There’s no denying it: nostalgia is in. I think it’s been that way since the beginning of this decade, but it’s a fad that only seems to be building momentum. It seems that my generation (the early twenty-somethings) are starving for all the cool stuff we had in the 90’s, when we were kids– Super Nintendo, pogs, comics, Power Rangers, etc. I think it’s safe to say that most of us think the world of entertainment back then was more fresh and frankly, more entertaining. So naturally a lot of companies have been capitalizing on this, and I can’t say I mind. When I was fourteen and still watching Power Rangers (by then it was Zeo, by far the best season for the series) I had to hide it from my friends because it was too childish and too geeky. Sure, I fought my little brother with a Gold Ranger staff and a Red Ranger sword in the back yard but I wasn’t going to let anyone know about it.

But now, the original Power Rangers is old enough to achieve this nostalgia status that Pac-Man and Mario have had for the last several years. I went shopping last week with some of my Christmas money and was quite surprised to find a brand new line of faded Power Rangers T-shirts at a Hot Topic in the mall.

Six years ago, Hot Topic wasn’t really my store. It was all about punk rock music and gear and goth clothes. That stuff is still there, but now it’s mixed with a wide array of clothes and other accessories designed to make your mouth water for things of the past. In just the last couple years, I’ve found myself making several purchases there, including a Batman wristband and a Batman shoulder bag, complete with a small flashlight that shines the bat symbol (which, unfortunately, they no longer carry). This stuff makes it look cool to be a geek! It doesn’t seem to matter what they put on a shirt or a hoodie, it looks good. When I was there last week, I bought a Marvel Zombies hoodie, which looks fantastic. Some of the people I work with saw me wear it once and even though they had no idea what they were looking at (apparently they’ve never read Marvel Zombies) they were impressed with it. And no, the guy in the picture below isn’t me; that’s a picture from Hot Topic’s website.

Hot Topic’s slogan is “Everything About the Music,” and yet they’ve really gotten away from that. I happen to love that, because I’ve been finding myself shopping there more and more. They are a little over priced, but it’s on par with what you would expect for a retail store in a mall. Some music fans might wish they were more like they were a few years ago, but they haven’t abandoned their original store concept, they’ve just expanded on it. They’ve discovered several more “hot topics.” Now they have something for everyone, or at least, for every kind of geek. They haven’t just embraced comics. They have a huge line of Nightmare Before Christmas items, another huge nostalgia property. They have a lot of items devoted to movies from the 70s and 80s and tons of video game stuff (especially Mario). They also have a lot of T-shirts with funny, geek in-jokes. My fiance’s favorite was, “I beat my boyfriend at Guitar Hero.” She almost bought it because, sadly, it’s true. (That’s not her in the picture below, either).

But being such a comic book fan, I’m most impressed with how in-tune Hot Topic is to the comic book world. There are some current properties that seem to fit into this world of nostalgia because of their connection to the past. Marvel Zombies is one such example, but a better one is the new Dark Knight film coming out this summer. The movie is several months away but Hot Topic has already released a T-shirt with the already famous, creepy close-up of the Joker’s face. It’s unusual to see something like this so soon before a movie is released, but Hot Topic is on top of their game. I really wanted that shirt, by the way, but I went for the Zombie hoodie instead. Maybe next time.

Take a minute to browse their web catalog if you don’t have a store nearby. If you’re a big geek like myself, chances are you haven’t realized Hot Topic has actually become our kind of store. And if you have a little Christmas money to splurge, buy one of those cool shirts. Take the opportunity to sport Power Rangers or Spider-Man while it’s actually fashionable. We’ve been waiting for this moment since we were kids.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

Several blogs have already made available and commented on some new pictures of Batman and the Joker from the upcoming Dark Knight film. The particular blog I first discovered them on is here and it includes a number of other Joker shots besides the one above. Don’t click on this link if you don’t want to see too much of the Joker too early.

I personally think Batman Begins was the first film to really capture the essence of the Batman from the comics, or at least the Batman from recent comics. It’s the first time a film has been about developing Batman’s character, rather than focusing so hard on his villains. I love Tim Burton’s Batman (it was actually my favorite film of all time before Begins) but it’s more about the Joker than it is about Batman.

So I’m really wondering why so many of these publicity shots are being released so early. It’s only December and the film isn’t slated to open until July 18, 2008. I have a lot of faith in Chris Nolan after what he brought to screen the first time. I really wish he wouldn’t allow any photos of the Joker to be leaked, or at least not any full body shots. We shouldn’t be allowed to have any impression of what Heath Ledger’s performance will be beyond what we could have pretty well surmised by the fact that this is a sequel to Begins– he’ll be creepier, more sadistic, more serious, and closer to what we’ve seen in the last 10-15 years in the comics. I do think this new Joker looks fantastic, although like several fans who have responded to other recent blogs, I too think in some poses he looks a little too much like Beetlejuice. I’m making probably a presumptuous assumption but I really think this new movie will top the first, making it once again the best Batman film, at least for me. The producers don’t need to try to prove it early! I’ve only included a picture here because they’re already everywhere, so if you hadn’t seen it already, sometime between now and the film, you would have. And when the full trailer comes out, my guess is there will be far more Joker revealed than I’d like.

Are the producers really worried no one’s going to go see this movie? Is that why so many publicity shots are being made available? This movie is already the most advertised around right now, and there’s still six months before it comes out. But another possible reason, which I would be more understanding about, is that the producers were worried that shots might get leaked anyway, so they wanted to make some on purpose to minimize that danger.

I also want to interject a quick comment about the new Joker himself. He’s only wearing makeup on his face! Does that mean he wasn’t dropped in a vat of acid or something? His face is obviously scared, so perhaps he puts on the makeup himself to go with the permanent smile. Just a little curiosity of mine.

I’m certainly not as annoyed about new Batman pictures, since the suit is naturally very similar to what we saw in the first movie. However, despite the fact that every good sequel should always work to improve on what was done the first time around, I wish they had stuck with the original suit. This new one has several grey areas in it, and I thought the full black suit made a lot of practical sense because in Begins, Batman was trained primarily as a ninja and it’s easier to be “invisible” if you’re wearing all black. There’s also a little too much armor which I think makes it look a little too close to the Val Kilmer suit from Batman Forever.

However, these new pictures aren’t making me worried about the film. But now that we’ve already seen several new pictures of Batman, the Joker, and even something that resembles a bat-cycle but is based on the tumbler from Begins, I hope little else is released before the movie is.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan