The Quickies
Posted on: December 9, 2011 by admin.
The Stooges Revealed
The first trailer for the Coen Brother’s next foray, the Three Stooges, dropped this week. I’d love to tell you how amazing it’s going to be…I really would…how amazing it’s going to be…but…yeah, it looks terrible.
For me I think the problem is that the Stooges are endemic to the time period they were created in, and setting the film now and having people like…Snooki? in it…well, I just don’t think it’s going to work.
Video-Game Creative Genius Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind some of Nintendo’s biggest games including Mario Brothers, Zelda and Donkey Kong, supposedly stepped down from his executive position at the company this week…and then he didn’t. No really seems to know what happened, but the gist of it (from what I can understand) seems to be that Miyamoto wanted to leave the lofty heights of his no doubt pimp office, and focus more on the smaller projects the company was developing. Shares went down after the news leaked out, and Nintendo sent out a press released saying that it was pure bukaki, and that everything was business as usual at the company.
Apparently no one has asked Mr. Miyamoto for his two cents on this, so we're all pretty much still in the dark on what really happened, but hopefully we'll get some more details soon.
RIP Jerry Robinson
Jerry Robinson, a veteran comic artist from the Golden Age, passed away earlier today. Robinson is best known as the creator of the Joker, arguably The Bat’s Seminal villain, but he also had a hand in creating many other iconic Bat-characters including Alfred and Two-Face. Check Newsrama for a touching piece on what the Comic Community has to say about losing one of its founding fathers.
Harley Quinn (DC Direct) Review
Posted on: June 15, 2011 by admin.
Welcome to another edition of Toy Box Reviews! This week we’re taking a look at everyone’s favorite sycophant girlfriend: Harley Quinn from the DC Direct Arkham Asylum Wave.
First Impressions
Harley is one of those characters that has the distinction of appearing on TV first before showing up in the comics. Originally created for the Batman Animated Series as a side-kick to the Joker, Quinn became so popular that years after the cartoon ended she was brought into the comics as a permanent member of the DCU. It was in the cartoon that I first saw her, and while not as big a fan as some people are of the character, I’ve always liked her.
Packaging and Bio
Packaging is the same as Scarecrow, who I talked about two week ago. For my thoughts on it, I’d recommend that review. Sadly, most DCDs lack any kind of bios on their packaging, which does make sense as these are adult-collector, fan-driven toys. Still, a loose bio of Harley is as follows:
[Arkham Psychologist, Harleen Quinzel] becomes fascinated with the Joker while interning at Arkham, and volunteers to analyze him. She falls hopelessly in love nearly instantly with the Joker during their sessions, and she helps him escape from the asylum more than once. When the Joker is returned to Arkham after a battle with Batman, the sight of her badly injured patient drives Harley to don the costume and become Harley Quinn, the Joker's sidekick and on/off girlfriend. (From Her Wiki Page)
What’s Good About Her?
Sculpt: DC Direct walks a very fine line between toy and poseable statue, but this isn’t a bad thing – Redesigned for the game by Jim Lee, Harley is gorgeous in her AA nurse costume and I’m absolutely blown away by the detailing on the toy. A lot of this is due to the little details on her – The ruffles on the uniform, the warden name tag, the stockings in her boots(which are real material), It’s all great and of her costume variations, is probably my favorite!
Paint: Also done very well; I especially like the paint job around her face where the clown make-up gives way to the peachier flesh tones of her skin. To say that it looks realistic is an understatement. This is hot toys quality in my opinion!
Pricing Point: Considering that most Hasbro and Mattel toys are going for around the same price as these DC Direct toys, I think it’d be fair to say that buying these toys instead is definitely not money wasted.
What’s Bad About Her?
Articulation: This is a quibble really, because even though she’s stiff in some of her joints, it’s not that bad. It would’ve been nice to get a few extra joints on her ankles but overall? Yeah, not a big thing.
Accessories
Harley Quinn comes with two + her stand. They are a cane, much like the ones Joker has been known to carry, and an injection gun that’s probably supposed to be full of the Titan formula from the game. Both are well done, with the gun being especially well painted and detailed. My only quibble would be that the gun isn’t sculpted quite well enough for Harley to hold it properly – Her finger is meant to slide over the trigger but scale issues make the gun slightly too big, so that you really have to force it. It will go eventually, but even then it still looks a little off. From a distance, though, it’s not that noticeable. I’d say show everything off.
Final Thoughts
Just like a trusted horse, DC Direct is one of those brands that rarely, if ever, lets me down. Given the amount of sub-par figures with high price tags that are out there today, I’d say that these toys are a beacon of light in the otherwise dark world of mediocre action figures. If you’re a fan of Batman, or the Arkham Asylum game, then I’d say pick these up. Even if you’re not, as a toy collector you could definitely do a lot worse than picking one of these up and checking it out for yourself.
Final Score: 5/5
If you would like to see larger versions of the images above, or the pictures that didn't make it, then check out the DC Direct Harley Quinn Photobucket Page
Where Does He Get Those Lovely Songs?
Posted on: May 25, 2011 by admin.
Ugh, okay, that title even made ME cringe. *Ahem* The first promo for new Batman Live trailer was released yesterday, and even though it's only shots of the cast with Robin pulling a Matrix, I'm still very impressed! The characters look great, Harley Quinn aside, and the idea of watching a live-action Batman? Well, that just blows me away! Sadly, at the moment Batman Live is only going to be playing in the UK, but I've been hearing some rumors that there's a world tour planned as well. Can anyone verify that? Thanks to ToplessRobot for providing me the video link!
First Bane Picture For TDKR Is Released
Posted on: May 24, 2011 by admin.
Well the Dark Knight Rises website is finally up, and just like the viral campaigns for TDK, Rises seems set to tide fans over with lots of goodies until the movies release. Though there's not much up there now, one hidden Easter egg that can be found is a picture of Tom Hardy dressed as Bane! While it's basically just a naked Hardy wearing a gimp mask ( A dream for a lot of people I'm sure), it does look pretty cool nonetheless Thanks to JoBlofor cracking the code and getting the pic, or, if you want to discover it for yourself, head over the Official Site to see if you can find the image!
Nolan, You Cad!
Posted on: April 20, 2011 by admin.
So even after months of rumors, confirmations, and casting, Chris Nolan is still managing to keep us on our toes. Specifically, when the news was broken that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard were added to the cast of The Dark Knight Rises, every news site (this one included) reported that they would be taking on the roles of Alberto Falcone and Talia al Ghul, respectively. Having none of that, Nolan decided to give reporters everywhere a big F$#k You! and released this announcement earlier today:
Cotillard will play Miranda Tate, described as “a Wayne Industries board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne [played by Christian Bale] resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham.” Gordon-Levitt will play John Blake, described as “a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon.
So yup, that's right! No Falcone, No Black Mask, and No Talia! These guys will be playing ordinary joes that happen to appear in the movie. Well played Mr. Nolan...it was a deception worthy of the Riddler. As for the rest of us, I guess it's back to the drawing board on the plot...
