Nov 30, 2008

News: Batman & Comic Break | Times of India | Nov '08

There are two interesting articles in Times of India related to our cherished hobby, over the weekend, which are grabbed at Comicology for your reading.

BatmanThe first article is from Times of India (TOI) - Chennai Times, 29 Nov 08 edition, which captures the readers uproar towards the authors' (Grant Morrison, in this case) decision to kill Batman in the recent issue, and his prodigy taking his place in the future series.  When will this creators get over the marketing gimmick for boosting sales; as they change, deface, and even eradicate the comics characters we have known for years.  First it was Sherlock Holmes, then Superman, and even Captain America.  Even the current set of authors at Marvel, went to a distance of erasing all the memory of "Spiderman" Peter Parker and Mary Jane's marriage altogether.  That has already put the next Spiderman Movie into a jeopardy.

All the times each one of them have been dramatically resurrected to life, after falling sales, and readers lull response.  And for all its trueness, this might be a same case again.  Imagine - you watching the next Batman Movie, when the character itself has become history in its original form. eeks!

For those who would like to have a sneak preview of Batman #681, which has the conclusion of Batman RIP series, described in this post as the "End of Batman", here are few panels from the issue. (© DC Comics)

Batman681-0 Batman681-1 Batman681-2

As you could clearly see that Batman's death is pretty inconclusive (paving the way for his return), and his prodigy Dick Grayson (or Nightwing in his superhero avatar) is shown taking over the Batman role at the end.

Here are some Official quotes about Batman's RIP storyline, which supports our theory, and a possible return of Batman solely in his Bruce Wayne avatar, and probably on a later stage as Batman Returns, while Dick Grayson or Tim Drake (the 3rd and current Robin) playing the role of Batman in future issues.  Much like the storyline of Superman Returns earlier.

Grant Morrison, Series Author: "This is the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman". 

Dan DiDio, DC Comics Executive Editor : "Bruce Wayne is indeed alive, though he'll definitely be gone for a while."

A unnamed DC Insider: "Wayne doesn't want to be a superhero any more."

Eventhough, I first thought that storyline sucks, it might give an option to see how the present authors actually take a different route in the Batman series, then trying to cash in on the legacy left by erstwhile, Bob Kane.

Take a Comic BreakThe second article is from TOI - Times Life, 30 Nov 08 edition.  It's a follow-up from our earlier article covered at Comicology about the growing interest in the younger generation in reading comics more than reading books, which is a new trend from the past where the kids more often preferred the Novels, and Written fantasies over the Comics medium.  The article advocates the need to take a break, with growing your Comic habit, and get the Boy inside a Man.

I would have given a miss to the second article, as it wasn't available for distribution in a few areas in Chennai.  Thanks for fellow Comicologist Pathy's tip-off, I was able to pick that up from the Bangalore edition of TOI.

8 ComiComments:

ரஃபிக்,

இந்த 2 பத்திகளும் காமிக்ஸை விரும்புவர்களால் எழுதப்பட்டது போல் தோன்றவில்லை,அது அவர்கள் இஷ்டம். இவை வெறும் பக்கநிரப்பிகளே.காமிக்ஸ் உலகம் நன்றாகத்தான் இருக்கிறது இவர்கள் கூவித்தான் பொழுது விடிய வேண்டிய அவசியம் அதற்கு இல்லை. த்ரிஷா கதையை படித்திருந்தால் இப்படி ஒர் கருத்தை கூறியிருக்கமாட்டார் எனவே எண்ணுகிறேன்.(batman="sweet" fantasy)

bat man ஐ அவர்கள் சாகடிக்கலாம், உயிர்பிக்கலாம் ஏன் தீயவனாக கூட சித்தரிக்கலாம், எது விற்பனையாகிறதோ அல்லது பணத்தை கொட்டுகிறதோ, அதற்கே முதலிடம்.

GUILTY PLEASURE இந்தச் சொல்லை கட்டுரையாளர் எழுதிய போது அவர் காமிக்ஸை பற்றி எழுதுவதை மறந்திருப்பார் என நான் நினைக்கிறேன்.

May i know where batman comics and all available in India. ??? Wat is sequence of its release..
Rafiq, Can you give some info on this?

There is still a controversy that batman is a rip-off of Lee Falk's Phantom character.

Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes because he was tired of writing the stories and not for sensationalism. He brought him back to life after popular demand. Superman editors killed him off for sensationalism but brought him back to life in "return of superman" because they could not really do away with a cash cow like superman. Likewise they will do the same for batman....

By the way the Doomsday character was way cool in the "death of superman" saga. The return of superman saga was very interesting too, with all the fake supermen competing with the real one.

Batman is not a "sweet fantasy" as trisha claims. It is a very dark and sinister fantasy. Probably she was thinking of the Archie series.

ஐயோ,

பேட்மேன் செத்துட்டாரா? என்ன கொடுமை சார் இது?

ரொம்ப நாளா இப்படி எழுதணும்னு ஆச.

http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/

FOR BATMAN RIP

ஷங்கர்: பர பர பின்னூடங்கள் இடுவதில் முதன்மையாக இருக்கீறீர்கள். உங்கள் கருத்தில் எள்ளளவும் சந்தேகம் இல்லை. மேலோட்டமாக பார்க்கும் போதே இது காமிக்ஸ் மேல் காதல் இல்லாத பேர்வழிகளால் எழுதப்பட்டதாகவே தெரிகிறது. ஆனாலும், இந்த காலத்தில் மீடியா செய்திகளை நம்பி தான் இன்னும் பல பேர் தங்கள் ஆர்வங்களை வகுத்து கொள்கிறார்கள். அப்படி பட்டவர்களுக்கு இது உதவலாம் இல்லையா... மற்றபடி காமிக்ஸ் ஆர்வலர்கள் இதை படித்து பயனடைய மாட்டார்கள் என்பதும் உண்மை.

Siv: DC, Marvel, Dark Horse all never had a direct sales system in India. Bangalore based Gotham Comics, was redistributing few of those titles here, and they have stopped it for the last 2 years too. The only way you could now get them, is wait for the Big Book stores, to see them as TPB collectibles.

BN: I agree, there is a controversy over the origins of Batman. Phantom and Batman were conceptualized one after another in 1936 and 1939. Batman Creators have clarified that they wanted to base the character as an answer to the then famous Superman. So they had used a combination of all the characters and fantasies available. So, no wonder, they would have borrowed some from Phantom too. Phantom's storyline is too good to give a miss, isn't it :)

Trisha calling it a Sweet Fantasy is indeed a Joke :). Most of the Indian Artists, have a know-how knowledge of Comics only within the boundary of "Archies".

As far as the Superman's death storyline goes, that's a favorite of mine too. It actually paved way for some other famous characters like Steel, Braniac, Superboy, etc. some of which are still featured regularly.

ஜோஸ்: ஆசை தீர எழுதியாச்சா..... அடுத்து ஒரு ஒப்பாரி போட்டுறலாம்.

LATE UPDATE: Sneak Preview of the final pages from Batman RIP series conclusion.

Batman is not a "sweet fantasy" as trisha claims. It is a very dark and sinister fantasy. Probably she was thinking of the Archie series.

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