Blimps, yo. Blimps.
- Beep * “The Blimps cannot come to the phone right now. If you would like to leave a message please a message after the tone.”
Tracer said:
No.
Seen many a Ralph Bakshi animation I have but alas, no Spidey. Black Cat must have been something to watch in that one.
Perhaps Marvel’s Manhattan is sealed inside some giant force bubble created by Dr Doom or Kang or another one of those bastards?
On Bruce Wayne
Regardless of how much of Batman/Bruce Wayne fills up that guy’s head, one should never count Bruce out of the equation. His business connections and experience have been invaluable to the Bat on numerous occasions. Without Bruce Wayne, there is no Batman, literally, metaphorically, and fiscally.
Aspects of BW still control Batman. Check out the current JLA storyline. Ra’s al Ghul has the Waynes’ remains stolen, Batman drops everything to find his parents’ relics.
On the Joker’s In/Sanity
Not to dispute prior arguments about the character’s overuse, but I had to post this excerpt from an issue of Wizard, Dec 98:
Psychoanalysis of the Joker, by Dr Stuart Fischoff, an LA-based Professor at California State University:
Case History: [as set out in Killing Joke] Horribly disfigured the subject has become convinced lide is one, big meaningless joke, and has killed thousands of people in his murderous career.
Analysis: Since the subject is a cold-blooded, psychotic murderer whose only joy in life appears to be killing and disfiguring Batman’s loved ones, he might be beyond help.
“To the degree that the Joker was ever sane and cared about anything,” says Fischoff, “he has gone so far off that path that if he had any sanity left he would be so overcome by guilt and torment over his sins, he would probably be suicidal.”
Sanity aside, it’s doubtful that the Joker could ever be convinced to give up his lifestyle. Mayhem and murder are his entire world. Quite simply, it’s what he’s good at.
“If the story of the Joker’s origin is true, then he was a complete failure in the real world,” says Fischoff. “He couldn’t hold down a job or even take care of his wife. Therefore, the only part of his life where he has ever enjoyed any success is as a supercriminal. That’s why he associates civilized behaviour with failure, and crime with success.”
Treatment: “It is extremely unlikely at this point that you could rehabilitate this person through therapy,” says Fischoff. Extreme measures such as advanced brainwashing techniques might be the Joker’s best hope, says Fischoff. “If there was some way to remind him of those he once did love before he became the Joker, then maybe there would be hope. If they could bring those memories back and see if there is something there he could hook onto besides crime, there could be progress.”
- Beeeeeeeeep *
[Moderator Hat ON]
This is more of an IMHO topic, so I’ll kick it over there and let some fresh eyes add their two cents. Besides, where’s the debate? Batman would kick Supe’s Goody-Two Shoes red-spandex-clad ass!
[Moderator Hat OFF]
And who has Lex Luthor’s kryptonite ring squirrelled away in the Batcave for just such an occasion?
Batman is defintely the cooler one of the two. There’s something very interesting about a guy who’s so mad at the world that he decides he’s going to fix it with his bare hands (and a few Bat-gadgets). No super-breath, no x-ray vision, no flying.
However, Superman has two of my favorite characters in his “family”: Jimmy Olson and Bizarro. Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olson has to be one of the goofiest comics of all time. Bizarro’s 1960s adventures are being collected in a trade paperback soon, and he’s featured in the current Superman story arc.
I watched that old cartoon (“Spider-Man, Spider-Man, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Spins a web, any size! Catches thieves, just like flies! Look out! Here comes the Spider-Man!!! In the chiiiiiill of night, at the scene of the crime, like a streeeeeak of light, he arrives just in time!!!”) and you’re right! He just shot his webs up somewhere above the frame and somehow went right down Broadway, roughly ten stories above the street.
Cartoon in an issue of Penthouse: Two cops are looking at a dead Spider-Man, whose body is a crumpled mass with his organs spilling out. One cop says, “Sure was foggy last night.”
The now-canceled FOX series was more logical, but it took its subject too seriously, too reverently. I guess they were afraid of ticking off the REALLY fervent fans.