Of course they'll be giant robots...

When I was in college, I saw a debate between Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and a prominent scientist on the subject of whether or not we would ever create an android as sophisticated as Commander Data. Or at least that's what the debate was supposed to be about. Roddenberry spent the whole time reminiscing about how great he was for creating the original Trek, and the scientist, whose name I forget, was completely closed to the idea of humanoid robots. He said that the currently-existing robots were all single purpose devices -- like the arms used in automobile assembly plants -- and thus there was no need to ever create something that aped the human body.

Years later, when I would actually stand on the sets of Deep Space Nine and Voyager interacting with the casts and crews of those shows, I was glad to have at least been in the room with Roddenberry once.  But at the time, I came away extremely disappointed. I was disappointed in Roddenberry for refraining from saying anything of substance whatsoever, and I was disappointed in the scientist for having no grasp whatsoever of human nature.

Sure, he couldn't see utilitarian reason for building a robot.  But what the hell do we have pyramids and videogames and water slides for? I knew then, and this was a long time ago, that of course there would be robots and starships and ray guns and holodecks and everything else. Not because it was necessary, but because some fan would be in the driver's seat of the technical development. Is anyone surprised that every dot com billionaire is busy funding their own space ship? Come on.

So, in that spirit, here's why it will all be real one day:

Exhibit A: The real life Batcave home theatre. This article in the Daily Mail is confusing, as it shows two different designs, and claims to be an actual home theater designed by Elite Home Theater Systems, stating that it's been built by a rich fan in Greenwich, Connecticut for a cost of $2 million.

The Daily Mail article then shows two different theater set ups: one that fuses the Batcave with gothic architecture from Gotham City and aspects of Wayne Manor, and one that is all cave, sans bookshelves, fireplace and computers.

Elite Home Theatre's own page only shows the first cave, says they only did the design, and that the actual construction is being done by another firm for a resident in California. So the article may have conflated two different Batcave style home theaters.

My guess is that they provided two different concepts and one of them was chosen, or these were two different designs for two different clients, one in Connecticut and one in California.  Elite's page also indicates that while they only provided the design, construction is under way. Okay, so this thing does/will exist and there are possibly two of them. I seriously want there to be a third, and I know right where it goes.


Meanwhile, here's why Voltron: Defender of the Universe will fly in our skies one day.  Japanese robotics expert Wataru Yoshizaki and artist Kogoru Kurata have created a robot that you can ride and battle in. The Kuratas costs a mere $2.37 million dollars and shoots rubber BB pellets (for now), runs on diesel fuel and goes up to 10 mph. You can ride inside it or control it from your smart phone. How long until Japanese girls in crash helmets and shorts are policing the streets of Tokyo in these babies?



So yeah, the Enterprise, from NCC-1701, through every A, B, C, D, and E, will absolutely exist one day. Not because it's the best design for a space ship, but just because some fan somewhere in the position to do so will make the call.

The Dark Knight Rises - Official Trailer #3 [HD]

Superman vs Batman

Smart Pop Books has made my essay, "A Tale of Two Orphans: The Man of Steel vs The Caped Crusader," available for free this week only. The essay comes from The Man from Krypton: A Closer Look at Superman, edited by Glenn Yeffeth.

Bat-Google

Via Chris Roberson:

Lou Round the Web (Lou Con Smash)

Two items of possible interest:

My review of Neil Gaiman's Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?deluxe edition hardcover is up at Tor.com. The short of it: I wasn't sure if I liked it while reading it, but realized in retrospect that it moved me emotionally much more than I realized. Overall, positive. And it's utterly gorgeous.

Meanwhile, over at SF Signal, the latest Mind Meld asks the question, "What are the lessons that Comic-Con and Worldcon can learn from the other? Is there in fact a generational migration of professionals and fans that are choosing to attend large, catch-all media cons like SDCC instead of Worldcon, and if so, why?" Some very provocative responses.

Heart of Hush

My review of Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen's Batman: Heart of Hushis up at Tor.com.

"...similar to the Grant Morrison-penned R.I.P. in that a villain from Batman’s past, with full knowledge of his secret identity, works in conjunction with other members of his Rogues Gallery to drive him over the edge in a prelude to destroying him. It is unlike Batman: R.I.P. in that it actually tells a single, coherent story with a beginning, middle and end that can be read as a stand-alone graphic novel independent of too much current continuity."

In other Bat-news, I'm thrilled this clip from the extras to Batman Begins is up on Yahoo. This concerns the Keysi Fighting Method, the amazing martial art that was the basis for Batman's style of combat. I am utterly enthralled by some of what they do here, so much cooler and realer than all that wire-stunt Matrix stuff:

Brave and the Bold

I gave up on Batman: Brave and the Bold as being too silly to hold my interest. But this clip is great. If the rest of the series has gotten up to this level, I might check it out again:

1977 Batman Poster

This is a Batman poster I had as a kid. At the time, this was the only fully-painted version of the Caped Crusader I'd ever seen, those things being much rarer then than they are now. As such, I absolutely idolized it as "what a real Batman would look like," and pointed it out whenever I needed something to counterbalance the silly stereotype Bats enjoyed courtesy of Adam West. Cannot tell you the hours I spent hero worshiping this thing.

Recently, my too-cool-for-words mother took it and had it framed, and it now hangs in my office after many decades spent rolled up in the back of a closet in her house. I'm pretty sure the panel at the bottom is Neal Adams, but I've no idea who did the larger, painted figure. Opinions very welcome. Here is a close up detail of the painted figure's face:

Lots of Lovely Hush

The latest in my graphic novel reviews is up at Tor.com. This time, I'm taking a look back at Jeff Loeb and Jim Lee's Batman: Hush,in preparation for reading Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen's Heart of Hushnext. I bought Hush when it came out in hardcover initially, but got distracted and only finished it now, some seven years or so later. But I don't think I was in the mood for it at the time, because I really intersected with it well now. Check out the whole review. But my short summation: damn good!

Batman R.I.P. - over and good riddance!

My review of Grant Morrison's convoluted, misguided, and incomprehensible Batman: R.I.P.is up at Tor.com.

No, really, Lou, don't hold back. Tell us what you thought.

The Evolution of Batman's Icon

Via Chris Roberson:

View from the Office: A Cabinet of Batmobiles

Batman: Year 100

Of all the Batman graphic novels I've read recently, my favorite to date is Paul Pope's Batman: Year 100.Really interesting, really beautiful, and certainly something that's given me a lot of food for thought. The graphic novel is set in 2039 - exactly 100 years after the original appearance of the Dark-knight Detective in “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” published in Detective Comics #27 in May of 1939. A fact which has some significance with the storyline here. See what I have to say about it here.

Brian Azzarello's Joker

I review Brian Azzarello's Joker for Tor.com.

I enjoyed Joker very much, but it misses the mark in a crucial way.

RIP - Eartha Kitt

You were absolutely prrrr-fect. You'll be missed.

Batman: Mark Hamill's Joker

As brilliant and lauded as Heath Ledger's performance is, I'm glad to see this on YouTube, reminding us that Mark Hamill is likewise a genius when it comes to portraying the Clown Prince of Crime:



Around the time that Batman: Mask of the Phantasm came out, HBO did a "First Look" featurette on it that actually showed Hamill in the sound booth recording the voice, and it was amazing to see. Sadly, it wasn't on the DVD. I'd love to find that on YouTube!

Update 12/22: Thanks to John D, HBO First Look - Mask Of The Phantasm: Part 1 and Part 2.

Love This Batmobile!

When I custom-build my own, this - from the Cartoon Network's new Brave and the Bold series - is the one:


This is one of the coolest Batmobiles ever. I love the way it combines elements of the 1960s TV series with both modern and classic comic book interpretations. Awesome. The show itself... well, I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna hold my attention.

Update 12/12/08: I do give the series a fairly positive review here.

The Batmobile: Actual Custom Built Life Sized Cars

When I was a kid, I loved Corvettes. For one reason and one reason only. They were the closest thing to a Batmobile I'd ever seen. It was a dream of mine to one day own one and put fins on it. But as I got older, that dream was reluctantly recognized for the pipe dream that it was. Or was it? Recently, I've been finding out that there are a great many homemade - or at least custom-made - Batmobiles out there in the world already. Here are just a handful of them.

This lifesized model of the Batmobile from Batman: The Animated Series is amazing. More pics here, although this isn't the website of the builder.



This Batmobile, dubbed Batmobile 2000, from actor, writer, screenwriter, photographer, illustrator and designer Christopher C. Canole, is so impressive that I believe it was mistakenly (?) rumoured to be for one of the films in the Burton-Schumacher era. The link has four pics with front, side and (very impressive) rear views, but since they don't easily download I don't want to step on Mr. Canole's copyright and will just show the pic on the front page. Follow the link above and see all the amazing shots, though, and you won't be disappointed. And Christopher, if you ever stumble across my site - wow!

This 22 foot long Batmobile was built by Oscar Pumpin, who was inspired by Batman Forever, and cost a reported $325,000. Again, plenty more photos at the link.


I've blogged before about Willie J. Perry, the Batman of Birmingham, a man who spent all his time dressed up in a costume that resembled Evel Knievel more than the Caped Crusader, driving around in his suped-up 1971 Ford Thunderbird, dubbed the Rescue Ship, helping stranded motorists and being a good samaritan. Willie died when I was just a kid, asphixiated while working under his car in his garage, but he was a real life superhero (and a personal hero of mine). Here is his car:
Don't know anything about this homemade Batmobile. I think the concept of it is perhaps a little cooler than the execution, at least around the windshield, but if it were a little less lumpy there it would be cool, and I love the hood/grill.

This one not so much:

But you've got to love this homemade 1940s Golden Age style Batmobile:

Don't know anything about this one and wish I had a better picture:

And what's not to love about BMW's latest, cloth-covered, shape-shifting "Batmobile-style" concept car, the Gina, which can change its shape at the touch of a button. Reportedly, "the headlights open like eyes from behind the stretchable fabric, which shifts at speed to make the car more aerodynamic." Wow:


Still, my favorite is hands-down this 1989 Keaton Batmobile Replica, owned by Mark Shields, and built in 1991 by a design team out of none other than a classic 1978 Corvette!!! Yes, a Vette, and the result is somehow more sublte and better looking than the Keaton original. It's apparently for sale for just $50,000, in case any of you are wondering what to get me for Christmas. (Update 1/21/09: Apparently this amazing machine was built by Randy Hecht of Huntington Beach, CA, and purchased by Shields on Sept 2001.)

Sweet, huh? And Santa will vouche that I've been very nice this year.

The Evolution of Batman

Fun to see it all laid out. As bad as the Schumacher ones are - and they are unwatchable - that first shot of Clooney is actually the first time a live actor actually resembled the character as drawn. Nolan's work sure makes the rest of the live-actions look pathetic. BATS and related still rocks.

Batman & Iron Man

Thanks to Sean Williams for pointing this out. Probably already made the rounds, but still funny: