A Bad Attempt at Fan Art

When given the choice between writing and researching about my personal favourite Batman topic or recreate some memes out of perfectly edible dry pasta, the macaroni arts wins hands down.

That Dank Meme

                             

The first masterpiece that I decided to recreate was the “Goddamn Batman” meme. Is it considered a meme? Or because its from a comic panel, it’s it just a quote then? But then again, what defines a meme? Oh, sorry, back to the Bats.

I chose this meme not only because we talked about it in class, but also because going into it I thought it was going to be easy to recreate. And boy wonder was I wrong. Looking back, I should have painted the backdrop before gluing in noodles on because that would have been the sensible and logical thing to do. But who has time for that?! I only had the room to horribly glue on the words “He’s the Goddamn Batman” and even then you can’t really even read it properly. The paint job it kind of (more like really) sad, so I think generally, this fan art turned our really poorly.

Kind of like that. 

I think I really picked this meme because today, everyone knows who Batman is because he is so engrained into our popular culture. Recently there has been a serge of newly edited comics, replacing the ex-text with something humorous. But for this particular comic/art, it seems to be the original text. So I think it’s kind of making fun of the ridiculousness of Batman, but at the same time loving everything that he is.

The Surfing Bowtie

The second fanart that I made, I think is probably the best one and my favourite. I attempted to make a noodle version of Adam West as Batman whilst surfing, but that didn’t work out. So eventually, I settled on just the surfboard. But instead of adding the bat symbol, I used a bow tie noodle. I think that it adds to the overall weirdness that is my creation. This piece was also easier to make because I had more of an understanding of generally how to make macaroni art gracefully.

 

I decided on the surf board because looking back and leaning more about Batman’s history, I now see Adam West’s Batman as this ultimate version of Batman that every recent movie, TV show, or portrayal tries to live up to. So this is my paying homage to the work of Adam West.

Childhood Noodle Redemption

As a kid, I never watched the animated Batman series. I wasn’t allowed to watch that many cartoons and Batman was on the list of “moms-no-go’s.” So to make up for that, I attempted to recreate the bat signal used in the animated series. I personally don’t think it’s identical, but that’s what the power of imagination is for kids!!

This piece was by far the easiest to make. By the time I made it, I knew what to do and how to do it effectively. Besides waiting for the paint backdrop to dry, gluing everything on maybe took 20 minutes, in comparison to the hour that it took to spell of “Goddamn Batman.”

Overall, this was a really fun project. I was able to be creative in a silly way that helped channel my organic chemistry stress onto something expressive and productive.

Final Face Off: Harry vs Voldemort

Every character and their villains must undergo a final confrontation, the big final battle, the point of the summer action blockbuster that everyone pays to see; the part of the movie/book/comic/video game/fanfic/ any form of media that we all wait for at the edge of our hypothetical seats for. Being born in the apparent "Harry Potter age," my favourite, personal confrontation comes from the final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in which Harry and Voldy have their final face off. Only one can live while the other must die. Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts... BE THERE!!!!!!

It’s the final smack down that millennials have been waiting for; the Boy Wonder from down under the stairs and the man who never grew out of his emo phase; Harry James Potter and Tom “the Dark Lord” Riddle.

The stage has been set, the beloved Hogwarts has been invaded and Wizarding World is holding its breath to see who will live, while the other survives. Harry; recently back from the “dead” (as he was a Horcrux himself and therefore must be destroyed), and Voldemort whom is now mortal and weaker than ever, face off with one last duel with a destroyed Hogwarts as the backdrop.

“I open at the close,” the 5 words the confused first time readers till the very end of the book when everything suddenly became clear. The year of the Battle of Hogwarts occurs in May1998, the year the first novel originally came out. The first snitch that Harry ever caught was engraved with those 5 words when it was given back to him after Dumbledore’s death. The snitch opened as Harry was facing his first death to reveal the Resurrection Stone so that Harry may be reunited with his parents one last time. Catching on?

The theme of endings is prevalent throughout the entire last book. It is the last year at Hogwarts (even though they don’t go, meaning that they don’t graduate…?) for all of our beloved heroes, many of which fall either during the battle or during the events of the book. The ending of the Golden Trios childhood is also shown through the death of Harry’s owl Hedwig at the beginning of the novel.

Everything has been leading up to this battle. Everything since Harry’s parents where murdered and the final Horcrux (Harry) up until the moment the heroes returned to Hogwarts for the last time, leads to this battle. And after a spectacular battle between the two, all is resolved as Voldy dies a MORTAL death, not the creepy paper-effect thing in the movie. Seriously.

“Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality”

But damn, doesn't it look good. 

This final confrontation between polar characters that are either so good or so bad, demonstrates to children of all ages that everything must end, but it is the choices that we make and the morality that we maintain, the determines the success of our endings

Until the next book/movie comes out a couple years later!

See if you would survive the Battle of Hogwarts! I don't- I died laughing about a Chocolate Frog card.

Guess who's back, back again: Oldman Batman!

Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns brings a satirical and conclusive end to the otherwise chaotic and very loud examination of the masked vigilantly of Gotham City, The Batman. Like the third and final instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, this thrilling (and at times very confusing) comic sees the return of the beloved Batman some time after his retirement. While the movie is arguably more visually appealing, I’m not going to spend my last 200 words or so talking about that, instead, I have to speak exclusively about the comic and it’s deep moral and ethical questions. 

(But really, the book is way better anyways).

10 years after the B-man takes his final bow after Jason, Robin 2.0, was killed Gotham is a city that has seen better days. Crime is ramped through out the city, instead of doing typical rebellious teenager things like drinking and staying out past the time that the street lights come one, the teens of Gotham are joining the dreadful Mutant Gang. The gang, like everything in the artwork of this comic, looks like an 80’s dream, filled with Clockwork Orange-esk slang and techno-colour clothing. But besides having incredibly colourful outfits the gang is plaguing Gotham, filling the citizens with fear and dread. 

All because the Batman is gone, a myth, a tall tale parents tell their children to scare them into obedience. Add that to that fact that Harvey Dent has been “rehabilitated” at Batma- I mean Bruce’s expense, and that it’s hot, you’ve got the perfect recipe for a moody, alcoholic, and very lonely Bruce Wayne.

 

As exciting as it would be to base an entire comic around an angst-y Bruce, the Batman eventually comes out of retirement in a spectacular array in which he complains about his sore body and gets beaten up, a lot. “But why?” you ask Mr. Edwards. Well, you see, that whole rehabilitation thing that happened to Harvey, yeah, it didn’t really work. You can fix his face all you want, but he’ll still be the same two-faced jerk who threatens the bomb the whole city. So much for that big, brainy idea Bruce.

So what do we know kids? The city is in shambles, Dent is still a loony even with a pretty face, teenage rebellion is more colourful (and more dangerous), the police still suck at doing their job, and it’s hot! This looks like a job for the Batman!!

 

Or is it?

As much as Gotham needs the Bat more then ever, could the real reason for him ending his retirement be more selfish? I mean, as much as Gotham needs the Bat more then ever, through his years of isolation Bruce and the Bat have become more selfish. In his prime, Batman and his villains meant something. Harvey, both of his sides, visually showed audiences the duality that Bruce himself has. And even after all of those years of rehabilitation and isolation and he still can’t resist or even attempt to control that dark side, isn’t that motivation enough? Dent is truly Bruce’s last chance at attempting to fit into society after years of being so involved in a life a crime. And no matter who may surgeries or bottle of wine the characters go through, they will always be their true identity, because he's the goddamn Batman 

Besides, who cannot love this panel symmetry?!

 But perhaps that’s the beauty of literature, the true motivation of characters is always up for different interpretation, leaving us, the willing consumer to devour more and more in hopes of understanding a world that we see so much of in our own.