Tag Archives: Batman

New Clip for “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2”

January 6, 2013 M. Neumann Leave a comment

To fans of all things Batman, get excited. The conclusion to the animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns is set to be released on January 29, 2013. To temporarily satisfy our appetites, a clip from the film has recently been released.

We were first given The Dark Knight Rises, Part 1 in September of 2012. It sets up the four issue story originally written by Frank Miller in 1986. It is one of the most definitive Batman story lines ever, and has shaped and colored the character we’ve seen in the modern Batman film interpretations. We owe a lot to this book, and it has been exiting to see it in its animated format.

Part 1 set up the story of a retired Batman who has been out of the crime fighting game for ten years and now thought by many to have been nothing more than a myth. A new mutant gang has taken over the city, and Gotham has found itself worse off than ever before. With the spunky encouragement of Carrie Kelley (AKA Robin), the Dark Knight finds his final reason to don the cape and cowl.

Part 2 completes the story and sets up one of the greatest battles of all time, Batman vs. Superman, as well as the resurrection of his rivalry with the Joker. The newest clip shows that 55-year-old Batman clearly still has it. His fighting style has evolved to such a gritty, brutal force, but still displays all the things we loved so much about Batman to begin with.

Part 1 was received with great reviews sitting with a 7.9/10 rating on IMDB. I would say the only issue that I can take with this series is the complete overhaul of voice actors I have grown up with. I am a child of the 80s so when I think of animated Batman, I think of Kevin Conroy, and Mark Hamill. However, I can appreciate the need to evolve and change things up to revive the series, and stay fresh to new audiences. The Dark Knight Returns features Peter Weller (Robocop), Ariel Winter (Modern Family), and David Shelby (Dark Shadows) as Gordon.

As stated earlier, if you love Batman, you’ll love The Dark Knight Returns. If you weren’t already, get excited for Part 2 late January!

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Knock Off Corner Christmas Special: Bootleg Toys

January 4, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

That magical Christmas season has come and gone, along with that time of year that makes you rip your hair out in despair. Everyone spent time nipping online to buy their nearest and dearest presents from far and wide. Maybe you went old school and actually took a look around the shops for gifts? It is normal at this time of year to find the notorious knock-offs appearing in bargain shops all over the globe. Now, we all know knock off toys are bad. They destroy lives, fund terrorists and generally make the world such a shocking place to live in that if one more toy like this is made, the Earth will explode from the weight of its own evil… Okay maybe not.

All I am trying to say is they are considered quite a naughty thing. But deep down I actually have quite a love for these monster toys. Some are plain hilarious, while others are just wrong. So I thought I would showcase my love of these bootleg toys with you and share the cheesy cheer. I do not know any details on where these toys originated (because they are bootlegs and bootleggers do not tend to advertise their address), but a lot of these come from abroad.

Killer Mickey Mouse

I am not sure what was going through the bootleggers mind when they made this toy or more importantly why this was considered a good idea. Kids all over love Disney characters (They seem to own everything, so I do not think we have a choice in the matter!) and Mickey Mouse is a corner-stone of the Disney experience. But killer Mickey, with what looks like light up eyes, is not something I can see winning over the young ones. Disney have made a werewolf Mickey figure before for part of their Halloween line, so I am guessing it is a copy of that. However, I would rather have one of these outside my house to scare off any unwanted visitors.

Outdoor Adventure Hero Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a true hero. With some great one-liners and a heroic attitude to life, he is a great role model for all. The movies have exposed him to an even wider base of fans so he is now a world-renowned name. This toy seems to be based on the popular 90’s animated show called Spider-Man: The Animated Series,with a new range of threads. Now Peter Parker has had to don some pretty stupid costumes in his time, but it is nice to know that even he gets to mix crime fighting with relaxing. Fisherman Spider-Man and Archer Spider-Man both get to have their brand of forest fun. While Archer Spider-Man certainly looks the part of the casual arrow thrower (maybe he has been taking lessons from Hawkeye?), it is Fisherman Spider-Man who has really piqued my interest. If you thought the color-coded waders were amazing, then watch out because his rod is color-coded as well! But the icing on the cake for me is the bait box which has the Spider-Man logo on it. Classic Spider-Man!

Laser Swords

Laser swords are no lightsaber, but boy do they look like one. Normally George Lucas is pretty quick to spot these kind of things, but he must have missed this little beauty which mimics the iconic poster of Star Wars: A New Hope. The worse thing is it is actually a well crafted piece of art and looks pretty impressive. Not sure about that child’s perm though, it is not very becoming of a Jedi. Also Darth Vader looks a lot like a character from The Muppets Show: Pigs in Space, than an actual master of the dark side. Still, I would like to have one hanging on my wall. Time frame for this has got to be mid 70s and it still holds up today.

Assorted Kung Fu Fighters

Now these are incredible. I am pretty sure everyone can see these are based on the original Mortal Kombat combatants (notice no Sonya Blade though, bunch of sexists), but fact is they actually look like they put some effort into making them. They look like the old Mego toys from the 70’s, with their cloth clothes and molded plastic chests. Goro has the head of a fat sumo wrestler rather than his more demonic look, but basically everything else is the same. The character in the middle is puzzling me though. I can not tell if it is meant to be Shang Tsung or Lui Kang, either way it looks nothing like them. And why does he have to share pants with Jimmy Gage, or whatever lame knock off name he has? What a fighter this toy would make in the real Mortal Kombat game (probably going to be an issue with copyrights!).

Mr. Rock

Mr. Rock really needs no introduction, he is a star so famous he is known the whole world over. So obviously this is Mr. Spock’s never spoken of half brother, who became a failure at everything he did and decided he needed to copy his brother in every way. Or it is simply a rip off of Mr. Spock from the original Star Trek series (oh come on, he needed a back story and I have just provided one). There is some pretty fantastic ’70s art on this box and Mr. Rock (not The Rock from the WWE before you get confused) is pretty well decked out. His face does look a tad strange however, with what looks like red lipstick and his Vulcan ears are so huge they actually look like the fake ones you can buy in the shops.

Robert Cop

Robocop is the protector of old Detroit, so he is a busy cyborg. His friend Robert Cop however, is always free if you fancy a chin wag, because he is not on active duty at the moment. This toy on the whole looks pretty much like its film counter part, but the packaging is great. Robocop 2 art is mixed with the title Robert Cop 3. What does that even mean? Is there more than one Robert Cop knocking about? I would love to get all three Robert Cops in a room one day. Okay, I am not going to lie; I really like saying Robert Cop. He seems like the kind of guy who you could have a drink with, safe in the knowledge he would protect you while his busier and more successful other half is getting the scum off the streets.

Army Spider-Man

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is a nickname for the webslinger (also a nickname), which I think sums up his personality perfectly. But times, they are a changing and Spider-Man must change with them. His country needs his skills, so he has been drafted to fight with the Army. But how best to use his powers? Webbing up potential terrorists or using his spider-sense to detect bombs seems to be a good use of his abilities. But no, the best use is to have him crawling on his belly very slowly with a gun in his hand. Better yet, get him two guns in case he gets into some real trouble. This is a modified version of the classic crawling army soldier to cater to the super hero fans. I love the fact that this toy takes away one of Spider-Man’s main powers (web slinging )and dumps him on the ground, something that would have put off its target audience.

Spader-Man

Spader-Man, Spader-Man, does whatever a Spader can. I have become strangely addicted to saying Spader-Man since seeing this toy, must be the way the word feels coming off my tongue. Underneath the box it says “classics” and it certainly is that. If that is not enough, it comes with lights and sounds. Actually what light and sound comes from this toy and where the light emanates from is a mystery to us all.

Star Knight Darth Vader

Have you ever seen the Japanese adverts that starred Darth Vader?

[youtube

Essentially it is some Japanese cops having a spot of bother with the Master of the Dark Side. They finally get their own back on him. This toy seems to be set straight after this event, where a defeated Darth decides if you can not beat them, join them. So he gets set up for work in the police force. I think his choice of vehicle is a bit suspect however. If he wants to take that into space he is going to have problems and I don’t think the bike will fare well on say, the ice planet of Hoth. This is probably why he jacked this in and decided to just be an evil bugger. I really can’t see how the fans of Star Wars, a film full of space battles, would ever settle for a basic police bike. Even if you do put Star in front of it, it doesn’t fool anyone into thinking this is an exciting product!

Super Bat

Bruce Wayne has a lot of amazing gadgets to help him in the fight against crime, but has he ever used a skateboard? That is where Super Bat comes in; with his headsets on both ears, he is ready to whiz to your rescue. I have no idea where to start with this one. Why does he need two sets of headsets? Why does the figure look completely different from the actual toy and what the heck does Batman need a skateboard for? All these answers are left to our imagination. All I do know is if that toy is as clunky as it looks, a lot of batteries were burnt out getting Super Bat to move anywhere.

Tim Burton Superman

Okay this is not actually a Tim Burton toy, but it does look very similar to the costume Nicholas Cage was meant to wear in Tim’s cancelled Superman movie.

It also lights up (in a sense) just like that costume did. This is probably an old Spider-Man body that was re-jigged into a Superman figure. The head I can only assume came from some kind of discarded reject toy box as it looks truly horrible. If they were trying to make it a Nicholas Cage doll they failed and it in no way resembles Superman. It resembles nothing human, the way it’s empty eyes stare into my soul is unnerving me to no end.

SpecialMan

Special Man appears to be anything but special with his bland packaging and very shoddy looking sculpt of Superman’s face. Buy this for a child you really don’t like.

Terminator Spider-Man

I think my fanboy mind has just imploded. Spider-Man is a Terminator! I never would have guessed it, I must have missed the comic where Peter Parker gets his eye badly damaged and he goes to a dirty bed sit to pop it out into the sink. This toy really freaks me out for some reason, almost like if I look at it a little bit too much it may actually come true somehow. He looks so angry, take it away please. Where is John Connor when you need him?

Super Robot

Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends have a pretty easy life. The conductor looks after them, they get to go out on their jollies or just chill at the station. But every so often they do get into some scraps. Maybe one of Thomas’s train friends has got himself stuck on a line and the commuters are getting very angry about not getting to work on time. Enter Super Robot who can sort out any emergency (even if it does take another 4 trains to actually make him). I am not sure if Thomas shares the same fan base as the Transformers, but you have got to admire the people who put this thing out for trying to grab as much money from the kids as they can.

Titanic-Bot

Throughout history there have been some really tragic events which have never been forgotten. The sinking of the Titanic still holds a certain sway over us, the shocking nature of it has made us return to it again and again. How best do you honor the dead and remind the future generations of the tragedy? Make the Titanic a Transformer, that’s how! Maybe we have the story all wrong, maybe the Titanic sank after an epic battle with iceberg Megatron? I honestly cannot think why people thought this was a good idea in any way, shape, or form. The even stranger thing about this is it actually floats and swims if that propeller underneath is anything to go by. I am pretty sure that Transformers fans really don’t want to play with a ship that has so much grief associated with it. What an incredible combination.

So hopefully this has given you a list of stuff to either avoid like the plague or search the shops like a man or woman on a mission. If you are interested in more of these (and believe me there are many more) why not check out Cracked.Com , Flavorwire.Com, Sad and Useless.Com, Comics Alliance.Com and Topless Robot.Com which is where I found some of these beauties. Or better yet just type in Boot Leg or Knock Off Toys in Google and see for yourself what classics pop up.

THE INTERWEBS

Weekly Geeky ‘Pinterest’ Finds – Gift Edition

November 29, 2012 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome back to this week’s “Weekly Geeky Pinterest Finds!!!!!”. I hope everyone of the American persuasion had a great Thanksgiving, and if you aren’t American, I hope you had a great Thursday. Of course the passing of Thanksgiving means that Christmas shopping time has arrived! If you are anything like me, you have no idea what you are going to get anyone and will more than likely wait until the last possible moment, but maybe this week’s ‘Pinterest’ finds come in handy. Let’s dive right in and see if we can’t cross of a few people on your shopping list with some geeky gift ideas.

I don’t even wear earrings and I want these. How could I not? I mean come on, these are awesome. My only concern would be getting through daily errands while wearing them because surely everyone would feel the need to stop me and tell me how awesome my earrings were. Well that and I’d worry about losing an earlobe when a dog thought Joker was trying to attack my face and then decided to kill him first, but the chances of that happening are negligible so these are still awesome.

Do you have a friend or family member that recently moved into a new house or apartment? Looking for that perfect “housewarming and Christmas/holiday” gift combo? Look no further my friends for here it is- the Darth Vader Kitchen Utensil Caddy. Whether or not you use the force to cook those eggs, your spatula will look quite at home nestled snugly along with the whisk in Darth Vader’s head.

This is a must have for that movie lover on your list. If you were the type of gift giver that likes to put together a “complete package” you could include an iron, a bottle of aftershave, and perhaps some coupons for free pizza. It’s a shame I don’t know someone who’d appreciate that because what a great gift.

Do you know someone who is anxiously awaiting the return of Sherlock? Does that Sherlock fan also happen to have an iPhone? Well then look no further because this gift is just for them. You might want to gauge how crazy they are first though, because I’m sure gunshots through a wallpaper covered phone are not covered by the warranty.

My heart stopped when I saw this. On one hand, snuggie’s are sort of lame (she says while sitting wrapped in an Alabama snuggie) but on the other hand, Wonder Woman is amazing. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that if you know someone who likes Wonder Woman enough that they even came to mind when you saw this, then it’s probably a safe bet that they’d enjoy it.

FOR THE HORDE!!! AND ART!! What a great gift for the World of Warcraft player in your life. Well it would probably help if they play Horde, but I daresay even an Alliance member would appreciate it. Well maybe not but it’s worth a shot. This is pretty damn cool, no matter who you play for.

Now this one is linked to an etsy page and the item has sold but if you are the least bit handy, I’m sure you could somehow figure out how to make this. If you do, tell me how because I want to get a gift for myself. This light switch would look amazing in my office. Yea, that’s right- light switch. You could have a childhood flashback of playing Pac-Man for hours at the arcade when you turn on the ceiling light. Awesome.

Say you’ve made a deal with your spouse/significant other/sibling/friend that you’d only do handmade gifts. And perhaps that person is a Lord of the Rings fan (because who isn’t?), well this is your lucky day because look what I found. This is a lembas bread holder. In other words, this is awesome. Even if you didn’t put forth the effort to make the lembas bread, I’m sure it would hold a peanut butter and jelly just as well.

Finally for all those Harry Potter fans in your life, a t-shirt that Cho Chang would totally rock. I’m not ashamed to admit that I really want this shirt. If a certain Santa were reading this, I’d be more than thrilled to find this under the tree.

There you have it! Hopefully this helped y’all with at least one person on your list. If not, then maybe you found some gift ideas for yourself, no shame in that. Until next time!

Movie News & Opinions

JGL Might Play Batman in ‘Justice League’? Sources Say No…

November 29, 2012 Scoot Allan Leave a comment

Yeah, I know. That is clearly a picture of JGL as Nightwing and not Batman. Sorry, but I’ve been waiting a while to use that fan-made picture, so deal with it. I also know that I got your hopes up with the title only to immediately shatter them afterwards. You are not alone in this feeling. Earlier in the week some rumors started to fly that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would don the cape and cowl to portray Batman in Warner Bros. upcoming Justice League. Now I use the term upcoming very loosely, because we have all been through this before with a Justice League movie so I’m not putting too much stock into it getting made anytime soon.

Continue reading JGL Might Play Batman in ‘Justice League’? Sources Say No… →

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Geeky ‘Pinterest’ Finds…

November 3, 2012 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

In today’s world of ever-changing internet trends, it is easy to miss even “big” sites. Don’t believe me? Go ask all those people still hanging out on MySpace. One you might not have heard of is Pinterest– especially if you are male. As opposed to in the U.K. where the majority of Pinterest users are professional males, here in the U.S. it’s mainly women, women who are into house decorating and cooking and home tending and you get the picture.

Because that is the majority of users and their pins, does not mean that Pinterest does not have something to offer for those not the least bit interested in the Martha Stewart arts. Au contraire! A little run down of how Pinterest works. It is basically “visual bookmarks”- instead of saving sites to your browser, you can “pin” them to your Pinterest board instead. When you pin something, you pin it to a certain board. For example, when you look at either the Grizzly Bomb Pinterest page, or my own personal Pinterest page (first you can tell that I’ve been on Pinterest much longer than Grizzly Bomb!), you can see that there are separate boards for various categories. Everyone can make their own boards, you aren’t forced into having a “home” board if you don’t want one. But what if you want to see what other people are pinning to their boards? Well you have two options: First you can choose to follow people (I think following Grizzly Bomb would be a great board to follow, just saying) and then whatever they pin will show up on the Pinterest equivalent of your Facebook wall. The second option is what brings us together here today, categories.There are various categories ranging in topics from fashion and humor to art and photography. The best category however, and the category that even people who could not give a rat’s ass about home decor or the latest in fall fashion could find something for them, is the Geek category.

Because I know that not everyone has the disposable free time that I do, and because I would hate for anyone to miss any geeky goodness, and frankly, because I’m such a wonderful and giving person, I have taken it upon myself to compile a weekly “Best finds in the Pinterest Geek Category this Week!!!!!!!” for your perusal. There is no need to send gifts, or money, or songs you have written in my honor (although they certainly won’t be turned away)- no, your gratitude is enough to keep me going.

So with all that out-of-the-way… I bring you this week’s “Best Finds in the Pinterest Geek Category this Week!!!!!!!”

Because I’m the one running this particular show, we are going to start with a pin that combines two of my favorite things in this world, LEGO and Batman. Those men right there are holding perhaps one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen- a Batcave built out of LEGOs. Let me repeat that. This is a Batcave built entirely out of LEGO bricks. When I scrolled past this the other day I did a double take and then one of my dogs had to revive me when I passed out from too much awesome.

Ask pretty much any woman who seriously plays video games to name some pet peeves and more than likely the sentiment behind this pin will be listed. It drives me nuts when people (oddly enough, not always just men) assume that if you are a girl who games you are one of these three types:

a.) a supermodel who doesn’t know her a,x,y, and b from her x, square, triangle and circle
b.) a girl who uses her husband/boyfriend’s XBox to play bejeweled on the big screen
c.) an idiot who thinks the Playstation is just a really fancy dvd player

Believe it or not, there are quite of a few of us who look forward to the release of Halo 4 just as much as any guy.

As I say all that, I must caveat, I love playing video games and am rather good at campaigns and questing. When it comes to multi-player however? I am just awful. Unless I have a war hammer. Given a war hammer, I am unstoppable. Okay, maybe not unstoppable, but I do actually kill other people so that’s a plus.

Another big thing on Pinterest is outfits. I am so not an outfit kind of gal, my everyday attire is either jeans or pajama pants and whatever t-shirt I happen to grab, so when I came across this one I was sort of surprised that I’d finally seen an outfit I would wear. There’s no chance I’d carry that purse, but the rest of it? Love it.

Random quirk about Pinterest- when you go to “re-pin” something, most of the time people do not change the description. Whoever pinned this at one point described it as “ridiculous”. I think we can all agree that what they meant to type was “awesome”. There is absolutely no way that this could ever be described as ridiculous. It has all the components of epic-ness.

Office products used in a new and exciting way… check
Beloved video game character… check
Old school version of beloved video game character… check
Incredible representation of the above… check
Just awesome in general… check, check, check

Yea sorry original pinner, I’m going to have to wholeheartedly disagree with your “ridiculous” description.

The sad part about Pinterest, just like the internet, is the lack of a built-in fact checker. I think we can all agree the creator of this meme pin had a good idea but just failed, horribly, in its execution. However, I happen to adore Cobie Smulders and love How I Met Your Mother so I’m able to look past the error.

Now that Halloween has arrived, we are fully into the “holiday season” so it’s about time everyone start thinking about their gingerbread houses. I would like to put forth the argument that this particular gingerbread creation would kick every other gingerbread creation’s ass.

There we have it, the inaugural run of “Best Finds in the Pinterest Geek Category this Week!!!!!”.

Until next week! For now, I’m off to think of a better name.

Uncategorized

The Griz Bin: NYCC CosPlay, PokeVengers, and Superman’s a Douche.

October 27, 2012 Lucy Shaw

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please find enclosed 1 (one) Griz Bin. We hope that you find its contents of comic randomness to your taste and we apologize for the lateness of its arrival.

5 Classic Superman Comics That Prove He Used To Be A Dick – Think the Man of Steel was always the big boy scout we usually think of him being today. Nope. He used to be a massive tool and here’s the proof. [Cracked]

Comic Covers Recreated With Family Guy – See Peter Griffin as (amongst others) Spider-Man, Batman and Superman in these recreations of classic comic covers. My favourite is the Fantastic Four one that includes the entire Griffin clan. [Herochan]

9 Reasons To Elect A Supervillian President – The US is to shortly head to the polls, and for all of you Americans yet to make up your minds, here are some decent reasons to vote for the greater, rather than the lesser, of evils. [io9]

Pokevengers – Do you like Pokemon? Do you like The Avengers? Than you’ll love Pokevengers fan art by AstroZerk! [deviantART]

Kia’s Batman Themed Car – DC and Kia have joined forces to make a range of Justice League themed cars. Here is the Batman one and it’s no Tumbler. [Geekologie]

Fantastic (Four) Pumpkin Art – Made from 11 pumpkins here is the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing. [io9]

DC Collectibles Unveils High-End Prints – They may be more expensive by some of these would look good on anybody’s wall. Who could resist Ace the Bathound, Krypto and Streaky? [Comics Alliance]

New York Comic-Con Cosplay – There was a vast array of great cosplay at the recent con. Whilst it’s not all comics related it’s all far too fabulous to not include. [io9, Comics Alliance 1, 2, 3, Gamma Squad 1, 2, 3, and Geeks Are Sexy 1, 2]

Old Iron Man – Is this Tony Starks Future? Fan art by gimaldinov. [CG Hub]

And Finally – We end with the news that Superman is quitting the Daily Planet as told in the inimitable CG style of Taiwan’s NMA. [Comics Alliance]

So until next time…’keep watching the skies!’