Pads & Panels

Title: Justice League: Doom

Format: Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy

MPAA: PG-13

Directed by: Lauren Mongomery

Written by: Dwayne McDuffie (Based on a story by Mark Waid)

Starring: Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, Michael Rosenbaum, Nathan Fillion,

Produced by: Lauren Montgomery, Bruce Timm

Studio: Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment, Warner Home Video

Film Rating:

Bluray Rating:

Review by: Matt Peters

Next in a long line of DC Comics direct-to-DVD movies is Justice League: Doom. Based on the “Tower of Babel” storyline featured in DC’s JLA revival from the late 90’s, the movie itself was interpreted by the late Dwayne McDuffie. Originally penned by Mark Waid, “Tower of Babel” tells the tale of a Justice League destroyed using very specific tactics for each member which could only be executed by one of their own. McDuffie was a legend in the DC animated world, and most of the original voice cast is back for JL: Doom. Unfortunately, even the perfect ingredients don’t always bear the best results. (more…)

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Best Comic Books of 2011

Matt’s Picks

Ducktales/Darkwing Duck Series’ Finale Crossover — Imagine being a kid and watching the Disney Afternoon cartoon block when you get home from school. For thirty seconds, you’d see Uncle Scrooge having a snowball fight with his nephews when suddenly Goselyn walks up. You think “Hey, isn’t Goselyn on Darkwing Duck? What’s she doing in Duckberg?” Then, Darkwing walks up and shoots a snowball out of his gas gun. Sure, it’s just a “Happy Holidays from Disney” commercial, but you wish there was a full episode featuring a teamup of your favorite ducks. Wish no more, because Kaboom made that happen with the final issues of Ducktales and Darkwing Duck (respectively). With a captivating story by Epic Mickey‘s Warren Spector and illustration by cartoon veteran James Silvani, this story is sure to entertain and leave you with a smile on your face. (more…)

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Title: Batman: Year One

Format: Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy

MPAA: PG-13

Directed by: Sam Liu & Lauren Montgomery

Written by: Tab Murphy, based on a comic by Frank Miller

Starring: Benjamin McKenzie, Bryan Cranston, Eliza Dushku, Katee Sackhoff, Alex Rocco, Jon Polito

Produced by: Lauren Montgomery, Alan Burnett

Studio: Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment, Warner Home Video

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Eric Stuckart

The Film

Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One was a groundbreaking comic for the Dark Knight for a number of reasons. First off, it helped to definitively usher in a new age for Batman, one that eschewed the flavor-of-the-week enemies and cartoonish nature that the Adam West television series had imparted onto the comics. And secondly, it brought a grittier, darker tone to a comic book series that badly needed a resurrection.

The fact that the book practically serves as a storyboard for DC Entertainment’s animated adaptation only shows how great the source material was in the first place. Telling the story of how both Bruce Wayne and good cop Jim Gordon have arrived in the crime-ridden Gotham City, it’s a great starting point for those not familiar with the story behind the cowl. (more…)

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12 Things to be Excited About in 2012

By Matt Peters

This year is scheduled to be one of the biggest of note in the world of comics, video games, and all-around geekiness. We here at Pads & Panels would like to give you twelve reasons that 2012 will be awesome. Let’s hope our Mayan overlords don’t return from outer space until we get to experience most of it. Take a look below for some of the highlights:

*WARNING, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*

(more…)

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Title: Green Lantern

Format: Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, Michael Goldenberg

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong

Studio: Warner Bros.

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

For the original review of the theatrical release of Green Lantern, click padsandpanels.com/?p=13877

The Blu-ray

Green Lantern has landed among the lower echelon of superhero films in recent years, reverting back to cheesy humor, overreliance on special effects and so forth. And the additional Blu-ray content does very little to add substance to the formula. (more…)

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Title: Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

Directed by: Chris Berkeley, Lauren Montgomery, Jay Oliva

Written by: Alan Burnett, Michael Green, Eddie Berganza, Todd Casey, Dave Gibbons, Marc Guggenheim, Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi

Starring: Nathan Fillion, Jason Isaacs, Elisabeth Moss, Henry Rollins, Kelly Hu, Roddy Piper, Arnold Vosloo

Studio: Warner Bros.

Feature Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Feature

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Green Lantern character or comics, but I’ve got to admire what DC Comics and Warner Bros. have done with the latest stellar home video animated feature they’ve released, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. It adds to the already fantastic lineup of animated home videos the companies have released together, and does a great job of using a format similar to that of television recap episodes to tell a bunch of tales in one. (more…)

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Title: Seven Soldiers of Victory Volumes 1 & 2

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: J.H. Williams III, Simone Bianchi, Cameron Stewart, Ryan Sook, Frazer Irving, Mick Gray, Pasqual Ferry, Yanick Paquette, Serge Lapointe, Doug Mahnke, Billy Dallas Patton, Michael Bair, Freddie Williams II

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Grant Morrison has a growing penchant for revitalizing (or attempting to revitalize) comics history, by reinventing old characters, incorporating classic story bits and trying to revolutionize storytelling in comics. But as often as he strikes gold (All-Star Superman), he also finds a way to alienate casual fans looking for a good story. And Seven Soldiers of Victory is the latest example of just that.

He takes a cadre of C-list characters – Shining Knight, Guardian, Bulleteer, Klarion, Frankenstein, Zatanna and Mister Miracle – and weaves them together in a metaseries, in which each character gets a four-issue mini-series, and two other issues bookend the collection, which is also available in two hardcover or softcover volumes. (more…)

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Product: Batman Money Clip

Company: ThinkGeek

Price: $39.99

Review by: Bill Jones

Batman has always been a man of gadgets. With the seemingly infinite wealth of Wayne Enterprises behind his nighttime crimefighting, Batman has a gadget for nearly every situation. So it stands to reason that with all of the money, the man probably uses heavy duty clip to keep it all together.

ThinkGeek and DC Comics present their version of the Batman Money Clip, a miniature batarang that bends in half to hold the money, with the aid of two powerful magnets. It’s the metal of the batarang itself, though, that makes it so cool. It’s a heavy die-cast metal that’s coated in a black rubberized finish. So the money clip has a hefty weight to it, but feels relatively smooth and soft to the touch. (more…)

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Title: All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder: Volume 1

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Frank Miller

Artist: Jim Lee

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

It’s hard to imagine with this being the first series published under DC Comics’ All-Star banner that the imprint lasted long enough for Grant Morrison to produce the fantastic All-Star Superman. All-Star allows the writers and artists to tell stories with key DC characters outside the general continuity of the DC Universe (or any other continuity DC has going, for that matter). And with creators of the likes of 300, Sin City and Batman: Hush, one would think this would be met with promising results. Jim Lee’s art gets the job done, for sure, but it’s hard to believe Volume 1 of All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder was written by the same Frank Miller who produced The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One. (more…)

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Title: Green Lantern

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, Michael Goldenberg

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong

Studio: Warner Bros.

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

In a summer movie season that already saw the surprisingly good debut of Thor, and the unexpected resurgence of X-Men in First Class — both coming out of the Marvel camp — Green Lantern, DC Comics and Warner Bros. had their work cut out for them. But even if it were not for the high standards set by its summer predecessors, Green Lantern would be a letdown, whether the viewer is coming in as just a casual moviegoer or hardcore fan of the comics.

Green Lantern tells the tale of Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a test pilot who is granted the power to physically manifest anything he can see in his mind with the power of a green ring that chooses him after an alien crash lands on Earth. The ring gets its power from a titular green lantern, which derives its power from will, which is depicted in the color green. (more…)

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