Legends of the Dork Knight Issue #1 Blog

Legends of the Dork Knight #1
A Blog for all things Batman – October



As the new Batman review writer here at CTG, I want to use this first Bat-blog to introduce myself to everyone. When I read reviews, or news stories, or blogs, I like to know more about the writer and their background because I want to know just how serious they are about whatever it is I am reading about. Now a days, it’s easy for anyone to read a digital book and write a review on it and not have any passion or true interest in it and that really makes me feel a disconnect from the writer. I want to know that whoever is doing these write ups shares the same passion and all their work comes from a place of love and not just to make a couple bucks and move on. As the review writer here, I do have to read all the pre releases digital and already know the stories but I am a true fan and when they release, I go down to my local comic shop and pick up the physical copies because one, I want to support my local comic shop (as you all should as well) and two, I want to support the artists and publishers who work hard to bring us these stories. I also love having the physical copies to collect and to go back into. The actual books just mean so much more to me.


My Work Station


So to introduce myself-
My name is Wes Greer and I live in the US in the sunny and uncomfortably hot South East Florida coast. I have been married for 11 years now and have 3 kids, all of which are little Bat-Girls so I am outrun by women! I am 30 years old and have loved Batman ever since I can remember. I was introduced to Batman by my mother who was one of the biggest Batman fans ever to live. Growing up, our house was full of Batman collectibles and our living room walls were covered in Batman movie posters and she always had this huge cardboard Michael Keaton Batman next to the front door so when you walked in, he was there to greet you. Naturally I inherited her passion and have absorbed batman knowledge through just about every form of media from books, comics, movies, toys, and games. I give my wife a lot of credit because now my house is twice as covered in batman stuff as my house growing up and she allows me to put it all up and doesn’t mind my love for him which is almost as much as my love for her! So believe me when I say that all the reviews and Blogs and other things I post here are all driven from my passion and my love for Batman and his extended family. If you were wondering why this blog is called Legends of the Dork Knight, The “Dork” Knight refers to a nickname I was given a long time ago and comes from Batman the Animated Series. I used it as my Xbox Gamertag when Halo 1 came out and it has stuck ever since.


My Bat-Wall


Suggested readings

Batman the Long Halloween


So, since my first blog comes just before Halloween it couldn’t be a better time for my first suggested reading to be one of my all time favorite series, Batman the Long Halloween. The Long Halloween was a 13-part series run in 1996 and 1997. It was published by DC Comics and was written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. It was a follow up to three stories published in Batman Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween specials ,which were later republished as Batman: Haunted Knight and  created by the same creative team. The Long Halloween also follows up Frank Millers Batman: Year One and is based early in Batman’s career.
The Synopsis –
Taking place during Batman’s early days of crime fighting, The Long Halloween tells the story of a mysterious killer named Holiday, who murders people on holidays, one each month. Working with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Captain James Gordon, Batman races against the calendar as he tries to discover who Holiday is before he claims his next victim each month, while attempting to stop the crime war between two of Gotham City's most powerful families, Maroni and Falcone. This novel also acted as a re-introduction to the DC Universe for one of Batman's most elusive foes, Calendar Man, who knows the true identity of the Holiday killer but refuses to share this with Batman. He instead riddles and gives Batman hints from his Arkham Asylum cell. The story also ties into the events that transform Harvey Dent into Batman's enemy, Two-Face.^[2] Enemies such as Scarecrow, the Joker, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and the Riddler, among others, also make appearances.


Suggested Watch

The Batman, Season 2 Episode 11
 Grundy’s Night



The suggested watch for this blog entry again keeps with the Halloween theme. The Batman, Grundy’s Night is one of the only episodes of any animated Batman series that has a Halloween theme which really blows my mind. You would think that a show about heroes and villains who all wear masks and make up would have a lot more Halloween episodes. I am not a huge fan of this series, but this episode is one of the more entertaining ones and a great watch for Halloween.

Synopsis-
Legend says that swamp giant Solomon Grundy will return to Gotham City on a Halloween with a lunar eclipse. Supposedly, Grundy will return to get revenge on the descendants of Gotham's founding fathers. On Halloween night, the eclipse begins, and Batman receives word that Grundy is wreaking havoc in Gotham. The caped crusader is skeptical about the legend. Still, he must battle this dangerous villain who is bent on terrorizing certain residents of the city.


Batman Collectible Spotlight

Batman Black and White Statue by Todd McFarlane

For my first collectible spotlight, I wanted to start with a BANG! The Batman Black and White Statue collection has been one of DC Collectibles staples and for their 100^th they pulled out all the big guns and got artist and comic legend Todd McFarlane on board. This amazing statue is based on McFarlane’s artwork on the cover of Batman issue #423. On the cover, Batman is holding a girl in his cape and for the statue they had to go to the drawing board and figure out how not only to make this guy three dimensional, but what to fill the inside of his cape with. I am so thrilled with the result and think this is by far the most amazing Batman statue DC Collectibles has created. Everything about this statue makes the inner nerd in me jump for joy. Originally revealed at San Diego Comic Con this year, this statue will be available June 30^th 2020 with pre-order available now for $99.99 on ShopDCEntertainment.com


Latest Bat-News

The Batman Movie Casting



The upcoming Batman movie from DC has had a ton of changes and moving parts the last few years. Originally set to be based in the DCEU film series, and a solo film for Ben Affleck’s version of Batman, the movie script was completely thrown out and had to go through a complete re-write as well as re-cast. After the mess WB had made with Justice League (#ReleaseTheSnyderCut) and issues in Affleck’s personal life, the studio decided it needed to start from scratch. This was a huge bummer to me personally because I think Affleck was one of the best actors ever to dawn the cowl and I really wanted to see him in his own solo film. WB has hired director and writer Matt Reeves to over see the new project and the first news was the casting of Twilight actor Robert Pattinson. As of last week, news spread about the casting of the movies Catwoman as well as its Riddler. Zoe Kravitz, the daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and X-Men actress, was Cast to be the newest Catwoman. Later news broke of the casting of There Will Be Blood actor, Paul Dano as The Riddler. The movie is not set to premiere until 2021 and as of right now, there isn’t really much more known about the film. With the latest casting, I’m sure we will get more casting news within the coming weeks and a few more details should emerge. I am personally struggling with the casting of Pattinson as Batman. I keep trying to picture him in the cowl in my head, and I just can’t do it. I am never one to count anything out until I have seen it myself though and with the amount of time we have been waiting to see a new solo Batman film, I hope WB knows what they are doing and makes it worth the wait.


Closing out this first blog, I really want to thank all of you guys for taking the time to check it out. It really means the world to me to have this opportunity to connect with other Bat-fans around the world and to share something so dear to my heart. In the future, I will have so much more to share with you guys. I just really wanted to use this first one to introduce myself and get into the swing of things. I currently have no idea what the schedule will be for these blog releases yet, but they will at least be a monthly deal. If there is a lot of Batman news going on, I will post more frequently but on those slow months, look for it at least once a month! Also feel free to reach out to me here on the site through the contact link on my profile. I want to hear from you guys! If you have any fan art, cosplay, collections, con photos, or anything you want to share here on the blog. You can also email me at WesGreer.ComicsTheGathering@gmail.com or reach out to me on Instagram @WesGreer101 Also, feel free to let me know if there are things you want me to talk about or feel others need to know. I want you guys all to be a part of this blog and to help it grow! This isn’t about me, its about all of us Bat-fans out there!
Happy Halloween
Cheers!
-Wes Greer