This guys colored pencils are just amazing….SUCH REALISM!
Jun 182018
Mar 182018
The last chapter of the acclaimed video game series BATMAN TELLTALE: THE ENEMY WITHIN is about to be released and it promises to be the culmination of the origin story of the Joker and Harley Quinn. I personally don’t play the game, but the graphics are decent. It is a pitty that they deviated from the original origin story of the Clown Prince of Crime as I believe this one, makes him slightly weak in my eyes. Here is the report and the trailer for the series:
“What would you choose: a friend whose unhinged approach to justice turns your allies against you, or a sworn enemy who will stop at nothing to see you suffer as your city burns? Based on the relationship you’ve built with John Doe, you’ll see one of two very different stories play out. So what’ll it be, Bruce: friend…or foe?”
As the description indicates, the choices players have made over the course of the season will determine which story – and which version of The Joker – they’ll see in the finale. Same Stitch features two totally separate takes on the fully evolved John Doe: one a ruthless villain that hews closer to the classic Clown Prince of Crime and the other an unpredictable vigilante that’s unlike any other portrayal of DC’s iconic character.
In total, Same Stitch contains three and a half hours of content spread across two completely distinct storylines that share, at most, only three overlapping scenes. Each of those storylines includes further conditional variations that reflect players’ earlier choices and make Same Stitch, mathematically, Telltale’s “branchiest” episode ever. With over 4,500 lines of dialogue divided among 38 characters, the overall script for the episode is larger than Christopher Nolan’s entire Dark Knight trilogy.
“Without exaggeration, Same Stitch is the most ambitious piece of content Telltale has ever produced,” says Season Lead Writer James Windeler. “We had to adjust our usual development process to accommodate the added scope, but it was super important to us to honor players’ choices, whether they chose to befriend John or not. We had to deliver on the season’s central promise of allowing players to craft their own Joker.”
The final episode is set to launch on March 27th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and mobile players!
(Original article from COMICBOOK/WWG HERE)
May 122017
The Joker returns to the pages of BATMAN in a new story arc where he faces off the Riddler. This new story is the new creative baby of Rebirth Batman writer TOM KING and Comic Book/DCs Kofi Outlaw sat with King to discuss the details of this new story arc. Here is the transcript of most of the interview.
…
We know the story arc is called “A War of Jokes and Riddles” and features the lure of seeing two of Batman’s most iconic foes – The Joker and The Riddler – go headed to head!
However, know King has taken to Twitter to reveal so much more about the story arc…
- King describes “The War of Jokes and Riddles” as “a story of the past that will shape the future of the DCU.”
- War of Jokes and Riddles is an 8 part epic starting in Batman 25. Scripts by me. Art by my genius brother, [Mikel Janín].
- “A year after he began, Batman thinks he understands the pain and power of Gotham. And the war comes, and he learns he knows nothing.”
- “Joker vs. Riddler, a war that divides and destroys his city. In the midst of the carnage, will the Dark Knight rise again or finally fall?”
Batman-News also added the following info, from Tom King’s appearance at FAN EXPO Dallas over the weekend:
- The basic premise: the Joker and the Riddler clash, as neither one wants the other to destroy Batman and rob them of the satisfaction. This causes a “gang war” to erupt with people taking sides, all while Batman is caught in the middle trying to keep the city safe.
- We’ll see some cool fights, like Deadshot vs. Deathstroke and Solomon Grundy vs. Killer Croc.
- The arc will be broken up into acts, after a fashion: issues 25-26, 28-29, and 31-32 will be part of the main story, with art by Mikel Janín.
- Issues 27 and 30 will feature a guest artist he couldn’t announce at the time, and they will take a look at what it means be a bottom-tier villain during one of these big wars. It may or may not focus on Kite-Man.
What’s most interesting for fans is seeing these to very specifically-themed diabolical characters (Jokers illogical chaos against Riddlers high logic methods) square off. One would expect a sort of psychotic prank war, wherein the masses of Gotham are unfortunate collateral damage. Either way, sounds like a great read!
(original interview was published first at COMIC BOOK/DC HERE)
Here is a small piece of art from the comic story:
The Joker is tired of riddles. pic.twitter.com/Kd4huscWMR
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) April 3, 2017
May 112017
Probably old news to most, but the original INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US game has released a new challenges based on the successful SUICIDE SQUAD movie. The challenges will be slowly released and so far include Dead shot, Harley and of course the Joker. Joker comes in a suited and shirtless versions. Dialogue and moves are not that different than the original Joker version of the game.
Mar 102017
Well, well…that was a total surprise at the end of Batman Beyond #5. The story started with a big teaser that the Jokerz, a band of loyal followers of the original Joker, might have gotten hold of the Clown Prince of Crimes’ body and were trying to resurrect him, but were they really? Well, without giving more away, the plot had a nice twist (though slightly disappointing for some at the beginning) that kept the story somewhat interesting, at least for me. Then at the end…well…POW! and I now are a believer that DC’s REBIRTH might not be a total loss if its capable of bringing back some of the best Batman villains around even after their demise. Here is an excerpt of an interview with Dan Jurgens on the subject.
SPOILERS ALERT! SPOILERS ALERT!
Original Article by: Vaneta Rogers for Newsarama
For the full interview please visit HERE
In the last few issues of Batman Beyond, readers have gotten a slew of surprises – the disappearance of Tim Drake, the return of both Terry McGinnis and Bruce Wayne, and Dana discovering Terry’s secret identity.
But at the end of Batman Beyond #5, readers found out that one of the small, side characters in the storyline was actually the Joker.
And according to Batman Beyond writer Dan Jurgens, there are plenty more surprises coming, as the book begins a new storyline in March 22’s Batman Beyond #6 that features the villain Ra’s Al Ghul. Newsarama talked to Jurgens to find out more about his plans for the Joker in the future, how recent developments will change the book, and how else “Rebirth” might tie into Batman Beyond.
Newsarama: Wow, Dan, you certainly sprung a surprise on readers at the end of last week’s issue. Was the return of Joker a “resurrection” you’ve been planning for awhile?
Dan Jurgens: Bringing the Joker back was definitely one of the things I had in mind for a while.
One of the things that made Rebirth work for Batman Beyond was the idea of returning Terry McGinnis and Bruce Wayne to their proper places. However, I wanted to build another surprise into the Bruce Wayne story and that was bringing back the Joker as well.
Given the characters, it seems fitting. Especially since the Jokerz, a group of Jokeresque acolytes, have always been a part of the story. What better way to give them importance than by giving them their idol back?
Nrama: Will we find out where the Joker has been all this time?
Jurgens: Eventually, perhaps. I think the Joker is a somewhat better character when he’s shrouded in mystery and we don’t know every aspect of his life.
Nrama: The end of the issue said “The beginning…”; is the next “chapter” of Joker’s story in the future already planned by you?
Jurgens: There are a couple of things I have in mind, but our next story takes us in a different direction. There are many facets of Terry, Bruce, and their future world that I want to explore.
Nrama: Now that Bruce is back, how does that change the dynamic of the book?
Jurgens: Terry was very isolated when he came back to put on the Batman suit. Bringing Bruce back allows us to not only continue to concentrate on Terry, but to explore a different aspect of his personality through his relationship with Bruce.
Terry McGinnis is most certainly not Bruce Wayne, yet both have been identified as Batman. So the question becomes, how well can Terry do the job when he’s not as driven as Bruce?
And as part of that, how does Bruce treat him?
Nrama: Will Max and Matt even be part of Terry’s team anymore?
Jurgens: Max and Matt will absolutely be part of the team going forward. That’s actually one of the things that Bruce has to adjust to, and it isn’t necessarily easy for him.
Nrama: Those aren’t the only big changes in the book -Dana is aware of his life as Batman. How does that affect the story that’s coming up?
Jurgens: Terry’s relationship with Dana touches on one of the things I talked about earlier, which is the way that his life is different than Bruce Wayne’s. I don’t see Terry being as driven as Bruce, and that makes him a substantially different Batman.
Again – the whole idea is to explore these characters through the ways they interact with each other.
Nrama: What can you tell us about the next big story, that teases Ra’s Al Ghul?
Jurgens: The world 40-some years from now is a very different kind of place – one that offers tremendous opportunity for Ra’s.
And I think we all know that when Ra’s has an opening, he’s the kind of guy who seizes on it.
(…)
Sep 072016
The INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES recently reported that thou the Joker’s laugh at the end of season 2 was indeed a proof that the “Joker idea” is not forgotten and that Cameron will be back it seems that the fans will not have a Joker until the mid-to-late part of season 3. Well, hoping that they keep the high standards that the series has had in the writing, maybe it is going to be worth the wait.
Here is a copy of the original report by
“Gotham” fans were confused when Cameron Monaghan’s Joker bit the dust sometime during Season 2, but they got their hopes up that the villain will make his way back to the show when they heard his laugh in the finale.
Executive producer Ken Woodruff told TV Guide that fans were right that they heard the Joker’s trademark laugh. However, Jerome Valeska (alter ego of the Joker) won’t be returning just yet.
“[The laugh] was really to keep [the Joker] alive, to keep Jerome and that threat of the Joker alive. We wanted to make sure fans don’t feel that we’re completely done with [the mythology of the Joker] because we are 100 percent, absolutely not,” he explained.
Woodruff added that it’s not something they’re going to explore right away when Season 3 starts, and they will only start to unravel the mystery of the Joker sometime in the middle of the season.
“We are absolutely planning in Season 3 – but primarily in the mid to second half of Season 3 – to delve back into the mythology of the Joker, and characters that may or may not be the Joker – but more likely characters that are an amalgamation of what we’ll come to know as the Joker,” Woodruff teased.
He said there will be an “underground” movement trying to fulfill the Joker’s legacy, and they hope to expand it should the show bag a fourth season.
Meanwhile, Woodruff told IGN that they have already introduced Harley Quinn in the past two seasons, and fans might have just missed her. “You may have already seen Harley as a person that you thought you had met and known for a long time. So we always reserve the right to sort of do that as well,” he said.
As for Ed Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), he will go “full-on Riddler” in Season 3. “I’m out of Arkham as a free man, not a fugitive, so I have this amazing opportunity for rebirth,” Smith told Briotainment.
And Harley already introduced but missed in the past two seasons? Hmmm, what could that mean? Hopefully not that they want to make either Barbara Kean (much talked about) or Leslie Thompkins as possible candidates. Innovative as the idea might sound, I don’t think that it will go too well with the fans. We’ll see…only a few days left until the new season starts.
(Watch GOTHAM again this fall starting on September 19, at 8:00pm in FOX)
May 302016
..and we fans love him for that.
And that is because Mark Hamill, is the best known voice of the Joker in animation and video games.
He started voicing the Clown Prince of Crime in BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS) in 1992 after the original voice actor for the role, Tim Curry, was deemed too scary for the role. Once Hamill took the helm of the role he made him his and came to be portrayed on subsequent animated series like SUPERMAN ADVENTURES, STATIC SHOCK, and the JUSTICE LEAGUE. His haunting, maniacal, and crazed laugh is likely forever stuck in the heads and became the trademark of the character.
He even voiced the Joker in several animated movies like BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER and the BATMAN SUPERMAN MOVIE.
Not satisfied with the animated media, Hamill made the jump to the video game industry when he was cast as the voice of the Joker first for the game BATMAN: VENGEANCE based on his BTAS character and lately for the ARKHAM ASYLUM/ ARKHAM CITY/ARKHAM KNIGHT video games series. He also went on to voice the Clown for other animated games like DC Universe Online.
Hamill then retired but was open to return for voicing Joker in an animated adaptation of THE KILLING JOKE…
…that has finally been completed and ready to hit the stores in August 2, 2016. But that has not stopped Hamill who is supposed to return to his character once more for the Cartoon Network TV show, JUSTICE LEAGUE ACTION, which will likely premiere sometime in the next year.
As Hamill has played the Joker longer than any other actor, it’s no surprise that he’s spent more than a bit of time trying to get inside the Clown Prince of Crime’s warped head. In the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, he had this to offer about arguably the most intriguing super villain of all time:
Joker is always frustrated because he doesn’t think of himself as a villain…He thinks of himself as an under-appreciated genius. The citizens of Gotham City don’t accord him the reverence and the acclaim he feels he deserves. I give him that theatrical impresario voice, like the Jose Ferrer character in Enter Laughing. The Joker has a flamboyance that appeals to me. He enjoys what he does so much. I just can’t quit him.
Of course, the most exciting bit out of this is that it would seem Hamill has no intentions of giving up the role anytime soon, which will no doubt make a lot of fans very, very happy. However, the glimpse into the Joker’s mind that he also offered fans with this quote is also quite intriguing as well.
Anyone who’s watched Hamill’s version of the Joker knows that this description fits him perfectly. He does have more of a classic criminal attitude about him than some other iterations (such as Ledger’s anarchist), but the reason he ultimately does all of the crazy things that he does is to show off his comedic, criminal genius.
(Based on original article by Zain Charkawi for OUTER PLACES which you can read HERE)
May 192016
DC’s Rebirth is on the way, and it’s not just the logo that’s getting a makeover. Plenty of characters will be getting a costume refresh in DC’s roster shake-up as well. It seems like the clown prince of crime might be one of them, judging by this gorgeous variant cover by Rafael Albuquerque.
Albuquerque posted the Fried Pie Comics variant cover for Batman #1, due out July 15th to Instagram today—and while he doesn’t explicitly confirm that this is the Rebirth Joker, a presumption can be made, considering it’s gracing the cover of one of the event’s biggest new series.
While it might not be the Joker’s new design, it would not be surprising if it was, when you consider the more-than-passing resemblance to Jared Leto’s Joker (just, you know, minus the crazy tattoos).
The suit is obviously a callback to the Joker’s threads in The Dark Knight Returns—although we have seen set pictures revealing that Leto’s Joker wears a similar getup at some point in Suicide Squad—but the haircut and general frame of this Joker definitely seem to be evoking the new cinematic take. It wouldn’t be the first time DC’s done this either, with Harley Quinn getting a Suicide Squad makeover in the comics recently [that definitely resembled her Suicide Squad movie counterpart].
(Original article by James Whitbrook at GIZMODO.COM HERE)
Apr 242016
Robin: “HOLY PASTRY CHEF, BATMAN…. is that–”
Joker: Yes, Boy Blunder…. be amazed by this delicious pastry masterpiece created by the geniuses at Laura Miller’s SWEET AS SUGAR. The artists took my handsome portrait, inspired by the SIDESHOW 1:1 SCALE BUST and gave it a sweet twist. The cake won a GOLD AWARD at the Birmingham Cake International exhibition in November 2014 ( and well deserved it was).
Batman: “This cannot be true…”
Joker: “Oh BAT-DODO…DON’T HATE! The masses love me…what can I say. I can’t stop admiring myself in that cake..”
Apr 232016
VALLEJO (KCBS) – The biggest roller coaster to open in Northern California in more than a decade is getting ready to open at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo.
Roller coaster enthusiasts gathered Friday for a hard hat tour of “The Joker,” named after the villain in Batman.
Amusement park blogger Kris Rowberry told KCBS he’s ridden on 250 roller coasters around the world. He was in awe of the latest creation at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
“This ride is just about as insane as its namesake, the Joker. This is probably the most anticipated ride in 20 years in Northern California, and with good reason,” Rowberry said.
Six Flags spokesperson Nancy Chan said there’s 3,200 feet of twisting and turning track that is supposed to contain 15 extreme airtime moments. Perhaps the biggest attraction?
“Goes right into a couple of elements, one of which is a brand new elementcalled a step-up under slip, which is an inverted roll. It literally takes people horizontally, and then upside down. So there are three inversions on this coaster, so this is crazy,” Chan said.
Chan expects the ride to open to the public later this spring.
NBC reported:
The biggest question is when the ride will open. Six Flags is staying mum on an exact date, but estimates that fans will finally get a taste of “The Joker” by the end of May.
Here is a sneak Peak:
(Original article at CBS SF Bay Area HERE)