Geek Tee Friday - Batman/Cthulhu

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Here is a crossover shirt featuring two of my favourite things, Batman, the dark knight of justice, the vigilante guardian of Gotham City in the DC Comics Universe and Cthulhu, dread Cthulhu, he who darkens the sun, the ancient, the anti-god, lord of the unholy ones!!! I was quoting some song lyrics there about Cthulhu by Ripping Corpse but they do sum him (it) up quite nicely.

Cthulhu is I suppose the chief diety of the pantheon of Great Old Ones, an ancient race of powerful alien dieties who ruled the Earth when it was still young before entering into death-like slumber. Deranged human & inhuman Cultists pray to Cthulhu, awaiting the time when "the stars are right" and he will arise again from his sunken underwater city R'lyeh. When cultists gather the chant "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" ("In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming") is invoked.

Cthulhu is described as looking like a mix of an octopus and a dragon and was created by American author H. P. Lovecraft, 1st appearing in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928.

Batman 1st appeared 11 years later, 1939 in Detective Comics #27. Created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. When young Bruce Wayne witnesses the murder of his parents he vows to fight crime and protect the innocent. He dedicates his life to training himself to the pinnacle of physical and intellectual ability and takes on the mantle of the bat, as "criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible..."

The main connection I can think of between the works of Lovecraft and that of Batman is Arkham Asylum. In Lovecraft's literature Arkham is a town in Massachusetts where many of his stories are set. His story characters often end up in the town sanitarium as looking into the cosmic terrors of the Cthulhu mythos can be too much for the fragile human mind, realisation of our place within the cosmic pecking order can snap the psyches of men. Arkham was 1st mentioned in Lovecraft's short story "The Picture in the House" (1920) with the sanitarium appearing 1st in "The Thing on the Doorstep" (1933). In Batman Arkham Asylum is also a well known place, many of Batman's unhinged foes end up there. Arkham Asylum first appeared in Batman #258 (Oct. 1974), written by Dennis O'Neil with art by Irv Novick.

Batman has also had some more direct contact with the Cthulhu Mythos with "The Doom that Came to Gotham" a 3 part Elseworlds tale set in the 1920's that has Bruce Wayne and companions encounter with things that should not be. Written and drawn by Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame the books were released from late 2000 - early 2001.
HERE

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Geek Tee Friday - Gotham City Villains

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I love this shirt!! It's so cool, featuring some of the worst villains that have ever plagued Gotham's finest hero over the decades. I got this shirt as part of the random 4 T's for £15 deal that I did the other day, check out the blog about that for more info.

So let's go into depth about the quintet of villainous vileness my new shirt is adorned with.

1st of course is that clown Prince of crime, The Joker, I actually went into more depth about him last week as I got a Joker solo shirt too, check out last week's blog for more info on him.

Then top-left is the only lady of this felonious fivesome, the lovely but deadly Poison Ivy. Pamela Lillian Isely loves plants more than people and they seem to love her too as she is able to get them to do her bidding! She has toxins in her blood giving her a kiss that is able to control the minds of men as well as kill them if she chooses. She commits crimes to fund her eco-terrorism and is somewhat fixated on Batman after he showed himself able to resist her toxic charms. 

In current continuity she gained her powers and perhaps her madness through the experimentations of Dr. Jason Woodrue who later became the Floronic Man. She is very good friends with Harley Quinn, perhaps the only human she likes and I am sure I read that they had moved on to being more than just friends but I am not up on current stories cos I don't have the funds anymore 😥

She appeared first in Batman #181 in June 1966!! (Happy 52nd birthday Pam, you're still looking good!) and was created by Robert Kanigher & Sheldon Moldoff.

In the 1997 movie Batman & Robin she was played by Uma Thurman and has been played by Maggie Geha and Peyton List in the tv show Gotham.

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He's not on the cover of Detective Comics #58 but here's a great cover with him

The middle villain of the piece is that waddling, trick umbrella obsessed ornithologist Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, otherwise known as The Penguin. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane he 1st showed his big-nosed face in Detective Comics #58 in December 1941. Inspired from the then advertising mascot of Kool cigarettes – a penguin with a top hat and cane. Finger thought the image of high-society gentlemen in tuxedos was reminiscent of emperor penguins. He is rare amongst Batman's rogue's gallery in the fact that he is completely sane, although he is no less dangerous or ruthless because of this. 

He's been played superbly in film and television over the years as well by Burgess Meredith in the classic 60's TV show, by Danny DeVito in Batman Returns and Robin Lord Taylor in Gotham.

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Detective Comics #66

To the right of Penguin is the tragic Harvey Dent AKA Two-Face, he was once Batman's closest confidante in his early days as a crimefighter. As a District Attorney he would help Batman target the villains and then ensure that he could put them away for a long time. Then one fateful day in court Sal Maroni threw acid into Harvey's face, leading to the terrible disfigurement and helping to trigger the latent split personality within Dent's psyche. Obsessed with duality, the number two and chance he utilises a double-headed coin to make his decisions for him. One side is normal the other scarred like himself, he tosses the coin and if it comes up scarred then you're in trouble.

The character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (Aug. 1942). He's featured in two Batman films played by Tommy Lee Jones in 1995's Batman Forever and Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight (2008)

In animation he's been voiced by Star Wars star Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Star Trek star William (Captain James T. Kirk) Shatner!! Also fun fact if the Batman 60's series had got a 3rd season none other than Clint Eastwood was tipped to play the role!!

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Finally on this most epic of shirts we have that enigma Edward Nigma himself, aka The Riddler! This mastermind of crime delights in the employment of riddles and puzzles to confound the forces of law and order. Since an early age Ed loved puzzles and this led him to commit flamboyant crimes, leaving clues to match wits with the police, he sees Batman as a foe worthy of his intellect. The fact he is often caught makes me think that he's not as smart as he likes to think he is.

He was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang and 1st took to crime in Detective Comics #140 in October 1948. He was very much a c-list villain in the comics though and pretty much forgotten, not featuring again until 1965. It was his portrayal by Frank Gorshin and John Astin in the 60's Batman series that boosted him to the major popularity he has today. He was also played by Jim Carrey in Batman Forever and Cory Michael Smith in the TV series Gotham.

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Random Superhero T-shirt purchase!

So I saw this ad on Facebook for 4 random superhero t-shirts for £15 and thought, "Heck, why not?!"

Here's the video of me opening my goods 😀

That's my next 4 Geek Tee Friday posts sorted out now anyway :)

Here is the company I bought these from if you're looking for a deal

www.loudshop.com

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Geek Tee friday - Marshal Law

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So I don't have a great deal of Geek shirts as most of my many, many shirts are Heavy Metal related and to be honest I have sooooooo many I really shouldn't buy any more. This though, this shirt gets a bye as I could not resist it. I never even knew they did Marshal Law shirts so as soon as I saw this I had to send me money. It was pretty cheap priced as well, like £11 incl. P&P I think!! Total bargain to my mind.

Marshal Law is not a hero, he hates heroes, he hunts them in fact. In the future in the city of San Futuro, a post earthquake big one San Francisco, he is a lawman. In the war heroes were genetically engineered as soldiers, now the conflict is over traumatized super powered war veterans roam the streets, many in gangs causing mayhem. It's Law's job to take down the rogue 'heroes', a job that he relishes.

Marshal Law comics are "a satire on the superhero genre as well as a deconstruction of the superheroes of the Golden Age and Silver Age. The series is characterized by its extreme graphic violence and nudity, and Mills' skewering of superhero conventions and US government policy and society.

Created by Pat Mills & Kevin O'Neill, Marshal Law 1st appeared in Marvel comics Epic line, before moving house 1st to Toxic! a cult but short lived UK comic then Dark Horse then back to Epic again for a 2-parter. He has also crossed over with characters such as The Mask & Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies. There was talk for a long time about a Marshal Law movie but nothing seems to have come to fruition and he's not featured in a new comic since 2002 and that was just a cameo in 2000AD. Mind you another old Toxic! comic star Accident Man recently came out as a movie so there is still hope I guess. I'd also love to see him be reprised in comics for the current generation used to all the superhero blockbuster movies. Law Vs. Thanos would be a laugh, the Marshal would probably stick the Infinity Gauntlet right up Thanos' forbidden zone with a couple of nukes attached and I bet he'd find an inventive way to do in Deadshot!

   

Geek Tee Friday - Cute-thulhu!!

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I love the stories of H.P. Lovecraft and the dark beings of his Cthulhu mythos but I also like a laugh and this cute Cthulhu shirt is great, especially when juxtaposed with my big ugly hairy mug!

I need more Lovecraft geeky tees for sure though. One is not enough really but I am trying to be good though as I have a blooming mountain of heavy metal shirts already.

Check out my Heavy Metal Cthulhu themed podcasts that I do every year for Cthulhu-mass (which I have decided is the 1st Sunday after Christmas) HERE.

Also check out the silly home horror movie that I made, it's very bad but I kind of like it
Cthulhu Fear

Have a look at the review I did of the London Lovecraft festival HERE

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