BOOK REVIEW - Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley

OK, My life has been pretty hectic lately but I have set aside the time to read this brand-new BATMAN Book and I think you should too. I'm talking about "Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight" by Travis Langley. Now, you're probably thinking this is one of those horrible pop-psychology books that seem to be a new trend in book publishing. This is NOT one of those books! You know what I'm talking about. There's a glut of new books where they mash-up something popular ( Twilight, Dr. Who, etc..) with "Philosophy or Economics" or something that sounds interesting. This is not the case here. This is a serious book done by a true Batman Fan who also understands the real-life theories of Psychology. I mean, this guy teaches Psychology at a major University!

The basic premise of the book is he takes the Dark Knight and his list of Villains and then creates "File Cases" on each character. Along the way he not only deals with Comic Book ( and TV/Movie ) History but also critically analyzes each person. I mean, he treats them as real patients & tries to break down what mental illness they might have that makes them who they are. It's pretty interesting, because if you love the Batman Universe then it's kinda fun. Also, if you have an interest in learning about real psychological analysis then those things are explained in great detail. I found the book to be both very entertaining AND educational.

Another bonus to the book is that there is a Foreword written by Michael Uslan ( Executive Producer of all the recent Batman Films ) and an Introduction by Dennis O'Neil ( Legendary Batman Writer & Comic Book Editor ). On a personal note, I'm a huge "Denny" Fan so that was a real treat.

LEGENDS OF THE KNIGHT - Filmmaker Focuses on the Fans of Batman in New Documentary

While Batman fans await the summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight Rises,” filmmaker Brett Culp is turning the camera on them. His documentary film “Legends of the Knight” will tell the stories of people who have been inspired by the legacy and tales of Batman.



Not only will this film focus on the fans of Batman, its creation is dependent on the support of the fans via the crowdfunding campaign that began April 12, 2012 ( www.indiegogo.com/batmanfilm ). The campaign raised $5,775 in its first day.



“Batman has become contemporary mythology,” Culp said. “Our goal with this film is to show how enduring stories like this shape us. As all great stories have the power to do, Batman has been a symbol that has inspired real people to achieve amazing things. The purpose of ‘Legends of the Knight’ is to show that heroic stories have the power to lift us up, and we need more of them.”



Culp is a life-long Batman fan. He and his team are capturing stories from around the U.S. and across the globe. They are filming with individuals whose love of the Dark Knight has inspired them to overcome devastating obstacles, to motivate and encourage young people, and to contribute to their communities.



Well-known Batfans who have confirmed their participation in this project include:



Michael Uslan - executive producer of "Batman", "Batman Begins", "The    Dark Knight", and "The Dark Knight Rises".

 

Denny O'Neil - legendary Batman writer

 

Rabbi Cary Friedman - author, "Wisdom from the Batcave"

 

Dr. Travis Langley - author, "Batman and Psychology"; teacher of university course in psychology called "Batman"

 

Gotham Chopra - co-author, "Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes"; son of best-selling author Deepak Chopra



“Human beings have always been stirred to greatness by the tales of heroes,” Culp said. “We connect with Batman because he is the super hero with no super powers. Just as he has committed himself to making the world better, we can dedicate ourselves to a noble cause and make a difference. This type of inspiration is a core function of storytelling in society.”



The Release Date will be about early 2013 so look for it then. Also, click HERE for the Official Website and more info.

New BACK ISSUE! Magazines To Celebrate BRONZE-AGE BATMAN

Hey Bat-Fans, Here are some cool Batman-related Magazines to keep an eye out for in the near future! BACK ISSUE! Magazine ( TwoMorrows Publishing ) will be celebrating Batman with 2 special issues:



BACK ISSUE # 50 ( Release Date: July 20th, 2011 ) is a special 50th Anniversary issue spotlighting “Batman in the Bronze Age”, with the entire issue in FULL-COLOR! DENNY O’NEIL, NEAL ADAMS, and PAUL LEVITZ discuss Batman in the 1970's and beyond in a “Pro2Pro” round table. Also, In Praise of JIM APARO, Batman’s Unsung Creators (DAVID V. REED, BOB BROWN, ERNIE CHAN, and JOHN CALNAN), Joker’s Daughter, the Batman Family, Nocturna, Untold Legend of the Batman, Batman collected editions, Batman in the early 1980s, and Dark Knight. With art by and/or commentary from JOHN BYRNE, GENE COLAN, GERRY CONWAY, DOUG MOENCH, FRANK MILLER, DON NEWTON, LEN WEIN, and more. Featuring a beautifully Bronze Batman and Robin cover by Jim Aparo! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. 84 pages, full-color throughout, $8.95. (Note: price increase is for this one, full-color issue only.)



BACK ISSUE # 51 ( August 17th, 2011 ) is an “All-Interview Issue”! Continuing from the pages of Alter Ego #103 is Part 2 of an exclusive interview with writer STEVE ENGLEHART. Also: “Pro2Pro” with WALTER SIMONSON & ERIK LARSEN, DOUG MOENCH & LEN WEIN, and comics letterers TODD KLEIN & JANICE CHIANG; plus JOHN OSTRANDER and the final interview with longtime DC color artist ADRIENNE ROY, who passed away in December 2010. Featuring as our cover one of the last Batman illustrations produced by the late MARSHALL ROGERS, Englehart’s partner on Detective Comics! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. 84 pages with 16-page COLOR section, $7.95.



Oh Yeah, Order Directly from the Publisher & Save 15%, Just Click HERE!

BATMAN & VILLAINS Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday

OK, it's the middle of the day & I am finally posting the "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday " backgrounds. I know, "I'm Late", ( sorry ) but really I was working on the Bat-Blog almost all night ( technical issues ) & slept in late. So, like my Grandmother used to say, "Better late, than never!" But, I think you'll enjoy these backgrounds so here we go! The 1st one was made by me using some graphics I found at the DC Comics website. The visuals were just too awesome to NOT make into a wallpaper, ha! Plus, besides Batman, there are some cool villains: Catwoman & The Penguin! The next wallpaper, I'm very proud to say, was sent in by a Bat-Blog Contributing Artist named Sean Hartter. Both the artwork & art direction are really great! He came up with this very clever idea of making a fake issue of PLAYBILL. These are small booklets you used to get when you went to the theater of a Broadway play. Ironically, it looks EXACTLY like an original issue...making it a wonderful parody. Now the other thing that's pretty funny is that, to give it a heightened sense of realism, he used the real names of famous actors & writers. The play is titled "BATMAN: The Joker's Five Way Revenge", which is a very classic comic book story actually written by Dennis O'Neil. Plus, the 2 real-life Famous Actors are John Barrymore & Lon Chaney. The picture is an actual photo of them but shopped with the Batman & Joker costumes...awesome! It also says that the play was produced by Robert Kane ( Bob Kane ). Which is funny because he's the guy who "created" Batman. I'm not surprised that Bill Finger didn't get a mention, ouch!

Book Review: THE BATCAVE COMPANION By Michael Eury & Michael Kronenberg

There's a brand-new Batman book out there right now that you might have heard about. It's called THE BATCAVE COMPANION & it was recently published by TwoMorrows Publishing. The basic premise is that it covers Batman's real-life comic book history from, let's say, 1964 through 1979. In the early 1960's both Batman comic book titles, Batman & Detective Comics, had sales figures that were so bad that they were seriously on the verge of cancellation. That's pretty scary to think about, right? That's when DC Comics ( then called National Periodical Publications ) brought in a new editor to help revamp the books...sort of give them a new life. This era in Batman's history is known as "The New Look" period. What they did was they brought in Julius Schwartz, the "Fix It Man"! They also brought in a popular comic book artist at the time, Carmine Infantino. He had just done wonders with the Flash comic book & they thought he would be a good match for Batman.



What they basically told both of them was, "You have 6 months to breathe new life into this character or we're gonna have to cut both titles". OUCH! Yes, this really happened which, as a Batman Fan, is totally scary to think about! Now, to get back to the book. It's sort of broken down into 2 parts ( but both parts are seamless & flow really well together ). The first part, covering the "New Look" period of the 60's, is written by Michael Eury. The 2nd half of the book, covering the 1970's "Creature of the Night" period, is written by Michael Kronenberg. Both authors do an extremely excellent job covering Batman's rich history in very fine detail. In fact, I gotta say, that I'm a very serious "book reader" ( & quite prolific ) but dang this book took me like forever to read, ha ha! But, it's very well written & doesn't rehash a lot of details for filler. Well, I gotta say that the whole reading experience was completely wonderful. Plus, all through out this book, there are a ton of awesome graphics, photos, & illustrations that are a total joy to see ( ...the book's cover art was done by Neal Adams, enough said, ha ha! ). There's a lot of classic vintage artwork & very neat "behind the scene" photos. As both a serious Batman Fan & Collector ( for a very long time ) I sort of consider myself an expert & I was sort of shocked by all the amazing new details to Batman's history that I didn't even know about. This book really explains a lot in 240 pages, ha ha! OK, to get back to the basic story, both Schwartz & Infantino must have done a great job on the Batman titles ( they did ) because the sales figures were climbing.




Then something totally unexpected happened...the 1966 Batman TV Show came out & it seemed like the whole world went totally bat-crazy! As you can imagine this affected the sales figures greatly. Plus, there was a ton of merchandising for the character that really shot him into total stardom. This book covers both the creation of this new TV Show, & what was happening in the comic book at the time of the show, in great detail. But, after the show was canceled a few years later sales for the book started to fall a little bit. That's when the "2nd half" of the book kicks in again & talks about how Dennis O'Neil & Neal Adams were brought in to revamp the character all over again.




One of the great things about this book, worth mentioning, is that every now & then they sort of pause the story to present actual modern day interviews with many of the editors, writers, & artists. My 4 top favorites were the ones with Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Sheldon Moldoff, & Neal Adams. But all the others are really great too & they talk in length with Dennis O'Neil, Mike W. Barr, Will Murray, Len Wein, Steve Englehart, & Terry Austin. OK, back to the story, ha ha. The 1970's brought in a whole new outlook for the Batman character. They sort of wanted to get away from the whole silly-campiness of the 60's TV series & remade Batman into "The Dark Knight Detective" again. I gotta say that if you're a fan of ANY of these artists I have mentioned they are all very well presented with wonderful illustrations, many never seen before.



Overall, I gotta say that I can highly recommend this new book to any serious Batman Fan. If you grew up ( like I did ) with this period of Batman's history then it's gonna bring back a lot of fond memories. If you're a younger fan, who is not quite familiar with this time period, then you're gonna get quite educated & it's gonna give you a fresh new perspective on the character. So, get out there & please purchase a copy today. You'll be glad you did.

Neal Adam's BATMAN is a Major Inspiration for Graphic Artist Al Bigley

I have a friend named Al Bigley who is a Graphic Artist that is totally inspired by the work of Neal Adams. I mean, all you have to do is visit his blog sometime & read a few posts. He's totally goo-goo over Neal Adams & who isn't? Adams did some incredible artwork of the Dark Knight in the 1970's. In fact, he & Dennis O'Neil re-invented the character at the time. During the 1960's the comic book was very influenced by the 1966 TV Show where everything was sort of silly & campy. Well, Denny came in to revamp the character making him more realistic, dark, & more of a detective figure. It worked! The "new" Batman at that time is still considered one of the very best variations. OK, now back to Al. He's a commercial artist who has done a ton of Batman work around the time of the animated series cartoon in the 1990's. He did children's books, the graphics for the Animated Series Action Figure header cards, & even the McDonalds Happy Meal Toy packaging. Here's a few pics I stole from his blog ( ha ha ) that show 2 pieces of proof of his Neal Adams fandom. The 1st one was where he took a very famous, actually iconic, drawing of Batman by Adams & did it in his own "animated style". I think it's an extremely cool parody image & a great homage. The 2nd photo is a vintage personal family photo of Al in the 1970's showing him when he was a little kid & look at what he's wearing...a Batman T-Shirt with Neal Adams ART!! Well, that just proves he's been a big fan for a very long time, ha ha! OK, you might be curious about Al Bigley's artwork by now so please be sure to visit his BIG GLEE BLOG sometime. There's a lot of cool eye candy & pop culture to enjoy ( just click on the yellow word up above ). Thanks Al for allowing me to reprint these pic, they're cool!

NEW BATMAN BOOK : THE BATCAVE COMPANION Coming Out in April!

OK, I know it's about 2 months away but I'm really excited about a new book coming out by TwoMorrow's Publishing called THE BATCAVE COMPANION! The delays are over, and it’s finally in print! Michael Eury, the writer/editor of the critically acclaimed The Krypton Companion, and Michael Kronenberg, the designer of the eye-popping Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy, team up to explore the Silver and Bronze Ages of Batman comic books in The Batcave Companion! Two distinct sections of this book examine the Dark Knight’s progression from his campy “New Look” of the mid-1960s to his “creature of the night” reinvention of the 1970s. Features include issue-by-issue indexes, interviews with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA, DENNIS O’NEIL, and NEAL ADAMS, and guest essays by MIKE W. BARR and WILL MURRAY. Contributors include SHELDON MOLDOFF, LEN WEIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, and TERRY AUSTIN, with a special tribute to the late MARSHALL ROGERS. With its incisive introduction by Dennis O’Neil and its iconic cover painting by Neal Adams, The Batcave Companion is a must-have for every Bat-Fanatic & comics fan! It's due to be released around April 15th, 2009. Here's a link for more information:

Video: THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN TV Cartoon Featurette PART 1 & 2

The ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN by Filmation has recently been released as a DVD.
If you're interested in buying this TV Show be sure to check out TFAW.
Here's a link: