Finally! A Place For The Clown Princess

First, allow me to take a moment to give a big Thank You! to Harley Quinn's creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. It is nice having a character that I not only love, but for once, I am older than aha And just how much do I love this character? Well, last Halloween I was blessed with the birth of my second daughter, and although we went more feminine with the spelling, her name is none other than Harleigh Quinn.

After years of being a support character for The Joker, or currently in the pages of Suicide Squad and formerly Gotham City Sirens, Harley Quinn is finally getting her own monthly series. Slated to hit the shelves Wednesday, November 20th, 2013, writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti along with a collection of artists including Sam Keith, Tony S. Daniels, among others are in charge of bringing Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel and her crazy alter ego to life.

Although she is a Batman related character, I don't consider this to be just another "Bat-book". I am sure Batman will make appearances and the title may even be apart of future cross-overs/story arcs, but I think much like DC has done with others like Batwoman or Nightwing, Harley's path and story will be her own. I admit I am curious ho wand if The Joker will fit into all of this, despite the events from "Death Of The Family" (if you haven't read this story arc, may I strongly suggest you go grab each issue or the collected edition when available. Thank me later).

Finally, since it is scheduled to drop at the same time that the DC Universe is following the Batman into Year Zero ("Dark City" seems to be the title for this), and the first issue is #0, it may be a safe bet that they will be taking Harley's story back to origin. That's an assumption though, I am not totally sure how the creative team will be starting things off. All I do know, is that I am looking forward to whatever it is that awaits us come November.


Oh, and don't forget to check out Harley Quinn during Villains Month this September a la the pages of Detective Comics #23.2. Like most I am a Villains fan so although my bank account isn't excited, I am pumped for Villains Month!

Stay Nerdy!

AFFLECK CAST AS BATMAN. 

WORLD ENDS!

Okay, maybe the world hasn't literally ended, but a lot of fellow Bat-Fans out there sure have been acting as though it has. I've heard about death threats (even to those not even connected to the movie) and a petition for the President of the USA to step in and stop this casting. Seriously stupid stuff, that in all honesty, makes it kind of embarrassing to be a fan. I openly admit, my initial reaction was "F*ck!". For me it had absolutely nothing to do with Affleck or his ability to act or make a good movie. Daredevil wasn't the best movie, but I enjoyed it (minus Afflecks hair aha). So much, that I kind of yearned for him to reprise his role in the Elektra spin-off/sequel. My issue with this casting, was that I haven't heard or seen any movies where Ben had "the voice" to play Batman. A combination of his Boston accent and higher toned voice makes it hard for me to see him as The Dark Knight. Now I am not saying everyone has to be like Christian Bale and his grovelling attempt, however a different style of voice work is essential while dawning the cape and cowl. Biggest issue with George Clooney's attempt at being the Batman was that with or without the mask, you knew Bruce Wayne and Batman were the same person.

Now I am sure some of you are thinking, "Oh, working on his voice is easy." and initially you aren't wrong, however, it isn't as easy as you think and takes a lot of dedication. Not only that, there is always the risk of it being cheesy or over the top (Bale went overboard at times).

Again, this is the only thing that worries me. It was the only thing that worried me about Heath playing The Joker in The Dark Knight. I had never heard/seen him without the accent (Aussie I think). And well, clearly, those worries were put to sleep very quickly. And speaking of Heath Ledger as Mr. J, I remember the proverbial crap hitting the fan over that casting choice as well, I dunno, do you think that an Oscar win and the Box-Office numbers made those doubters eat their words? I believe so. And although I was too young to really hear about them, but I do remember my Dad telling me about how nobody wanted Michael Keaton as Batman back in the '89 Tim Burton movie, and I know I am not the only one who thinks of the first two of that franchise as being the best of them.

 So, the next 2 years shall be spent defending this movie and its casting choices. Hopefully this movie is as awesome as I am expecting it to be. Absolutely loved Man Of Steel, and adding my all-time favorite character to that mix, cannot be a bad thing....I hope ahaha Naw, total confidence in Zack Synder and the cast of this movie. Till then if your going to "question" anything about this movie, then let it be about things like "With Affleck only being 41, what direction are they taking after teasing this will be similar to Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns", or "When are they announcing Brian Cranston as Lex Luthor?" Okay that last one is purely rumor at the moment, but my choice for the role (if it is even part of the upcoming movie).

Stay nerdy!