Friday 2nd, 2004
NEW MOVIE BATMOBILE REVEALED
The two photos of the new Batmobile above appeared on the official BATMAN BEGINS website on Wednesday morning unannounced. They can be found by clicking on the opening page's logo.
This new Batmobile is pretty much as described in various reports and seems to be influenced by the "tank" like Batmobile from Dark Knight Returns.
Opening Date Change - we hear that BATMAN BEGINS will now open on June 17th, 2005 rather than the originally scheduled July 1st date. The move means that the Batman Begins is no longer competing with the projected new Fantastic Four movie from Fox which is still scheduled for July 1, 2005.
First Images from CATWOMAN Trailer and Teaser Poster
It's been a busy week for CATWOMAN news as the run up to the movie's publicity campaign and release gets closer. With the first glimpse of trailer footage and the first teaser poster. See Movie News below for more.
There's also plenty of Comics News this week and inormation on both "The Batman" and "Justice League Unlimited" shows in the TV News section. So enjoy and as always we'll see you next week - Alan J. Porter
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IN THIS ISSUE
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COMICS NEWS
BATMAN AND DC SCORE DIAMOND GEM AWARDS
Diamond Comics Distributors announced their annual
GEM Awards this week with both DC Comics and Batman related product gaining to honors. The
winners were:
(DC Comics)
DC CATWOMAN MOVIE TIE-INS
DC Comics has announced the following trade paperback collections to tie-in with the upcoming release of the new CATWOMAN movie staring Halle Berry.
CATWOMAN: NINE LIVES OF A FELINE FATALE TP
* A 208-page trade paperback collecting stories from BATMAN #1, 197, 210 and 392,
DETECTIVE COMICS #203, SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE #70-71, CATWOMAN (first series)
#54, BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #4 and CATWOMAN SECRET FILES #1
* Written by Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, Leo Dorfman, Gardner Fox, Frank Robbins, Doug
Moench, Devin Grayson, Ty Templeton and Ed Brubaker; art by Bob Kane, Lew Sayre Schwartz
& Charles Paris, Kurt Schaffenberger, Irv Novick & Joe Giella, Tom Mandrake &
Jan Duursema, Jim Balent, Rick Burchett & Terry Beatty, Michael Avon Oeming & Mike
Manley. Also included is an introduction by Michael Uslan, plus pin-ups by George Pérez,
Adam Hughes, Jim Balent & Joe Jusko and others
* Scheduled to arrive in stores in June with a cover price of $14.95 U.S.
CATWOMAN: THE MOVIE AND OTHER CAT TALES TP
* A 128-page trade paperback collecting the CATWOMAN: THE MOVIE comics adaptation,
CATWOMAN (first series) #0 and CATWOMAN (second series) #11 and a special sketchbook
section by Jim Lee
* Written by Chuck Austen, Doug Moench, Steven Grant and Ed Brubaker; art by Tom Derenick
& Adam DeKraker, Paul Gulacy & Jimmy Palmiotti, Jim Balent, Brad Rader, Jim Lee
and others
* Scheduled to arrive in stores in July with a cover price of $9.95 U.S.
ROBIN #124 SOLD OUT @ DC
DC Comics Press
Release - ROBIN #124, featuring the story " Good Parenting, " has sold
out at DC Comics. Written by Bill Willingham with art by Francisco Rodriguez de la Fuente
and Aaron Sowd and a cover by Jason Pearson, this issue arrived in stores on March 17 and
sold out by March 22.
" The good news: It's nice to have one's work in demand, and I hope it inspires
higher orders on the following issues, where all of the really neat stuff happens,
" says Willingham. " The bad news: This storyline never could have occurred
if Tim Drake had only thought to put a lock on his back-of-the-closet secret compartment.
When will you teenagers learn that you aren't nearly as smart as you think you are and
your folks aren't nearly as dumb as you think they are? Haven't we inflicted enough After
School Specials on you to get at least that much across? "
Adding to the momentum in the BATMAN group are the new sell-outs of NIGHTWING #91 and
BIRDS OF PREY #64 and #65. DC has no plan to go back to press on these issues at
this time.
CATWOMAN AWARDED OUTSTANDING COMICS BOOK AWARD BY GLAAD
DC Comics Press
Release - On Sunday, March 28, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
honored CATWOMAN with its " Outstanding Comic Book " award as part of the annual
GLAAD Media Awards.
"I'm thrilled to see our work on this book once again getting recognized by the
outside media, although, personally, I thought that my Gotham Central partners, Greg Rucka
and Michael Lark, deserved to win for their Renée Montoya arc," says CATWOMAN
writer Ed Brubaker. "But it's great to see a depiction of a normal, loving couple
who just happen to both be women getting recognition. Holly and Karon are two of my
favorite characters to write, and I'm glad they've struck such a chord with readers,
hopefully because of how real they are."
Comics Shipping (April 7th)
BATMAN: CITY OF LIGHT #7 -
Written by the Pander Brothers and Mark Paniccia; art by the Pander Brothers and Alvaro Lopez; cover by the Pander Brothers - The penultimate chapter of the engrossing miniseries! Purge has kidnapped another victim, and Tower One threatens to smash Detectives Allen and Montoya to smithereens. Can Batman keep his crumbling psyche together long enough to save them all? - BATMAN | 32pg. | 7 of 8 | Color | $2.95BATMAN: DEATH AND THE MAIDENS #8 -
Written by Greg Rucka; art and cover by Klaus Janson - This is it — Batman's final encounter with Ra's al Ghul! Batman has no choice but to give his greatest nemesis the location of a restorative Lazarus Pit, but that doesn't mean he's going to let Ra's walk free. As Ra's at last regains his vitality, he unknowingly moves toward what will be his final battle. Meanwhile, Nyssa enacts her endgame in a familiar American city half a world away. Batman's got to be in two places at once, but he's no Superman! A DC icon will meet his ultimate fate, but the how and why will leave you speechless! - BATMAN | 32pg. | Color | 8 OF 9 | $2.95BATMAN IN WORLD'S FINEST ARCHIVES VOL. 2 -
Written by Bill Finger, Don Cameron, and various; art by Bob Kane, Win Mortimer, Jim Mooney, Dick Sprang, Jerry Robinson, Jack Burnley and various; cover by Kane - Batman and Robin are perhaps the most famous super-hero team in comics history. Relive some of the Dynamic Duo's classic first adventures in this 240 page hardcover, reprinting 16 adventures from WORLD'S FINEST #17-32, circa 1941-1948! Only one of these stories has been reprinted since its original release! - ARCHIVE EDITIONS | 228 pg. | Hardcover | Color | $49.95DETECTIVE COMICS #793 -
Written by Andersen Gabrych and A.J. Lieberman; art by Pete Woods, Cam Smith, Jean-Jacques Dzialowski and Dan Green; cover by Tim Sale - The conclusion of "The Surrogate!" Batman struggles for a way to safety through a mountain of rubble as Leslie Thompkins desperately tries to save an innocent woman and her unborn child! And in the back-up by A.J. Lieberman, Jean-Jacques Dzialowski and Dan Green, the Tailor gets ready for a battle he knows he can't win! -JLA: RULES OF ENGAGEMENT -
Written by Joe Kelly and Rick Veitch; art by Darryl Banks, Wayne Faucher, Doug Mahnke, Tom Nguyen, Duncan Rouleau and Aaron Sowd; cover by Mahnke and Nguyen - In this trade paperback collecting JLA #77-82, the World's Greatest Super-Heroes must confront Mnemon's attack on the solar system, followed by a visit to an alien world as the team tries its hand at being proactive. Plus, the 3-part story "White Rage," in which a commune of metahumans comes under attack and the JLA is all that stands between them and the U.S. Army. - DC UNIVERSE | 144pg. | Color | Softcover | $12.95SUPERMAN/BATMAN #8 -
Written by Jeph Loeb; art and cover by Michael Turner - An explosive 6-part storyline featuring art by Aspen Studios' Michael Turner begins here! After the catacylsmic events of SUPERMAN/BATMAN #6, Batman discovers something strange and mysterious on the bottom of Gotham Bay...and it looks like a girl. Will she battle on the side of good...or evil? - DC UNIVERSE | 32pg. | Color | $2.95"THE BATMAN" UPDATES
Eric Canete, storyboard artist for the upcoming animated series The Batman, told The Comics Continuum web site that he is already working on a second set of 13 episodes for the series. "We have just finished off the first season," Canete said of the work done at Warner Bros. Animation. "There are two concurrent seasons going on at the same time, 26 episodes. And we have finished off the first 13." The first episode was sent overseas for animation earlier this month. The look of "The Batman" is "based off of Jeff Matsuda's artwork," said Canete, who was artist on WildStorm's Cybernary comic book. "And he's basing a lot of the designs, I would hazard to guess, on the (David) Mazzuchelli Year One stuff. This is Batman Year Three, to a certain degree. In my opinion, it looks great. "The only thing I'm worried about is the fact that we have the old legend Bruce Timm Batman stuff that we're competing against. We have to do something visually exciting, but also separate enough to have its own identity. We're working against that ghost."
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED UPDATES
The Justice League animated series is going to get bigger very quickly. Before the opening theme of the season opener of Justice League Unlimited, viewers will be treated to more than 60 heroes. "We've got a heckuva lot more characters, pretty much a full roster of DC heroes," director Joaquim Dos Santos told The Comics Continuum website. "It's pretty much going to be bigger and badder. It's going to be huge. The opening teaser a huge shot of the interior of the Watchtower and it's literally just packed with every character you can imagine. I know it's going to be a pause-fest going on, where people are picking out heroes." They've done away with the two-part format. It's just 30-minute episodes," he said. "The way it works out there's a core group, and they'll take a team of two or three other heroes on an adventure with them. There's basically a team leader and then the new guys on the team, the rookies. Other than that, there's no real format. It can kind of go anyway in wants."
KIDS WB CHANGES FOR APRIL 10
The episode of Static Shock "Future Shock," which guest-stars Batman Beyond and the modern-day Batman Robin will air at 8:00am on Kids' WB! on Saturday, April 10. Teen Titans will not air that Saturday on Kids' WB!.
BATMAN - Adam West (TV Land)
No longer on the TV Land schedules.
JUSTICE LEAGUE (Cartoon Network)
TEEN TITANS (Cartoon Network)
TEEN TITANS (KidsWB)
SUPER FRIENDS (Boomerang)
UK TV SCHEDULE
Toonami, Turner's new UK cartoon Network has just started broadcasting. The following Batman shows will be running.
BATMAN OF THE FUTURE (Batman Beyond) :
JUSTICE LEAGUE
LATEST BATMAN BEGINS RUMORS & NEWS
CATWOMAN UPDATES
BIG APPLE COMIC CON - New York, NY - April 3-4
The April Big Apple show will be held at the Penn Plaza Pavilion and includes guests: CARMINE INFANTINO, DAB BRERETON and many others.
TAMPA COMIC AND TOY CONVENTION - , Tampa FL, April 4
Among the guests at this popular show will be DICK GIORDANO, ETHAN VAN SCIVER and AUSTIN JANOWSKY. Plus the organizers promise appearences by "Batman" and "Batgirl" along with the "Batcycle."
DYNAMIC FORCES AN FEST - Runnymeade NJ, April 24th
Dynamic Forces, creator of comics related collectibles, is venturing into the convention arena with a new style of show, designed to me more "intimate" than traditional cons and give visitors more access to the guests. The guests for this new show include: BRIAN AZZARELLO and EDUARDO RISSO.
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GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS is a FOREST COMICS Publication.
FOREST COMICS and GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS are (c) and TM - Alan J. Porter (1994 - 2004)
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BATMAN and all related characters and indicia are acknowledged as Trademark and copyright DC Comics Inc..
BATMAN created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger