Daily Dose Of DC…
Legendary artist – Adam Hughes – has been rendering stunning works of art since the mid eighties. His first foray into the comic-book world was a pin up centrefold for Eagle #6 in 1987, since that time Adam has become a firm favourite with comic fans across the globe, working for the big two – DC and Marvel and several indie publishers, for me though it was his sensational run of Catwoman covers that spanned issues #42 through to #82 (2005-2008) that stamped him as my all time favourite Selina Kyle creative.
Did you know though, that the inspiration for these spectacular cover images of the princess of plunder was none other than acclaimed actress – Audrey Hepburn? Adam is a lifelong fan of the beloved thespian and when asked about the similarities between Selina and Audrey in his imagery said – “My personal inspiration for Catwoman has always been Audrey Hepburn, my favourite face ever”
Comic Cover Of The Week: Titans #1
Welcome, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to another compelling compilation of cool comic covers, courteously celebrating DC’s (as of right now) premium Superhero team – Titans. Brought to you from the prominent pen of Tom Taylor, this series reunites the fan favourite writer with artistic auteur, Nicola Scott, whose previous work together was on the fantastic New 52 series – Earth 2.
The Dark Crisis is now over, and the famed Justice League are deceased, now a new team of superheroes must rise to protect the planet – the Titans! The Titans are teens no more, with each member originally joining the group as a younger hero with the hopeful prospect of one day being invited to join the league itself, but with the cataclysmic outcome set forth by former hero turned villain – Pariah, the time has come for the young heroes to not join the league, but replace it!
But, are these fledgling heroes even ready for the major leagues? with danger lurking around every corner, as both villains, and heroes alike challenge the new team before they’ve even started, a new dawn of DC has seemingly begun.
Titans #1 Is Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium, Right Now!
V’s Quote Of The Week…
With our usual quotee; Rorschach on an extended leave (due mainly to Dr Manhattan literally obliterating him on the spot!?) he has, once more, handed over the reins to fellow masked avenger and valorous victor of the valiant vox-populi – “V“, and V believes this quote to be rather judicious at this juncture.
(Yep, over here in the UK, our totalitarian government have just learned about the power of the people, as they’ve just had their biggest drubbing (UK slang for defeat) in political history in the local elections, losing over a thousand seats! We’re doing our best to mend this broken country, please stand by…
Precinct1313’s Monthly Swag-Bag!
We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of, erm… comics! Ok, ok, so my local comic shop guy may not be a 100% bonafide wizard, but what he does manage to do is conjure up some very cool stuff for me to purchase, each and every month, much to my delirious delight (yet, my wallet and bank account fail to share in my enthusisasm!) So, what glorious goodies have we managed to procure this month? Well…
Let’s begin our geeky gallivanting with this bodacious brace of Batmobiles. Masterfully modelled after the most recent filmic variation of the world’s most famous fictional car, we managed to pick up both the Lego-mobile and Jada Toys rather wonderful Die-Cast version, with both packs also packing a diddy (diddy is slang for small in the UK, fact fans!) version of Robert Pattinson’s Batman!
Next we enter the murky waters of this villainous version of Batman, surreptitiously surfing onto our shelves is this spectacular statue of Bryce Wayne aka: The Drowned! I fell in love with this statue as soon as I saw how awesome the base was! I always love when the manufacturers take the time to add a bit of diorama to a figure, rather than just a plain stand, and this one is a doozy!
And, my absolute favourite pick up this month was this delightful double pack of the dynamically dysfunctional duo that are – Blue Beetle (Ted Kord version, ie: the best version!) and Booster Gold! I absolutely love these characters so was deliriously happy to get my fevered mitts on this dazzling doublet. Nicely articulated and magnificently modelled, this set also comes with a diorama stand, Beetle’s BB gun, and Booster Gold’s robotic buddy – Skeets.
I also spied these Batman lollipops in my local Sainsburys supermarket and just couldn’t resist, once again, pulling out the ol’ Bat-wallet and purchasing, problem is, they’re milk chocolate and I’m vegan, so I shall just stare at the fantastic foil wrapping and donate the choc to my next door neighbour.
Phew! That was an expensive one this month, and this doesn’t even include the comics and trades I also bought, of course, the real problem I have now is… where in the name of Zeus’ gnarly beard am I going to display all this new stuff, I mean, look at my shelves, bustling to the brim with cool toys, oh well, there’s always the floor…
Join us again next month for even more spectacular swag, fellow fans of fantastic fiction!
Superman Is 85 Years Old, Today!
85 Years Of The Man Of Steel…
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… Superman’s 85th anniversary!! Hey there, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, and welcome to the eighty fifth anniversary of, quite possibly, the most iconic superhero of all time. That’s right, that big blue boyscout – Clark Kent – made his first ever appearance on this very day eight and a half decades back, and he’s still battling locomotives, leaping tall buildings, and outrunning bullets in the space year of 2023!
Supes was ushered into existence by writer – Jerry Siegel, and artist – Joe Shuster in Action Comics #1 which released on 18th April 1938 (even though the cover date was June, most comics at that time were cover dated a month or two ahead of their proposed release date)
Sent to Earth as a baby by his parents after their homeworld of Krypton was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, Kal-El, later given the Earth name of – Clark Kent – was found and raised by the kindly couple – Jonathan and Martha Kent in the fictional american town of Smallville. Clark as he grew, developed superhuman abilities that include, flight, super-strength and near invulnerability, which would eventually propel him to taking on the mantle of Earth’s greatest guardian and Metropolis’ favourite son (much to Lex Luthor’s chagrin)
To help celebrate the first flight of the last son of Krypton, DC Comics’ are releasing an 85th anniversary collection, containing a wealth of tantalising tales encompassing many great writers and artists that have contributed to the man of tomorrow’s continuing popularity and fandom, laudable luminaries that include – Jerry Siegel, Grant Morrison, John Byrne, Joe Shuster, Tim Sale and the late, great George Perez.
And, if you’re still craving even more red cape and boots action, then also be on the look out for the anniversary blu-ray collection of Christopher Reeve’s iconic five movie outing as the man who thought a phone box (booth to all you american fans!) was a legitimate place to change his clothes!!
Happy Birthday, Clark!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Battle Of The Batmen!
That’s correct, old chum, these burly, brawly bodacious Batmen are battling it out once more, to see which of these utterly captivating comic cover classics end up on top of this breathtaking bat-pile! Delightful and dazzling DC Comics have bestowed upon us, humble comic book fans, another perfect plethora of phenomenal pictorials starring everyone’s favourite curmudgeonly creature of the night – The Batman, but which of these cool and creatively compelling covers will win out in the end… only YOU can decide.
Another month, another bustling, brimming battalion of brush-stroked Batmen! DC Comics know what their frenzied fans want, and that is, apparently, a cavernous cadre of crazy chiroptera clad comic covers, there’s more images of the dark and surly one here than you could shake a batarang at, but which of this cavalcade of caped crusaders is your fave? Why not sound off in the comments below, fellow fans of fantastic fiction!
Batman #134 – Variant Cover By – Stanley (Artgerm) Lau
The Batman & Scooby Doo Mysteries #7 – Cover by – Dario Brizuela
Batman #134 – Cover By – Joe Quesada
Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #6 – Cover By – Marc Silvestri
Batman Incorporated #7 – Cover By – Mico Suayan
This Brethren Of Bodacious Bat-Books Are Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium, Right Now!
Batman and all related characters and imagery are copyright: DC Comics.
Daily Dose Of DC…
On this very day, 84 years ago, The Batman made his first ever appearance in Detective Comics #27, featured in the thrilling tale – The Case Of The Chemical Syndicate – brought to you by his astounding architects – Bill Finger and Bob Kane.
The highest graded copy of ‘Tec #27 is a CGC 9.2 Near Mint, which, if it was to ever see auction today is estimated to exceed a staggering £2.5 million pounds (around $3 million dollars) The most expensive copy ever sold was a CGC 8.0 Very Fine, which sold in 2010 for a whopping £890,000 or $1.1 million!
Happy Birthday Bruce!
Comic Cover Of The Week: Action Comics #1052
Welcome, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to another cool and compelling cadre of classy comic covers! And this week we don our red boots and cape to move faster than a speeding bullet, and leap tall buildings in a single bound to guarantee we get our fevered mitts on this particularly gorgeous rendering of the Super-Family, courtesy of the terrifically talented, Steve Beach.
Plus, for all you steadfast Superman stockpilers, there is also a titanic and tantalising trinity of vivacious and vaunted variants, daringly delivered unto you by astonishing artistic auteurs – Rafa Sandoval, Clayton Henry and Khary Randolph.
Super Synopsis: Metallo Attacks! The crown jewel of Superman’s new Metropolis is in ruins, and the increasingly violent Blue Earth movement is managing to keep the entire Super-Family on their toes. Meanwhile, Metallo’s powerful new body is evolving in hitherto unforeseen and horrific ways. As Metallo’s life and sanity continue to unravel, he sets out to capture the only person who can help him, John Henry Irons, aka Steel! And so, a super showdown between Metallo and Steel beckons as the new era of Action Comics continues!
Action Comics #1052 Is Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Happy 40th Anniversary – Jason Todd!
“Tell me what bothers you more, Bruce, that your greatest failure has returned from the grave, or that I’ve become a better Batman than you!?”
As I’ve mentioned on a number of occasions, I’ve been a huge fan of the big, bad bat since the tender age of six, and though I initially discovered the character in the late seventies, I was way too young to appreciate the nuance and depth of the tantalising tales that beset my young eyes in publications such as Batman and Detective Comics. And so, it was the eighties that my appreciation of the Caped Crusader really took flight, through scintillating storylines regaled to me by such luminaries as Gerry Conway, Frank Miller and Alan Grant. The eighties were also a time of change for the Dynamic Duo themselves, as Batman’s lifelong partner against crime – Dick Grayson vacated his role as teen sidekick – Robin, all grown up and now wearing his big boy pants, he flew the nest and became the fun loving quip-tastic costumed crimefighter known as Nightwing!
Leaving poor ol’ Batsy rudderless, as Dick acted as his moral compass and helped bear a lot of the pain and pressure that comes with wading through the villainous detritus that the streets of Gotham spewed forth, Batman’s crusade got darker, and the bat himself, meaner and even more violent, a Batman without Robin was a minacious prospect. Luckily (or, maybe not so, with context) Batman would soon have a new soldier in his never ending fight against crime, a young street urchin named Jason Todd, a troubled youth who looked set to live a troubled life, in fact the first time Batsy met the wayward juvenile, he was in the middle of boosting the tyres… from the Batmobile!
And so, a new Robin was born, as Batman took the teen terror under his (bat)wing and attempted to instil a sense of righteouness and discipline into his new ward. Unlike the previous Boy Wonder, who was an amiable, affable and grounded individual, Jason was an angry and splenetic young man, and though, over the years as Batman’s sidekick, he seemed to mellow slightly, his anger at the injustices life had wrought unto him, never really went away. Until one day, in an ill fated meeting with the jester of genocide himself – The Joker, Jason lost his life after a savage beating by crowbar and ultimately a bomb placed beside the bloodied and bound young crimefighter, Batman arrived mere minutes after the devastating explosion, and, unable to save his life, spiralled downwards into uncontrollable grief and anguish. Surprisingly though, not too long after this, Jason, somehow, returned, but this time he was… different.
Eco-terrorist – Ra’s Al Ghul, who felt partly responsible for Jason’s untimely demise, because of his own dealings with the Joker at the time, exhumed his corpse and bathed the body in the life giving waters of the Lazarus Pit, which brought Jason back, meaner, madder and with a vengeance streak a mile long. Jason returned to Gotham under a new guise – The Red Hood, and with lethal force began tearing down the mad machinations of the various Supervillains and crazies, whereas an encounter with The Batman would, at worst, end with a visit to the hospital emergency room and six months in traction, a similar confrontation with ol’ Hoody would mean a handgrenade in the mouth and a ten inch blade buried in the head!
After a violent second encounter with the clown prince of crime (this time, Jason came equipped with the crowbar!) and a soul searching, yet brutal fight against his former mentor, Batman, Jason is once again caught in a calamitous explosion from a device set earlier by the Joker, which sends all three antagonists plummeting into Gotham Bay. Surfacing sometime later, Jason returned as the vilified vigilante, but toned down his murderous side to some degree, and would partner up with many other of DC’s popular heroes and anti-heroes under the guise of the super-team – Red Hood and the Outlaws, and in due course mended his broken trust and friendship with his mentor and surrogate father – Bruce Wayne.
Precinct1313 highly recommends both the Under The Red Hood, and, Batman: Death In The Family movies for a further deep dive into Jason’s tragic upbringing and eventual death and vehement rebirth.
Daily Dose Of DC…
2023 marks the eightieth anniversary of the very first live action appearances of the Dark Knight Detective – Batman and Boy Wonder – Robin, whose dynamic debuts were in the 1943, 15 chapter serial series: The Batman, directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Lewis Wilson as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Douglas Croft as Robin/Dick Grayson.
Batman & Robin are copyright: DC Comics.
V’s Quote Of The Week…
V’s vision of vicarious valour by vanquishing villainy through vengeful violence against any whose views violate the virtuous vox-populi, is the voyage that vocalises the voracious venture and vanguard of valiant victory!
(Unfortunately, this particular post hits rather too close to home at this moment in time, I reside in the UK where we are currently dealing with an unpleasant rise in prejudice, inequality and dogmatism. To everyone on the outside looking in, please understand that the vast majority of Brits do not agree with the policies of the current administration and we uniformly oppose all forms of bigotry and intolerance)
Comic Cover Of The Week: Detective Comics #1069
Well, hey there, fellow fans of fantastic fiction… and yes, we’re back! That’s right your favourite DC dispensing majestic mansion of mystery returns from its ancient slumber to regale you once more with its decidedly delectable DC documentation!
So, let’s kick off our rambunctious return with an utterly stunning comic cover featuring that cool, compelling, caped and cowled crusader against crime… The Batman. This entrancingly eerie entry into our comic collecting compendium – Detective Comics #1069 – is illustrated by the great Evan Cagle who has been the resident cover artist on ‘tec for the past year and has wowed us every single issue with his dazzling depiction of the dark and surly one. This month also heralds a dynamic duo of variant covers by the terrifically talented – Ivan Reis and, the legendary JH Williams III.
‘Batman investigates the frozen Azmer, given to him by Mr Freeze and comes to a startling discovery about these ancient demons. Meanwhile, the Azmer begin to pour into the streets of Gotham, taking control of the helpless and the other poor souls the city cares little for… all for the bidding of the Orghams!’
Detective Comics #1069 Is Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Batman and Detective Comics Are Copyright: DC Comics
Precinct1313’s End Of The Year Geekstravaganza…
Welcome, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, to Precinct1313’s annual end of the year Geekstravaganza! and, whew! what a year it’s been in the jolly ol’ world of geekdom. Lots of cool and compelling comics, fantastic films and venerable video-games vied for this particular geeks attention, so lets run down our favourite nerdy necessities for your perusal and pleasure!
Favourite Graphic Novel – I Am Not Starfire
I Am Not Starfire was another absolutely fantastic standalone graphic novel brought forth from the prominent pen of Mariko Tamaki, and beset with vivacious visuals from Yoshi Yoshitani, making for another gripping teenage tale of angst and apprehension, but ultimately growth, friendship and inner respect as we follow the trepidatious tale of the distraught daughter of one of the world’s most powerful super-beings. (And you, lucky people, can read our review Right Here)
Favourite Comic-Book Artist – Bilquis Evely
I mean, this is always a highly difficult category to pin down a favourite in. This year as in most the standards in comic visuals has been stellar, with notable nods to Bruno Redondo for his stunning output on Nightwing, and the great Phil Jimenez for his titanic turn on the first issue of Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, but the artist whose work shone the brightest for me this year is the bedazzling – Bilquis Evely, whose amazing art graced the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow series, though this technically came out at the end of 2021, I personally only got around to reading it this year, and it’s phenomenal!
Bilquis’ art is highly distinctive, stunning to behold with beautifully in-depth line work, that when combined with the bold and gorgeous colours of Matheus Lopes are ascended to even greater heights, this is the absolute definition of high-art!
Favourite Feature Film – The Batman
If you know me, then you’ll probably realise this is a bit of a no-brainer, of course Matt Reeves stunning rendition of the Caped Crusader was my favourite film this year, it encapsulated almost everything I’ve ever wanted from a Batman movie, ever since I was first transfixed by the character at the tender age of six years old. Yes, we’ve had lots (and lots) of prior Dark Knights running around Gotham at night in tights, trouncing baddies, yet (for me, at least) none of them really captured that particular bat-magic that the comics and animated movies served up, until now!
Robert Pattinson was perfectly cast as a younger Bruce Wayne/Batman and was phenomenal in the role, ably backed up by an absolutely stellar cast, with Paul Dano, Zoe Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Jeffery Wright and (an almost unrecognisable) Colin Farrell adding their tremendous thespian talents to this grim, gritty noir detective movie… this blew my bat-socks off!
Favourite Video-Game(s)
So many games, so, so many! I mean my backlog is huge and could probably last me several lifetimes! I played a ton of great games this year, so there honestly couldn’t be only one (Highlander style) choice, so I’ve gone with my top three instead! Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a fun, fast and frantic musou style ofshoot from the laudable Fire Emblem: Three Houses and is absolutely the very best Musou game I’ve ever played (it does help that I’m a bit of a FireEmblem fanboy, I guess) Nier Automata without a doubt showcased the very best storytelling and world building I’ve ever seen in a game, an emotional journey through a ravaged world littered with twists, turns and serpentine lore, just remarkable!
My third fave of the year was the astounding – SIFU, a Kung-Fu epic set in modern day China, where you control the actions of the son, or daughter of a martial arts school’s – Sifu, who seeks revenge upon those who murdered their father. Honestly this is one of the best beat-em ups I’ve ever played, it absolutely feels like you’ve been plonked down in the middle of a classic Donnie Yen or Moon Lee martial arts movie! Wonderful visuals and a stunning eastern soundtrack, this game rocks… In fact this game rocks so hard, it thinks it’s Metallica!!
Phew! thanks for sticking with us, fellow agents of Precinct1313, so, what was your favourite Comic-Book, movie or video-game this year? Why not sound off in the comments below… Happy New Year!
Oh, And As Ever… Make Mine DC!
Comic Cover… Of The Year!
Felicitations, fellow fans of fantastic festive fiction, and welcome to our astonishing award for the most outstanding comic cover of space year 2022!
That’s right, the magical mansion of mystery – Precinct1313 has re-materialised back unto your physical plane after an extended stay in the Phantom Zone, where it lay unfettered as it recharged it’s mystic batteries. And, phew! we’re back just in time to share our absolute fave comic cover of the year, and with so many cool and compelling covers released this annum it’s been a rather difficult decision, but we ultimately landed on this pictorial piece of perfection, the Batman #1066 watercolour variant by the dynamic Colleen Doran.
This absolutely astonishing piece of art from Colleen recreates Herbert Draper’s classic oil painting – The Lament For Icarus – the opulent oil painting, first unveiled in 1898, depicts the deceased Icarus surrounded by lamenting nymphs and currently resides in the Tate Gallery, UK. Colleen’s vivid and vivacious variant of this cover is exquisite, re-creating Draper’s original vision perfectly, depicting a dying Batman surrounded by a bevy of Batgirls – Babs Gordon, Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.
Many congratulations to Colleen for this year’s standout cover, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t, at least, provide a visual tour of some of our other fave covers from this year that were considered for the coveted title but didn’t quite match the ingenuity of Colleen’s standout piece.
Harley Quinn’s Plundering of DC Comics’ Past…
Bruno Redondo’s Outstanding Run On Nightwing…
DC Comics’ Pride 2022 Covers…
Happy Holidays!
(All art and imagery copyright – DC Comics)
Legendary British Comic-Book Artist – Kevin O’Neill Passes Away At 69
It is with supreme sadness that we relay the tragic news of the death of one of the UK’s most prolific and innovative artists, the legendary Kevin O’Neill, who passed away last week at the age of 69.
Though most of my comic-book loving life has been consumed with DC Comics, being a Brit I also grew up with the iconic UK anthology comic series – 2000AD, and one of my absolute favourite creators for this compelling compendium was the venerable – Kev O’Neill, the ingenious co-creator behind some of the most treasured character creations to emanate from this small isle, including such luminaries as – Marshal Law, Nemesis the Warlock, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Kev was a titan of the comic scene, a unique and playful storyteller with a style unsurpassed by his peers, an idiosyncratic, quirky artstyle that stood out amongst a sea of artists. He began working within the industry at the age of 16 for UK publisher – IPC, working as help on the weekly brit comic – Buster, he moved into the position of colourer at IPC before moving to the fledgling anthology series – 2000AD, tasked with creating the iconic look of the compendium’s fictional editor – Tharg the Mighty, with his first comic strip project being – Ro-busters, for which he pencilled many stories for 2000AD writer and co-creator – Pat Mills.
During this time, Kev also co-created alien freedom fighter – Nemesis the Warlock, and anti-hero, superhero hunter – Marshal Law, he also worked extensively for DC Comics on projects – Omega Men, and the Alan Moore penned – Tales of the Green Lantern Corps annual, a project that was objected to at the time by the then – Comics Code Authority, who seem to object to Kev’s entire illustration style, the comic was still published by DC, without the CCA approval. In 1999, Kev began work, again alongside brit luminary – Alan Moore, on one of his most fascinating creations – The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, originally published by Wildstorm, and later turned into a movie starring Sean Connery.
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