I have some very sad news to report. Today, on December 25th, Eartha Kitt, the Award-winning film, theater, music, and TV star passed away at the age of 81 ( Born January 17th, 1927 ). Early reports say colon cancer was the cause of death. Of course all of us Batman Fans know & love her as "The Catwoman" on the 1966 Batman TV Series. As a tribute I would like to ask our readers to watch the following video. It's a RARE 1962 TV appearance where she sang one of her hit songs, "I Want To Be Evil". In it, you will see what a truely original & amazing voice she had. She continued to entertain people, all over the world, all the way up to her passing. She was a very special lady. Also, at the very top of this post ( the 1st large image ), you will find an "Eartha Kitt Tribute Wallpaper" that you can use on your desktop to remember her. She will be missed. Eartha Kitt 1927 - 2008, R.I.P.
Every year the RED BULL Beverage Company has a famous Soap Box Derby Race event where people make their own cars & go totally crazy doing it! This year, 2008, it was in Cincinnati & I'm proud to say that there was a team called "The Adam West Experience" where some Bat-Fans made a replica of the "George Barris-Style" 1966 Batmobile Car! The 2 drivers even dressed up as Batman & Robin, ha ha! Here's a few pics of it & then a video where they sadly broke their car. Man, it would have been sweet if they won & we got to see the Batmobile cross the winning line...maybe next year!
If you go to a lot of comic book conventions then you might have been lucky enough to view the "mural" artwork of Eric Maruscak in person. Eric creates HUGE works of art, in chalk, on the sidewalks near many events. The photo up above shows one he did recently. It features The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones, & Ironman. He did this both for the love of the characters & to celebrate the fact that there has finally been some really great movies this year. OK, I haven't seen the Indiana Jones movie yet but I can say that Ironman was pretty awesome! And of course you know that I love TDK, ha ha! I'm curious if any other readers have seen this guy's work. If so then please comment down below. Also, if you shot any photos of his stuff then please send it in to us, our e-mail button is always on the top right-hand side of this page, thanks.
Two friends of the Bat-Blog were kind enough to share some photos from the SDCC 2008. The 1st one, from Barry, is a HUGE vinyl banner advertising the new BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD animated series that's gonna come out soon on The Cartoon Network. This was attached to a hotel near the event...sweet! The 2nd & 3rd photos were sent in to us by Brian. They show a large life-size statue of The Dark Knight & a Bat-Fan in Costume walking the halls of the Convention Center. It looks like he bought a bunch of bat-merchandise too, ha ha! I wanna thank Barry & Brian for sending these cool pics, I appreciate that! If any other Bat-Blog Readers went to the convention & got some pics, then please send them in to us!!
If you were lucky enough to go to the last San Diego Comic Con 2008 then you could have bought these 2 Exclusive Action Figures of BATMAN & The JOKER. SDCC always has some special toys you can only get there. I really like these. It's the modern-day comic book version of Batman & The Joker looks completely CRAZY. The packaging is really cool too, a nice set.
Mattel just released the brand-new Fall 2008 Catalog for their line of Barbie™ Dolls & guess who's on the cover? Yeah, the new BATGIRL BARBIE™! Which, is a very cool doll. It has the style of the "Alex Ross Comic Book" version...nice. Also, inside, you'll find the new 2008 Tommy & Kelly versions of Batman & Catwoman. ( The photo we show below is not the one in the catalog ). If you would like to get on their mailing list & receive a FREE Barbie Collector™ catalog then go visit their website & sign-up, it only takes a minute.Just click on the logo button down below.
OK, I know that this is wayyy out of season but Hallmark Stores have started to put out some of their New Christmas Keepsake Ornaments for 2008. They are gonna have a "Batman Climbing His Rope" ( The Dark Knight ) Ornament & another one of THE JOKER ( Comic Book Version ). So, keep an eye out for these if you collect them. I really like the one of the Joker, very cool! Thanks Kevin for sending the information. If any other Bat-Blog Readers hear about ANY new Batman merchandise please let us know!!
For the July 2008 Issue of EMPIRE Magazine they will be releasing 2 special covers for The Dark Knight Batman Movie. One will feature a close-up shot of Christian Bale as Batman. The other will be Heath Ledger as The Joker! Look for these soon as I am sure they will sell out. Remember, you can click the above photo for a larger, more detailed, version.
This is really freaky!! Somebody noticed how close to the same thing the new DARK KNIGHT Batman Movie Trailer ( Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale ) is to the 1989 BATMAN Movie Trailer ( Tim Burton, Michael Keaton ) one. The thing you should do is listen to the new one but just watch the old '89 version...FREAKY!
OK, The big buzz is that at the New York Comic Con ( NYCC 2008 ) yesterday Paul Levitz, the President of DC Comics, very secretly premiered the latest DARK KNIGHT BATMAN MOVIE TRAILER!! I'm sure that it will be all over the net illegally ( hint: YouTube ) but I hope they ( DC Comics or Warner Brothers ) put it on the internet like they did the last one, in HD. There's also been some buzz lately with one of the Warner Bros viral-marketing sites where Jim Gordon makes an announcement to "look for something special" very soon...let's hope it's the new trailer. The reports I have read says it will kinda focus on Harvey Dent & Rachel Dawes a lot more than the Joker. Oh yeah, while I'm mentioning the NYCC they also gave out a few JOKER GOON MASKS to some lucky people. The picture up above is what some of them look like. There are more than these 2 but I was kinda lazy, ha ha. I'll have more soon once I find them.These should be flooded on eBay any day now, if not already, so if you want some get them soon! Me, I'm gonna wait till the scalpers have ripped everybody off & then swoop-in later & get them cheap.
Oh man! This is exciting news. The website ComicMix got an interview with Neal Adams where he announced, at the 2008 NYCC ( New York City Comic Con ), that he will be working on a new series of large graphic novels that are new Batman stories drawn by him!! At this point he has finished book 2 & has started on book 3. In total, there will be 6 books published on a bi-monthly schedule. This is extremely exciting new for Batman fans as the famous comic book artist Neal Adams is considered a GOD!!
The Bat-Blog reported awhile back about 2 brand-new "Barbie Family" Dolls being put out this year by Mattel that will feature Tommy & Kelly dressed-up as Batman & Catwoman. They are so gosh-darn cute that every Batman / Barbie Collector is gonna have to have them! We had a photo from the 2008 Toy Fair & it was really cool to see them. But, the picture was kinda small. Well, here's a new high-resolution photo I got from a friend who's a very serious Barbie Collector. She's been searching for it for awhile & sent it to me as soon as it came in. ( Thanks Debbie, I appreciate that a lot & know the readers will love it ). Here's a way better picture showing the tiny details of the Catwoman Uniform and the Batman Bat-Suit. The detailing is pretty good & I like that they have the colors right. I really like that they used the retro "yellow oval" Bat-Symbol on the chest, old school! Mattel plans to deliver these in stores around September 2008. I'm guessing that since the release date will sort of be close to Halloween that the doll characters might be marketed as "wearing Halloween costumes" or "going to a costume party". Our friend Debbie said they will retail at around $29.95 for the set, not too bad!
This BATMAN EASTER BASKET is so gosh darn cute, ha ha! Our friend Kevin sent us this cool photo of a new Batman product that is out for Easter. He told us he just found this at a Target Store. That's funny, I was just there a few days ago & checked...I didn't see it. They must have just got them so if you want one be sure to go there tonight...HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY!! Oh yeah, Thanks Kevin for the great pic, appreciate that! Also, any Bat-Blog readers who spot new Batman merchandise please send us the information ( what, where, cost, & a photo if you can ).
It's really exciting to be a Batman Collector right now! There are a ton of new bat-toys coming out this year so you better start saving your money now, ha ha! It's been extremely stressful the last few months because there has been a HUGE drought of Batman merchandise in the stores. Well, look for that to change very soon! One new toy that's gonna be super-popular with Batman collectors, because they're so gosh darn cute, is the BATMAN & CATWOMAN set of Barbie Dolls by Mattel. These are the 2 "Barbie Family" members named "Tommy & Kelly", who are precious little children. For readers who don't know, my name is Tommy, so I should be expecting a lot of major teasing in the future, ha ha! But, I can already tell that I am gonna have to get these 2 dolls because they are soooo adorable, goo goo!
The new Mattel sales catalog for Barbie Dolls has finally come out & it features a new BATGIRL Barbie Doll for 2008. They did one just a few years ago modeled after the TV series Batgirl ( think Yvonne Craig ) but this one is sort of a "Silver-Age Batgirl", the awesome version with the black suit & yellow gloves, belt, cape, & boots...sweet! They're also doing another Wonder Woman that looks pretty cool plus a DC character they haven't done yet, The Black Canary!
Just a quick post, in the next wave of action figures for the Fisher Price / Mattel DC SUPER FRIENDS line of toys they're gonna release a new villain...The JOKER! I love these because they are so cute & adorable, ha ha. Let's hope they also make a Catwoman, Riddler, & The Penguin!
Over at the MTV Movie Blog they have a cool video from the 2008 TOY FAIR with a Mattel rep who shows off the new THE DARK KNIGHT Bruce Wayne Lamborghini Toy Car that will be in the new Batman Movie. Just click on the photo up above as a link to that video...sweet! You can sort of see some of the other toys in the background ( wish I could have gone but New York is wayyy too far away for me ).
Just a quick post, here's what the display box is gonna look like for the 1:18th Scale Hot Wheels 1966 Batmobile Diecast Car....SWEET! This is gonna be released very soon so keep an eye out for it. I imagine it's gonna be 50 times as hard to find in retail stores as the regular Hot Wheels car was.
OK, Here are some "Prototype Photos" of a new toy that Mattel is gonna make for the 2008 Batman Film, THE DARK KNIGHT. It's called the "Grapnel Blaster". It's a HUGE gun that shoots foam-darts & looks very high-tech. It's has a compact-rectangular shape & then you pop it open to reveal all the hidden accessories it's another toy all together. It looks kinda like a Transformer! Now, I do think it looks cool but I have 2 gripes: 1. Is it even gonna be IN the movie? 2. Batman does NOT use guns!! ( Batman HATES guns because that's what killed his parents, duh! ). I don't know why toy makers NEVER ever get a memo on this, ha ha! Oh well, I know kids are gonna love this thing & it will probably be "The Toy of the Year"! Please leave a comment down below & let me know what you think about it, thanks.
OK, I'm not a huge fan of Monster Jam but I seriously love the Batman Batmobile Monster Truck!! A friend posted a video on YouTube when he went to the event in California recently & I had to show it. It's very fun to watch. Having a job driving one of those cars must be a blast! Oh yeah, one last thing, watch the large jump he does where he almost eats it!
