Cuppacafe

In the annals of comicbook lore, there is only one Dynamic Duo, but when you elevate the level of the field of play you get the Brave and the Bold. Such a massive team-up has long played well in the halls of DC comics. Superman and Batman, Batman and Superman. The light and the dark. The Ying and the Yang. Superman is the ultimate Boy Scout, and Batman a dark and brooding creature of the night.

Longtime Batman writer and editor Denny O'Neil once described Superman's bright and sunny Metropolis as New York City above 14^th St., and Batman's dark and deadly Gotham City as New York below 14^th St. Still, both of these heroes were generally cast as unlikely friends, and occasional foe-men.

Well, that is (perhaps) coming to a head, as this past week both of their debut comics went on sale at separate auctions for dueling prices. First, Action #1 (the first appearance of Superman) hit the big-time by landing a million-dollar purchase price, to be followed a couple of days later by the sale of Detective Comics #27 (the first appeaarance of Batman) for — yup, you got it, just over a million bucks ($1,075,500).

And you thought there was a recession on, eh?

Gentleman, start your (funnybook) engines

The Perfessor

According to E! Online While the opening for Twilight: New Moon was big (bigger than some expected), but it still wasn’t Spider-Man or Batman big:

It was big. It was bigger than expected. It was record-setting. But more on the new Sandra Bullock movie later. New Moon will close out its remarkable debut weekend with an estimated $140.7 million, its studio reported today. The towering take makes the Twilight sequel the third-biggest opener in Hollywood history. Or, to put it another way: Yes, The Dark Knight's opening-weekend mark is safe. And, yes, Spider-Man 3's second-place slot is secure. But, still, other records did fall to New Moon. Stay tuned for more factoids, and a look at Bullock's The Blind Side, which showed bite of its own with a $34.5

According to E!:

But, get over your spandex-supporting selves because New Moon sucked up its own share of records:

• Biggest November opening ever, flying past Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s $102.7 million;
• Biggest opening two-day gross ever ($115.9 million Friday-Saturday), edging The Dark Knight’s $114.8 million start;
• And all the previously reported rest: Biggest opening day ever ($67.2 million); biggest single day ever (ditto); biggest midnight showing ever ($26.3 million).

About the only thing New Moon didn't do was, yes, claim the opening-weekend crown.

Too bad on that last one, eh? Guess there are more funnybook geeks than teenage girls.

The Perfessor

For President Jimmy Carter it was brother Billy. For President Clinton it was his brother Roger. For President H.W. Bush, it was his sons George, Neil, and Jeb. Well, just so you know, you don’t have to be President to have an idiot brother, Just ask The once and future director of the Dark Knight films, Christopher Nolan, about his brother Matthew.

In March of last year, the Chicago Sun Times reported that Christopher’s brother’s, Matthew, had been arrested for murder.

As the reports: Matthew Francis Nolan, 40, of the South Shore neighborhood, was under investigation by Chicago Police in a $700,000 bank-fraud scheme when FBI agents here nabbed him last month in connection with a 2005 killing in Central America.

Well, if that wasn’t enough, According to a new Chicago Tribune story, the incarcerated Nolan had in his jail cell:

...some 31 feet of rope made from bedsheets, a harness, a razor and a metal clip that could unlock handcuffs that the Tribune says were to be used for a Batman-esque jailbreak from the facility that also is currently home to disgraced lawyer Marc Dreier. The ploy was detected before Nolan could follow through with his plan.

Makes you just want to write him into your next movie and have him dropped into a vat of acid.

The Perfessor

I was trying to think of a joke that could go with this photo, but I really couldn’t.

The Perfessor

In the Marvel Universe, they killed Captain America, Arrested Spider-Man, Booted Col. Nick Fury and Iron Man from their respective positions of authority and power, and put Master Criminal Norman (The Green Goblin) Osborn in charge.

Here in the real world. we arrest criminals and revere heroes.

Only, not so much...

Superman and Batman took on New York's Finest last night in an epic Crossroads of the World battle that left the Caped Crusader in cuffs.

Stunned Times Square tourists and office workers watched agog as cops struggled to subdue Clark Kent's alter ego without kryptonite.

"The Man of Steel didn't go down with just two officers, it took seven officers!" witness Ryan McCormick said. "He was putting up a good fight. Little kids were like, 'Mommy, it's Superman!' "

If that wasn't weird enough, McCormick turned and saw the Dark Knight handcuffed to a chair like a common villain.

The whole world is crazy.

The Perfessor

Can you match skills with the Joker and The Batman break dancing? Play by choosing either the Joker or the Batman from within the YouTube video. Then another video plays, and you hit the red button when the appropriate choice (of letters matching the dance moves) comes up.

Sound req'd for coolness of the 90s revisited...

YouTube link

This just in!

Tell me that you want to be in the cell with this guy:

Batman star Christian Bale arrested by London police on suspicion of assault

By Nico Hines

Christian Bale, the actor who plays Batman, was arrested today for allegedly assaulting his own mother and sister before last night’s premiere of The Dark Knight.

The Welsh-born actor was in custody at a central London police station today being questioned over the incident which is thought to have taken place in his Dorchester Hotel suite on Sunday night.

Bale’s mother and sister, Jenny, 61, and Sharon, 40, made a formal complaint against the Hollywood actor yesterday.

The two women, who live in Dorset, went to a Hampshire police station to make their allegations. The complaint was then passed to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “A 34-year-old man attended a Central London police station this morning and was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault. He currently remains in custody.”

Bale is alleged to have lashed out in his suite on Park Lane two days ago but police allowed him to attend the European premiere of the latest installment of the Batman films in Leicester Square last night. Bale, who also starred in American Psycho and Empire Of The Sun, joined co-stars Sir Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart on the red carpet.

This morning he voluntarily attended a police station in London, where he was arrested and questioned.

The new Batman film has already attracted a great deal of interest because it contains the final complete performance by Heath Ledger. The 28-year-old Australian actor gave an Oscar-tipped performance as The Joker before he died from an accidental drugs overdose in January.

(Via Times Online)

I’m totally sure that this is the kind of press that Warner Bros wants the film to attract, eh?

The Perfessor

With the funnybook red&gold/green “One-Two” punch of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk knocking on the Summer blockbuster door to kick off the Summer season, I just wanted to look down the road a bit to see what we can expect for the rest of the funnybook year to come, because, unlike this guy, I’m actually looking forward to this year’s slate of funnybook films.

First of all, June is going to be rounded out by Wanted (which began life as a creator-owned comicbook mini-series, by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones which was published by Top Cow in 2003–‘04. This one is an action-packed adventure staring Angelina Jolie as a killer assassin who is schooling a young man James McAvoy in the art of the kill. The trailers look very cool (but then again so did those of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and we all know how that one turned out, eh?).

Up next month we have Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Batman: The Dark Knight, both of which also look good. Batman, as you all know is a character from the DC stable of heroes, but you might not know that Hellboy hails from Dark Horse an upstart Left Coast comicbook company that has found it niche in successfully linking up with a number of Hollywood Studios (either by adapting their movies to comics (Aliens, Terminator), or by having characters that began life in their comics go the other way and make the jump into movies (Barb Wire, The 300, Sin City). Much has already been written about this Batman Returns follow-up and the unfortunate and tragic death of Heath Ledger. From what I’ve seen of the trailers and how spectacular the previous film was, this one is going to be the one to beat this Summer.

Further out we can expect Punisher: War Zone this December, and (from what we’ve heard) this one will be better than either The Thomas Jane/John Travolta film or the original Dolph Lundgren version. Again, I’m holding judgment on this one until I see some more. Also scheduled for a December release is the Film Whiteout, Based on the comicbook. Whiteout follows U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko as she uncovers the first murder ever in the Antarctic just as the sun is about to set for six months. She must catch the killer before he leaves the ice or be stuck there with him in the dark for six months. I read one installment of this comic (I think it was something I got on Free Comicbook Day) and it read real well. Glad to see it is being made into a film.

There actually might be more, but this is what I know of right now.

Oh yeah, I’m formally issuing a “WTF” Alert for our Imperious Leader.

The Perfessor