The Dark Knight MUST be 'R' Rated...

[Crooklyn]

Well, I remember Scarecrow in the comics using his fear gas to make people think they were covered in spiders, things like that... which is very potent for most people. He schtick constantly changes. Sometimes it's experience your worst fear, sometimes it's experience a random horrific thing, sometimes it's taking away your fear (as an episode of TAS explored) and sometimes it's strategically making you afraid of specific things. The thing is, he basically, controls fear.

The stuff we saw in Begins -- with the bats coming out of his mouth and maggots from his eyes, the fire-breathing horse and the distorted, nightmarish reality... guys seeing the people around them as zombies, faces turning to skulls, Batman as a flying fire-breathing monster in one instance, and the Uruk-Hai from Hell in another... these are ENTIRELY consistent with what I remember of the Scarecrow in the comics.

I guess you could say I had more of a problem with how far, or in this case, how little they took the hallucinations. Bats coming out of Crane's mouth, ghostly eyes, demonic Bats, were all good ideas. But dammit, I wanted more, lol. It seems the focus of the hallucinations were the people around them. Maybe it's just me, but if the environment too had been amplified, the scenes would've been more effective/scary. Who knows though, maybe it was the PG-13 rating (yup, I'm going on-topic) that made Nolan cut down on the harshness of it all. Something's gotta explain why the damn scenes were so short.

Well, just based on the two pages I've seen posted here, it looks less like a Batman book and more like a horror story of some kind, which, I really have no interest in.

But I'm not a graphic novel guy anyway, I'm a comic book guy. Graphic Novels do things with the characters that the monthly titles don't. And while that's fun to explore it's ultimately... not what I'm most interested in.

Last I checked, graphic novels were repackaged story arcs..of comics books.

 

[Keyser Sushi]

I guess you could say I had more of a problem with how far, or in this case, how little they took the hallucinations. Bats coming out of Crane's mouth, ghostly eyes, demonic Bats, were all good ideas. But dammit, I wanted more, lol. It seems the focus of the hallucinations were the people around them. Maybe it's just me, but if the environment too had been amplified, the scenes would've been more effective/scary. Who knows though, maybe it was the PG-13 rating (yup, I'm going on-topic) that made Nolan cut down on the harshness of it all. Something's gotta explain why the damn scenes were so short.

It may have been partly due to the rating, as the film was already too intense for young kids (every showing I went to, parents had brought in young kids and the young kids did not handle it well, LOL).

But in truth, the movie didn't really require much more than what was there anyway, to tell the story. People are getting scared, we get it. It's not a horror movie.

Last I checked, graphic novels were repackaged story arcs..of comics books.

I've always heard that term applied both to those, and to self-contained full-length stories like "The Dark Knight Returns." Unless there's another term they use for those nowadays?

EDIT: The folks at Wikipedia seem to agree with me... for whatever that's worth.

 

[Crooklyn]

It may have been partly due to the rating, as the film was already too intense for young kids (every showing I went to, parents had brought in young kids and the young kids did not handle it well, LOL).

But in truth, the movie didn't really require much more than what was there anyway, to tell the story. People are getting scared, we get it. It's not a horror movie.

Yeah, I'd imagine the need to make it watchable for all ages had a lot to do with. Though I must add that anyone over 13 that sincerely found those hallucination scenes to be remotely "scary"....is a glorified *****. t:

I've always heard that term applied both to those, and to self-contained full-length stories like "The Dark Knight Returns." Unless there's another term they use for those nowadays?

EDIT: The folks at Wikipedia seem to agree with me... for whatever that's worth.

Looking at my TPB collection, seems that every single one originated in the monthly titles. I'm not sure if there are many comic book tpb's that were released strictly as tpb's first, if any.

As for the wiki article...eh, I kinda got the impression that it agreed with both of us. But of course, if that's not the case...I'm not admitting defeat anyway.

 

[Keyser Sushi]

Yeah, I'd imagine the need to make it watchable for all ages had a lot to do with. Though I must add that anyone over 13 that sincerely found those hallucination scenes to be remotely "scary"....is a glorified *****. t:

I'd agree. Of course I haven't really seen any movies at all that really scared me since I passed 13. Mostly because, it's just a movie. And most of the horror stuff out there is so damned heavy-handed.

Looking at my TPB collection, seems that every single one originated in the monthly titles. I'm not sure if there are many comic book tpb's that were released strictly as tpb's first, if any.

The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, DK2, Arkham Asylum are all stories that began life as TPB's, and never appeared in the monthly titles at all. I'm pretty sure The Long Halloween and Dark Victory are the same way.

On the other hand Year One, A Death in the Family, Hush, No Man's Land, Knightfall, Crisis on Infinite Earths, all appeared in the monthly titles first and were released as TPB's later.

As for the wiki article...eh, I kinda got the impression that it agreed with both of us. But of course, if that's not the case...I'm not admitting defeat anyway.

Well it said that GN's are sometimes collected story arcs from the monthly books (which is what you said, and I didn't disagree with that) and that GN's are also sometimes original stories which never appeared in the monthly titles and are aimed at more mature readers (which is what I said).

So I suppose it did agree with both of us, but then, I didn't really contradict you except to say that GN's were also original stories, not just collected story arcs from the monthly books.

 

[Crooklyn]

I'd agree. Of course I haven't really seen any movies at all that really scared me since I passed 13. Mostly because, it's just a movie. And most of the horror stuff out there is so damned heavy-handed.

Yeah, I'm the same way. Reminds me of last week when I got ragged on by my friends when I said I thought Saw 2 was more freakier than Saw 3. Apparently I'm considered a freak because I didn't squirm during the powerdrill/skull surgery.

The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, DK2, Arkham Asylum are all stories that began life as TPB's, and never appeared in the monthly titles at all. I'm pretty sure The Long Halloween and Dark Victory are the same way.

I'll give you TKJ and AA, but the rest were individual comics released monthly. I know this because I have the single issues.

 

[Keyser Sushi]

Yeah, I'm the same way. Reminds me of last week when I got ragged on by my friends when I said I thought Saw 2 was more freakier than Saw 3. Apparently I'm considered a freak because I didn't squirm during the powerdrill/skull surgery.

I think subtlety is required for true scariness... there's a difference between scary and gross. The Sixth Sense could be scary (even though it wasn't a horror movie) because it managed to surprise you and tap into some sort of primal fear of the dead. Most horror movies jut go in for a hundred gallons of blood under high pressure. That's not scary.

I'll give you TKJ and AA, but the rest were individual comics released monthly. I know this because I have the single issues.

Even if they were, they were miniseries (like the original seven-issue "Robin" miniseries detailing the training of Tim Drake) and not part of the ongoing monthly titles Batman, Detective Comics -- later Legends of the Dark Knight, Shadow of the Bat, etc.

I mean I've got the individual issues of "Gotham County Line," which I'm sure will be released as a TPB if it hasn't already been... but it's an original story, it's not part of the monthly titles.

 

[StorminNorman]

I'll give you TKJ and AA, but the rest were individual comics released monthly. I know this because I have the single issues.

I dont think Sin City came out in monthly issues - are you saying it is not a GN?

 

[Crooklyn]

I think subtlety is required for true scariness... there's a difference between scary and gross. The Sixth Sense could be scary (even though it wasn't a horror movie) because it managed to surprise you and tap into some sort of primal fear of the dead. Most horror movies jut go in for a hundred gallons of blood under high pressure. That's not scary.

Yeah, I definitely agree. Funnily enough the only thing that ever manages to scare me are those "cheap scares" put in horror movies. Where it's dead-silent, the killer pops up, violent strings play, etc. Psycho and Halloween scarred me.

Even if they were, they were miniseries (like the original seven-issue "Robin" miniseries detailing the training of Tim Drake) and not part of the ongoing monthly titles Batman, Detective Comics -- later Legends of the Dark Knight, Shadow of the Bat, etc.

I mean I've got the individual issues of "Gotham County Line," which I'm sure will be released as a TPB if it hasn't already been... but it's an original story, it's not part of the monthly titles.

I guess that's where the confusion lies then. I consider anything released in parts, on a monthly basis, to be...well, a monthly. Cause the term itself is pretty broad as is. It doesn't specify whether the issues have to be part of an ongoing series.

I dont think Sin City came out in monthly issues - are you saying it is not a GN?

Well actually...they did. I have those single issues as well.

And in any case, I'd consider it both, since it was released in both formats.