Batman: Assault on Arkham on Home Video (and Justice League: Throne of Atlantis preview)

Warner Home Video recently released Batman: Assault on Arkham to home video. The film draws upon the Batman: Arkham electronic game franchise (taking place after Batman: Arkham Origins) and highlights an adventure of the Suicide Squad. The trailer from DC Entertainment follows:




Details of the extras for the Blu-Ray edition have been conveniently listed on the Blu-ray.com site (http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Batman-Assault-on-Arkham-Blu-ray/102001/#Review) and include:

Audio Commentary: DC Comics Animation creative director Mike Carlin, Assault on Arkham writer Heath Corson and executive producer James Tucker cover every major aspect of the film's development, adaptation, voice casting, animation and music. Director Jay Oliva is nowhere to be found, though.

The Joker's Queen: Harley Quinn (HD, 14 minutes): A look at the animated origin of Harley Quinn, her move to the printed page and the evolution of her character through various media, with Carlin, Quinn co-creator Paul Dini, "Suicide Squad" and Supernatural writer Adam Glass, and Entertainment Weekly writer Geoff Boucher.

Arkham Analyzed: The Secrets Behind the Asylum (HD, 27 minutes): "All things are possible here and I am what madness made me." The not so hallowed institution of Arkham Asylum, its inspiration, and its place in Batman comic books, television shows, videogames and films, with another lineup of interviews with key industry professionals.

From the DC Comics Vault (SD, 91 minutes): "Task Force X" from Justice League Unlimited, "Infiltrator" from Young Justice, "Emperor Joker" from The Brave and the Bold and "Two of a Kind" from The Batman.[The extra cartoons are common to all releases of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, though one wonders (again) of their value, since real fans will already have these in their collections.]

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Sneak Peek (HD, 9 minutes): An extended behind-the-scenes promo detailing the production of the next DCU Animated Original Movie, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, the sequel to Justice League: War.

The clip has also surfaced online separate from the Batman film:

More Justice League for Kids

Another entry--lamentable again, I'm afraid--in the new line of Justice League products:


Sonneborn, Scott. Justice League: Partners in Peril. Illus. Andy Smith. Colors by Brad Vancata. New York: HarperFestival- HarperCollins Children’s Books-HarperCollins, 2013. N.pag. Print. 978-0-06-221007-4

In Justice League: Partners in Peril, the Justice League assembles to battle the rampaging android Amazo (one of the team’s less well-known foes). The roster here very much represents the classic Justice League and features Batman, Black Canary (apparently Dinah Laurel Lance), Flash (most likely Barry Allen), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Hawkman (presumably Katar Hol), Martian Manhunter, and Superman. The art is of variable quality, and there appears to have been no effort made to match the various characters to their comic book originals.

Kid-Friendly Origin of the Justice League

DC has begun to extend the Justice League franchise into alternate media, including a new ongoing series of children's books, of which the following is the first. Sadly. its not the best translation from the comics page:

Rosen, Lucy. Justice League: Meet the Justice League. Pictures by Steven E. Gordon. Colors by Eric A. Gordon. I Can Read! 2. New York: Harper-HarperCollins Children’s Books-HarperCollins, 2013. Print. 978-0-06-221002-9

Inspired by the first story of the Justice League of America from The Brave and the Bold No. 28 (February-March 1960), Justice League: Meet the Justice League recounts the formation of the Justice League when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—the stars of an earlier series of books in the I Can Read! series—enlist Aquaman, Flash (presumably Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and Martian Manhunter to thwart the plans of Starro (a relatively obscure villain from the team’s sixty-plus-year history) for world domination. The art is unexceptional and not truly representative of the characters’ comic book origins, and, at some points, figures appear grossly out of proportion and/or distorted.

DC Comics at Capstone

A quick head's up:

Capstone Publishing now has a dedicated site to it's DC Comics series of chapter books at http://capstonesuperhero.com/. The site includes promotional posters with the DC trinity promoting literacy. At present, content includes books featuring Superman, Batman, and the pets of the Justice League (see trailer below), though the publisher has additional series (through its Stone Arch imprint) featuring the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and the foes of the Justice League.

Some details on the line from Capstone's YouTube Channel: