Canister X – A.P. Fuchs: Zombie, Paranormal Romance and Superhero Novelist, Blogger, Artist, Publisher

Being a lifelong DC and Superman fan, this new Man of Steel trailer has made me go nuts over a live action superhero movie the likes of which I’ve never been before. The recent Batman movies were very, very good and I was eager to see them, but they didn’t have that element of the fantastic because they’re Batman movies. They’re not supposed to. As cool as the whole Marvel Phase One project was, being a DC fan, there was still something missing for me.

Now that missing piece is in place. Even if Man of Steel is only as good as this trailer, the future of DC heroes on the big screen is going to be something bigger and grander than anything ever unleashed on the world, and Marvel–whose presently the leader–should take notice and should start to worry. DC is killing it in the direct-to-DVD features, something Marvel has just stepped up to with Iron Man: Rise of Technovore. In my opinion, though DC Comics has fewer characters than Marvel–that I’m aware of–the mythology attached to each is more interesting and more vast, easy content for the movieverse.

Enough rambling. The great “Who’s Better? DC or Marvel” debate is one I’ve been having with a friend for a decade and a half. Soon, I won’t need to argue. Man of Steel, Justice League and the others to follow will put an end to it, if this trailer has anything to say about it.

On a side note: I don’t know if the music in the trailer is the official Man of Steel score by Hans Zimmer or not, but following in the footsteps of the great “Superman Theme” from John Williams is no easy feat and the music in this trailer got me going and says to me one name: Superman.

Was at the C4 Pop Culture Expo this past weekend. Good times were had by all. C4 has a small show in the spring and then the big whoo-ha in the fall. This year, the spring show was pretty big, about 1/3 the size people-wise as the fall show. Superstar guests included Adam West, Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig. (They were Batman, Robin and Batgirl, respectively, in the 1960s Batman show, for you young ‘uns reading this entry.)

My wife tabled with me. I sold some books and comics; she sold comics and crafts. Met some people, made some cool connections (hello, GMB Chomichuk), and just spent time being a geek. Loved it.

Here are some pics from the event, with a video at the end where I talk about my table, books and comics after being a dork for the first couple seconds.

My wife’s display

My display

Close up of part of my display

Zombie survival pack containing all three Undead World Trilogy books, survival list, exclusive chapbook, capgun and more.

A stack of my kid’s fanzines. They weren’t for sale, but my kid wanted people to see and read them, so why not?

Giant chess

Ben Reilly Spider-Man

Can’t think of the name offhand, but I know what toy series this Batman is from.

Sketch cards I had for sale

More sketch cards

And more

Me and the “new” Spider-Man

My wife mad a Batman wool cap at the con

The Mrs. and Batman

Me and Captain Jack Sparrow

I’ll be making an appearance at the C4 Central Canada Pop Culture Expo this weekend. It runs Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 6pm both days. Just look for my table in Artist Alley. I plan on cosplaying as Wolverine so look for the chubby guy in a tanktop and funky hair and that’ll be me. If I can’t pull of making some homemade Wolvie claws, then I’ll probably be wearing my Superman one-piece PJs, so look for the nerd wearing those.

I have lots of book deals planned, special packages, and more so be sure to stop by even if only to say hi. Please note that unlike “real” celebrities, I don’t charge for autographs so if you have a book of mine you want signed, bring it by the table and I’ll be happy to lend my John Hancock for free.

The more distinguished guests at the con will be Adam West, Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig of 1960s Batman fame. The classic batmobile will also be there so that’s definitely worth checking out.

On Sunday, Rhiannon Paille and I will be doing a panel entitled “Lit Fest Preview,” in which we’ll be talking about the upcoming C4 Lit Fest–I’m a guest there–and what you can expect to see at that writer’s conference.

I tabled at the spring C4 show last year and had a blast. Really excited for this weekend. Hoping for a good turn out, and I hope you can be a part of it.

It’s been a long, long wait for me for this teaser. The past few weeks I’ve be regularly googling for news as to when specifically it’s coming out. When I found out it’s playing in front of The Dark Knight Rises, I knew I was in for not just one awesome Bat-movie, but also a super preview. Unfortunately, the midnight showing of Batman didn’t have any trailers and jumped right into the flick.

But here we are, two The Man of Steel teaser trailers officially released by Warner Bros. They’re both the same, but each have a different voice-over. One by Jor-El (Russell Crowe), the other by Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner).

And they’re incredible. They show you next to nothing and are a mood-setter for sure, but, to me, they show this will be a story about Clark Kent’s journey leading up to Superman, everything from his important heritage, to his place in the world, to the discover of his power, and, based on rumors, plenty of action to boot.

Henry Cavill looks like Superman. To me, he actually looks like a more mature Tom Welling, though Tom is older than him in real life. Nice transition from Smallville to Superman for this fanboy.

I’m excited, but now I have to wait a whole year until it’s release. Actually, about 11 months as I believe it’s coming out June 20, 2013. Still.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you TWO The Man of Steel teaser trailers.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Review by A.P. Fuchs

5 out of 5

It has been eight years since the Batman took the wrap for the murder of District Attorney Harvey Dent. Eight years since the last time the Dark Knight was spotted in Gotham. The streets are safe, the police are receiving praise for doing a good job–except Commissioner James Gordon knows it’s all based on a lie. About to come clean of what really happened that fateful night, Gotham is suddenly thrown into chaos at the hands of a mastermind, muscle-loaded criminal named Bane. With the city about to fall, the Batman must return to restore order to his beloved city otherwise it will fall into the hands of a sadistic genius bent on its destruction. To complicate matters, a mysterious female cat burglar is working out an agenda of her own and her endgame is tied into the legacy of Bruce Wayne.

Will Batman rise from the shadows to defeat evil once more, or has he had his day and should have stayed in the dark?

Saw the midnight screening of this gem before it hit theatres all over the world. This movie is epic on a scale that is hard to fit into a simple review, especially since I don’t want to give away any key plot points and/or spoilers.

The Dark Knight Rises picks up immediately after The Dark Knight storyline-wise, and eight years later in movie-time. Running throughout the whole flick are threads from Batman Begins and Dark Knight, plotlines that reach their ultimate climax in what I have to say is one of the best endings to a trilogy I’ve ever seen. It’s on par with, third-movie-wise, Return of the Jedi and Return of the King. All comes to a head as we’re led down a deep tunnel into who Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) truly is and what being Batman has done to him. Glimpses of his scarred psyche were hinted at in the previous two movies, but really get hit home in an emotional and powerful way throughout this final installment.

Batman himself also shines as he gets to show off his physical skill against a villain that can truly stand toe-to-toe with him, something we never saw in the previous two films. The battle with Bane (Tom Hardy) is realistic, strongly-delivered, and one where this reviewer felt the punches thrown as if it was happening to him. Yeah, it was that good of a fight.

The other Bat-flicks struggled with having two villains in the same movie. To be honest, I never thought I’d see the day where a superhero movie would have more than one villain and be just as good of a movie as if it had just one. Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is the best rendition of the character I’ve seen on screen, both in movies and on TV. She had to play multiple roles given her identity as a thief and work her deception in such a way that a lot of the time we weren’t sure who’s side she was on. I’m an Anne Hathaway fan, but this movie easily contains her best career performance to date.

Bane was a crazy good villain, a kind of cross between Joker–intelligence-wise–and Ra’s Al Ghul–combat-wise–of the previous two movies. Especially since most of his face was covered with a mask throughout the whole flick, Tom Hardy had to act with his eyes in such a way as to deliver a performance as if he wasn’t wearing a mask at all. It was something he did in spades. Bane was one of those on-screen villains that you were afraid of because he’s that smart and that powerful and that sadistic.

Gary Oldman did an amazing job, as usual, as Jim Gordon, and Sir Michael Caine nailed it once again as Alfred. In fact, I’d be shocked if Sir Michael didn’t get an Oscar nomination for his emotional portrayal of a hard-headed vigilante’s butler.

It’d be so easy to give away several key plot points in this review, but I’m keeping it vague on purpose because you simply need to see this movie for yourself. You might think you have it figured out, but you’d be wrong, my friend.

All dangling story threads from the previous two movies are resolved, the SFX did its job but the movie didn’t rely on it, and The Dark Knight Rises had one of the best movie endings in history, to me, one equal to the incredibly-satisfying ending of The Shawshank Redemption.

Hats off to director Christopher Nolan and crew for the amazing stories and respect they delivered to Bat-fans everywhere throughout the entire Dark Knight Trilogy.

Good watch Batman. You must return to Gotham.

You must.

Recommended.

With The Dark Knight Rises coming out this Friday–I have my tickets for tomorrow’s midnight show!–I thought the below is fitting, and also a chance to show a couple neat takes on the Dark Knight, ones you won’t see in theatres.

Batman vs Batman vs Batman

The Batman Complex

The Dark Knight Rises: Batman the Animated Series Style

There comes a time in every superhero fan’s life when he looks at a character and just stands in awe. I am a Superman fan. Have been always and always will be, but this new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises looks so incredibly good that–gasp!–I think it’ll rival, if not outdo, The Dark Knight and any other superhero flick that came before it. Except maybe Watchmen, but that’s a whole other thing. I know they used part of the Bane-breaks-Batman’s-back storyline from Knightfall. I also recall seeing thumbnails of the graphic novels inspiring this flick and Batman: The Long Halloween was on there. These are incredibly good stories and doing an amalgam of them–plus the various plot points from the previous Bat-flicks–is genius.

I mean, c’mon! Look at this trailer!

This is an incredible trailer, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Batman fan. This trailer seriously invokes the tone of the overall movie, one of courage, defeat, perseverance, and ultimately, we hope, victory.

Seeing Bane really act in this trailer for the first time made me see that, yes, Christopher Nolan et al. are using the Knightfall storyline, merging it with the current movie Batman mythos, while also giving the story a new twist with Catwoman, which I suspect has a kind of hero/villain role in this given the trailer.

Looking forward to July getting here. I also heard a Superman: Man of Steel will be playing in front of Dark Knight Rises. Going to be a DC-riffic summer.

Just got back into this game a couple nights back. So amazingly good that if you haven’t been playing–and replaying and replaying and replaying–then I feel bad for you.

Aside from the current DLCs: Catwoman, Nightwing, Robin; and all the challenge maps and amazing Batman skins–nevermind the bonus skins that come with Nightwing, Robin and Catwoman–Rocksteady Studios have unleashed the final chapter in the ridiculously awesome game that is Batman: Arkham City.

A Harley Quinn DLC. From the looks of it, it takes place after the main campaign story. Won’t say more in case you haven’t played, but I heard it’s a two-hour campaign and, I’m sure, it’s going to be utterly twisted.

What’s even better is instead of having to buy all the bonus DLCs like before, they ALL come in the Game of the Year Edition of Batman: Arkham City. You also get Batman: Year One, which was pretty good.

Sweet, but, alas, I have the game and the DLCs aside from the Harley one. I suspect that’ll be downloadable via the PS3 store in due time.

Truly can’t wait for the Harley story.

Nope.

Won’t wait.

Here’s the trailer:

Christopher Nolan and team has just released the new official trailer for next summer’s The Dark Knight Rises. Just like the teaser, it shows you everything but nothing at the same time. What I found particularly interesting about this new trailer is that Batman is hardly in it, something you wouldn’t think would be part of a trailer promoting a superhero movie.

It’s enough of a hook that makes me wish I could pre-order my ticket to the box office now than wait another seven months.

Here’s the trailer:

As for the poster, folks online have been finding hidden elements. The first two were nods to the upcoming Superman: Man of Steel movie: the S shield. (Seen in blue.)

My good buddy, Doug Mann–be the Captain Attention-to-Detail guy that he is–pointed out to me a couple more: the famous stitch marks as worn by serial killer Zsasz, as well as a shadowy shot of the Bat cowl. (Seen in red.)