I rewatched Battle of the Bastards and a thought came to my mind. It concerns the ending of Alan Moore's The Killing Joke.
At the final moments of the book, we are shown Batman and Joker sharing laughter after the Joker tells a joke about two patients escaping an asylum. And then the laughter of the two abruptly ended. A lot of people suggest that maybe Batman already snapped and ultimately killed his foe by chocking him or breaking his neck.
But it doesn't make any sense if he really killed the Joker. Although there's no questioning that what he did would be for the greater good and Batman had already enough cause to kill him, it still doesn't make any sense. It mirrors Jon Snow's cause in killing Ramsay Bolton. When he saw Sansa, Jon knows that she has the right in deciding Ramsay's fate because she is the one raped repeatedly by him. Gordon has the right in judging the Joker's fate. It's his daughter that was paralyzed and (possibly) raped. It's him that was also sexually assaulted by the Joker and shown pictures of his naked daughter. Yet he still insists in not killing the Joker because like Batman, Gordon has principles and he chooses to uphold them. Before Bats confronted the Joker, Gordon says to Batman that he has to show the Joker that their way works.
That's why Batman killing the Joker doesn't fit his persona and the situation presented by the book. In doing so, he will fail, not only his principles, but also his friendship with Gordon. He should respect Gordon's decision in letting the Joker live, because Gordon has every right in choosing what he will do to the Joker, no matter how bitter that sounds to Batman.
I am really hyped with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice after I watched it's Comic-Con trailer. The trailer blew my mind with the encapsulating tone presented by it. The political background which is new to the superhero genre. You also get a taste of it's tantalizing script by Chris Terrio. After I watched the trailer I am already imagining for this film is going to get a lot of acclaim after it hit the theaters. Because not only it's the first film where two of the most iconic superheroes of the all time, Batman and Superman are going to share the screen together, but it's also going to be a straight-out one of the best of it's genre.
But the second full length trailer literally flushes out of the toilet all of my excitement with this film.
The trailer opened with an excellent conversation between Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. Clark was asking Bruce on what is his stand on Gotham's bat vigilante. Bruce responded by saying how hypocrite the Daily Planet is. How every time they praise Superman because of the thing he has done even though he is also above the law but they keep on criticizing Batman's way. The tension heightens when Bruce look, smirked and say to Clark that "Gotham had a bad history with freaks dressed like clowns" in a way that indicates that Bruce already knew that Clark is Superman. That is abruptly ceased by the annoying Lex Luthor's whiny teen voice saying that he like that he have seen Bruce and Clark together already. This is the only thing that is good with this trailer.
I have nothing against Jesse Eisenberg's version of Luthor. A lot of people really hates him in this trailer because he is not acting like the Luthor we commonly see. Well for me his Luthor impression before Kryptonite Radaition was hit perfectly by Jesse. Lex Luthor is intended to be like an irritating teen in this film because Lex Luthor is supposed to be like a young awkward mad scientist. After that he shall get bald and will be a psychotic villain as the film progress. Lex is not yet fully evolved in this trailer and I like to see him transform in this film. The trailer doesn't show any of it which is great in order to surprise everyone.
After that scene, we get fast cut edited clips shown before on the Comic-Con trailer. The music playing is really bad and felt giddy for the suspense building by the trailer. Then Lex Luthor graces again on the trailer with the lines "Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham" while showing Batman and Superman fighting to death with each other.
Then we are shown with Lois Lane speaking to Lex that he is "psychotic." Lex replied by saying that the word is too simple for people with weak minds.
After another fast cut edited clips of Batman and Superman fighting each other, the parademons of Darkseid was shown in a clip already in the first trailer, theorized by many as Batman's nightmare. Does this hint that the upcoming villain of the Justice League movie is going to be Darkseid?
After that Lex again was shown on Lex Corp with Zod's corpse. Then fast cut to him saying "If man won't kill God, then I will." Then BOOM! There goes Doomsday.
After that he shoot some laser to Batman which lit everything that surrounds them and then surprise! surprise! Wonder Woman just entered the scene shielding Batman from Doomsday's laser beam!
The trailer ends with Superman and Batman joining Wonder Woman, arguing to each other, "I thought she was with you" then poses to have this super cool shot.
Even though people are enraged by the look of Doomsday in the trailer, I don't hate the appearance of Doomsday because I known that he is going to evolve after the Trinity inflicted damage on him and he is going to be stronger and stronger. From the looks of it, he is going to have giant bones and sharp spikes popping out of his body later from that particular scene.
I know I should be happy for they are releasing sweet clips from the film, but from the look of the trailer, they just released too much greatness of it. It basically showed us the plot of the film. What is it with trailers showing too much of the movie before it hits the theaters? It is really alarming because the film is to be released months away from now and they are giving everything for the viewers in a single trailer. I already know what's going to happen with the film and now I don't even bother to watch it anymore. (Just joking. I'll still watch it. )
If you think a Batman origin story will fail to surprise you, think again.
Batman Earth One Volume 2 is a one of a kind follow-up to a great Batman origin story that features most of his celebrated villains whose origins are told in a different way. There is something in the end of the book that will startle even a veteran Batman fan. Give this book a try and I tell you, you will not regret reading every bit of it.
There had been countless adaptations of Batman's origin story that it already imprinted itself inside the hearts of many people. We all know how the rich kid, son of Gotham, Bruce Wayne decided on wearing a bat suit and pursuing a lot of criminals that proliferated the Gotham's streets. We are all familiar on the tragedy on Crime Alley. That's why every time a new book, featuring how the Batman mythos started will always be in the brink of the "seen that" "done that" area of the public eye.
But Batman Earth One Volume One is a different story.
One of my cousin suggested me to read this comic book because he said he was mesmerized by it. So I take this book on the comic book shop and read it as soon as I bought it. And oh my, it's an awesome book.
It is a refreshing take of every aspect surrounding the too familiar story. Geoff Johns' comic book writing is strange. It's the panels that communicate most of the times with the readers. The art is also pretty great. I have read a lot of Batman books but the drama between the lines in this book is too good. The best parts of the book are the conversations between Bruce and Alfred. There is an unexplainable bond between them in this book. Yeah I know, Alfred will always be Bruce's guardian in any comic book universe, but this version features a deeper father and son connection between them. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that this version of Alfred is not that gentle butler we all commonly know. This Alfred is a badass Korean War Veteran.
Harvey Bullock is the one of the few sane man in Gotham's corrupt system you will root for. Most of the times it's Commissioner Gordon that is full of principles in the police part of Gotham, but in this book, Harvey is the star of the police force. He is the hope that there are still people in Gotham who believe in goodness.
All in all, it is a good book and will left you in amazement after closing it. Although you only get few glimpses of many characters, they all feel whole to you. There are a lot of building blocks of a new Batman series in this book and I suggest everyone who doesn't know the origin of Batman to read this book.
