A Public Service Announcement ( PSA ) where Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder, teach children to cross streets safely in this clip on Sesame Street in 1970.
MEET THE ARTIST: Bob Kane Mini-Biography in Batman # 1
Some super-lucky comic book collector, who owns a RARE copy of the original Batman #1 comic book, posted this picture on the net. He scanned the page that features a mini-biography of Bob Kane ( the co-creator of Batman ) called "Meet The Artist". It's large enough to read ( click on the picture for a larger version ). The part where it says "Bob is not a copyist" kinda makes me laugh. I mean, from what we now know about how he was a major "art swiper". But, the staged photo of him working is kinda cool & it's a great piece of Bat-History!
Print Ad: BATMAN Advertising Another Health Club!
In a previous post we featured those famous ads appearing in foreign countries for health clubs where it shows various Comic Book Superheroes being all obese or fat. Of course the one with the Batman character was our favorite, ha ha! ( Check out the Bat-Blog Archives ). Well, it's kinda weird but another group of health clubs, located in Brazil, are using the same concept for their advertising. Here's their version of FAT BATMAN with the phrase, "Get Back To Your Glory Days".
What if Frank Miller's Batman existed during the 1950's?
Here's a parody ( from Mad Magazine? ) where they took the gritty realistic Frank Miller modern-day "Goddamn Batman" & put him in a story with Batman characters from the 1950's. The Penguin & Robin characters look like they are drawn by Dick Sprang & they have a "Gee, Golly!" kind of attitude, all sweet & innocent. Batman does not! If you think about the irony here it's pretty gosh-darn funny...Gee Golly, or I mean, dammit! ( Depending on your browser you might have to click on the image to read it ). One last thing, if ANY Bat-Blog Reader knows where this is from please let us know by commenting below or shooting us an e-mail, thank you!
Vintage Comic Book Ad: Here It Is... BATMAN # 1!
Can you imagine being a little kid in the early 1940's & seeing this ad in your favorite magazine? Like, "Who are these Batman and Robin guys?!" Yeah, we need a time machine, ha ha!
2 FREE BATMAN WALLPAPERS Every Wednesday!
A couple of days ago a friend of the Bat-Blog, named Perry, sent us some really wonderful photos. I posted one of them the other day of a dog named Cassius who's wearing a Batman Costume, ha ha! Well, here are the other 2 photos he sent. They were so BIG & at the time I needed a neat-o "graphic idea" for "Wacky Wallpapers Wednesday" so I decided to make them desktop wallpaper. I mean, the photos are very well-done & extremely cool. Plus, being that they are Batmobiles they are "Batman-related" so that works for me! Anyway, here are 2 Batman Desktop Wallpapers you can use to beautify the background of your PC...enjoy. Oh yeah, Thank You Perry for sending these wonderful photos, I really appreciate that & know my readers will like them too.
DVD REVIEW: Justice League, The New Frontier
OK, I want to say, 1st thing, that I received a free copy of this DVD for review but that in NO way affects my opinion here. I'm gonna be very honest about what I feel about this movie. This movie is AWESOME! Justice League, The New Frontier is Warner Brothers' latest DVD film that is being released to stores today, Feb 26th! It's the adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's popular graphic novel from a few years ago. He was an adviser on the film so it totally retains the look & feel of his famous artwork. The graphic style is sort of an homage to the animation art that was popular in the 1950's. Very simple & minimal with strong color palettes. The art direction of this film is beautiful. The sound effects & voice acting are top notch! There are too many great actors to name here but the voices were all wonderful. The storyline starts out in the Korean War & ends when John F. Kennedy is president so it's almost all about the Cold War era. The DC Comic Book characters are the ones from the Silver-Age of comics so that has a great nostalgic appeal. There's a few political statements here & there but they're kinda watered down ( The general public thinks The Flash might be a Communist because his costume is RED, ha ha ). The basic story is how the Justice League got together & formed a team. There's a huge event that places the earth in danger & they all get together to fight it. Overall I really enjoyed this movie & highly recommend it. My only gripe is that at 75 minutes it seemed a little short. Other than that small detail the artwork, sound e/fx, voices, storyline, is really very good. I guess if I was to rate it by number I would give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. If you liked the graphic novel then you'll love this animated version!
Batman + Fine Art = Cool!
Our friend Brian sent us this extremely cool Black & White Art Photo that shows Batman waking up & getting out of bed. Apparently, he lives in a super-minimalist house ...Awesome!
The next picture was one that I found from an art gallery that had a show of "Blotter Acid Art". Blotter Art is a movement that gained popularity a few years ago where they print designs on a perforated-sheet of actual LSD Acid Blotter Paper. They look kinda neat when framed & have sort of a political statement automatically attached because of the "drug culture" aspect of the paper. For non-druggies this is the kind of paper drug dealers use to sell LSD. They drip the chemical onto each square & when addicts buy them they tear off some squares. If you don't want a full dose you just tear a piece in half, or a "half hit". Of course these Batman ones don't have the drug dipped on them. They're just for looks.
The next picture was one that I found from an art gallery that had a show of "Blotter Acid Art". Blotter Art is a movement that gained popularity a few years ago where they print designs on a perforated-sheet of actual LSD Acid Blotter Paper. They look kinda neat when framed & have sort of a political statement automatically attached because of the "drug culture" aspect of the paper. For non-druggies this is the kind of paper drug dealers use to sell LSD. They drip the chemical onto each square & when addicts buy them they tear off some squares. If you don't want a full dose you just tear a piece in half, or a "half hit". Of course these Batman ones don't have the drug dipped on them. They're just for looks.
Vintage Ads: BATMAN ADVERTISING "GOT MILK?"
I came across a website the other day that showed every GOT MILK? Ad that's ever been made & the weird thing is that there are hundreds of them! But, I thought you guys might especially like these two. One is the Batman comic book version & the other is Christian Bale from Batman Begins.
CASSIUS THE BAT-HOUND! Funny Batman Humor Photo
Our friend Perry e-mailed us some extremely excellent bat-photos the other day, here's one of Cassius, The New Bat-Hound. He wrote, " For your amusement I've attached a picture of my friend Julie's dog Cassius dressed as Batman this past Halloween!" Ha Ha, Thanks Perry. I seriously love this picture! The costume is great plus Cassius looks very majestic as Batman, ha ha! As always we wanna invite ALL our readers to send in Batman-related photos. You guys are the ones who make the Bat-Blog great & I appreciate that!
DC SUPER FRIENDS Batman Vehicle: MY FIRST BATWING!
Just a quick post, in 2008 Mattel will be putting out this brand new DC SUPER FRIENDS toy so look for it soon! Awhile back we showed this new Batman Toy called MY FIRST BAT-WING for the 1st time ( check the archives ) but yesterday I received a photo in my e-mail showing what the original box is gonna look like....SWEET! Oh yeah, in the previous photo it was BLACK so I guess there will be 2 variations. Please comment & let us know which one you like better: the Blue one or the Black one? Dang, with all the freakin' cool Batman toys coming out this year I'm gonna have to get 3 part-time jobs to afford it all, ha ha!
DC SUPER FRIENDS: BE BRAVE BUDDIES Plush Toy Dolls
Who's the cutest little Batman? You are, yes you are! Ha Ha, TOY FAIR 2008 has presented a huge amount of new Batman Toys that will be released this year. Fisher Price ( Now owned by Mattel ) will release a line of plush toys called "BE BRAVE BUDDIES" which will be large Plush Toy variations of their DC Superfriends action figures. In the 1st wave we'll see Superman, Flash, Hawkman, and, of course, Batman! Now, you all know that I am gonna have to get that Batman doll, he's too gosh-darn cute, ha ha! I even like the fact that they made a Hawkman. No offense to that character but it's kinda weird they did him considering he's not as well known as like Superman or Flash. But, that's cool! Another cool thing is it looks like there will be 2 versions of Batman: Blue/Gray & Black/Gray...which color variation do you like best?
BAT-MANGA: The Secret History of Batman in Japan!
This September 2008, Pantheon Books will release a brand new book titled "BAT-MANGA: The Secret History of Batman in Japan". Compiled by book designer and comics connoisseur Chip Kidd, along with fellow collector Saul Ferris and photographer Geoff Spear, Bat Manga! presents a collection of original Japanese Batman stories written and drawn by Jiro Kuwata, the artist of 8-Man. Now, the amazing thing is that both DC & the Japanese company have never had file copies of this material & it had to be gathered by collectors hunting down the original magazines. So, in other words, this material has not been seen or read in over 30 years, a RARE treat! Chip Kidd is pretty well known among us Bat-Nerds ( I mean that in a good way, ha ha ) for putting together a super-great Batman vintage toy collector book a few years ago titled "Batman Collected". Which, is an incredible book! He's also known as an extremely famous book designer ( he created the Jurassic Park Dinosaur logo & many other very famous book covers ) so all his stuff is very high-quality. The photos up above show the hardback cover ( left ) & paperback version ( right ). Oh my God, I can't wait!!
New 2008 BATMAN & CATWOMAN Barbie Dolls from Mattel!
It's really exciting to be a Batman Collector right now! There are a ton of new bat-toys coming out this year so you better start saving your money now, ha ha! It's been extremely stressful the last few months because there has been a HUGE drought of Batman merchandise in the stores. Well, look for that to change very soon! One new toy that's gonna be super-popular with Batman collectors, because they're so gosh darn cute, is the BATMAN & CATWOMAN set of Barbie Dolls by Mattel. These are the 2 "Barbie Family" members named "Tommy & Kelly", who are precious little children. For readers who don't know, my name is Tommy, so I should be expecting a lot of major teasing in the future, ha ha! But, I can already tell that I am gonna have to get these 2 dolls because they are soooo adorable, goo goo!
New 2008 BATGIRL Barbie Doll from Mattel!
The new Mattel sales catalog for Barbie Dolls has finally come out & it features a new BATGIRL Barbie Doll for 2008. They did one just a few years ago modeled after the TV series Batgirl ( think Yvonne Craig ) but this one is sort of a "Silver-Age Batgirl", the awesome version with the black suit & yellow gloves, belt, cape, & boots...sweet! They're also doing another Wonder Woman that looks pretty cool plus a DC character they haven't done yet, The Black Canary!
URBAN OUTFITTERS ( UK Clothing Store ) Presents 2008 BATMAN & BATGIRL T-Shirts
This post is a shout out to all the readers who live in the UK. There's a store in England called URBAN OUTFITTERS & this year they will have a few "Vintage T-Shirts" featuring retro-graphics of Batman Logo Symbols & one of Batgirl. If you live near there you might check it out. They look pretty awesome! Oh yeah, on a personal note, I'm in love with the model in the center wearing the yellow shirt, of course the one on the right isn't bad either, ha ha!
New DC SUPERFRIENDS Action Figure of The JOKER
Just a quick post, in the next wave of action figures for the Fisher Price / Mattel DC SUPER FRIENDS line of toys they're gonna release a new villain...The JOKER! I love these because they are so cute & adorable, ha ha. Let's hope they also make a Catwoman, Riddler, & The Penguin!
RARE Vintage 1960's ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER Kohner PUSH PUPPET!
OK, Here at the Bat-Blog one of our main things we focus on are the cool Vintage Batman Toys. We cover new stuff coming out & feature current movie news, etc, but our main love is the older toys from yesteryear! Here's a perfect example of an extremely SUPER-RARE Batman toy that we would label "a Museum Piece". It's the ROBIN, The Boy Wonder PUSH PUPPET made by Kohner Toys in 1967. He still has his vinyl yellow cape, which is always gone. The base has that beautiful "gold sticker" that is sometimes missing. They also made a Rare one of Batman ( we showed that in a previous post, check the Archives ) but The one of Robin is like 50 times more hard-to-find. Now here's some info on a personal level that's kinda funny. Besides being a huge Batman collector I also love these push puppets by Kohner & collect these too. I have a ton of them but NO Batman & Robin, ha ha! They also made a set with Superman & Supergirl, those are hard-to-find also.
New Batman Toy: HARLEY QUINN Lego Figure
Just a quick post to let Batman Lego Fans know that in the next wave of Batman Play Sets they're gonna make a special Harley Quinn figure & vehicle play set. Isn't she cute?! I like her HUGE mallet & she comes with a gun too. She will get a Bank Truck Van & Batman will have a Bat-Cycle...cool! Plus, the reports I've been reading is that Lego is gonna keep the characters & playsets all "Comic Book Batman" related & will not be doing any that tie into the Dark Knight movie. That's cool. I like the "regular Batman" the best anyway & don't worry, there will be tons of TDK merchandise to buy, believe me, ha ha!
New Batman Toy News: THE DARK KNIGHT ACTION FIGURES Batman & Joker
OK, We finally get to see what the Joker "Dark Knight movie" Action Figure's face looks like! Not bad, it does resemble Heath Ledger a little bit, that's cool. I'm wondering why one Joker is very realistic while the other one is sort of "cartoony". I'm sorry, these Joker pictures were sent to me without any explanation except that they are made by Mattel. The next set of photos are some different variations of Batman figures from Hyper Force. Now, I know my personal opinion isn't worth that much & I shouldn't really say this but I hate when action figure companies just "make stuff up"...I mean, "Aqua-Lung Batman with Atomic Sonar"...really? come on! But I gotta admit that the 2nd one on the top/right is kinda cool with the jet-pack & the black/red coloring.
A Die-Hard Batman Fan Gets His First Batman EmblemTattoo
This video shows a guy who finally got his long-awaited first tattoo: the Batman emblem logo. He is a die-hard Batman fan and has wanted this tattoo for a long time now. Samantha Bliss is the tattoo artist and you can check out her work at: http://www.tattoobliss.net
2 Very Cool BATMAN WALLPAPERS To Decorate Your Desktop!
"Wacky Wallpapers Wednesday!" The 1st Batman Desktop Wallpaper is a really great image of the Dark Knight pointing at you, yes YOU! It's an image taken directly from an animation cel of the classic TV Cartoon. The 2nd one is a hi-def scan of some amazing Jim Lee artwork from the modern-day Batman comic book. I love how Jim Lee draws buildings & the Zeppelin hot air balloons in the sky are always very cool, almost an iconic part of his style. The wallpapers we're always giving away here are really popular with readers so please shoot us an e-mail & let us know what kind of graphics you would like to see. More Joker? Maybe something from Batman Beyond? Let us know.
Batman The Animated Series Costume Model Sheet
While surfing the net the other day I came across this very interesting graphic somebody made that showed the evolution of the bat-costume from modern-day Batman TV cartoons. It starts with the Animated Series from 1992 & goes to present day with the new THE BATMAN version. I like that BATMAN BEYOND was also included, nice! I forgot to bookmark the page & now wish I knew so I could direct people there. If anyone knows please leave a comment, thanks.
NEW 2008 Batman CORGI BATMOBILES and STATUES
OK, I'm not quite sure what the deal is here but at last year's 2007 TOY FAIR Corgi was showing off their new line of Batman 1:43 Scale Batmobile & Bat-Vehicles that came with a special statue & they're not being released until now. Well, they were worth the wait! Here are the 1st six sets of Corgi Cars with the Statue Figures. We have Golden Age Batman with Red Roadster, Joker with the Jokermobile, Killer Moth, Two-Face, & 2 more Batman figures: a 1960's version & a modern-day one...sweet! Now, I'm really loving these figures/statues. I mean, when was the last time you saw Killermoth? Ha Ha! Be sure to click on the image above for a larger, more detailed, photo! Also, Please comment on your thoughts about these sweet new figures.
THE DARK KNIGHT NEW BATMAN TOY NEWS: Bruce Wayne's Lamborghini Toy Car VIDEO
Over at the MTV Movie Blog they have a cool video from the 2008 TOY FAIR with a Mattel rep who shows off the new THE DARK KNIGHT Bruce Wayne Lamborghini Toy Car that will be in the new Batman Movie. Just click on the photo up above as a link to that video...sweet! You can sort of see some of the other toys in the background ( wish I could have gone but New York is wayyy too far away for me ).
1966 BATMAN Desktop Wallpaper: JULIE NEWMAR as CATWOMAN
The other day a friend of this blog said he had a hard time trying to find good quality photos of Julie Newmar as Catwoman from the classic 1966 Batman TV Show so I made this desktop wallpaper just for him. It's only for him so don't anybody else use it! Ha ha, just kiddin'. Everybody please feel free to make your PC/Mac desktop all sexy! You can also use it in a MySpace layout, looks real good, & other MySpace members will be jealous!
New 2008 Hot Wheels 1:50 Scale 1966 TV Show Bat-Cycle Batman Bike
Here's a prototype photo showing the NEW Hot Wheels Batman Bat-Cycle ( Large, 1:50 Scale ) that will be released by Mattel later this year. Of course this is the Classic Bat-Bike motorcycle with sidecar used by Adam West & Burt Ward in the vintage 1966 Batman TV Show. Oh my God, it's beautiful! Remember, in the TV series, the side-car would come off by itself so Robin could go in another direction as a go-kart-like ride. The great thing about this being issued is that it's a bat-vehicle you don't see that often. I mean, the only toy of this that comes to mind is the vintage 60's model kit by Aurora & then later a more recent version by Polar Lights. Which, by the way, are some very cool model kits I can highly recommend. Let's all hope that later they do the Bat-Copter, the Customized Bell Helicopter from the 1966 movie, that would be very cool! Remember, Stay tuned with the Bat-Blog & later we'll have an official release late.
Original Comic Book Art: BATMAN ANNUAL #25 VARIANT COVER Pencils By Shane Davis
Um, the title says everything, ha ha! Here's the original comic book art for Batman Annual #25. The pencils were done by Shane Davis. This was a special variant cover. I love how crisp & clean this cover is with the plain white background & simple logo work. The art is rendered very realistically & the lines are sharp...nice! Be sure to click on the picture up above to see a larger, more detailed, photo.
Fan-Made BATMAN / CAPTAIN AMERICA Wallpaper with NORM BREYFOGLE Artwork!
Our friend Andrew made this awesome Batman Wallpaper to share with Bat-Blog readers & we love it! He wrote, "I discovered this rare drawing of Batman with Captain America on Norm Breyfogle's website and thought it might look better colored in. I gave it a whirl in Photoshop, added a bit of motion blur etc and the resulting wallpaper is attached. I hope Norm won't mind me doing it & I hope the Bat-Blog readers will like it too." WOW Andrew! You did a great job coloring Breyfogle's black & white art...nice! When I was in my 20's (in the 1980's) I seriously collected ALL the Batman comic books & Norm Breyfogle was always a favorite bat-artist. A friend of mine said he met him at a comicon one year & said he was extremely nice, a very down-to-earth guy. So, that's cool. Oh yeah, I'm putting the B&W graphic you used with the wallpaper so people can see what a great job you did. Thanks again Andrew!
Funny Batman Humor Photo & Comic Strip HA HA!
OK, It's time again for a wacky BATMAN BIRTHDAY CAKE photo! This one was sent in by Debbie. She said, "I know you have some weird fixation with Birthday Cakes so I'm sending this pic to you, enjoy!". Ha Ha, OK Debbie, be nice. Yeah, I think these pictures are funny & readers like 'em...so, what's the problem? Ha Ha! The next picture comes from a friend in Mexico & it's a really funny comic strip about Batman that is also very surreal & kinda creepy. Thanks Juan, you rule! We want to invite ALL Bat-Blog Readers who have a funny photo or Batman-related comic strip to share to send them in today, thanks!
New 1:18 Scale Hot Wheels 1966 BATMOBILE with Box
Just a quick post, here's what the display box is gonna look like for the 1:18th Scale Hot Wheels 1966 Batmobile Diecast Car....SWEET! This is gonna be released very soon so keep an eye out for it. I imagine it's gonna be 50 times as hard to find in retail stores as the regular Hot Wheels car was.
New TOY GUN From THE DARK KNIGHT Batman Movie
OK, Here are some "Prototype Photos" of a new toy that Mattel is gonna make for the 2008 Batman Film, THE DARK KNIGHT. It's called the "Grapnel Blaster". It's a HUGE gun that shoots foam-darts & looks very high-tech. It's has a compact-rectangular shape & then you pop it open to reveal all the hidden accessories it's another toy all together. It looks kinda like a Transformer! Now, I do think it looks cool but I have 2 gripes: 1. Is it even gonna be IN the movie? 2. Batman does NOT use guns!! ( Batman HATES guns because that's what killed his parents, duh! ). I don't know why toy makers NEVER ever get a memo on this, ha ha! Oh well, I know kids are gonna love this thing & it will probably be "The Toy of the Year"! Please leave a comment down below & let me know what you think about it, thanks.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER Movie DVD Desktop Wallpapers
On February 26th, 2008 Warner Brothers will be releasing the much anticipated DC Universe Animated Movie titled JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER on Blu-Ray Hi Def & DVD. So, here's some really cool Desktop Wallpapers you can use as a background on your computer to remember to buy it...it's gonna be great! Also, Please help support the Bat-Blog by buying it here:
