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         GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS #159

         Friday August 3rd 2001

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Hi folks –

 

Sorry we are slightly late this week, but as always we are here with the round up of all the bat news from the last week.

 

As always have a great week.
 

Alan J. Porter

PO Box 3523

Ramona

CA 92065

USA

 

E-mail: gothamajp@home.com

http://www.gothamweeklynews.com

 

GOTHAM GAZETTE – The BATMAN Magazine On The Web

http://BatmanMagazine.com

 

Don’t forget to check out our ongoing eBay auctions under UserID – forestcomics.

 

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IN THIS ISSUE OF GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS:

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Comics Shipping This Week – In stores August 8th

Comics News – .CGC Silver Age Detectives

TV Show Schedules  - Canadian Movie Marathon

TV News – Batman on Static

Movie News – Batman & Robin voted worst sequel

In The Stores – DC Miniatures Game Announced

Meet The Bat-Team  - Bat-Con scheduled

On-Line Happenings  -  Action Figure Petition on-line

Fanzines & Fan-Clubs

Order The BATMAN Collectors Guide (Back in Stock)

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COMICS SHIPPING THIS WEEK ( August 8th )

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AZRAEL: AGENT OF THE BAT #81

Written by Dennis O'Neil; art by Sergio Cariello and James Pascoe; cover by Scott McDaniel and Cariello

Imprisoned by a scientist who wants to learn just what makes him tick, Azrael faces a series of challenges designed to test him to the utmost. How will Jean Paul survive the grueling examination? And will anything in his training prepare him for the shocking discovery that ends the issue? (32 pgs / $2.50)

 

DETECTIVE COMICS #761

Written by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker; art by Shawn Martinbrough, Darwyn Cooke, and Jesse Delperdang; cover by Dave Johnson

Bruce's bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux has thirty days to prove her worth, or she's fired! Meanwhile, Internal Affairs heats up the M.C.U., and you won't believe whom they're after! Plus, "Trail of the Catwoman" continues in the backup written by Ed Brubaker (BATMAN) and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke (BATMAN: EGO). (40 pgs / $2.50)

 

DEADMAN: DEAD AGAIN #2

Written by Steve Vance; art by Jim Aparo and Rick Burchett; cover by José Luis García-López and Kevin Nowlan

Deadman is summoned to an abandoned warehouse just in time to observe the torture of Jason Todd — the second Robin — at the hands of the Joker! Deadman tries to intervene, but the fate of Robin's life is preordained. The fate of his afterlife, however, is another issue entirely. (32 pgs / $2.50)

 

HARLEY QUINN #11

Written by Karl Kesel; art and cover by Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson

Guest-starring Nightwing as a…carjacker? What could lead him to such a dastardy deed? Why, Harley Quinn, of course! How will our hero, er, villain escape this one? Meanwhile, Oracle is determined to stop Harley once and for all, and she's not the only one. Nix and Buster are scheming against her, Matches Malone is about to strike, and let's not even talk about the Stooges. This story builds towards our catastrophic, oversized twelfth issue — so don't miss this action-filled prelude! (32 pgs / $2.35)

 

NIGHTWING #60

Written by Chuck Dixon; art and cover by Trevor McCarthy and John Lowe

Featuring the brand-new art team of Trevor McCarthy & John Lowe! Officer Dick Grayson finally receives his badge! Now all he has to do is live through a full-on gunfight with Transbelvan mobsters and a meeting with a secret society…of cops?!? (32 pgs / $2.25)

 

SUPERMAN & BATMAN: GENERATIONS II #1

Written and illustrated by John Byrne; cover by Byrne

Re-enter the world of SUPERMAN & BATMAN: GENERATIONS in this thrilling new miniseries! The lives of Superman and Batman are just part of the rich tapestry writer/artist John Byrne explores in this sequel to the first GENERATIONS epic, as landmark moments in the careers of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the entire Justice Society of America unfold. (48 pgs / $5.95 )

 

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COMICS NEWS

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BATMAN / DEATHBLOW

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Artist Timothy Bradstreet is perhaps best known to today’s comics fans as the regular cover artist on 'The Punisher' for Marvel, but his next assignment has him firmly in Gotham City.

"I'm currently inking the interiors, covers, and illustrating back covers for the new Wildstorm/DC crossover, 'Batman/Deathblow'," Bradstreet told the Comic Book Resources News website recently. The three issue series will be published in a prestige format with Lee Bermejo handling cover and interior pencils and will be hand-colored by Grant Goleash. The story of Batman and Deathblow's interaction will be penned by none other than Brian Azzarello. "According to the schedule, the first issue ships in December," said Bradstreet. "This book is awesome."

 

COMIC SHORTS

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-          Look out for BATMAN to make an appearance in  the JSA title soon.

-          Artist Mike Deadato Jr. has recently posted a new sketch of his take on Batman. Check out the flowing capes at http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=224

 

SILVER AGE DETECTIVE COMICS CGC GRADED COMICS

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The Comics Guaranty Corp (CGC) recently released its first “Population Report” of high graded (9.0 and above) Silver Age books. The following DETECTIVE issues were listed:

 

DETECTIVE #232, 233, 235, 238, 244, 259, 266, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 276, 281, 284, 291, 292, 293, 294, 298, 301, 304, 305, 306,307, 309, 310, 312, 313, 314, 317 (3 copies), 318 ( 2 copies), 319, 320, 322, 323, 327, 328, 330, 331, 332, 341, 342 (2 copies), 344 (2 copies), 344 ( 3 copies), 345, 346 ( 3 copies), 348, 349, 350, 351, 352 ( 2 copies), 353 ( 2 copies), 354 ( 4 copies), 355, 356 ( 4 copies), 357 ( 3 copies), 358 ( 3 copies), 359 ( 7 copies), 360, 361,362, 364, 365 ( 2 copies), 366, 367 ( 2 copies), 368, 369 ( 2 copies), 370, 371 (3 copies), 372 ( 2 copies), 373, 376, 377 (4 copies), 378 ( 4 copies), 379 ( 2 copies), 380, 381 ( 3 copies), 382, 383 ( 2 copies), 384, 385, 386, 387 ( 2 copies), 388 ( 2 copies), 390, 392, 395, 396 ( 2 copies), 400 (8 copies), 402, 403, 404 (2 copies), 407, 408 ( 2 copies), 410, 414, 415, 416.

 

The most popular Silver Age DETECTIVE issue to get graded and “slabbed” was  #400. The highest grade book was an issue of #373 with a 9.8 grade.

 

Next week – The CGC report on the Silver-Age Batman team-up books; Brave & Bold and World’s Finest.

 

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TV SHOW SCHEDULES

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CANADIAN MOVIE MARATHON

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World’s Finest News reports that on August 12th, the Canadian movie channel Pix will have a mini marathon of Batman movie. It will show Batman (1989), followed up by Batman Returns right after it. Following the movies will be a 20 minute documentary called The Bat, The Cat, The Bird: The Making of Batman Returns. The movies will begin around 2pm (ET) that day.

 

BATMAN BEYOND

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Kids' WB! Has changed it’s schedules for the summer and the good news is the return of BATMAN BEYOND to 2 episodes per day Monday through Thursday at 3:00pm and 4:30pm

 

Monday, August 6th

3:00pm (ET) Batman Beyond #23 Mind Games - Batman must save a girl with psychic powers from an evil organization.

Tuesday, August 7th

3:00pm (ET) Batman Beyond #3 Black Out - Introducing Inque - saboteur extraordinaire!

Wednesday, Auguast 8th

3:00pm (ET) Batman Beyond #18 Bloodsport - A game hunter stalks Batman - the ultimate prey!

Thursday, August 9th

3:00pm (ET) Batman Beyond #19 Hidden Agenda - A new group of Jokerz terrorize the city - and Max!

 

NEW BATMAN / SUPERMAN ADVENTURES

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While Cartoon Network continues to run the Superman episodes at 6:30pm Tuesday through Friday, the BATMAN episodes are currently on hold. Current rumors are that it may return as part of the fall schedule.

 

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

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In Canada, YTV airs Batman: The Animated Series at 3:30 AM EDT, Monday

 through Friday. Check out schedules on http://www.ytv.ca  (Patrick Furlong) 

 

UPDATES NEEDED

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Are any of the BATMAN TV SHOWS running in your area / country.

 

BATMAN BEYOND, NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, SUPER-FRIENDS or the classic  BATMAN - 1960s TV SHOW.

 

 If so send me an e-mail (gothamajp@home.com) with the show times and I’ll list them here for all your fellow batfans.

 

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TV NEWS

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BATMAN TO GUEST ON STATIC ?

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According to the FanboyPlanet website the second season of the popular WB Kids series Static Shock! will end with a bang...and a special guest star.

FanyboyPlanet reports that The Joker, low on cash, pays a visit to Dakota City to kidnap Bang Babies and convince them to join his gang.  Static investigates and attracts the attention of Batman and Robin, who have followed The Joker. While Robin makes nice, the Dark Knight remains aloof and chides Static for being an amateur. By the end of the episode, of course, a respect of some kind is forged. No airdate has yet been announced.

 

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MOVIE NEWS
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BATMAN & ROBIN OFFICIALY ONE OF THE WORST

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In mid July E! Online ran a survey of the “Top 10 Worst Movie Sequels” and 1997’s Batman & Robin was voted in at #2 just behind Star Wars: Episode 1.

 

ANOTHER CLOONEY RETURN RUMOR

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According to the Coming Soon! Web-site ( www.comingsoon.net)  Batman: Year One director Darren “Aronofosky told someone at Le Film FranÁais that George would be playing Bruce Wayne in his Batflick.”

 

This rumor appears on a regular basis and given the fact that Year One would require a younger actor, I doubt it has any substance.

 

BATMAN SPECIAL EDITION DVD CONFIRMED

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thedigitalbits.com has confirmed that Warner Bros. is intending to release a Special Edition DVD version of the first Tim Burton Batman movie.

 
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IN THE STORES
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DC MINIATURES GAME ANNOUNCED
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During the DC Editorial panel at the recent San Diego Comic Con, WizKids, the Seattle-based fantasy game developer announced plans to produce a collectible miniatures game featuring characters from DC Comics.

The game will combine classic DC Universe heroes including BATMAN with newer properties from WildStorm Productions like Wildcats and the Authority. These and other popular characters from the expansive DC and WildStorm universes will become three-dimensional, plastic miniatures, pre-painted in superb detail. The yet-to-be-named collectible miniatures game is slated for spring release next year. 

 
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MEET THE BAT-TEAM

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DALLAS TX – October 19-21

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HollywoodExpo has announced that its October Dallas show has been re-titled as BAT.CON to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Batman TV show. The show is scheduled for the weekend of October 19th to 21st. Featured guests include: MARK WAID, CRAIG ROUSSEAU, DAN BRERETON, NORM BREYFOGLE and from the TV show, ADAM WEST, BURT WARD, YVONNE CRAIG, JULIE NEWMAR and FRANK GORSHIN. For more details check out http://members.aol.com/toyshow/batcon.html 
 

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ON-LINE HAPPENINGS

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ON-LINE ACTION FIGURES PETITION

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An open letter and petition to Hasbro has appeared on-line asking for the company to consider making a line of BATMAN figures compatible with the excellent DC Direct series. You can read the letter and sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/DCDSubat/

 

GOTHAM GIRLS SECOND SEASON

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The hit official internet site Gotham Girls is gearing up for a new season of webisodes featuring Gotham's baddest (and best) girls around. The premiere episode of the second season is already up, written by Paul Dini himself. To check out the site and the new webisode, go to www.gothamgirls.com

Two new episodes were shown at the San Diego Comic-Con to great applause. The representatives from WB web studios said that the episodes will be shown in rotation with two available on the site at any given time.

 

BATMAN COMIC BOOK APPEARENCES

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The listing of all Batman Comic Book Appearances from 1939 to present is now available at http://www.magpage.com/~demes/batapps.htm. Any corrections / additions can be sent to Jim Demes at demes@magpage.com

 

CATCH UP ON THE GOTHAM GAZETTE FAN-FICS

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Since the GOTHAM GAZETTE web-site went into hiatus I’ve had several e-mails from GWN readers asking where they can find the excellent fanfic stories we used to run. Well writer Lee Barnett now has them posted on his own website at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/budgie so click on by and check them out.

 

BATMAN DISCUSSION LIST

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BATSIGNAL a new Batman on-line discussion group has been launched at

http://www.eGroups.com/group/BatSignal

Or subscribe direct by sending an e-mail to BatSignal-subscribe@egroups.com

 

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BATMAN FANZINES & FAN-CLUBS

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(Know of any Batman related Fan-clubs that aren't listed ? Send me an e-mail  with details. When contacting any of these clubs please mention GWN.)

 

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER

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Started in 1998, this newsletter dedicated to the animated aspect of Batman, has been making and breaking news.  The newsletter has a weekly/bi-weekly schedule, and contains news, schedules, links, editorials, and a lot more for the animated Batman-fan. To check out back issues of this newsletter, go to http://www.toonzone.net/news/btan and  to subscribe, simple email juno@dccnet.com and put 'Subscribe' in the subject line.

 

KNIGHTHOOD OF THE BAT

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The Knighthood Of The Bat is an online ICQ based fan club which, through the use of ICQ members can contact each other and share in their common interest of Batman.  Check it out at the excellent Batman: Defender Of Gotham website at www.fandom.com/batman

 

GREEN HORNET & BATMAN FAN & COLLECTORS CLUB

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$10 a year for a bi-monthly newsletter. Contact J. Washington III, 321 Gracie Road . Chesapeake VA 23325

 

HARLEY QUINN FAN CLUB

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Based in San Diego. For more info contact Mike at 4574 Mercurio St. San Diego CA 92130

 

UNOFFICIAL BATMAN ANIMATED FAN-CLUB

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This club began in September and consists of a quarterly 30 page newsletter which is mailed out - 'a fan made magazine' with news, reviews, guides, artwork and basically all that we can stuff in related to Batman, Batman Beyond and Bruce Timm's amazing artwork. The club is non-profit making (i.e. - you only pay for paper and printing costs) and it's made by fans for fans. Based in the UK but USA and other members are always welcome. If you would like more information on how to join please e-mail - brian@batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk or for more info see website at http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk/club

 

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HOW TO ORDER OUR OWN BATMAN BOOK

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"THE UNAUTHORIZED BATMAN COLLECTORS GUIDE"  by Alan J. Porter

 

The most comprehensive guide to Batman comics and collectibles ever collected between

two covers.

160 Pages

294 Photographs

6000 Items Listed

8 1/2" x 11" - Soft Cover.

ISBN 0-7643-0683-9

$30.00

 

With over 6000 items listed, this is the most comprehensive guide to Batman comics and collectibles ever assembled between two covers. Nearly 300 photographs accompany the informative articles and price guide listings. Highlights include a comics section which lists every comic book in which Batman has appeared from his debut in 1939 to the end of 1997, plus a figures section which lists all of the various Batman action figures. Covering everything from Artwork to Videos, and price ranges from 15c to $150,000, this book is a must for any Batfan.

 

As a special offer to GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS subscribers, you can order a signed copy from the author.

 

Send a check / money order for $30.00* (US Dollars), along with your mailing address to:

 

Alan J. Porter

Batman Guide

PO Box 3523

Ramona

CA 92065

 

* US orders postage free.

* CA residents please add 7 1/2% sales tax.

* Overseas orders add $5.00

 

Unsigned copies can be ordered via Credit Card from either http://www.BarnesAndNoble.com  or http://www.Borders.com 

 

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Sources used in compiling GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS

 

Ain’t It Cool News (http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/ )

Bat Signal newsletter

Comics2Film (http://www.comics2film.com/ )

Comic Buyers Guide

Comics Continuum (http://comicscontinuum.com/index.htm )

Comics International

Comic Shop News

Dark Horizons (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news.htm )

Joker Inc Newsletter (http://jokerinc.action-figure.net )

Previews

Wizard: The Comics Magazine

World’s Finest News (http://wf.toonzone.net/wfnews/ )

 

GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS is a FOREST COMICS Publication.

 

FOREST COMICS and GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS are (c) and TM  - Alan J. Porter (1994 - 2001)

 

"GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS", "GOTHAM GAZETTE - The BATMAN Magazine On the Web" and "THE UNAUTHORIZED BATMAN COLLECTORS GUIDE" are not affiliated to, or endorsed by, either Warner Bros. or DC Comics.

BATMAN and all related characters and indicia are acknowledged as Trademark and copyright DC Comics Inc..

 

BATMAN created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger

 

If you no longer wish to receive GWN or have been sent a copy in error just send an e-mail to gothamajp@home.com with the words "unsubscribe GWN" in the subject line.