Gotham by Gaslight, a one-shot comic book by Brian Augustyn and
Mike Mignola, which saw Batman in Victorian-era Gotham hunting Jack the
Ripper, was such a striking success that inspired a full line of comics —
the “Elseworlds” — which allowed DC’s heroes and villains to go on
adventures in the most surprising scenarios.
Now, in a new DC
Comics Animated Original Movies, the story comes to life in a unique way
while also giving fans a new spin on the tale.
Sam
Liu directs Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, a 78-minute movie written by
Jim Krieg and adapted from the original Graphic Novel and its sequel
Master of the Future, also written by Brian Augustyn.
While
keeping the core elements and the dark tone of the original comics, the
film takes interesting turns that will surprise people who already read
the books, creating a completely new story.
Mike
Mignola's incredible use of shadow is something hard to emulate in
animated form, but the filmmakers succeed in replicating Mignola’s style
to a degree, and they play well enough with steampunk aesthetic,
resulting in a unique and interesting vision of a Victorian-era Gotham
City.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is available now on Digital HD, Blu-ray/DVD, and 4K.
Losing oneself
in an unfamiliar neighborhood or strange city is certainly not one of
the most pleasant sensations, getting lost in a distant jungle would be
perhaps a little more dramatic.But, without a shadow of a doubt, getting lost in space must be one of the worst sensations imaginable. However, the series Lost in the Space of the 60s had nothing terrible, in fact, had a very large dose of fantasy and humor. There
was a bit of sci-fi and adventure, but the triumphs and trifles of the
trio Dr Smith, the kid Will Robinson and the Robot (called only Robot)
centered the attention of the series (principally in the second and
third seasons). If on one hand, the trio had great
popularity, on the other it harmed the participation of the other
characters, limiting them to mere assistants.
The original pilot episode (No Place to Hide) in which the characters Dr. Zachary Smith and the Robot did not appear was not broadcast until 1997.The characters having been inserted only in the edition that aired with the title: The Reluctant Stowaway.Jonathan
Harris should only appear in this episode as a specially invited actor,
however, the producers liked his participation so much that they left
him in the series.
Professor John
Robinson was played by action star Guy Williams (the American name of the Argentinian actor Armando Joseph Catalano) best known for his roles in westerns, films,
and as Zorro on the Disney TV series.
Before turning into a complete comedy, Lost in Space had a relatively balanced and fun first season with action and adventure. But its potential has never been fully realized. The
series is said to have emerged after Fox rejected Gene Roddenberry's
proposal to make a space series with a low cost of production. Executives
would have turned down Star Trek and picked up Gene's ideas on how to
create scenarios and space plots using only a few dollars, but a lot of
cardboard, papier mâché, different lightings in a few studios and scraps from other scenarios. However, history has shown that Star
Trek has become a more solid franchise (generating several derived series) not by the low production cost, but by the high quality of
their scripts. The original series of Lost in Space aired between 1965 and 1968.
In 1973,
Hanna-Barbera rehearsed a return of Lost in Space as a cartoon, with character designed by Alex Toth (responsible for the designing of several
Hanna-Barbera hits such as Herculoids, Space-Ghost, and Galaxy Trio). The
animation chronicles the adventures of the brothers Craig and Link
Robinson, accompanied by the geologist Dina Carmichael, Dr.
Smith and the Robot. A meteor shower takes the spacecraft Jupiter 2 out of its destiny leading it to an unmapped region of space,
this would be the beginning of several adventures that never happened because the series was not approved.
In 1998, the Robinson Family won their first film adaptation. The highlight is the excellent Gary Oldman as Dr. Smith. The
plot has a great beginning with a series of well-sewn ideas to a point
where the movie begins flirting with terror almost turning into a horror film. The
plot tried to be innovative, more solid and sober, at
the same time that drank in various sources of cinematographic
science fiction with references from Alien, Star Trek and even Back to the
Future. By the end, the ones who were in fact lost were the producers whose film failed to be charismatic enough to get a sequel.
2004 was the year that marked a new attempt of return to the series, this time titled The Robinsons: Lost in Space.The special effects were quite bold for a TV series at the time and the ships and uniforms designs were suited. The pilot episode, although not picked for broadcasting, showed a good level of drama and action. Brad Johnson retained Prof. John Robson's role as the action hero of the series - keeping the mood Guy Williams brought to the character in the original series. Adrianne Palicki played Judy Robinson
and would return to sci-fi productions in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD and The Orville, 2017 (A series created by Seth McFarlane that pays homage to Star Trek); Jayne Brooke, Maureen Robinson, won a starring role in Star Trek Discovery, 2017, as Admiral Katrina Cornwell.
2018, April 13.Netflix brings back to Lost in Space new interpretations for old characters, radical changes, more sober themes and dazzling special effects. Following
a line of adventure and suspense (elements that were the milestones of
the first season of the original series), it is possible to see in the
trailer scenes that refer precisely to episodes of 1965.
Different from Star Trek (which had 5 series in more than 500 hours of broadcasting tied in a single timeline), the new series of "Lost" does not have a canon to respect, which means immense creative freedom and very little complaining from the fans (almost inexistent nowadays). Producers are likely to refer to elements of some episodes of the original series by recycling their concepts into something more believable and palatable to the new audience. A certain disappointment for connoisseurs of the original series is the new version of the Robot - which, except perhaps for the voice, has no design elements similar to the original, not even by far. And even this qualifies this new production as a product for a new audience. See the teaser and the Trailer below. On April 13th (2018) you can check out the series on Netflix.
Main changes:
- It will not be a comedy series.
-The robot design is humanoid.
-Dr. Smith is a Woman.
-Don West is a contractor and not a highly trained military man. -Bill Mumy, Will Robinson of the original series, makes a special appearance in the first episode.
-The Robinson Family is sent on a mission of colonization because the Earth is increasingly unbearable. Wow, it does not even sound like fiction!
March, 8th is International Women's Day and Google decided to celebrate the date with a collection of stories in their homepage.
Google
invited illustrators to tell stories about a moment or experience that
"impacted their lives as women." — "While each artist tells a unique
story, the themes are universal, reminding us of how much we often have
in common," says Google. "We hope that the combined power of words and
images help bring these stories to life in a way that invokes feelings
of understanding, empathy, and spirit of the day."
Some stories are wordless carrying an universal meaning, the ones with text have been translated into more than 80 languages and the celebration doesn’t stop on these 12 stories, though these are the only ones that will be illustrated. The company is inviting women around the world to share their own stories on social media by using the #HerStoryOurStory.
