The problem I had with all of these is that there wasn't really an argument there that I could investigate over the course of 5000 words. After some feedback with my tutors we finally got the question that I feel I can use for my research report.
"How has the comic franchise Batman evolved through video games?" - Working title
In my report I will:.
- Identify a problem or question as the subject of your investigation
- Articulate the relationship between your creative practice and chosen topic of research.
- Utilize appropriate research methods (visual analysis, interviews, case studies, etc) to enable you to address the issue or issues identified.
- Provide evidence of analysis, reflection, evaluation and conclusions
- Be appropriately structured with an introduction, chapters or sections and a conclusion.
- Be thoroughly referenced; use images and quotations to reinforce points and support arguments; and include a full bibliography of sources.
- Cover page
- Abstract
- Contents page
- Table of Illustrations
- Introduction
- Main sections/chapters
- Conclusion
- Appendices (where appropriate)
- Bibliography
The first one I read was 'Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight' by Travis Langley. I found this book incredibly interesting as it made these already complex characters feel so much more, as well as giving insight into real psychological practices and disorders.
The first one I read was 'Batman and Psychology: A Dark
and Stormy Knight' by Travis Langley. I found this book incredibly
interesting as it made these already complex characters feel so much
more, as well as giving insight into real psychological practices and
disorders.
Quotes from book I gathered: (quotes without citations are by Travis Langley the author)
‘Fear is a recurring element in Batman’s stories, but one
fear in particular shaped this serial’s creation – xenophobia, exaggerated fear
of foreigners or strangers. Anti-Asian sentiment was not new to America during
World War II, and the depictions and descriptions of the Japanese in this
serial were overtly racist.’ (Talking about the 1943 serial)
‘The serial’s narrator tells us that buildings in the city’s Little Tokyo district have sat empty “since a wise government rounded up the shifty-eyed Japs,” referring to the U.S government’s 1942 relocation and interment of over 100,000 American citizens and residents of Japanese ancestry into War Relocation Camps in the wake of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour.’
‘Batman reflects the full spectrum of emotional angst and joy and sorrow the each and every one of us experience in life.” Robert T.M. Phillips (2008)
‘Costumes are liberating. In 1919 pulp fiction serial “The Curse of Capistrano,” Zorro first rides as a masked vigilante out to defend the oppressed in Spanish colonial California.’
‘The reality is that the Batman persona is the true persona,
and that Bruce Wayne is the mask.’ Dan DiDio
‘I think Bruce Wayne doesn’t exist. I think he died that night with his parents, and that form, that boy, that entity who moved on after that was no longer Bruce Wayne. He had at that point in his heart and mind and soul already become Batman.’ Michael Uslan
‘The core of his identity always remains Bruce because it’s his formative experience as Bruce that fuels both. Batman is a tool he puts on to accomplish what he needs to do.’ Paul Levitz
‘It’s not like Bruce is some phony thing he wears, but in the scale of the superhero identity, Bruce is deeply tilted towards Batman.’ Scott Snyder
‘Walter Gibson’s The Shadow helped inspire the Dark Knights creation, Batman is a shadow character. Bruce Wayne confronts his own darkest nature early in life, chooses to work with it, and uses it to instill fear in other.’
‘The Persona is the mask, essentially a collection of masks that the ego wears when interacting with the outer world. You wear many masks. You bring different set of qualities to different situations, and they all might be equally genuine.’
‘Through the 1960’s, in an era of disillusionment, time progresses for characters at both DC and Marvel. In a climate of American assassinations and conflict in Vietnam, the superchildren grow up with the audience.’
‘An aging audience meant that in addition to wanting more mature subject matter and more sophisticated storytelling, adolescent and older readers utilizing the systemic reasoning of the formal operational stage might re-evaluate previously accepted story elements and decide, “That’s just stupid.”
‘We knew we needed a female nemesis to give the strip sex appeal. So Bill and I decided to create a somewhat friendly foe who committed crimes but was also a romantic interest in Batman’s rather sterile life. She was a kind of female Batman, except that she was a villainess and Batman was a hero. We figured that there would be this cat and mouse, cat and bat byplay between them—he would try to reform her and bring her over to the side of law and order….We felt that she would appeal to the female readers and that they would relate to her as much as to Batman. We also thought that male readers would appreciate a sensual woman to look at. So, she was put into the strip for both boys and girls, as a female counterpart to Batman.’ Bob Kane (1989)
‘The Dark Knight Returns, despite its reputation as a cynical, nihilistic piece, actually presents an optimistic forecast, progressing Bruce Wayne from utter stagnation at the story’s start to generativity both personal ad global by the end.’
‘Fiction with its big question of “What if?” is one of the most powerful forces in the world. Once upon a time, the ability to light a fire was fictitious.’
‘Someday, somehow, I would eliminate these three little words from the collective consciousness of the world culture: Pow! Zap! And Wham! I would restore Batman to his true and rightful identity as the Dark Knight ….a creature of the night stalking criminals from the shadows as he was originally intended to be by his creators, Bob Kane and Bill Finger’ Michael Uslan 2011
‘The movie’s stunning success does not mean that all comic book superhero films must be dark, gritty, and violent and set in contemporary times. But that’s exactly what the industry people are claiming.’ Michael Uslan 2011
‘The worst thing to do with a serious comic book is make it a cartoon.’ Akiva Goldsman (2011)
‘”Batman and Robin” may be the most important comic book movie ever made. It was so bad it demanded a new way of doing things. It created opportunity to do X-Men and Spider-Man, adaptations that respected the source material and adaptations that were not campy.’ Kevin Feige (2009)
‘Dc comics relaunched all their titles with new #1 issues in 2011, resetting character histories, erasing stories that didn’t work, and cleaning up the burdensome continuity to blow a giant breath of fresh air through their whole comic book line, they decided that Batman’s history needed the least tweaking and that they should stick with what was working, leave his titles largely unchanged.’
‘The success of Frank Miller’s comic book series…The Dark Knight Returns, revealed an audience ready for a darker take on Batman and helped pave the way for Tim Burton’s film adaptation.’
The other one I have read so far is 'Hunting the Dark Knight:
Twenty-first Century Batman' by Will Brooker. Again another interesting
and analytical read about Batman. This book focuses on the Nolan movies
and if all the Batman stories feed one metanarrative.
Quotes from book I gathered: (quotes without citations are by Will Brooker the author)
‘multiple narrativizations of the same figure produced over
a fifty year period, appearing as simultaneous options, a simultaneity made
more complicated by the fact that these narratives were not just continuations
of an Ur text…this array of texts could obviously generate any number of
analyses…’ Jim Collins
‘Batman is everything he has ever been – a combination of a
thousand variations, an overlapping of alternates. But at the same time, those
countless variants are policed, reduced, controlled and contained. They are
branded by author, artist and director: Miller’s Batman, Nolan’s Batman and
Lee’s Batman.’
‘Many fans draw up their individual top tens and list their
preferred versions, but more powerful voices also impose, or try to impose, a
framework of quality, fidelity, “truth” and “reality” on the many texts of the
Batman.’
‘To these Batman fans, comic book origins were so important
that the character’s creation in 1939 could still qualify as a direct authoring
influence on a film from 2008, almost 70 years later.’
‘How are comic books to reinterpret their traditional icons
so as to interest an audience growing progressively further away from
them?...in deciding to apply his style and sensibilities to The Batman, Frank
Miller has come up with a solution to the difficulties outlined above that is
as impressive and elegant as any I’ve seen.’ Alan Moore
‘He has taken a character whose every trivial and incidental
detail is graven in stone on the hearts and minds of the comic fans that make
up his audience and managed to dramatically redefine that character without
contradicting one jot of the character’s mythology. ….everything is exactly the
same, except for the fact that it’s all totally different.’ Alan Moore
‘When drawing from canonized texts (in particular, so called
literary texts), from works firmly enshrined within the cultural tradition, the
prime concern is faithfulness to the original…however, when the source is a
work of “popular culture”, the integrity of the original is not an issue.’ Luca
Somigli
‘A film of ‘Batman’ – even of Batman’s origin and early
career – is, then, a quite different project from the majority of adaptations,
which usually settle for the more modest task of translating one text into a
different medium.’
‘The first story of 1939 is not the last word of the myth,
but its first, its starting point – and its body of stories increases every
month. …to attempt an adaptation of an ever-expanding mythos with no definitive
Ur-text remains a challenge quite different from engaging with a conventional
novel.’
‘Every new Batman story is always already an adaptation of
existing elements and earlier stories, combined in a new order with a twist and
a handful of innovations.’
‘The viewer’s experience of a film that has been adapted
from a favourite comic book will involve, and rely upon, significantly more
intertextual ties and connections here to that comic…than it would for a
non-comic-book reader, who is more likely to approach the text as an individual
text, not as a number in a series.’ Neil Rae and Jonathan Gray’s
‘While Arkham Asylum game may seem to take place in its own
universe, it’s voice casting – Kevin Conroy as Batman, Arleen Sorkin as Harley
and Mark Hamill as Joker – blurs the boundaries between this sub-brand and the
animated series, which consistently used the same cast.’
‘Batman Begins introduced a cape made of ‘memory cloth’,
which snaps instantly into rigid glider wings. Arkham Asylum and its sequel
Arkham City gave the player the same technology.’
‘Batman Begins was presented as a fresh start to the film
franchise, but it was also pitched in terms of fidelity and continuity to a
long-standing mythos.’
‘Every new expression, or Batman story, relies on and calls
upon the existing archive, the mythic structure and framework, just as every
sentence relies on and refers back to the system of language. A beginning, for
Batman, is always also a return.’
‘The one constant factor through all of the transformations
of Batman has been the devotion of his admirers. They will defend him against
what they see as negative interpretations, and they carry around in their heads
a kind of essence of batness, a Bat-Platonic Ideal of how Batman should really
be.’
‘Fans recognise and value these texts as a balance between
individual “vision” and the existing mythos: Miller is seen as an auteur who
actively revised the character (then ‘lost it’), yet his achievement is seen in
terms of a return to earlier versions, while the Arkham Asylum video game
Batman is praised as a distinct character even as it is described as a
composite.’
'The Power of Comics' had interesting insights on what makes comic books
a great medium with quotes that would add great knowledge to my essay
Quotes from book I gathered:
‘Once regarded as one of the lower forms of mass
entertainment, comic books are today widely considered to be potentially
capable of complex and profound expression as both literary and visual art
forms.’ (Nancy Dziedric and Scot Peacock 1997)
‘DC breaks with traditional conceptions of the superhero by
publishing Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight’ (Randy Duncan and Matthew J.
Smith)
‘The early comic book publishers could not conceive that the
kids reading the stories actually cared who had created them, so the majority
of early comic books gave no writer or artists credits.’ (Randy Duncan and
Matthew J. Smith)
‘By the summer of 1941 comic books were selling at the rate
of 10 million copies a month.’ (Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith)
‘DC had done superheroes first and, arguably, best. DC’s
three most iconic characters, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, were the only
superheroes appearing regularly in the 1950’s. The books were still selling
reasonably well, but the characters were going through some strange times.’
(Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith)
‘It was not until Julie Schwartz took over as editor in 1964
that Batman began a return to his roots as an “eerie figure of the night” (Kane
and Fox 1)’
‘The repercussions of this Miller story continue to affect
even far less ambitious superhero tales a decade after its publication’ (Mark
Nevins)
‘The floodgates opened, and a host of long-underwear
characters began cavorting across the four-color pages of comic book after
comic book.’ (Harvey, 1996)
‘Out of the hundreds of superhero characters, seven stand
out as the most historically important: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman,
Spiderman, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Plastic Man.’ (Benton 1989)
‘Intrinsic to his believability, popularity, and longevity.
The batman was born in a few brief, violent moments in which a young Bruce
Wayne was forced to watch the brutal murder of his parents at the hands of a
street thief, we can all understand his need to do something to avenge his
parents death.’ (Giordano)
‘An emotion that is primal and timeless and dark’ (Giordano)
‘The Code is a voluntary self-regulation process began by
comic book publishers in 1954 to pre-empt any government regulation of the
industry. Over the years many of the restrictions have been eliminated, and
fewer and fewer comic books are voluntarily submitted for CCA’s seal of
approval.’
‘While comics aspire to and are capable of being valued as
artistic achievements, one cannot dismiss the fact that the roots of the medium
are firmly entrenched in commercialism.’(Randy Duncan and Matthew J.
Smith)
This book was essential to my research, the author had incredible thoughts on the worl dor Transmedia franchise's and the advantages and disasdvanges of them, as well has how each medium can excel in transmedia storytelling.
‘The “camp” fun that had made the Batman show a hit in 1966
was responsible for its own downfall in 1968 and the near-death of the Batman
comic book, which had taken on the show’s penchant for camp.’
‘It was because comics and their characters are allowed to
evolve that they have endured. Fear of change is the number one killer of any
medium.’
‘Comic books are more than storyboards. Unfortunately, in
today’s media-making world, comics are viewed as stepping stones, a niche
medium to be mined for ideas that are then transferred to a medium with a wider
audience for a bigger payday.’
‘Every comic book could be someone’s first – or their last.’
‘But that evolution is not without peril. Many times,
explorations into other media by creatives focused in one particular medium
have resulted in less than stellar results.’
‘Comics is one of the most powerful communication and
storytelling tools ever created. It’s time to treat it with the love and
respect it deserves. And there’s no way to better respect a medium than to
create great works within it; works that inspire, expand, and tantalized your
dedicated audience.’
‘In any society, the extent to which people seek to escape into
entertainment are determined by the times in which they live. The stories and
themes must be of their times, their themes relevant, and their values
commensurate with the values of those who will hear those stories.’
‘A narrative construction in which ideas and themes are
communicated in entertaining, persuasive, or educational ways.’
‘It doesn’t matter if you create something that utilizes all
forms of media. Format can never trump story.’
‘We live in a hyper-connected world. In every single person
carrying a Blackberry or iPhone, a Kindle or iPad, you have a person just
looking to be immersed in a story. It’s our job to give them what they don’t
even know they want—and by doing so, usher in a new age of storytelling.’
‘All media fragments of a transmedia story experience must
be able to stand on their own, and be part of the larger experience, deepening
the world you’ve created.’
‘DC Comics represents a modern mythology, using archetypes and
morality plays as the basis of their early storytelling.’
‘Comic books are ripe for adaptation, especially superhero
ones, as they feature simple stories of heroes and good triumphing over evil
(with a pre-built and faithful audience).’
‘Anything that makes a billion dollars is respected in
America.’ (Denny O’Neil, 2011)
‘The first ingredient in the success of video games comes
from the exploitation of a deep, fully drawn world created from scratch. In
that manner, games share a common bond with animation and comics: if it can be
drawn, it can be created. If it can be programmed, it can be created. The
potential for vibrant world-building and transmedia applications of that world
cannot be understated. Couple that with the addition of “player as protagonist”
(even with a deeply defined protagonist) and that completes the recipe of
video-game immersion.’
‘It is that very choice immersiveness that has made video
games that comics of the new millennium.’
‘Writing for the Marvel icons, you learn quickly that every
comic is someone’s first or someone’s last. It’s my job to make sure very issue
is completely satisfying so that they want to come back and they can enjoy what
they are reading without needing anything else but the book in their hand. But
at the same time it’s important to honor the die-hard fans with references and
nods to the games and novels.’ (George, 2012)
‘The key to Arkham Asylum’s success lay in three key areas;
first, the game was written by Batman: The Animated Series veteran (and Mad
Love writer) Paul Dini. Second, the games featured the voice talents of many of
the Animated series veterans, including Kevin Conroy as The Batman, Mark
Hammill as The Joker…and most importantly, Arkham Asylum created an entirely
new Batman story world, one that blended the best of the comics with the best
of the movies and the best of the animated incarnation into what I feel is the
defining Batman experience of our generation.’
‘It’s a chance to flesh out things maybe hinted at or not
covered in the game, as well as focus on brand new stories off the beaten path
and follow these characters more closely.’ (Fridolfs, 2012)
Henry Jenkins.....
Quotes from book I gathered: (quotes without citations are by Henry Jenkins the author)
Another book with Henry Jenkins.....
Quotes from book I gathered: (quotes without citations are by Henry Jenkins the author)
‘Convergence Culture describes a moment when fans are
central to how culture operates. The concept of the active audience, so
controversial two decades ago, is now taken for granted by everyone involved on
and around the media industry.’
‘New technologies are enabling average consumers to archive,
annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content. Powerful institutions and
practices (law, religion, education, advertising, and politics, among them) are
being redefined by a growing recognition of what is to be gained through
fostering – or at least tolerating – participatory cultures.’
‘Media does have influence but media is most powerful when
it reinforces our existing beliefs and behaviours, least powerful when it seeks
to change them.’
‘Games are designed to be played successfully by players
with very different goals and skill sets.’
‘Like all developing media, the earliest games relied on
fairly simple-minded and formulaic representations of violence. Many games were
little more than shooting galleries where players were encouraged to blast
everything that moves. As game designers have discovered and mastered their medium,
they have become increasingly reflective about the player’s experience of
violent fantasy. Many current games are designed to be ethical testing ground;
the discussions around such games provide a context for reflection on the
nature of violence.’
‘As games’ representations and simulations become more
sophisticated, enabling players to set their own goals within richly detailed
and highly responsive environments, the opportunities for ethical reflection
have grown.’
Quotes from book I gathered: (quotes without citations are by Henry Jenkins the author)
‘Movie moguls saw games not simply as a means of stamping
the franchise logo on some ancillary product but as a means of expanding the
storytelling experience.’
‘Filmmakers had come of age as gamers and had their own
ideas about the creative intersections between the media; they knew who the
most creative designers were, and they worked the collaboration into their
contract. They wanted to use games to explore ideas that couldn’t fit within
two-hour films.’
‘These relationships were difficult to sustain, since all
parties worried about losing creative control, and since the time spans for
development and distribution in the media were radically different.’
‘I want to understand the kinds of story comprehension which
are unique to transmedia storytelling. I’ve got my world, I’ve got my arcs,
some of those arcs can be expressed in the video game space, some of them can
be expressed in the film space, the television space, the literacy space, and
you are getting the true transmedia storytelling.’ (Neil young)
‘The more layers you put on something, the smaller the
market. You are requiring people to intentionally invest more time in what it
is you are trying to tell…you need to lead people into a deep love of the
story. Maybe it starts with a game and then a film and then television. You are
building a relationship with the world rather than trying to put it all out
there at once.’ (Neil Young)
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This book....
Quotes from book I gathered: (quotes without citations are by Henry Jenkins the author)
‘In the wake of the deconstructionist heroes of Miller and
Moore, coverage began to change to a “comics aren’t just for kids, anymore”
motif; sometimes with an accusatory angle that comics were therefore a danger
to children.’
‘When Batman made his 1939 debut in the bimonthly title
Detective Comics, it was the detective genre that determined much of the story
structure.’
‘The superhero as a story premise was popular from day one –
it would take decades for the superhero genre as we know it today to reach
maturity.’
‘Movies, TV and games, a flood of superheroes and related
power fantasies are capturing the imaginations of far more kids than any of
their four - color forerunners.’
‘Comics like other minority forms, are vital to diversifying
our perceptions of our world.’
‘The multimedia approach to comics is a step in that
direction – a step towards “reality” – but it’s only a small step, and when new
technologies enable people to go further, they certainly will.’
Quotes from book I gathered:
‘Nolan’s The Dark Knight grossed over $1 billion worldwide’
(look at boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkknight.htm>
‘Fans of the Batman in his original medium constitute a tiny
minority of those who pay to watch Batman films worldwide’ (Pearson, Uricchio and Brooker, 2015)
‘The video game market also vastly outnumbers the comic book
readership; Arkham City (2011) sold two million units in its first week of
release, and six million within its first four months.’ (Pearson,
Uricchio and Brooker, 2015)
‘Comic books are not read on a
hit-or-miss basis anymore. They are read by fewer people than they were in the
1940s but the current fans read a great deal more intently and with a great
deal of care.’ (Dennis O’Neil 1991)
‘Batman is well developed enough to
survive interpretation in any form.’ (Morrison, 2015)
‘I was very inspired by the sense it
gave me of Batman’s physicality and dogged relentlessness.’ (Talking about Arkham asylum game) (Morrison,
2015)
‘WB: What are your thoughts about
being able to control Batman as an avatar in a video game?...GM: Speaking for
myself, I thought it worked spectacularly well in the first game…I felt completely
absorbed in the experience of being Batman and of effortlessly performing kung
fu moves to take down multiple assailants, solving simple clues and soaring
through night skies with a dreamlike, effortless ease my training had taken
care of.’ (Brooker and Morrison, 2015)
‘Is not simply determined by those
who circulate and co-ordinate mass media representations but is also forged in
cultural instances where texts, symbols and images are used by social gents,
interpreted by audiences and taken up by fan groups in potentially unforeseen
way.’ (Grainge, 2015)
‘Batsploitation – describing the
unofficial appropriations of the Batman franchise that circulate freely without
any form of licensing from DC Comics.’ (Smith 2015)
‘Exploitation and adaptation differ
insofar as adaptation typically implies an acknowledged and, if copyright is
relevant, legitimately purchased relationship with a prior text usually in
another medium. An exploitation film that copies another film, as a short cut
to establishing a relationship with an audience, is constrained to play a
different intertextual game from a conventional adaptation.’ (Hunter, 2015)
‘The cultural terrain of the
contemporary crime-fighter can be adequately envisioned or ‘imaged’ solely by
this assemblage of conflicting images suggests a great deal about the nature of
that terrain and the narratives that represent it.’ (Collins, 1991)
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