I hear what they say. They say that its impossible for me to give credit for anything good out of Marvel, that “The Batman” is great animation, and that Wizkids has more conspiracies going on than Deepthroat.

But I say, wrong, wrong, WRONG! I’m not a conspiracy nut, I just think the car in front of me is following me the long way around.

Welcome back to my ongoing argument with the whole wide world, I’m the Frontman; and this is Activation Click. In this week’s column, we start my month long dedication to all things Batman to celebrate the return of Bats to the big screen, give you my personal reviews of the various eras of Batman animation, and show you how to improve the look of your Bat related characters with some simple repaints and touchups.

FIRST TOPIC!!

Fantastic Forces Finally

Once again Inquest has come through with a full spoiler list of the next Heroclix release, Fantastic Forces. I looked over the figures, and do like what I see. The only thing I see that could be a hang up is the lack of powerhouses, with only Nimrod clearing 200+ points, and most of the other power figures clocking in at half of that. To me, that isn’t a bad thing. I would be disappointed if Wizkids tried to force a character to be higher points/powers just to make the figure 200+ points. I feel that when they revisit other powerhouses they’ve done previously (Adam Warlock, Silver Surfer) for example, that would be the time to do a brick. I’m impressed with the variety, disappointed personally because with the set having a FF slant; there isn’t any members of the “new” FF (Spiderman, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Hulk) just to spice it up. However, in saying that, I haven’t seen every Ghost Rider TA yet, so there might be one more FF member, we’ll have to wait in see.

The Month of the Bat

When it comes to all time favorite characters, mine has been and always will be Batman. Not because of any super power, since he doesn’t have any. Not because he’s a role model, he’s a vigilante. And while it would be cool to be that rich and be able have anything I would want, it comes down to one “bad day.”

It’s because in response to one “bad day,” Bruce Wayne chose to work for the good of all, instead of becoming bitter and focusing on himself only. In a world that we see so much hurt and far too much crime, a character forged in pain like Batman is one we can relate to, and unlike Punisher, can inspire to be. Anyone can become a killer; it takes something special to become a hero. And as much as it pains some folks to admit it, Batman and Superman are the opposites sides of the same coin. They both fight for the same things; it’s just that they fight on different levels. Superman can move the moon, Batman works on keeping drugs and crime off the streets.

My love of the character did in fact start with the old Adam West TV show. WFLD channel 32 here in Chicago used to air the double episodes back to back every weekday afternoon after I got home from kindergarten. And while the show is hokey, it always will have a special place in Batman lore, as it was fun. It was a fun way to play within the Bat-universe. From that age to the present, I’ve watched as Batman has matured along while I have. From the 60’s show, through the SuperFriends, the films and up to Justice League, Batman has been the character I watch the most. I still love the old TV show, but I now enjoy the comics, a few of the films, and am eagerly anticipating the best DC film in a long time, and possibly the best comic film of all time in “Batman Begins,” but I’ll give a full review once seeing it. I might actually surprise some of you with my critique of it.

It certainly couldn’t be as bad as “Batman and Robin,” or “Batman Forever.” A pox upon you Joel Schumacher!

Animated Batman

There have been many animated versions of Batman, starting as early as 1969, which really is best remembered for Casey Kasem doing the voice of Robin. But truly good and “loyal” to the source type Batman stories didn’t really appear until 1992. It was then that “Batman, the Animated Series” premiered on this little network called “Fox” that planned on becoming the 4th “big network.” Stylized, dark, and moody; Batman TAS came out of the starting gate huge, garnering quite a bit of attention and loyalty. In its first 12 episodes, it achieved a great milestone by winning an Emmy award, not in technical or musical categories, but in story. It became popular not just with kids, but with adults as well, gaining in popularity after airing a few episodes in primetime.

Batman TAS owed less to Tim Burton’s vision of the Dark Knight (although the producers credit Burton’s huge success than it did to the comics, especially Frank Miller’s “Year One,” which told a definitive origin of the character and no longer treated Batman as a joke, but as the avenger of the night he now is known as. TAS wasn’t as dark, but it treated the character with the same respect that Miller showed in re-inventing the character. TAS also introduced characters that became so popular that DC and the editors decided to allow those characters into the comics themselves, like Harvey Bullock, Lock Up, and Harly Quinn. They also did stories that solely existed in their universe, two of my personal favorites “Night of the Ninja” and “Day of the Samurai,” which focused on Bruce’s training in the martial arts.

After 85 episodes the design team “updated” their style to what became known as the “Gotham Knight” style. They furthered some character development; by introducing a new Robin (Tim Drake, with a LOT of Jason Todd’s back story) had Richard Grayson become Nightwing, and had Barbara Gordon/Batgirl become a full member of the “team.” They even hinted of a relationship between Bruce and Barbara, which added tension to the follow up show, Batman Beyond. I wasn’t a fan of the new animation style, as it came across as cutting corners, but the stories were just as good/if not better, than the TAS episodes. I especially liked the falling out of Robin/Nightwing and Bruce, as it gave some weight to the series.

Now, Batman Beyond I met with all the warmth of a hungry pit bull on a short leash. I wasn’t thrilled with the comics when they put Jean Paul Valley in the Bat-suit, and having a teenager as Batman frustrated me even more. But once I saw that they were remaining faithful to Batman, and not just doing “Here’s the future Joker, here’s the future Scarecrow, etc.” I actually started to enjoy the show. I consider “Batman Beyond, Return of the Joker” one of the best Bat movies on DVD, if not the best. It was future Batman combined with a bit of the Spiderman/teen superhero concept, with Bruce still being a main character to the series. I don’t think you can have Batman without Bruce Wayne, in my opinion.

After Batman Beyond went off the air, the design team then started work on “Justice League” which then became “Unlimited” last year. Batman, while a founding member, has been seen less; but when present, has had some great stories, especially involving this whole government covert team stuff that started last season and has come to the surface this season; and the season finale last year as members of the Justice League wound up in the past and the future, with Bruce Wayne of “Batman Beyond” coming face to face with Batman of “current” era.

Which brings us now to the latest version of Batman animated projects, “The Batman.”

Well, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

It stinks.

Sorry, but it really does. I now fully understand how fans of Hellblazer were ready to destroy Keanu Reeves when “Constantine” was made. A thousand apologies to anyone I upset when I asked you “What’s the big deal?” I now fully get it after seeing this carpfest. My I never write another column if I ever question a fans loyalty to a character after seeing what Warner Brothers animation did to Batman with this steaming, stinking pile of monkey carp.

Besides the familiar costume and names like Alfred, Bruce, and Joker, this show doesn’t resemble any version of Batman. I’m all for trying new stuff, and making the show its own, but no Wayne Manor, no Gordon (although, I think enough of us showed our disgust with the show that the producers are quickly trying to fill gaps of missing things like Gordon with season II) no Robin (hooray for some, disappointment for others, and let’s mush the concept of Robin into the new Batgirl they’re going to premiere next season) and none NONE of the villains resemble who they are supposed to be. Mr. Freeze looks like a giant Popsicle; Bane (who is a horrible villain in the first place) has now been turned into a Hulk-like creature, which forces Bruce to don his “Iron Bat” suit (hey, I’m not making this up guys) to defeat him. The Joker goes from being a clown in a mafia suit to a dreadlock wearing, no shoes/snazzy straight jacket.

While I think its great to have Joker be more physical, the idea of a kickboxing version of the Clown Prince of Crime makes as much sense as Jack Osbourne doing kickboxing (wait, he IS doing kickboxing tournaments? Chalk up another sign of the end of days…..)

The voice talent isn’t there as well. Mark Hammill, for example, will be the definitive voice of the Joker for years to come. He did such a great job at it, that when audio books have been done for Batman stories, they call Mark. When the WB tried to launch “Birds of Prey” as a follow up show to “Smallville,” once again Mark did the voice. Kevin Conroy, who has done the voice of Batman for over a decade, has been considered the best portrayal of Batman, par none. This new guy doing Bruce/Batman doesn’t seem to do anything different between the characters, just whispers a bit for Batman. That and Bruce is depressed, Batman is moody. If anyone can clearly define the difference between depressed and moody, I’m all for it.

It is vastly disappointing that his is the Batman that DC/Warner Bros want to have as the animation version of this decade. For those who haven’t seen it, if you’ve seen “Jackie Chan Adventures” or the “Men in Black” cartoon, it’s similar in style to those two shows. Thankfully, the original 85 Batman TAS episodes are now all available on DVD, and I HIGHLY recommend you at least see these episodes at least once, if not buy the collections outright. But hey, they want to put out the whole first season of “The Batman” on DVD, yet they aren’t planning on doing the same for Justice League or Batman Beyond. Sad, really.

Starting simple

As I said when I started the column, I want to focus on Bat-related topics for this month. To start, I figured I could show you how I’ve touched up and repainted my Batman characters, and next week, I’ll give a step-by-step guide on how to convert Huntress into the Jim Lee version of the costume.

First, let’s define all the figures in the Batman universe. I basically look to the Bat-family, plus those who operate out of Gotham or have had a close working relationship with Batman, minus the Big Blue Boyscout, of course. They are as follows:

Batman (all of them. The two sets of R/E/V, the uniques from Hypertime, Cosmic Justice, Unleashed, and the Free Comic Book Day figure.)
Robin
Nightwing
Commissioner Gordon
Huntress
Batgirl (Unique and the R/E/V)
Gotham Undercover
Gotham PD
Oracle
Bat Sentry
Black Canary
Red Robin
Etrigan/The Demon (Jason Blood operates out of Gotham)
Zatanna (from the animated series. Bruce trained with Zatarra, Zatanna’s father.)
Catgirl
Catwoman (R/E/V and Unique)
Spoiler

Ok, so we won’t do ALL of these figures this week, as it would take an incredible amount of work repaint all of them, which I haven’t done all of them (yet.) Let’s take a look at the one’s I have done. Robin, Spoiler, Catgirl, and Gordon are figures I’ve yet to paint, as I haven’t used them at all, save in special scenario games. Nightwing for whatever reason I never touched up, even though he really could use it and I play him an awful lot (watch, I’ll repaint him in like August, just in time for a new one in “ICONS.”)

Batman: I’ve repainted a few Batman figures since the game’s release, mostly in touch ups. My KC Batman, for example, had a smear of silver paint on the Bat-Symbol, which I painted over with a gloss black to give it a metallic appearance. For the Hypertime Batman, I never painted him. I don’t know if the one I usually use is from the Deluxe starter or just lucked out, but the guy who painted mine actually added some shading and highlights. So he has never been touched up in my collection, save for some gloss black onto the Batarang to make it stand out. The Vampire Batman is an excellent figure, with only minor touchups needed. I repainted the eyes white then red, to brighten them. I added a highlight of blue to the cape, gloves, and boots. I painted the dagger silver, as it looks more of a weapon than a stake to me. Some shading to the gray and the face, especially around the mouth to bring out the fangs, and the figure looks awesome.

Legacy Batman: For play wise, I’d recommend taking either the FCBD Batman or the Hypertime Batman figure and replacing the Halo Jump Batman. He’s impossible to turn, especially due to the one-foot stance/Arch Enemy base. However, as I won the Bruce Wayne LE at the Marquee (my first time in first place at a Marquee) I wanted to spruce up the Bruce. All of the light metallic/metallic straps to the costume I repainted black then silver, to draw out the details. I then defined the muscles and details of the jumpsuit with a darker black/black mix, and added a light gray highlight to the gloves/boots/knee pads. The cape I blended a lighter blue over the raised areas and along the edges, then detailed the face.

FCBD Batman: This one is the one I just worked on this week. Out of all of the Batman poses, this one looks the best, and I wanted to treat it accordingly. Note: DON’T PRIMER THIS FIGURE UNLESS YOU REALLY CAN PAINT THE BAT-SYMBOL!!!! I’m amazed at how great that one turned out on this figure. So what I did was repainted the cape, cowl, gloves, and boots with gloss black. I then did a dark gray underline to accent each muscle groups, with a fine line of highlight in a light gray. I repainted the utility belt white then yellow to brighten it. I did paint the gargoyle bronze, as I think it looks better to have some color to the figure.

Oracle: My favorite girl needed some major work. First off, the green shirt has got to go. I don’t think green is a color that works on most redheads to begin with; or at least that shade of green. I looked around for inspiration, and after watching “Spiderman 2” with another favorite redhead, Kristen Dunst; I decided to go with gray pants and a pink top, with a matching headband to the pink shirt. I used the dark gray mix that I also used for my repainted Batgirl, then used a straight pink over a purple undercoat (you can also “tightline” purple into the creases under her chest and arms after just painting pink.) I also used pink as well due to my involvement with Breast Cancer fundraisers.

Batgirl/Barbara: I was always a fan of Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl, and I actually liked the newer version on the Batman Animated Series when it went to the “Gotham Knight” style. The black with the yellow inner cape worked, especially with the animation style. They recently did something similar in Batman/Superman when Clayface was pretending to be Batgirl. So, what I did was did a half-half mix of gray and black and painted the tights with that color, adding a bit of black for the shading and a bit of gray for the highlights. I then repainted the belt/boots/gloves/symbol white then yellow again to brighten them up. For the cape, I used my favorite gloss black, as it then makes Batgirl resemble my Batman figure all the more.

Next week, I’ll give you some painting tips for the rest and maybe some of the villains, especially if I get my hands on an extra Mr. Freeze sendaway, as I would love to repaint him so he’s part clear/part opaque/part solid in his appearance. As a matter of fact, anyone who wants to throw out some suggestions on which Bat villains need the touch ups, I’m all for it. I’ve put off doing my Ra’s Ah Guhl conversion for months now; I plan on having him done around the time the movie is released, but any ideas? Comments, questions, suggestions, complaints?

Trust No One, Mr. Mulder

Once again this past week, we had another “outbreak” of the tin hat society here at HCRealms, with yet another accusation of “conspiracies” involving Wizkids games, namely their promotional convention figures/discounts/creating traffic for the con. It just goes to show folks that some will always cling to whatever wacko theory they can just to bash Wizkids.

Now, before anyone starts up the hate machine and the talk that I’m “A company man,” I will remind all that I do not work for Wizkids, nor am I a part of the envoy program anymore. I retired from being a judge after leaving Game-opolis, the store I managed a few years ago. Wizkids does not have any say other anything I write, nor do I care if what I say upsets them. I’m pretty sure I’ve honked off folks over the years, and at times I’m sure even Wizkids would love for me to shut up; but I’m loyal to the gaming industry as a whole. That includes not just the players; but also the manufacturers, distributors, and the retailers. Gaming has been a part of my life now for over half my life, starting over 20 years ago with Dungeons and Dragons. Some say I’m cocky around this site, and I might come across that way from time to time, but its because I’m passionate about this hobby that I speak up strongly and stand by what I say, and even admit when I’m wrong (right Skeevo?)

What makes me aggravated over this type of attack material is the total lack of evidence when someone throws out things like “All high level envoys get EVERYTHING for free,” and “Wizkids is deliberately effecting pricing just to make more money for itself.” It takes nothing to throw something like that out there and hurt a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, and it totally blows when it’s towards a volunteer.

On the first one, here’s my take on it. If you give enough of your time, any game company worth its salt will reward you as a volunteer. It’s how it works. It’s how it’s always worked. And there is nothing wrong with Wizkids, or any other gaming company, comping their volunteers with products. Wizkids, like any other game company, cannot afford to pay their envoys with cash, as then taxes, FICA, employment security, etc kicks in. Now, if someone gets free swag and they spend all 4 days of Origins/GAMA/GenCon working for WK, they deserve to get stuff for free, including full sets/convention figures/whatever. It’s that simple. And I would me more disappointed with WK didn’t take care of their volunteers.

On the second issue, let’s go real simple here. Wizkids, like any other company, makes games to make money, right? Whatever it is you do for a living, you do it to eventually make money. Sure, you might be a firefighter or a doctor and your calling is to save lives, but you collect a check like the rest of the world and that’s why you do what you do. Where is it written that game companies shouldn’t be in it to make money, but just to give enjoyment to players? Where has it been decreed that Wizkids shouldn’t try to make more money, and to do so makes them evil? We all do what we do for the most we can get for our efforts. Sure, there is customer loyalty to be considered, and without customers Wizkids doesn’t have a company, but why is it we all expect to get everything for the least amount we can, but condemn anyone else for doing the same?

Something to think about folks.

Now if someone is doing something corrupt, like a retailer offering to run an event then pocketing the prizes for themselves or to ebay them off; or a judge not actually running events, there is a system in place to report them. Not only report it, but also follow up on it. Have proof; get witnesses, whatever it takes. But I just think its completely irresponsible and damaging to the game industry as a whole when folks go off half cocked and even with the best intentions, bad mouth a game/company/individual(s) without solid proof.

Sorry about the soap box here at the end, as I never want to end on such a down note, but as I said in the opening of this section of now a rather long Activation Click, I really do care about this industry as a whole. And yeah, that even includes those nutjobs out there would love games I personally can’t stand. But when we as players become nothing but gripe machines about the game/the game company/the volunteers/the prizes/the website/the t-shirts and everything else under the sun involved in just one game, what happens to the fun and the camaraderie that this hobby is supposed to be about?

See you all in 7, right back here for Activation Click.

PEACE!!!

The Frontman

great article as usual frontman... keep up the good work! always nice to have tips 4 improving the look of ur figs... especially found the oracle repaint useful as that fig needed a LOT of work... Don't have the FCBD bats yet, but ive got 4 vampires and i've repatinted 3 of them similarly to what u did and they look great...

First Post!

Dang it, I was a minute late

For once; I completely agree.

I'll post my Oracle when I get a chance, but I hated the WizKids version of her. So, I adapted her to the sultrier Birds of Prey version (along with my own version of Huntress and Black Canary).

I replaced her head with White Queen's, her shirt got a makeover, her computers got a makeover, and I'm working on putting tiny little glasses on her (I just can't find a wire that's the right guage).

Basically, they're all lookin' like this cover.

Wait.... I'm supposed to get free figures for judging events every month? Why wasn't I told?

J/k, but I do think it's laughable that some people think us judges get a whole bunch of free stuff, since I've recieved just 2 LEs in the past year of judging every month. Not that I blame Wizkids for that- it's just because I'm a juge in Australia and not in the USA (read; the local distributor is the problem, not Wizkids AFAIK). *sigh*

Wow. Great stuff about The Batman and past animated incarnations. It's true; this current series is a fun and creative experiment. However, similar to the "new direction" of the Catwoman movie, the real fans get the short end of a very ugly stick. C'mon, WB! BRING BACK TAS OR BATMAN BEYOND!!!

GR won't be F4. Or at least, he shouldn't be. I'm holding out for him being a Defender (he was a Champion).

Having seen JacinB's versions of these characters, I suggest that no one else even bother putting pics of their BoP mods up--they won't even come close to his......

I'm sorry but I enjoy The Batman. I like how they redid some of the villians. Don't always have to follow the line. Just because someone is trying to be creative with your favorite character doesn't me its a bad thing.

S'right!

wait a minute, did you say that "future" Bruce wayne meets "present" Bruce wayne? aahhhhhhh why cant I afford cable .

I agree with what you said about The Batman, but my problem is with most of the villians, MR freeze is confuseing, how did he get his powers? plus theres no conflict in most of them they're just bad (which yes some are even in the comics) but at least the Mr Freeze from batman TAS wasnt all bad you know what I mean?

Great Article like usual. I went out and got the new Inquest cause my subscribtion that I bought for the DK Dec Batman always comes late, btw im still waiting for the batman. So I went through the new FF set and I am pleased by teh way inquest does it showing powers and taking about teh figures but overall I am not impressed by the set. Some Figures I am happy about,
Nightcrawler (even though the LE in not as good as the unique one from CT and costs a little more) but it looks great

Spiderman 2099 I was very surprised that they made a 2099 figure and it looks great , plus put pounce on him and you get blades/claws with pounce possible 7 dmg nice ))

The Human Torch has a great sculpt and putting him with the LE SUe Storm and the new FF team ability will give him a nice 19 defense, 21 defense from range and a ridiculous 22 defense in hindering now thats sweet.

the juggernaut of course has been done very well this time much better then the old one

the transporters are cool namely Ghost Rider and Hawkeye

But overall I am very disapointed in this set

Ok they are doing New Mutants but most of them I never heard of what about all the origonal new mutants like sunspot

SUb Mariner cool figure

And they have this very cool new FF team ability but no more FF figures except for the 4 of them, maybe we could have gotten all the inhumans with the FF team ability or at least black bolt

Whats with the Uniques I dont know most of these figures and they look mostly lame to me, the Dr Doom is cool but costs too much, maybe if his dmg was 4 or 5

I want to see the dial on nimrod to see if hes worth his points which is the same as the KC superman, I dont think hes going to be as good, esspecally front loaded 4 dmg for 265 points

Wolverine nice sculpt but realy they should make an amazing wolverine, an expensive one that would be awsome, the professor X I am still disapointed in, I want to see a Prof X that fights the shaodw king one with 4dmg and damage reductions, one that is truely as powerful as magneto and more powerful then his students, I want to see a Prof X that rocks

rest fo the uniques very lame to me
Arim Zola (never heard of)
Baron Blood (nice stats)
Baron Moroo (shrug)
Mad thinker (guess hes marvels oracle)
orphan (next)
volcana (snooze)
warlock (ugly lol)

so overall FF I would rate a 6 out of 10 when I would give Legacy a 10
Legacy gavce us lots of uniques we wanted and loved while FF is gicing us some good R/E/Vs and LEs but mostly bad uniques
I am starting to get on the Icons bandwagon now, I was a marvel guy but DC rocks