The Dark Age (superhero comics and me)

My days as a comic book collector ran from the early 1970s into the early ’80s—roughly a decade of steady obsession. Most of what I owned came from what collectors now call the Bronze Age. If you’ve ever been a current, lapsed, or recovering comics fan, you know the map: the Golden Age (late ’30s […]

Comic Art: Spotlight on Jim Aparo

From junior high onward, I was a Marvel Comics guy. When I began attending South Junior High, I found myself in classes with total strangers. Most of my best friends from grammar school weren’t there, so I had to start over. My new crowd was heavy into Marvel—Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men. And, naturally, I followed […]

Batman: Caped Crusader: Season 1 (Prime Video) — a review

It’s never been a secret that, on any given day, my favorite comic book hero is Batman. Or Wolverine. I switch off occasionally. Today, the scales are tipped in favor of Batman since I just completed the first season of Amazon Prime Video’s animated Batman: Caped Crusader. Not just for that reason. I feel I […]

Batman: The Animated Series: Season 1 — a review

I was there in 1989 to see the first Tim Burton movie, simply and obviously titled Batman. This was in Jacksonville, North Carolina, home of the Marine base Camp Lejeune. My first wife and I were living in Jacksonville at the time. I was never a Marine. But semper fi to all of my jarhead […]

The Batman Effect

I had never heard of this particular “phenomenon,” but I already knew about it on a level that was not quite subconscious but approaching it. Let me back up for a minute. I despise clickbait. Especially the type that lures you into a slide show presentation that, at times, seems unending. That said, I sometimes […]

The Batman: Season 1 — a review of the animated series

Like most guys of a certain age, my introduction to Batman came in the form of a wacky, go-go era television series called Batman. It starred Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Batman’s ward and sidekick Robin the Boy Wonder. Famed auto customizer George Barris had built the ’66 Batmobile, which became […]

Harley Quinn: Season 2 — a review

With DC Universe undergoing its current implosion, the fate of some of the television shows I’ve enjoyed on that platform may be up in the air. Is that a mixed metaphor? Implosion and up in the air? The three series on my mind are Titans, Doom Patrol and, of course, this animated series, starring the […]

Batman: Vol. 3: Death of the Family (The New 52!), by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion — a comic book review

While I wasn’t actively buying comic books during the DC Comics revamp and relaunch of its entire line, known collectively as “The New 52,” I was aware it was happening. Jim Lee’s redesign of all the major DC superheroes was big news and got some press coverage. Superman’s uniform was altered to more resemble the […]

Harley Quinn: Season 1 — a review

I delayed writing my review of the first season of DC Universe’s Harley Quinn because I thought I had more time. The first season debuted November 29, 2019. I assumed that meant Season 2 wouldn’t come out until at least the fall of 2020. You remember that old saying about what it means when you […]

Nerd Premiere Twofer: Harley Quinn & The Mandalorian — a review

Sometimes, things that I didn’t intend to happen occur, and, again sometimes, I go with the flow to see where events take me. This is how I got to tour the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee (which is in a dry county, ironically). It’s how I ended up taking the tour of Graceland, in […]

Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (The New 52!), by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo & the rest — a comic book review

“The rest” are Jonathan Glapion, James Tynion IV, Becky Cloonan, Andy Clarke, Rafael Albuquerque and Jason Fabok in this case. Too many names to include in my title, although I want to give credit where it’s due. The material in this TPB dates back to 2012 and includes Batman #8-12 and Batman Annual #1. […]

Batman: No Man’s Land, by Greg Rucka — a comic book novelization review

I knew who Greg Rucka was before I purchased this novel. And, not for his work in superhero comics. No, Rucka was the author of a series of novels about a bodyguard named Atticus Kodiak. I read a couple of these about twenty years ago, and, as I recall, I liked them. Batman: No Man’s […]

Pennyworth: Season 1 — a review

I almost didn’t watch Pennyworth. You want reasons? Well . . . I knew it was developed by Bruno Heller, the British gentleman who also created the show Gotham for FOX. It’s not fair to let that sentence stand alone like that. It makes it sound like I didn’t like Gotham, which is not wholly […]

Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (The New 52) — a comic book review

After Flashpoint, DC Comics reset its own timeline in a 2011 event known as The New 52. Batman’s continuity was reestablished in this new universe with the publication of the second volume of the title Batman, beginning in November 2011. Batman Volume 1: The Court of Owls collects issues 1-7 of this new Batman comic, […]

Gotham: Season 5 — a review and postmortem

Way back in March 2018, I announced that I was going to stop watching Gotham after Season 4. It was one of the series on my DVR that I put off watching each week. My lack of enthusiasm to watch the show was a sign. And my decision to stop watching was final. Until the […]

Batman: Year One, by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli — a comic book review

I went about this, as they say, all bass-ackwards. I watched the 2011 DC Universe Animated Original Movie version of this first. This was the one in which Ben Mackenzie, who would go on to play Jim Gordon in the television series Gotham (now wrapping up its final season), provided the voice of Bruce […]

Batman & Bill (2017 documentary) — a review

While it has become difficult for me to watch any documentary these days without thinking about the brilliant Fred Armisen/Bill Hader mockumentary series on IFC, Documentary Now!, I will still watch one when the subject matter appeals to me. You know what subjects appeal to me, of course. Just read the titles of my posts […]

Gotham: Season 4 – a review

The brains behind the show Gotham have done something very smart. They’ve announced that Season 5 will be the final season of the series, and that it will be a shorter season as well—13 episodes, just enough to get it to 100 episodes, that old syndication milestone. I applaud this decision. I had already decided […]

Batman: Hush – a 15th Anniversary review

This was my second reading of Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams. I felt I owed it to myself to read it again after reading Batman: The Long Halloween and giving it a lackluster review. I had read Hush long before Halloween, even though it was actually published later. Unfortunately […]

Batman: The Long Halloween — a review

When I learned that at least part of the fourth season of Gotham would be based on the Batman story arc known as The Long Halloween, I decided that it was time for me to finally read it. I was aware that something by that name existed, but I didn’t know much about it. […]

Gotham: Season 3: a review

A vocal contingent exists out there who refuses to watch the television series Gotham or even acknowledge its existence. I am a diehard Batman fan, and I understand this point of view, to a degree. Initially, the thought of a show about Gotham City in the years before Batman makes his first appearance didn’t appeal […]

firewatersite

Read. Play. Watch. Listen .

Batman