The Beeb has released movie style posters for the new season of Dr Who, which debuts on Saturday, and here they are:

DC Nation has released all three "Bat Man of Shanghai" episodes online and I have to say they are very cool.

HOT TUESDAYS

Charisma Carpenter

This is just genius:

With the release of Justice League #12 this week which sees the start of the DCnU relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman, the reveal of the first kiss has come via none other than Match.com. The kiss is depicted by current Justice League artist, and DC Co-Publisher, Jim Lee:

Who knows how long this relationship will last. It has been hinted at for a long time, becoming a reality in many non-continuity books. But, for the foreseeable, there doesn't look like there is any chance of Lois and Clark will be getting back together anytime soon.

Wonder Woman is an icon. She is a part of the big three at DC -- the Trinity. However, with the exception of her direct to DVD movie, it has been increasingly difficult to bring her to the big screen.

In a recent blog post the discussion turned to one of the problems with Wonder Woman came down to her costume and it's inability to translate from comics/animation to live action TV and movies. Below is a look at some of the attempts to do this, which, in all honesty have not been entirely successful...

First Aborted Wonder Woman Pilot - Linda Harrison as Wonder Woman

1974 Wonder Woman TV Movie - Cathy Lee Crosby as Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman TV series - Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman XXX Porn Parody - Tori Black as Wonder Woman

Justice League XXX Porn Parody - Chanel Preston as Wonder Woman

Second Aborted Wonder Woman Pilot - Adrianne Palicki as Wonder Woman

Okay, whilst I admit that the Tori Black/Chanel Preston Wonder Women are not officially licensed versions (as well as being just an excuse to show hot women in a Wonder Woman costume) the reason why they have been included is to show that the costume does not work in live action. Though, to be honest, in the case of the Wonder Woman XXX outfit especially, they look like they were bought in a costume shop. The same could be said of the costume used in the aborted Wonder Woman pilot from 2011 (stills from the show, and Harrys Law, show more of a denim trouser was used than the PVC version above).

All this being said, the closest version we have had to a proper look for a live action came from Smallville when Lois played dress up to fit in at a comic convention.

With some tweaks this would make for an ideal version of a live action Wonder Woman costume.

SUNDAY SOUNDTRACK

With the start of the new season only a week away a new Doctor Who trailer has hit t'interweb:

Try to ignore the awful voiceover guy though.

NEWSWEEK

Due to work commitments taking me out of the country, this weeks round up will be brief. Regular service will resume next week. Anyway, without further ado...

Superman & Wonder Woman, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G (Source: Newsarama)

Moffatt & Gatiss reveal Sherlock season 3 tidbits (Source: Bleeding Cool)

The Huntress cast in "Arrow" (Source: Entertainment Weekly)

Norris won't return for EX3 (Source: Access Hollywood)

Laurie out of Nu-Robocop (Source: Latino Review)

Lost star to play two roles in Thor: Dark of the World (Source: Blastr)

Moffat rules out a return for the Rani (Source: Digital Spy)

Kat Dennings to return in Thor: Dark of the World (Source: Film Equals)

Doctor Who UK/US premiere date (Source: Screen Rant)

HOT TUESDAYS

Claire Sinclair

SUNDAY SOUNDTRACK

NEWSWEEK

Super title crossover announced (Source: CBR)

SPOILERS: End of Wonder Woman #12 is a bit of a surprise (Source: Bleeding Cool)

John Barrowman joins Arrow (Source: Entertainment Weekly)

Kick-Ass 2 release date (Source: Newsarama)

Knightley in Jack Ryan reboot (Source: IGN)

Dredd motion poster (Source: Dredd movie official website)

The Raid sequel's Hammer Girl (Source: Twitch Film)

Bill & Ted threequel news (Source: Latino Review)

Arrow adds Street Fighter actor (Source: Digital Spy)

WOLVERINES! (Source: You Tube)

Heather Graham to return for Hangover 3 (Source: Empire Online)

Noah pics (Source: USA Today)

Alice Krige joins Thor: The Dark World (Source: Comicbookmovie.com)

Marvel NOW! rundown (Source: CBR)

Dan Didio: Stephanie Brown does not exist... yet (Source: Bleeding Cool)

Expendables threequel casting news (Source: IGN)

A grisly look at Joker's new face (Source: Robot 6 @ CBR)

Stewart dropped from Snow White sequel? (Source: Hollywood Reporter) Well, the jury is still out it seems (Source: LA Times)

Rosamund Pike joins The Wold's End (Source: Empire Online)

Phil Davis joins Being Human season 5 (Source: SFX)

The Wolverine will feel like a stand-a-lone movie (Source: Spinoff @ CBR)

Mad Max: Fury Road news (Source: Latino Review)

No John Williams theme in MOS (Source: IGN)

Does DC have plans for Gordon-Levitts Dark Knight Rises Det. John Blake's Robin? (Source: Inside Pulse)

The Dandy could close down (Source: Telegraph) and now it is official (Source: The Guardian)

Daredevil movie rights could revert to Marvel as early as mid-October (Source: CBR)

Dr Who season 7.1 episode titles (Source: Bleeding Cool)

THE PITCH

Comic books seem to be the go to for Hollywood -- and the porn industry too -- these days with lots of properties being optioned or already in production.With that in mind, I am going to look at properties ripe for a shot in the TV or film medium.

BIRDS OF PREY

Medium: TV

Okay, yes, there was a short lived and incredibly bad TV series based on this concept. This was a shame as there was potential there but the producers didn't seem able to grasp it. But with the right people in charge the concept is strong enough to support a series.

Using Supernatural and Person of Interest as jumping off points in terms of how the series dynamics should work, the series would follow the adventures of Oracle/Barbara Gordon and Black Canary/Dinah Lance, with later seasons adding Huntress/Helena Bertinelli to the mix, as they fight crime around the USA. It would follow the same road as the plethora of the procedural series on TV but with the twist of comic book villians -- using DC's library of villians -- instead of the run of the mill TV villians.

It would also be an idea to acknowledge, but shift away from, the Batman mythos. Set the series in Chicago and not Gotham. This way you don't have the shadow of the Bat cast too much over the series.

Dream Cast:

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Yvonne Strahovski as Black Canary/Dinah Lance 

Following the news that Joe Carnahan may be out of Fox's Daredevil reboot comes a sizzle reel posted by the director on his twitter account -- and available on You Tube.

Personally, I think the 1970's is the greatest decade of cinema ever and I wonder if this would be a period movie set in the 1970's rather than inspired by the look and feel of movies during that decade. 

THE DISCUSSION

From: Kris

To: Ross

Subject: 

Justice League director contender

----

From: Ross

To: Kris

Subject:

I'll be surprised if this ever goes ahead. As the feature states, Man of Steel is to the the first test. I believe Thor and Captain America were reasonably successful (successful enough to get sequels anyway. DC, on the other hand, have so far had a bomb with Green Lantern and not great takings with Superman Returns. They need to get The Flash into production. Wonder Woman will be a tough one to right; that'll be another test.

How come it's often never mentioned that Affleck played Superman, of sorts? Was that film called Hollywoodland? That was a good film and began Affleck's return to respected artiste following his Benny from the Block era. Anyway, I digress.

----

From: Kris

To: Ross

Subject:

I think the Bros Warner are going a different way, to be honest. Whilst I believe Man of Steel will lead into a Justice League movie, the movie itself will be used to spin off characters such as Flash and Wonder Woman. I think it will also be used as a springboard to reboot the Bat-franchise post-Nolan (and a possible reboot of the Green Lantern franchise too).

Wonder Woman has been done right -- though in the direct to DVD animated features. That movie could be used as a template for a live action movie, as could Thor (which could be argued is a similar character/premise vein).

Hollywoodland is a top movie, and I agree that it was the start of the Affleck rebirth. The WB do rate Affleck though. I believe he was offered Man of Steel but didn't feel directorally ready. Maybe this will be the case with Justice League. If so, he'd be my tip for the next Bat film.

----

From: Ross

To: Kris

Subject:

Just to clarify my comments on Wonder Woman: the origin story is a good 'un, and legends/Greek God(esse)s tend to be popular. My issue is with the costume, which works fine on the printed page or in an animated film, but when it comes to live action I feel it doesn't work in its current state and tends to be cheesy, camp, 12A-rated titillation. The recent pilot had a costume/s that looked like $29.99 pvc. For me it's the costume I have issue with and they'd have to work on, with less stars and stripes and more of the Greek warrior look as per the costume you previously showed me from Smallville. That said, I never thought they'd get the Captain America costume to work, but the one in the origin movie looks great (the one in Avengers less so).

----

From: Kris

To: Ross

Subject:

Re: Wonder Woman costume

The Xena inspired Smallville number, with a few tweaks, I think is the way to present it in the live action medium. The aborted pilot costume looked like it was bought at the Joke Shop for a costume party. Maybe it may have been different in action, chances are it wouldn't have. But I agree, the comic version would not translate.

Re: Cap's costume

The World War 2 one made sense in the context, and I think it would have worked in a modern setting too. The Avengers version is not good, though I think it has more to do with the mask/cowl than anything else.

AH, WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Years before Lynda Carter become the fantasy of millions of men as Wonder Woman, William Dozier (of Batman and Green Hornet fame) produced a four minute "pre-pilot" entitled Wonder Woman: Who's Afraid of Diana Prince? 

The presentation was crafted as comedy and would have starred Ellie Wood Walker as Diana Prince and Linda Harrison as Wonder Woman.

The DC Comics' November 2012 solicitations are out, and here are my cover picks for the month:-

Action Comics #14

We've seen Superman wrassle an angel before. It was cool. But it looks like he has a bit more on his plate this time.

Batwoman #14

Man, can J H Williams III draw! Beautiful.

I, Vampire #14

A wonderfully creepy cover that captures the monstrosity of vampires. Twilight this ain't.

Smallville Season 11 #7

Yes, there is something incredibly yawn inducing about another Batman over a fallen Superman cover. However, this is another look at the Smallville version of Batman and I gotta say that I am really liking his look.

Legends of the Dark Knight #2

I love this piece of art. Cover of the Month, hands down.

Wonder Woman #14

I really like how the hair is like a ghostly skull and bleeds into the flame off Diana's torch. Plus it doesn't hurt that Cliff Chiang draws one mean Wonder Woman.

(Source: Newsarama)

HOT TUESDAYS

Jelena Jensen

R.I.P Joe Kubert

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Chris Nolan was reluctant to come back and revisit Batman for a third installment citing that there are very few threequels. He is right, there aren't. Toy Story 3 and The Last Crusade being the only two I can think of off the top of my head.

Firstly, this feels more like a sequel to Begins than it does The Dark Knight, though it does rely on The Dark Knight to be where it is at the start of the film. Some of this has to do with Gotham. In Begins and Rises it does not feel as much like a real city as it did in Knight, more like loosely connected locales.

Hathaway is a revelation. She steals, pun not intended, the movie as she veers from thief from reluctant hero. Much like they have with the other characters, the filmmakers have a perfect understanding the of the character of Catwoman, though she is never referred to as more than Selina Kyle in the movie.

Whilst Hardy was superb as Bane he suffered from his voice. There was a plum Englishness that just did not sit right. Beyond that, he was physically imposing and more than a match for Batman in hand to hand combat. You felt every bone shattering punch he landed on our hero.

As for Gordon-Levitt, he has more screen time than you'd expect and puts in a very good understated performance. There is a nice reveal for his character at the end, though I'd have preferred they'd have taken a slightly different tack.

Oldman and Bale where fantastic, given more of a chance to flex their acting chops than they had been given in previous entries. However, the emotional punch is delivered by Caine toward the end of the movie. If you don't well up at that point, then you are just not human.

It is not without its flaws, the most jarring of which is the switch from afternoon to night in next to no time. It is probably about 20 minutes too long, not that you notice the time passing. It would have been nice to have more Batman, this trilogy was always more about Bruce Wayne.

As I have said in earlier reviews for this trilogy, once again the star turn here comes from the utterly brilliant Wally Pfister. He is easily the best cinematographer working in Hollywood today. Whether or not this will be the Return of the King of the trilogy and rack up across the board awards, one thing is for sure: Pfister will once again walk away with the Oscar.

If you are a fan of the comics, a lot of it is fairly predictable. But not so much that it detracted from the film. It was particularly pleasant when it veered into No Mans Land territory.

If you can, however, watch this movie in IMAX. Screw three'd, IMAX is the true future of cinema.

Whoever does the reboot (it's inevitable, Batman is the American Bond) will have to have some serious balls to follow Nolan et al.

Epic, brutal and brilliant. This is a fitting end to the Nolan Bat trilogy.

Final Rating: 5/5

SUNDAY SOUNDTRACK

NEWSWEEK

TDKR breaks $500m worldwide (Source: CBR)

Dr Who 50th Anniversary biopic for 2013 (Source: Digital Spy)

ALF coming to the big screen (Source: Latino Review)

Affleck wanted to direct Justice League movie (Source: Newsarama)

Arrow star talks villians (Source: Green Arrow TV)

Hangover 3 teaser logo (Source: Bleeding Cool)

Hobbit 3 officially announced (Source: IGN)

Avengers related TV series mooted (Source: SFX)

The name of the new Green Lantern revealed? (Source: Newsarama)

Arrow casts Deadshot (Source: TV Guide)

The Dark Knight Returns Part I trailer (Source: MTV Geek)

Whedon's Marvel future (Source: Hollywood Reporter)

GI Joe 2 director to helm new He-Man flick (Source: IGN)

Prometheus sequel info (Source: AICN)

Jennifer Ehle to join Nu-Robocop (Source: Latino Review)

Guardians of the Galaxy gets a new writer (Source: Empire Online)

Thor: The Dark World villan cast (Source: Newsarama)

Murray definitely will not return for Ghostbusters 3 (Source: Spinoff @ CBR)

Fiery new Dr Who promo pic (Source: Bleeding Cool)

Could the shadow of a Bat be cast over Arrow? (Source: IGN)

Marvel and Fox may swap character rights (Source: Variety)

SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT

Credits: Mark Waid (w); Lenil Francis Yu (a); Gerry Alanguilan (i)

Collects Superman: Birthright #1 to #12

Every few years the Superman comics seem to hit the point where there is a need, possibly at an editorial level, to retell the origin story of the Man of Steel for a new generation. In 2003/4 DC turned to one of the top creators, DC encyclopedia and Superman fan, Mark Waid to craft a new origin tale for, presumably, the Smallville crowd.

Given the time of the release of the mini series, and various interviews with Waid, it would seem that DC was setting up Birthright to be the cannon origin of Kal-El of the 21st Century, replacing John Byrne's 1986 Man of Steel post-crisis reboot. But this wasn't to be the case and the monthly comics that cam after this story alternated between embracing or ignoring Birthright as the current accepted origin tale.

The series follows a young Clark Kent has he comes to embrace his Superman persona, whilst introducing us to "new" takes on the established supporting cast -- such as making Ma and Pa Kent younger to bring them more in line with Smallville.

Whilst I have not read all of Mark Waid's work, personally I have always found it to be hit and miss. I love Kingdom Come yet find his JLA run to be a little bit tedious. However, I have always found his character work very well done, and Birthright is no exception.

What Waid crafts with Birthright is an original, yet classic, retelling of the universally well known Superman origin. He takes bit and pieces of the many Superman stories from the last 75 years and smashes them it his version of Superman, making the comic read like how the movie version of Superman should be (it is not surprising that rumours that Snyder's Man of Steel relaunch flick follows the Birthright template).

Yes, there are problems in that some of the dialogue, at times, can be ropey and there is a scene towards the end that parallels the 2002 Spider-Man movie. However, the problems with the book, for me, is not with the writing but to with the art.

Lenil Francus Yu is not a bad artist, far from it in fact. That said, some artists are not "Superman artists" and Yu is one of them. Whilst I have no problem with non-traditional, Curt Swan-esque, artists working on the Last Son of Krypton (as evidenced by Doug Mahnke being in my top five Superman artists) in this book the art does not fit. Yu would be perfect to tackle the Dark Knight, but does not get the right grasp on Kal-El and his world. I will say, however, from a design and panel layout, Yu is excellent.

Superman: Birthright is a fresh take on a pop culture icon and kudos goes out to all involved for producing a wonderfully engaging origin story that is simultaneously modern and timeless.

HOT TUESDAYS

Eliza Dushku

SUNDAY SOUNDTRACK

QUICKIES

The Amazing Spider-Man - An enjoyable movie, moreso than Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man movie. However, it is not without its flaws. There are an awful lot of plot contrivances that propel the movie. Add to that the villain is one dimensional and his ultimate plan leaves you scratching your head in bewilderment. It being a Marc Webb movie it is not surprising that the strongest part of the this movie is in the relationships -- mainly the relationships between Peter and Gwen/Uncle Ben. The cast is a mixed bag, with Sheen stealing the film for the brief period he is in it. An enjoyable first outing in this new cycle of the Spider-Man franchise. I look forward to seeing where the sequel takes us. Final Rating: 3/5

Batman: Year One - A wonderful adaptation of the best Batman story ever told. The voice cast is almost perfect (Alfred being poorest voice acting) with McKenzie, at times, sounding like a younger Kevin Conroy. The animation perfectly captures the look and feel of Mazzucchelli's art. It makes you wish someone will come along and make the live action version. Final Rating: 5/5

Watchmen - It takes balls to adapt the greatest comic book of all time. A book so layered that you find more and more with every reading. Snyder does his best in trying to be faithful to the comic and to create a film narrative. Unfortunately he does not fully succeed. The opening credit sequence is one of the best ever committed to celluloid, Billy Cudrup's softly spoken Dr Manhattan captures the character in a way that seems completely in step with his comic counterpart and the ending, though controverisally changed from the comic, does make sense in this setting. The true star of the show, however, is Haley's Rorschach. Final Rating: 2.5/5

Young Frankenstein - Young Frankenstein rides the fine line between homage and parody. A fantastic cast, Marty Feldman stealing the movie every time he is on screen, with a sparkingly funny script. This was Mel Brooks at the height of his power. One of, if not the, funniest movie ever made. Final Rating: 5/5

Sex and the City - It is the complete pointlessness of this film that really galls. The narrative starts and ends in pretty much the same place with every inbetween vacuous, unfunny, self-indulgent and borderline racist. An overlong and unfunny movie filled with totally unlikable characters. The true highlight of the movie being the credits beginning to roll. Truly an awful piece of cinema. Final Rating: 0/5