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Sunday Runaround – Killing Batman To Kicking Out Xena

Published Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:54:29 -0600

Quote of The Day: "Last year I got to kill Batman, which was kind of fun. Everybody should kill Batman once." – Neil Gaiman, Naperville Reads 2010.

LegalWatch: Blog@Newsarama reports on DC firing their legal team in the Siegel Vs DC Comics case in which the estate of Superman jo-creator Joe Siegel are attempting to reclaim rights on the character and world of Superman. That's never exactly a good sign for any company is it? They've been replaced by Daniel Petrocelli, who landed on Earth in a meteorite as a baby, only do develop… no, sorry, I mean, who successfully defended Disney against a rights challenge regarding Winnie The Pooh, the resultys of which surprised many… could Superman be a repeat performance?

PaperWatch: The Times profiles Jane Goldman, co-writer of the Kick-Ass movie,

Those involved in Kick-Ass are steeling themselves for a backlash. When asked by one US interviewer about the suitability of an 11-year-old using the word "c***", Goldman said: "I think that's the least of our worries."

EpilepsyWatch: Absence is a twenty-four hour comic by Andrew Luke on a life living with epilepsy. It's free online and there are no flashing frames…

BrazilWatch: Joaquin S Terrones of Harvard University writes to give Bleeding Cool readers a little more contest on the superhero parade scenes from Brazil featured recently. He tells us;

The float was part of Rio de Janeiro's main carnival competition, in which 12 samba schools or "escolas" face off against each other to see who can put on the most original, crowd-pleasing parade. Each samba school prepares and rehearses for months, with thousands of people parading and an average of 6-7 floats. The winner is determined through a strict multiple-category scoring system by a panel of judges.

The superhero float was part of the samba school Unidos da Tijuca. Tijuca was the third school to march on the evening of February 14th.

The theme for Tijuca's entry this year was "É Segredo…" ("It's A Secret…"). Each segment of the parade dealt with a secret: from the lost Library of Alexandria to Area 51 (complete with an alien Michael Jackson). Superheroes were included for their secret identity although, curiously enough, no one unmasked.

The Batmans and Spidermans had to audition, while the heroes on the streets were available to anyone willing to pay for the costume. (Parade costumes are all made in-house by each samba school– one of their main sources of revenue to pay for the elaborate production).

Unidos da Tijuca was the winner this year, their first time winning in over 20 years.

Nerd culture was also part of Tijuca's parade last year. Their 2009 theme was "A Space Odyssey" and included costumes and floats whimsically based on Star Wars and Star Trek, alongside the Jetsons, Men In Black and others.

This was not the first ski slope float featured in Rio's carnival. That privilege belongs to a taller contraption with actual snow and ice from 2008. It did not, however, feature any skiing Batmans.

LetterWatch: And a little x-tra something from Neill Cameron to brighten the day…