench! - 65 Years of The Bat')