(I'm also doing lots of not writing, having finally learned to allow myself to enjoy my life and not spend so much time typing.)

One of my favorite gigs is reviewing three of DC Comics' monthly Batman titles for Batman on Film — created, operated, and edited by Bill "Jett" Ramey, who's the hardest working Batman fan on the planet.

(I know I say that all the time, but it's true.)

With big changes coming to the Batman titles in November (which you can read about here), I'll only be reviewing Detective Comics for a while. Until that happens, here's a list of all the reviews I've written for Bill this summer.

DETECTIVE COMICS

Review: Detective Comics #866

Review: Detective Comics #867

Review: Detective Comics #868

The best of these three is easily #866, which was written by the legendary Dennis O'Neil, who reinvigorated Batman comics in the 1970s by returning the character to his serious roots after the silly science fiction of the 1950s and the camp of the 1960s. Christopher Nolan's Batman films draw heavily from this era, which saw the creation of such villains as Ra's Al Ghul (in "Daughter of the Demon" in June 1971's Batman #232), who played a massive role in Nolan's Batman Begins.

Without O'Neil's visionary take on the Dark Knight, we'd never have gotten a scene of Bruce Wayne and Ra's Al Ghul sword-fighting on a glacier. And that's not a world I'd want to live in.

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS

Review: Gotham City Sirens #13

Review: Gotham City Sirens #14

Review: Gotham City Sirens #15

Under the tutelage of Paul Dini, who remains for my money the greatest narrative architect ever to set foot in Gotham City, this book began as a lot of fun with a firecracker premise:

Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn move into a secret lair together and form a Charlie's Angels-esque alliance, trying to be good in a city where they've had plenty of practice being bad.

Dini's apparently no longer with the title, and it's suffering greatly in his absence. For a great collection of Dini's early issues, check out this gorgeous hardcover.

STREETS OF GOTHAM

Review: Streets of Gotham #13

Review: Streets of Gotham #14

Review: Streets of Gotham #15

After their dynamite run on Detective Comics, Dini and my new favorite Batman artist, Dustin Nguyen, were relegated to satellite titles when Grant Morrison's admittedly inspired insanity became the driving force behind Batman at DC.

I cannot possibly recommend their hardcover collections Private Casebook and Heart of Hush enough, and it breaks my heart that such magnificently awesome storytelling was pushed aside for Morrison's continuing craziness.

But it is what it is.

Issue #14 began a sequel to "Heart of Hush" that mysteriously didn't get continued at all in #15. Read the reviews for more details.

And while I've got your Bat-ears bent, don't forget to grab a copy of Batwoman: Elegy, one of the spookiest, sexiest, most supremely bad-ass comics stories I've read in my entire life.

More soon, and big thanks as always to Bill for the opportunity! News should start arriving soon about the next Nolan/Bale Batman movie, and BOF will be the place for all the information you'll ever need.

Read all about it here.

I loved the first two Spider-Man movies. Especially the second one.

Then the third one came along and … I can't even talk about it anymore.

But here's the review I did back in 2007. I don't own the first two on Blu-Ray because they're only available in a three-pack with the third one, and that piece of garbage isn't allowed in my home.

Anyway, when director Sam Raimi and Sony couldn't agree on the direction for a fourth film, Raimi and his cast (including Peter Parker himself, Tobey Maguire) were let go in favor of a total franchise reboot with new helmer Marc Webb (of (500) Days of Summer fame) in charge. The new film will reportedly take Peter back to high school and do everything all over again, with more emphasis on the teen angst stuff.

Eh.

After Spider-Man 3, there really wasn't much of anything they could have done to restore my interest in this character. Maybe this new movie will be awesome, and I hope it is, but I'll have to see and read a lot more about it before I can decide if I'm even excited.

In the meantime, best wishes and good luck to Mr. Garfield and his giant fucking hair.

… and accompanying article here.

I think this looks fantastic, and especially worthy of note is the fact that Thor actor Chris Hemsworth is huge. Natalie Portman (playing mortal doctor Jane Foster) isn't exactly Lou Ferrigno, but he dwarfs her.

And check out the shot of people running at the 1:59 mark — it's ridiculous (in a good way) how much Hemsworth towers over everyone else.

(I don't recognize the other running man, but the other girl is the amazing Kat Dennings, on whom I have a mighty crush.)

We also get glimpses of Sir Anthony Hopkins (complete with shiny eye patch) as Thor's father, Odin, and massively talented Idris Elba as Heimdall.

There's been a lot of controversy among fans about the cast of Elba, a black man, as a Viking god, and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano as Hogun of the Warriors Three.

I'm entirely fine with it, because the Asgardians here are not Vikings. They're beings who were simply worshiped by the Vikings as gods. Big difference, so it doesn't really matter what they look like. As long as the actors are good, we should be in good shape. And with Kenneth Branagh directing, you know he's going to get the best out of all of his entire cast.

As a side note, another of the Warriors Three, Fandral, is being played by local New Albany native Joshua Dallas, so big congratulations to him for landing a part in what's sure to be a hit.

Thor brings the thunder to a theater near you on May 6, 2011!

And don't forget to read my exclusive interview with Eric Allan Kramer, the original live-action Thor from The Incredible Hulk Returns, right here, and see the first official photo of Hemsworth in costume here.

P.S. The interviewer almost reminded me of … this.

This was their eleventh episode, which I consider a really cool milestone for them — doing 10 of anything is great, but 11 means you're here to stay. And with new guests signing up all the time, you'd better believe they're ready to hang around.

You should become their fan on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on upcoming topics and guests, and guys, I'd love to come back and do it again.

Be sure to check out all the previous episodes, too. Each podcast is about an hour, and Aaron and Mike really put a lot of heart, thought, hilarity, and fun into each one.

Of special interest in my guest-starring role on this week's episode is SOLDOUTcast: The Movie, in which we read an 11-page radio play that I wrote about Aaron and Mike and their efforts to carve out order and bring back hope in a lawless, mutant-ridden apocalypse. (Warning! Adult language and situations!)

We also talk about movies, music, and other topics as I answer the legendary SOLDOUTcast Questionairre.

You can check it out by clicking here or on the SOLDOUTcast logo below:

A huge thanks to Aaron and Mike for having me on and providing such a fun time, and of course for acting skills that would make Clooney weep.

Also, extra special thanks to Aaron for suggesting the theme music that's right up my alley, and to Mike for going above and beyond the call of duty with editing and sound effects.

You guys are the best.

Review: Detective Comics #865

Review: Streets of Gotham #12

Review: Gotham City Sirens #12

On a personal note, Bill lost his mother this week, so please send some warm thoughts to him and his family at this difficult time.

And Bill, thank you as always for letting me write for a site that has provided me much joy and information over the years. You're the best, brother — this opportunity is a massive honor.

With the new Nolan/Bale Batman movie arriving in July 2012, and the Superman movie Nolan's producing coming around Christmas 2012, we can all rest assured that the best is yet to come …

(Get the guest room ready, Kareem. I'm coming out there.)

More news at Batman on Film via Heat Vision!

Over the course of 2009, I gained about 40 pounds. How could I have allowed that to happen? I don't know. Same way anything happens, I guess. It just happens. Anyway, I've lost 35 of it since November, with 22 of that 35 since the middle of February. Lots of exercise and a total overhaul of my diet. I'm within 5 pounds of where I'd like to be. (All the extra weight is gone except for a stubborn little band of belly, and I'm going to start this exercise program next week to get rid of that and tune up everything else.) I'm easily in the best shape now that I've ever been in my entire life, and feeling this good is addictive. So off I go toward even better results.

The Hercules movie is in good shape, too — our producer and star, Alexander Nevsky, has been busy competing on the Russian version of Dancing with the Stars, and we'll be back to work on movie stuff soon. And as always, there are some other things on the table that I can't talk about. Yet. I've also gone back to work for Adrian Paul (the Highlander!) and the PEACE Fund, the charity he created to Protect, Educate, and Aid Children Everywhere. Check out the new website and take a long at all the awesome things we've been doing for children here and abroad.

In the meantime, here are a couple of months' worth of reviews of the Batman titles I do for Bill Ramey, who operates Batman on Film and remains the hardest working Batman fan on the planet.

Review: Detective Comics #863

Review: Detective Comics #864

Review: Streets of Gotham #10

Review: Streets of Gotham #11

Review: Gotham City Sirens #10

Review: Gotham City Sirens #11

Batman movie news is also beginning to heat up again, so stay tuned for more of that, too!

He looks awesome.

Source: Marvel