In marked contrast to the fun, fantastic, and surprising Warner Brothers release Shazam!, finally arriving in theaters in general release today and reviewed previously here at borg, film fans now have their first look at Warner Brothers’ fall release, Joker. For a franchise from the same superhero universe, you couldn’t find a most strikingly dissimilar pair of films, if the first trailer for Joker is any indication of the rest of the film. Joaquin Phoenix is stepping in this time to fill the role previously played by Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Cameron Monaghan, and even Mark Hamill in animated versions, and countless others. This time the character is named Arthur Fleck, so we don’t know whether this is truly the same as the other Jokers or just some parallel world incarnation of the larger-than-life, psychotic, clown villain who became a household word for TV audiences as portrayed by Cesar Romero in the 1960s.
If audiences and fans of DC Comics and DC movies know one character inside and out, it’s the Joker. So why another movie with the Joker, and more to the point, why another origin story? Phoenix, the multiple Academy Award-nominated actor from Gladiator, Walk the Line, and The Master, digs in with great, nuanced skill in all of his roles, and Jokerwill no doubt be any different. So if you’re still a fan of the dozen recent dark visions into the superhero universe of DC Comics, Phoenix probably is a solid casting choice. But can you really have a major Joker tale without Batman? What about all that “creating each other” business? The market certainly seems saturated with dark comics adaptations and we’re hoping Shazam! will grab audiences so we see more superhero films like it and The Lego Batman Movie ahead, or DC could split the difference and mine the Marvel Cinematic Universe for some fresh ideas. But first, it’s going to be a Joker tale later this year.
Check it out for yourself, the first trailer for Joker:
A new line of Suicide Squad action figures from the Funko ReAction line is coming soon from the toy line that has provided fans of the 1970s Kenner action figures everything from Jaws to Gremlins and Alien, from Big Trouble in Little China to Back to the Future and Terminator, and from The Nightmare Before Christmas to CW’s Arrow. Check here at borg.com for a look back to many of Funko’s variety of licenses.
Unlike Funko’s more popular bobblehead Pop! line of toys, these 3 3/4-inch figures, which have added articulation at elbows and knees to the classic format, can be played with in conjunction with countless other toy lines from the past 40 years. But mainly this means the many ships and environment toys from the classic Star Wars toys from Kenner. Want to see Harley Quinn rescue the Joker on the bridge of the Death Star? Want to see Batman take out Greedo in the Cantina at Mos Eisley? This new collection of figures can help you make it happen.
Entertainment Earth has scooped Funko’s own corporate online catalog, posting for sale seven of what may be an even wider collection of characters from the movie. These are available now for pre-order. The first release will feature Harley Quinn, The Joker, Katana, Enchantress, Dead Shot, and Killer Croc–plus a Batman figure. We don’t know yet whether we’ll see Funko release figures for El Diablo, Amanda Waller, Captain Boomerang, Rick Flag, or Slipknot.
Click on any of the individual images above and below to see more detail on these figures and get your pre-order in at Entertainment Earth.
American Graffiti. Just two weeks ago the George Lucas classic coming of age film about high school graduates in 1962 came back for the first national release in movie theaters in decades (we discussed it here at borg.com). In a series of interconnected vignettes Lucas gave us a snapshot of kids and cars and cruising culture, popular then and now. American Graffiti wasn’t the original title, and, as the story goes, the film’s backers had no idea what the title meant, but it was better than Another Quiet Night in Modesto or other proposals so they just went with it. No graffiti actually plays into the plot, and the viewer can conceive his or her own meaning to this now classic movie title.
Graffiti as pop art? Actual graffiti in America, in many ways hasn’t changed a lot, and it doesn’t share the same feelings of nostalgia as the eponymous film. A form of vandalism, its very nature is something covert, rebellious and illegal. Spray paint is the medium and the canvas is anything and everything from highway overpasses to train cars to building walls. The stealth required gives the creator a challenge–maybe even the adrenaline rush that fuels some that are behind it. Over the years the costs to city governments to wash or sand or scrub off graffiti prompted many cities to work with local graffiti artists–designating projects and mural locations where local creators could show off their creativity. It’s a constructive bridging of law and order and a radical form of expression.
A freshly cleaned up butter cow at the 2013 Iowa State Fair.
DC Comics had another great area at the San Diego Comic-Con International this year. DC seemed to be THE merchandising property of the 2011 event with its focus on the 52 #1 comic titles debuting in September. Jim Lee’s cover to Justice League #1 was literally everywhere you looked. The League was the picture on the choice swag bag, for sale on T-shirts at the DC Comics Graffix sales booth, and featured on the cover of the convention souvenir book. Jim Lee was on panel after panel and seemed to be royalty at this year’s event.
The DC Comics area had plenty for everyone, including this Batman made of legos, which seemed to be modeled after Lee’s iconic Batman #608 cover that started the Hush storyline.
An elaborate display also allowed Lee and other DC artists to sketch with real-time display via a projected image of their sketch desk and work in progress, talking with fans in the process.
With the in-production next Batman sequel in the works, The Dark Knight Rises (see yesterday’s article announcing Anne Hathaway’s new Catwoman suit), relevant screen-used costumes were displayed in cases inside the DC Comics area. Three major DC movie characters from The Dark Knight watched over the convention floor. One of Christian Bale’s Batman suits showed off its stunning detail:
Aaron Eckhart’s (intentionally) half-distressed Two-Face/Harvey Dent suit showed off special effects make-up:
And last but not least, the late Heath Ledger’s purple Joker costume display also showed off his clown-faced, bank robbery mask:
From time to time you hear of references to an artist as THE cover artist, the most sought after, etc., but no artist can touch what Alex Ross has been able to do with his paintbrushes. His work is instantly recognizable from its sweeping heroic themes, idealistic and optimistic characterization, and an elevation of the human form to not only superhero but from superhero to godlike magnificence. His use of color, tricks of light, chromes, reflections and high contrast imagery include themes of hope, confidence, power, pride and sometimes even fear. So with the above pantheon of DC Comics Gods-of-sorts from the cover to the Justice series as #15 and the below Marvel Comics “Avengers Assemble” print sold at San Diego Comic-Con International in 2010 as #14, we introduce a sequence from #15 to #1 of the most striking, stunning, and powerful creations to be featured on comic book covers, posters and marketing materials by Alex Ross–and our “just plain favorites”–created over his standout career so far.
13. THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST. Ross created this work for the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz and it is currently on display at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Those monkeys are… still creepy and Margaret Hamilton’s witch is still one of the best villains of all time.
12. PRINCE NAMOR, THE SUB-MARINER, AND HIS CREATOR, BILL EVERETT. Ross created this piece for the 60th anniversary of the classic Marvel character and his artist gets equal billing, in black and white and reminiscent of Norman Rockwell’s self portrait work.
11. FLASH GORDON DVD COVER. Created by Ross for the 2007 special edition release of the DVD, Ross has said Flash Gordon was his favorite movie. A photograph of Max Von Sydow as Ming, the nemesis of Flash, couldn’t look any better than this painting.
10. SUPERMAN, STRENGTH #1 COVER. This Ross homage to Action Comics #1 features Ross’s most painted superhero, Superman, the man of steel, doing what he does best. If only filmmakers would get an actor to play Superman that actually looks like Ross’s vision of Superman!
9. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. A 2008 print and Wizard magazine cover of the 44th president of the United States–an homage to Ross’ own similar Superman design. An artist that can make even a president look cool. Obama is known as a comic book fan, and was featured on a cover of Spider-man, among other books.
8. KRYPTO, COVER FOR SUPERMAN, ISSUE #680. Ross features heroes of all sorts in his designs, but often elevates the underdog to supreme being, and with Superman’s dog here he is shown atop a marble lion.
7. CAPTAIN MARVEL FROM ROSS’S GRAPHIC NOVEL “KINGDOM COME.” I once spoke to a friend of Alex Ross. A close friend. Who amazingly looked just like Captain Marvel. Not a coincidence, as Ross regularly paints heroes using his friends as models. This page showing Superman kneeling before him, best shows what Ross could do with even a standard catalog hero of the past. He restored the legendary “Earth’s Mightiest Mortal” to exactly that status.
6. THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA. This pantheon piece was used individually and as shown below on numerous posters and books. I love it because, with all the incarnations of the JLA, Ross gets the team exactly right with every member that should be on the team. From the mightily small Atom to Superman, this is who I also think of as DC’s main fighting force. Could these guys be more cocky?
5. THE JOKER AND HARLEY QUINN, FROM GRAPHIC NOVEL “BATMAN: HARLEY QUINN” COVER. Here we get to see the dark side of Ross–his exquisitely frightening Joker, in a dance with his best gal, the homicidal Ms. Quinn. What a couple they make, especially as illustrated by Ross.
4. GATCHAMAN DVD COVER. Like Ross’s ability to make Captain Marvel and other classic superheroes appear great once again, Ross can take nostalgic series, movies, characters, darned near anything and make us want to revisit these characters. Whether you saw this Japanese earliest modern incarnation of anime as G-Force or as Battle of the Planets, these kids turned heroes are as familiar as old friends.
3. SPACE GHOST ISSUE #1. When I saw this issue hit the stands I had to have it. The one problem with Ross only working cover art is that you expect the interior pages to be just as good as the cover art, which is why Justice and Marvels are such great treats to the eye. With Space Ghost, Ross takes an obscure hero that we best know as a TV show host and makes him every bit the counterpart to Superman & Co.
2. WIZARD COMICS COVER ART, BATMAN’s ENEMIES. This is one of Ross’s most univerally acclaimed images and rightly so. Everyone is too close for comfort and Batman goes toward the baddest baddie’s throat first, his #1 foe, The Joker.
1. SESAME STREET’S SUPER GROVER, PACKAGING ART FOR PALISADES TOYS 2005 ACTION FIGURE. How can you beat this painting? If you don’t remember Grover from Sesame Street, dig around You Tube and watch some old episodes. Before Elmo… there was Grover. The muppet who loved everyone, meek and mild, he’s the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and more. And when times are tough, and there’s no one to protect us all, who will rise to meet the challenge? It is Super Grover. When I saw this print at a con a few years ago I froze in my tracks and just couldn’t believe it. It’s not just the art, sometimes it is the choice of subject matter that tells half the story. Kudos to Ross for thinking of this one.
Well that’s my list. Please drop us a comment if you think I have any glaring omission or if you just want to chime in with your list.
*All images above Copyright by Alex Ross or his publishers. Many of these prints and original art are for sale on his website at www.alexrossart.com.
