‘Batman: Gotham By Gaslight’ (review)

One of my favorite and universally beloved Batman Elseworlds stories, Gotham By Gaslight, has been adapted in the latest DC Animated Original Movie.

While there is now a call for DC to reach into the Elseworlds catalog for the live action movies to re-right the ship, using the imprint to make successful animated movies is working well.

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‘Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave And The Bold’ (review) at Forces of Geek

Zoinks! Boy, am I glad one of my favorite iterations of The Bat is back on my TV screen, even if he’s caught up with some meddling kids! That’s right, Batman: Brave and The Bold has been revived for a crossover with Scooby-Doo. Who out there can forget our childhood team-ups in The New Scooby-Doo Movies: “The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair” and “The Caped Crusader Caper”?

Batman: The Brave and The Bold welcomed the Mystery Inc. gang on to his show as well back in 2011 with the chaotic “Bat-Mite Presents: Batman’s Strangest Cases”! But enough of the history lesson, there are cameos here galore, Bat-Easter Eggs and more in store for you on the latest movie!

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Forces of Geek: Best of 2017 at FORCES OF GEEK

Clay N Ferno

Best Movies: Thor: Ragnarok, Blade Runner 2049, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Lady Bird, Justice League, Logan
Best TV Shows: Star Trek: Discovery, Victoria, The Punisher, The Defenders, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham

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‘Phantom Thread’ (movie review) at Forces of Geek

“Whatever you do, do it carefully”.

Paul Thomas Anderson directs Daniel Day-Lewis in his final acting role in Phantom Thread opposite Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville.

The film focuses on The House of Woodcock, a fashion house in England run by Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis). Woodcock is a talented, depressed and genius designer of dresses and couture.

While taking breakfast one day he plays a flirty game with waitress Alma Elson (Krieps) and asks her out to dinner.

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‘Monstro Mechanica’ With Paul Allor Interview at Forces Of Geek

Leonardo Da Vinci stars in the latest book from AfterShock Comics written by Paul Allor (G.I.Joe, TMNT). Paul joined us today to talk about Monstro Mechanica, his take on a robotic Renaissance and the difference between his robot and the one Da Vinci actually designed and built! This fun book places an automaton in the age of de’ Medici family and on the streets of Florence in 1472.

You’ve never read a book quite like this! Here’s what Paul had to say.

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FOG!: Thanks for joining us, Paul! Issue #1 introduces us to Leonardo Da Vinci, a robot and his female apprentice. Why set a comic book story with a robot in The Renaissance?

Paul Allor: The more heady answer is that the Renaissance is where the modern western conception of the self first began to develop; the idea that every individual has importance and worth beyond their place in society. So we were intrigued by the notion of pairing that time period with the classic sci-fi story of a robot gaining sentience.

The less heady answer is that a robot in the renaissance sounded like a whole lot of freaking fun.

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‘Justice League’ (review) at Forces Of Geek

Have we broken through? Have the rough drafts been scrapped and the iterations of the Batmobile reached a point where it won’t loose a wheel?

Folks, I think we’re there, and Justice League and the DC cinematic universe has figured itself out. Is it perfect?

Far from it, but my prep for the film came in the form of watching Avengers: Age of Ultron and Wonder Woman.

My logic being, let’s take what we have to build on and look forward from there. Zack Snyder’s Justice Leaguehad the advantage (through very shitty circumstances) of being punched up by Joss Whedon and also the distinct pleasure of being the next chapter to Gal Gadot’s and Patty Jenkins’s incredible Wonder Womanmovie from earlier this year.

Sure, I’ve been a Man of Steel apologist, and perhaps you might judge me for going against the grain by also championing Suicide Squad so take my ringing Justice League endorsement with a grain of salt, certainly. I can’t blame you for that. I’ve also spent a few Sunday afternoons with Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition because I wanted to. You aren’t the boss of me!

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‘Batman vs. Two-Face’ (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Adam West’s final film puts him back in the cowl facing off against ’60s television hero William Shatner in Batman vs. Two-Face.

With co-star Burt Ward by his side, West and company reunite with other cast members of the ’66 series, most notably Julie Newmar as Catwoman and an appearance by Lee Meriwether as Lucilee Diamond.

Shatner plays a Batman ’66 version of Harvey Dent / Two-Face, a character that unusually never appeared in the show. The Dynamic Duo faces the entirety of Gotham’s rogue gallery that includes Hugo Strange, The Joker, The Riddler, Penguin and even King Tut and this reviewer’s personal favorite, Bookworm.

The story kicks off with Strange and assistant Harley Quinn extracting evil from all of Gotham’s bad guys.

When the machine goes Ka-Blam!, the essence wipes out star district attorney Harvey Dent and transforms him into Two-Face.

Batman and Bruce Wayne are naturally disturbed by this turn of events. Wayne uses his resources to restore Dent’s face to its natural look, but the evil Two-Face could very well be lurking below the visage.

The pace and tempo of West’s dialogue, long ingrained into our collective consciousness, is slapped right up against Shatner’s staccato delivery, making you wonder if we haven’t been missing Shatner in the Batman Universe for our entire lives!

In 2014, “The Two-Way Crimes of Two-Face,” an episode written by sci-fi and Star Trek writer Harlan Ellison was released in comic book form from Len Wein (RIP) and artist José Luis Garcia-Lopez as Batman ’66: The Lost Episode #1. After seeing these pages, we’d love to build a time machine and persuade the network to make this happen with William Shatner in the role.

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NYCC: ‘Marvel Contest of Champions’: Gameplay and New Character Reveal

This year at New York Comic Con we stopped by the Kabam booth to try our hands at the latest from Contest of Champions. The mobile game features Marvel characters in head to head fighting action and has the distinction of adding new heroes and villains into the Marvel Universe. Have you been following the adventures of Venompool, Civil Warrior and Guillotine?

No, you, haven’t because these are brand new properties introduced exclusively for Contest of Champions.

We spoke with Contest of Champions design director Tim Molyneux on the New York Comic Con floor and he talked us through his job and what we can expect from the future, including the introduction of mystic character Morningstar and other new characters soon to be unlocked on a tablet or phone near you.

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Dan Panosian Talks ‘Slots’ at FORCES OF GEEK

Artist Dan Panosian is best known for his work on Marvel and Image books as penciller and inker. Remember those sweet fake X-Men books in the movie Logan? Yup, Dan did those too. Dan joins us today to talk about his bold new crime redemption story from Skybound, Slots. He also reminisces about the early days of Image Comics, why he decided to break into storytelling with Slots at Skybound/Image, and what the future holds for his hero, Stanley Dance.

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FOG!:  What can you tell us about Slots and your lead character Stanley Dance?

Dan Panosian: Stanley is the guy who made every selfish decision that most normal people would deem far too indulgent . We can all look back and wonder what our lives would be like if we took some left turns here and there. But generally we’re reasonable and responsible.

Stanley always listened to the devil on his shoulder and brushed off the angel. Consequently, he doesn’t have many friends or family left. Or chances for that matter.  He’s pretty much done.  That’s where we start off.

We’ve been a fan of your art for a long time, what made you want to tell this particular story as the writer and artist?

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FOG! Chats With Sean Mackiewicz, About His New Image Comics Series, ‘Gasolina’ at FORCES OF GEEK

Skybound editor Sean Mackiewicz joins us today to talk about his latest writing project, Gasolina, from Image Comics. The desert drug lord adventure comic is already off into some interesting and somewhat scary places. Sean tells us what makes Gasolina burn so bright before the first issue hits the shelves later this month on September 20th.

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FOG!: Sean, you’re known for your Skybound editorial position. What inspired you to shift gears and get behind the writer’s chair?

Sean Mackiewicz: Finding the right idea.

Skybound’s been very encouraging in allowing employees to pursue creative projects outside of their main job, and I just couldn’t shake this idea. Doing a modern-day western with incredible vistas and gun fights against cartels armed with some truly gnarly “weapons”… and balancing it with newlyweds just trying to navigate and survive this messed up situation? I like challenging myself.

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