The Dark Knight Steve Englehart claims that THE DARK KNIGHT was based on his stories

[Heretic]

Lordy, this guy creates a two Face rip-off and then claims that Two-Face is ripping HIM off?

 

[.Rorschach.]

haha she said that? oh my
this is sad but thats even worse

The guys an idiot.

But what I really wanted to say is your Prometheus,and Bob avvy is awesome

 

[Seditionary]

Actually, that's not what he's saying. It wasn't Two-Face, but an original character that Engleheart created. He was a goody two shoes politician with blond hair who stole Batman's former girlfriend. And then he got attacked and basically turned into the same thing Two-Face is. So the amusing thing is, Engleheart created a Two-Face clone, and then went on to claim that his clone is being plagiarized in the depiction of the real deal. Gotta love it when someone comes on and decides to take up the thankless task of "enlightening" the ignorant masses. Your first mistake was to assume that everyone here thinks TDK is the be all end all of all things Batman. Just by looking at some of the names in this topic, I can tell you that you're throwing the "worshiping" accusation at the wrong crowd entirely.

It's not unusual for a character to have their hair color or even race changed in a movie adaptation (i.e. Harvey Dent in Batman 89, Kingpin in Daredevil, Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins), so I can't even believe that he's using that argument. And like I pointed out earlier with the Spider-Man 3 example, it's not unusual for a hero to have his love interest stolen away from him, either.

What he says is plagiarism, I say is coincidence at best, and that will continue to be my position until Goyer or one of the Nolans cites this comic as an influence. They'd have no reason not to, since they're pretty straightforward with what comics influence these films. I'm not saying that because I "worship" the film. It's my favorite of the live action films, but I find Mask of the Phantasm to be just as good if not better. I simply don't find Engleheart's argument to be a very convincing one, and that's that.

And while I admit that the character Engleheart created does bear a strong resemblance to Aaron Eckhart, I found this statement to be amusing.I'm... pretty sure that Eckhart was born long before his Dark Detective comic was published. And he even tries to claim that the movie's title was stolen! Come on now. Batman's been called "The Dark Knight" almost since his creation. Saying that the movie was called that to make it similar to the title "Dark Detective" is really stretching things.

agreed

 

[jimjiminy]

the guys a nutjob

 

[Comics N' Toons]

The guy wrote great stories, but he's being a little... no a lot SELFISH here.

TDK had a lot of influences... You don't see Loeb or DENNY O'NEIL on a soapbox...

Dark Detective was good.

Strange Apparitions (as is the collected title) is one of the best runs in the history of Batman.

 

[TylerHaslett]

This is nothing new at all. Everytime someone has a successful thing, then here come the maggots out of the woodwork claiming they had a say in it. It happens to everything.

 

[ultimatefan]

Like I said in other version of this thread...

I totally respect Englehart as a Batman writer, he wrote one of my all-time favorite Joker stories, The Laughing Fish. Still, this argument is silly as hell.

First, TDK borrows from several Batman stories. There´s a lot of Joker stuff that could have been ripped out of the pages of KIlling Joke, Man Who Laughs, etc. The whole plot of Gotham freaks replacing the old organized crime bosses and Harvey Dent forming an alliance with Bats and Gordon to put down organized crime is from The Long Halloween. Harvey already showing a disturbed psyche before being Two-Face is from The Animated Series. That´s the thing that goes with all the best comic book to movie and TV adaptations, you pick the best stuff, combine one thing with the other, sum up, update, etc.

Second, DC owns the rights to Batman, all characters and stories from the comics. They can use whatever way they want to. There´s a ton of stuff from Tear One and DKR in Begins and you didn´t hear Frank Miller whine about it, nuts as the man is these days. It´s not like these things where an author or company accuses another of stealing stuff that´s supposed to be unrelated.

 

[ab38416]

I didn't know Englehart was so arrogant and delusional. I agree with everyone here. His claims are ridiculous.

 

[The Joker]

....What?

 

[ab38416]

^ Not sure if you're asking me to elaborate but I will anyway. Based on his claims here and interviews he's given, Englehart is so full of himself. He believes he deserves all of the credit for redefining Batman despite the fact Denny O'Neil did it a few years before him, and it was Miller who took it to the next level. Englehart also claims to this day that the 1989 movie was based on a treatment he wrote, which I believe Sam Hamm has denied. Now Englehart is telling everyone TDK ripped him off. The man is absurd. Check this out:

http://www.comicvine.com/wondercon-2010-steve-englehart/112-841/

He's obviously not familiar with Batman comics since the 70's. He probably won't take a look at them because only his stuff is "definitive".