Comics In Motion

The first step in the Christopher Nolan trilogy is our featured review for this week; Batman Begins, released in 2005. We're delighted to have Jamie Selice on the show to also give her thoughts on the movie. Jamie is the author of screenplay Nightwing and Batgirl: Year One and has been a big fan of the Bat Family after being introduced through the Nolan movies. Please give the screenplay a read. and you can also follow Jamie on Twitter.

Batman Begins was a much darker and more grounded take on the Batman character than had been seen in the previous decade. Key comic stories which influenced the story are Batman: Year One (1987), The Man Who Falls (1989) and The Long Halloween (1996-1997). Batman: Year One was written by Frank Miller and art by David Mazzucchelli, and is generally regarded as one of the best graphic novels of all time. The story looks at his early days as a costumed vigilante and how he develops, makes mistakes and grows. The Man Who Falls (1989) was created by Dennis O'Neil and Dick Giordano, and sees young Bruce fall down a hole and then later leaves Gotham to develop his martial arts and forensic skills. And the Long Halloween, written by Jeph Loeb and art by Tim Sale, also explores Batman's early days of crime fighting.

Some movie details:

IMDB rating: 8.3

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 94%

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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This week we look at the YouTube Red series Cobra Kai. This follows on from the iconic 1984 Karate Kid movie and continues to follow the lives of the original characters and high school rivals Danny LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence.

Karate Kid is a DC character who was created by Jim Shooter and first appeared in Adventure Comics #346 in 1966. Although the 1984 movie had very little to do with this character, Columbia Pictures did first get permission from DC and there is a thank you in the end credits.

Some series details:

IMDB rating: 9.0

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 96%

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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The reaction to Solo: A Star Wars Story has been mixed from the fans, the critics, and is reflected in box office takings below expectations. It's questionable whether this movie will break even, which is unheard of for a Star Wars movie. While Chris is away in New York, we're joined by friend of the show Matt from Jasper Reviews. Find the links to Jasper Reviews YouTube channel below.

We discuss what we thought of Solo, and where we think the Star Wars franchise might go from here.

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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The year 2000 brought about the landmark movie, X-Men by 20th Century Fox. The movie had been in development as early as 1984, but had started to become a reality when Director Brian Singer was brought on board in 1996. The movie received critical praise and was also a commercial success, and demonstrated to the studios that comic team movies could actually work. 

The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kriby, and first appeared in X-Men #1 in 1963. Lee had come up with the idea that his heroes didn't have to be created by some sort of accident, they could just be born that way as mutants. And as they had some "Extra" abilities and powers, that's what he'd call them - "X-Men". The book sales lagged behind Marvel's other titles and so after issue #66, they had started to reprint material. It wasn't until the revamped and much more diverse team was introduced in Giant Size X-Men #1 that the book started to grow in popularity. The introduction of creative team Chris Claremont and John Byrne also had a key influence in growing the book and developing the characters and their interactions.

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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Of all the highly anticipated Star Wars movies to come out in this wave, Solo: A Star Wars story probably hasn’t come with the same level of hype as the others. But what did our hosts make of this exploration into our lovable rogue’s backstory?

Star Wars comics were first produced by Marvel back in 1977 and the first 6 issues were an adaptation of the first Star Wars movie. The comics were adapted from an earlier version of the screen play and the first few issues came out before the movie. The run lasted 9 years, from 1977 to 1986 and produced many stories that expanded on the original story, along with adapting Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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After the success of the 2016 movie, the fourth wall breaking merc with a mouth got his sequel with Deadpool 2. The movie also introduces the concept of X-Force, along with comic characters created in the 1990's like Cable, Domino and Shatterstar. Expectations and anticipation for this sequel have been at peak levels and we've been waiting to see if the reported troubled production issues would have any effect in the end product. 

Some movie details:

IMDB rating: 8.2

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 86%

Director: David Leitch

Writer(s): Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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Deadpool was 2016's surprise success after Ryan Reynold's an co. had spent years trying to push Fox to make the movie. It was the release of previously unseen test footage and internet fan reaction that convinced the studio to give the movie the green light, though the team would need to work with tighter budget constraints than other movies in the X-Men franchise.

Deadpool first appeared in New Mutants #98 (also Domino's first appearence) and was created by Fabien Nicieza and Rob Liefeld back in 1991. Due to the characters aesthetic design by Liefeld and similarity to the DC character Deathstroke, civilian name being Slade Wilson, Nicieza decided on the name Wade Wilson, as a quite public in-joke. Initially cast as a villain, over the years he's been developed by other writers as more of an anti-hero. In particular the Jo Kelly run for Deadpool's self titled series developed a lot of character traits that we know today, including breaking the forth wall.

Some movie details:

IMDB rating: 8.0

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 90%

Director: Tim Miller

Writer(s): Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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The 1998 Blade movie was a commercial success for the peripheral Marvel character. Up to that point DC had led the way with the movie adaptations and Marvel had been left lagging behind.

Wesley Snipes stars as the day walker after initially being lined up for the role in a Black Panther movie. Both hosts recall enjoying this movie when it came out, but listen to see how it holds up.

Some movie details:

IMDB rating: 7.1

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 45%

Director: Stephen Norrington

Writers: David S. Goyer

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

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In this episode we have guest Matt from the Jasper Reviews YouTube channel, the links of which are below. We discuss our thoughts on what may come next for the Avengers in the MCU, and look at theories based on the comic books, the MCU itself, and also from what we know in the real world. Hope you enjoy a bit of indulgence and speculation for Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

Jasper Reviews YouTube link: 

Jasper Reviews Twitter.

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

Support the show with our Amazon link.

UK listener? You could try out a free 30 day Audible trial and and try out their audiobooks.

Email the show at [email protected] or on Twitter or on our Facebook page.

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The Constantine movie came out in 2005 and was loosely based on the Hellblazer Vertigo comic book. The name was changed from Hellblazer to Constantine to avoid any confusion with the Hellraiser movies. The movie was directed by Francis Lawrence and starred Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, Peter Stormare and Tilda Swinton. Borrowing significantly from the Garth Ennis Dangerous Habits story arc while making a significant number of artistic changes, we discuss our thoughts and how well this movie holds up today.

Some movie details:

IMDB rating: 7.0

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 72%

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writers: Jamie Delano (comic book),Garth Ennis (comic book), Kevin Brodbin (story and screenplay) and Frank A. Cappello (screenplay)

There are SPOILERS So if you havent seen the movie please go see if and then come back for the review.

Support the show with our Amazon link.

UK listener? You could try out a free 30 day Audible trial and and try out their audiobooks.

Email the show at [email protected] or on Twitter or on our Facebook page.

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