Welcome to the DC WEEKLY, where every week we cover the land of DC comics, TV, and movies. Be it random bits of news, TV show reactions, or miscellaneous reviews or speculation, you can be sure to get your DC fix here!

THIS WEEK I talk about a real-life Batpod! Sort of… From there, I talk about “Legends of Tomorrow,” and finish off with a review of issue two of “Dark Knight III: The Master Race.”

NEWS-LETS

Real-Life Batpod

Have you ever watched “The Dark Knight” and wished you could have your very own Batpod? Of course you have, but like most things in our favorite comic book movies, that’s nothing but a pipe dream — the stuff of fairy tales. Well, if a recent patent from Ford is any indication, that dream could be closer than we think. Kind of… a bit… Okay, admittedly it’s still a stretch.

The folks over at Patent Yogi have caught wind of a recent filing of a patent involving a vehicle that can separate its back wheel into its own little vehicle. They call it a Batpod-type thing, but it’s more of a unicycle, really. While the practicality of such a thing is questionable, it is a bit cool and is the first step in blurring the line between real life and comic book. There’s no word yet on if this device would simply explode out of the car, or is something you need to take out with a jack and a lug wrench.

Of course, it’s just a patent, and at the end of the day, Ford can sit on this  and do nothing withit, but it is a bit interesting, to say the least.

“Legends of Tomorrow” Gets Pilot Review

While I’ve loved all of Greg Berlanti’s series so far (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl”), something about “Legends of Tomorrow” just hasn’t sat well with me. Perhaps it was its ambition. A time-hopping superhero story on a TV budget? Maybe I thought it would feel too much like “Dr. Who” for my taste.

The recent trailers didn’t do much to alleviate my concerns. While they had their moments, I still felt uneasy about the whole thing. This more recent 60-second TV spot, while by no means alleviated all these concerns, was a step in the right direction. Of course, the fact that this trailer came after the solid two-part set up on “Arrow” and “The Flash” likely colors my vision a bit. I enjoyed those episodes a lot and realized that if I just embraced the camp, things would be all right.

What’s more, the folks over at ComicBook.com have just released a review of the pilot for the series, and if they’re to be trusted, we’ll be in for a fun ride. According to the review, however, one of the weaknesses so far is that expects the audience to know a great deal already. If you’re yet to check out “Arrow” and “The Flash,” I recommend getting to those before “Legends of Tomorrow” hits the CW on January 21, 2016.

In short, if you’re a fan of the current “Arrow”-verse, it seems to be quite the crowd pleaser. If that’s the case, then I can hardly wait.

Are you looking forward to DC’s “Legends of Tomorrow”? Let us know in the comments down below!

DC COMICS

“Dark Knight III: The Master Race” – Issue 2

A few weeks back, I had a chance to give a spoiler-free review of much-anticipated inaugural issue of “Dark Knight III: The Master Race,” which is the spiritual successor to Frank Miller’s original “The Dark Knight Returns” comic. While I managed to be super general in the last review without spoiling anything, as we delve deeper into the story, I don’t think that’ll be entirely possible. As such, I highly recommend you check out issue two of the comic before reading this review.

SPOILER ALERT!

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

The first issue left us off at a pretty solid cliffhanger. Bruce Wayne is dead, Carrie Kelly said. This issue picks up right after that, with Carrie being sent away and interrogated by Commissioner Yindel. From there, we delve into Carrie’s story on what happened to Bruce Wayne. According to her, he was ultimately killed by a toad-like mutant. While Bruce was able to beat this baddie, he was never able to fully recover from the physical abuse, and spent three years in a hospital bed before he finally passed.

It is in this part of the story where I felt the most. I mentioned in my review of issue one of the comic that I have a love/hate relationship with Frank Miller’s work. While I adore his ear for dialogue and the cadence of his words, it’s very rare that I feel much of anything. I don’t know if the emotion in this scene is mainly the work of Miller or Brian Azzarello, but either way, I felt. I haven’t seen Bruce Wayne so helpless and vulnerable before. Yes, he’s always been one of the more sympathetic DC heroes, but his question of whether or not he truly mattered was heartbreaking to watch given his history. Bruce Wayne throws himself into everything he does, and the idea that a man as capable as him couldn’t accomplish what he set out to do is enough to choke me up. To top it all off, the fact that one of his greatest fears was dying alone is very in-keeping with his character, and it warmed me up that Carrie was there for him when he most needed it.

Though, unfortunately, the effect doesn’t last for long. While being transported to Blackgate, Carrie is rescued by the remote-controlled tank of a Batmobile. At the end of her escape, we are treated to the reveal that Bruce Wayne is, in fact, alive and well. To be honest, seeing a grayed Bruce Wayne standing behind half a dozen large screens brought back warm fuzzy memories of “Batman Beyond,” though the overall tone couldn’t be farther from that cartoon series. While it’s fairly obvious that you couldn’t have a “Dark Knight” comic without Bruce Wayne, this reveal did take away some of the impact from Carrie’s story, which is a disappointment. That being said, what matters most is what happens next, and I have to wonder what the pair hoped to accomplish in Kelly getting arrested. We’ll have to wait and see to find out.

Now, let’s talk about the other subplot of the issue, which is a continuation of the Atom’s mini-issue subplot from last time, where he works to bring the Kandorians back to their normal size. But is this something he should be doing? The answer to that question is ultimately no, and upon doing so, he realizes that many of the Kandorians were killed by the more extreme, cultish-looking of the bunch — led by a man named Quar. At this point, it seems clear that the Kandorians are the titular “master race” that will wreak havoc on the world, and it’ll be interesting to see just how this connects to Carrie Kelly and the main plot. Poor Doctor Palmer is shrunk and smashed (or so we think), and our main villains have been set up for the series.

While I do enjoy the direction of this, it is a bit weird that the “Atom” mini-ssue from last issue ties into the main plot. It is a bit misleading, and if there was some casual reader, they may decided to skip the mini-issues altogether, thinking it didn’t matter to the story. Regardless, if you read the mini-issues as a normal extension to the story, then you’re perfectly fine. Speaking of which, let’s talk about the “Wonder Woman” mini-issue.

This is a short, character-driven piece showing the generational differences between Wonder Woman and her daughter Lara, who also has Kryptonian blood. From a young age, Wonder Woman has trained hard and worked for everything she’s gained. However, her daughter Lara, being half-Kryptonian, finds all the fighting pointless. After all, what’s the point in training if you’re resistant to nearly every weapon known to man? It’s a nice little piece, and I’m thinking this will ultimately build up to Lara finally facing a foe that is better than her in every way. She will need to learn the meaning of hard work, and that not everything in life comes easy.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this issue. While it was a natural progression of the story, I was more emotionally invested than I was last issue. The dialogue, monologue, and art are consistent and solid — though some may still have quibbles with the art being a bit on the sloppy side. Overall, I want to see what happens next more than ever before. What does Bruce Wayne have up his sleeve? Yes, it looks like the Kandorians are evil, but what is their mission? What does Quar want? By the end of the run, I want this series to have some serious shades of ambiguity, and while this ending with Quar has me a bit wary, there is still plenty of room to embellish the race’s agenda.

So should you continue reading “Dark Knight III: The Master Race”? I’d say most definitely!

SOURCES: Patent Yogi, Comicbook.com