The new Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories hardcover release from DC Comics, collecting The Batman Adventures: Mad Love and a host of other The Batman Adventures comic stories, arrives in comic book stores today. Official details on this new collection can be found below.
BATMAN: MAD LOVE AND OTHER STORIES
Written by: Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and Glen Murakami Art by: Bruce Timm, Mike Parobeck, Matt Wagner, Dan DeCarlo, Klaus Janson and Glen Murakami Cover by: Bruce Timm
Tales by two of the creators behind the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series TV series are collected for the first time in hardcover! The centerpiece of this fantastic collection is the Eisner Award-winning The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, the surprisingly dark origin of Harley Quinn, co-starring The Joker and Poison Ivy as well as Batman. Also included are tales by Dini, Timm and others that feature the Scarecrow, Ra’s al Ghul, Mr. Freeze, Batgirl and more, from The Batman Adventures Annual #1 – 2, and stories from the The Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1, Adventures in the DC Universe #3 and Batman: Black & White #1!
The cover price for the Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories hardcover release is $19.99US.
Click on the thumbnail below for a closer look at the trade ad for the upcoming The Batman Double Feature DVD Release.
The Batman Double Feature, featuring both the The Batman/Superman Movie and The Batman Versus Dracula full-length features, is slated to hit shelves August 11th, 2009. The press release for this title is available here. Stay tuned for further updates on this upcoming DVD title.
DC Comics has released solicitations information for their August 2009 library of releases, including details for Batman: The Brave and The Bold #8. Further information on Batman: The Brave and The Bold #8, scheduled to ship in August 2009, can be found below. Click on the thumbnail for a closer look at the cover art.
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #8
Written by: J. Torres Art by: Carlo Barberi and Terry Beatty Cover by: Scott Jeralds
Things get hairy when Batman teams up with The Great Ten, China’s ultimate super team, in a battle that finds our heroes fighting against an army of yelping Yetis. On sale August 26th, 2009. Cover price is $2.50 US.
In related news,Cartoon Network will be airing the new Batman: The Brave and The Bold episode “The Color of Revenge!” this Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 8:30pm (ET). More details on this upcoming new episode and more, including images and videos, can be found here.
Stay tuned for further Batman: The Brave and The Bold updates.
Cartoon Network has passed along the episode synopsis, video clips, and over thirty new images for the upcoming Batman: The Brave and The Bold episode “Legends of the Dark Mite!” To get a closer look at the images, click on the thumbnails below.
Cartoon Network has also provided three clips from the episode, which are available to view here at our Batman: The Brave and The Bold subsite. The all-new Batman: The Brave and The Bold episode Legends of the Dark Mite!, scheduled to air at 8:30pm (ET) on Friday, May 29th, 2009, is described as follows.
In this episode, Batman’s biggest fan, BatMite, is also his biggest nightmare when the 5th dimensional imp pops up and in an effort to make Batman a better hero, throws Gotham City into chaos. Kidnapping the Dark Knight and traveling to the surreal 5th dimension, the adventure continues with references to many of the classic villains. Be on the look out for cameos featuring the WBA creative team on a Con panel!
Details on the cast and crew can be found at the link above. Further information on the episode is available at our our Batman: The Brave and The Bold subsite. Stay tuned for further episode details and exclusive content.
Be sure to catch the return of Batman: The Brave and The Bold tonight with the episode “Menace of the Conqueror Caveman!” airing Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 8:30pm (ET) on Cartoon Network.
Note: Please do not remove any content without permission.
Note: The staff of The World’s Finest and Toon Zone appreciate your participation during recent unscheduled site downtime. Please note that continued problems may still occur. Thank you for your patience.
DIRECTOR LAUREN MONTGOMERY DISCUSSES GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT, THE NEXT DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED ORIGINAL FILM COMING TO DVD JULY 28, 2009
Fresh off her triumphant solo directorial debut of Wonder Woman, Lauren Montgomery shifts gears from Amazons and mythology to intergalactic intrigue as the director of Green Lantern: First Flight, the fifth in the ongoing series of DC Universe animated original PG-13 movies.
Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation are set to release the all-new Green Lantern: First Flight on July 28, 2009. The Blu-Ray Hi-Def edition, the special edition 2-disc DVD, and a single disc DVD will be distributed by Warner Home Video. The action-packed movie will also be available OnDemand and Pay-Per-View as well as available for download day and date, July 28, 2009.
Montgomery has been a central force within the DC Universe animated original movies, directing one-third of the series initial film, Superman Doomsday, and wowing critics and fans alike with her solo directorial debut at the helm of Wonder Woman. With Green Lantern: First Flight, Montgomery takes the next step in her burgeoning career, directing the initial full-length story to feature the DC Comics super hero and an entire universe of fascinating characters. She is once again teamed with executive producer Bruce Timm, this time working from an Alan Burnett script that focuses on Hal Jordans recruitment to the Green Lantern Corps and his discovery of a secret conspiracy that threatens its philosophies, traditions and hierarchy.
There is no rest for the weary. Though Green Lantern: First Flight has just completed production, Montgomery has already begun directing her next project another upcoming DCU that youll no doubt hear about in the not-too-distant future. Montgomery paused between recording sessions and storyboards to chat about the directorial learning curve, a new universe of astounding characters, a very cool quartet of key voiceover actors, and the tricks to avoiding greens and yellows for an entire background color palette.
Read on its director Lauren Montgomery talking about Green Lantern: First Flight!
QUESTION: Will Green Lantern: First Flight be in the well-known design of Bruce Timm, or be more of the Lauren Montgomery vision from Wonder Woman?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY: Were actually having a lot of fun trying different artistic styles on different movies Bruce felt his style has been done enough, and I just had my turn plus I knew there were many other character designers who are infinitely better at designing aliens that I am. We were lucky to get Jose Lopez to create the characters for Green Lantern. I think he even took a pay cut from his last job to do Green Lantern, but this project really allows him to let his animation go wild. Youve never seen anything like some of his designs for this film. His take on the familiar characters is fairly true to form, but hes designed literally an entire universe of completely new characters in the different Green Lanterns, aliens and background characters. There are a lot of awesome, fantastical creatures. Like me, Jose is trained in animation instead of comics, so his style really lends itself to being animated and everything he’s done has looked spectacular. I think it’s really looking different from anything we’ve ever done.
QUESTION: Did Jose ever over-step any boundaries and need to be reined in?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY: Actually, his first designs were a little too stylized. For the main characters, the designs were a little too streamlined we had to make Sinestro more like the comics. But once he got that figured out, he really went crazy. It was exciting to see him come in with these characters. Even his Weaponer designer is far different than what weve seen before, but DC was okay with it. So we just let him run wild.
QUESTION: Were there any beyond-the-norm issues strategizing a color scheme for a film with an entire army of characters wearing the same color?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY: We tried desperately to avoid as much green as we could in backgrounds and supporting characters, so the Green Lanterns and the rings and their effects were the only green portions of the scene. We also tried to stay away from copious amounts of yellow so that would make an impact later in the film. When you eliminate two of the main colors, it kind of limits you, so we had to utilize a lot of shades of blue, red and orange, and I think we were able to make it work. It was a really wise decision on Bruce’s part to keep the green and the yellow to the characters that were defined by that color.
QUESTION: Did you learn anything directing Wonder Woman that you were able to apply and/or improve upon for Green Lantern: First Flight?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY:Wonder Woman taught me that you can’t board the whole movie by yourself (she laughs), so I just let my storyboard artists do their job on Green Lantern. I let them come up with their ideas and I focused on keeping everything cohesive. Ultimately, I think the movie is better for it. I guess I learned to be more relaxed and to not be such a control freak. Which I think is good (laughs again). It certainly made my work load a lot easier.
QUESTION: How much origin story should Green Lantern fans expect to see?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY: As we had already done the origin story a few movies back in Justice League: The New Frontier, we really didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time telling that same story over again. So in Green Lantern: First Flight, the origin story is over and done before the opening credits. That way we get right into Hal Jordans first adventure.
QUESTION:What do the four main voice cast members bring to their roles?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY: Christopher Meloni is a very serious actor and really got into the character to understand all the little nuances of exactly what Hal was thinking at every moment. He would ask very interesting, detailed, unexpected questions so he could totally get the mind set, and in doing so he was able to deliver an incredible performance that that really defines Hal as a confident hero, but not cocky or a jerk. Hal Jordan has a humor to him that isn’t quite as big as the Flash, but still not stiff like Batman. Christopher was able to give us that fun side of Hal, too.
Victor Garber has this intimidating presence and power behind his deliveries where you can hear that Sinestro knows what he’s doing, he’s been through this before and he’s pretty sure of himself. He gives Sinestro a very believable sense of suave sophistication. Sinestro is not your typical evil villain, and Victor Garber makes him seem like an incredibly intelligent, worldly guy who believes he is doing the right thing, even though he might not be doing it the correct way.
Kilowog is this big, hulking creature and he needed a voice that was really recognizable and had a strong presence. Michael Madsen was able to give us these line readings that we really didnt expect you cant help laughing at his intonations and he ends up with some of the funniest lines in the whole script. He even did some fake burps that are just ridiculous youll actually hear a couple of those in the movie. It was just a match made in heaven, really.
Boodikka is not just your doe-eyed, token female she has strength and believability without losing the feminine qualities of our primary female character. There arent a ton of women in the Green Lantern Corps apparently its a male-dominated industry (she laughs). Tricia Helfer has a really sympathetic quality to her voice that captures the quieter side of Boodikka, but Tricia also has this amazing strength in her voice. She was able to make Boodikka this wonderful, relatable, three-dimensional character.
QUESTION: What made Alan Burnetts script right for this first Green Lantern film?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY: Alan delivered a Green Lantern script that really explored what being a space cop is all about. He didn’t focus purely on the heroic Hal super power approach its more of an overall Green Lantern Corps story and Hal’s existence within that group. And its not Hal on Earth being a super hero were in space for virtually the entire movie, so Alan gave us multiple backgrounds and scene settings so we could explore the galaxy. That made it even more interesting seeing and exploring different alien locales and lifestyles. Being away from Earth is incredibly liberating in terms of design possibilities.
QUESTION: Without any spoilers, do you have a favorite scene?
LAUREN MONTGOMERY We have a scene about 17 minutes into the movie when Hal and Sinestro go into this establishment looking for a killer, and even though youve already seen some of the alien Green Lanterns, this is the first time you get an eyeful of the alien characters that Jose Lopez designed. The place is packed with all these really cool aliens, and theyre all so crazy looking. But you know their personalities immediately. Its a very tense, cool scene and you really get to see how different that world is from Earth. Thats the defining scene from the movie that lets you know youre not in Kansas anymore.
For more information, images and updates, please visit the films official website at www.greenlanternmovie.com.
Suggested captions for attached images: Aliens2.jpg Director Lauren Montgomery said character designer Jose Lopez ran wild in creating a galaxy of new creatures for Green Lantern: First Flight, the all-new DC Universe animated original movie set for distribution July 28, 2009 by Warner Home Video.
Bood11.jpg Lauren Montgomery focused on the big picture in directing Green Lantern: First Flight, but she take the time to do the character design on Boodikka (voiced by Tricia Helfer) for the all-new DC Universe animated original movie set for distribution July 28, 2009 by Warner Home Video.
gl38.jpg Its Hal Jordan to the rescue in Green Lantern: First Flight, the all-new DC Universe animated original movie set for distribution July 28, 2009 by Warner Home Video.
LaurenMontgomery.jpg Director Lauren Montgomery addresses the WonderCon audience during the after the West Coast Premiere of Wonder Woman in February. Montgomerys next film, Green Lantern: First Flight, an all-new DC Universe animated original movie, will be distributed July 28, 2009 by Warner Home Video. (photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu)
Trademark information for the images: GREEN LANTERN Warner Bros. Ent Inc. “Wonder Woman” and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and DC Comics. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the direct-to-video Green Lantern: First Flight animated feature will debut Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 on DVD and Blu-ray disc. Stay tuned for further Green Lantern: First Flight updates.