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Batman: The Animated Newsletter |
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NEWS
AND RUMORS
ALL-ENCOMPASSING/OTHER
-An interview with DC editor Darren
Vincenzo can be found at the following address:
http://www.sequentialtart.com/vicienzo.shtml
-The
following artists are selling artwork on eBay. The following are their names and
Seller ID's:
Terry Beatty: beatty@machlink.com
Craig Rousseau:
cerousseau
Tim Levins: tlevins
Min S. Ku: min3000gt
ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS, STAS, BEYOND)
-Starting with the
next new BEYOND episode, Commissioner Barbara Gordon will no longer be voiced by
Stockard Channing, but by 28-year-old Angie Harmon (of LAW & ORDER).
-THE
ZETA PROJECT, the BATMAN BEYOND spin-off, will debut on the KidsWB on October
14.
-Rich Fogel is story editor of the series.
-Fogel has written
two Beyond/Zeta crossovers for this coming season
-Hilary J. Bader, Kevin
Hobbs, and Paul Dini have also contributed scripts
-Season One will include
13 episodes
-For pics and more information, go to:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/26/index.htm
-YTV
has just got the rights to air episodes #27 - 52 of BATMAN BEYOND. It's unknwon
when these episode to air, but expect fall 2000. YTV may air all the
episodes through in ONE run, unlike the first 26 episodes.
ANIMATED COMICS
-BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #32:
On sale
November 1. The Scarecrow is up to his usual sinister tricks as he unleashes a
deadly gas that has the entire city of Gotham going completely crazy! Mass
mayhem and destruction ensue as millions of Gothamites literally lose their
minds. Can Batman and the gang save the masses from themselves?
-BATMAN:
GOTHAM ADVENTURES #33:
On sale December 13. Batman begins to doubt whether
his actions really make a difference in the world, and the guest-starring
Phantom Stranger appears to show him what a world without a Dark Knight
would look like - and believe us, it isn`t pretty! Batman sees first-hand that
his quest has made the lives of his comrades much greater, as one by one
they seem to follow the wrong path in the Stranger`s vision!
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/19/BGothAd33.jpg
-BATMAN
BEYOND #15:
(Written by Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt; art by Craig Rousseau and
Rob Leigh; cover by Brian Stelfreeze)
On sale November 29. Just who is
the mysterious new being called Erica Electra who`s been crossing paths with
future Batman Terry McGinnis? Is she friend or foe? And will Terry`s girlfriend now have reasons to be jealous?
Cover: http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Miscellaneous/BatmanMiscellaneous226298.jpg
-BATMAN
BEYOND #15
Homeless men have been mysteriously disappearing from Gotham's
streets, thanks to the international terrorist group known as Kobra.
But as Batman investigates, he quickly goes from hunter to hunted - and
Bruce must somehow infiltrate Kobra to free the captured hero.
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/19/BB16.jpg
OTHER COMICS
-BATMAN: OFFICER DOWN
Remember 1999?
Remember the huge ramifications that NML had on the entire Bat-universe?
In January 2001, all of the comic creative teams are making Batman's battle
against crime all the more gut-wrenching and all the more personal:
Commissioner Gordon gets shot three times in the back. Brought to you by
Greg Rucka, Matt Idelson, Ed Brubaker, Chuck Dixon, Devin Grayson, Nunzio
DeFilippis.
Feature Article: http://www.fandom.com/comics/Editorial.asp?action=page&obj_id=234722
Cover:
http://www.fandon.com/multimedia/Comics/News/ComicsNews234690.jpg
Cover
(to BIRDS OF PREY #27): http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Comics/News/ComicsNews234691.JPG
-DARK
VICTORY #13: Has Batman finally found the identity of the Hang Man killer (if,
in fact, there's only one)? What connection does the Hang Man have to Harvey
Dent, and can the murders be stopped before the most horrifying killing of
them all takes place? This time Batman is no longer alone in his quest for
justice as a young, inexperienced Robin joins him. But will the addition of
an untested partner prove to be more deadly than it's worth? Witness the last
stand of the crumbling criminal empire, as the Falcone Family faces off
against Two-Face and a mob of freakish allies that includes the Joker, Mr.
Freeze, Poison Ivy and Solomon Grundy. Will all of Gotham City be left in
ruins before the last gang war is over? Which, if any, of the Falcones, the
Marionis and the Vitis will survive? And how will the change the lives of James
Gordon, Harvey Dent, and Batman?
The cover can be found here: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0007/20/BDarkVict13.jpg
-The
second issue of HARLEY QUINN: On sale November 8. Harley finds herself alone,
adrift and without direction. Even a bizarre cameo by Poison Ivy (among
others) can`t get our darling little nut job out of her funk -- but maybe a
new job will? Enter Two-Face and a wild kidnapping scheme which only gets
stranger as the job unravels! And if that weren`t enough, a familiar face is
now hunting for Harley, and the Penguin drops by for a visit!
-The cover can
be found here: http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Miscellaneous/BatmanMiscellaneous226292.jpg
-The
third issue of HARLEY QUINN features an all-girl slumber party. Oh, Ivy's gonna
be very happy about this.
The cover can be found here:
http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Comics/News/ComicNews232646.JPG
-Volume
4 of NML will be out December 20, 2000.
Cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/19/BNoMansLndTP4.jpg
*The
following 7 issues are all a part of DC's " This Issue: BATMAN DIES!" promotion
for December. (That's right! Batman dies in every one of the following issues
in some way.)
-Bane appears in BIRDS OF PREY #26
-Two-Face and Montoya are
again the focus of DETECTIVE COMICS #753.
-The Joker appears in ROBIN
#85.
-Mr. Zsasz appears in GOTHAM KNIGHTS #12.
-Catwoman appears in
NIGHTWING #52.
-Batman's war against the Penguin continues in BATMAN
#586.
-Cain re-appears in BATGIRL #11.
-ROBIN: YEAR ONE #2
On sale
November 29. Robin squares off against the Mothman, the original Blockbuster,
and Two-Face - all while trying to live the life of a normal teenager. When
duty gets in the way of blooming romance, Dick at last learns the impossible
cost he must pay to be a champion of good.
Cover: http://www.fandom.com/multimedia/Batman/Miscellaneous/BatmanMiscellaneous226294.jpg
-ROBIN: YEAR ONE #3
Robin's first battle with Mr. Freeze.
MOVIES
-The release date for RETURN OF THE JOKER has been
PUSHED BACK to December 12th, 2000. Why?
Undoubtedly, this was done with the
idea that they'd sell more during the holiday season. Perhaps, but come
on...this just isn't fair, especially after all the work everyone did to bring it out WAY AHEAD of the original planned date (from November 7 to
October 24). This all comes from Stan Berkowitz himself, and the folks at
Amazon.com.
-BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER SOUNDTRACK (courtesy of
ComicsContinuum) Blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd is providing the lead
song to the soundtrack of BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER. "Kenny Wayne
Shepherd was an interesting experiment because his style, being more
traditional blues, is a little bit further from the total head-banging heavy metal that we do for the show," said Batman Beyond composer Kristopher
Carter.
"So for the main title that he's going to be playing on, we
just made a new hybrid where we'll have the orchestra, we'll have the heavy
metal, we'll have the techno sound that we've had with the show, and then
Kenny's very unique blues voice on the top of it."
"The Batman people
called me and asked me to do the title track, the theme song I guess, to the
new movie," Shepherd said. "I've been a big Batman fan most of life, and I'm
pretty
excited. That's going to be the first piece of music people hear when
the movie comes on. and it's going to be my guitar. That's really exciting
because the beginning scene is usually what does set the mood for the movie
and that's when you have their most undivided attention."
Also
contributing to the soundtrack for the movie are Mephisto Odyssey and Static X.
"Batman Beyond was seen as an updating of the whole Batman legend,"
Carter said. "And musically we wanted to try something different, too."
-RETURN OF THE JOKER INTERVIEW WITH WILL FRIEDLE (courtesy of
ComicsContinuum)
"You do learn a little bit about what happens
to one of the Robins," Friedle hinted in a preview tape for Return of the
Joker that was distributed by Warner Home Video as part of a press kit,
which also contained two new images from the film.
"For Batman
fans, this doesn't necessarily tie up a bunch of loose ends, but it incorporates so much of the old show and the Batman legend, that it's a fantastic movie,"
Friedle said. "It kind of ties everything together in such an interesting
way, with the past and the future, and old villains meeting new villains and
old heroes meeting new heroes. I remember reading the script and jumping up
and down. It's fantastic."
"There is a huge plot point
that is revealed," said Kevin Conroy, the voice of Bruce Wayne.
"I never suspected that this is the way it was going to evolve. I don't think
any of us did.
It's fascinating. It's a really interesting concept, and I
think the fans are going to love it."
Friedle called voice
recording "an incredibly interesting process."
"The main
thing that gets me psyched up to do it is the fact that I get to say that I'm Batman, which is just the coolest thing in the world," Friedle said. "Talk
about helping you get dates. It's like, 'I'm Batman.'"
-For NEW pics
from RETURN OF THE JOKER, check here:
*Video cover: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/25/bbtape.htm
*Batman
fights "Ghoul": http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/25/bb1.htm
*Batman
in cloud of smoke: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/25/bb2.htm
-Mad
Stan also makes an appearance in RETURN OF THE JOKER.
-CINESCAPE reports some
BIG OFFICIAL BATMAN 5 NEWS!!!
After months of rumors, Darren
Aronofsky has officially been tapped to direct the fifth Batman movie...and
it will be an adaptation of BATMAN: YEAR ONE. According to Variety, besides Aronofsky, acclaimed writer-artist Frank Miller, writer of the Batman: Year
One mini-series, has come on board the developing project to craft the
coming film's script with Aronofsky. Miller also created BATMAN: THE DARK
KNIGHT RETURNS and is currently working in its sequel.
As the
title suggests, BATMAN: YEAR ONE tells the story of Bruce Wayne's first year in
the cape and cowl. The story also provides us glimpses of a young police
Lieutenant named James Gordon in his first encounters with the Bat
(regardless of how it was presented in Tim Burton's Batman) as well as an
interesting, different approach to Catwoman. One would hope that by adapting
Year One, the series would be relaunched with a clean slate, thus allowing the
use of other previously used, perhaps abused (and killed off), members of
Batman's rogues gallery, including the Joker, the Penguin, and Two-Face.
In addition, the trade reports that producer Eric Watson, who
did his duties for Aronofsky's PI and REQUIEM, may jump on Batman 5 as
well.
Previously, rumors were flying that suggested that BATMAN
5 might not happen for quite some time due to the impending writer and actor
strikes scheduled for summer 2001.
What is most surprising
about this situation is that WB currently has another Batman movie in the
works, BATMAN BEYOND, under the direction of Boaz Yakin (Remember the Titans). Certainly, WB won't put both films out in the same year, so it will be
interesting to see how the studio schedules each of the
films.
Aronofsky has also flatly stated that his meetings with
Brad Pitt were NOT with regards to BATMAN 5.
-The sixth GOTHAM GIRLS
webisode (featuring Catwoman) can be found at
http://www.gothamgirls.com
-Exciting
sounds from BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER will be available in October on
the Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker soundtrack, featuring a hot single
from debut Warner recording act Mephisto Odyssey (featuring platinum act
Static X). Guitar wonder Kenny Wayne Shepherd also appears on the
soundtrack. Additionally, a music video for the song "Crash," the first
single from the soundtrack, will be running on music-video outlets beginning in
October." -The Batman Beyond website (www.batmanbeyond.com) will be adding
interactive features that include a 10-minute "Return of the Joker" preview
Webcast, a soundtrack sampler, a clip from the music video, interactive
arcade games, character biographies, weekly contests and sweepstakes for
chances to win great prizes, questions for the creators, chat events and much more. (all the previous movie info was taken from Alan J. Porter's "Gotham
Weekly News" newsletter)
-Director BOAZ YAKIN says this about his take on
the BATMAN BEYOND feature: When asked if he can avoid the cliches of
previous comic book films, Yakin answered, "Just because the characters are
familiar and mainstream doesn't mean we need to follow a traditional,
generic arc with them. Everything I do I hope is really sophisticated, so this will not stop here."
-YAKIN will also be co-writing the script and making
it far more intense and more adult-oriented than ANY of the previous
Bat-movies. At least that's his intention.
-Considering that one of the
RETURN OF THE JOKER action figures is entitled "Arkham Assault Joker", it
looks like the Joker...well...assaults Arkham Asylum at some point in the
movie.
(Some titles of the tracks on the soundtrack seem to indicate
this, too.)
-SUPERMAN 5 is back on track again? Apparently Brad Siberling
("City of Angels") is directing, Russel Crowe is being eyed for the role of
Superman, and Kevin Smith's original script may be used after
all.
LIVE ACTION TELEVISION
-Remember the BRUCE WAYNE television
series? You can read a review of the pilot script by following the link
provided. Note: Chances are that this won't be made for quite some time, if at all.
http://filmforce.ign.com/news/1391.html
-The
WB Network has just ordered 13 episodes of a pre-Superman 'CLARK KENT' series;
they sure jumped on that one quick! 'BRUCE WAYNE' has been in production for
months and it looks like they've cancelled it! :-(
-To view anything
regarding the Batman ONSTAR commercials, go here:
http://www.onstar.com
-Four online,
interactive comic books (featuring Batman, the Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face,
Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon) can also be found at the OnStar
site.
-It looks like a fifth webisode featuring the Riddler will be coming
soon.
-Check out http://www.fandom.com/batman for
downloadable versions of the ONSTAR commercials if the official ONSTAR site
is not being cooperative with your PC. Two of the commercials can also be
found at http://www.adcritic.com - just
search for "Batman".
TOYS, BOOKS, AND OTHER MERCHANDISE
-Ubi Soft Entertainment
and Kemco are teaming to publish Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker on the
PlayStation game console, Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 in North America. The
games will also be published in Europe, South Africa, New Zealand and
Australia under the name Batman of the Future: Return of The Joker.
-DC
Direct has announced a new Batgirl statue is due in stores next April. Sculpted
by Barsom Manashain the statue is Inspired by the animated-style cover to
Batman & Robin Adventures #21 by Ty Templeton. This striking statue of
Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, sits atop a Bat-Signal and measures 7 inches tall
and 3.5 inches deep. Cost is $99.95 and ships on April 25. A photo of the
statue can be found at the following:
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0009/19/BatgirlStatue.htm
-TOYS R US may be producing an "Arkham Asylum four-pack", featuring repaints
of Batman, Two-Face, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. Will the two femmes
have new figures to correspond with their new designs? Thanks to the
JokerInc newsletter for that newsbyte.
-I snagged some pictures of four of
the upcoming RETURN OF THE JOKER action figures. Have a look!
GOTHAM
KNIGHT BATMAN
http://images.honesty.com/cgi-bin/honesty-image/12309796/newbatman.jpg
ARKHAM
ASSAULT JOKER
http://imagehost.auctionwatch.com/bin/viewimage.x/000c8bb9/jamil/Mvc094s.jpg
GOTHAM
DEFENDER BATMAN
http://imagehoset.auctionwatch.com/bin/imageserver.x/000cdbf1/toysexpo/BatBeyondJoke_a.jpg
RAPID
SWITCH BRUCE WAYNE
http://imagehost.auctionwatch.com/bin/imageserver.x/000d1497/toysexpo/RetJok_BruceWayne_a.jpg
-THE
NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES will be available for Game Boy by Christmas
2000.
-Looking for a Batman-related costume this Hallowe'en? E-mail CowardlyLot@aol.com and put in a request! Go to http://www.fandom.com/batman/editorial.asp?action=page&obj_id=225572
for details
and great sample pics!
SPECIAL NOTE
For more BATMAN, SUPERMAN, AND BEYOND news
throughout the week, check out the WORLD'S FINEST NEWS PAGE at:
http://www.geocities.com/bbeyond/news.html
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