*************************************************************
GOTHAM
WEEKLY NEWS #77
Friday 16th
April 1999
*************************************************************
WELCOME
==========
First off this week, I'd like to extend a personal note
of thanks to the various folks at DC Comics for the hospitality shown towards
GOTHAM GAZETTE's resident fanfic author, Lee "Budgie" Barnett, and
myself during our visit to the DC offices this week.
After many requests this week sees the return of my
review column to GWN. Instead of doing a quick review of all the Bat books,
I've decided to change the format slightly and select one book each week for a
more in-depth review.
As always, have a great week.
Alan J. Porter
PO Box 527
Millersville
MD 21108
USA
[email protected] / [email protected]
IN THIS ISSUE OF GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS:
=====================================
Comics Shipping Next Week
Comics News
Book Of The Week - Review
TV Show Schedules
TV News
Movie News
On-Line Happenings
Meet The Bat-Team
In The Stores
================================================================
COMICS SHIPPING NEXT WEEK (April 21st )
***************************************
BATMAN #566
By Puckett & Bogdanove
NO MAN'S LAND. The Man Of Steel comes to No man's Land
insisting he can help reshape the city's fraction driven power structure.
($1.99)
BATMAN BEYOND #4
By Bader & Staton
When the information superhighway of tomorrow gives a
young boy access to forbidden secrets, the result is the return of an age-old
demon to Gotham. Can the new Batman and the ageless Jason Blood stop the
ancient threat? With a little help from Etrigan of course. ($1.99)
BATMAN & SUPERMAN: WORLD'S FINEST #3
By Kesel & Taylor
Someone with a striking resemblance to Superman has been
committed to Arkham Asylum. Who is he? What's he doing there? And what impact
will all this have on Batman & Superman's friendship? ($1.99)
TITANS #4
By Grayson & Justiniano
Horror movie-star Goth is collecting the souls of his
fans and sending them to hell. Now The Titans are in his sights and the warrior
heart of Starfire may be their only salvation. ($2.50)
COMICS NEWS
************
BATMAN TOPS CBG AWARDS
----------------------
The results of this years Comic Buyers Guide Awards were
published in CBG #1327 and for a record tenth time BATMAN was voted Favorite
Character with 10.7% of the total votes cast. Nightwing came in at #6. DC
Comics were voted Best Publisher by a massive 47.7%
EISNER AWARD NOMINATIONS
--------------------------
The nominations for this year's Eisner Awards have just
been announced. Congratulations to the following Batman related nominees:
Best Limited Series: - Justice League of America: The
Nail, by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer
Best New Series - Young Justice, by Peter David, Todd
Nauck, and Lary Stucker.
Best Title For A Younger Audience - Batman: The Gotham
Adventures, by Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett, and Terry Beatty
Best Graphic Album-Reprint - Batman: The Long Halloween,
by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
Best Painter (Interior art) - Dan Brereton, Thrillkiller
62
Best Comics-Related Book - Batman: Animated, by Paul Dini
and Chip Kidd (HarperCollins)
Best Publication Design - Batman Animated, designed by
Chip Kidd (HarperCollins)
Hall of Fame - Bill Finger, Dick Sprang.
Congratulations to GWN subscribers Ty Templeton, Rick
Burchett, Terry Beatty, Dan Brereton and Chip Kidd on their nominations.
The awards are the comics industry equivalent of
"The Oscars," winners will be announced at Comic-Con International in
San Diego.
BATMAN: FORTUNATE SON
-----------------------
Artist Gene Ha will be illustrating and providing the
cover for Batman: Fortunate Son, a new hardcover graphic novel written by
Gerard Jones. According to DC, "When the Dark Knight suspects a modern-day
rock-and-roll icon of masterminding a nationwide crime spree using teen-aged
fans as his henchmen, Batman runs into opposition from an unexpected source:
his own ward, Robin. Certain that his idol could not be responsible for the
crimes, Dick Grayson sets out to uncover a bizarre and elaborate
frame-up." The project explores a theme rarely considered in the Batman
and Robin mythos - how the "generation gap" between them leads them
to view the world in strikingly different ways. "As the heroes struggle to
overcome their differences and uncover the truth about rocker Izaak Crowe's
alleged crimes, incredible secrets are revealed about pop culture, American
life and the role music played in the development of two of DC's greatest
heroes."
GRAHAM NOLAN'S UPCOMING BATMAN PROJECTS
-----------------------------------------
Former Detective penciller and past Alfred Award winner,
Graham Nolan is returning to the Batcave with a couple of projects. First up is
"The Penny Plunderers" the next installment of his "Secrets Of
The Batcave" occasional series for Batman Chronicles. This installment
answers the question about where Batman got that giant penny.
Nolan's other Batman Chronicles project is entitled
"Homicide Division" and centers around the murder of a GCPD
detective. According to Nolan "through the eyes of his friends, family and
co-workers we see how the job (as a GCPD cop) can take its toll on a person,
and why Batman is so obsessed with finding his killer." No word yet on
format for this project. It may be issued as part of the regular Batman
Chronicles title of as a prestige format one-shot.
BOOK OF THE WEEK - REVIEW
**************************
BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #86
June 1999
No Man's Land: - "Home Sweet Home"
Writer: Lisa Klink. Artist: Guy Davis. Colorist: Pam
Rambo. Letterer: John Costanza.
What ever you may think of the basic premise behind No
Man's Land, it can't be denied that it has produced some of the best Batman
stories of the last few years. The influx of new writers has revitalized the
Batman line by bringing a fresh perspective to the rubble strewn streets of
Gotham. Already it's difficult to pick out the stand-out stories from this epic
- do you choose Bob Gale's "No Law andd a New Order" or Devin
Grayson's "Fear Of Faith"?
This single stand alone story ranks alongside, and in
some way's surpasses both. Written by former Star Trek TV script editor Lisa
Klink this simple, yet poignant story focuses on the forgotten heroes of
Gotham. Those who wish to defend their homes and their own personal; dreams.
By focusing on one neighborhood and one local character,
"Sarge", we see the gang wars ebb and flow past his front door. After
a awhile it becomes irrelevant which gang is winning and which is losing. All
that matters is that "Sarge" survives and that his property remains
uncompromised.
If this story has one downside, it's in the overuse of
familiar villains as gang leaders. While I can see the need to do this for
sales and marketing reasons; I believe that the story could have stood on it's
own without any of the familiar Gotham faces. In fact the biggest strength of
this story is that it focuses on a single ordinary Gothamite and doesn't
require Batman's presence to make it work. The strength of Gotham comes not
just from its costumed heroes but from ordinary guys like "Sarge".
A word of praise for colorist Pam Rambo whose use of
color subtly focuses your attention on "Sarge's" house making it
appear almost idyllic amongst the surrounding rubble. The change in palate to
transition between current and past events is also highly effective.
In summary, an emotional and thought-provoking book that
stands out from some tough competition. Even if you've avoided No Man's Land,
I'd recommend this one.
TV SHOW SCHEDULES
********************
BATMAN MOVIES ON TV
----------------------
BATMAN RETURNS - HBO on Monday, April 19 at 1 p.m. and
Wednesday, April 28 at 2 p.m.
BATMAN & ROBIN - Currently running on HBO - check local
listings for show times.
BATMAN & MR. FREEZE: SUB-ZERO - will be airing on
CARTOON NETWORK on May 22nd at 8pm (ET) as apart of their CARTOON THEATRE
BATMAN BEYOND
---------------
The new futuristic look at the world of the new Dark
Knight starts its first season at 9.30am (ET) Saturdays on the KidsWB!
Sat 4/17/99 (9:30 am) #07 "Meltdown"
Sat 4/24/99 (9:30 am) #08 "Heroes" (Batman
Beyond)
An episode guide to Batman Beyond is now available on The
GOTHAM GAZETTE web site.(http://members.aol.com/gothamajp )
NEW BATMAN / SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
----------------------------------
The new season of Batman/ Superman Adventures is now on
the WB Network Scheduled times are posted as Monday through Friday at 4:00 and
4:30pm; NOTE ADDITIONAL EPISODE now on Saturdays at 8:00, and 8:30am Eastern
and Pacific Time on the Kids' WB! ... But DON'T FORGET TO CHECK YOUR LOCAL
LISTINGS FOR EXACT TIMES IN YOUR AREA
Sat 4/17/99 (8:00 am) #95 "Torch Song"
Sat 4/17/99 (8:30 am) "Knight Time" (Superman
as Batman !!)
Mon 4/19/99 (4:00 pm) #66 "Sideshow"
Tue 4/20/99 (4:30 pm) #64 "Read My Lips"
Wed 4/21/99 (4:00 pm) #91 "Never Fear"
Thu 4/22/99 (4:30 pm) #84 "Deep Freeze"
Fri 4/23/99 (4:00 pm) #32 "Robin's Reckoning Part
1"
Fri 4/23/99 (4:30 pm) #37"Robin's Reckoning Part
2"
Sat 4/24/99 (8:30 am) #102 "Old Wounds"
NOTE: Shows #1 - 85 are the classic "Batman: The
Animated Series" style. Shows #86 onwards are the "New
Adventures" style.
For those of you without a WB affiliate you may find the
new shows on:
- WGN on Sunday mornings at 8.00 central/ 9:00
eastern standard time. WGN also shows episodes every weekday morning @ 10:00
for one hour.
- Some UPN
stations are also running the shows on Sunday at 10.30 ET
A listing of US TV stations carrying the KidsWB! shows
can be found at http://www.toonzone.net/brian/stations/index.html
The Irish TV station RTE2 broadcasts The New Batman
Adventures on Tuesdays around 5pm and on Fridays at 5.30pm
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES
----------------------------
The Cartoon Network is running selected episodes airing
Monday through Friday at 6.00 pm Eastern & Pacific time.
From Brian Davis comes news that Batman is back on the
Cartoon Network, Europe every day at 7pm UK Time.
Sean Wilson reports that Global TV is showing Batman: The
Animated Series at 7:00 am (PST).
SUPER-FRIENDS
-------------
On the Cartoon Network (USA)
SUNDAY 1:00-2:00 am & 1:00-2:00 pm
Several GWN readers have also reported that showing at
4.30pm (EST) weekdays are a variety of Super-Hero related cartoons including
episodes of SUPERFRIENDS and the old 1970's vintage BATMAN shows.
BATMAN - 1960s TV SHOW
-----------------------
The Canadian cable channel Space! is showing selected episodes from the
classic Adam West TV show. At 1.30pm (EDT) Monday thru Friday.
Mon 4/19 - (season 2/show 01) "The Penguin's
Nest" - Penguin
Tue 4/20 - (2/02) "The Bird's Last Jest" -
Penguin
Wed 4/21 - (2/03) "Hot Off the Griddle" -
Catwoman
Thu 4/22 - (2/04) "The Cat and the Fiddle" -
Catwoman
Fri 4/23 - (2/05) "Shoot a Crooked Arrow" -The
Archer
The European satellite channel "Trouble" also
airs the 1960's show at 7am and 11am every morning.
TV NEWS
**********
WB STATEMENT ON FUTURE BATMAN ANIMATED EPISODES
------------------------------------------------
Following recent fan concerns on the possibility of
future New Batman Adventures episodes a Warner Bros representative said
"while the studio is focusing on 52 new episodes of Batman Beyond for the
Kids' WB!, that doesn't rule out the possibility of new Superman or Batman
episodes in the future."
MOVIE NEWS
**********
BATMAN BEYOND FEATURE
----------------------
A representative of Warner Bros. Animation told The Comic
Book Continuum website that "the studio has no official announcement about
a reported Batman Beyond straight-to-video movie"
ON-LINE HAPPENINGS
*******************
DC COMICS ONLINE SCHEDULE
---------------------------
The following is a schedule of this week's guest
appearances for DC COMICS ONLINE forums on America Online:
Doug Moench, writer of BATMAN: BOOK OF THE DEAD: Monday,
April 19 at 7:00 pm EDT.
WEB SITE UPDATES
-------------------
The Unofficial Elseworlds Home Page has undergone some
changes and has a new URL at http://www.Elseworlds.net
BATMAN RELATED E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS
---------------------------
Batman Animated Newsletter - Tim Leighton
([email protected])
"Claw Marks" the Catwoman Newsletter - William
Tyler ([email protected])
Batman UK - Monthly Newsletter - Brian Davis
(http://members.aol.com/BDavis2613/mailer.html)
MEET THE BAT-TEAM
********************
OAKLAND CA - April 16-18
------------------------
WONDER-CON (http://www.wondercon.com )at the Oakland
Convention center, 1001 Broadway at 10th Street in Oakland CA bills itself as
Northern California's largest convention. Guests this year include DAN
BRERETON, PAUL DINI, DEVIN GRAYSON, JIM MOONEY, IRV NOVICK, GREG RUCKA, BRUCE
TIMM, TIM SALE, and MARK WAID.
BUFFALO NY - April 18th
-------------------------
The BUFFALO COMICON is being held at Marriott Inn in
Amherst outside of Buffalo. Time:10am-5pm. Among the guests are GRAHAM NOLAN.
PITTSBURGH PA - April 23-25
--------------------------
The PITTSBURGH COMICON (http://www.pittsburghcomicon.com
)takes place this year at the Pittsburgh Expomart, Monroeville PA. Guests
include SCOTT MCDANIEL, SHELDON MOLDOFF and MARK WAID.
NEW YORK - May 7 - 9
-----------------------
The NEW YORK COMIC AND FANTASY CREATORS CONVENTION
(http://www.innervisioncomics.com)will be held at Madison Square Garden. Among
the attendees will be recently departed Bat-editor JORDAN GORFINKEL.
NOVI MI - May 14-16
----------------------
This year's MOTOR CITY COMIC CON
(http://motorcityconventions.com) is at the Novie Expo Center, 43700 Expo
Center Drive in Novi Michigan. Guests include SHELDON MOLDOFF, MARK WAID, TV's
Riddler FRANK GORSHIN and the movie's first Harvey Dent BILLY DEE WILLIAMS
NEW ORLEANS May 28-30
----------------------
The BIG EASY COMIC CON ( http://www.bigeasycon.com ) at
the Hilton Riverside Hotel in downtown New Orleans features special guest ADAM
WEST plus SHELDON MOLDOFF.
NASHVILLE TN - June 5-6
-----------------------
CELEBRITY CON'99 in Smyrna, Tennessee (near Nashville)
includes many guests with BATMAN connections including: JULIUS SCHWARTZ, TERRY
AUSTIN, WALT AND LOUISE SIMONSON, SHELDON MOLDOFF, AND JIM STARLIN, &
YVONNE (BATGIRL) CRAIG
ATLANTA GA - July 1-4
---------------------
Already confirmed as a guest for this year's DRAGON*CON
at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta is New Batman Adventures producer and writer
PAUL DINI. Also just announced, ADAM WEST and FRANK GORSHIN.
SAN DIEGO CA - August 12th-15th
------------------------------
The COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL (www.comic-con.org) has its
30th event at the San Diego convention center. Among the guest already
announced is Golden Age great JERRY ROBINSON (Bob Kane's first assistant and
"creator" of The Joker).
Plus, your humble GWN editor will be in attendance.
IN THE STORES
*****************
BATMAN STAYS AT BEST WESTERN AGAIN
--------------------------------------
DC Comics Super Heroes Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman
are coming to Best Western Hotels nationwide this summer for an unprecedented
fourth consecutive year in the Best Western's Summer Adventures. The promotion,
which runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, gives hotel guests the chance to win
a grand prize $40,000 or first prize $20,000 four-year college scholarship,
Summer Adventures features DC Comics' Batman, Superman
and Wonder Woman with a number of fantastic partners including Visa, AT&T,
FujiFilm, Crazy Dips candy, Discovery Zone and Warner Home Video. When guests
book the Best Western Fun Plan at any of the more than 2,200 Best Western
hotels in the United States, Canada or the Caribbean, kids 12 years of age and
under stay free and receive a bounty of giveaways including a customized DC
Comics' activity book, a DC Comics'-branded single-use FujiFilm camera with
free film processing and Superheroes cup. Youngsters, seven an older can enter
the scholarship sweepstakes contest "Who's the Hero In Your Life?"
with a grand prize $40,000 four-year college scholarship. First prize is a
$20,000 four-year scholarship. Other great prizes include trips to SPACE CAMP(TM),
Discovery Zone birthday parties, Fuji digital cameras and desktop home
computers. More than 100 prizes will be awarded.
====================================================================
HOW TO ORDER OUR NEW BATMAN BOOK
********************************
"THE UNAUTHORIZED BATMAN COLLECTORS GUIDE" by Alan J. Porter
The most comprehensive guide to Batman collectibles ever
collected between
two covers.
160 Pages
294 Photographs
6000 Items Listed
8 1/2" x 11" - Soft Cover.
ISBN 0-7643-0683-9
$30.00
With over 6000 items listed, this is the most
comprehensive guide to Batman collectibles ever assembled between two covers.
Nearly 300 photographs accompany the informative articles and detailed price
guide listings. Highlights include a comics section which lists every comic
book in which Batman has appeared from his debut in 1939 to the end of 1997,
plus a figures section which lists all of the various Batman action figures.
Covering everything from Artwork to Videos, and price ranges from 15c to $150,000,
this book is a must for any Batfan.
As a special offer to GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS subscribers, you
can order a signed copy from the author.
Send a check / money order for $30.00* (US Dollars),
along with your mailing address to:
Alan J. Porter
Batman Guide
PO Box 527
Millersville
MD 21108
* US orders postage free.
* MD residents please add 5% sales tax.
* Overseas orders add $5.00
Sample pages can be found on the web at
http://members.aol.com/gothamajp/book.htm
=============================================================================
THE LATEST ISSUE OF GOTHAM GAZETTE is now available.
Issue #31 can be found at
http://members.aol.com/gothamajp (Note the new URL)
This month:
Art Gallery - Readers Art
Alfred Awards for 1998 - The full results
Comics - More No Man's Land info ,"Realworlds"
projects and Gaiman/Bisley to do a Batman story.
Comics Shipping In February & March
Classic Comic Revisited - Brave & Bold #197
Fan Fiction - Alfred Remembers "The Night".
Movies - The Cat
Prowls again ?
Quiz Page - Alfred Award Winners .
Trivia Page - Elseworlds listings plus Who Knows ?
TV - "Batman Beyond
- Episode Guide" .
Plus a new Archive section containing the best
Fan-Fiction from past issues.
- THE COLLECTORS GUIDE updates can be found at
http://members.aol.com/gothamajp/guide.htm
===========================================================================
Sources used in compiling GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS
- DC Comics
On-Line Newsletter (http://www.dccomics.com/newsletter.html )
- Diamond Previews
(http://www.diamondcomics.com )
- WB Animation Web
Page (http://www.wbanimation.com)
- Space ! Weekly
Schedules Web Page (http://205.250.106.39/schedule/ )
- Comic Book
Continuum (http://www.detnews.com/comicbooks )
- Newsrama
(http://www.AnotherUniverse.com/newsarama )
- Hollywood Heroes
(http://www.Mania.com/Mania )
- WB Cartoon
Episode Schedules (http://www.toonzone.net/brian/index.html )
- Comics2Film
(http://www.comics2film.com )
- Dark Horizons (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news.htm
)
GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS is a FOREST COMICS Publication.
FOREST COMICS is (c) and TM - Alan J. Porter (1994 - 1999)
"GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS", "GOTHAM GAZETTE -
The BATMAN Magazine On the Web" and "THE UNAUTHORIZED BATMAN
COLLECTORS GUIDE" are not affiliated to, or endorsed by, either Warner
Bros. or DC Comics.
BATMAN and all related characters and indicia are
acknowledged as Trademark and copyright DC Comics Inc..
BATMAN created by Bob Kane.
If you no longer wish to receive GWN or have been sent a
copy in error just send an e-mail to [email protected] with the words
"unsubscribe GWN" in the subject line.