2008 Dog Costume Contest at Tompkins Square

I wanted to go to this event so badly, but unforutnately the rain date conflicted with the zombie crawl. Cute doggies, or gross zombies? TORN!

So I had to delve into the Flickr pages of strangers to get my dog costume fix. Here are some of the best geek-themed costumes, found on the Flickr pages of jeanacosta, katya323, and mysuspira.


We'll kick things off with my favorite, Oscar the Grouch. Simple, yet effective and brilliant! And I'm sure that dye is non-toxic.

This is a puppy from the planet Earth, but it's dressed up as an Ewok from the planet Endor. Ladies and gentlemen, that does not make sense.

Krypto, Link, The Joker, and more, after the jump!


Supergirl and Krypto, the Superdog.


I'm pretty sure this is Link, not Robin Hood.



Even dogs want to get in on the hottest costume of the year, The Joker! That little dog in the background is like, "iz harley quin?" and joker dog is all, "NO WAI".


Green Doggie Dye must have been on sale this year...here's a little Dagobah-era Yoda puppy.

These next two dog's owners should be sent to the PUNitentiary...



A "Greyhound" bus...


And a "Chick" Magnet. Wa wa waa!


And then there's this little guy, who seems to be saying, "OK, whar is judge table pleez?"

If you're going to dress your pet up in a nerd-related costume, please please send us a picture so we can laugh at it. In a nice way.

Panel Discussion: Scans From Detective Comics #849, The Walking Dead #53, The Man Who Loved Breasts, and More

Beatdown of the Week - Detective Comics #849

Here's one of the most brutal Bat-interrogation scenes I've ever seen, and it's not even in a Frank Miller book!

Scarecrow has made the mistake of coming between Batman and the secret to saving Catwoman's life, and Batman takes his questioning techniques out of the realm of "intimidation" and into the realm of "black ops torture". As this splash panel illustrates (get it? SPLASH panel? Sorry.), Batman dunks Crane's head in a toilet along with a live electrical wire for some highly unorthodox shock therapy. This gruesome display impresses even the king of electrical torture himself, the Joker. Those two are really just soul mates at heart.

Production placement, zombies, and awkward tastes in porn, after the jump...

Product Placement Alert - Final Crisis: Revelations #3
Oh noes! The citizens of Gotham are driven to such nihilistic despair by the Anti-Life equation, they'll even stomp all over the new pink iPod shuffle! God, why?

Bad Idea Jeans - Walking Dead #53
This also fits into the "Best Use of a Repeated Panel" category.

For those not in the loop, for the past few years worth of issues Rick and his band of survivors have been doing battle with a town full of crazy murderous hicks, and were eventually driven from their safe house, with Rick and his son being the only survivors. Now Rick realizes that if he'd just stayed put with another group of folks he decided to split with back at the beginning, everyone (including his wife and baby daughter) would be safe and sound. What's that crushing regret taste like, Ricky Boy?

Something Horrible Is About to Happen - Crossed #1
This poor bastard got it in his mind that zombies (or whatever these guys are) hate salt, so when his wife breaks her ankle while on the run and tearfully BEGS him to shoot her and save their daughter he just makes a little salt circle and insists "It's going to be all right." The double page spread that follows is one of the most upsetting I've ever seen. We've posted some gory stuff here on G'nerd, but I just couldn't bring myself to post a picture of... the weak stomached should move on to the next panel... a woman being raped, the skin falling off of her scalp, cursing her husband ("Stupid c***sucker f***ing ***hole look what you did mother****er look what you f***ing did"), who is also being raped while his entrails are shown to him, and above it all their young daughter being pulled to pieces. Yeah, apparently zombies don't mind a little salt with their meat. It's more than a little much, even for Garth Ennis.

How Can I Put This... - The Man Who Loved Breasts
Classic sketch comedy, this guy is trying to tactfully explain to a sperm bank employee that he prefers amputee porn.

Movie Moment - Detective Comics #849
In the grand tradition of Luke's Failure At The Cave, Batman has met the enemy, and it is him. HUSH IS BRUCE WAYNE!

jk jk lol, it's still Tommy Elliot, just with some facial reconstruction to make him look like Bruce. But when I first saw this page, I actually exclaimed, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat!". And that's really the kind of reaction I look to get out of comics.

The Dark Knight: Observations After Three Viewings

HUGE SPOILERS FOR TDK! But if you haven't seen Dark Knight yet, you probably don't even know what a Batman is and got here by mistake, so we shouldn't have any problems.

1. What are we meant to assume happens once the smoke grenade in the bank manager's mouth goes off? Will he die of asphyxiation? Will all the hostages die from some sort of toxin in the smoke? Is it just a hilarious non-lethal Joker gag? Let's scratch that last one off the list.

2. Despite the fact that the Joker is characterized in this movie as a knife-aficionado, he uses a huge variety of weapons, and only uses a knife about three times. His arsenal includes: shotgun, machine gun, rifle, bazooka, lead pipe, poison (by proxy), car bomb (by proxy), high explosives, and most memorably, a nice sharp pencil.

More thoughts and questions after the jump...(the best one is the last one)...

*Also more TDK icon samplers after the jump...click them to link to the creator's page.

3. Harvey is the second DA Rachel Dawes is seen having a relationship with (it's heavily implied in Batman Beyond). Considering she barely seems to know what a RICO case is, one might question what exactly they're keeping her around the office for.


4. At the fundraiser, Harvey asks Alfred if he's known Rachel for her whole life, and he charmingly replies, "Not yet, sir!". Oh Alfred. Just give it a day.

5. As Gnerd contributor Degan first pointed out, after Batman jumps out of the window to save Rachel, the rest of Bruce's guest are pretty much screwed, as they all are still stuck in a penthouse full of recovering thugs and, uh, THE JOKER. Anyone care to guess what happens next to Gotham's high society elite? "As long as I'm hee-rre...I know this KILLER party game." Haw. I suck. Anyone else got a better line? Come on, I know some of you write fanfic.

6. Heath Ledger must have had so many more incredible performances in him. Of course I realized this on my first viewing, but every viewing cuts a little deeper.

7. I didn't see that Joker had an I Believe In Harvey Dent sticker on his nurse's uniform until my third viewing. I'm dumb. But this is an important detail for anyone planning a Nurse Joker Halloween costume. Not that I am.


8. Given the fact that the murder of Bruce's parents is public knowledge, Harvey and Natasha must think him extraordinarily nihilistic to flippantly remark, "I grew up here, and I turned out okay."

9. Batman seems to have forgotten his loophole on villain deaths from the last movie, namely: "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you". And yet he saves Joker from a high altitude death, thereby sealing the fate of, if DC comics are to be believed, THE ENTIRE WORLD POPULATION SEVERAL TIMES OVER. Maybe Bats was trying to pull a Gwen Stacy finishing move, but didn't count on The Joker's insanity-powered indestructibility.

One short of a proper top ten list...I can only hope some other helpful multi-viewer will help me out with another observation/nitpick/question.

But What Does The Joker Think of The Economic Crisis?

There seem to be a great many things happening in this place called America...sure am glad I don't live there. I mean, technically NYC seceded from the union in like, 1988, right? Right? Is it hot in here, or is it just me?

Anyway, we should all probably take a minute out of our busy schedules to watch the debate tonight. Rock Band II will still be there when it's over. In the meantime, here's a little refresher on the Big Bailout from George Bush and his Wall Street cronies, with commentary from everyone's favorite Agent of Chaos.



This is the best DK mashup I've seen since our own Albo created the legend of Patrick Batman.

Snap Judgements: Batman and the Outsiders #10, Hack/Slash #15, and Birds of Prey #121

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

There are very minor SPOILERS herein.

Hack/Slash #15 gets an A from AHR
Hey did you guys know there's this movie called "Re-Animator" by some old guy named HP Lovecraft and it has ZOMBIES in it? This issue of Hack/Slash is a cross-over with that, and even if you're like me and have no Cult Horror credits in your nerd account, this issue is still awesome.

Instead of being a one-off shlockfest as per your usual crossover, this ish has tons of tantalizing reveals about Cassie's past, and weaves the Re-Animator stuff in seamlessly (hopefully fans of the movie will feel the same way). Even though this seems to be the beginning of the end of Hack/Slash's over-arching storyline, I'd recommend that even n00bs to pick it up; you'll miss the "fan"-tastic continuity details (sorry), but it gives you a great overview of the plot and a good cliffhanger, and if you like it you can go back and read the whole thing. Good plan. Break!

Two much shorter reviews for DC books after the jump...


Birds of Prey #121 gets an B from AHR

I admit, I haven't read this series since Gail Simone left, I only read this because Joker was on the cover shooting someone in the head. And you know, the inside didn't really disappoint. There's some bad dialogue, sure, but there's also a line about how the Joker did whippets with Scarecrow's fear gas, which is both hilarious and a fun reference to a comic from years ago. Not sure what the rest of the plot in this issue means, but I got my money's worth.


Batman and the Outsiders #10 gets an D from AHR


I read this on Wednesday and now on Thursday night, I have almost no memory of it. I remember being passively interested when I was reading it, and I remember that Cass Cain gets to do something other than be hated by everyone, but other than that, literally forgettable. And I haven't even been drinking.

Domino's Uses Mass-Murdering Clown To Promote Pizza

This commercial hit my local market this week, and suddenly it's on every time I turn on the TV. This means I have many, many occasions to scoff and giggle about how this shockingly unflappable pizza-lady is mere moments away from a torturous death. I would question whether the Joker's goal of ordering from Domino's was even the pizza itself; perhaps he simply wants a victim delivered to his door in 30 minutes or less?

The thing that really gets me is the ad people don't even address these very natural assumptions with a closing shot of the girl driving away from the Joker's hideout; the last we see of her is just a dry read of the punchline; "Here's your Gotham City Pizza. And uh, could you tell the Joker he owes me a car?" Um, sure lady, how bout you come inside and tell him yourself? He'll find it hilarious. And I'm pretty sure you will too.

NYCC 08 Cosplay Roundup

As we wrap up our Comic Con coverage, let's take a look at some of our favorite cosplayers...
This Golden Age Green Lantern was extremely well put together. Although... *ahem* Alan Scott wore the ring on his left middle finger.

There's a bunch more enthusiastic dressers after the jump!

Batman sneaks up on his rogue's gallery while I distract them with a camera.

The Black Cat. Prrr.

This Chewie had an awesome voice box that gave him a very authentic Chewie grumble.

Team Fortress 2's Medic is looking for someone to heal. He struck this pose without even thinking twice about it, the body language is straight out of the game. TF2 was a really popular cosplay choice this year, probably cause it gives folks a chance to make big cardboard and PVC versions of the weapons.

Aura Sing is just happy to be here. Remember how big a deal she was before Episode I? She was supposed to be the new Boba Fett....but the prequels destroyed all that they touched, and she's been mostly forgotten, though apparently not by this lady.

An unlikely couple, but I guess Superman has plenty of time on his hands now that he's drinking Red Bull. Click to get the high res pic so you can check out his killer blue contacts.

An excellent Static Shock, looking like a life-sized action figure with flying disc included.

The Monarch and the butter-voiced Dr. Girlfriend. At the Venture Brothers panel, these two asked Doc Hammer to be their minister at their upcoming wedding. He said he'd seriously consider it. A match made in nerd heaven, obviously.

Mario and Luigi in the house, plumbing gear at the ready.

These Spider-Men were getting along famously, posing for photos together and chatting up a storm.

This guy nails the Hugh Jackman eyebrows, and his claws were impressive to say the least.

This is one deadly lady. Francine Castle?

Anyone know who the lady with V is?

Screens From Lego Batman Are Gahdorable

AHR was never sold on the Lego Star Wars concept, but I always had a soft spot for them in spite of some fairly dull gameplay. The characters were just too cute to resist, with their little Lego language mumblings, limbs breaking off and being reattached... Anyway, other people seemed to like the style too so now we have Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Batman on the way. These are the first substantial screens from the LG B'man, and Lego Catwoman is so cute I want to own her and hang her from my ceiling by a string. Not around her neck. Hit the jump for her and more Lego Gotham City rogues. Via Kotaku.

Panel Discussion: Countdown, Simon Dark, Booster Gold and More

Albo is shirking his blogging responsibilities this week, so Panel Discussion this week is all AHR, which roughly translates to all DC. Hoo boy. Get ready for some goofy, wacky, and bizarrely violent crap! Also, huge spoilers for last week's comics after the jump...

Meme Alert: Countdown - Arena #2
That's Earth 32's Bruce Wayne, and of course what he means is "I'm the goddamn green lantern." Putting damn in bold won't make up for the PG rated swears, DC.

Enough Already! - Countdown #20
So on his blog, Paul Dini said that since Trickster recently died of a smashed face, "Piper won't have to listen to gay jokes anymore". He LIED to us, readers! Unable to cope with the loss of his boorishly gaycist non-friend, Piper has resorted to talking to Trickster's corpse and making gay jokes about himself. Make it stop.

The Banana Randomizer Award For Achievement in WTF: Wonder Woman #15
Silly nazis; if you go poking around in an Amazonian horse stable, don't look surprised when you find a vagina-with-teeth tentacle monster. Try to die with dignity.

Less Is More Award - Simon Dark #3
Comics have the habit of cluttering up the frames with extraneous sound effects and non verbal exclamations like "Wh-" or "Hhn?". A good facial expression and a sharp panel composition can speak volumes all by themselves, as shown by this completely "silent" sequence which perfectly evokes Simon's unnatural stealth. The art in this book has been fantastic for all three issues, I hope it finds an audience soon.

Beatdown of the Week: The Joker vs Booster Gold, Booster Gold #5Booster time travels into the Killing Joke to try to save Barbara Gorden's spine (and make a lot of comic fans very happy), and succeeds only in getting beat across the face with his own adorable robot pal. Where is your futuristic artillery now, Skeets? Even AI gets flustered around the Joker.

Biggest Set Up: Green Arrow - Black Canary #3
Ollie, please! "Safe"? Don't say things like that. You're a Superhero. A DC Superhero. Your loved ones are not safe. Oh well, it's not as if some sort of hand-of-god lightning bolt is going to come down and...
...right. As much as I usually love Cliff Chiang's smooth cartoony art (not to mention Trish Mulvihill's exquisite colors), the horrified expressions here are a little reserved given the situation. Canary and Speedy seem to be wearing looks of "Is he alright?" His ribcage is showing, ladies, that's a bad sign.

More Dark Knight Bootleg: The 7 Minute Scene

Here's the 7-minute scene that Warner Brothers screened for press and prize-winners. Geekanerd's invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. The scene follows a bank heist pulled by the Joker's henchmen. We don't see much of the J-Man himself, but his character is revealed by the way the thugs talk about him, and the machinations of how the heist is carried out. Plus character actor extraordinaire Fred Wolf shows up with a big old shot gun. All in all it's a pretty sweet scene, and if you have any will power at all and are really looking forward to this movie, I'd recommend restraining yourself, as the quality of this trailer is truly wretched. Muddy sound, only half the screen at times, and some audience member douche making inane comments like "That's him!" Still, it's after the jump if you want it, at least till WB takes it down. (UPDATE: They did, but I added a new one)

Update 12/15: Newsarama reports the new Dark Knight trailer finally hit the net in beautiful officially sanctioned high res. Check it.

UPDATE: They keep taking the video down, and people keep posting new ones.

Good stuff. It's a solidly entertaining scene, though with more of an action movie than comic book movie feel, which could be said of Batman Begins in general. Hey, if it works, it works. The build-up to the Joker is more exciting than his actual appearance, but I was pleased to see him casually shoot a henchman, a classic Joker gag that gets me every time.

The Dark Knight Trailer In All It's Grainy YouTube Glory

The shaky-cam bootleg trailer is after the jump, but for those who don't want to buy a ticket for I Am Legend but do want to see a high quality Dark Knight trailer, Ain't It Cool News has word on the site where the official trailer will be debuting. It's yet another Dark Knight viral site; atasteforthetheatrical.com, which features a Gotham Times classified ad for a mobile camper, or trailer. Looks like it will be up there on Sunday, but who can wait? Bring on the handicam...



Thoughts:
In his big close-up, Joker looks like one of the killer clowns from outer space. Or Sweet Tooth. Too much pancake make-up, not enough teeth.

We get to hear the "why so serious" tag line in action, and Heath's reading is oddly...serious. This trailer indicates we'll be getting a Joker more on the brooding side, and where's the fun in that? I personally like my Joker more upbeat; I understand Nolan is set on making these movies set in gritty, pseudo-realistic world, but it would be a shame to sacrifice the more enthusiastic side of Joker's insanity for the sake of making him more grimly frightening.

I can't quite pin down what Heath is going for with that voice. The back-of-the-throat growl brings to mind Jack Nicholson's version, but without the air of sophistication. Heath's laugh is passably creepy while also coming off somewhat forced, but it's hard to judge fairly when we've already had the best of all possible Joker voices provided by the untouchable Mark Hamill.

Of course there is the school of thought that says, "Look, these are new movies. Nolan and Heath are trying something different. If you want to see the animated series Joker, watch the damn animated series." Fine, hypothetical blog text, I think I will. While we're waiting for the Hi-Res trailer, perhaps you'll join me in enjoying some classic animated Batman vs Joker escapades courtesy of the flashback segment from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (the much more grisly unedited cut, of course). Psychological pwnage starts at about 4 minutes in.