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GOTHAM WEEKLY NEWS #162
Friday August 24th 2001
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Hi folks –
The media circus around the release of the BATMAN: THE MOVIE DVD hit its stride last week with coverage in mainstream magazines, such as Entertainment Weekly, and appearances for Adam West and The Batmobile on TV ( including a slot on the Today show).
Wal*Mart actually started selling the DVD before it’s official release date of Tuesday.
Let’s hope the movie release generates enough sales and interest for Fox to put out the 1966 series on DVD. But with the current reruns on the SciFi channel and the news that the show has been picked up by TV-Land for the Fall season, I’m not sure a DVD release will be forthcoming while it’s still making syndication revenue for Fox.
I can also recommend visiting the official website for the DVD release at www.batmandvd.com for fun downloads including icon sets, wallpaper, sound clips and a screensaver.
And on the comics front Batman was a prominent feature at the WizardWorld convention last weekend! On Friday, August 17, the 2001 Wizard Fan Awards ceremony took place at Wizard World Chicago 2001, with DC talent, characters and projects winning several awards.
FAVORITE HERO Batman
FAVORITE HEROINE Batgirl
FAVORITE VILLAIN Ra's Al-Ghul
FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER Commissioner Gordon
COMICS' GREATEST MOMENT - 2000 Batman "defeats" the Justice League in JLA #44
Congratulations to DC and all the winners.
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
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 29th
Comics News – News from Wizard World
TV Show Schedules - German show times for NBA added.
TV News – JL Writer named.
Movie News – Boreaenz in costume ?
On The Newsstands – DVD coverage
Meet The Bat-Team - Bat-Con updates
On-Line Happenings -
Fanzines & Fan-Clubs
Order The BATMAN Collectors Guide (Back in Stock)
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COMICS SHIPPING NEXT WEEK ( August 29th )
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BATMAN BEYOND #24
Written by Hilary Barda; art by Craig Rousseau and Rob Leigh; cover by Darwyn Cooke
FINAL ISSUE. There's something curious about Mom's new boyfriend. Could it be the claws, the fangs or the glowing eyes? That's right, it's the issue you've been waiting for as "Terry's Mom Dates a Splicer!" But what does Batman have to say about it? (32 pgs / $1.99)
BATMAN: OFFICER DOWN TP
Written by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Chuck Dixon, Bronwyn Carlton, Devin Grayson, and Nunzio DeFilippis; art by Rick Burchett, Jacob & Arnold Pander, N. Steven Harris, Mike Lilly, Mike Collins, Rodney Ramos, and various; painted cover by Durwin Talon
Commissioner Gordon's been shot!! Batman, sworn to bring the gunman to justice, begins his hunt with the only eyewitness to the crime — Catwoman! Collecting the sold-out thriller that had readers on the edge of their seats, this volume reprints BATMAN #587, ROBIN #86, BIRDS OF PREY #27, CATWOMAN #90, NIGHTWING #53, DETECTIVE COMICS #754, and BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #13. (168 pgs / $12.95)
BATMAN also appears in JLA #57 and WORLD’S FINEST: OUR WORLD AT WAR shipping next week.
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COMICS NEWS
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COMICS SHORTS FROM THE WIZARD WORLD-CON
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- DC once again confirmed its plans for a regular series based on the new "Justice League Adventures" cartoon. "It's going to be vaguely for younger readers, but there's certainly something there for everyone," DC editor Dan Raspler says. The title will carry a rotating creative team “so each monthe will be fresh.” Ty Templeton will write the first issue ( which ships in November) and Paul Storrie will write an issue focusing on The Martian Manhunter ( as yet unscheduled).
- DC also announced "JLA: Riddle of the Beast," a JLA Elseworlds hardcover written by long time Batman writer Alan Grant with art by 15 different artists takes a "Tolkein"-style look at the JLA in December.
- Another big Elseworlds project is in the works, this one starring the Teen Titans ( including ROBIN) , written by classic Titans writer Bob Haney. The story will be set in the 1960s.
- DC’s biggest news of the Wizard World Convention was the announcement of a re-launch for a monthly The Brave and the Bold series next year - the first time DC has had an ongoing Brave and the Bold series since 1983. The series will be a showcase for the current Green Arrow team of writer Kevin Smith and artist Phil Hester. According to Smith, he got the idea when writing the issues of Green Arrow that had Batman as a guest star. Logically enough, Smith explained the first story arc will be Green Arrow and Batman, while much of the series will feature Green Arrow and Batman working together. The new incarnation of The Brave and the Bold will not be the monthly "Batman and…" series it had been for the bulk of the original series run. Rather, the series will be Smith's opportunity to play with the entire DC Universe, teaming whichever characters he chooses in single issue or multi-part stories.
BATMAN: THE ANKH
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The controversial, hardcover graphic novel BATMAN: THE CHALICE featured painted art of John Van Fleet and on November 28th you'll be able to see more of it when his new book "Batman: The Ankh" is released from DC Comics.
"I have about five jobs going on right now," Van Fleet told CBR this week. "My new Batman book 'The Ankh', is a two-parter (48 pages each) from DC (shipping November) as well as some covers for the Vertigo office. I am also doing some movie stuff that I can not talk about, and odd jobs that are too fun to say no to."
Working with Chuck Dixon on "The Ankh" has proven to be more of a challenge than Van Fleet first thought. "The book is taking me longer than I had planned," says Van Fleet. "But so far DC Comics has been great about not riding me to much. The Chalice is my best super hero work so far, I hope to beat it with the Ankh," said Van Fleet.
GOLDEN 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) Golden Age books. The following issues of DETECTIVE were listed:
DETECTIVE: # 28, 29, 34, 37, 44 ( 2 copies), 51, 53 (2 copies), 54, 56, 57, 58, 62, 67, 69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76 ( 2 copies), 80, 81 ( 2 copies), 82, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89 ( 4 copies), 90 ( 2 copies), 91, 92, 94, 95 ( 2 copies), 96, 97, 98, 100, 102, 107 ( 2 copies), 108, 109 ( 3 copies), 110 ( 3 copies), 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 (2 copies), 116, 117 ( 4 copies), 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 127 ( 2 copies), 128 ( 2 copies), 129, 132, 135, 139, 141, 142, 145, 149 ( 2 copies), 151, 152, 157, 159, 161, 163, 164 ( 3 copies), 168, 170 ( 2 copies), 172, 174, 176, 177, 178 ( 2 copies), 180, 181, 184, 185, 189, 199, 206, 210, 216.
The most popular Golden Age Detective Comics issue to get graded and “slabbed” was # 84 . The highest grade books were issues of #114 and #184 both with a 9.8 grade.
Next week – The CGC report on the Golden-Age World’s Finest books.
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TV SHOW SCHEDULES
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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
Mon 08-27-01: (3:00pm) #26 – “Terry's Friend Dates a Robot” – (4:30pm) #45 - “Speak No Evil”
Tue 08-28-01: (3:00pm) #52 – “Countdown” – (4:30pm) #44 “Out of the Past”
Wed 08-29-01: (3:00pm) #31 “Armory” - (4:30pm) #30 “Final Cut”
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.
Tim Echorst writes from Germany with the news that "The new Batman Adventures" (in Germany simply called "Batman & Robin") are running on the TV Channel Pro Sieben. The series can be seen on every Saturday at 10.10 a.m. (the time changes every week a little bit....).
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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Comic scribe and Milestone Media founder Dwayne McDuffie reports that will be writing several episodes of the Justice League animated TV show.
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MOVIE NEWS****************
ANGEL AS BATMAN – COSTUME CONCEPT
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Last week we mentioned the rumor that TV’s “Angel”, actor David Boreaenz was being considered for the title role in BATMAN: YEAR ONE.
To see just how he might look in costume check out:
http://www.comics2film.com/DCG/DispArt.php3?f_id=229
BATMAN BEYOND UPDATES
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Aint-It-Cool News reports that during a Q & A session at
the recent WizardCon in Chicago, Paul Dini, responded to a question on
developments on a special edition
version DVD of BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER that would restore the
scenes trimmed by Warner Bros. from the initial release. He replied that there
HAS been some talk about it recently, most likely a version with different
cover art so it's not mistaken for the
family-friendly version. He also confirmed that it seemed like the BATMAN BEYOND live-action movie is dead in the
water .
MORE ANIMATED FEATURES ON THE WAY ?
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ToonZone.net reports that there may be a slate of animated direct-to-video Batman films in the near future. Citing none other than Paul Dini, who is said let the news slip at Wizard World, ToonZone states there are a number of scripts that have been greenlighted by Warner Bros.
The site offers various suggestions about what the movie may be about. One thought is that a movie will tie up loose ends from The New Batman Adventures or Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
Another possibility is that the movies will feature team-ups with other heroes. An unnamed source at Warner Bros. told ToonZone that the slate of films would include: Batman & Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman, Batman & Plastic Man, Batman & Green Arrow.
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ON THE NEWSSTANDS
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- The August 24/31, 2001 issue of Entertainment Weekly has a review of the Batman DVD as well as a short quarter page interview with Adam West.
- The August 18-24 issue of TV Guide has a brief blurb on the film Rockstar and it's use of the Batmobile.
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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, CRAIG ROUSSEAU and from the TV show, ADAM WEST, BURT WARD, YVONNE CRAIG, JULIE NEWMAR, FRANK GORSHIN and the Green Hornet’s VAN WILLIAMS. For more details check out http://members.aol.com/toyshow/batcon.html
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ON-LINE HAPPENINGS
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BRUCE TIMM GALLERY MOVES
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The Bruce Timm Gallery is now located at www.popcultureshock.com/brucetimm
DC DIRECT NOW ON-LINE
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DC Comics excellent merchandise division is now on-line with a special website dedicated to “all those wonderful toys.” Check them out at http://www.dcdirectonline.com
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.