A Memorial and The Dark Knight Rises

THE WEEK IN COMICS

In Memoriam

Normally a strong movie week begins with opening night; that's when the premieres and fan excitement build into a frenzy and the viral atmosphere begins to ignite.

Last Friday, though, the entire comic book industry - and the country - had to take a pause. It happened that morning, 39 minutes after midnight, when a true-to-life madman, fully armed, committed a tragedy upon 70 or more of Aurora, Colorado's citizens.

It was surreal, out of the pages of a comic book, ironically. But in the end, many of our friends - Batman fans just like you and me - faced a true villain.

Without going into the grim details (and out of respect for the families and their loved ones), The Dark Knight Rises remains open in theaters. It's still doing great at the box office, but there is a dark pall, a shadowy overdraft, in the atmosphere right now.

As you go out, please keep those people in your prayers.

If you did see the movie, be sure to vote. Your opinion is important.

The Week In Comics is a new series of articles that will update on Monday on the Superheroes List Blog, and The Superheroes List website. It will cover all the major events and story lines of recent in the superhero and villain world. If you're interested in today's super-news, keep your eyes open and Check out the List! #TWIC

SuperBabe #7: Catwoman

There are few women with the luxurious and sultry appearance that can easily be garbed in tight-fitting leather, uttering the occasional "meow". Few less that carry a whip. So far, Gotham City has only one...and that's Selina Kyle, Catwoman. Let's be honest: she makes it look good. Making a strong case for her fans, DC Comics agreed, and gave Miss Kyle her own title series in 2011.

One of the few solo-female names to go out on her own, Catwoman is still going strong; besides her her anti-hero, vigilante style theme, she's also using disguise and her sensual skills to gaining readers. But that's not what made the news; early in its run, she - once again - seduced The Dark Knight.

As it turns out, it's also a purrr-fect< season - and week, no less - for Catwoman to show up on this list; it's also not a coincidence. Co-starring with Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises, Anne Hathaway will portray the seductive feline-style thief on the screens July 20, 2012.

Coinciding with this seasons' events in the comic book world, The Top 10 Super Babes of Summer 2012 is a countdown from The Superheroes List, updating on Wednesdays, for simple entertainment as well as informative purposes. If you want to know how some of the female characters are evolving during the hot months, Read the List.

The Night of The Owls Has Ended

Meet the brother of Bruce Wayne.

~Batman #11 (2012)

Having faced down a series of Talons on a night of extra-ordinary killers, Batman finally confronts the mastermind in a showdown to the death. In a brilliant plot twist, the villains claims to be his brother.

Batman #11 is the finale of Night of The Owls, resolving the last few months of the event in a one-on-one, big-boss battle. The Caped Crusader, Nightwing, and the remainder of the Batman crew have quelled the threats in Gotham City, but not before the main bad guy makes his appearance.

This event, a very well-written piece written by Scott Snyder and penciled by Greg Capullo, ends one week before The Dark Knight Rises; a fitting story that will bring fans to the box office for the summer.


Villainous Moments is a column from of The Superheroes List, updated weekly (usually Tuesday). What are the bad guys doing this week? Macabre and unthinkable, grotesque and unbearable; here's your answer! Look for #VillainousMoments on Twitter.

Batman Tragedy #2: KnightFall

~ Detective Comics #664 (1993)

There is one encounter, an incident which in fact took Batman out of play, that every fan remembers. And if you haven't heard of it, just ask around. Elements of it are now the plot for The Dark Knight Rises Movie.

Remember the previous Venom tragedy? Where Batman began taking drugs to augment his strength? Well, that episode of his life returned to haunt him. The only difference now was that it took the form of a huge, brilliant, and psychotic fighter named Bane. The story? KnightFall: the tale where a super-villain beat The Dark Knight and broke his back!

KnightSaga is the actual epic story; it started with Batman #489 (1993), has 3 parts, and is comprised of KnightFall, Knightquest, KnightsEnd. Throughout the first event, though, Batman becomes a broken shell. He realizes Bane is on his trail, but is unable to confront or locate the vigilante until finally falling into a trap. From that battle, his nemesis, a cruel venom-enhanced, super-soldier, beats him to a bloody pulp.

For a long time, there was no recovery from KnightFall. Wayne, although alive, put his Batman identity in jeopardy by allowing an "apprentice" named Jean-Paul Valley to adopt the suit and fight in his name. The results didn't go so well; Valley was aggressive and violent, and this put another stain on the Dark Knight legacy, creating a rift with the law.

Batman did eventually recover and this showed us that no one could take Bruce Wayne's place. But KnightFall gave us a glimpse of what would happen without him.

The 10 Most Deadly Moments of Batman is a countdown provided by The Superheroes List preparing fans for the upcoming movie The Dark Knight Rises, with Christian Bale. If you want to get hyped up on Caped Crusader information, come on over and Check out the List!

There's Something About Marvel NOW

The Week In Comics

When we last left our heroes, it was really all about Avengers vs. X-Men, The Amazing Spider-Man and Dark Knight Rises Movie, and then some musings over the Before Watchmen and Night of The Owls event. That was yesterday. I promise we'll still go into their updates, but in the last week, Marvel announced something even bigger. It's called Marvel NOW!

Do you remember how Shattered Heroes picked up the fallen pieces after Marvel's Fear Itself event? Well, the impression Marvel Editor-In-Chief Alex Alonso is giving us is something of a similar nature:

"Marvel NOW! is the next step in Marvel story evolution and character evolution. It’s not a reboot. It is a universe-shifting catch-all, which really just tells fans that if you enjoyed Avengers vs. X-Men, get ready for what the outcome is because there’s some major, major changes coming to the Marvel Universe."

If you're interested in learning more about Marvel NOW!, here is a Summary and Landing Page for the "event". The original article over at Marvel.com is here.

Elsewhere in the Universe...

The Avengers vs. X-Men event is again on the hunt for Hope. The Avengers have here now, but The Phoenix Five are not going to let it remain that way. Cyclops just issued a proclamation that there will be no more Avengers (Uncanny X-Men #15). Over at Avengers vs. X-Men #7, though, The Scarlet Witch has taken a prime position. She can hurt the Phoenix Entity.

The Amazing Spider-Man movie drew #140 million according to the LA Times (article here) and this is probably the highest paying 30 days ever seen at Marvel with The Avengers back in May.

The Dark Knight Rises previews are getting standing ovations. I've checked out the sources and don't consider them fully vetted, however, the Twitter and Facebook comments suggest that this movie will equal, if not surpass, what we've already seen this Summer.

Last, but not least, Before Watchmen is going strong with each release. Last week, Ozymandias #1 came out and gave a strong background on the "Smartest Man in The World". The true beauty of the series is that - so far- each story has been extremely strong and well-developed. 

Until next week: We're still waiting for the final issue of Batman that will conclude Night of The Owls. And there will always be more.

The Week In Comics is a new series of articles that will update on Monday on the Superheroes List Blog, and The Superheroes List website. It will cover all the major events and story lines of recent in the superhero and villain world. If you're interested in today's super-news, keep your eyes open and Check out the List! #TWIC

Batman Tragedy #3: R.I.P.

~Batman R.I.P., excerpt from Batman #677 (2008)

There are many ways to skin a bat, but there is only one Batman. In this consequential story, called Batman R.I.P., we learn what happens when you destroy the mind of the hero. Truly his greatest asset, The Dark Knight is systematically taken down by an opponent who carefully dismantles him on the psychological level. For once, we're uncertain he can survive. He's a ragged shadow of his former self...and the predators have only started their hunt.

Starting with Batman #676 (2008), Bruce Wayne is flanked by his girlfriend, Jezebel Jet. (The name alone should have tipped him off, don't you think?) After revealing his secret and letting her deeper into his life, a combination of events, prodded by her and The Black Glove, push him into a state of insanity; that's when she leads him into a psychological trigger while he's looking at a flashing screen with subliminal messaging. Quickly after, they invade the Batcave and discard a mind-numbed and confused Wayne onto the streets of Gotham. Their plan is almost finished; now they are having a party to hunt Batman down and kill him.

There was only one thing they didn't prepare for: Zur-En-Arrh. Having nearly died months before, Wayne studied special meditation technique in Nanda Parbat that allowed him to create a mental backup personality in case his primary one failed. Called The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, he donned purple, red, and yellow rags and tracked his detractors with a miniature radio he called a "Bat-Media" device.

Batman R.I.P. may be the most twisted and deadliest tale ever for the Caped Crusader. Besides nearly dying, Alfred, Robin, and others are almost killed and his family's history is almost corrupted to make them look like thugs. But, once again, we're given hope; somehow there's something beyond human with Bruce Wayne. And it's all in his head.

The 10 Most Deadly Moments of Batman is a countdown provided by The Superheroes List preparing fans for the upcoming movie The Dark Knight Rises, with Christian Bale. If you want to get hyped up on Caped Crusader information, come on over and Check out the List!

TWIC: Batman and Spider-Man Weekend Edition

After an extremely successful Avenger Movie, we're now waiting for the latest two hits to reach the big screen: The Amazing Spider-Man, with Andrew Garfield and Emma  Stone, and The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan's last Batman installment featuring Christian Bale. Both are going to do great at the Box Office - that goes without saying in the Comic Book Community.

First, to commemorate and gather as much fan appreciation and information as possible, there are two new summary pages: Spotlight on The Amazing Spider-Man, which will feature all the news, tweets, correlating info, and entertainment of our lithe Wall-Crawler, and Spotlight on The Dark Knight Rises, which accumulates nearly the same info on Batman.Both are established to bring readers up to speed with rumors, but more importantly, to link to other information and things to do while you wait (You'll see in a second.)

The Extras. To accomodate those of us who are big Batman and Spider-Man fans, the following is available:

In this countdown, you're going to see what the life of Peter Parker is like from the inside out. It's not always about beating the bad buy! No! Sometimes you gotta pay the bills, do the homework! And yes, sometimes you have to change your suit! That's why, right here, you're now going to be privileged with The Top 10 Greatest Suits of Spider-Man. These are costumes and gear he's used over the course of his adventures, the ones that made the pages and added to his fan base.

Here, you will learn about the psyche of Batman; you will glean the mind of this hero - that pale glimmer of light - that never goes out, never gives up, and always out-thinks his opponent. Gathered here are the 10 most deadly moments in Batman's life. These are the chapters of his past that defined him, destroyed him, and ultimately, rebuilt Gotham's Avatar into an icon of fear for all those who would pursue injustice on the innocents. Read now, and learn Batman's Worst (and Greatest) moments.

 Pretend you're in a cave. Amassed within the dark folds of this densely populated lair are the clans of The Spider and The Bat. (That's you guys.) For decades, these two potential enemies have been vying for rulership over this domain. We'll be looking at a list of scenarios that pits Batman against Spider-Man; this will not be a contest of sheer power. This is about the differences and possible advantages that each superhero could bring to a fight. You'll be able to speak your mind, too. There will be polls and references to draw upon and more. So who would win? Well, that's for you to decide.

This is the #TWIC Batman Spider-Man Weekend Edition. If you were wondering where it went, now you know. Normally, it'll be presented on Mondays, but Friday can't hurt, right?