Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Batman!

A while back I asked for prompts for writing this blog, and I want to thank Andy for this:

Still waiting to hear what you think of your recent Bat-reads.
Batman as he was depicted in Batman: The Anima...
Batman as he was depicted in Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 OK, cool.  So, for a refresher, in the Spring I took an EdX course on The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact on Pop Culture. It was pretty cool and I recommend it when it comes back around.

So there was a "suggested reading" list, and I've been chipping at it  bit by bit. I just finished DC: The New Frontier, as a matter of fact, which I loved.

Now, my first real experiences with Batman were thanks to the late, lamented WB network. That was a lock for me on Saturday mornings well into high school: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain,  and whatever DCAU offerings were on that season. Batman: The Animated Series begat The New Batman-Superman Adventures, which is turn led to Batman Beyond and Static Shock on broadcast TV (which I watched at the time) and Justice League and Justice League Unlimited on cable (which I watched years later, thanks to Cartoon Network, DVDs, and Netflix).

I've seen all of the theatrical Batman movies (...I think.  I can't remember if I've seen the Adam West version all the way through, though if not I know I've seen most of it).

But these are all smaller, more self-contained canons.  The DC Comics canon is so overwhelming that even they can't quite limit it to 52 alternate universes, and that's even with multiple "crisis" reboots.

I'm not even touching Marvel right now.

So I'm really enjoying my Bat-education.  But I know I have a lot to learn, and since I'm not looking to get a PhD in Bat-studies, I know I'll never learn all of it.

But that's the beauty of geekdom. Someone, somewhere -- quite possibly with an actual, legitimate PhD in Bat-studies -- knows the answer.  And an official alternate answer.  And a couple of good fanfics if I don't like either of those.

So, let's see what our heroes do next.


Updated 10/23/15 to fix typos.

2 comments:

  1. Awesome-sauce! If you want to chat about anything you've been reading, feel free to drop me a line.
    It's not like, y'know, I wrote a book about all this or anything... *halo*

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  2. Well, now, you need to link the boys and girls at home to your book :)

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