Digital Comic Recommendation: Golden Age Batman

In the past few years the caped crusader has saved the world from aliens, traveled through time and space, established a global crime fighting syndicate while harboring a private battle against the ancient secret society now ruled by the mother of his only son. A little film called The Dark Knight was released back in 2008. His origins have been re-examined, re-told and even rebooted under the master pens of scribes like Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller and a host of other talented writers and artists. In short, right now the bat books are the best they have ever been…or are they?

Bob Kane created the character in 1939 that’s over 70 years of storytelling, and while the Batman of Grant Morrison’s recent awe-inspiring run is nothing short of ground breaking, so much of the character’s history that is featured in arcs like “The Black Glove” and “Batman R.I.P” is actually chronicled in the classic golden age issues now available on comiXology.

Find out how the Joker earned the title “The Clown prince of Crime”, See the first appearance of Dr. Hugo Strange, watch the evolution of Catwoman’s costume, then watch it evolve again. These classic issues are the building blocks of what made the original dynamic duo great, with each download packing a whooping 53 pages of all the POW! ZAP! and SLAM! you could ask for. These are some of the most sought after comics of all time, in print they’d cost close to 40,000 dollars per issue! On comiXology fans can read them for only $1.99

A welcomed addition to the ever expanding digital offerings in our library we’re not only extremely excited to feature the first 12 issues of Batman this week but also extremely proud. So go ahead and pull these comics today, there just maybe something to this Bruce Wayne fellow after all, so why not see what all the fuss is about for yourself.

A Curtain Call For Comic Books

Despite technical woes, legal disputes, and more bad press than even the Daily Bugle would care to print, the Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark continues to swing onward towards becoming one of the biggest musicals in history! It’s officially scheduled to open next month after over a year of false starts and while many have claimed the production seems doomed to fail, it is still anyone’s guess as to whether or not the web-slinger will hit the jackpot with theater goers.

One of the projects biggest hurdles has been it’s production. With a budget busting $65 million expense spread out across it’s massive cast, crew and elaborate effects and set design critics have argued that comics and superhero’s have no place among chorus lines and cat walks. True the high flying antics of many a spandex clad super-hero may not be the most practical choice for a Broadway musical, however that doesn’t mean the medium is without dramatic merits. Check out the list below for some awesome comics worthy of the spotlight but won’t break the bank in the process.

1. Little Nemo in Slumberland: Forget Little Orphan Annie, this classic Winsor McCay strip has the making’s of a sleeper hit. Worth it almost for The Marquee art alone this comic from the early 1900′s serves as a charming reminder of the magic of childhood and the dreams that go along with it. With the right set design and a proper score McCay’s timeless tale could speak to a whole new audience of all ages eager to dream once again on the great white way.

2. Jenny Finn Doom Messiah: Imagine if Oliver twist had been adapted for the stage buy H.P. Lovecraft.  Forget happy go lucky Street Urchins and get ready for a macabre mystery of the highest order. Seeing Mignola’s art translated to a stage production would be spectacular, and just imagine the stage directions “Exit pursued by an enormous tentacle monster” that’s just theater magic waiting to happen.

3. Pinocchio Vampire Slayer: Traditional Puppet Theater pre-dates the modern musical by several hundred years, and while current Off-Broadway hits like Avenue Q have reinvigorated the genre for a new generation, the most famous marionette of all time could use a bit of a re-boot. The SLG graphic novel would provide the perfect source material for an action packed take, savvy among the disturbing trend of vampirism fanatics on the up-swing of late. check it out today!

4. Tom Strong: A role tailor made for a true leading man of Broadway and with the success of Moore’s other work across different mediums Tom Strong seems a likely choice for the next disowned adaption. Tom ,Tesla and The Modular Man!  A homage to the science hero’s of pulp and dime novel’s past would work well in an industry known for revivals.

5. Archie: Speaking of revivals, a lot has been going down in Riverdale lately, a wedding, a funeral and the arrival of a brand new character helped finally bring this classic title up to speed with the rest of the industry. Sure Archie and the gang have have had their share of Musical endeavors in the past, but why not go out on a limb and do something a little different? maybe exam the genre mainstay in a darker light? or perhaps give it the Mel Brooks treatment?

6. Batman/Superman: Without a doubt DC will likely cook up something cool to stake their claim in the theatrical world (although it should be noted there was in fact a short lived superman musical in the sixties, seriously!) but rather than rely on over-top stunts and an expense score, why not go in the direction least expected. Opera. Think Gotham City Soprano’s mixed with a fresh take on the Kryptonian Space Opera!

7.  Hawkeye & Mocking Bird: What’s not to love about the drama of star-crossed lovers unfolding before a live audience? The comic event that brought Marvel’s unlikely pair of Love birds back into lives of mainstream readership seems to operate on an almost shakepearean level. For comic relief just add Deadpool after all who needs aerial acrobatics when you can break the fourth wall and go “meta” with a little gunplay?

Of course these are just simple ideas offered up in the wake of the media frenzy that is Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark. As of this posting it’s scheduled to open on March 15th 2011 fans of live theater, comics and U2 should check it out. In the meantime however, check out the awesome comics hitting the app this week and while your at it why not tell us which one’s you’d love to see get the ol’ razzle dazzle treatment?

Finally Flash is running on the iPhone!

At long last mac users, comic book readers and of course Superhero fans can finally get a little taste of Flash on their iPhones and it’s all thanks to the super powered workings of The DC Nation and comiXology.

What? Not convinced? Then head on over the Comics app or Comics by comiXology on the web and download the first issue of Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver’s ground breaking Flash miniseries THE FLASH: REBIRTH and be one of the first witness Flash running on an iPhone.

Sure, by Flash we mean the costume clad, faster than lighting, crime fighter and original member of the Justice League (What? Were you expecting something else?). It’s none other than the silver age speedster himself.

Through the decades, many heroes have taken the mantle of The Flash, but they all ride the lighting that crackles in the wake of the greatest hero of the DC Universe  has ever known, the man who sacrificed himself to save the Multiverse: Barry Allen!

This lighting fast relaunch of one of the greatest Flashes of all time quickly became a fan favorite last year by exploring and answering some of the most haunting questions of The Flash Mythos, how does the speed force work? Where exactly do the Rogues get their outfits? And most  importantly, why did Barry always wear a bow tie in his early days? While at the same time re-introducing this silver age golden boy as a man out of touch with the gritty 21st century that has sprung up in his absence.

Barry may not know how to work an iPad but that doesn’t mean The Flash can’t run on one. Pick up issue #1 today and don’t forget to add the rest of the series to your pull list, this is one series you won’t want to pass by.

Second Helpings: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

Grant Morrison’s The Return of Bruce Wayne has been one of the more critically lauded superhero runs of the year. Despite this, one dogged attack on the book (and of Morrison as a writer) still haunts me; namely complains of Morrison’s experimentations with the bat legacy and his free use of continuity. Morrison has taken Bruce Wayne from his genesis as Batman through to death and back again. As if death was not enough, The Return of Bruce has seen our hero take on the Batman mantle throughout the ages, finding new contexts for his vigilantism in various historical Gothams.

The latest issue finds Batman in a …ehhhh… post Martha and Thomas Wayne Gotham? Temporal specificity is a damning trick here. When the hell were Bruce Wayne’s parents killed?  Batman’s original Detective Comics origin story came to the public in 1939. Does this suggest then that they were killed in the 1920’s? Being a hero in a continuous prime, his origin is unset.

This fifth issue of The Return of Bruce Wayne summons up period detail but refuses to align itself with a single period.The world Bruce finds himself in this latest issue is a rough noir sketch of the world Batman originally entered in the Detective Comics of the late 30s and early 40s. We’ve got an obliging hardboiled intro narration and Bruce even makes a one off joke about being given a pinstripe ‘gangster’ suit. This temporal color plays out nicely until we see Morrison fixture (and  forties Detective Comics relic) Prof. Carter Nichols enter the story wearing the quintessentially 70s ‘Have a Nice Day’ shirt, replete with giant smiley. This detail has been a contentious one for readers. It seems to be a glaring anachronism. But how are we meant to date this period in Batman’s personal history? If he is permanently in his prime, shouldn’t the death of his parents be fluid, continuously shifting back twenty years, give or take. This admixture of times seem appropriate for Morrison’s aims. He has tried to synthesize the character, bringing an understanding to the entirety of his history. It was easy to intellectualize his choice but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it in practice.

Flash forward to this weekend. I am channel browsing and happen upon the heaping brilliance of asynchronicity that is Tim Burton’s Batman. I hadn’t seen the film in a few years. What I saw in the 15 minutes I watched it was a free melding of time and tone. The film shifts from noir, to slapstick, to over-produced gothic blockbuster and back again. For backdrops we’ve got post-Regan urban squalor and parodies of old Hollywood soundstages. Instead of Heath Ledger’s reliably insane Joker we’ve got Jack Nicholson’s swaggering. He plays the part like the bastard son of Fred Astraire and Jack Torrance, camping it up in one dancey moment only to be utterly menacing the next. Oh, and the film has got Prince. Despite (or because of) its free use of continuity, the 1989 Batman film became a huge blockbuster and a primer for superhero adaptations to come.

While this self-aware Batman has been replaced by the grittiness of the Nolan Batman films, its initial success should be a reminder for readers of Return. While Morrison might be renowned as a alien abductee, doper, or high priest of metaphysics, he is just as concerned with spinning a damn entertaining yarn and is not afraid to play with boundaries to get there.

HellBlazer: Original Sins! The original John Constantine comes to comiXology

A man goes hungry on the streets of New York City while across The Atlantic John Constantine returns to his cozy London flat to find it riddled with flies and an old friend waiting for him. Thus begins one of the darkest tales of the DC Universe as the wildly popular Hellblazer series debuted hot off the heels of Alan Moore’s Watchmen back in 1988 to continue the much darker adventures of the supernatural detective Moore himself introduced while working on Swamp Thing a year earlier. Originally a ground breaking title for the main DC comics imprint it wouldn’t be till years later that Hellblazer would become the Vertigo staple that it is today as One of the few titles that often features a much darker take on the mainstream DC Universe.

Since it’ s humble beginnings Hellblazer has become a long time fan favorite as a series combines noir style horror with old fashioned ghost storytelling and a hint of british slang thrown in for good measure and these early issues capture the character of John Constantine at his dreary eyed best.The first nine issues of the Hellblazer series are available for download collecting the American debuts of Writer Jamie Delano and Artist John Ridgeway with it’s first story arc “Original Sins” noted for it’s strong political undercurrent as well as laying out the geography of the DC universe through Constantine’s travels where he faces off against psychopathic murderers, a group of eccentric evangelists, London gangs, demonic hoards and even the horrors of the Vietnam War. Taking readers from the plains of Sudan to the backstreets of Gotham City.

This is one arc that has continues to elude serious collectors to this day but is now available for download. Daring to go where even angels themselves fear to tread Delano and Ridgeway along with superstar covers by Dean McKean set a high standard for the series debut that would later be followed by other industry greats like Mike Cary and Mark Buckingham and continued to this day by Peter Milligan, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini.

Hellblazer is a series that takes readers to hell and back by way of dark and dirty back alleyways, posh nightclubs, and of course demonic kingdoms of despair; blurring the lines along the way and always leaving readers hungry for more. John Constantine is a man with a haunted past, a troubled mind and a supreme gift, a hero for a world ruled by the damned and populated with mystery.

Get started with Hellblazer #1 for only $.99 cents then pick up the rest of the series after all it would be a sin not too.

Thor: First Thunder with Bryan J.L. Glass: A podcast worth doing somersaults for

Harvey Award winner Bryan J.L. Glass joins us once again to show how he makes lightning strike with Thor: First Thunder #1! We also talk app stuff as Image United joins our ranks and make sure we have all our shots with Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers! We keep the magic rolling with Zatanna, go to Infinity (Gauntlet) and (Batman) Beyond, and try to see what’s the story with Morning Glories.

Listen To: It Came Out On Wednesday: Thor: First Thunder!